The Devil & Me

2. Longing and Logic

2 Longing and Logic

Lucifer

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of beauty in my time—but none of it has ever affected me the way she is at this moment. Almost like I had fallen into an icy lake on the coldest day of winter, I was shocked still, my heart stopped beating, and I couldn’t breathe. She had stolen it all from me.

Her hair fell down to the middle of her back, as black as a raven’s wings and probably a thousand times softer. Her petite hourglass frame visible even with her jacket on that looked like it would break at any touch other than a gentle one. Her skin so fair that any kind of injury would be considered blasphemous, and the one to cause it be damned. Lips the most perfect shade of pink, a rose would pale in comparison. Eyes as green and deep as the spring’s forest, I would have continued to stare into them forever, had she not turned and continued to walk home, completely unaware of my presence.

I wanted to grab her just so I could feel the softness of her hair between my fingers; to hold her fragile little body in my arms, hiding her from the rest of the world; to kiss those perfect lips and trail my fingers over her fair skin, knowing it would be just as soft as her hair.

But that would be ridiculous.

She’s a human. I’m a demon. And it would never happen.

I would not allow it. She would be the death of me—and I her.

I forced myself to wipe all thoughts of being with her from my mind, and to return to the cold and detached demon that would kill someone just for looking at me the wrong way without a second thought.

However, just because I would not allow myself to be with her, does not mean I don’t care about her well-being. That being said, I broke away from my stupor, releasing a pair of night black wings from my back, each longer than the length of my body, flying through the woods and tracking her back to what I presumed to be her home – which was without a doubt, in the middle of nowhere. I arrived just in time to see her through the cover of the night and foliage, bursting out the back door and heading into the woods at a sprint faster than any human possibly could have hoped to achieve even with years of training.

My interest peaked at this new development and I decided to follow her into the woods.

If she could run that fast, then there’s a possibility that she isn’t even human at all.

Soundlessly my wings carried me through dense forest and over small patches of open meadow, quietly following behind this curious girl just far enough away so there was no chance of her noticing me – not that she could anyway. I was far more skilled than she could ever hope to be in her exponentially short time of life. Just as well, the new moon also helped in keeping me out of her sight until I allowed her to see me. I was a shadow against a black background.

Eventually, her fast pace slowed and we approached a meadow, probably one she was familiar with, as she seemed to have had a destination in mind while sprinting through the trees. I watched her as she came to a complete stop, looking around the spacious meadow taking everything in, catching her breath. I could tell this meadow was special to her by the way she moved, walking into the open with careful steps like she was following a designated pathway to the center of the circle of trees.

My eyes followed every little movement she made like if I looked away she would disappear, leaving me to wonder if she was even there in the first place. Laying down, she made herself comfortable in the still damp grass and spread out her arms and legs in a loose star-shape, surrounding herself almost completely with the grass that at eye level, she would be hidden.

Of course, me being still higher up in the trees among thicker branches I could see her no matter how well she hid herself. Her breathing was steady, deep and calming; almost hypnotic. She stared blankly up at the sky through the opening in the trees her little meadow made, and her eyes shone with the light of the stars, feathery black hair splayed out around her head. She was beautiful.

Inhumanly beautiful.

But I still wasn’t quite sure what she really was and why she was living in a place like this—a place full of humans. I told myself I would find out, but before I could think of a way, I heard something moving in the woods. Far away from her, but I knew they could smell her—and they were hungry.

I took one more last look at the girl in the grass, and then took off to take care of the hungry animals. My wings carried me quickly over the distance to the pack of wolves, beating down instead of just gliding so I could take less time than I usually might. I decided to land directly in front of what appeared to be the alpha, which threw him off guard, not at all expecting a six-foot-three dark-haired evil-eyed menace with wings protruding from his back to boot.

All he knew was that I was an enemy, standing in his way of getting his first real meal in days, and so, he lunged immediately for my throat thinking I would be taken care of easily. He didn’t know just how wrong he was. A smirk fell on my lips and I struck out at the wolf still in mid-air, sending him flying into a tree twenty yards away. He hit it hard and the sound of his back cracking filled the woods. He fell to the forest floor.

Dead.

One down, ten to go.

 

That was all it took for the rest of the wild wolves to snarl at me before flattening their ears to their heads in preparation to lunge at me: The one who threw their leader to the side like a pound of meat.

I smirked as eight of the wolves charged at me coming from one direction and forming a half circle to find an opening or catch me off guard. They wouldn’t be able to. They were just simple animals while I was an immortal being; a ruler of one of the Nine Levels of Hell. I could kill them all with my eyes closed. So I did.

I closed my eyes and let my primal senses take over, using my speed and strength as my weapons of choice. I could tell exactly where all the wolves were within the small crowded area. As if it was created by an award-winning choreographer, my attacks came swiftly and accurately, incapacitating and killing the wolves one after another; fists were flying, wings crushing, until there was nothing left standing but me and the trees.

My earlier smirk of anticipation was wiped off my face after I spun around just to hear heavy panting and two sets of four legs bounding through the brush in the distance. I missed two of them. The wolves were heading in the direction I had just come from: they were running towards the girl in the meadow.

They were going to make a main dish out of that girl…!