Dance with the Devil

•Chapter 7•

Luca

I left Brylee trembling in fear, something that brought much satisfaction to me. I made my way through the fog, toxic to any mortal being. Mangled, twisted trees wound their way in and out of the ground, threatening to trip anyone not watching where they put their feet. I, however, after being Lucifer's head scout for centuries had mastered and memorized the placement of the gnarled roots.

The gate appeared up ahead. Its rusted metal bars that spiked at the top would open to reveal Hell. I gazed at the walls that the gate connected to, with its aged stone hosting a black fungus type of plant, one which I was content in being far away from. As I neared the gate, I spotted the guard demons that patrolled the top of the stone walls. I reminisced to a couple thousand years ago, when I had been one of them.

I absolutely despised it.

The two gate guards on duty were a female named Talia and a male I didn't recognize. 

He must be new, I thought.

They were in an argument, and a heated one by the looks of it. Not that I wasn't surprised. Most demons didn't get along and only put up with one another because Lucifer gets pissed if a demon kills another one for basically no reason. But, even if demons did get along, I knew for a fact Talia would fight anywhere she could. Just like she was doing now. I still vividly remember when one night, one of my first nights in Hell, I had had enough and snapped on the annoying bitch. It was safe to say that she didn't bother me after that. 

I rolled my eyes and scoffed loudly. The two bickering demons immediately snapped their heads towards me, growling and unsheathing their swords. 

"Well, it seems Talia just can't help but be a bitch to everyone, can she?" I chuckled as I neared the gate. She scowled at me, sheathing her sword and the boy following suit.

"What were doing on the surface, your highness?" she sneered at me.

"That's none of your business, Talia," I growled, now at the gate and beginning to get aggravated at her presence, "and watch your tone. I may be younger than you, but you and I both know who's more powerful."

Talia had always been jealous of my various powerful positions, and how Lucifer quite obviously favored me. She had been in Hell for around 40 Earth-years when I died.

She sent me a nasty glare. I simply smirked and turned to the male, who was a lot younger than I had thought approaching the gate. By the way he cowered a bit, one could tell that he knew of, or at least sensed my authority.

"Who's your friend?" I asked. It was one of my duties to keep tabs on all of the demons, and the fact that I didn't know who this one was irritated me. When I asked my question, he raised his head pridefully.

"My name is Isaac, sir. Isaac Page. This is my first night out of the Chambers, and I was assigned to gate-keeper, sir," he said, his head still high and his voice, which was thick with a British accent, held respect. 

I smirked. I liked this demon. He looked me in the eyes when he spoke, in which I saw confidence and even hints of ambition. But, at the same time, he was respectful and knew of my power. He was a lot like me when I first entered Hell. Unlike most, I had immediately accepted my fate. I accepted where I was and what I was. It was because of this that my time in the chambers had been cut extremely short. I only spent two Earth-years being tortured by Lucifer's finest instead of the usually mandatory six. But since one month on the surface is equivalent to ten years in Hell, it didn't exactly feel short. 

Once I was out of the chambers, however, Lucifer had taken an immediate liking to me. He saw potential, like I'm now seeing in Isaac. I had been put as a guard on the Wall, where I was terrorized by Talia, but was quickly promoted by Lucifer after I had beat her ass. Once he had seen what was left of her face, he put me as one of his castle guards. In fact, Lucifer himself had mentored me. I had been his one and only apprentice, ever. I kept training and working my way up through the ranks until I had reached where I was now, as Lucifer's deputy, his second in command. That was a title that I wore with honor.