The Demons Bond

A New life

Dean stares at Aurora from across the room as he holds in a breath. He's scared to approach her and find that her soul has left her body. The room is silent despite ringing in his ears. Dean slowly crawls over to Aurora as he yells out. There's no response and no movement. He reaches Aurora and pulls her onto her back before crawling on top of her and burying his face into her chest, seeing that she isn't breathing. "Please, Aurora, come back to me... Please open your eyes and come back..." There's a long moment of silence before Aurora wakes with gasps for air. Her eyes flash solid black before returning to normal. She speaks with a hoarse voice in between coughs. "D-Dean..." Dean sits back in shock, processing the moment. "You're here... You came back to me. " Dean pulls Aurora into a tight embrace, feeling his heart flutter that she's still with him. Dean pulls back, studying the girls face when he notices something in her hair line. He runs his hand along her hair, feeling a liquid on his fingers. Dean looks at the liquid and feels his heart break. "Aurora... Your blood... It's black." He suddenly feels like his heart has been torn to pieces seeing the woman he loves now damned to live the same life as he has for all eternity. Aurora coughs and gathers her thoughts before feeling her head. When she pulls her hand back, it's covered in black blood. A look of horror crosses her face as she begins to panic. "I knew this was a possibility, but I never thought it would happen. I'm a... a demon!" Dean tries to comfort the girl, letting her know they will figure it out. Aurora sits in his arms, trying to process what just happened. "I was okay with dying. I expected to die, but not this. I never thought that I could be a demon with a pure soul..." Dean sighs, knowing how she must feel and not being able to comfort her. Aurora pulls away from Deans embrace and begins to feel sick. Her stomach is nauseous, and her head is spinning. The girl starts to breathe heavily and becomes unsteady on her feet. "Dean. I think I'm having an anxiety attack..." Aurora stumbles toward the door of the Temple and onto the porch. Dean follows behind as he tries to stop her from going. Just as Dean reaches out to grab her arm, Aurora suddenly disappears.

It's pitch black, and the only sound is of Auroras breathing and heart beating in her ears. She calls out into the void, but her voice echoes back to her. Her heart starts to race, and she's scared. "Where am I? HELLOOO?" The ground sounds wet with each step but dry to the touch. "HELLOOOO, IS ANYONE THERE?!" She calls into the void terrified that no one will ever hear her again. Until a deep voice shatters her echoe, fully overwhelming Aurora as she covers her ears. "Just who do you think you are entering my domain?" The voice snaps with a sharp tongue. "Speak now. I won't ask again." Aurora drops to her knees, still covering her head. "I'm Aurora... I don't know how I got here, please can you help me?" The voice laughs a menacing cold laugh. "Help you? I'm not one who's known to help people." Aurora yells back. "Who are you?" She looks around seeing nothing but dark. "W-Where are you?" The voice laughs again, and in a blink, Aurora is standing in a bedroom. The room is surrounded by grey brick walls with a fireplace on the far end of the room containing a crackling fire. There's a huge bed at the center with wooded posts decorated with red satin curtains. Various rugs are thrown about in a haphazard fashion. Aurora looks around the room, completely stunned at what she's seeing. Aurora looks around, trying to find who is speaking when her eyes catch a glimpse of a shadow on the bed. She can't shake the feeling that this shadow is familiar as her eyes norrow in on it. The shadow moves off of the bed to the floor, revealing a tall, slender, but muscular man. The man moves from the bed with an uneasy glide, closing the distance between him and Aurora. Aurora, on the other hand, is frozen in place as she watches this strange man approach. His toned chest peaks from behind his burgundy robe thats trimmed in gold. "W-Who are you?" She asks with a shaky voice, not sure if she really wants the answer. The man grins and looks down at Aurora before lifting her chin, directing her gaze to meet his. His eyes like cold piercing metal with a red flame dancing around the center. "My dear, I am Lucifer."

Suddenly, she feels as if the wind has been knocked out of her, and she can't breathe. Lucifer holds her chin in place as he watches her struggle to catch her breath. "I can't be that ugly now, can I?" Lucifer reigns offense with a pouty expression on his face before replacing it quickly with a grin. Aurora finally manages to speak. "L-Lucifer as in... The devil?" Lucifer chuckles. "In the flesh, my dear." Aurora pulls back and stumbles, causing her to hit the floor. Lucifer quickly moves to position himself over her. "Where are you going, my dear? We have so much to talk about before you can go." Aurora closes her eyes and whispers to herself. "This can't be real. Please wake up. Please wake up." She opens her eyes and sees the man inches from her face. "What do you want?" He laughs. "Nothing, my dear. You've come to join the underworld of your own free will." Aurora is taken aback. "The underworld... join? No way! I would never join the underworld!" Lucifer grins wide and leans in close enough that his lips are almost touching her ear. His hot breath on her neck sends shivers down her spine. "You chose this life, my dear. Now you are my little demon." The girl takes a deep breath and continues to try and process everything. "What does that even mean?" Lucifer pulls back and stands up. He reaches his hand out for Aurora to take it. "Come, let me give you the grand tour." Aurora hesitates as she looks at his hand. Lucifer scoffs, then smiles. "My dear, I won't bite... unless you beg me to." The girl hesitates a moment longer but reluctantly takes his hand anyway.

Lucifer leads Aurora down long dark hallways where the cries of tortured souls echo. The hallways have high ceilings with dazzling chandeliers spread out accordingly. The walls are stone just like the bedroom she was just in. The windows are tall and narrow, spread out evenly with the chandeliers. The color scheme continues on with the dark reds, browns, blacks, and occasional gold trim. They enter a massive room where a throne sits on the far side, dead center. Lucifer seems pleased by Auroras' quiet shock. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He asks in no particular manner. Aurora didn't want to be in hell, but she had to admit it was quite grand. Lucifer turns to face Aurora. "You, my dear, have chosen indirectly chosen to be a demon. Your ties to the human world only come through soul collecting now. You will start at the bottom like the rest of the grunts and work your way up. If that's what you choose to do, of course. You could collect the bare minimum and stay at the bottom if you have no ambitions." Aurora tilts her head curiously. "What happens if I don't collect souls?" Lucifer gives a sinister smile. "Then I get to torture you for all eternity, my dear." He grabs Auroras' face and studies it closely. "I don't want that for you. You have such a pretty face it would be shameful to lock it away forever... Not to mention, if you don't collect souls, your earthly privileges will be revoked." Aurora puts her hands over her face, trying to process everything. Lucifer is steadily circling her like a shark now, ready to strike. Aurora finally removes her hands and speaks. "What about Dean?" Lucifer chuckles. "What about him?" Aurora holds onto hope as she asks her next question. "The ritual worked. We are bound to one another..." Lucifer taps a finger on his chiseled chin. "Ahh yes, the bonding ritual. That was rather impressive. However, it has no bearing here in the underworld." Aurora gasps. "What? How can it not have bearing?! It was a demonic ritual!" Lucifer is completely unbothered by Auroras sudden outburst as he stands picking at his nails. "Listen dear, the type of ritual you needed would have been a lot more complicated than the little one you and Dean performed." His eyes meet Auroras now with an unrelenting gaze. "If you want Dean, you will have to work your way up the step ladder with the rest of the grunts." A sudden feeling of hopelessness overwhelms Aurora as she tries to keep her composure. "H-How long would it take to reach knight status?" Lucifer chuckles. "My dear, you wouldn't even live long enough as a human to reach night status." Aurora clutches her heart. "Are you saying it will take one hundred plus years?" Lucifer leans in. "That is precisely what I am saying." His voice is low and menacing, sending a shiver down Auroras spine. "That's it? There's no other way?" Lucifer ponders for a moment, then all too eagerly admits there's another way. "Well, there is the mountain of bones." Aurora perks up at the alternate path to Dean. "What's the mountain of bones?" Lucifer walks to a large window overlooking a big chunk of the underworld. He points far off into the distance. "Do you see that, my dear?"  Aurora narrows her eyes, trying to focus on the white blob in the distance. "Wait... are those actual bones?" Lucifer chuckles. "Where do you think you are? The Heavens? Yes of course those are bones completely riddled with fresh blood."

"What is at the mountain of bones?" Lucifer turns away not wanting her to see his devilish smile. "Everlasting glory, and an ancient demonic power that, if unlocked properly, could grant you powers beyond your wildest imagination." Aurora ponders this path knowing that everlasting glory comes with an incredible fight for it. "Has anyone ever made it to the top?" Lucifer takes a deep breath. "Well, no, but that doesn't mean you couldn't." He turns around in an eager blur. "My dear, tis the only way if you want to see your precious Dean, again. Just think about it, if you make it to the top you will have saved yourself a century of hard work. You will have all of the power you need to skip right to knight demon status and be with your true love." Aurora studies Lucifers face knowing that in her heart there's something wrong with what he's saying. The girl can't help but wonder what the devil would get out of this. "Just like that? If I beat the mountain Dean is mine?" Lucifer nods a sly grin spreading across his face. "Will you make this journey for your love? Or waste away with the rest of the slop?" Aurora takes a long deep breath and closes her eyes seeing Deans face. The look on his face says not to do it, but her heart can't help but wonder. At this point Aurora has given up her mortal life to be with the man she loves why would she give up now when there's only one last journey that stands in her way. Aurora opens her eyes and they are showing determination. "I'll do it, for Dean." The devil smiles. "Perfect, my dear." Without another word he gently guides Aurora to a set of stairs that leads to the path leading straight to the mountain of bones. Aurora looks ahead at the steep staircase and turns to say something, but Lucifer is already gone. She takes a deep breath and whispers. "I'm coming Dean." Aurora sets out on the journey of a lifetime taking one step at a time. As she walks there's a sudden disembodied voice echo in her head. "By the way Aurora, you may be a demon now, but if you die on the mountain you're gone forever... Toodles!" With that in mind Aurora pushes on ready to face what's next.