The Devil's Mark (Book 1)

Chapter Eighteen: Last Minute Impulse

Lucifer

Another day had come and gone as I finished up the last meeting of the evening. A quick flourish followed by some black ink confirmed the deed to a very expensive purchase. Copies were made, dates were signed, my name scrawled across a hundred pages practically caused me to sign my life away tonight. But in the end, it would all be worth it. I handed my personal assistant the main copy of the document and left the room to return to my office in search of my favorite R&R; a box of newly minted cigars and a glass of scotch.

Rich colors of gold and pale, the delicious liquid poured into the glass like silk and yet tasted even sweeter when I brought it to my lips and took a sip. Then I took a cigar from the box and retired to my comfy chair that sat in front of the fireplace. I set down my glass and fished around inside my jacket and pulled out my trusty gold lighter. I flipped the top, flicked the wheel, and a bright bluish orange flame appeared before me as I put the cigar to my lips and ignited the tobacco leaves. The tip of the cigar caught fire as it sizzled and I inhaled slowly, feeling calm.

Sweet, sweet nectar also known as smoke, filled my lungs as I closed my eyes only to reopen them again a minute later and exhaled a lofty, dense cloud that appeared in the name of my one true love. These past few days without him have been driving me crazy. I must've picked up the phone a dozen times in an attempt to call him just so I could hear his voice. But I always chickened out in the end like some love-struck idiot. Was I scared? No. Was I nervous? Hell no. Than what was my reason for not having the balls to call him, you might ask?

Well the answer to all of these questions is really quite simple in fact. And yet, I'm so terrified of what the outcome might be in all of this that when the time comes and it will be soon. I just hope that it's the answer that I want to hear. Two cigars and one very empty glass later, I gathered my effects and left the office with the intention of going home and soaking in a nice warm tub. However, I still had one more thing to cross off my list of things to do today. It's a secret I've been planning for weeks now and it's just been finished, ready for me to see.

The streets of Los Angeles bustled with activity as I exited the lobby and took a left, not heading for the office parking garage across the street. As I walked amongst the humans, their thoughts entering my head, for a whole city block I began to wonder about the possibility that Hell may not be stable for much longer. To imagine earth as it is now so full of life only to see it crumble right before my eyes in a hail of brimstone and fire. Even more so, I can sense that the Underworld is in danger of collapsing. Perhaps Amenadiel was right all along.

As I reached the corner of 5th and San Pedro, traffic whizzed by in a blur of taillights and honking horns. Standing along the edge of the sidewalk, a child stood next to his mama. The white headphones in his ears made it virtually impossible for him to hear what was going on around him as he took a step forward just as the crosswalk sign flashed from red to green with a timer of thirty seconds. Than the streetlamp switched from green to yellow to red as the boy touched down on the street and began to walk across in front of everyone, myself included.

My ears picked up the sound of a fast moving engine as I glanced down the street and noticed a black sports car racing around the corner at high speed. The boy was still walking, his eyes straight ahead, unaware that death was fast approaching. The mother screamed at the top of her lungs, calling out her son's name, but it was no use. Two hundred yards away and closing in fast, the sports car picked up speed as I calmly stepped off the curb and walked towards the boy. The onlookers cried out in horror, they were sure the boy was going to be killed right in front of their eyes.

I snapped my fingers as time slowed down. The hood of the car couldn't have been more than a ten feet away from the boy as I walked up behind him, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and faced him the other way so he could see the look on his mother's face. I snapped my fingers again as time quickly resumed. The car swerved to the left but it was no use as it rolled like a tumbleweed blowing in the wind as it landed upright. The boy whose name I now know as Antonio, ran to his mother as I walked over to the car to check on the driver.