Devil Herself

Chapter 1

Lucifer walked silently through the city of Boston, the sun shining down on him. It was busy as usual, mainly with teenagers with their friends or family since school was over for the summer. He watched a family in a restaurant for a few seconds, then left with a sigh.  Walking into a coffee store, he saw a long line of people waiting for coffee, wondering why it was so long. He approached the busy looking woman at the end of the line.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but why is the line so long?" He asked.

She turned around to face him, moving her hand over the microphone of her cell phone. "The hot water dispenser is broken and five of the baristas are trying to fix it." She answered, before continuing her phone call.

Lucifer frowned and walked to the baristas. "I'm a plumber and electrician, I can have a look for you." 

One of the managers looked up at him. "How much?"

"I'll do it for free, I just want a coffee," He replied. 

Looking at the dispenser, Lucifer pretended to be trying to fix it. In reality, he waved his hand around it, fixing the machine with his powers. He cleaned off his hands and turned to them. "Lose pipe inside, could have been very costly to call someone out to fix it."

They smiled and made his coffee first since he fixed the machine. He took his coffee and started his long walk to the other side of the city.

Across the city, the sun was shining and the raven-haired girl wanted to go outside to join her friends. Unfortunately, she was grounded for stealing money from her father for a chocolate bar she loved. She only borrowed a few dollars, but none the less, she ended up grounded. 

She watched her friends playing in the sun. She thought to herself, 'it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?' But she would quickly learn to never trust her assumptions. Nervously, the child went down the stairs. She failed to notice the empty beer bottles beside her father. She stood beside the half-drunk man. 

"Um, Father?" She stuttered.

"What is it now, Elizabeth?" he snapped back at her.

"Could... could I go outside to play with my friends?" she asked.

He stood and approached her, towering over the girl and his shadow cast over her. 

"Elizabeth, you're already grounded. Do you want to be grounded for longer?"

"N-No, I just-" 

Elizabeth was cut short by the large hand colliding with her cheek, the sound echoing loudly throughout the entire house. Tears began to spill from her eyes. Then, silence. She watched her father sit back down in his huge chair. 

He was a thin man, but he was tall and a lot stronger than he looked. His blonde hair was long and greasy, his jaw and chin coated in a layer of stubble. He wasn't always like this though. He only became this way when her mother died in a car accident. 

Elizabeth walked silently back up the stairs to her bedroom. She looked around at the peeling lilac paint on the wall, water dripping from a leak in her ceiling. Her mattress was old, filthy and hard. Clothes were everywhere, no closet or dresser to put them in. She was tired of this life and had lived it for long enough. She slammed her door as hard as she could and locked it. She ran to her backpack and dumped her school supplies onto her bed. She stuffed in a few pens, her diary, and as many clothes as she could fit inside the small bag. She then took the bag and hid it under her bed, waiting for nightfall when her father would be asleep. 

After a very silent and awkward dinner, darkness fell through the city of Boston. Elizabeth was sent to her room straight after dinner to 'learn her lesson'. But that wasn't her plan. She stayed awake until she knew her father would be asleep, before taking her bag from under her bed. Silently, she crept down the stairs, stopping in her tracks once she sees her father asleep on the couch. She walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab whatever food she could.

Suddenly, as she closed the fridge, an empty beer bottle struck the left side of her delicate face, smashing on impact. 

"You are not leaving this house!" her father boomed at her as he grabbed her wrists and dragged her behind him. 

The child kicked, screamed, and begged. But he refused to let go.   

"Let the girl go," a strange voice demanded. Elizabeth and her father looked up, watching black smoke appear and spiral in front of them. The smoke dispersed slowly, revealing a tall man in a black suit with a crimson red tie standing before them. 

"And if I don't?" he questioned.

"I'll make you release her," He threatened as a black-bladed sword formed in his hand. Still, the father refused to release the struggling girl.

The strange man was slowly becoming more irritated. With sword in hand, he approached the girl's father. When the father refused a third time, the stranger struck him down with a single strike.

Elizabeth screamed as her father dropped dead in front of her. However, part of her felt a sense of... Happiness. She had lived a painful life. She looks up as a hand reaches out to her kindly.

"Come, child," the stranger said. "I will take you somewhere safe. Where you will be loved and cared for. You can have everything you ever wanted."

Elizabeth sat there hesitantly, considering his deal. She barely knew him but felt she could trust him. She slowly took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. 

"How about this?" He began as if sensing her hesitation. "Stay for a few weeks. If by the end of the time frame you're unhappy, I will take you to an orphanage where you will be taken to a normal family. If you're happy, you can live with me and I can adopt you as my own."

She considered her options. Either go with him and possibly be happy or go to an orphanage for a normal life. But to her, normal was boring. She was young, but not stupid. She wanted more information on him.

"What's your name?" She questioned him.

"Lucifer," he replied. "Lucifer Dawn."

"How did you make that sword? And what about all the smoke?"

He chuckled darkly. "I guess I have no choice now. I am not human. If I am anything, I'm a monster."

She raised an eyebrow at him, not believing a word he was saying. He just smiled. She was about to question him further when she noticed something that both shocked and terrified her.

His teeth were crystal white, with razor-sharp fangs. His ears were pointed like an elf's ears and his eyes were dark red. In fear, she stepped backwards towards the stairs. She watched in horror as horns sprouted from the top of his head and a tail with an arrow-head tip grew from his lower back. He took off his suit jacket, letting black, bat-like wings grow from his back. Smoke flowed from his hand, shaping something. Once it dispersed, a large, black pitchfork with red tips stood in its place. 

Elizabeth wasn't easy to scare, but this terrified her. She didn't move or speak. All Elizabeth could do was stare at him.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her and clouded her vision. The last thing she saw before darkness filled her vision, was the Devil himself, running forward to catch the fainting girl.