Kissed By The Devil

1 - Can I call you Luci?

The pentagram sparkled in a hazy red light, the ground spewing ruby embers, and the candles thrashing violently. I shifted around on the ground, unfolding my legs from criss-cross-applesauce. I was a bit surprised when it happened, in books or movies they always depicted the Devil appearing in a raging cloud of flames, or crawling out of a crack leading to Hell. Yet once the flames dispersed, I was looking at a deep burgundy door, and a golden doorknob struggling to be turned. I stumbled to my feet and hesitantly reached my hand towards the doorknob, preparing myself in case it was hot. It wasn't, just a bit warm. I turned the knob, possibly about to open the gateway to Hell, and squinted at the brightness of the fire. There he was, at least I assumed, the Devil. He wore a formal ensemble, a black suit and tie, his thick black hair slicked back; he had a ruddy complexion, fair skin, and eyes that make you want to fall deeper. Unlike the pictures I had seen before, he looked clean. He adjusted his tie.

"May I come in?" His voice was deep, but smooth, almost purring every word.

I was completely dumbfounded, standing in front of an extremely handsome man that was conjured from a pentagram, unsure if he was actually the Devil or if I was still dreaming. "Are-are you the, well, are you Lucifer?"

"Who else would you have summoned?" The Devil asked me, flashing an amiable smile.

"I don't know, a demon, Cthulhu, or something." I said. "So, you are then?"

"Yes. Lucifer, just Lucifer." The man outstretched his hand, and I offered my own. Instead of shaking it, he brought the back of my hand to his lips, kissing it and leaving a burning sensation behind. "And your name?"

"Tara. Tara Matthews." I couldn't remember if it was faeries or Satan that you weren't supposed to give your name to. "You can come in."

"Such a normal name." He said, stepping out of the doorway. The actual Devil was in my house. The Devil. In my house.

"Would you have preferred I said something like Princess, or Precious?" Lucifer was no longer standing in the doorway, but the wine-colored door had yet to go away.

"No, I think I like Tara. Just usually I don't have normal people summon me." He snapped his manicured fingers and the door vanished. In most cases I would try to figure out how it managed to just disappear, but I had a fallen angel in my house; anything was believable.

"I don't think I'm allowed to call myself normal if I just summoned the Devil, but I'll take it." Lucifer began poking about my room, picking up photographs and judging my taste in books. Do they have books in Hell? His back was turned to me. I noticed prominent features were missing. His horns, his tail, his wings. Could he really be a fallen angel without his wings? Or I suppose that could be why he fell on literal terms.

"Well, to carry on to actual business matters. Why did you call me here?" Lucifer spun around to face me. He held the Bible. Then, after flipping through the pages and shaking his head disapprovingly, he tossed it aside.

"I uh..." I fiddled with my thumbs nervously.

"Did you really summon me here without a reason? You just performed an unholy ritual to summon the Devil, and didn't take time to—I don't know—think it would work?" He rubbed his brow as if to ward off an oncoming headache.

"No, I have a reason, but I was never going to actually do it because this wasn't supposed to work." I fell onto my bed. "I mean, you're real."

"Need to poke my hand just in case?" He joked. "Okay, well I'm here now. Get it over with."

"Um..." I swallowed hard, pushing down the bubbling nervousness. "I um...will you go out on a date with me?"

"A what?"

"A date. Like um, two people romantically interested in each other hang—"

"I know that social custom, just, are you being serious? How do you even come onto the topic of this?"

"I can't really remember, but I think it was sort of like—"

"I don't actually want to know." Lucifer crossed his arms and began tapping his foot in annoyance. "Alright well, looks like we're going on a date."

"For real? Do I have to sign a contract or something? Like sell my soul to you." I asked. I don't think I would have sold my soul, but I still needed to ask. I was surprised I hadn't fainted at the fact I had a demon accept my proposal. Of course only some otherworldly being said yes and not a human.

"Is that what churches teach you now? I've been away for so long. It should have been kept that way." He huffed out a long sigh. "You don't need a contract for something so trivial. Maybe if you asked me to kill someone, but not this."

"Um, sorry, still a bit in shock. Am I going on a date with Satan?"

"You can just use my name. And yes, yes I suppose you are."

"Mind if I call you Luci? Just sounds more normal than going around calling someone Lucifer. Actually, I have a lot of questions regarding—"

"I usually don't act so rude, cutting someone off mid-sentence, but if you could just be quiet for a moment, it would be greatly appreciated. Luci is fine."

"Alright, give me fifteen minutes and I'll be ready to go. You can just wait downstairs or—" With that, he left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Surprisingly enough, Luci was a lot more cool-headed than my aunt always made him out to be. Actually, he was a lot of other things. She had described him as a creaky old man who smelled like expired milk. In actuality, Lucifer was the most attractive person I had ever laid eyes on (which seems right considering he's just an angel that lost his way). I would add a disclaimer that that was an exaggeration, but I meant it in every way. Luci smelled like smoked cinnamon apple pie, or a crackling fire during Christmas. I guess my opinion was a bit biased considering I had taken an unusual liking to the Devil before he even arrived at my house.

It hit me then, for the first time in three minutes, that I was going on a date with the Devil.