Lucifer's Possession (boyxboy)✔️

Chapter twelve: Red rain

The town was nothing like Jeremy had ever seen before. It was like the perfect mixture of stepping into the past and the future. Street stores were lined up on the one side of the bustling street while the other side contained more high-end stores that less people visited.

Doriani was bubbling with excitement while Jeremy timidly looked around. He was curious to see how Hell worked and functioned but the thought of Lucifer finding out frightened him and caused a sliver of doubt to run through his body. Doriani was oblivious to this and grabbed his hand to drag him along. Even though the streets were packed, nobody spared the pair a second glance. "Let's buy some food, I know a great place," Doriani exclaimed. The human's jaw slacked, "We just ate enough calories for a whole week!" The young man's steps halted momentarily, "Your point?" Jeremy sighed in defeat and mumbled, "You're trying to make me fat." The demon's response was only a cheeky smile that made Jeremy suspicious.

"Are you trying to make me fat?" Jeremy screeched in an embarrassingly high pitched voice that caused blood to shoot to his cheeks. Doriani then laughed, "Not my fault you smell like all my favourite foods had a baby." He didn't really know if he should take that as a compliment or not.

It was quickly made clear that Doriani's thoughts only consisted of food, and it was a miracle that he wasn't fat himself. Even the thought of eating more food had Jeremy gagging a little as he now watched the demon stuff more food into his mouth.

Jeremy tried to wait patiently for him to finish but the thought of Lucifer got him all paranoid and jittery. Doriani finally took notice and immediately knew the problem. "He'll most likely be gone for days," he started but noticed the boy's winch at his choice of words. Most likely wasn't exactly promising. Doriani chirped, "He also told me to keep you company and to do whatever we want!"

Jeremy peaked up at this, "Really?"

"Absolutely!" Answered the demon but the human couldn't see his crossed fingers behind his back.

Doriani finished his food and then the pair headed off to view the shops. The demons were similar to humans in a way but they were also very different in so many ways. Most of them had pointy tails and sharp, direct, reptile eyes that were either blood red or black as the galaxy. The two boys were happily roaming around now, and Jeremy had learnt to not overthink the situation or else he would find himself too freaked out with this world.

***

It started with one drop. No one noticed.

Then came one more.

And one more.

The busy street soon resembled a war zone with people screaming and running to shelter. The streets were now covered in red and it looked like a bloodbath. The red rain contained acid that etched people's skin, and Jeremy felt his skin melt away on his arms in small drop sized areas. He took a sharp breath and looked to Dorinani in panic who was already looking around for a safe place to be. It didn't take more than a second before he grabbed the boy's arm and ran to a nearby shop on the rich people's side.

Their hearts were hammering away in their chests when they finally reached the door,

got inside and closed the door behind them. With all the adrenaline pumping through his body, Jeremy felt like he could run a marathon even though be could barely get down the street without breathing like a whale.

"What can I do for you two?" A voice chirped, completely oblivious to the ruckus going on outside. Jeremy could barely hear him over the pounding of his heart but the kindness in his heart told him not to ignore the man— something Doriani seemed more than happy to do as he tended to his wounds. "Oh, hi, thank you for giving us shelter from the rain."

"Giving you what?" The man's mouth pinched together as he stared pointedly at the small human. Jeremy gulped, "Shelter." And decidedly added, "Sir."

"I am giving you no such thing! If you don't buy anything then get out, you're taking up the whole shop." He looked around in the empty shop, tempted to say something but he knew it wouldn't help the situation. Doriani, however, didn't seem to catch that memo and immediately fired back, "Your shop is literally empty apart from us and having met you, I can understand why."

The shop owner instantly grew red in his whole face, and it wouldn't have surprised Jeremy if steam suddenly came out of his ears like a cartoon character. "Get out!" He barked. The pair took one look outside at the heavy acid rain that now had caused flooding in the streets, and knew that would be a death sentence. While the rain only burned a little, getting drenched in the acid would surely mean a painful death.

Jeremy instantly picked up the nearest thing he could find and said, "Here I'll buy this." He looked down to see himself tightly holding a white vase with a single blue dot in its centre.

With what money, he thought.

The shop owner eyed him suspiciously and huffed, "Fine." Jeremy smiled: Problem solved. "That'll be seventy thousand gold coins," he looked at the pair expectantly, both their eyes were wide open. "Do you have a keychain or something?" Who on earth would buy a vase for so much money— No wonder the store was empty. The owner growled before slamming a keychain on the table, "80 gold coins." If the human and the demon had had water in their mouths, they would've spat it out by now. Jeremy looked at Doriani expectantly, "I kind of have no money."

Doriani rolled his eyes and started rummaging through his pockets, mumbling, "I can't believe I'm about to buy an 80 coined keychain and it's just a braided black string." The human smiled innocently and clasped his hands together, thinking Doriani would make a great friend. His mumbling ceased when he finally dug up his wallet and opened it, staring into it silently for a few long seconds. "What's wrong?" Asked the human. The demon cleared his throat and took out 10 coins, "We won't need a receipt."

The shop owner had had enough of those two and Jeremy nervously glanced at the furious man before turning back to Doriani, "Why didn't you give more money?" The demon bit his lip nervously, "I used it all on food."

Jeremy rolled his eyes, of course he did.

Deep wrinkles marred the clerk's face as his face set in a permanent scowl. He grabbed Jeremy's arm and pushed Doriani roughly towards the door. Their heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of the rain pelting down. The streets had long since been emptied and Doriani knew he had to think quickly because Jeremy had once more rendered himself useless to the happenings around him— exactly what happened when Kevin killed the innocent boy. Typical.

"Lord Lucifer won't be happy!" He suddenly yelled, setting his heels in the ground and stopping the large clerk from moving him further. He hesitated only for a moment but it was enough to motivate the demon, "The boy belongs to him. If he gets hurt, you'll pay for it." He had no idea if that was true but it seemed to do the trick because his tight grip on the boy's arm loosened enough for him to pull out with a hiss.

The shop owner scoffed but took a reluctant step back, "I trust you not to tell m'lord about this."

"If you let us stay." Jeremy finally found his voice and finished for him. The clerk nodded, "Of course." He then bowed slightly and went to fiddle with something behind the counter, ignoring to two boys completely. It was almost comical how differently he had behaved as soon as the big guy's name had been mentioned. Doriani understood it completely, having lived in Lucifer's mansion for years, but luckily Jeremy had never seen the devil in his true form when his emotions and power completely overtook him.

The time spent in the shop passed slowly and Jeremiah found himself very disoriented on how much time had passed. With no medical supplies in the store, the pair were forced to ignore their burns— some places more severe than others, but nothing that wouldn't heal in due time.

The doors to the shop suddenly burst open. They turned around startled and stared into the eyes of a seething Lucifer, his smooth skin, dripping wet.