I was sitting on a park bench by the fountain, my laptop was on my lap because I was working on a college assignment.

I was too immersed in the essay I was writing that I didn’t notice him entering the park from the side entrance. He walked straight to my bench and sat beside me, grinning.

“You know, you can never run away from me.” Marcus rubbed my thigh, unannounced.

I pulled away, but he moved closer to me and started rubbing my back this time, wrapping his other hand around me.

A man emerged from the crowd near the fountain and walked slowly towards it. He was wearing a black suit and clearly looked very classy.

“Greetings, lady and gentleman,” He said with a thick Boston accent, “May I know what the commotion is?”

“That doesn’t concern you,” Marcus slurred his words, positioning himself between me and the man and me.

The man smiled, “Does it not? Because I see a very different situation with my little eyes”.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing but what you hear, young man.” Something about his tone felt off, “May I talk to you in private? Let’s leave this lady be”.

The man didn’t wait for a response. He walked a few meters away and stood there, arms crossed, clearly waiting for Marcus.

Marcus hesitated for a bit before getting up and following him. They talked for about eight minutes before Marcus walked away towards the park exit. I noticed that his walking pace was faster than normal and that he was looking over his shoulder every few seconds.

The man then walked up to, “I apologize for his rather inadequacy. He surely is a handful!"

“Thanks,” I replied, closing my laptop, “He’s just my ex and erm, he’s a little bit petty since I broke up with him”.

“Seems like it.” The man was very cheerful, “Be worried about him not, he’s just too eager and foolish for his own good”.

He extended his hand, “May I have the honor?”

I shook it, “Jessica, you?”

He smiled, “Pleasure to meet you, Jessica! My name is” He then rotated his head slightly to the left “Lucifer”.

His eyes then turned dark red, and a circle of what seemed like flames surrounded his irises.

He let go of my hand and walked back towards the fountain, whistling.

“Okay. What the heck was whatever I just saw?” I thought to myself. Maybe the lack of sleep really got to me.

A few weeks later. I was at a tech conference that was hosted two towns over. My friend had gifted me a VIP ticket for my birthday, so I headed immediately to the VIP section.

The section was nothing like what I was expecting. Luxury wine, tech billionaires in every single corner, people playing poker with bet amounts that would pay my tuition for several years.

I sat at a corner table and got served a luxury Screaming Eagle that cost more than my groceries for four months.

Then, I saw him again. That Lucifer guy was standing by the bar counter and complaining to the bartender about how his wine tasted too flat.

“You call this a Screaming Eagle? It tastes more like a bloody scared chick searching for its mother.” He laughed, “Bring me a challenge, young man”.

He walked over to me, “Greetings, Jessica”.

“Hello,” I felt very out-of-place.

“Pleased to see someone with a brain here,” He pulled a chair. “Most of these pathetic degenerates are too damn drunk to tell apart a circle from a right-angled triangle”.

I was amazed at how he casually called the tech billionaires around us “pathetic degenerates. We talked for a bit, and he mostly asked about how college was going for me and such.

He also kept making these little snarky comments about each of the wealthy people around us. They sounded overly personal, but I completely brushed that off as jokes.
The event wasn’t particularly interesting or charming, and we ended up leaving early because the speeches the tech people were giving bored us to an insufferable extent.

“So,” I asked Lucifer as we walked out the main gate, “What do you do for a living?”

”Well,” He smiled a little, “I prefer to keep that undisclosed“.

Odd. People usually aren’t insecure about their jobs, but okay. “Is Lucifer like a stage name or something?”

“No, I’m afraid”.

“Wait, so. Your real, legal name is Lucifer?” I asked in confusion.

“Let’s just say that I have some very interesting parents”.

In all honesty. Lucifer was kind of charming, somewhat smart, and funny. But I kind of also think that he’s not my type. Regardless, I’ve got my own boyfriend now.

My meetings with Lucifer were less frequent as college exams came by, and I was also busy with networking events and my own family matters. I’d meet him in the restaurants around our area or bars sometimes, and we’d chat for a bit.

I once mentioned him to my roommate, Melisa, jokingly saying that he fit her exact type. She took it very seriously and started asking me a lot of questions about him. It was hilarious.

“So this Lucifer guy you’re talking about,” She started one night, “You know if he’s single or not?”

“Goodness Gracious Melisa! Can you be more subtle?” I giggled from my bed.

“No-No, I just, um, was c-curious.” She was blushing.

I laughed, “I don’t know, I never cared enough to ask him”.

“Do you, um, perhaps, have any pictures of him?”

“Girl. You’re killing me. What’s on your mind?” I put down my phone.

“Nothing! I’m just asking.” She got up and practically bolted to the kitchen. Which is weird considering this lady is the worst cook humanity would ever get to know.

The morning after. I went shopping with Melisa for new clothes in the local mall. I was browsing the hoodies section when I heard his steps behind me.
“Oh, hello,” He waved his hand, holding what looked like a black leather suit in his other hand.

“Hey Lucifer,” I replied casually.

Melisa was in the jeans section examining some Rock band jackets. She threw the jackets on the table in front of her and literally ran towards Lucifer and me.

“H-Hi, Mr. Lucifer sir, mister!” She stammered awkwardly, extending her hand.

Lucifer smiled, “Hello, stranger.” He shook her hand firmly.

I was now invested in seeing how this would turn out. So I mindlessly headed towards the shirts section, pretending to be interested in some polo shirts while staring them down at the corner of my eye.

They didn’t talk. But I noticed that Melisa kept sticking to Lucifer’s side as he browsed leather suits. She followed him from section to section in the store, probably rambling about her goofy fashion choices. He just nodded and acknowledged her in silence; he didn’t seem like he was annoyed.

I kept unfolding shirts and checking them while watching Melisa slowly pull away from Lucifer in what I think was an attempt to make herself less obvious. Very cute.

After the shopping spree, which caused a lot of financial distress for both of us. Melisa insisted on going to church because she was “feeling too guilty”.

I’m usually pretty bored by all of this fancy religion stuff, but I sighed and followed Melisa into the local old church, “House of the Blessed”.

Priest Martin greeted all of us with his warm, tired smile. “I see you have brought another believer,” He pointed at Lucifer. “Welcome, new soul.”

Lucifer smiled, and we all headed to the locked room in one of the church corners. Martin unlocked it to let us in and then sealed it back shut.

We all sat on the old oak wood chairs that kept squeaking. Martin sat at the head of the table, spreading his hands.

“Dear souls’ He started his usual speech, “Our Lord is Loving, Merciful, and Gracious. He loves us so much that he gave us his one and only Son, as a gift to redeem us from Satan’s lies and temptation”.

Lucifer’s jaw clenched a little at the last part about Satan. He still kept his smile and chill demeanor.
“Now, Confessions are sacred. Speak freely. None shall judge you”.

Silence hit. Deafening, heavy. Everybody stared at the table without mouthing a word. Martin simply folded his hands and kept smiling as he always did.

“Since nobody is speaking,” Lucifer started with a soft tone, “I’ll have to make this more fun. Tell me, all of you. What is it you desire?”

Something about that question made me pause. I’ve read a lot of stories about how the Devil uses that question to trigger temptation, but I dismissed all of it as baseless storytelling.

A strong feeling of surrealness hit me, and my mind raced through thoughts that I’d never imagine otherwise: “I want to kill Marcus,” I found myself saying before snapping to reality again, “W-What? What did I say?” I muttered under my breath.

I noticed that everybody’s eyes had grown wild and glassy. People started confessing things that would land them a death sentence as their desires.

Even Martin confessed that he sometimes wished to go to nightclubs. Something I never expected our kind priest to ever say.

Martin stared at Lucifer with a weird look in his eyes; “Who are you?” He asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Lucifer giggled, “A believer, as you called me, Father”.

Martin quickly unlocked the room and waved for all of us to leave. Confessions are usually held for ten to twenty minutes. This one ended in five.

It was evening when we came out of the church. Streets were empty and silent except for the sounds of crickets and the occasional sound of a passing-by car in the distance.

“Um, ladies,” Lucifer turned to us, “I think it may be safer for me to take home. LA’s streets get silly during this time of the day”.

I looked at Melisa, and she nodded in agreement. We both didn’t mind his offer. It was pretty sweet, actually.

We followed him to the parking lot, but as we were walking around the rows of cars to find his. Two men emerged from behind a black SUV, pointing handguns and screaming at us to get on our knees.

Lucifer and I immediately got down on our knees, but Melisa just kept staring at the gunmen with an expression I could not read. She didn’t seem to worry at all about Desert Eagles being pointed at her face.

Lucifer quickly shot her a look, and she got down too, putting her hands over her head. They exchanged looks, and it seemed like a whole conversation was going on between them.

“Um, hello,” Lucifer addressed the gunmen, “Let’s make a beautiful deal”.

“Don’t you try anything funny.” One of them barked back, pointing his gun at Lucifer.

“No, no,” Lucifer giggled, “All I ask is that you send this young lady here on her way.” He pointed at me.

The gunman hesitated for a moment, scratching his head and pacing around me for a solid minute before muttering “Fine” under his breath.

Both Lucifer and Melisa quickly turned towards me. Melisa mouthed “run”, and Lucifer whispered, “Don’t look back”.

I got up and sprinted out of the parking lot, ignoring my legs’ burning with pain, and wheezing the whole way. Lucifer told me not to look back, but curiosity got the better of me.

I hid behind the lot wall and peeked through the door. Lucifer and Melisa were on their feet now, smiling at the gunmen.

BAM BAM BAM. The gunmen shot at them, but…to my surprise, they didn’t flinch. Lucifer’s suit was torn, and blood spilled from his chest, yet he stayed standing. Melisa didn’t even stumble back from the bullet.

“W-What is this?” I muttered to myself, pressing myself even more against the parking lot door. My knees started buckling and going weak because of fear, and I hit the pavement hard as my eyes quickly blacked out.

I was unable to move for about five minutes. I heard screaming, begging, and laughing from the direction of the lot, but I couldn’t see or react to anything.

In the sixth minute, I heard footsteps rushing towards me, followed by a loud sliding down and Melisa shouting my name.

“Oh no, no, no. She must’ve seen us,” Her voice cracked. I felt hands pushing into my chest and others gently slapping my cheek.

My eyes slowly pried open, and my vision was somewhat glassy and weird. I saw Melisa sitting beside me, tears rolling down her cheeks as she saw me wake up.

I looked around for Lucifer. He was still inside the parking lot, whispering to one of the gunmen. The guy’s eyes were wide, and he was pinned against the wall by Lucifer, crying urgently.

He left the guy there and just walked towards me and Melisa, looking concerned, “What happened to you?”

I couldn’t form an answer; I kept just repeating the word “you” over and over again. Melisa asked me outright, “Did you look back?”, and I nodded.

She just hugged me and kept sobbing, while Lucifer stood in front of us, arms crossed. “Curiosity always gets them.”

I finally found my voice: “Who are you two?”

Melisa pulled from me and sat up, looking at Lucifer like she was waiting for some sort of agreement. Lucifer looked at me with pity, crouching near me, “Jessica, you need to know something.”

My heart started pounding in my chest, and I felt my eyes burning with tears. Melisa squeezed my hand hard and said: “Jessica, I…am not a human…”

“Neither of us is.” Lucifer continued.

“What? What are you, then?”

Melisa looked at me with wide eyes. She brushed tears off her eyes with her sleeves, and as long as her hand revealed her eyes, they were completely white. No irises. Nothing.

I stood up so fast my vision blurred, and backed off into the wall. Melisa stepped a bit closer to me, “No, no, no. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Her eyes turned back to normal. “Do I introduce myself?”

“Yes, fast,” I stammered.

“I’m Mavet. Also known as Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.” She put a hand on my shoulder, “Um, I’m the angel of death…”

“Wait,” My brain caught up, and I looked at Lucifer, “And you’re Lucifer as in…”

“The Devil,” He continued my sentence calmly, “Indeed.”
The world started spinning. Never in all of my twenty-one years of existence have I thought that I’d be standing in front of the Angel of Death and the Devil at the same time.

I recalled what Lucifer had done at the church: “That’s why you pulled their desires.”

“Precisely,” He assured.

I started stammering words and pointlessly apologizing as if I made some grave mistake. Melisa - Or Mavet, I guess - kept assuring me that everything is fine and that they’re not here to hurt anyone.

“But-But,” I was shaking violently, “Melisa, you-you were eating, drinking, and getting tired. You c-can’t be an angel.”

Mavet smiled, “Well, technically, I don’t need food, but I like the taste.”

Lucifer stepped closer, “I love you mortals’ pasta. I mean, how could we angels not come up with that?”

I managed to calm down for a bit. “So…you’re not here under some order by God or something?”

“No,” Mavet assured.

Lucifer’s smile grew wider. “God?”

I turned to him, “What?”

“Since when did you believe in His existence?” He started giggling.

“Oh no, I meant,” I tried coming up with an excuse, but my brain faced the cold truth. God does, in fact, exist.

“Ah, yes. You saw the eyes and the invulnerability, and suddenly, the white light appeared for guidance, and a believer was born!” He cackled loudly.

Mavet put her arm around me, “Let’s go, Jessica.”

“Wait,” Lucifer called, “Are we not going to that new place near the marina? They just opened last week, and tonight seems perfect”.

Mavet looked at me, “Yeah, let’s go have some fun.”

I was still fairly baffled. These two just shattered my whole belief system and are now discussing night plans like it’s nothing?

Regardless, we went to Lucifer’s black Mercedes-Benz G-Class and drove out of the parking lot, heading south towards the marina.

“So,” I addressed Mavet, “When you kept going out for lectures, where were you actually going?”

“Well, I am Death. What do you expect me to do?”

I turned to her, “You…”

“Take mortal souls,” She interrupted me, “It’s my job.”

I went silent for a little bit, trying to digest the piece of information Mavet had just dropped on me.

I remembered what I read about Lucifer in the college library, “And you,” I turned to Lucifer, “You run Hell, right?”

I saw him grin in the mirror, “Never thought I’d meet any fans.”

We pulled up and parked near this massive steakhouse a few blocks from the marina. The place was pretty empty, so we found a seat quickly.

After about three minutes of awkward silence, a waitress headed towards us with a smile on her face, “Hi. What can I get you tonight?”

“I’m gonna have some salad,” I said, looking at her.

“Can I get a well-cooked Ribeye?” Lucifer leaned in his chair.

“I’ll have a medium-rare Filet,” Mavet pointed at something on the counter.

Lucifer turned to me, “So, questions?”

“Many,” I crossed my hands on the table, “What are you doing on Earth?”

“Me personally, I’m having fun,” He replied.

Something clicked in my head. The scene of Mavet freaking out over Lucifer and being extremely flirtatious replayed in my eyes.

“Are angels allowed to love each other?” I tried not to be subtle with my question.

“Uhh, maybe,” Lucifer had a confused expression on his face,” Why would you ask that?”

“I’m just…curious.” I smiled a little, trying to hide what’s on my mind.

I could tell he was very skeptical, but he didn’t say anything at the time. Our food arrived, and we ate in silence.

We left the steakhouse after having an amazing dinner, and Lucifer paid for the whole bill. Which actually surprised me.

A question occurred to me while we were heading back to the car, “Um, do you really tempt people?” I addressed Lucifer.

“You too?” He quickly shot back, glaring at me

“No…no, I’m-I’m sorry,”

“You too confuse me with that god-foresaken menace?” His voice was sharper.

“What menace?” Mavet asked, turning to Lucifer.

He started shaking and covered his face with his hand, all while making these disappointed grunting sounds that sent chills down my spine.

“Get in the car,” He gestured at the car door.

Mavet and I exchanged looks before quickly getting into the car. Lucifer quickly pulled out of the parking area and then drove away. His hands gripped the wheel hard.

“Are you not going to answer my question?” Mavet’s voice cracked, “What menace are you talking about?”

Lucifer didn’t respond. He just kept looking forward and driving with an intensity that made my blood freeze in my veins,

“Ever feel a desire to outright commit a sin?” Lucifer asked me directly, “The desire to just burn a building down or murder someone?”

“Yes,” I replied, awkwardly, “I ignore these thoughts as my brain being weird”.

“Well, that’s not you. It never was you.”

“Um, What?”

“When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them a whole garden and a tree to eat from…”
“The Tree of Life” Mavet whispered.

“And He forbade them from touching the Tree of Knowledge” Lucifer sighed heavily, “But a snake, a mere snake tempted Eve, and then Adam into disobeying God.”

My heart was going to jump out of my chest, “After that, the spirit that possessed that snake was banished from Heaven. I was tasked with throwing it straight down to the Earth. The spirit was so evil, so nefarious and cursed that the ground of Earth refused to touch it. It ripped open as the spirit flew into it, creating a massive pit.”

Lucifer’s eyes were burning in the rear-view mirror, “It was Satan - The Tempter, Accuser, and damn adversary that both Hell and Heaven united to destroy with all of their might.”

My brain buffered for a moment, “Are you not~”

“No!” Lucifer slammed the brakes, “Do not compare me to that thing. I am not evil, I punish evil.”

“But you said you were the Devil”.

Lucifer turned to me, “I am. I’m not Satan, however. We, simply, are not the same.”

“He’s right,” Mavet’s voice was barely audible, “Lucifer doesn’t like when people mistake hilm for Satan.”

Lucifer’s expression softened, and he parked in an empty spot near the marina. He got out, Mavet and I followed.

He leaned against the marina wall, watching stars and boat light in the distance, “How did you know?”

A collective “Huh?” Came out of me and Mavet in confusion as we stumbled our way near Lucifer

“You,” He turned to Mavet, “How did you know that I hate being mistaken for Satan? I do not recall telling anyone.”

Mavet started shaking. Sweat formed on her forehead as Lucifer stepped closer to her, “I-I…just…guessed, maybe~”

Lucifer smiled, “You cannot possibly guess such a thing with such a high accuracy” He crossed his hands, “Tell me, Death. What is it you desire?”

Mavet stopped shaking, “I-I-I want to…”

“Go ahead. Say all you have.”

“I…just want to be with you,” Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.

Even Lucifer backed off for a bit. His jaw dropped and he scratched his head in disbelief. “That was fairly…unexpected.”

He turned back to look at the sea, watching stars flicker in the distance. “Since when?”

“I don’t know,” Mavet cried, “I don’t know when it started.”

“Well,” Lucifer turned to her, “It is an absurdity that the Devil has a lover,” He grabbed her hand, smiling, “And it is even more absurd that said lover is Death.”

A tear rolled down Mavet’s cheek. She threw herself into Lucifer’s chest, sobbing and laughing uncontrollably. “Can I even begin to explain the weight of the load you got off my chest?”

“Love is heavy, So heavy, in fact, that it drags most humans to Hell” He hugged her tightly.

“We aren’t humans, are we?” She looked up at him with wide eyes.

“No, darling.”

It honestly was very nice seeing them together like that. It made me completely forget that they were celestial beings who just survived shotgun shots a few minutes ago.

We all went home after that wild evening, and I was unable to sleep after what I saw. The fact that the Devil, and the Angel of Death are simply dwelling among us is something extremely unbelievable. Not only that, they’re loving…

The next morning, Mavet was already awake. She was standing by the window, looking down at the people with an expression I could not read.

“Morning,” I mumbled, with my sleepy voice.

She didn’t respond, just kept looking down the window like she was analyzing something. “Notice anything weird?”

“I mean, what could be more weird than what I saw yesterday?”

“A lot,” She turned to look at me, “I need to test something.”

“Test what?” I grabbed some pizza from the fridge.

“Have you had any weird dreams in the past few days?”

“Yeah, all night long” I leaned against the kitchen counter, “I keep seeing nightmares of myself doing terrible stuff.”

“Like what?” She asked urgently.

“Stealing, breaking into houses, punching random people, just to name a few. Why do you ask?”

“Are such dreams normal for you?”

“No…But I don’t really mind them.”

Her face became pale, and she grabbed my hand and sprinted to the door, “I need to tell Lucifer.”

“Tell him what?” I yanked my hand away.

“Come on, let’s go” She left me no room to ask anymore questions.

She got downstairs, out the building, and ran towards our local coffee shop. I followed her, wearing my pajamas and sandals.

She stood at the coffee shop entrance, scanning the room. Her eyes landed on the guy slowly sipping his coffee at a corner table. Lucifer, of course.

“How did you even know~”

“I’ll explain later” She cut me off, heading towards the corner table.

“Lucifer!” She practically shouted.

“Oh, hello” He slowly turned to us, unbothered.

Mavet was panting, catching her breath, “There’s a big problem.”

“Morning to you too, honey” He smiled.

“There’s no time for this, Luci,” She pointed at me, “Tell him what you dream of.”

I explained my dreams awkwardly to Lucifer. His face got increasingly more concerned as I stated more details, and he started asking more specific questions.

When I finished, Lucifer and Mavet were looking at each other with intense expressions. “Am I in trouble? What’s happening?”

Lucifer turned to me, “I think we all are.”

His words made my skin crawl, “What-What do you mean?”

Lucifer and Mavet bolted out the shop, and quickly headed to the local church. Mavet flagged the first priest she saw, “I need to ask a very important question.”

“How may I help?” The priest smiled warmly.

“Have you been getting many complaints about weird dreams and visions recently? Or maybe weird confessions?”

The priest frowned, “Ma’am, I’m not going to give such information, I am required to~.”

“I’m not asking for literal confessions,” Mavet cut him off, “All I want to know is if they’ve been weird.”

The priest hesitated for a moment, “Yes, ma’am, they were.”

Lucifer held his head in his hands, “No, no, no. This can’t be happening”

“I’m afraid it is,” Mavet whispered.

“What is happening?” I asked loudly.

“Do you really desire to know?” Lucifer said in a sarcastic tone.

“You know Satan, right?” Mavet asked me.

“Yes.”

“We have reason to believe that Hell failed to contain him” Lucifer’s face showed visible anger. “I left those damn demons in there for a few centuries and they can’t even fulfill their basic bloody duties.”

The words landed on me like lightning, “What do you mean ‘Hell failed’?”

“What part of it do you not understand?” Lucifer gestured with his hands, “The dreams, the desires, the confessions. All of it is his bloody doing.”

“What will we do?” Mavet asked, crying.

“We’re gonna have to go there and fix it,” Lucifer replied.

“Go where?” My head spinned in circles.

“To Hell,” Lucifer’s reply hit me like a brick wall.

“H-How…” Mavet’s eyes were full of tears.

“Given that we can’t just Uber there, we’re gonna have to use our powers.”

“What about me?” I pointed a finger at my chest.

“You’re gonna have to come with us,” Mavet said, coldly, “There’s no way for us to know if Satan’s influence is working or not without you.”

“W-Why?”

“We’re immune to him;” Lucifer shrugged, “Only humans can feel his pull.”

I swallowed my spit, “I don’t want to go to Hell. Not after I finally found God.”

“You’re not going to stay there,” Mavet assured, “You’ll come back.”

“Are you s-sure?”

“As sure as I can be;” Lucifer stared at the wall behind him.

“How are we even going there?” I asked both of them.

“Perhaps,” Mavet looked at Lucifer, “She doesn’t have to know?

“What do you mean?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Remember how we used to carry souls up to Silver City?”

Lucifer’s eyes lit up with recognition. He turned to me, “Jessica, um, I need you to understand something.”

“Understand what?”
“Humans are forbidden from knowing the way to Hell,” Lucifer crossed his arms, “None shall be there on their own.”

“What? How am I supposed to get there with you, then? Do I just put a fold on my eyes or something?”

Mavet giggled, “No, you’ll be asleep.”

“Excuse me?” I muttered in confusion.

Lucifer stepped forward, “She’s correct. We’re going to put you to sleep.”

I inched back, “What do you mean ‘put me to sleep’? I haven’t even fully comprehended that you guys are the ACTUAL Devil and Angel of Death, and you expect me to go with you on a trip to the Kingdom of the Damned while asleep? Do you hear how absurd that sounds?”

“When you put it like that, it does sound absurd. Yeah” He replied, smiling, “Counterpoint, do you desire to save the Earth and everybody you love?”

“I mean, yeah, but~”

“Then you’re gonna have to come with us,” Mavet cut me off, “There will be no harm.”

“How can there be no harm in the actual Hell?”

“Hell is my domain!” Lucifer snapped, “I control who it hurts and who it doesn’t! So, quit this human hesitation and do something to save the Creation from Satan’s influence.”

“I-I want to help, but you can’t understand how horrible going to Hell seems to a human”

He laughed bitterly, “Oh, I do! I punish humans in Hell, remember? It cannot hurt you in my presence.”

“Okay, well, if that’s the case…I will do all I can to help.”

Mavet smiled, “Good. The realms will remember you for what you’ve done.”

“Let’s go, now. We’ve got no time” Lucifer headed to his car, which was parked near the coffee shop.

Mavet and I followed, practically sprinting, and shuffling into the car as fast as we could.

“To where?” I asked, as Lucifer turned on the ignition.

“To be eternally damned!” Lucifer shouted, hitting the gas. “What? It’s a joke. You know? Hell? Damnation?”

Nobody responded, “God, you people can’t get a joke.”

We drove for hours until we were completely out of LA. We were in a desert near the north of the city when Lucifer turned the car off and motioned for us to get off of it.

“Where are we?”

Neither responded to my question. They continued walking further into the desert, so I followed them in silence. After about fifteen minutes of walking, Lucifer turned to me, “Alright, this is it.”

He shot Mavet a look, and she nodded and walked towards me, putting her fingers on my arm, “Breath, Jessica.”

I took a long breath, and I saw a tiny glow under Mavet’s finger tips. I wanted to ask her about it but my words came out slurred, “W-W-What is…t-t-this?”

“Shhh…” She put her other hand on my mouth, “Just breath, this won’t take long.”

She was right. It did not take long for my eyes to start going out. I instinctively kept trying to keep them open but whatever was making me sleep was too powerful for me to resist.

Whilst asleep, I continued to see weird dreams of myself doing things I’d never do in real life. Stealing, killing, bullying, and a lot of other horrible things. The dreams were getting increasingly vivid and scary. I vaguely also remember a strange red and tall figure standing over me in one of the dreams.

I couldn’t hear or feel anything. I was just stuck in that loop of terrible dreams that kept getting worse and worse. After what I believe to be sixteen hours of sleeping, I heard Mavet’s faint voice whispering my name.

I slowly opened my eyes. My head felt like it was hammered a thousand times, and I grunted as Lucifer’s smile grew clearer, “Morning!” He shouted, extending his hand to help me get on my feet.

I got up, and looked around the place. We were in what seems to be a cave, standing on a stone platform surrounded by flaming lava that blinded my eyes. In the corner of the cave, there was a door that was sealed with burnt metal bars and dark red vines.

Lucifer saw the confusion and awe on my face, “Welcome to the Woe. The lowest point of Hell.”

“Why do I feel extremely wrong being here?” I asked, reaching to touch the ground below me.

Mavet slapped my hand away, “I advise you don’t.”

“It’s just stone?”

“Hellstone, to be precise;” Lucifer corrected; “Touch it and your hand will vanish like salt in water”

I turned to him, “I feel an insane urge to not be here…”

“Well, it’s Hell,” He gestured at the place, “Nobody wants to be here.”

“But what I feel is~”

“Unnatural?” Mavet interrupted, “All humans do not desire to be here. It is of your nature.”

“Shall we get moving?” Lucifer headed towards the door.

He dragged the red vines away, and pushed the bars to open the door, then got in. Mavet followed him. When I tried to walk through the door, I felt a strong hand yank me back.

“What are you doing here?” A voice called from behind. It sounded like a thousand people speaking at the same time.

The hand spun me around, and pinned me to the stone wall. The thing got in my face, its face was red, its eyes were pitch black and it had red wings that flocked as it levitated off the ground.

“Leave her alone, you idiot!” Lucifer’s voice called from my right. He came running, and dragged the thing away, slamming it into the opposite stone wall.

“But my Lord,” The thing replied, with its loud voice, “She’s a human~”

“I know,” Lucifer interrupted. His eyes were glowing, “Do not lay a hand on anyone in my presence, do you understand?”

“Yes, my Lord” It let go of me, flying away.

I dropped to my knees, gasping for air and holding my burnt throat. Lucifer helped me up again, “That guy is Charon - Guardian demon of the Woe,” He turned to the demon, who was now standing by the wall, “And he still needs some bloody discipline.”

I entered through the now-opened door. There was a long bridge leading to another sealed door, and under it, there was a massive pit of abnormally bright flames. I covered my eyes with my hands from the light.

“Why is this lava so damn bright?” I grunted, pointing downwards.

“Hellfire burnt for ten thousand years to be red,” Lucifer turned to me, “Another ten thousand years to be blue, and the last ten thousand years made it bright white.”

“And where are the damned souls?”

“You’re not allowed to see them,” Mavet pointed at me, “You’re living. Only the dead sees another dead.”

Lucifer opened the other door. Instantly, we heard a loud thud that rattled the walls and rumbled the roof of the cave. Bright sparks came out as what I think was a ginormous chain was being dragged across the floor on the other side of the door.

Lucifer and Mavet, and looked at each other. Shivers went down my spine due to the loud thuds coming through the door as that chain was dropped and dragged multiple times.

At that moment, I felt something inside me speak. It was some sort of urging voice whispering things I couldn’t make out. I started looking around for the source of the voice.

“Feel something?” Lucifer’s voice cracked.

“I feel kind of funny.”

“That can’t be good,” Mavet’s irises disappeared off her eyes, scaring me even more.

We went through the door. There was a massive court, roofed by metal bars that made the sky visible. In the distance, I could see two winged creatures similar to the one I met at the first door flying around the area. They had tridents and were way bigger and nastier.

They headed toward us the second they saw us come in. One of them bowed to Lucifer, “My Lord~”

“Don’t you tell me,” Lucifer put his hand on his forehand, “Did he leave?”

The demon pointed at a farther corner in the sky. There was another winged creature, but this one was more reptile-like, bigger. Its breath omitted red fumes, and its claws could probably rip through steel.

I instantly felt an insane urge to not get in that room, but Mavet held my hand and helped me walk forward against my body’s will. As we walked towards that creature, Lucifer’s eyes grew more red and the fire around his irises was brighter.

A loud voice pierced my ear, “Ah, yes. Here he is. My favourite Devil”

The voice made my skin crawl, and the hair on my hands creeped up. “I’m nobody’s favourite. Especially not yours,” Lucifer walked up to the creature.

“Interesting,” The voices responded in a cheerful tone, “I’m just trying to make you see how I, out of all, actually respect you.”

“I’d rather have been hated by all of Creation than be respected by you, Satan.”

The creature got on the ground. Its head lowered to face Lucifer, “Really? Because last time I checked, nobody asked the Devil what HE desires.”

Lucifer stepped back, “I desire to punish sin, and you are the origin of it all.”

The creature’s head snapped toward me and Mavet, “Oh, and I see you brought company. We’ve got the Destroyer of Worlds and…a human? What is she doing here?”

Mavet pushed me aside, “She is not of your concern.”

Satan giggled, “Alright, then. Calm down, Queen.”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” Mavet stepped forward, but Lucifer dragged her back, “He’s not worth it.”

At that moment, the massive chain was thrown from behind us, it slammed into Satan’s head and wrapped around his neck, bringing him down onto the ground. A part of the chain nearly whipped Lucifer’s back.

“Hey, Luca! Watch where you throw that thing, bloody hell!” Lucifer stumbled forward.

“My apologies,” The demon called from behind us.

“Your demons got sloppy, Devil,” Satan growled, “Ever since you started going on your silly vacations to Earth.”

Lucifer turned to Satan, who was now laughing on the ground. “You do not get to tell me when my demons are sloppy and when they are not.”

“Come on, Prince of Lies,” Satan smiled, revealing his long teeth, “We’re on the same team. We both hate this place.”

“We both desire to end Heaven’s rule and create our own world,” He added, turning his head at an abnormal angle.

Lucifer froze in place. He seemed to be reflecting on something, “I mean, I don’t like how Heaven kicked me out either…”

“Yes,” Satan replied, “It was unjust, right?”

Mavet’s face hardened. She lunged towards Lucifer and pressed firmly against his shoulders.

His eyes snapped back to their red-ish glow, and he gently pulled her hands away, “Thank you.”

He marched towards Satan, “How dare you!” His voice was deeper, more menacing.

Satan turned his head to me, “And you, sweet little one…Do you not feel like being here is your choice?”

I for some reason thought deeply about that question, “Well, maybe…”

I found myself walking towards Satan, but I could not stop, “They brought you here, to Hell, against your will, did they not? He added.

“Kind of,” I replied, still walking toward him.

I did not stop walking until I was directly in front of his hand, “I really want to be back home…”

“Jessica!” Lucifer called from behind, “He’s Satan, remember?” but his voice was more distant. I could only hear Satan’s voice now.

“Do you really desire to leave?” Satan asked, cheerfully.

I was about to respond, when two other massive chains fell on top of Satan and wrapped tight around. I could finally hear Lucifer’s voice again, “Luca, Milan, drag him out of here.”

The chains pulled Satan above and then away. Mavet ran toward me, “Jessica!”She hugged me tightly, “God, I thought we lost you.”

She pulled away, and turned to look at Lucifer, who was now watching the two demons drag Satan away. He turned, and a really confused expression settled on his face, “What is that red liquid on you, Mavet?” He pointed at Mavet’s leg.

Sure enough, a red, sticky liquid was slowly dripping from Mavet’s thigh, she wiped it with her hand, “That’s blood…I-I can’t bleed…”

She looked at me, examining me carefully. Her expression got pale, and she stepped back from me, “Jessica…”

Lucifer stepped forward, “What is~” He didn’t complete his sentence, just kept staring at my stomach in shock.

I looked down, and there was a pool of blood on my clothes. My skin was ripped and the wound was massive.

“I-I-I-I…” I suddenly felt dizzy, and dropped to the ground. Mavet caught me, and gently helped me stay up.

“What the hell happened?” She demanded, looking at Lucifer.

Lucifer looked behind him, where Luca and Milan were securing Satan’s chains to massive bolts in the wall. Satan’s left claw was covered in blood.

“That bloody creature!” He screamed.

Mavet turned to me. Her face was full of untamed fury, “Stay here, okay?”

She got up, and marched towards Satan. Lucifer tried to stop her, but she just pushed him aside and kept walking.

She flew straight into Satan’s neck, delivering a punch that made him scream in agony. “I want you dead! I want your bloody soul!

Her fingers started glowing again, and she reached for Satan’s neck, but Milan dragged her back as fast he could. “Ma’am, please save your powers. You will not accomplish anything”

She came back to me, “How are you feeling?”

The pain was too intense for me to respond, so I just smiled and nodded. Lucifer took a look at me, “Mavet, I~”

He sat beside me, examining my hand, “I’m sorry…” His voice cracked.

“What do you mean?” Mavet cried, getting up.

He rolled up my sleeve, four glowing spots appeared on my arm. Mavet saw them and stumbled back, “No, no, no, no!”
He hugged her, “I’m sorry, honey, I’m really sorry…”

“You said she can’t be hurt here!” Mavet cried in his chest, “You said Hell won’t hurt her in your presence!”

“Satan is different, darling…” Even through my blurring vision, I could see the tear rolling down his cheek, “I can’t protect anyone from him.”

“At last;” She wiped her tears, “She gets to leave this place and have eternal peace.”

She came and knelt down beside me. I realized that the demons behind stopped moving, and that the fire was frozen in place.

“Jessica, I’m sorry, but…You’re dying”

I felt my heart physically stop moving. I don’t know if it’s out of fear or something else. “The good news is that you’re not going to stay here.” She added.

I still was unable to speak or move, but I felt tears burning behind my eyes and rolling down on my face. She put her finger tips on the tiny glowing spots on my arm.

“Have eternal peace, Jessica Martinez,” She squeezed my hand gently. I felt as if my skin was being ripped out of my body. I screamed in more pain than I could ever perceive…

After about thirty seconds of pure agony, I felt relief wash over me, as if nothing had happened. I got up, and looked down…to see myself. My body was laying on the ground. My eyes slowly closed, and my body was motionless.

I wanted to cry, but no tears came out. I watched Milan come forth and drag my lifeless body away while I was literally standing there.

At that moment, a voice called in a soothing tone:

”Welcome, new soul. You have won, for you are now in the greatest places of all”.

Light blinded my eyes, and when it went away. I saw that I was somewhere completely different. Gold walls. Marble towers. Some faint sound of music in the background.

Mavet was in front of me. She extended her hand to shake mine, “Jessica Martinez. I shall welcome you to the highest realm of existence. Welcome to Heaven.”

“A–A-Am I in a dream?” My voice unlocked itself.

”No,” The voice called from above, ”You are here, daughter.”
Mavet smiled warmly, “The voice you are hearing right now is Father - The Lord.”

“H-How?” I was extremely confused, “Why am I in Heaven? I spent my whole life as an atheist and-and~”.

“If even the Devil can be redeemed;” A voice called from behind me, it was Lucifer’s, “Everybody else surely can.”

The end. Thank you for reading!