Lucifer's Angel

Breathing.

An involuntary act that is the only action that keeps living beings alive. The precious sign of visible life. If one stops breathing, one stops living.

She's still breathing.

The gentle rise and fall of the girl's chest held my attention, soothing the angriest part of my soul. I stood silently in a corner of the dark room, a few strands of moonlight peeking though her peach curtains. The entire space gave off a calm aura, the cream colored walls and the bright white oleander sleeping in a vase on a wooden desk. But no matter how much of a relaxant this room is, nothing can quench the fiery hatred seething from my skin. I hate Satan, I hate God, I hate her and I hate myself.

The saint that lay on her bed will never again be able to receive the comfort of this room. Never again enjoy the moonlight that streams through her curtains. Never again see her precious crucifix that hung around her neck. Never once see what I have turned into.

I've blinded her.

It's my fault.

....................

"Ee hee hee, Lucie, Lucie, let the girl come out and play-ie!"

"Fuck off!" I yelled. The demons danced, they laughed, they stabbed. They wanted the saint, they wanted my saint.

From the moment we fell into Hell, these disfigured creatures called demons tried to take the girl from me. I've been using my body as a shield; her small stature making it easy for me to cover her. Now the demons taunt me, stabbing me on my sides, back and legs. They wanted me to scream; to abandon the girl and fight them. I refuse to let them get the better of me. I will not be fooled.

"Then I'll take an arm to cause you harm!"

There was nothing I could have done to defend myself from what happened next. I cursed as a grotesque demon stepped onto my back and grasped my already dislocated left arm. Like someone twisting a corkscrew, the beast twisted my arm round and round, muscle and bone snapping. Blinding pain engulfed me and I screamed my heart out as the limb finally detached in a flurry of blood. I could no longer move those fingers anymore, nothing was there. Nothing. It was then I realized this strange sound I kept hearing in the background was my own desperate cries. I don't recall ever screaming before, so this sound... sounds so... foreign and odd.

With a violent chomp on my lip, I ended that awful sound and only the chorus of giggling demons continued. I forced a strained glare at them before looking down at the suffering face of the girl. Her skin must be sensitive to the heat, so being here must be killing her. That is, if she isn't dead already. I suppose I am, from what she said... and I haven't 'died' from blood loss yet. And I still don't understand this primal urge to protect her from these evils, but I've learned to follow my instinct; they've never gotten me arrested after all. My eyes wavered and I felt my strength seeping out of my stump of an arm. Is it possible to die in Hell? Are we even dead!?

"Ssshhhheeeeeeeeeeh!"

I shakily looked over my shoulder to see why the disgusting demons now hissed rather than laughed. And I smiled.

"Karma... bitches."

A bright light enveloped the area and all nearby demons scrambled away from it, seeking sanctuary near the flames. It was hard not to put all my weight on the girl, but I slowly eased myself down and let myself collapse. I couldn't waste energy now. I just want to sleep. A long sleep.

The next time I opened my eyes, my saint was gone and I found myself no longer bonded to gravity. My eyes scanned everything around me wildly, discovering that only a never ending light surrounded me. And, I realized as I flexed foreign fingers, that my arm is now reattached without a scar. A smile crept up onto my face. I suppose this God is not so useless after all.

"I heard that."

My eyebrows rose up beneath my hair the moment I heard that heavy voice. I can't believe the prick is actually listening for once.

"Fuck you, God! Where is my saint?" I called, feeling strength begin to come back to me.

"Cara Spell is a saint, not your saint my son. She is safe, have you no fear. But there are matters far more important that we must discuss."

"Heh, we don't need to discuss shit. Give me back my saint." Now that I think about it, she isn't my saint. But damned I am not giving God any satisfaction.

A deep sigh echoed around me as I waited for a response from this 'spooky' voice.

"Listen well, son."

"No."

"...the Devil and I have conversed and have come to an agreement. Cara Spell has been spared her life. Unfortunately, the child has only been released with a consequence..."

My anger just went from a nine to five hundred.

"What the fuck did you do!?"

"I spared her life. Satan took away her eyesight, son. Young Cara will never see again."

One thousand.

"Fucking son of a bitch! Why spare her life but take her eyesight!? Won't Satan be happy enough with my motherfucking soul?!" I bellowed at this translucent celestial being called God. I despise him and this fucking anti gravity thing; it immobilized me within this holy glow.

"There is more. I also want your soul to go to Heaven. So, we made negotiations over your soul, son."

"Am I allowed to say," God, damn you!" to you?" I sneered out, not really in the mood to waste my anger on this buffoon. "I deserve to go to Hell. I'm probably one of the worst motherfucking sinners you've seen in a long time. And 'yes' offense, I don't want to spend eternity in a place that looks and feels like cotton balls with fucking pansy angels skipping all around me!"

What the fuck is this guy; motherfucking Santa Claus? A large, plentiful laugh exploded in the room after my slight rant. Why do these biblical figures keep laughing at me!?

"Well, it'd be quite livelier here with a personality such as yours around. Son, everyone, every creature on Earth, are my children. Any chance for you to be spared, Luce Mason, I'll take."

"Tch. If it means having my saint's eyes taken, then I refuse to go to Heaven," I grumbled.

"I am sorry, son, but this is out of your control. The deal is done... and there is more to the deal than you have heard. You are not going to Heaven or Hell. Yet. The Devil likes games, so your only option is to play his game."

I can't help but like the Devil's style. Playing games with lives is actually a hell of a lot of fun.

"So, what's the game Mr. 'Aw Lawd Al' Mighty'?" I teased. I just realized, I could go for a cigarette right now.

"Luce, you are to go back to Earth and there you must repent for your sins. For every misdeed you have done, you must repay with acts of kindness and good."

If I had been drinking something, this would be the moment where I spit out my drink all over God's face.

"Are you a lunatic?! I'll never, I mean never, be able to do equal good as I have evil. All I know how to do is sin and kill. No wonder Satan agreed to this 'game'. He's going to win!" For such a well-known worshiping figure, God ain't so bright.

"I realize this, son. I believe that you can pull it off for one reason: if you succeed, young Cara Spell will have her eyesight back and she will once again be able to help those with impure halos. However, if you commit one, just one, more sin, you will be hurled back into Hell and Cara will forever be blind."

I let my eyes slip closed. Never in my life have I had a weakness, let alone have someone take advantage of it. Never have I hated anyone as much as I hated my saint... Cara. Fuck her for having been born in Chico. Fuck her for being such a good Christian girl. Fuck her for having those eyes to begin with.

But then again, this would have happened to me anyways. It's only because of her interference I have a chance to not suffer for eternity. I opened my eyes lazily and glared up to where I presume God was at. I owe that girl, and he knows it.

"Ugh, fuck you God," I groan out. "Fine, I'll give it a go. No promises."

"Good, my son. Now, there is a factor..."

"My turn."

My eyes widened instantly as a dark voice rumbled and I felt gravity reestablish itself. Bile from within threatened to escape as my body began it's free fall into a pitch black light; God's light fading away quickly. However, gravity once again dissipated as my body jolted violently to a stop. I swallowed the burning acid and searched my surroundings. Only my own form was visible to me, a white outline encasing me. I felt like a fucking rag doll, the way I'm just tossed around.

"Enjoy the ride?"

I turned my head towards the source of the menacing voice. Somehow, though, I feel like he's not going to stay in that one particular spot.

"Just hurry up and get 'your turn' over with so I can go play your retarded game," I responded, venom dripping with every word. I'm just so tired of this bullshit.

"Oo, touchy. But alright, as you wish. I won't explain a single thing about what I'm about to do to you," I heard from a different end of the space. A large click, resembling the snapping of fingers, echoed in the area. Almost instantly I felt searing pain from the back of my shoulders down to the back of my legs. I snarled in pain as what felt like large growths stretched my skin, threatening to rip me apart.

"What are you doing?!" I called out to the voice.

"I'm not telling because you don't want to hear what 'lil' ol' me' had to say. You'll have to figure it all out on your own, love."

It was then my skin from my legs up to my shoulders ripped apart and a pair of flesh sacs burst through. I couldn't hold back the painful cry that escaped my throat and resonated in the room. It took so much energy to turn my head enough to see the bare flesh pulsing out of my back. Veins began to emerge in the flesh and my heart picked up its pace to support and feed the new appendages. Blood was seeping out of my wounds, dripping into the black abyss while a prickling feeling introduced itself on the new flesh. Thick, black feathers began to spring forth and I soon found myself lying in mid air with a pair of dead weight wings hanging below me.

I felt my eyes start to roll behind my head as exhaustion began to take over.

"Before you call me cliché, I'm just going to allow you to know your wings are black because they have been tainted by me. Just a little present to make your goal harder," the voice said sadistically, clearly enjoying this.

Just before I blacked out, I let my finger slide up and I flipped off the dick.

....................

Eventually, the dark haze of my mind had evaporated and I had awakened in a dimly lit hallway. Beside me had rested the peaceful body of the girl, breathing in a calm pattern. I had tried to shift my arm to grasp her, but found all the muscles within me screaming with protest. I don't care. Having ignored the agony within me, I picked up my saint and walked over to the room with the broken door.

And now here I stand in the shadows with tainted wings hanging likes lumps of dead weight over my body. I stared lethally at Cara's form, unsure of what to do once she wakes up in her permanently dark world.

All we could do, is breathe.