The Secret Child of the Devil

“Bad boys, bad boys. Watcha gonna do. Watcha gonna do if they come for you!”

Zoe opened the door to her apartment hoping that her friends were in there. Unfortunately, she met two demons being way too preppy for their titles.

“You never cease to amaze me,”

Zoe was genuinely curious what was going on in their heads. She went inside her room and jumped on the bed; she missed it, again.

At dinner, Mark and the rest of the gang came over to eat. Thankfully, the table was big enough; unfortunately, Rowan wasn’t there to cook. Eneizar wanted to try it out after he had watched some cooking shows but that was not going to happen. In the end, Andy possessed Ezekiel and they got an edible dinner.

“So, have you seen the light at the end of the tunnel?” Gabriel started, thought bits of pasta.

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure I’m following,”

Gabriel chuckled and nudged Mark, bemusedly.

“Have you seen the light or the dark? Something that could indicate how a patient in coma feels?” He was talking quite intellectually for someone who didn’t believe she was going to make it, “I’m curious,”

Zoe glanced at Ezekiel and Chen before her head moved on the other side, to Eneizar and Iaosur.

“Everything is blurry but I felt scared. I wasn’t exactly in Heaven or Hell because I wasn’t dead yet. “Anyway, it doesn’t feel good.”

Eneizar and Iaosur hummed and nodded. She was connected to Earth by a very, very thin string.

“I’m still curious just how that psychopath found you and wounded you,” Gabriel mumbled, the rest agreeing with him.

“True. When Mark told us, I thought he was talking about a supernatural novel not real life,” Luke continued Gabriel's line of thought.

The two humans were too curious but something about Gabe was definitely fishy. He seemed a lot like Ezekiel when they first met: so curious and amazed by the underworld and its secrets.

“I’m curious about that too, actually,” Henry wasn’t helping.

The new member of the group was Jake. Much like Andrew, he was watching and enjoying the theories of others. And much like his former best friend, he knew exactly what to say and when.

“I think we should be grateful that she’s alive,” The newest member mumbled.

She chuckled and hid her smile behind the glass of wine. Her eyes wandered to Andy who was proudly standing between Jake and Chen.

On the other side, Ezekiel seemed a little intrigued by something. He made a sign for her to get closer and leaned towards her.

“I can see Andy. Why can I see Andy?” He questioned, lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Because of me,” She whispered back, partially proud of giving him the present he's always wanted.

Ezekiel nodded and turned back to his discussion with Alice, a wide smile contouring his lips.

The view was wonderful. There was nothing Zoe wanted to change. If anything, there was something she wanted to add; a certain demon. Her expression didn’t change but everyone could see the longing in her eyes. She was happy but something was still missing; something very important to her.

“I say we make it something weekly. Zoe’s Friday Night Dinners.”

Henry’s eyes widened in excitement at Gabe’s brilliant idea.



Unfortunately, there was no Mehrdir to tease but the other demons could manage. It didn't take long for them to notice the sparkles between Henry and Mark when the subject was Zoe.

“You should be careful. He may be your friend now but I’m sure there’s something dark in him, especially when it comes to competing in love,” Iaosur was by Mark’s side.

He really liked how different they were yet they liked the same humanly things. Well, maybe not dancing. Iaosur didn’t like to move his limbs like he had no control over them; it was embarrassing.

“Everything is allowed in love and war, my friend!”

Eneizar was on Henry’s side. Why? The answer was very simple. He was very handsome and Eneizar was very shallow; he was a vanity demon in the end.

“You shouldn’t make plans so soon. You never know when Mehrdir will come back~”

Zoe turned to her friends with a scowl. She couldn’t believe that Ezekiel and Chen were getting involved.

“I’m for Team Asshole!” Chen raised his hand and shouted.

There were two fairies on each side of Andy. He was sitting next to Jake and was trying –key word: trying- not to lean closer to him, scared that he might possess him by mistake.

“I’m betting my fairy duties on asshole too,” The two fairies agreed, “He’s a demon. Their relationship can go on forever,” The female fairy had a point, Andy gave her that.

“I think she should be better with Mark. He can pull her out of the darkness a little. It would be good for her,” The ghost mumbled.

“So there are three teams, right?”

Everyone agreed. Zoe tried to open her mouth and say something but they wouldn’t even let her. She sighed and made herself comfortable.

“So, we have Team Asshole, Team Dino and Team Sexy. Let’s see who bets on whom.” Chen moved in the middle of the room and started to write.

Eneizar patted Henry proud of Chen's team name.

“Who’s the asshole?” Alice asked Zoe.

Chen found it vital to explain, “He’s a greed dem-“

Ezekiel covered his friend's mouth and smiled nervously.

“A guy whom we know but you didn’t have the pleasure to meet. He is a bit cold and he is very-“ Ezekiel had to find the right words to describe Mehrdir, “-troublesome and greedy.”

Alice and Gabriel nodded, happy with Ezekiel's explanation. Jake on the other side glanced at Zoe warily.

“Are you really letting them do this?”

She bit the inside of her cheek and laid back, “My hands are tied.”

Jake chuckled and turned to the issue at hand.

“I’m betting on Henry.” Chen narrowed his eyes at Jake for not using the correct term. The dancer rolled his eyes and corrected hismelf, “I mean, I’m all for Team Sexy.”

Eneizar jumped and high fived Jake, already taking him under his black wing.

“Of course you do. You’re from the same group,”

The three boys glared at Alice. It didn’t seem to affect her at all.

“Anyway, I’m for Team Asshole. It seems that guy made quite an impact on Zoe,”

“Girls,” The boys shook their heads disapprovingly and continued.

“Luke and I go for Mark. He’s funny and smart. Besides, who can look so bright all the time? It’s blinding, I tell you!” Gabe winked and gave him two thumbs up. Mark blushed and laughed it off.

“So, we have two for Team Dino and one for Team Sexy. We also have one for Team Asshole. Alright, Ezekiel?”

Everyone turned to him. He was sitting next to Alice, on the ground, one arm wrapped around the older woman.

“Definitely asshole.” Chen nodded and wrote it on his phone.

“I’m for Asshole too. That leaves us with three points for Mehrdir, two points for Mark and one for Henry.” He nodded to himself. Somehow, it was obvious who was the winner; therefore he just made a circle in front of Mehrdir’s name. “So, Henry loses the first round,” Eneizar glared at Chen but the human didn’t care and continued, “We’re left with two. So, who’s for Team Dino?”

Mark’s friends raised their hands.

“Alright, you have four. Now, Team Asshole?”

Every supernatural being in the room raised its hand. It was overwhelming and Zoe was glad that Chen couldn’t see them.

“When did this become such a big thing?”

Even Rubin came when they started to bet on her Prince Charming. The living room was full of fairies and familiars.

“When Mehrdir became obsessed.” Rubin responded, “By the way, I heard you won’t get a new babysitter. It seems Beelzebub thinks you can manage on your own,”

She couldn’t quite believe that.

“Does he?” She mumbled under her hand.

Rubin started to laugh and shook his head.

“No but he didn’t tell Mehrdir to leave either. He made him choose between going back to Mammon and doing stupid favors for him. He chose the favors so he’ll be busy for the next few decades. But don’t be sad; he can’t stay away from you for too long~”

Zoe scoffed, “Why’s that?”

Since everyone was busy shouting and high fiving each other, she could talk to herself without being noticed at all.

“Because you signed him. Just like you did to Iaosur but at a larger scale. He’s dust if he goes against the flood and that flood is not Beelzebub; it’s you.”

No one understood why Zoe suddenly became parallel with everything that was going on; no one but Iaosur. When she went in the bathroom, he followed her under his demon form.

“So the fairy dropped the news to you, huh?” He was really blunt.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “I gave you my sign? How’s that even possible?”

He raised his left hand and showed her his wrist.

“Is that it? I can barely see it,” She grabbed his arm forcefully and pulled it in front of her eyes. It looked like the endless knot but not entirely.

“Well, it shows when you want me close or something. I don’t know exactly how this works either sinceI frequently changed my sign,” He trailed.

Zoe sighed and sat on the toilet, “Does it work in dreams too?”

Iaosur stared at her intensely, a wide smile gradually forming on his lips.

“You signed Mehrdir, haven’t you?” He realized something even better, actually, “No, you dreamed him!? I can’t believe it!” Iaosur laughed loudly.

Her jaw tensed and she was ready to punch him or make him feel pain, no matter where or how much.

“I think we all know who’s the winner now, don’t we?” He retorted like a smartass.

“What about Eneizar?” She started, “Does it work on him too?”

“Technically, it works on everyone. But he’s not just everyone. Eneizar has the sign of Vanity; a serpent and that’s hard to erase. He’s a difficult one but I’m sure you can find a way,” He was having a lot of fun and Mehrdir wasn’t even around.

Zoe walked out just in time to see her friends getting ready to leave.

Iaosur leaned against the door frame and smirked. He loved to be around her because she was an infinite source of entertainment. If wearing her sign for eternity was going to be as fun as the present time, he would gladly leave everything behind.