Flowers. A sweet-smelling aroma. Gardenias, maybe? Her eyes didn’t want to open. There was a thick layer of crust holding them shut. A cool breeze wafted over her and the clanking of rain dropping onto the metal roof reached her ears. Turning her head, she forced her eyes open. Little light entered the room despite the windows being open. Their sheer curtains billowed into the room every few seconds while the low rumble of thunder echoed and vibrated in the distance. Breathing slowly, she allowed the moist air to coat her lungs.
Her shoulder ached. Reaching over, the rough texture of bandages and gauze grazed her fingers. It surrounded her shoulder and covered her chest. Under the covers she had on only underwear and a chill slowly crept up her spine. Pushing with her right arm, she slowly rose to a sitting position. Her whole body ached and she wondered if moving was really a good idea.
Slumped in a chair in the corner of the room was Ben. His chest was bare and a pair of pajama bottoms covered his lower half. Hair wafted over his eyes and he appeared to be sleeping. Slowly inching her way to the corner of the bed, Elizabeth slid her legs over the side. Her quads and calves were tight. The muscles in her back were sore and her abs even hurt. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but she wanted to get to the bathroom.
Her toes touched the floor softly. The cool wood froze her feet and a streak of pain shot through her body. Letting out an unwilling sound of agony she panted, unable to move. Instantly Belial was at her side. His eyes darted in every direction, taking in every inch of her and the bed. Frowning, he bent and placed an arm under her legs and one behind her back. Lifting her, he asked, “Where are you trying to go?”
Her throat and mouth were dry so she merely pointed towards the bathroom. He immediately understood and after placing her gently inside, he closed the door behind her, giving her privacy.
He was back at her side only a few seconds after the toilet flushed and he immediately carried her back to bed. Sitting her back on the soft mattress, he propped the pillows against the headboard and helped her lean back against them. Pulling the cool sheets back over her, he said, “Do you need anything?”
Thinking about the question, Elizabeth could feel her stomach churning. It wasn’t cramping yet, but it wasn’t far off either. “Could you bring me something to eat? And maybe a glass of water would be nice.”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t want any medicine? How’s your shoulder feeling? It has to hurt.”
Looking away, Elizabeth focused on the wood floors. A few small drops of water had managed to come through the windows, but not enough to be worried about. Shaking her head, she lied, “It’s not that bad. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t move and only crossed his arms. Glancing at him for a brief second, she pulled at her fingers. “I’m fine, really.” Letting out a deep sigh, she met his eyes again for only a second then looked back down. “I don’t like taking medicine. If it gets unbearable, I’ll let you know okay.”
Frowning, Belial rolled his eyes and left. Letting out another sigh, Elizabeth glanced towards the windows again. She couldn’t see them well; the bed was positioned between them. Frowning, she stared at the blanket covering her. It was excessively soft and easily her favorite.
A knocking noise caught her attention. Belial bumped the tray he was carrying against the doorframe. It was comical seeing him. He was concentrating on not spilling anything, his eyes locked on the tray he was carrying. It was filled with an assortment of food and two glasses filled with ice water. Carefully placing the tray over Elizabeth’s lap, he took a seat next to her on the bed. Normally she would have told him something but she was so hungry all she could think of was the food sitting in front of her.
Picking up a sandwich, she took a large bite. It had mayonnaise on it. She hated mayonnaise, but was too hungry to care. Washing the bite down with long gulp of water, she kept the sandwich in her hand and ate a few pieces of cantaloupe. It was so sweet that the juice slid down her throat before the fruit.
Taking another bite of the sandwich, her nose wrinkled. She really didn’t want to finish it and there was a whole other half still on the tray. Chewing the food in her cheek, she tried to keep it off her tongue. Glancing at Ben, she watched him curiously. He wasn’t eating or moving; he was just staring off into space in a complete daze. Clearing her throat, he blinked a few times and looked down at her.
“Aren’t you going to eat something?”
He shrugged his shoulders but looking away picked up the other half of the sandwich. They ate in complete silence. The tapping of the rain on the roof was a nice backdrop and it made their silence feel not so empty.
After lunch he cleared away the tray without a word and came back with an arm full of books and an assortment of board games. Flipping through everything, Elizabeth barely looked at him when he plopped back down onto the bed. Grabbing the remote, he flipped on the TV. He was switching channels like a mad man and right when she was about to tell him something, he finally settled on one. Animal Planet?
Eyebrows raised Elizabeth stared at him. Belial could feel her staring, even though his eyes never left the television. “I like to watch nature in action,” he said. “No drama or politics, just pure survival.”
Elizabeth could understand his reasoning in a way. She wasn’t a fan of soap operas due to the whole drama thing and politics could be very tiresome. Pushing around the board games some more, she came across a plain wooden box. Glancing back at him, she asked, “You play chess?”
The first two rounds went quickly. Elizabeth beat him without a problem in only a few moves. He caught on quickly though and soon the games were taking longer. Elizabeth was concentrating so hard on the game that she completely lost track of time. The chimes from the old grandmother clock rang through the still house. It was five o’clock. Grabbing the remote, she changed the channel to the news while Belial put the game away.
He cleaned the bed of all the books and games while Elizabeth listened to the weather man contentedly. He was going through the weeks forecast. That’s when it hit her. It was Monday. “Oh, crap!”
Swinging around, Belial frantically glanced around the room. “What’s wrong?!”
“It’s Monday! Where’s the phone?! I need to call Mrs. Landry and apologize for missing work. I hope I still have a job after this. Where the hell is the phone?”
Belial became lethargic but then popped back into life. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. She left a message on that machine in the other room. She said not to worry about coming in today since it was supposed to rain and she’d see you on Tuesday.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Elizabeth glared at him when he sat back down on the bed. “You really should’ve told me earlier,” she said. “Like when I woke up.”
Belial shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know why you even keep that job. It doesn’t pay well and it’s not like you need the money.”
Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide. Clinching her fists she could feel her temperature rising. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, buddy, but I don’t need you or anyone else telling me how to live my life or where I should work or how much money I have!”
His eyes grew wide but only for a moment. Shrugging his shoulders, he settled back into the pillow propped behind him. She was feisty. She reminded him of Lucifer when she yelled at him, but in a strange way liked it. She didn’t treat him different even now after she knew who he was, which was refreshing. She was stubborn, however, and even now wasn’t ready to let the subject go. Turning towards him, she was ready to tear into him but never got the chance. Reaching for the remote, Belial raised the volume, cutting her off.
“… A bizarre tragedy took place late last night off of Highway 92. Two bodies were found lying in the middle of the road. The unidentified men appear to be in their late twenties to early thirties, and were apparently killed by a sharp object. No weapons were found at the scene of the crime but the entire ar
ea was covered in white feathers that also covered the bodies. Here is the statement from police Chief Harvey Theroux.”
The news cut scenes from the woman at the news desk to the chief of police. He was a stout man with significant weight around his waist. His hair was gray and thinning and his face looked worn and was covered in wrinkles and the first signs of sun spots.
“We’ve never seen anything like this in the area. The bodies were discovered early in the morning hours but besides the deceased there is no evidence that anyone else was at the scene. We’re not commenting on the feathers at this time or what we feel happened yet; however, samples have been sent to be tested, and I have my best men on the case. We’ll find out what happen…”
They switched back to the woman in the news room, cutting off Chief Theroux mid-sentence. This was a common flaw with the local news and Elizabeth couldn’t help but wonder what else he had to say.
“Chief Theroux refused to speculate on anything but there is a reward being offered for anyone who might have information about the case.”
Belial turned the TV off with a scowl plastered to his face. The silence was growing awkward and Elizabeth couldn’t stand it any longer. “I’m sure they won’t find out anything. It’ll end up being one of those unsolved cases.”
He turned towards her. Anger filled his eyes. For the first time Elizabeth feared being near him. There was nothing more she wanted at that moment than to leave. He was distant and the eyes staring at her were no longer his. Slowly she tried to inch herself closer to the edge of the bed. She needed to calm him down and get him to return to his senses. “Ben, talk to me.”
His eyes looked like they were on fire but on the inside. Her heart was pounding furiously beneath her chest. Inching closer to the edge of the bed, her hands shook and her leg vibrated. Lowering a foot slowly, it continued to vibrate when it touched the ground. His eyes grew wide. Grabbing her arm, he yanked her back to the middle of the bed.
“Ben, please!”
Her words didn’t reach him. His eyes were wild and with force his hand fell onto her injured shoulder. Pain shot through her body and she let out a piercing scream. Blinking, Belial’s eyes returned to their calm shade of blue. His mouth wavered. Glancing around blankly he was confused and not sure how he had ended up in the position he now found himself in. He was sitting on top of her, straddling her, and his hand was still gripping her shoulder, causing significant pain.
He was a little slow on the uptake. What he was doing still hadn’t registered. Letting go of her shoulder, his eyes darted back and forth. Swallowing, his eyes finally rested back onto her. Placing a hand under each arm, he hoisted her into a sitting position. Carefully unwrapping the bandage around her shoulder, he held his breath, hoping that he didn’t injure her more on accident. It was bleeding only slightly but it was still sore and tender. He was able to stop the bleeding quickly and wrapped her shoulder with a fresh bandage.
Elizabeth’s eyes never left him. Part of her still wanted to run away, but something told her that everything was okay and there was nothing to worry about anymore.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes didn’t leave her shoulder. Glancing to her left, Elizabeth tried to see what he was doing, but to no avail. Leaning back she rested her head against the headboard and stared at the ceiling. The rain had started again. It was beating angrily on the metal roof. The sound was comforting though and closing her eyes, she listened to it peacefully.
With every passing second, the rain beat harder on the roof. Smiling weakly, she thought of her mother. She hated the noise rain made on metal roofs, but Elizabeth loved it. Cracking her eyes open, her smile faded. “Is what he said about my parents true?”
Belial finished working on her shoulder but didn’t move. Staring at her, the corner of his mouth moved upwards. Raising a hand, his fingers gently brushed the hair behind her ears. His voice was cool and smooth and penetrated the silence softly as he said, “Yes.”
Looking down at the comforter, Elizabeth let out a deep sigh. Belial was still straddling her and sitting uncomfortably close. The second that she met his eyes, her body grew tense. Holding her breath, her mouth twitched when he inched closer. Taking in a long, deep breath of air, he said, “You smell different. I can smell the angelic and demon blood coursing through your veins.”
He was so close that his breath warmed the skin on her neck. Her heart was racing and her breath quickened. Closing her eyes, she clinched the sheets beneath her tightly. He was breathing slowly, and every time he exhaled, he moved a little lower towards the base her neck.
A growl from the doorway made Elizabeth’s heart stop. It was a guttural sound, something an animal would make. “This is not what I had in mind when I told you to take care of her.”
Moving faster than Elizabeth could register, Belial immediately flew off of her and hit the ground. Kneeling next to the bed, his head remained down. Standing in the doorway was the Lord of Darkness himself. Grabbing the sheets, Elizabeth pulled them up to her neck. Her heart felt frozen and her hands trembled.
“Apologies, my lord,” Belial said. “It won’t happen again.”
Lucifer’s eyes were stone cold. He was an intimidating force and Elizabeth didn’t dare interrupt. Looking away she tried to steady her breathing and slow her heart but to no avail. Glancing between Belial and Elizabeth, Lucifer’s eyes finally settled on the demon kneeling in front of him. “Follow me,” he said. “I have something I must discuss with you.”
Immediately he stood. Head down, he followed Lucifer out the room. Elizabeth was left, still trembling and confused. After a few minutes, no sound penetrated the house except for the slight patter of rain on the roof. She was alone. The house was empty once again.
Slowly she inched her way to the edge of the bed. Sitting on the edge her toes tapped the cold wood floors lightly. Her whole body ached. Standing was more of a chore than she had anticipated. It took forever to get to the make-shift kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, she stared blankly at the small fridge sitting in the corner.
She had already had a sandwich for lunch and definitely wasn’t in the mood for another. Nothing in the small fridge sounded appetizing, and cooking wasn’t an option either. She was too sore to stand for long periods of time and the only appliances in the room were a microwave, a convection oven, and a small portable grill. Letting out a sigh, Elizabeth pulled herself from the chair. Running a hand along the wall, she slowly made her way back to her bedroom.
Pulling on a robe her shoulder ached and throbbed. Every step was now exponentially more painful, and by the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, driving no longer seemed like a good idea. Fumbling through her purse, she pulled out a cell phone and decided that having a pizza delivered was probably her best bet.
She had roughly twenty minutes to kill before the pizza arrived and walking back upstairs just didn’t seem appealing. Holding onto the bare studs, she followed them to where her future bedroom would be. With her shoulder hurt she wouldn’t be able to get back to work on the renovations for a while and that was a bleak prospect.
Taking a seat on the plywood floor, she leaned against a window, staring into the darkness beyond. Scanning the yard, something caught her eye. She wasn’t sure what, really, but something didn’t seem right, almost as if there was something out of place. Staring at the grapefruit and satsuma trees, the fruit covering the branches were still visible even in the darkness. She didn’t eat either fruit. The trees had been planted by her grandmother years ago. Those were the smallest trees in the yard. The rest were large oak trees, maple, or cypress, averaging thirty to seventy feet tall, give or take.
The house was casting a long shadow into the back yard, cloaking the small fruit trees in darkness. Blinking, Elizabeth stared at the trees contentedly when a slight movement caught her eye. There was a man standing perfectly still next t
o one of the live oaks. He was at least an acre away from the house and remained near the trunk of the tree blanketed in shadows. Elizabeth couldn’t be sure but he appeared to have short dark hair and wore a strange, almost medieval outfit. She was curious about his presence but wasn’t nervous.
She had a feeling that he had spotted her as well, but despite that fact, he never moved. Elizabeth continued to stare at him and was jolted by a knock at the front door. She looked away for only a brief second, but that’s all it took for him to disappear. Holding onto the window frame, she pulled herself from the floor and traversed the bare studs to the front door.
Standing outside was a teenage boy with her pizza. He wore the standard pizza company outfit. A hat covered his bright orange hair and acne coated his face. He had a bit of a nerdy look about him. He was thin and lanky and she wondered if he was teased at school on a regular basis. After paying she locked the door and made the strenuous trip back upstairs.
By the time she sat down at the small table in the kitchen, her shoulder was killing her. Reluctantly standing, she searched for some sort of pain killer. Rummaging through boxes, she eventually found the Advil in a small container filled with an assortment of medicine. The instructions said to only take one. Tipping the bottle she popped two pills into her mouth, chasing them down with a glass of water.
The pizza tasted fabulous and she internally praised herself on what a good idea it was. Normally two slices would be enough, but not tonight. Roughly halfway through her third slice she heard the front door open and close. Watching the doorway, her leg twitched until Ben came into view. Walking into the kitchen slowly, he placed two plastic bags on the table. Letting out a deep sigh, he stared at the pizza disappointedly.
Swallowing another bite, Elizabeth said, “I got hungry and didn’t know when you were coming back. You can have some. I’m not going to eat anymore.”
Without a word, he stuck the bags in the small refrigerator and took a seat at the table. Grabbing a slice of pizza, his eyes glazed over while he ate. Elizabeth finished eating shortly after he sat down. She made a poor attempt at washing the dishes. She really hated having limited use of her left arm. Paper cups and plates were a must until her shoulder was healed.
Sitting back at the table Elizabeth leaned on her good arm. Staring out the window, she asked, “What did he want with you?”
Belial glanced up from his pizza, still chewing his last bite. Swallowing, he continued to stare at her and took another bite without making an attempt to answer the question.
“Fine,” she said. “Don’t tell me.”
He continued eating, and after finishing one slice, picked up a second. Leaning back in the chair, Elizabeth’s shoulder hit the wood. Grimacing, she immediately scooted back to the front of the chair. It wasn’t really painful and could be better described as extreme discomfort, but her face changed enough to get a reaction out of Belial.
He jumped from his seat, nearly knocking it over. “Are you alright?” His eyes were wide and darted between her shoulder and face quickly. He was overreacting. Unable to contain herself, Elizabeth giggled.
Frowning, he retook his seat and continued to eat. Clearing her throat, she wiped the corner of her eyes. A huge smile remained on her face, she tried to stop, but couldn’t. Belial glanced up several times before finally growing agitated with her grin. Dropping the half-eaten slice into the box he said, “What? What’s so funny?”
Shaking her head, she continued to grin at him. Picking the slice of pizza up, he scowled at her. Elizabeth remained silent until he was done eating and wrapped the leftovers in foil. The small fridge was crowded now, and it took her a minute to find a place for the food. Straightening, she rubbed her arm. The bandage made her skin itch, it was uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare scratch at it.
Moving into the sitting room, she reached for the remote. Turning the TV on, she glanced out the window and saw the large tree where the man was standing earlier. Plopping onto the couch, she barely glanced up when Belial entered the room. Flipping stations slowly, she asked, “Who else has Lucifer sent to keep an eye on me?”
“No one. Why?”
Glancing at him, she shook her head. Belial’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t about to accept her silence. “What did you see?”
Frowning, Elizabeth carefully leaned back onto the couch. Putting the remote down she recapped what she had seen earlier, “Um, there was a guy in the backyard, standing under one of the oak trees.”
Without a word Belial strode over to the window and slid it open. He was on the roof within a second and jumped onto the ground with ease. Searching the yard, he scanned every inch methodically. When he reached the right tree, he bent and sniffed the ground. Staying close to the ground, he moved farther back onto the property and disappeared. He headed down a hill that led to a river situated behind the property.
Her eyes never left the yard but somehow he managed to move back to the house without her seeing. She screamed when he jumped back onto the roof and for the first time he didn’t smile or laugh at her fear. His face was serious and cold. Sliding back through the window, he locked it and gave Elizabeth a list of instructions. “I need to get back to Lucifer. Don’t open the door. Don’t open the windows. If any are open, close them immediately and lock them. Don’t let anyone in and if you see him again hide. Don’t talk to him. Don’t confront him, just hide.”
Turning the TV off, Elizabeth scrambled off the couch. Trying to keep up, she followed him down the stairs. “Wait, what?” she said. “What’s going on? You can’t just leave me here alone and not tell me what you found!”
He paused at the door and, glancing back at her, frowned. “Just lock the door and windows like I told you.” Turning, he was out the door and moving too fast for her to follow. Doing as he instructed, Elizabeth locked the door and inspected every window, making sure they were closed and locked. After she was content that she was sealed in, she walked to the bathroom to try and calm her nerves. Unfortunately, it didn’t help.
Chapter 11