The Devil's Lover: The Wish (12 page)

Chevalier raised a brow to analyze the
mysterious man standing front of him. “That’s not
possible.”

“
Nothing is
impossible.”

“
I’m still…
alive.” Chevalier looked down at his body.

“
In your deep sleep, you
had a long dream; a dream so long that it felt as if it lasted an
eternity.” 

“
Yeah… I was walking in a
barren wasteland that never seemed to end. But that still doesn’t
make sense! Am I dead now?” 

Soren shook his head.
“You
were
dead.
My master, Lord Lucifer, brought you back to
life.” 

Chevalier gave Soren a look of
suspicion. “Are you a mental patient?”

Laughter burst from Soren in spite of
himself. “I do not believe that is important to you. What should be
important to you now is your Kali.” 

“
Kali!" Chevalier bolted
off the bed at the thought of her. “Where is she? Is she sick? She
must have been waiting in the rain yesterday!"

“
Chevalier, I do not have
much time before my master finds that I am missing, so listen and
listen carefully. You died in the accident,” Soren began to
explain. “The Lucien you know was actually Lord Lucifer in
disguise. Kali sealed a bargain with him. If Lord Lucifer brought
you back to life, Kali has bargained to spend an eternity with him
in Hell. You have been in a coma for a month,
Chevalier.” 

“
What?” Chevalier was
dumbstruck. 

“
It is up to you whether
you believe me or not. I am here to make you an offer. If you want
to get Kali back from the underworld, the only option is to face
death once again and be reborn as a demon. My offer is on the
table. When you have decided, called my name and I shall
come.” 

“
If what you say is true,
why are you telling me all of this? Why make the offer at
all?” 

Soren paused and questioned his own
motives. Fury skittered over his beautiful face. “I’ve followed my
master from Heaven to the depths of Hell! Do you think I would let
a mere human take him from me?” 

A pair of wings sprung from Soren’s
back. He walked toward the window, opened it, and flew
out.

“
Wait!” Chevalier ran to
the window and looked down to see if the young man had fallen to
the ground. Chevalier was standing in a room twenty stories up. The
streets below were crowded, with no sign of people screaming or the
young man’s body on the ground. Any man jumping from this height
would be in several pieces. Chevalier picked up a black feather
that rested on the window frame. His eyes weren’t deceiving him.
That had been a pair of black wings sprouting from the young man’s
back!

Chevalier left his room and walked
down the hallway of the hospital. The nurses and doctors stared at
him as he stepped into the elevator to leave. They had been sure he
was dead. He’d been brain dead for over twelve hours, and here he
was, a coma and a month later walking out of the hospital a healthy
man. Modern medicine had no explanation.

“
I’m home,” Chevalier
said, pushing the door open and entering his apartment. He closed
the door behind him. When he didn’t hear her voice, he searched for
her in the bedroom and the bathroom. “Kali?”

Oh right, she doesn’t live here
anymore. Chevalier mentally slapped himself. How could he forget a
thing like that?

After dinner, he went to see Kali at
Lucien's home. He rang the bell for a while, losing his patience
when no one answered the door. He was about to force his way in
when he realized the door wasn’t locked. The place was completely
deserted. Judging from the layer of dust and the shreds of cobwebs
hanging everywhere, the place had been deserted for at least a
month. 

He took the cell phone out of his
pocket and called Hana. She shrieked when she heard his voice. He
pulled the cell phone away to protect his ear.

“
Hana? Hey, do you know
where Kali is?”

“
Chevalier? But…but
you’re…”

“
Yeah. Dead. Never mind
that, just tell me where Kali is.”

“
You’re alive!”

“
I just got released from
the hospital. You know modern medical nowadays, they can even bring
people back from the dead. Where’s Kali?”

“
K-Kali?” Hana’s voice
stuttered. “After the doctors confirmed your death, Kali
disappeared with Lucien. No one has seen them in a
month.”

“
Disappeared? What do you
mean ‘disappeared’?” Chevalier thought about the handsome young man
standing by his bed in the hospital room when he woke earlier.
“I’ve got to go.”

“
Wait,
Chevalier!”

He hung up the phone. Could it be that
what that guy said was true? Lucien… no, Lucifer had taken Kali to
Hell? How could that be? In a world of modern science, how could
something like that happen? But the guy he’d met had a pair of
black wings and had disappeared out the window twenty stories high.
Were there still things in this world even modern science couldn’t
explain?

His name, what was it?

Chevalier sighed. He suddenly felt
like a character in a science fiction movie.

“
Soren! Soren!
Show yourself
!”

He stepped back as a light appeared on
the floor next to him, slowly spreading to form a magic circle on
the ground. It shifted to a bright crimson red as Soren appeared in
his human form. “So, you have reconsidered.”

“
Reconsidered
what?”

“
Becoming a
demon.”

“
Why would I want to do
that?” Chevalier asked.

“
Then you summoned me
because-”

“
Where is
Kali?”

“
In Hell.”

“
Okay. How do I get
there?”

Soren chuckled. “And what will you do
once you get there?”

“
Take her
back.”

“
How?”

“
What do you mean, how?
I’ll give Lucien a good beating and bring her back.”

“
He is Lucifer,” Soren
reminded Chevalier, “the most powerful among the archangels. If you
want to take her back, you must become a demon
yourself.”

“
Will I be powerful enough
to defeat Lucifer?”

That was a foolish question, Soren
thought. “No, but you will be able to bring Kali back. That is what
you want, isn’t it?”

“
Fine,” Chevalier said
without a moment hesitation, “make me into one of your
kind.”

Soren threw a small vial of potion at
him. Chevalier caught it in his hand.

“
Drink this,” Soren
instructed. “It will slowly kill you. You will die an excruciating
death - the mortal you, anyways. I will take care of the rest. When
you wake up, you will have powers beyond your
imagination.”

“
Excruciating death, huh?”
Chevalier opened it and poured the liquid into his mouth. “I hope
she’ll appreciate what I’m going through for her. She can be quite
dense, you know.”

“
Why? Why are you making
such a hasty and dangerous decision for a girl?” Soren asked
curiously. "I did not jest when I said this will be
excruciating.”

“
Who knows?” Chevalier
said. He felt his legs suddenly weakened and fell to his knees. He
was able to stay upright for a few seconds before rolling to the
ground. His chest felt as his ribs were collapsing into his lungs.
His breathing became increasingly difficult and more painful with
each breath. His blood started to burn like it had become acidic
and he could feel it burning his body as it coursed through his
veins. The pupils in his beautiful golden eyes contracted and the
white of his eyes became bloodshot.

He stared intently into the blue sky,
savoring its beauty as a human being for the last time before
becoming something else entirely. He waited for the mercy of death
to relieve him of the poison’s agonizing torment.

“…
I must…really love
her…”

Chapter 12: Worst of All
Sins

The demoness waited until she was sure
Lucifer was gone before entering the bedroom. She walked silently
to the bed, peering at the girl with understandable curiosity. The
girl was quite pretty, with soft golden brown hair that floated
like clouds on a clear day. Her velvety skin and rosy lips may be
prized among her kind, but was pale in comparison with theirs.
Adria could not comprehend how this frail girl could possibly be of
interest to Lucifer.

Kali slowly opened her eyes then
jumped when she saw the beautiful woman standing next to her bed.
She sat up.

“
I am Adria,” the demoness
introduced herself before the question was asked. "There is no need
to introduce yourself, everyone already know who you
are.”

"Me?" Kali pulled the linen up to her
chin to avoid any more exposure. "Why would they know about
me?"

"Bad news travel fast, I suppose,"
Adria leaned against the bed post. "Needless to say, we resent
you.”

"I know that, but I can't understand
why.”

"There is much you do not understand,
and I don't expect you to. However, do not think for a second that
you can stay here forever, human. This is not where you belong.
Lord Lucifer is simply bored. Once you are no longer of interest to
him, he will discard you without a moment’s hesitation!”

The demoness was telling her something
she had known from day one.

"I’ve come to accept that,” she smiled
faintly.

The demoness was strangely intimidated
by that smile. She raised her hand in the air, preparing to slash
Kali’s face with her razor-sharp nails. Then she paused. Lord
Lucifer definitely would not forgive her if she damaged the girl’s
face, she thought. She turned to leave.

“
I am looking forward to
that day,” she said before walking out the door.

Kali knew all too well the truth of
what the demoness had said. She shouldn't feel at home because this
was not her home, and was unlikely it ever would be. To think of
herself as anything more than a mere toy was delusional. Anything
Lucifer said to her now could be quickly changed without a moment's
notice. It was only a matter of time before she was
discarded.

Kali quickly wiped the tears from the
corner of her eyes. She refused to cry for him. She was here to
fulfill her end of the bargain, nothing more. His lack of long-term
feelings for her should not be one of her concerns.

Soren was waiting for Adria when she
emerged.

“
Is that what you truly
think, Adria?” he asked her. When she did not answer, he continued
on. "Do you think he will simply discard her once he grows bored?
Can't you see the look in his eyes? It’s not just mere infatuation.
He is moving further and further away from us.”

†††††

Chevalier’s eyes sprung open as he
gasped for enough air to fill his lungs. There was a soft glow to
his beautiful golden eyes. His complexion was paler along with the
rest of his body. Soren's face entered his view.

"Where am I?” he asked. He used his
hands to examine his throat. His voice didn't even sound like his
own. 

“
I'm impressed with your
willpower. You’ve made it this far,” Soren praised. “I was about to
concoct another plan in case you didn’t come through.”

“
Where is Kali?” Chevalier
asked. That was the second question that jumped to his
mind.

“
Follow me,” Soren said,
heading out of the room. He led Chevalier through a dark hallway
lined with giant glass windows. He could hear whisperings among the
other irrelevant sounds, which seemed louder than they ought to be.
He waved a hand in front of his face to test his vision. Was it
possible to see clearer than 20/20? He could see the magnified
detailed of his pulsing veins.

Her scent was in the air. There was an
array of scents, but he recognized and selectively weeded out the
others. Her scent was drawing a roadmap right to her. She was so
close by.

His enhanced senses weren't the only
thing he immediately noticed. He felt different. No, different
wasn't exactly the right word. He felt as if he’d had been stripped
of most of the emotions and complex facets of being human. Maybe
that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Will you hurt her?
A voice in his head asked.

“
What?!” Chevalier said
out loud. He was shocked by a thought other than his in his
head.
You want to hurt her, don’t you? She
chose him instead of you!

“
It’s only demonic
instinct,” Soren explained when he saw that Chevalier was troubled
with his new set of thoughts. “All demons have them, although most
of ours are dormant. What is yours telling you?"

“
Nothing!”

“
The future days will be a
constant battle for control. You should learn to control it before
it controls you,” Soren advised. “Demons who cannot control their
biological instincts will lose their free will.”