The Devil's Lover: The Wish (2 page)

“
I was momentarily
distracted. It was quite impressive to see how much the humans have
advanced since I was last among them.”

“
Their simple species
never fails to replicate their history.” Soren replied
disparagingly. He promptly noticed his master’s intrigued
expression. It was… somewhat unusual.

“
If you were a human,
Soren, what sort of wish is worth dying for?”

“
I wouldn’t know, my
Lord,” Soren was disgusted at the thought. “I am a
demon.”

“
Of course you are,”
Lucifer reached out to Soren’s face with his hand, “and a beautiful
one at that,” Lucifer smiled, his nails digging lightly into
Soren’s flawless face. Crimson blood dripped from the cuts. They
healed instantaneously.

†††††

It was far too late for her to be out.
As much as she would hate to admit it, the nights of this city do
not pity a young girl’s soul. There is something about the dark
that brings out the malicious side of people. Just the other day
she had read about two young girls who were raped and murdered
while returning home from school. Photographs of their bloodstained
bodies still lingered in her mind. Kali winced at the
thought.

She didn’t intend on staying out so
late. A male co-worker was supposed to come in after her shift, but
was a no-show. Her manager strongly insisted that she cover for
him. She needed this job badly enough to agree.

It wasn’t that she needed the money.
Her tuition was paid in advance and Chevalier has been a good
provider, but he worked far too hard for their living expenses. How
long could he go on working three jobs? She wanted to make a little
extra money so she could at least take care of herself and lighten
his burden.

Speaking of Chevalier, he must be
furious that she was not home at this hour.

A group of young men standing idly by
the side of the street reminded her to pick up her pace. She
focused on the end of the road to avoid direct eye contact. When
she heard footsteps following her at her own speed, she began
jogging. Their pace matched hers.

Before she had the chance to bolt, a
cold and rough hand grabbed her forearm.

“
Where are you going in
such a hurry?” she heard one of them asking. Nothing good could
come of this. “You’re acting like we’re a bunch of
criminals.”

Her heart went into a frenzy. Pictures
of the bloodstained corpses of murdered girls flashed into her
head. Kali took a moment to make her face carefully neutral before
turning around.

“
I’m running late,” she
replied as she slowly pulled her arm back. The man caught it once
more and pulled her forward aggressively.

“
I’m sure you can spare a
moment for us,” he grinned. The foul stench from his breath made
her stomach churn. She pushed away from him to keep as much distant
between them as possible. “What’s a beauty like you doing running
around at this hour?”

She felt disgusted when she felt a
hand on her buttock. She did not know which of the men harassed
her, but she instinctually slapped the man in front of her. She
would be lying if she blamed it all on reflexes, though. At the
moment, he was the object of her contempt. He and the rest of his
men seemed stunned by the hit.

Kali made use of this chance and
dashed away. Fear and adrenaline rushed to her head, fueling her
body. She would not be so lucky to escape again if they caught her.
God, she could just imagine the things they would do to her!
Genuine fear rushed to her head. She didn’t bother to look back to
see how far she had run. She could hear their rampaging footsteps
close behind, and she was running out of breath.

She couldn’t keep this up
forever.

Spotting a trashcan full of beer
bottles at the end of the curb, Kali grabbed the first bottle she
saw and smashed the bottom against the metal light post. With what
seemed to be a weapon on hand, she turned to stand her
ground.

The men were cautious at first.
Something about a little thing like her threatening them with a
broken bottle was amusing to them. Her body was shaking with fear,
but her face was stoic. The group of men laughed at her attempt at
bravery. The man who had snatched her wrist before suddenly grabbed
her wrist and squeezed it, until she dropped the broken bottle on
the ground. She struggled to wiggle away from his grasp, but his
grip was too tight.

Suddenly, he loosened his fist and she
pulled away by instinct. To her surprise, he fell to his knees,
gasping for air. His face held a look of pain as tears began to
stream from his eyes. She had never seen a man in so much
agony.

“
What’s wrong with you?”
his men were backing away at his unusual display. His head began to
turn to the left. He screamed out for help, but his head continued
to turn all the way around. The pain on his face was frozen at the
moment of his death. His crew stood in complete shock.

“
It’s that girl!” a man
shouted out. “She did this to him! She…she’s a witch!”

Kali had never seen a man dead before,
much less dying. She had attended several funerals, but they were
all closed casket ceremonies. Nothing had ever come close to what
she just saw. When she turned back to look at the others, they were
glaring at her with bristling hatred. Their body language showed
obvious murderous intent.

One man pulled out a knife from his
pocket, slowly approaching her. There was no doubt in her mind what
he was going to do with the knife.

Another man was behind her. She didn’t
realize he was there her until he grabbed her by the wrists and
held her in place. The other man raised the knife above his head,
aiming at her heart.

“
No please…” she begged,
her eyes glued on the streetlight reflecting on the blade of the
sharp knife. She imaged how it would penetrate her flesh and
flinched.

“
You’re not going soft,
are you?” she heard the man behind her ask when a long moment had
passed. “She’s clearly a witch, she killed him! It’s not like this
is the first time you killed somebody!”

“
Shut up!” the
knife-wielder said, agitatedly. “It’s not me, it’s her! I…I can’t
move my hand!”

“
What the hell are you
talking about? Just finish her already!”

He lowered the knife from above his
head towards his neck. “Help me…I can’t control my hand!” he said
in panic. His other arm rose to control the knife. Before his
friends could reach him, the knife sliced through his
throat.

He dropped the knife, trying to stop
the blood from gushing out over his fingers. It was no use. As the
blood traveled down his neck to soak his shirt, the man choked and
fell to the ground. Kali felt the blood rush from her own head, and
fell to the ground in a dead faint.

The other men watched, shivering in
fear. Horrified at what they have just witnessed, they scattered
and left the dazed girl and two corpses
behind.  

A darker shadow materialized from the
dim alleyway. He walked toward the fainted girl and gathered her up
onto his arms. The corpses, along with the puddles of blood,
disappeared into the ground. There was no sign that anything
unusual had happened as he turned to walk away.

Chapter 2: Hardly a
Debut

She woke up this morning in a cold
sweat under her heavy blanket. She couldn't understand how the
worlds of her sub-consciousness could feel so real. The horror she
felt lingered for several hours after she got out of bed. She
didn't want to think about it, but the dream last night was so
vivid that she could still remember the faces of those men. Even
more disturbing were the bruises left on her wrists. The thought of
it made her wince.

"You haven't been listening," Hana
accused.

Kali snapped out of her thoughts and
turned to her friend. Her brown eyes narrowed, the girl ran her
hands through her brown hair and frowned at the neglect.

"I'm sorry," Kali apologized, "I was
just thinking about the nightmare I had last night.”

Hana rested her hands on her hips. "We
have more important things to worry about than just
dreams.”

"You're right," Kali agreed. "Hana,
did you go on the school trip a couple days ago?"

"I got a cold and had to stay home,
remember?"

"I think I do…”

"What were we talking about again?”
Hana pondered on where she had left off. "Ah, yes, the dress! I am
willing to lend you one. I have a bunch of dresses that I never
even worn.”

"I did mention before that I will not
be attending," Kali interrupted before Hana could come to a
decision on Kali’s wardrobe. She looked over her shoulder at the
other girls in the class and detected animosity. "You know the
girls don’t like me. I don't know who I’ve offended, but there are
a lot of rumors about me lately. Maybe I should just lay low for
now. Besides, I just don't belong there. Their parents are
millionaires and movie stars. Where do I fit in?”

"Hush!" Hana waved her right hand.
"You go to this school, so it’s your right to go to a school
function. We already talked about this. The school only throws a
dance once at the end of the year. It would be such a waste if you
don’t go. Before you say you don't have anything to wear, I already
picked out a dress for you.”

"I don’t really know how to
dance.”

"It doesn't matter," Hana pulled Kali
closer so she could whisper into her ear. "To be honest, I don't
have a date for tonight, but I really want to go. I don’t want to
show up alone! You’ll come with me, won’t you?"

Kali thought for a moment. "I suppose
I can make it.”

"Wonderful!" Hana exclaimed. "I'll
have the dress sent over right after school, and then a driver will
pick you up tonight.”

†††††

The door was unlocked again. Chevalier
could be careless when it involved trivial things. Kali entered the
apartment, and then locked the door. Taking off her shoes, she left
them by the door. It would be a pain to remove any stains from the
carpet, so they always left their shoes by the entry.

"Chevalier?” she called out to him,
but there were no reply. It was too early for him to be home,
anyway. He wouldn't be home for another few hours.

Kali dropped her backpack on the sofa,
and discovered a large white box on the coffee table. Curious, she
opened the box and found a neatly folded ivory lace dress. It must
be from Hana, she thought. She held up the garment and measured it
against her body. It seemed to be the right size.

"Do you really want to go?" Chevalier
asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. He was drying his hair
with a towel, and was only half dressed.  “I don't think it
would be something you’d enjoy.”

“
You startled me,” Kali
said. “I thought you were still at work.”

“
I came home early,” he
said without providing an explanation.

"Well, it’s my turn to shower then."
Kali said as she walked toward him. He inched back a little to let
her through. She took the dress into the bathroom with her, hung it
up, and turned on the shower.

"Kali?" Chevalier asked from outside
the bathroom. "Do you need a date to dance?”

"No," she replied. "Hana doesn't have
a date, so she asked me to go with her. If I bring a date, it would
defeat the purpose.”

"Do you need a ride?"

"No, Hana will send someone to pick me
up.”

"I see…” Chevalier returned to the
living room and took a seat on the sofa. He stretched out and gave
a huge yawn. He figured it had been a long day. Maybe he should
take a nap. He closed his eyes and let his mind wanders.

Kali didn’t need a dress to show other
people that she was attractive; she had always been pretty.
Chevalier imagined her shiny, straight hair and luminescent, clear
skin. Her eyes were incredibly expressive, which made her feelings
evident all over her face. It was hard not to give in to her. Of
course, he had dated far more outrageously gorgeous women, but none
of them could…

"What do you think?” she interrupted
his train of thought. Suddenly his cheeks were burning red, like he
had just done something he wasn’t supposed to. "What's wrong? You
don’t feel well?"

"I'm fine," he said in a perfectly
controlled tone.

The vision of her stunned him for a
long moment. The dress hugged and accentuated her newly-developed
curves with blissful precision. It looked like it was made for
her.

He didn’t know how if he should
compliment her.

"You... don't like it?"

It wasn't that he didn't like it, he
did! She would still look perfectly beautiful in this dress or any
other; but it gave him an unsettling feeling in his chest. He had
been looking forward to her maturity, but now that it stared him in
the face, he wondered if it had happened too soon.

Kali rushed to the window when she
heard car beeping below. "It’s my ride. I’ll be back in a couple of
hours.”