The Devil's Lover: The Wish (8 page)

“
Hello?”

It was Chevalier’s voice on the other
line. “Happy birthday, Kali!”

“
My birthday…”

“
You didn’t remember, did
you?”

“
I did…sort
of.”

“
Meet me at Central Park
in an hour. We’ll walk to the cemetery to visit your parents, and
your grandma too. I don’t want to stop by your new place. I think
you know why.”

“
Okay,” Kali agreed. “One
hour it is.”

“
Kali…”

“
Yeah?”

“
Never mind, I’ll see you
in an hour.”

Chevalier hung up the phone. He
squeezed it tightly in his hand. He had wanted to talk a little
longer. He wanted to hear her voice. In one hour, he'd be able to
see her. But why did it feel like he would never get the chance
hear her sweet voice ever again?

†††††

Kali wore a simple white dress as she
had for this day every year. Her birthday was a curse that had
haunted her for the last sixteen years. On the same day every year,
she went to the cemetery to visit the mother who died giving birth
to her, and the father who committed suicide because he’d lost the
love of his life. Her father must have hated her. How could he love
the child who had taken away the life of his beloved
wife?

Kali stopped by a flower stall on the
way to buy a bouquet of white roses. She had been told her mother
loves white roses. She was also told that her mother was a gentle
and beautiful woman. Her mother had been everything her father ever
wanted for a lover and a wife.

Everything about her parents, she had
learned through the words of others. Her grandmother had never been
compassionate with her. Even though she didn’t say it out loud, it
was clear that she never wanted to raise the child who, in the same
day, took away the life of her only son and daughter-in-law. She
was to blame for all of the misery of her grandmother’s remaining
life.

Kali took in a deep breath. She should
have gotten over it by now. It has been so long. She always
convinced herself to be happy because life could always be worse.
She told herself that her life has a purpose. That everyone’s life
has a purpose. Now all she needed to do was find that
purpose.

It was a short walk to the
park.

†††††

Chevalier put on his helmet and hit
the road on his motorcycle.

Soren kept watch on Chevalier, his
face a study in ice cold scorn. He stood in mid-air, invisible to
the human eye. Human lives are so expendable, he thought. Almost
anything could kill them. But how should this one die?

It started raining. It was drizzling
at first, and then the rain became heavy. Kali ran under a tree for
cover. She reached for the cell phone in her pocket and dialed
Chevalier’s number. No one picked up. Should she leave? She
debated, looking at her watch. It was only four-fifty.

Only ten more minutes until their
meeting time. If she had known it was going to rain, she would have
at least brought an umbrella. She was soaked to the bone and
probably would be sick tomorrow. The last time she had been out in
the rain like this was when she was thirteen years old. The images
played out in her head as she recalled the past.

She had a very high fever that day and
was confined to her bed. Winter always took a toll on her body and
this annual fever had become a tradition. Now and then she could
see her grandmother through the cracked door, walking by in the
hallway. It was too much to expect her to come in. Grandmother had
always been indifferent to her.

She lay there for hours, watching the
sky darkening through the window. She turned toward the door when
she heard it creak open. Chevalier stood there with a smile. “I’m
sorry I came by so late,” he said. “Something came up at work. I
bought you some snacks.”

His face suddenly turned pale at the
sight of her. He rushed to her side and felt her forehead with his
hand. Within seconds, he had burst out of her room. She could
remember his angry voice from a distance as he approached her
grandmother.

“
She’s running a fever,
why didn’t you call for a doctor?” he demanded.

“
The girl runs a fever
every year,” her grandmother replied. “She’ll be fine
tomorrow.”

“
You’re a heartless
woman!” Chevalier dialed his cell phone and waited patiently.
“Damn, the offices are closed this late!”

He rushed back to her side and felt
her temperature again. “Kali? How are you feeling?”

When she didn’t respond, he gently
shook her. “Kali, can you hear me? Kali? Damn it, her fever is so
high!”

He snatched her coat from the closet,
brushed aside her blanket, and put on her coat. As soon as he
finished buttoning the last button, he positioned her on his back
and left the house. She needed a doctor, and fast. He hoped that
the doctor who lived a few blocks away would be home.

The rain came suddenly. He was glad he
had thought of her coat, which protected her from the rain. He
carried her as fast as he could to the doctor’s doorstep and
impatiently knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman opened the
door.

“
She’s running a high
fever, is the doctor home?” Chevalier asked without a moment of
hesitation. There was no time for introductions.

“
No, but he will be home
shortly,” the woman replied. “Bring her in. I’ll call the doctor
home right away. Are you her family?”

“
I’m the closest thing to
it.”

Kali snapped out of her reminiscence and gently laughed when
sudden realization came to her. She hasn’t noticed it but Chevalier
really did love her for a long time.
  

†††††

Chevalier pressed harder on the gas
handle to urge his bike to go faster. “Why does it have to rain?”
he muttered. “That idiot probably didn’t bring an
umbrella.”

“
This is as far as you
go,” Soren decided. He held out his hand in the direction of an
oncoming truck.

The truck driver panicked.
“It’s…it’s steering by itself!” he shouted out and tried to step on
the brakes, but the truck careened on. “
Watch out
!” He shouted as he
frantically tried to brake. “
Runaway
truck
!”

“
What the hell?!”
Chevalier said, seeing the oncoming truck as it crossed over into
his lane, coming right at him. He yanked the bike to the left to
avoid the head-on collision, and then back to the right before the
oncoming traffic could hit him.

The truck smashed into several cars
that were heading towards it.

“
That was close!”
Chevalier gasped. “What the hell was that?”

“
Not half-bad,” Soren
praised. “However, If Lord Lucifer wants you to die, you cannot
live!” Soren held out his hand to another truck, this one much
bigger than the last.

“
You’ve got to be kidding
me!” Chevalier muttered with annoyance, trying to avoid it a second
time. The truck turned sideways on the highway as it slid towards
him. There was no way to dodge it unless he could lean the
motorcycle so close to the ground that it would slip under the
truck. Such a professional maneuver required time; something
Chevalier did not have.

He attempted it anyway.

The motorcycle slipped under the truck
with ease, but it was leaning too close to the ground. Sparks flew
where the metal parts of the motorcycle ground against the asphalt.
The speed he was traveling at threw him off the motorcycle, and he
tumbled onto the cement of the highway.

Chevalier slowly regained awareness
and tried to get up. His right leg was broken.

He looked up to see a car coming
toward him at an unbelievable speed. The front lights blurred out
the horrified face of the driver behind the windshield.

Kali!

Chapter 8: Unwritten
Contract

Kali looked again at her watch. Her
entire body was shaking as the result of standing too long in the
cold rain. She gritted her teeth together to stop them from
chattering. Chevalier had never been late before. That worried her.
He was an hour and a half late.

She took out her cell phone again, but
this time she called Hana. Hana was not picking up, either. Kali
swallowed hard. She couldn’t stay in the rain much longer. It
wasn’t a good idea to wait in the rain in the first
place.

Kali walked back along the path to
Lucien’s house. She passed by an electronic store and a large scene
TV was the display window. The news was on. Kali paused for a
moment in front of the window, listening to the faint voice through
the glass.

A pretty young woman with very short
hair was reporting, “There has been a tragic accident on the
highway Route 81, 4:50 P.M. today. Reports are just coming in.
There are a total of 8 people pronounced dead, while 9 others are
injured. Two young men were taken to the local hospital in critical
condition. They had their IDs on them. The first young man is
identified as Chevalier Shiva. Twenty years old. He was driving a
silver motorcycle model…”

“
Chevalier…”

For a moment, Kali forgot how to
breathe. Her lungs felt like they were collapsing. The hospital.
She needed to go to the hospital. She inhaled a deep breath of air
and turned to see a taxi heading her way. She waved at it, but it
ignored her completely.

She waited for the next taxi and
jumped out in front of it. The tires screeched. It stopped before
it hit her.

“
Do you have a death
wish?” the driver yelled angrily out of the window.

Kali ran to the side of the taxi,
opened the door, and got in. She took all of the money she had in
her purse and offered it to him with both of her hands. “The
hospital. Please, drive me to the hospital!” she yelled in
panic.

The driver took the money and shoved
it into his pocket. “Anything you say!”

“
Please hurry!”

The car raced through traffic and ran
through a few yellow lights until they pulled up in front of the
hospital’s front entrance. Kali got out of the taxi and ran into
the building.

“
I’m looking for someone!”
she said to the receptionist at the front desk. “Chevalier Shiva.
His name is Chevalier! Please look him up for me!”

The receptionist looked through her
list. “He’s still in the emergency room.”

“
Where’s the emergency
room?”

“
Down that hallway and it
will be to your left.”

Kali followed the receptionist’s
directions. At the end of the hallway she found a spacious wing
with a red “Emergency” sign. Hana sat on the chair and leaned
against the door.

“
How is he?” Kali ran to
Hana.

Hana didn’t say anything. Her face
looked as if she were possessed.

Kali shook her. “How is he,
Hana?”

Hana raised her hand and slapped Kali
across the face. Kali turned back to look at Hana, shocked. “You
bitch! He ended up like this because of you!” Hana lashed
out.

She pushed Kali against the wall.
“It’s all because of you! It’s all your fault!”

Lucien caught Hana by the wrist,
preventing her from swinging again. He gave her a threatening look
before he turned to Kali. Hana was trembling. Lucien hadn’t done
physically done or said anything to her, but she couldn’t stop
shaking.

Kali stood still, confusion and hurt
apparent in her eyes. She just couldn’t comprehend what was
happening to her world.

"You think this is my fault?” she
questioned Hana.

“
That’s right,” Hana
responded, glaring. “Nothing good ever happens to the people around
you! Not your parents, not your grandma, and not Chevalier! I
should stay away from you, before you kill me too!”

"Is that what you really think of me?
Is that what they say about me?"  Kali’s body lost its
strength, and she slumped down the wall to the floor.

“
Say another word, and I
will have you killed,” Lucifer warned Hana. Hana gave him a nasty
look and turned to run down the hall.

Lucien knelt down to Kali’s level. He
lifted her face up to kiss her eyes and the sweet tears on her
cheeks.

The red light on the emergency board
turned off, and the doctor stepped out from the emergency room
doorway. “Are you the patient’s relative?” The doctor asked once he
took off his mask.

“
Yes, I'm his only
family,” Kali stood up immediately. “What’s his condition,
doctor?”

“
Take him
home.”

Kali didn’t understand what the doctor
meant and simply looked blankly at the man.

“
Prepare him a proper
burial,” he sighed.

Kali brushed by the doctor to run into
the emergency room. Her eyes widened and she turned away at sight.
It took her some mental preparation to turn around again. His
entire body was covered by a white sheet, and his arm hung limp off
the table. His blood was trickling down to form a puddle on the
floor. She tried to control her thick breathing and slowly walked
to his side. She carefully lifted up the sheet with her trembling
hands. When the sheet revealed his face, it was too real for her to
deny.