Flash Fiction Spooktacular

An Unexpected Visit - Cecily Anne Winters

“Luce! Hey, Luce! Come on man, you gotta see this!”

I rolled my eyes but wisely refrained from commenting. Gabriel knew exactly how annoying I found it when he called me by this ridiculous name, but did he mind it for the last two thousand or so years? See? That’s why I loved the stupid guy even after all this time.

And of course, it helped that we could only really meet twice a year if - and that was a big if - the old fucker allowed it. You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that…

“What is it, Gabby?” Emphasizing his equally abhorred nickname, I got up from my comfy seat and sauntered over to where he stood next to the window. If looks could kill, I’d probably be dead now from the look he gave me.

“I should have just let you miss the show, ass,” he murmured, immediately looking out of the window again.

Chuckling darkly, I finally checked for what had grabbed his attention and “Damn! How… I mean, what… Huh, dude?!” Seriously, what the hell? I had been sure I had seen it all in my very long lifespan as king of the seven domains of hell, but this…

Out there, un-f*****g-believable, two of my most feared hell hounds played “fetch the stick” with a lad I’d never seen before! To top it off, those were the hounds charged with guarding the entrance to hell! If it came out that the only thing you needed to enter hell was play fetch, I’d become the laughingstock of all creation! Damn! My anger level soared, clothes ripped and gone was the easygoing, bored to death Luce. Welcome Lucifer, King of Hell!

Roaring with fury, I barraged right through the wall. My tail swished around me, eagerly trying to grab the little girl and drag her in front of me. But before I could get close enough, MY hounds ran in front of ME, charging and growling at ME! My roar shook the whole dimension. Had the world gone mad this Halloween? Enyo and Cratos whined and whimpered but didn’t move an inch to let me pass. Instead, they hunched together in a useless standoff with me, their master, to protect the intruder! I knew I could easily take them on, but good hellhounds were hard to come by. Growling, fuming, I tried to decide how to proceed when suddenly, carefree laughter rang through the now thickened air. The girl somehow sneaked in between the two, stroking and petting them all the while like they were sweet little poodles.

“Good boys…” she crooned at them, and my rage seemed to lessen just from watching her. Weird. “Such good boys you are…” With a shy little smile, she looked at me and my hardened heart did a strange little whirl inside my chest. Her face…. had I seen her before?

“Have we met before? Who are you? And how did you enter hell?” I wanted to growl at her, because she seemed to have bewitched my hounds, but one look from her shining blue-grey eyes melted away all my anger and fury like snow under the spring sun.

“Mommy said you don’t know me, but maybe she was wrong?” Her sweet voice and the hopeful look she gave me brightened the whole dark and gloomy area. Although Gabriel and I usually spent our limited time in one of the outer and thus nicer domains of my sprawling home, this still was hell, so the difference was noticeable.

She had me at a complete loss now. Her mommy? What the…

“Who’s your mommy, little one? And how come you are here?” Gabriel knelt next to her and used his most angelic voice to question her. I felt myself bristling, but Gabriel just winked at me. He knew I hated his angel act, but then, if it got answers, I’d let it slip for once.

“Mommy…” and just like that, the little girl started crying with loud, ugly wails, thick tears running down her delicate face.

“Hush… " Gabriel tried to comfort her, but she only wept louder. The hellhounds sniffed and licked her, but nothing made her stop. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I scooted closer to her, feeling way out of my comfort zone. Cratos whined but obediently made space for me. I felt strange, towering above her tiny frame, so I sat down on the floor and slowly, very slowly, laid one of my giant hands on her shoulder. At the same time, my wing folded around her, effectively trapping her.

Instantly, she stopped crying. If possible at all, she wiggled even closer. Then, suddenly, she jumped on my lap, put her arms around my neck and pressed her snotty, hot face against my chest.

I was shocked. Had she just… cuddled up with the devil? Without any fear? Wide eyed, I looked at Gabby who only shrugged. She hiccupped but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. Not knowing what else to do, I held her there, close to my heart, and started to gently rock her. This seemed to do the trick, because just like that her hiccups stopped and she fell asleep.

“What…” I looked at Gabriel, “what should we do with her?” I had zero experience with children, and in any way, I was Lucifer. Having a child anywhere around here would ruin my reputation. Like, forever.

He shrugged. “I have no idea. Seriously, I’m a bit pissed at you because she preferred your comfort to mine. That’s a first, I think.” Tilting his head, he snorted. “I could have sworn I have seen her before, but...”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. She seems… familiar, somehow.” Thinking for a moment, I dropped my gaze to Cratos. “Shift!” I ordered. “I want to know everything since the moment you found her.”

“My lord,” Cratos bowed.

“Drop the s**t and tell me!” She stirred, but the rocking motion lured her back to sleep.

“My lord, we had just arrived at the gates and were about to change the guard, when we heard arguing outside. We carefully scouted closer until we saw a group of people outside. They…” he hesitated, “there was a woman, surrounded by black clad people. The little one was hiding behind whom we believe was her mother.”

“Was?” I interrupted him.

He nodded. “We are not allowed to interfere in mortal affairs, so we only watched. It seemed they intended to sacrifice the girl, but the woman fought against them. But… there were a lot of them.”

“The woman must have been a very strong witch because even though she fought them off all at once, she somehow sent her child into a protection trance.” Enyo continued.

I was impressed. A protection trance was rarely done, both because it was terribly dangerous if a being was entranced for too long and it took a huge amount of energy to cast it.

“That still doesn’t explain how she ended up here,” trust Gabby to get right to the point.

“When she saw that she couldn’t break through, she cast a spell to send the child to its father.”

“And in the same moment, she stood before us safe and sound, the trance lifted. She squealed in delight when she saw us,” Cratos looked at me, exhaling. “We thought… the child might be yours, my lord.” Both hounds bowed deeply to avoid my gaze.

“Which is why we brought her to you.” Enyo’s whisper was barely audible. “Probably, her mother’s energy was too depleted to get the child all the way to you. If it.. if it wasn’t for tonight being Halloween, who knows where she’d have ended.”

My grip around her tightened. I remembered now where I had seen this girl before. She looked like her mother when we last met some five years ago.

“Adria…” I whispered. Had she kept the girl from me on purpose? We hadn’t parted on great terms, but then, she was a light witch, and I was the king of hell. She hadn’t been able to refuse my significant charms, but I had been unable to convince her to join the dark side. I sighed. Sometimes, being Lucifer was really a pain in the ass. Apart from being light, she had been perfect…

“Did you see what happened to her?” I snapped at the hounds, but they silently shook their heads. Sighing, I looked at Gabriel.

“I suggest you put her into your bed, Luce. She seems to like you the most,” he grinned, while I told the hounds to follow me. They would protect her until I returned.

Once I settled her sleeping figure in, I went back to the archangel. “Time to hunt again, old friend! Nobody hurts what’s ours!” He growled, eager for the pursuit.

Spreading my wings, I smiled like the predator I was. “Nobody hurts what’s ours and lives. Let’s find her and hopefully bring her back!”

The END

by Cecily Anne Winters

F.B.K: Cecily Anne Winters - Author

Dreame:

The Mer King