.- ... .- . .-..

The longer I stare, the more I trust my eyes and ears that this is real. There really is a person in my room. Alive and there.

He scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. "Tell me already so we can get this over with."

He speaks as though I was the one who brought him here. I'm just as surprised. How did he even get here?

"What?" I ask, hand still by the light switch as I watch his every little move by my closet. "No, who even are you? How are you here?"

He raises a brow. "Surely you jest. You summoned me to do your bidding, and I came. It's that simple."

"Summoned you?" When did I...? I tilt my head. "I-I think there's... You know what, there definitely was a mistake here."

His face contorts to one of annoyance. For some reason, looking at him frowning and seemingly mad sends a terrified shiver across my body. I don't even know who he is. Only that he said he was summoned here.

But how? I was praying to God and receiving His blessing, and then...

My eyes jump to the candles and the folder Remi left behind. The warmth seemingly burning my soul, the candles dying out and giving out a different scent, and the prayer... I miscarried the prayer when I felt the burning.

I shake my head, not even sure which is it here that's weird. The fact that I had a burning sensation or lost proper form that messed up the prayer. It may be easier to understand if it happened in reverse, but no.

Now, a dark and edgy person is standing before me, reverberating the most intense glare and vibration to the air between us.

"So... I summoned you," I say, repeating what I understand from his words and trying to literate my messy thoughts. "I was praying, you see. So I don't get how that happened, but-"

"Are you saying-"

"But," I emphasize, cutting him off and earning another sharp squint. I gulp before I continue, "But I think I couldn't handle the holy spirit, or something like that."

"Huh?" His tone reeks of disbelief.

"Hear me out."

He leans on my closet door, edging me to continue with a nod. The more I'm in this situation, the more I understand what's happening. And the more I do, the more the rumbling fear in the pit of my stomach is reaching my veins.

If he is who I think he is... doesn't that mean I'm in deep trouble?

"So maybe I couldn't handle the holy spirit or God's blessing or something." Or whatever that burning sensation on my side is all about. "Because of that, I, well, messed up my posture during the prayer and... may have..."

"Am I to assume that is, then, when you..." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, his voice suddenly unrecognizably trembling—not in fear, I'm afraid. "accidentally summoned me?"

I gulp again and hold a hand out to stop him from charging me in anger. "Look, let's calm down first. I-I didn't think this was possible at all. Heck, I never once believed I could summon anything."

"You summoned me," he whispers, loud enough to be audible.

"Well, yeah, without meaning to. And you know-"

"Accidentally."

I breathe in, trying to ignore the intense smell of incense across the room and the red of his eyes gleaming. Fudge.

My voice trembles, but I push the words out. "This is a good thing! You won't have to do anything since I wasn't particularly, well, in need of your help-"

Not a blink in, his figure disappears and reappears inches before me, zipping my mouth shut.

"Foolish mortal." His voice is barely recognizable, lowly seething. "You big, gigantic, humongous little fool."

I don't want to intervene, but his words make my eyebrows twitch.

"...That's three synonyms followed by an antonym," I say, steeling my resolve in the face of this—dare I say it—gorgeous man. "It doesn't really offend me. Just saying in case that was what you were going for."

"You disrupted my leisure time for nothing," he snarls after a sharp sigh, ignoring my comment.

I brushed my hair back. "Give me a break. I didn't-"

"A break? You? No. It is I who deserve a break from this!" he yells.

"I didn't know!" I yell back.

"Humans know nothing!"

"Stop shouting!"

"Don't order me around!"

"I'm not!"

"You don't fool me."

Pursing my lips, I breathe in and level my tone. "I didn't mean to pull you in here, okay?"

He breathes long and hard, the scent of strong incense harassing my nostrils. But I don't move or look away. I'm not in the wrong here; I have no reason to be unnecessarily afraid. My eyes briefly glance at the cross on the wall above my nightstand.

Honestly, I don't have anything to fear. If this supernatural guy is who I think he is, then as long as I trust God, he can't hurt me.

However if that is true, that makes it more confusing how messing up a prayer to God summons him.

With one final breath, the smoke around him settles down, and he leans away. "We're not done, mortal."

For now, we are, at least, right?

"I have some unpleasant tidings for you, however." The smoke around him completely vanishes, and he looks more like a normal human being who has never once been touched by the sun. "I can't go back."

Can't? Go back to what?

"Once summoned, albeit by accident, the doorway back to my abode only opens at will after completing a deal with the summoner."

What a weirdly elaborate system that is!

"For both our best interests—" He folds his arms, "—fancy putting me to any work?"

"You're..." I force my eyes close as it slides over to his body. Don't give in to temptations, now, Asael. I open my eyes to his unfazed red ones. "...the devil, right?"

"...Don't tell me you didn't even know that."

"I'm just confirming." I lie, but it's not like he'll know.

"Liar."

How does he know that?

"Sins come to me in the form of different senses. That's how I knew."

"...Did you just read my mind?"

"No. You looked surprised, that's all."

"Is it fine for you to share information like that, though?"

"Would you tell a soul? Would they believe you?" He raises a hand, shutting me up before I can answer. "No, they will not."

"Okay, but you don't know that."

"Yes, I do." He waves a hand between us. "Enough. You didn't even know I was the devil. Yet you summoned me."

"Accidentally."

"Even stranger," he says and shakes his head lightly. "So now that you know I am Satan, will you just put me to work so I can go back to hell?"

Wow, he really wants to go back there. Is it better there than on Earth? He did mention that I disrupted his leisure time, so maybe he was on recess from some hell or devil duties when the mishap happened.

I never question much about heaven or hell. With the devil himself within reach, who acts very differently from what I initially thought from the scriptures and stories I'm told, something about it all piques my interest. But I doubt he'll humor me if I ask him more now. Maybe I'll do that once I find him in a better mood.

"Now that I know you're Satan." I squint at him. "I need to know what's in store for me, too."

"Depends."

"On what?"

"The work you put me to."

I shrug. "Care to give an example to a first-timer?"

He rolls his eyes. "Ugh, fine." He complains but does it anyway. This guy is weird. "Contrary to your beliefs, I don't take your soul unless the work is of the same value. Say you make me do your homework-"

"I'm twenty-five with a job, though."

"You asked for an example," he says with gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay. Continue."

He glares but continues anyway. "If it's as simple as math homework, committing one, simple sin suffices."

"Why a math homework?"

"It's a common request." He shrugs. "Do you get it?"

"Yes." I think.

"What part of it don't you understand?" he asks almost genuinely, that it widens my eyes.

"Well, the part where I don't really know what to ask of you."

After a long silence with us just looking at one another, he sighs. He looks so done I almost want to laugh.

"Fine. Let's do it this way. Since this is a special case, I'll be the one to ask you for something."

"Okay..." That low-key scares me, though.

"It's nothing much." He reveals a black envelope from nowhere. "I'm invited to a gathering and need a date."

What?

"I am to make a transaction you don't need to know about. And I need a date." The envelope vanishes as he throws it to the side. "Questions? A breeze, no?"

"I do have questions." I lean on the wall on my side. "Why do you need a date?"

"So they know not to mess with me if they don't want a bystander to get hurt."

"So you need a hostage."

"Same thing. Except we get to be intimate if need be."

"When is this?"

"Tomorrow evening."

I lick my lips and sigh. I can't even think about it all properly. I just want this over with and get some rest. It's not like going on one date the night before my arranged wedding is that bad, right? After all, I ought to send Satan back before my entire religious family finds out I summoned him. Worse, at the wedding ceremony.

As much as I don't particularly dislike him, it is in my best interest to get rid of him from my track.

"Okay." I nod. "Will this get you back to hell?"

With another swipe of his hand, a black feather over a glowing white paper appears between us.

"If you sign it."

I cautiously take the floating paper and skim through the content. There's nothing to take note of. It's really just as simple as that.

After signing it, it flies back to him. His eyes study it more before it disappears in thin air again.

"Contract made." Satan walks near my bed, seemingly delighted. "As for now—"

My fingers switch the lights off. Thanks to always being in the dark, where he's standing is clear to me. I grab his arms and push him to the bed. Thankful that he lets me do that to him, I crawl on top of him and cover us both with my blanket. Our eyes meet, and I see him questioning what I'm doing.

I mouth, "Trust me."

He doesn't say anymore, and the door to my room opens in that exact second.

"You'll hurt your eyes if you always keep in the dark, Asalie. Jeez."

"Don't!" I yell.

From the light Remi's entry brings to the room, her figure past my blanket is visible. She almost switches the lights on.

"...What are you doing under the sheets?"

"I'm... I'm doing something."

"What?"

I grip the edges of my blanket against the mattress and adjust myself, ensuring it doesn't slide off. I lower myself, and my nose bumping against someone else's closes off every excuse in my head.

"Asalie?"

I've had a staring contest with him before. With the appropriate distance and everything. Now, it's dark, and we're chummy under my sheets. I think my chest is going to burst. I smell nothing but the pleasant and subtle incense in his breath. He's gazing back, his eyes a reflective deep red that I can see the blue of mine the more I stare. His black messy hair is adorned with my blonde locks. Somehow, he looks more majestic the more I see parts of myself colliding with his.

It isn't good if Remi sees him—if anyone does, really. For multiple reasons. But I didn't think about this part when I pulled him in here.

"Asalie, what are you doing?" Remi's tone changes from confusion to interrogative.

I blink and snatch my gaze to the side. "S-something! You wouldn't want to know!"

"Why?"

"Don't come any closer. I'm warning you."

"You're done praying, right?"

"Yes!"

Her figure backs away.

"I'll just give the folder tomorrow. Leave me alone right now, please?"

She doesn't say anything for the next minute. The longest minute of my life halt when her figure turns around, the door handle in one hand.

"You're doing something weird. I can see the way your blanket moves in the shadows, Asalie," Remi says in a quiet, teasing voice. "Jeez, and you just prayed, too."

"Fuck," I mumble.

Did my sister just think I'm doing... that?

She sighs loudly, the mockery in her tone not disappearing. "I'll see you tomorrow, you dingdong." The door opens, and I hear a barely inaudible "Men, I swear..." and "Well, he's getting married soon anyway..." as the footsteps slowly fade.

I jump out quickly to lock the door. Once I do so, I lean my head on the door with a sigh of relief. Who knows how much more complicated things may have been if my instincts didn't kick in in time?

"Agile," someone comments behind me.

I chuckle. "I swear, that girl loves to go about my room for absolutely no reason at all. It's gotten me so used to knowing when she'll appear-" I turn around and hold my breath. It's Satan.

He's so close. Just like earlier, but this time, we're standing by the door.

"That's quite the feat to do to the devil."

"This is partially your fault!" I hiss. "Now Remi thinks I jerk off after praying!"

He raises an amused brow. "You don't?"

"Of course not!" I bite my lip at my shouting, my hand on the knob tightening as I feel my face heating up, still trying to keep eye contact. "A-anyway, why are you-"

He raises a hand, closing it in. "You feel... tainted," he whispers.

Tainted? What even is that supposed to mean?

I slap his hand away from touching my face. "I summoned you." I squint. "Of course, I'm tainted."

"That's not what I meant." He rolls his eyes, not backing away from me. "I didn't notice earlier."

"Notice what?"

"Something about you feels off. You feel dangerous."

Dangerous? Me? Maybe if they hand me a gun, my clumsy butt may shoot anyone by accident, but that's beside the point. It isn't like Satan himself will know that.

"Yet..." His voice tones down, fingertips finally touching my face, and I let him. Why am I letting him? "..awfully familiar."

"Isn't that, I don't know, possibly because I am tainted for summoning Satan?" I ask, trying not to look away, my fingers on my side scratching the door on my back. I glare, earning the strength to raise a hand and slap his arm away. "And w-why are you touching me? Can you not?"

A scoff followed by a tiny smirk and a fake pained expression replaces the eerie confusion from him earlier. "You don't like it?"

"What even makes you think I do?"

"You didn't seem to hate it when you jumped on me earlier. So you tell me, Salie."

"It's Asalie. But it's Asael for you, Satan."

"Call me Lucifer." He inches even closer, my back pressing entirely on the door. This is dangerous. The way I feel about us being this close is dangerous.

He leans his face close, and even if I look away, I blame my periphery for hyper-fixating the way his head is angled towards mine.

"Tell me," he whispers, his breath pressing hot on the cold skin of my jaw. "Did you hate it?"

No.

Fuck.

Something in his expression softens, and a tinge of hesitation lingers in his eyes in the next thing he says.

"Do you hate me, Asael?"

Of course not. But should I? Maybe I should. Does he think I should? Would my family and the Lord prefer I would? No, but why would he ask that? What is he getting at? Is he pissed? Am I in trouble for pushing him earlier? But he's teasing me about it.

And I like it.

"Are you afraid of me?"

I lock my gaze with him at the almost inaudible question. His lids hide his eyes briefly, and when he opens them, they find mine.

In a world where the devil is worried about a human nobody like me finding him scary is one I'm sure isn't supposed to be real. And yet here it is. And why is the big mystery.

The lump in my throat threatens to linger as I muster to put a hand on his chest, pushing him away.

I don't think it's safe to be too close to him. Not safe for who? For him? For me? For what?

"Don't be ridiculous," I say, swallowing afterward and glancing away as soon as his eyes trail down my throat. "I'm not scared of you. Who do you think you are?"

He's Satan, Asael. Freaking Lucifer. The devil that resides in hell and opposes the otherwise religious upbringing your family has been practicing. But am I scared? Am I scared of admitting I'm afraid?

Or am I scared of admitting I'm actually not?

When I know I should be?

"You jest," he says in a playful tone as he steps back away. That's right. Don't come close. "Clearly, there's fear. Or do you fear what will happen if you admit it? I won't harm you."

"And why should I believe that?"

"There's no merit in doing so. Don't be full of yourself. I'm here because of you, not for you. Don't twist the story into a fantasy." His tone reverts to before Remi barges in. Distant, calm, unfeeling. Cold.

That doesn't help, though. Am I supposed to be offended? I am. A bit. Or maybe more than a bit. But something about that line didn't seem like it was solely directed to me.

"As I was saying earlier." He turns his back and walks to the bed. "As for now, the safest place for me to be is in this room. Worry not. I'll keep myself well hidden next time."

"...You can do that?" I ask after finally finding the clarity of my voice. "Why didn't you earlier, then?"

"Someone jumped on me without much of an utterance." He glances at me and squints, a teeny bit of amusement still visible in his eyes. "Well then. You best sleep. I assure you I will be doing nothing to you."

"You're Satan. You really expect me to believe you?"

"We have a deal. You did read it, didn't you?" He sits on the accent chair near my closet. "And again, if you're talking to me, it's Lucifer. Not Satan."

"Fine."

As I huddle under my sheets, I keep glancing at the accent chair where he used to be. He's still there. I know he is. He's just doing something to obscure his existence.

I turn to the side facing the wall, and ideas I know I shouldn't entertain gather in my mind. He was just here, in this same bed, a few moments ago. We were so close to one another I could smell nothing but him and feel nothing but his body against mine, and his letting me on top of him just made everything worse.

Why did he let me? Why didn't he push me away?

I shake my head and stuff a pillow over my face.

God, what just happened?

.- ... .- . .-..

Wordcount: 3112
Overall: 5033