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

Leaving the lighthouse is nothing but an excuse for two things: to check if the coast is still clear and to get my stupid heart to stop pounding in my chest.

Successfully encircling the empty vicinity, I reach the shore. The calm waves fizzling as they come and go, and the seagulls squawking in the distance fill my senses. I inch my bare feet closer, where the sand meets the bubbles of the water. It's cold.

What am I kidding? Of course, it's cold. The summer season is over, and the sky's hues are turning pink. I breathe in and out and close my eyes, feeling loose locks of my hair flutter and the cool water and breeze slam against my skin.

Lucifer is all right. He's fine. He's still not healing too well, but he's awake now.

As soon as he woke up, I thought my heart would snap. He's still a pain at the bottom, though. And he deserves to know what happened after he fainted. But a part of me doesn't want to think about it all right now.

Calm down.

I cover my face with my hands and hold my breath. All the adrenaline had run out after the first day of our getaway. Since then, all the guilt, thrill, and stress pile together like a lump in my throat that stays there after every swallow.

Three days already of nothing but determination and uncertainty fighting over in my brain, plus Lucifer's unconscious state?

I shake my head. There's relief now, at least. I can hold onto that for now. I can't cower now. Not in front of Lucifer. Not when I've gotten this far. Not when the me days before I met Lucifer is staring right back at me every time I close my eyes.

What would that old me think of the present me? I rebelled against my family after twenty-five years of doing as I'd been told. I housed the devil and helped him escape and hide. Am I losing my way? Am I going down a path I may regret in the future?

"I suppose my doubts were unfounded after all." A low, familiar voice carries to the growing coldness of the wind from somewhere behind me. "Wherever we are as of now, doesn't feel... unsafe."

I scoff and lower my hands, turning my head toward Lucifer. He isn't wearing anything save for the navy blanket draped around his shoulders, swaying softly against the breeze. Dark strands of tousled hair hover over his dim red eyes focused on the horizon where the sun slowly descends to meet the earth.

"You really never listen." I sigh. My muscles are tensing up again. "I thought I told you to stay inside?"

His eyes partially close, silence responding to me.

I look back to the sea and fold my arms, muttering, "You don't even know how conflicted I am with everything because of you."

"I do," he replies, his tone soft. "You can blame me for that."

The air blows constantly, albeit weakly, and the birds quiet down. A steady yet oddly comfortable silence envelops us. I grip my arms tightly and squint at the flushed skies.

Have I lost my way already? Maybe I have. Will I regret ever going against everything I was born into for the sprinkle of freedom Lucifer's existence has introduced to me? I may, but right now?

Is it so wrong that this feels so right?

"It's getting chilly." I turn around and walk back to the lighthouse as the sun disappears from sight. "Let's go back in."

Lucifer wordlessly follows behind. He's being so compliant suddenly. If he really feels negative emotions, does he know exactly how I feel right now? All the lurking anxiety? Is that why he's quiet?

Once back in, I flick open the lights. I go over to the small kitchen side and prepare something to eat for dinner.

"Lucifer." No answer. I cock my head to the other side of the room, and he's right there, climbing up the spiral staircase. I shout, my voice echoing across the cylindrical space, "Lucifer, answer me."

"What?"

"Do you want to eat?"

"I don't feast on human sustenance."

Okay, that solves my little problem.

He doesn't say anything else and continues to climb. I shake my head and finish up a simple soup from whatever I could find in the cabinets. I cringe. When will I learn not to put too much salt and pepper into what I eat?

I take it all in regardless of how bad it is. I need the nutrients. Besides, the strong seasonings helped numb my wandering thoughts. That's a plus.

Later, I climb back. The cold and darkness of the night amidst this small but somewhat cozy lighthouse should be something I'm used to by now. But there's a big difference tonight compared to the previous nights.

Lucifer is awake. And he is sure to bombard me with his questions again.

Deep breaths. I can handle this. It'll be fine. Just focus on replacing his bandages first. Maybe that'll create a more amicable atmosphere.

"You really are accustomed to the dark," he remarks from across the room. He is already settled back where the comforters are. "Not even a single misstep."

I snort as I take a match from the metal box of the first aid kit from the side. "I still need some light to see you properly." I light up a candle and place the candle holder I found in a cabinet on the small circular space etched from the thick beacon. "There we go."

I sit beside him, taking a pair of metal scissors and a roll of bandages from the box. Leaning toward him, I ignore his glowing, reflective eyes in the dark and touch the loose bandage around his abdomen.

"What are you doing?"

"Changing your bandages."

Soon enough, all his previous bandages are cut off. I lick my lips as I put them all aside and take a new roll of bandage, my eyes not leaving his burnt flesh. His consciousness probably helped with the healing process. He isn't bleeding anymore, but the skin is still patched darkly, and it's gone leathery from the lack of proper treatment. A supernatural treatment.

As soon as I got him to the lighthouse, I treated him with the limited tools I could garner from the hospital in my quick drop days ago. I cleaned his wounds and used a cold compress to stimulate his wound tissues. I even snatched a tetanus shot and made sure to replace the dressing twice a day to ensure his wounds would close soon enough.

But it's just not working. Every procedure I practiced for treating burn injuries only cleans his wounds at best. Once I take off the dressings, the burns are still there. And it has been three days.

In the silence, he scoffs loudly, catching me off my trance.

"You take such pleasure in looking at how pathetic I am as of currently," he snaps and semi-glares, "don't you?"

"Shut up." I grip tighter on the bandage and lower my voice, afraid he will hear me—how I feel. "I'm trying to think."

He leans against the short walls below the glass walls around us, eyes steady on mine. "No matter how skilled a doctor you are, it should've been undeniable that human means for treatment won't work on me."

"I cleaned your wounds and prevented any possible infections. That's not 'nothing'," I argue back. But I know that's all I can do for him.

"What, disappointed? Stop pretending, human. You are vastly frustrated that your doctorate barely does anything in the face of the supernatural," he snarls in a low voice. "Useless. You see now how useless your knowledge is in this situation, no?"

Why is he being so hostile? No, he's just taunting me.

"You may have briefly won over your cowardice. Still, bitterness remains in your depths. You are a swirling carapace of turmoil, Salie."

Don't let it get to you, Asael.

"Shut up." Before he can say more, I cut him off. "Shut the fuck up!" I shut my eyes tight as I yell, "Just fucking stop talking, you good-for-nothing demon!"

He's just taunting you.

"I've been putting up with your bullshit since you came into my life! Fine, that was on me, but aren't you being too much of an asshole already for a week's worth of knowing me? I've been trying to appease your demands. I've been trying to help you. To fix everything!"

He's just exposing your feelings that he probably senses. Why? I don't know.

Still, like constantly spilling on a full glass resulting in an overpour, I continue yelling, "Then I'm bombarded with the possibility that my family has been connected with the supernatural prior to meeting you. Wow." A wry laugh comes out. "Was it on purpose, then? Did Remi intentionally get me to summon you because I was unknowingly their bait? All to catch you for whatever reason we both don't understand? I don't know. At this point, I don't even know if I want to know."

I'm trembling.

"And now, look at me." I gesture to myself, my jaw tight. "You're right. I'm frustrated. I'm disappointed. I'm useless. I'm a fucking coward. And I'm trying so hard to pretend I'm not." My voice cracks, and I bite my lip to stop my tears from falling.

With a breathy and shaky exhale, I bump my head against his arm like a deflated balloon.

"I'm so tired, Lucifer," I whisper, barely hearing myself. "What else do you want from me?"

Silence falls upon us—nothing to hear but my heavy breathing and the distant waves on the shores. Strangely enough, this newfound silence proves soothing.

Is it because I allowed myself to explode like that?

My calming heart skips again at Lucifer's small sigh. What is it this time?

"You are hopeless." His fingers meet my chin and lift it. "You want to know what more I want from you?"

In the shadows of the night, I see nothing reflected in his eyes. He is blurry. I can barely make out the way he's looking at me.

His hand cups my cheek, and a finger brushes my lower lip, pulling my mouth open. "Let me tell you something, Salie."

I flinch at the spark as our noses brush along with one another. Then his forehead hit mine. What is he doing? What is this?

"I want everything." His breath on my face makes me shiver. The vanilla scent of incense reaches my nose. I have only smelled it subtly these past few days. He is exuding them so much now. It's overpowering and suffocating yet irresistible. Like a warm embrace—a little spicy and sweet, enticing.

Why is that?

"Everything that you are. I want it all."

Eyes wide, I can't move. Lucifer's cold fingers on my cheeks spread across my ear and the side of my neck. The tears falling from my widened eyes halt at the slow movement of his lips on mine. I grip the blanket on his lap, but the trembling doesn't stop.

What's happening?

His eyes remain open. With a squint, a hand presses on my back, pulling me closer to him. He opens my mouth even more with a thumb and deepens the kiss. I recoil and shut my eyes, grunting and shifting my head to return whatever this is.

I'm dizzy.

My mind is muddled with everything and nothing simultaneously. I hear nothing but the loud pounding in my chest reverberating to my ears. My ears that his fingers are tracing softly, sending a ticklish arch to my back. I can't remember how bad the soup tasted anymore. Everything is coated with his taste. Nothing makes sense. Be it everything I feel or the need to pull him closer until we're impossible to tear apart.

Neither of us ever pushed in deep enough to light this spark and burn ourselves. But who am I to expect anything? He's a devil—the devil—and I'm just some mortal.

Yet... I wanted to know how it feels to burn myself.

And it seems like I'm not alone there.

His hand behind me effortlessly pulls me to sit on his lap, and I stretch my arms around his neck to support myself, desperate to keep our mouths together. My fingers indulge in the twists of his locks, grabbing a handful of it with my fists.

I'm losing my mind.

I open my eyes as he pulls away, panting. Just when I think it's all over, he breathes against my neck.

"Salie." His little nickname for me comes in almost ragged. "Let it go." What?

My breath hitches as he drags his lips across my neck. His tongue slips out, and as it flicks a certain spot near my throat, I gasp and grip him tighter. A snort echoes from him, and my face suddenly feels hot.

The hand on my cheek gently caresses my skin. "Let yourself go."

"..L-Luci- ngh!" I bite my lower lip.

Open-mouthed kisses pepper a particularly sensitive spot on my neck. I feel like I'm about to explode. And I won't retaliate. I can't. I don't dare to. As hazy as my mind is at this moment, one thing is clear.

I don't want him to stop.

"I'll take care of you," he whispers and leans back, his lips kissing my tears. "Cast your worries aside." Our eyes meet, and my head spins.

I finally see him clearly again. On this supposed cold evening, my body is burning, and my darkened eyes reflected in his dimmed ones are yearning for more. The devil's eyes gleam, and the next thing he says completely cripples all the remaining walls I enclosed around myself.

"Surrender yourself to me."

Gladly.

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

Wordcount: 2221
Overall: 20732