by Dahlia Lu
Grant reached for a cigarette pack, grabbed one with his lips, and lit it with a lighter.
“It’s not hard for a face like yours to find a job in modeling,” he said. “The question is, why would you want to?”
“I have nowhere to go. No home to return to. I never graduated high school and I don’t know how to make a living. I really need your help.”
It was obvious that there was a lot more she wasn’t telling him, but that would just have to do for now.
“Fey.”
“Fey?”
“It's my sister’s name. If you don’t mind using a dead person’s name, then take it.”
Finally, a smile appeared on her face. “That will work.”
†††††
She walked through the hall with the grace and dignity of a queen. There was a blank look in her eyes, as if she was filled with so much sadness and sorrow that she couldn’t see anyone she walked past. At first glance, her beauty captured their attention. She was so alluring that they turned their heads for a second look. Her beauty was that of a seducer, an enchantress. Men and women alike were drawn to her, but they could see her apparent aloofness. She looked like she did not want to stop to chat or be bothered with light-hearted conversation.
She opened the door to the classroom after she confirmed the room number with the piece of paper on her hand. The moment she entered, the room went from loud and chatty to completely silent. The other students could not help but stare. She gave them a polite nod and then sat down at an empty table.
She could hear their whispers very clearly, as if they were speaking out loud. Her hearing, along with other senses, was a lot more sensitive than they had been before. Who is that girl, they whispered. Is she a celebrity or fashion model? What is she doing here?
She did look much more mature and developed than other girls her age. Her physical age, anyways. There was no telling how old Skye was. For demons, time had no meaning. Next to her seat was a young man who was soundly asleep. Kali pulled out a pen from her backpack and waited.
Several minutes later, the teacher arrived. Kali flinched when she saw her. Although she had aged, the facial features were still very familiar. It was her old friend Hana. If her calculations were right, Hana must be thirty-five by now. She looked a few years beyond that, though. Her soft and youthful skin had become duller. Faint wrinkles were apparent on her face, but were not too severe yet. There were dark circles underneath her eyes, indicating sleep deprivation.
It hit her hard that twenty years had passed. If she hadn’t been dead the last thirteen years, she would have been thirty-five by now, too. She imagined looking in the mirror and saw herself aged twenty years. It was hard to even imagine. Hana! It was the first time she had seen Hana in twenty years!
“Welcome students,” Hana began. “We’re going to go over the class syllabus and policy today. Are there any volunteers to pass out the papers?”
Her voice had changed, too. A voice that was now that of a middle-aged woman. Twenty years had already passed.
At the end of class, everyone hurried to leave. Kali gathered her belongings together and prepared to leave. The young man next to her was still asleep.
“Hey,” she said. “Class ended already.”
He was unresponsive.
“Wake up,” She put a hand on his shoulder, “It will get dark soon-”
“I don’t like to be touched!” He violently shook her hand off.
“I’m sorry, I thought-”
“You…” He stared at her. He took her by the hand, “Why did you run away?”
He did look very familiar. “You’re the man from the hospital?”
He suddenly wrapped his arm around her, “Oh thank God, you are safe! I tried to find you but you ran so quickly, I didn’t know where to look. I couldn’t have forgiven myself if something happened to you!”
Her hands pushed against his chest so he would let go. He took a step back. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I was just so happy, I lost control of myself.”
“Vince?”
“You do remember me!” He smiled. “I have to take you to the hospital for another checkup, make sure everything is alright.”
“No.” She shook her head, “I’m fine.”
“You don’t know that,” he replied. “The doctor said your blood test came back very strange. He couldn’t make out what it was.”
“Strange?” She was no longer human. “There must be some mistake, I’m perfectly healthy.”
“I can see that,” he nodded. “Why did you run off that day? I was so worried. Do you have a place to stay now? Did you find the person you were looking for?”
A sad expression crossed her face. “I’m staying at a friend’s house. I’m sorry if I worried you.” She turned her attention to the dark clouds outside the classroom window. “I think it’s going to rain. You should get home soon.”
“Wait!” He caught her hand as she was about to walk away. She turned back to face him. “Your name. You never told me your name.”
“K-” She lowered her eyes. “Fey. I’m Fey.”
†††††
Kali watched as Hana entered an old building in a rundown neighborhood. She seemed to be quarreling with the man who lived on the first floor. After their conversation, she angrily walked up the stairs. Is this where Hanna lived?
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Kali caught the attention of an old woman who was passing by. She turned to face Kali with a suspicious look on her face.
“What do you want?” she asked sharply.
“The woman who lives in that building, her name is Hana Grento.” Kali pointed at the building, “Do you know if she lives alone or with her family?”
“Oh, her. She lives in that building alone, after her third husband left her,” the old woman replied. “Well, sometimes her daughter comes home but …she mostly lives alone.”
“Why did her husband leave her?” Kali asked.
The old woman shook her head, “I don’t know much about her family matters.”
“Thank you.”
†††††
Grant was looking through the pile of photos in his hands. They were from a photo shoot this morning with the three top fashion models. His expression became stiff as he went through them. In frustration, he tossed them aside. Tired, he stared out of the window from the back seat of his car.
“You don’t seem too happy with your work, sir,” the driver said as he glanced through his rear view mirror.
“Just not what I’m looking for,” Grant replied. “Fashion is all about conforming, but I’m looking for something different. I met a girl lately and she was-”
He abandoned his sentence completely. “Stop the car!”
The driver pulled over as instructed. “Something wrong, sir?”
Grant jumped out of the car and chased after the familiar figure. He caught her hand, forcing her to turn around. “What are you doing in this part of town?” he asked.
Kali gave him a polite smile. “I was just visiting an old friend.”
“I see,” He let go of her hand, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”
“No, I think I’ll walk,” she said. “I need some time to think.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not safe for you to be here.”
“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself,” she replied. She was a lot stronger than she used to be.
He placed an arm over her shoulders and walked her toward his car. “Don’t be stubborn! I can’t risk anything happening to you.”
He let her get into the car first. “You remember where her house is, don’t you?” he asked the driver.
“Yes, sir,” the driver nodded. He turned the key to start the car and returned to the road.
“I heard you started school,” Grant said.
“Yes, I wanted to finish high school. I didn’t get the chance before.”
“Did something happen?”
She smiled. “Love happene
d. I gave up everything to be with him.”
“Where is he now?” he asked after a long moment of silence. He could see that she was hesitant to answer. “Was it another woman?”
She flinched and turned away. He could tell it was a sore spot.
“Was it Trent?” He thought about that day he first met her. She would have done anything to see the rock star.
“No, he’s my s-” She flinched as the pain start to invade her body.
He could tell she was in pain. “Are you alright?”
He wrapped his left arm around her as she leaned toward him. “What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?”
She didn’t reply. Her body began to tremble. Her face was chalk white.
“The hospital,” he instructed the driver, “and step on it.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver complied.
“No…” She pulled on the collar of his shirt, “…no hospital. Please…”
“But you-”
“…no hospital…”
He needed to make a quick decision. “Fine, fine. I’ll take you home, then.”
The car stopped in front of Chevalier’s apartment building. Grant helped Kali out of the car. “Can you walk?” he asked.
“Yes.” Her complexion looked better than it had just minutes before.
He sighed at her lie. Sweeping her off her feet as the driver quickly closed the door behind them, he followed the man to the building. The driver hurried to open the door to the apartment building.
“What apartment number?” he asked.
“304.”
He carried her to the stairwell and up to third floor. In front of room 304, he rang the doorbell and waited impatiently.
“No one is home,” he concluded after two minutes. “Do you have a key?”
“It’s not locked,” she replied.
“Why didn’t you say so?” He opened the door and carried her inside to set her down on the sofa. “Where’s your medication?” he asked.
“What medication?”
“For your condition. You must have medication or treatment for it.”
It's not an illness, she wanted to shout. “No, I’m fine. I just need a little rest.”
“I don’t like your lies.”
“I’m not lying.”
He went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. He came to her side again to hand it over to her.
“Thank you.”
“You said you lived here with a friend?”
She nodded. “Yes, my childhood friend and his niece,” she sensed Chevalier’s presence. “He’ll be up in a couple of minutes.”
As she predicted, Chevalier walked through the door several minutes later.
“Chevalier, this is Grant, my photographer,” she introduced, “Grant, this is Chevalier.”
Chevalier gave him a polite handshake and then ignored his presence. “I came to pick you up at school, but they told me you already went home.”
“Uh, I saw Hana at school so I followed her home. I wanted to see how she lives.”
“Hana?” Chevalier blinked, “A friend of yours?”
“She was a friend of yours, too.”
“She was?” Chevalier scratched his head, “I don’t recall.”
“Now that you’re here, I’ll leave,” Grant said. “Take care, Fey.”
“Thank you for the ride home.”
“Don’t be late for the photo shoot tomorrow.”
Grant closed the door behind him as he left. Chevalier took off his jacket and threw it aside. He went into the kitchen and picked food from the refrigerator.
Kali watched him. He hadn’t aged a day in the last twenty years. His face, his figure, right down to every strand of his hair were as they had been. She looked to her own reflection in the decorative mirror across the room. She still hadn’t gotten used to seeing another face.
Kali rose and walked closer to the mirror. It was the first time she had taken a really good look at herself. Her hair was as dark as a starless night. The strands were straight, long, and soft like whispers of silk. Her eyes looked as if they were made of amethyst. She had never met anyone with such strangely color eyes. Her skin was very pale, a sign that the previous owner of this body did not like to be in sunlight. And it was flawless. Her lips were plumper, more seductive than those of her former self. Her eyes trailed down to the rest of her body.
“Fey,” Chevalier’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
The bigger picture was suddenly obvious as she looked to Chevalier. She realized they were now two people frozen in immortality in a changing world. It was as if they weren’t part of this world anymore. While everyone around them would grow old and die, they would be the ones left behind.
But for how long?
“Didn’t you hear me?” Chevalier asked.
“Yes?”
“What would you like for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t feel hungry.”
In fact, she hadn’t been hungry in days.
“Of course you don’t,” Chevalier said. “But Bi doesn’t know what we are, and it would be strange to her if we don’t eat like normal people.”
“I thought she knew,” Kali murmured, “since she has been with you since she was a child.”
“No, she doesn’t know,” Chevalier corrected her. “Maybe at one point, but she was too young to remember.”
“You haven’t aged, Chevalier,” she pointed out. “She would have at least noticed that.”
“No…” he admitted. “I haven’t. Maybe I should dye some of my hair white to look a little older.”
“It doesn’t matter. She’ll notice sooner or later. Right now, it’s not that apparent, but in nine years it will be. You’ll be a fifty year old man with the body of a twenty-two year old.”
Chevalier blinked. “How did you know how old I am?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, I don’t intentionally hide it from her,” Chevalier sighed. “I just thought that her life would be less complicated without demons involved.”
†††††
Seth had been traveling for hours in an attempt to lose his pursuer. He had been careless enough to enter the mansion without a protection spell. His presence was immediate sensed by another demon. Skye urged him to run, and he did just that. He thought he could lose whoever was following him eventually. After all, he was the fastest of his kind.
He did not know how long he had been followed. His pursuer was a persistent one who would not give up. He had tried to dematerialize and teleport to another area, but that did him no good. He felt like helpless prey trying to run from a predator. All he knew was that he could not stop running or he would be caught. He also knew that he can’t keep this up forever. At that precise moment, he decided to stop running.
His pursuer materialized in front of him. His platinum hair glistened under the moonlight.
“What it is that you want from me?” Seth asked.
“I want answers.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Why were you in our mansion?” Trent asked. “You must be in on it with that woman.”
“Your mother?” Seth asked in a teasing tone.
“Let’s skip the gibberish and get to the point,” Trent suggested, “Who are you?”
“That is none of your business.”
“That’s okay,” Trent summoned his sword to him. “I’ll make it my business.”
“I was instructed not to get into this kind of situation with you,” Seth replied. “It is best that you return home.”
“Who instructed you?”
“I believe you know the answer,” Seth said. “Who it is that benefits the most from all of this? Who is powerful or cunning enough to stage all of this?”
Trent took a moment to think. “Who is he to you?”
Seth began to laugh, “That is an interesting question. Who is he to me?”
“What does he have to gain from all of this?” Trent as
ked.
“The satisfaction of seeing your mother suffers? Maybe he was expecting that Lucifer would fall out of love with her and returns to hell? Oh, I don’t know,” Seth shrugged. “He never talks to me about his plans. Or maybe, just maybe, he might want to confirm something.”
“Take me to him,” Trent demanded.
“You know your way home,” Seth said as he melted into the shadows and vanished.
†††††
Skye stared at the pinkish vial on her hand. Seth had been delivering this to her when his presence was detected by Trent. It was a careless mistake that could cost them everything. Skye found comfort in the fact that Seth was one of the fastest demons she knew. Then again, he was also a very careful person. It was not like him to enter the mansion without a protection spell.
“Arvin sent you what you asked for,” Seth told her, “Use it wisely or not at all.”
“Love potion?” Skye asked.
“There is no such thing as a love potion. You cannot control another’s heart by magic of any kind. At least, that applies to true love.”
“Then what is this?”
“Concentrated lust.”
Love and lust were both the same to her. It doesn’t matter which one she had, Lucifer would still be hers.
Chapter 9: Spellbinding Lust
She hid herself under the shade of the trees in front of the school. It was such a beautiful day. She had wanted to bathe in the afternoon sun, only to discover that she was extremely sensitive to it. The warm sunlight she once enjoyed didn’t feel the same. On the contrary, it felt like a burning sensation on her skin. Now she realized why Skye had avoided it.
For the five years she had lived with Lucifer, she never noticed that demons were sensitive to sunlight. He’d never shown one bit of discomfort whenever they were outside. Perhaps Skye’s body was different somehow. After all, even humans had different allergies and tolerances to their surroundings.
The thought of Lucifer weighed on her mind. She missed him terribly. She could still remember the scent of his body and the feel of his skin against her own. She remembered his silky voice that whispered to her things he would never repeat to another. Most of all, she remembered being loved by him.