by Yvi Valentin
“We just have to get a distance away from hell before we can go back to earth.”
Chapter 28
I woke up in an unfamiliar room. I quickly realized I was right when I told Michael how Evan was going to take my body away. I thought I was going to wake up in the same frilly room I had stayed in before. It would have been easier for Andy to get me back. Wishful thinking hasn’t always worked in my favor.
The room was white with cherry stained wood furniture. The curtains were beige. The bedspread I was in was a deep red color that matched the wood furniture. It wasn’t my style but it was definitely better than the hideous frilly room.
I got out of the bed and headed towards the window to see if I could figure out where I was. I saw a bunch of skyscrapers but none I could recognize. I was in an apartment high up and the view wasn’t spectacular. I couldn’t see any indications of where I was and I suspected that was on purpose. I heard the door open and quickly turned around to see Evan in the doorway.
“Welcome back,” he said cheerfully as he walked over to stand next to me.
“Yeah, I’m so glad to be back,” I answered sarcastically.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.”
“You didn’t think I actually trusted you, did you?”
“I thought you did.”
“I guess you weren’t as convincing as you thought.”
“Then why did you let me sit in on your meeting with Michael and why did you tell me what you guys were planning on doing with the horsemen?” Evan asked defensively.
“I wanted to find out if Michael thought you could be trusted and letting you in on what we were doing was part of our plan,” I snapped.
“How did you know?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Fair enough, either way, I got what I wanted,” he gloated. I let him have his little moment because I knew in the end I would win.
“Where are we?”
“Like I’m going to tell you,” Evan laughed.
“Worth a shot,” I mumbled.
“Good you made it,” Lucifer said cheerfully as he entered the room.
“It wasn’t that hard to get here,” I replied.
“Good job getting her here, Evan,” Lucifer smiled.
“It was easy, she was unprotected,” Evan answered.
I rolled my eyes and left the room. I entered the living room to find Gina sitting on the couch. I dreaded having to deal with her for any period of time. She turned around and took one look at me, rolled her eyes and went back to reading her magazine. I didn’t want to be in the same room as her so I went into the kitchen.
“Isn’t it great?” Evan asked from behind me.
“It’s not my style,” I answered.
“Oh, I thought you would like it,” Evan said disappointedly.
“I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought.”
“I guess you don’t like your room either.”
“It’s alright, a lot better than that frilly room you had me in on that farm.” I paused for a moment as I realized something. “Don’t tell me you decorated that room.”
His cheeks turned scarlet. “I did.”
“Why did you make it so ugly? It looked like an old lady lived there.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Obviously,” I laughed.
“Are you hungry? I could make you something.”
“I just want to do whatever Lucifer has planned for me.”
“Did someone say my name?” Lucifer asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Yeah,” I replied. “When can we get started?”
“Soon, darling,” Lucifer answered. “Don’t you want to relax a bit before we get started?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I replied.
“Maybe you should anyway,” Evan suggested. “Just in case.”
“I’m not a child!” I yelled. “I don’t need to relax! I just want to get this over with!”
“Alright, let’s get started.” Lucifer’s calm demeanor was very off putting.
“What are we doing first?” I asked.
“First I want to gauge your abilities,” Lucifer answered. “We’re going to go to my training ground.”
“Do I need to bring anything?” I asked. I didn’t really care but I figured I could fake interest to get out sooner rather than later.
“The training ground has everything you could possibly need,” Evan answered.
“Great, let’s go,” I said unenthusiastically.
Evan grabbed onto me and before I knew it I was standing inside a huge room that reminded me of the one I trained in with Raphael. It was almost exactly like my old training room. The main difference was that there were torture devices all over the place. This was Lucifer’s training ground and I knew I wasn’t going to learn anything I ever wanted to use.
“I’m going to throw things your way and I want you to react naturally,” Lucifer explained. “When I feel that you’re starting to break down, we’ll stop the tests and start your training.”
“Bring it on,” I replied.
“Don’t hold anything back.” Lucifer nodded at Evan and I prepared myself for whatever was about to come.
I looked around and for a moment couldn’t see anything, but then out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadowy figure circling me. I figured it was a ghost and threw a fireball at it. It went up in flames and disappeared.
In a matter of seconds, Evan charged towards me and I knew I was going to be tested in my combat skills. I knew Lucifer wasn’t going to let me kill him so I was going to have to try very hard not to. I punched Evan in the face before he could even lay a hand on me. It felt good to finally punch him; I wanted to do it for so long. I must have punched him really hard because he fell down. I smiled at the sight but was suddenly pulled backwards by someone who had their arm around my throat. I grabbed the arm and broke free to see Gina. I knew she took pleasure in trying to kill me but she wasn’t going to get anywhere near me again. She ran towards me and I flew up to the ceiling and dropped down behind her as I swept her legs out from under her. I laughed as she fell to the ground.
“I didn’t think you would enjoy it that much,” Evan said.
“It’s all about who I’m fighting,” I smiled.
“I get it, you don’t like me,” Evan replied pathetically.
“Really? What was your first clue?” I felt Gina’s energy right behind me and turned around to punch her in the face and smiled when she screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. “Did you really think you could distract me long enough to get attacked?”
“Alright, combat is over,” Lucifer said. “I’m impressed, Aimee.”
“Why? You didn’t think I could fight?” I asked.
“That too, but I didn’t think you would enjoy it as much as you did,” Lucifer answered.
“Like I said before, it was about who I was fighting.”
“Alright then, let’s see how much you can control.”
“Don’t you think we should give her a break first?” Evan asked.
“I don’t need a break,” I argued.
“You heard her, now let’s get started,” Lucifer ordered.
“What are you going to test me on first?” I asked.
“How about you turn on all of these electronics,” Lucifer suggested as Evan brought in a cart filled with phones, computers and radios.
I focused on the massive amount of electronics that were laid out in front of me and turned them all on. The room was filled with sounds of phones ringing and vibrating, different songs from each radio and the welcomes of the computers as they powered on.
“Good enough for you?” I asked.
“I am very impressed,” Lucifer replied.
I turned all of the electronics off. “Yeah, that’s nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Lucifer asked curiously.
“Pay close attention.” I turned on all of the phones and caused the signal on all
of them to be jammed.
“Impressive!” Lucifer exclaimed.
“Yeah, what do you want me to show next?” I asked unenthusiastically. I didn’t want him to know about everything I could do. I needed to have my secrets if I had any hope of defeating Lucifer.
“I know you can control multiple people at once,” Lucifer started. “I’ve seen you do it.”
“You’re talking about the day you started the apocalypse.”
“What else would he be talking about?” Evan chimed in. He just wanted to make sure he wasn’t ignored.
“Yes,” Lucifer replied. “I watched you control those people on the ledge of the building. I watched you force them to go back inside.”
“Great, then I don’t need to demonstrate it for you.”
“No, but I would like to know just how many people you can control at a time.”
“A lot.”
“How about a number?” Evan asked irritably.
“Just because I won the fight doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that,” I snapped.
“I let you win,” Evan said as his face turned bright red.
“Yeah right,” I laughed.
“Hey!” Lucifer yelled. “Let’s get back to the important things.”
“I don’t know if there are any limitations to how many people I can control at once,” I answered. “I’ve been able to control a lot of people at once with no problems.”
“I want to see if you can control people by the thousands at the very least.”
“Find a thousand people and we’ll find out.”
“We’ll test that later, I still want to see what else you can do.”
“She can control the weather,” Evan chimed in.
“And how do you know this?” Lucifer asked.
“I saw her do it,” he answered.
“I can control pretty much anything I want.” I created a fireball in one hand and a water ball in the other. I turned the water ball into a wall that stood a few feet in front of me and threw the fireball at the wall of water. I made the wall turn into a puddle on the floor then quickly caused it to spin up in a cyclone. I sustained the cyclone for a moment before I had the water form into a ball back on my hand and let it evaporate. “Is that enough for you or do you need to see more?”
“How many more elements can you control?” Lucifer asked.
“I already know she can control electricity,” Evan said.
“Want to tell him how you know that?” I asked with a huge grin as I remembered the times I had shocked him.
“He already knows, remember? He was there when you electrocuted me once,” Evan answered bitterly.
“Yeah, I just wanted to hear you say it,” I laughed.
“I’m going to wipe that smile off your face,” Evan shouted as he charged towards me. I quickly created a gust of wind that was strong enough to hurl him across the room. He yelled in pain as he hit the wall and I was sure his leg was broken. Even though I didn’t like him, I felt bad for hurting him so I walked over, placed a hand on his leg and healed it. Evan stood up and found his leg to be fully healed. “You can heal people too? I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Yeah,” I replied carelessly.
“Excellent!” Lucifer exclaimed. “We can use this to our advantage.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” I mocked.
“I think you’ve shown enough for today,” Lucifer said. “Tomorrow we’ll see just how many people you can control at once. It doesn’t seem like you need any additional training which is good for me, it just means I’ll be ahead of schedule.”
“That’s amazing!” Evan exclaimed. “They’ll never see it coming.”
“I’m thrilled,” I added sarcastically. I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. I knew they wouldn’t tell me anything even if I asked so I left it alone. But I had this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that things were going to get so much worse.
Chapter 29
“Time to put your abilities to the test,” Lucifer said excitedly.
“You mean it’s time to control a crap load of people for your own selfish reasons,” I clarified.
“Yes,” Lucifer replied.
“And how do we do that?” I asked.
Evan smirked. “You’ll see.”
“Looking forward to it,” I answered sarcastically.
“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Lucifer said.
“Late for what?” I asked. “And why do I have to dress like this?” I was wearing a navy skirt suit which I’ve never worn before. I’ve always had suit pieces but never wore them together.
“You’ll find out when we get there,” Lucifer answered.
“Oh joy, I can hardly wait.” We got in the elevator and once we reached the lobby I saw a limo outside. “Is that for us?”
“Of course,” Lucifer replied.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Be patient, darling, you’ll find out soon enough,” Lucifer answered.
We got in the limo and went on our way to the location that was a mystery only to me. The ride was quiet and awkward. I knew Lucifer and Evan weren’t going to tell me anything about where we were going so I didn’t bother asking. Eventually we reached our destination and I saw a huge crowd of people standing in front of an outdoor stage. There were banners of red, white and blue stars and stripes and campaign signs.
“Is this supposed to be a political debate?” I asked.
“No,” Lucifer answered. “Evan will be giving a speech today.”
“Why? Is he running for president or something?” I jokingly asked.
“Actually, I am,” Evan answered smugly.
“You’re kidding!” I felt like my heart had stopped for a moment. He couldn’t be serious. “He doesn’t know anything about politics!”
“He doesn’t have to,” Lucifer replied.
I suddenly understood. “Because you want me to control everyone here into wanting to vote for him.”
“Very good,” Lucifer said. “You’re catching on quickly.”
“Let’s go,” Evan interrupted. “I can’t be late.”
“Why do I care?” I asked.
“Because I’m presenting you as my wife,” Evan answered cheerfully.
“Why?” I asked angrily. “And a politician’s wife usually wears a nice dress in public, not…this ugliness.”
“So it makes sense that you’re on stage with him,” Lucifer answered. “Plus it makes him more likeable. And I thought your outfit was appropriate for the event.”
“You obviously don’t know anything about fashion,” I mumbled. I dreaded having to make a public appearance. I had a feeling Evan wanted Andy to hear about it.
Evan got out of the limo and reached for my hand to help me out. I dismissed him and got out without his assistance. Part of me hoped to sabotage his campaign by appearing unhappy with Evan. I didn’t have to do any acting. I just hoped Evan and Lucifer wouldn’t catch on. Evan grabbed my hand as we made our way towards the stage.
“Try to pretend you like me,” Evan muttered.
I chose not to respond because I had no intentions of ever pretending I liked him even slightly. I was going to make it painfully obvious to everyone that I couldn’t stand Evan. As long as Lucifer didn’t catch on I was fine.
We finally made it on stage and Evan took his place at the podium as I stood off to the side. Lucifer was nice enough to grab me a chair so I could sit. I was surprised he was being so nice. He took a seat next to me as Evan began his speech. I wasn’t paying attention to anything he said. I didn’t care what he had to say, it was going to be a bunch of lies anyway.
“When I tell you, I want you to make everyone here start cheering,” Lucifer whispered.
“Simple enough,” I said, uninterested in anything he had to say. I was really bored and didn’t want to be there. I was sure it read all over my face and I partially hoped there were cameras on me. “How will you know if they’re c
heering because of me? What if they start cheering on their own?”
“They won’t cheer for him on their own,” Lucifer replied. “Have you seen Evan?”
“Good point,” I laughed.
“I’m surprised you laughed. I must be rubbing off on you.”
“You’re not,” I snapped. “I just thought what you said was funny.”
He was unconvinced. “Fair enough…I want you to get the entire crowd to start cheering now.”
It was an easy thing to do, so I focused on making everyone cheer. It wasn’t long before the entire area was filled with loud cheering and whistling. I saw how pleased Lucifer seemed. It was like he didn’t expect me to pull it off.
I went back to not paying attention. I got lost in my own train of thought. I thought about what Andy was doing, what Michael had planned for him, Jen and Brian. I wondered if they were still looking for the horsemen or if they were given a new mission. I thought about all of the shows I had watched on the History Channel over the years that had to do with the apocalypse and wondered if anything they mentioned was accurate. Then it dawned on me, Evan was supposed to be the antichrist. I must have looked completely horrified as I realized the truth.
“Are you alright?” Lucifer asked as he saw the expression on my face.
“Evan is supposed to be the antichrist isn’t he?” I asked weakly.
“Yes,” he answered. “Make everyone cheer again.”
I quickly made everyone cheer louder than before. I was still horrified by my discovery. I knew I was going to have to tell Andy as soon as I could. I wondered if there was anything I could do to stop him. Soon enough, I was going to find out if there was anything I could do about him.
“Why are there cameras pointed at me?” I asked as I watched people taking pictures and videos of me.
“Maybe it’s because you look like you’re here against your will,” Lucifer hissed. “Try to act like you’re happy to be here.”
“But I’m not.”
“Then act like it,” he hissed. “People aren’t going to want to vote for Evan if the woman he calls his wife is acting like she’s being held against her will.”
“But I am being held against my will.”