by Eva Brandt
“You don’t need to thank me,” I answered. “It was my pleasure.”
“Pleasure has nothing to do with it, princess,” Callum replied.
He was right, but I was too tired to tell him that. Apparently, coming back from a coma was far more taxing than I’d thought, because I suddenly felt drained.
A strange lassitude rushed over me and my eyes drifted shut. As I surrendered to slumber, Lucifer’s face popped up in my mind. “You are my hope,” he whispered, somewhere at the back of my consciousness. “My dream. My happiness. Mine.”
“No,” I answered, “I’m not.”
My only answer was a distant, female scream.
Epilogue
Once upon a time, there was a girl. Well, maybe ‘woman’ would have been a more accurate description, but in this case, the distinction didn’t matter that much. So many years had passed that her age had been lost into the deep shadows of history.
She and her husband were given a home in the most beautiful garden in existence. They were also given an important task.
“Guard this tree with your life,” The Supreme Being told them, “but do not touch its fruit. It is forbidden.”
The woman didn’t ask why that particular tree was special compared to every other plant in the garden. She didn’t ask why she and her husband had to be its guardians, when The Supreme Being had other servants who would’ve been far more competent. The words of The Supreme Being needed to be obeyed at all cost, and like her name and age, further details didn’t matter.
She guarded the tree with devotion. She didn’t count the days, nor did she question her duty. She didn’t stray from the beautiful garden that had been given to them—the place that was both their refuge and their prison.
But as the days passed, she grew weary, and she found she needed more interaction than the exchanges she had with her husband. They got along, but everyone needed their space from time to time, and she was no different.
On occasion, when she was sure the tree was safe, she would stop to talk to the numerous animals in The Garden. The animals came to her happily, the massive lions rubbing against her bare legs like kittens, the birds combing her hair with their beaks. She loved each and every one of them, and every second she spent with them was a treasure.
When the snake approached her, she didn’t find it unusual. He was just another animal, and she welcomed him too.
At first, he said nothing of importance. He came by often and they chatted of all sorts of wondrous things. He often told her of the world beyond The Garden, things the other animals didn’t know much about. Before long, she confessed that she craved seeing it, seeing the outside.
“So why not go?” the snake asked her one day.
Her eyes widened in shock and outrage as she processed his outrageous suggestion. “I couldn’t possibly do such a thing. The Supreme Being has tasked me with guarding the tree.”
“Ah, yes,” the snake hissed apologetically. “Forgive me. I had forgotten.” He slithered over her naked body, curling around her neck to look at the tree in question. “What is so special about it anyway? Why does The Supreme Being feel the need to have you guard it?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“No, I suppose it doesn’t,” he replied, tickling her cheek with his split tongue. “I’m still a little curious, though. Aren’t you?”
She ignored his antics, but the seed of yearning had been planted. And over time, it bloomed, gradually watered by the snake, who would drop hints and questions about the tree every other day.
Before long, she found she wanted to know what was special about the tree as well.
“You could just take one apple,” the snake suggested one day. “No one needs to find out.”
“The Supreme Being will definitely know,” she pointed out. “I couldn’t possibly defy Him.”
“Maybe He’s just waiting for you to do it,” he reasoned. “I mean, you’ve been considering it for a while, right? If he’d wanted to stop you, he would’ve done it by now.
“Maybe the tree is actually a gift, and you just need to have the courage to reach out and take it.”
When he put it that way, it made a lot of sense. In fact, it explained everything she hadn’t understood until now. Of course the tree was a gift. Undoubtedly, it was meant for her and her husband, but The Supreme Being, in His infinite wisdom, had waited for them to discover it themselves.
After all, if it had been truly dangerous, there would be hosts of angels guarding it, not just two humans.
Ecstatic, she kissed the snake’s head. “Thank you! You’re right! I’ll go pick an apple now.”
The snake experienced a small pang of guilt as he watched her run off to find her husband. She would undoubtedly be punished for breaking the rule set in place by The Supreme Being, just like he had been. But he knew that this was necessary, that the secrets hidden inside that apple needed to be revealed.
He could not do it. He’d barely managed to wriggle his way through the defenses around The Garden in this lesser form. The humans didn’t have his limitations. They were the key to revealing the truths his father was trying to hide.
In his heart, he did ask himself the exact same question he’d posed to the beautiful human. Why would The Supreme Being allow this, if He knew it wouldn’t end well? Lucifer hadn’t been that discreet in his presence in The Garden.
But his divine father always did have his own plans. It was pointless to try to figure them out ahead of time. All he could do was hope his scheme worked, even if it came at the cost of the pain of someone who had been kind to him.
Hidden in the shadows, he watched as the girl shared an apple with her husband. The scream she let out when she bit into the fruit brought him no pleasure. It was the scream of the first Sacrifice, and it would haunt him for many centuries to come.
* * *
Present day
“No! Stop! Don’t!”
The scream echoed in my head, and I flailed as I tried to free myself from the suffocating darkness. I pushed off the strange weight trying to keep me down and crawled out of the abyss, desperate to escape the power threatening to crush me under its overwhelming weight.
I didn’t get very far. I tripped and fell, hitting the floor with a thud. But I didn’t let that stop me. I took refuge in the corner of the room, trying to fight off the shadows angrily clawing at my mind and soul.
Voices reached out to me, gentle and familiar, a warm balm and a weapon against the dread curling around my heart. “Lyssa? Can you hear us?”
“It’s all right. We’re here. You’re safe.”
“Take a deep breath. Focus. Don’t be scared.”
I instinctively followed the advice and rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision. It worked, and within seconds, I realized where I was and who was with me.
I was in my room in the dorm of The House of Envy. My lovers were kneeling next to me, concerned expressions on their faces. Shiro sat by their side, with TB curled around his neck.
The familiar sight chased away my tension and I slumped against the wall, feeling exhausted and exasperated. “What happened? Another nightmare?”
Mikael took my hand and threaded our fingers together. “Yes. Are you feeling okay?”
“Uh… Yes. I think.”
None of them looked convinced. I didn’t blame them. Ever since I’d woken up from my coma, I’d been having these strange, unexplainable dreams. I couldn’t remember them at all. The only thing I remembered was the scream of a woman, and I suspected that was just because I’d heard it when I’d been conscious, after my conversation with Lucifer.
Meph hypothesized that, when I’d been in Lucifer’s mindscape—the recreation of The Garden of Eden—I’d come into contact with something I shouldn’t have touched. I secretly agreed, but it didn’t help me much.
On the bright side, my nightmares had yet to have a physical side effect, which was always good news. A
nd even if I wasn’t sleeping well, I hadn’t gotten any headaches.
In any case, I couldn’t let it get to me. I had other priorities and too much stuff to do to worry about nightmares. “What time is it?” I asked my lovers.
“A little after seven,” Callum replied. “Do you want to head to breakfast?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “We might as well. It’s not like we can hide here, no matter how much the thought might appeal.”
Returning to my classes after three whole months had proven to be an exercise in futility. There was no way I could catch up, not when I’d already been on a curriculum I hadn’t been fully prepared for. Meph had therefore decided to set up a new schedule for me, one adapted to my unique situation.
I would have to repeat the year, but maybe it was better this way. There was just too much for me to learn, and it was a bad idea to try to push myself further after having had such an experience. Besides, my magic was still all over the place, and I had yet to learn to control it.
Overall, the professors had been supportive of this decision. In fact, most of them were relieved. Morrigan in particular had been pleased that she’d have more time at her disposal to teach me the arts of battle magic. Even Professor Faust had grumbled that I had no business cramming so much information in only two school years, no matter how powerful I was.
As for the students… I really didn’t know what to make of their attitude. They weren’t violent with us anymore. They weren’t friendly either. They avoided us, but they were extremely dedicated to this approach.
When my lovers and I left my room, I caught sight of several other students disappearing into side corridors at the mere sight of us. The common room was empty, but several books and bags lay abandoned on the floor, a clear sign that a few minutes ago, there had been people present.
I threw a knowing glance toward my lovers. “You’re going to have to tell me what you did to them that has them so scared,” I commented.
“It’s nothing that special, princess,” Callum assured me. “We might have lost our tempers once or twice.”
“U-huh. And what did losing your temper involve, exactly? Shiro mentioned certain… disappearances, you know.”
“Those students got what they deserved.” Stefan shrugged, not looking in the least bit repentant. “They should’ve known better than to approach an area where a dark ritual was taking place.”
“Besides, you have to admit this is an improvement compared to previous experiences,” Mikael pointed out.
I couldn’t argue with that. It was sad that the students at The Academy of the Devil hadn’t gotten the memo until my lovers had used such force, but in the end, I did prefer this to being constantly attacked or insulted.
A tiny part of me found it enjoyable. Maybe I was learning how to be demonic too, because I reveled in the fear of the people who’d displayed such disdain toward us. It was unkind of me to think this way, but I was beginning to learn that I wasn’t nearly as kind as my lovers claimed I was.
When we left the dorm, we received a similar reaction. Several of my former year mates—like Darling and the Voldemort girl—hid behind a row of rose bushes as we passed, which was both befuddling and hilarious. “They do realize we can see them, right?”
“I don’t think they care that much,” Mikael mumbled. “It’s the principle of the thing.”
I shook my head in exasperation. And what principle would that be? Honestly, I had almost two years at this academy now, and I’d yet to understand it.
It was early morning still, so leaving aside the hiding students, there weren’t too many people around. I hoped to be able to have breakfast as quickly as possible and maybe catch up on my Law homework a little more before I had to go to class. As it turned out, my dean had different plans.
He met with us as we were entering the building, a wide smile on his face. It was different from his usual smirks, warmer, and I liked to think I was the main reason he could smile that way. “Hello, Ms. Michaelis. Mr. Schwarz, Mr. Lost, Mr. Adamson, I’m glad to see you’re just as dutiful as always in keeping our lovely human company.”
“It’s an honor and a pleasure to watch over Lyssa, Dean Mephistopheles,” Callum replied.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at them. They could still be so weird from time to time. One moment, they were fucking, and the next, they fell into a formal way of interaction that seemed out of place. But it was their thing, so I always let it go. In fact, these days, I liked to play along, even if Meph and I had long ago thrown formality out the window.
“Is there a specific reason why you wanted to speak to us, Sir?” I asked.
“Actually, yes,” he answered. “I have a surprise for you today. There’s someone here to see you.”
Someone to see me? Who could’ve possibly come to visit me at the academy?
The answer was simple, of course. It was my parents, and they were waiting for me just outside the village. They hadn’t been able to enter the academy itself—it wouldn’t have been good for them—but Meph had somehow managed to bring them here, just so that we could talk properly.
My parents weren’t aware of what had happened to me. No one had bothered to let them know, and when I’d woken up from my coma, I’d decided against telling them the truth and had instead settled on finding another lame lie. Officially, there had been some weather issues that had made it impossible for anyone to leave the island or communicate with the outside world.
The moment she saw me, my mother launched herself at me with an enthusiasm that rivaled Shiro’s. “Lyssa! Oh my goodness! You’re all right!”
She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me close, almost as if she was afraid I would disappear if she let me go. “When your dean came to see us, I wasn’t sure he was telling the truth, but you’re really all right. God…”
I hugged her back, feeling horribly guilty at the knowledge of everything I was hiding from her. For the moment, it was better to not think about that, because if I did, they’d notice.
“I did tell you, didn’t I?” I asked her. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“We’ll always worry about you, darling. It’s our job, as your parents.”
My mother pulled away, releasing me from her hold. It was then my father’s turn to scan me from head to toe. He was a little misty-eyed too, and when he pressed a kiss to my forehead, I could feel him shaking. “Don’t scare us like that again, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” I promised. I could offer no guarantees, only empty promises and lies—and I felt guilty for that too.
As my father observed me, my mother took note of my companions. She was obviously familiar with Meph, but Mikael, Stefan, and Callum were strangers to her.
I doubted she’d instantly reached the conclusion that I was in a polyandrous relationship with three demons, but I decided to take the initiative and introduce them anyway. “Mom, Dad, meet Mikael Lost. He’s my head of house. These are his friends Callum Adamson and Stefan Schwarz. They’ve been my guides, in a way, and have helped me with some lessons I couldn’t quite figure out.”
“Did you? That’s very kind.”
“Not at all.” Callum smiled, and if I hadn’t known any better, I could’ve sworn it was honest. “It was our pleasure. It’s been amazing to have Alyssa here at the academy.”
“There were some people who were skeptical at first, but she proved them all wrong,” Mikael added.
The comment was a nice touch, since it wouldn’t have been believable for absolutely everyone to accept me outright at a school full of demons. The natural conclusion of the exchange was that I’d had some trouble but my head of house had likely helped me silence the potential bullies without issue.
My parents still looked a little wary, but for the most part, they were reassured. My mother focused on me again, her attention drawn to a different issue. “You look a little pale, Lyssa. Have you been eating well?”
“Oh, yes, mostly. I skipped breakfast this m
orning, though.” I had been so anxious to come see them that I hadn’t cared about the food.
My mother shot me a horrified look. “You can’t do that, Lyssa! Don’t you remember what the doctors told you? You need to eat!”
“I eat plenty,” I protested. “I was merely a little impatient. Besides, I had a big dinner last night.”
I knew the argument would utterly fail even as I said the words. It was difficult to explain to them that things at the academy weren’t like in the human world, that I could eat dinner and live off it for a day, that I could take my potion without needing a meal at all. My mother didn’t care about such details. To her, some things were simple. I needed to eat and that was final.
“Oh, I just knew you wouldn’t take care of yourself enough. But don’t worry. I have the perfect solution for that. I brought you your favorite. Apple crumble with cinnamon.”
She produced a basket, one that, for some reason, I hadn’t originally seen. With a wide smile, she extracted the dessert she’d mentioned from inside.
I took one look at it and my head started to spin, memories of distant screams echoing through my mind.
“Go on,” my mother insisted. “I wrapped it up in foil so that it’d keep. As far as I can tell, it’s still in one piece.”
Somewhere to my right, ghosts emerged from the shadows of the academy, extending their hands towards me. “Come to us. You belong to us.”
I really didn’t have the patience for this game today. Smiling back at my mother, I replied, “Thanks.”
I bit into the apple crumble, enjoying the taste of the familiar dessert. As my lips made contact with the treat, a pulse of magic swept through the earth. “Did you know that the academy has an orchard of apples too? It always reminds me so much of home and of your cooking.”
My mother laughed, thrilled with the comment. My lovers fidgeted in discomfort, knowing it was a lie. I’d barely remembered my parents at all, let alone my mother’s pie.
All the while, no one else seemed to see the ghosts, not even Meph. I didn’t mind it, nor did I find it surprising. I was used to it by now. My magic handled the issue without me having to point it out to the others.