Devil's Advocate

Angelique kept her eyes shut as she woke, not bothering to breathe. She didn’t need to; no need to give herself away. She didn’t want Scott to know she was awake yet. This had gone so horribly wrong. She wasn’t supposed to get caught. Kenneth wasn’t supposed to get caught. In and out, that’s how it was supposed to go. In retrospect, she should have left Katherine tied on the bed, gone down the hall when he was distracted, and shot him. There was a small part of her though that knew it was going to go this way. She wasn’t a killer. She didn’t know what the devil expected. Maybe he was hopeful she would be braver than she was. Or stronger. She didn’t know. But she did know that she wasn’t getting out of this.

“Angelique. Angelique! Damn it, Angelique, open your eyes!” That wasn’t Scott’s voice. She opened her eyes quickly, focusing sharply on Kenneth, who had scooted his way up against a wall. He looked at her with his one not swollen eye, relief clear in his face.

“Thank goodness. I was afraid you were actually dead.” Kenneth’s voice reflected his obvious relief. Angelique’s eyes darted around the room.

“Scott?” she asked. Kenneth shook his head.

“He’ll be back inside any minute now. I heard angry screaming, the car start and leave, then heard the car come back. I’ve heard him pacing outside since. Any minute now he’ll be back inside.” Kenneth jerked on his bonds. “I am almost out. I can feel it.” Angelique opened her mouth to answer, but the back door slammed open, stealing her voice. She mouthed the word ‘hurry’, staring down where she knew Scott would come in. Kenneth nodded as Scott turned around the corner, looking between the two of them.

“Did you know she would escape?” Scott asked finally, addressing Angelique. Relief filled her eyes before she could help it.

“She got away?” she breathed out the question. Scott sneered at her.

“You’re either a really good actress, or you are just as clueless as I am.” He spoke so spitefully, so condescending. Anger practically rolled off of him in waves. Angelique paused only to glance at Kenneth, who was still struggling subtly to get free. She could do this. She just had to keep Scott’s attention for a little while longer.

“My sin was sloth.” She told him with a wry smirk. “I’m too lazy to be a good actress.” Scott looked intrigued. Good. She needed him to stay that way.

“Your sin?” he asked, his tone considerably more calm with that layer of confusion covering his ire. “You mean you’re hell bound like me?”

“Who told you that you were hell bound?” she asked.

“Gabriel. Whom I’m assuming told you the same thing. He said you were going to hell, and that you were trying to seek revenge for your death because you didn’t have anything else to lose.” Angelique couldn’t help herself; she rolled her eyes.

“Leave it to Gabriel to completely twist the truth.” She mumbled. Now the anger was completely gone from Scott, replaced entirely by confusion.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She said, glancing again at Kenneth. He briefly showed her his hand; he was partially free! She had to keep his attention more than ever now. Redirecting, she asked Scott if he wanted to know the truth. His eyes narrowed.

“The truth about why you’re stalking me, or trying to kill me?”

“Both.” She said. “The answer applies to both.”

“Tell me.” It was not a request. Angelique nodded.

“To save my own soul. I made a deal with the devil to save myself.” Scott laughed, his eyes disbelieving.

“The devil is going to save your soul.” Doubt dripped from him, and sarcasm rested right behind his eyes. Angelique nodded.

“That’s what he told me.”

“You know that’s not what he does, right? Did you ever go to church? You know the devil doesn’t save people.” He laughed again, not giving Angelique any time to answer. She glanced down at Kenneth, only to find him gone. Her eyes widened. Where the hell…? Scott calmed down, and she shot him a glare.

“I just know what I was told.”

“Uh-huh. Right.” Scott wiped his eyes, like he was crying from laughing so hard or so much. She briefly wondered how devoid of humor his life had to be for him to find her as amusing as he clearly did. She decided she didn’t need to know. Before she could address him further he sneered at her. “You expect me to believe the devil himself actually bothered to make a deal with someone like you?”

“Want to find out?” Kenneth’s voice came from behind Scott. He turned swiftly around, moving out of the way just enough for Angelique to see Kenneth standing there, holding her tumbler up in his hands. Scott scoffed.

“What, you’re going to throw that at me?” he asked, disbelieving. Kenneth was favoring his left leg, had one eye swollen shut, and Angelique could see both the chaffing on his wrist and the doubt in his eyes. His voice, however, didn’t waver.

“Not at you.” He threw it down hard. Scott actually jumped out of the way. It bounced once, twice, three times. Before rolling off to the side near Angelique. They all stared at it for a few moments, Angelique’s eyes wide in shock and horror. It didn’t break. Why didn’t it break? Her mind was whirling, her body shaking with adrenaline. It should have broken. Kenneth threw it with enough force to shatter it easily. Why…of course. It suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. It was her life line. Her favor. She had to be the one to break it. She felt like time had slowed down, everything moving before her eyes a micro inch at a time as she made her decision. She didn’t think it through first, she jerked hard, knocking the chair over and slamming down hard on the tumbler, feeling it shatter beneath her.

There was an explosion of both light and darkness that seemed to erupt from under Angelique. She felt like she needed to look away, like it should hurt her eyes, but it didn’t. She watched as Scott dropped to his knees and cover his ears as a sharp, almost multilayered scream seemed to erupt from the shattered tumbler. Kenneth dove under the table, but didn’t cover his ears or look away. He instead watched the swirling of both light and shadow and listened to the screams pierce the air. Then with a loud boom, everything stopped. Angelique looked around, breathing heavily. The two men were doing the same. Scott was the first to speak.

“That was it?”

“Yes. I apologize. I do love to make an entrance.” Angelique felt instant relief and almost joy at hearing Lucifer’s voice sounding in the small room. He waved his hand, and she felt the ropes fall from her. She scrambled to her feet, scraping her hands on the busted glass of the tumbler that was still scattered across the floor. Kenneth was frozen under the table, looking up at Lucifer in fear. Scott didn’t seem to have the good sense to be afraid, instead staring at the devil like he had just performed a lame magic trick.

“Who the hell are you?” Scott demanded. Angelique gave him an ounce of credit. He was at least remaining on his knees. Lucifer looked at Angelique, like he couldn’t believe he was even being asked. He threw his hands out to the side.

“I’m the devil.” He said it like it was obvious.

“Oh my god.” Kenneth murmured under the table. Lucifer shot him a smirk.

“No, other direction. Didn’t you hear me?” he asked, amused. Kenneth snorted but said nothing else. Angelique rolled her eyes.

“Thank you.” She addressed Lucifer. He turned his smirk to her.

“You’re welcome. What is the favor you are going to ask me for?” he asked her.

“Wait. She gets a favor? Why does she get a favor?” Scott asked, seeming genuinely frightened for the first time. Lucifer grinned at him, his eyes flashing fire, the grin holding nothing but dark promise.

“She picked the right team and asked the right questions.” Lucifer answered, turning his eyes back to Angelique. “Well?” She thought about it for a minute. She could ask Lucifer to kill Scott right then and there, but she felt like that was exploiting too much of a loophole. She licked her lips, and glanced at Kenneth under the table, gesturing for him to leave. Kenneth didn’t hesitate to his credit. He took off, running as fast as he could out the room and down the hall, not stopping to even shut the door behind him as he ran outside. She turned back to Lucifer, who shrugged at her.

“I have that effect on people.” He said. Angelique scoffed, before taking a deep breath.

“My favor.” She redirected. At Lucifer’s nod, she continued. “Please keep his attention.”

Lucifer gave another curt nod, the only indicator that he understood. He lifted his hand, and Scott’s eyes rose, staying on him. Lucifer looked to her.

“Go ahead.” Angelique nodded, taking another breath. This was it. She moved her way around behind him, picking up the knife that he had discarded in the struggle. She glanced up at Lucifer, who had his eyes glued to her, intensity burning like blue fire in his gaze. She swallowed but glanced back at Scott. She clutched the knife in her suddenly sweating palm, breathing deeply once, twice more before raising the blade. She closed her eyes and struck, plunging the knife hilt deep into Scott’s neck.

Warm blood pooled around her hand, dripping down to the floor. Scott mercifully didn’t cry out, didn’t scream or make any sound. There was one sharp inhale, like he was surprised, a gagging sound like he was being choked, and then silence. She felt a sharp jerk and then one more, weaker jerk, then nothing. His breath stopped. His body fell forward, and Angelique let go of the knife and opened her eyes. Lucifer had stepped back away from Scott’s falling body, watching him hit the floor from a safe distance away. He turned to Angelique, who felt surprisingly numb despite taking a man’s life. Numb and hollow. He grinned at her.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He teased her. For the third time, she rolled her eyes at the devil.

“That’s the end of it, then. My bargain is complete?” she asked. She hoped to hell it was over. That it was done. That she never had to do anything like this again. Lucifer looked to be in thought over it, before sending her a teasing wink.

“Yeah. You did good, kid. I actually owe you a debt.” He said, sincerity in his tone for once. Angelique shook her head, raising her hands in surrender, blood still dripping from her right hand.

“Please. I don’t want you to owe me anything. Just tell me that I did enough to keep me out of hell.” She all but pleaded. Lucifer chuckled.

“Ready to find out?” he asked. Angelique nodded, but kept her eyes on him warily. Lucifer didn’t move, but she felt a warm tingling spread through her entire body. She felt like she was floating, and a bright light filled her vision, despite her closing her eyes against it. She was being transported again, but this time it was different. She didn’t lose consciousness. Her vision didn’t fade. Finally, the bright light fell away, and Angelique opened her eyes.

She was underneath the sunshine, grass under her feet. There were trees surrounding the horizon to her left, and what appeared to be a lake off to the right. Behind her was a beautiful ranch style home, with the door open, the atmosphere warm and inviting. Angelique didn’t know where she was, but she knew deep in her heart that house was hers. She walked in the door slowly, looking around at all the homey touches that made up the décor. She peeked in the living room, seeing a lovely fireplace and a couch and two chairs. She moved on to the dining room, where a wooden table was situated with six chairs. And at the end of the table was a familiar smiling face.

“About time you made it home.” Victoria. She was safe. Finally, Angelique smiled.