Devil's Advocate

One week later, Scott was still in the wind. And Angelique was losing her patience. After the dead end at the apartment complex, she and Kenneth had watched the file, waiting for Scott to make any sort of decisions. A few times, something happened to indicate they should move. Scott broke into two homes and made another trip to the bank in that week. But each time they showed up where he was, he was long gone. She was growing frustrated, and as more time passed, a bit panicky. Before she thought Scott was just a jack ass who stole stuff and killed a few people when they happened to be in his way. Now she had realized that he was on drugs. Heroin according to his hospital records. That kind of thing could catch up to and kill a man in a freaking hurry. And despite having several blank pages to go before the end of his life, Angelique was still getting very anxious.

Kenneth on the other hand, was getting very agitated. He would pace, spend hours making phone calls only for that to go nowhere. He even hired a private investigator, which Angelique found especially amusing since that’s exactly what he had accused her of doing when they had first met. The investigator had got surprisingly little information, though, and this had sparked more than a few “what the hell do I pay you for?” phone conversations. While Angelique found these moments terribly amusing, she agreed with his frustration. So much so that when she woke up on the 8th day of no news to the devil sitting in her bedroom (which was really Kenneth’s guest bedroom), she would have been relieved no matter what news he was bringing. Even if the news was her time was up.

“You know you are supposed to be tracking down someone, right?” He spoke with his same flat tone, still in his pressed suit with his emotionless fiery eyes. She sat up.

“A little hard to do when he moves faster than we do.” She grumbled at him. He grinned lecherously at her.

“Maybe you should spend less time in bed and more time doing things.” Angelique ignored his innuendo, much to the devil’s obvious amusement.

“You know, since I’m sure you’ve never been one I should let you know. Humans need sleep.”

“Funny story about that.” He leaned forward and leveled her with a cool stare. “You. Are. Not. Human.” Angelique tilted her head. Yeah, she knew this, but she still seemed to function like one. Still, he didn’t have to be so patronizing. She glowered at him.

“Umm. Yeah, I figured that out when I got stabbed in the chest.” She almost growled aloud at his condescending tone. He laughed.

“Of course you did. You’d have to be an idiot to not have.” He answered. She glared harder.

“Look. If you’re here to take me back to hell get it over with. Stop toying with me.” Angelique told him. Lucifer reared his head back in shock before he collected himself again. She resisted the urge to smirk at catching him off guard.

“Take you to hell? Why would I do that?” He kept his tone level, but the surprise didn’t quite slip out of his eyes. Angelique’s moment of triumph faded; she was deeply confused now.

“Because…you’re here.” She answered, standing to her feet. “And that means it’s time to take me back, right?”

“Not quite.” He answered, rising as well. Lucifer’s movements were much more fluid than Angelique’s, and she took a brief moment to be jealous. A small smirk on his lips was the only acknowledgement the devil made to her envious thoughts.

“As amusing as your simplistic thought process is, that’s not what I’m here for.” Angelique crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling slightly self-conscious. This angel, man, demon, whatever you wanted to call the devil, was incredibly intimidating. Even when he wasn’t trying to be. Without even intending to do so, he had thrown her completely off. She watched him warily until he continued, “I’m here because you’re boring.” Now she was thoroughly confused.

“I’m…what?” Angelique asked, incredulous. He smirked at her.

“Boring. Yes. I’m bored.” She paused while she digested his words, her confusion now bleeding into frustration once again.

“Excuse me for not bringing some sort of entertainment value to your life.” She snarked at him, snarl on her lips. He chuckled at her.

“You’re excused.” He said with a grin. Her snarl grew. He shrugged as if he was indifferent to her frustration. “But I am not alive. And neither are you. I think it’s about time you acted like it.”

“What?” Angelique was growing more irritated with Lucifer’s lack of explaining anything. She stepped forward in an intimidating manner, forgetting whom she was talking to. “What the hell do you mean, acted like it?”

“Lower your voice.” The words were growled out with an otherworldly undertone that made the hair on the back of Angelique’s neck stand up on end. Despite every instinct that demanded she throw down with the man before her, but she held herself back, clearing her throat and taking a deep breath.

“Fine. Sorry.” She spat the word and the devil raised his eyebrows in disbelief. She ignored him. “But what does that even mean?”

“First of all.” Lucifer stretched his back, almost like a cat, and then folded himself back into his chair. “You don’t need to eat or sleep. You’re not alive. Technically you don’t even need to breathe.”

“Then why am I doing it?” Angelique asked flippantly. Lucifer shrugged.

“Humans are creatures of habit.” He answered. It was Angelique’s turn to raise her eyebrows.

“You said I wasn’t human!”

“Not anymore. But you were. That’s all you know is humanity. Being alive. Running on this little hamster wheel while life happens around you. Being dead, being what you are. Having any sort of thing occur that is different than your understanding of things. That throws you off.” Angelique wanted to argue with him but couldn’t. He wasn’t wrong. She had been eating despite food tasting off. She had been sleeping despite not dreaming or feeling tired. She had no reason or excuse for her behaviors, she just did what she knew. What was normal. Nodding her head, she reached her decision. She would cut those out. Lucifer was right. She didn’t need to take breaks, and it was just wasting time. Time that she couldn’t afford to waste. When her eyes darted back up to look at the devil, her anger and frustration was gone from her face, as well as her tone when she began speaking.

“Good point.” She allowed, stepping back and sitting cross legged on the bed. Lucifer watched her, intrigued. She felt self-conscious again. “What?”

“Thirty seconds ago you were hell bent on fighting with me. One bit of logic and I take the wind out of your sails. It’s just interesting. People fascinate me.” He answered. Angelique shrugged. She really couldn’t argue with that. She sighed.

“Do you have any other advice for me?”

“I’m so glad you asked.” He pulled out a file, one that seemed to change color in the light. She leaned forward.

“Whose folder is that?”

“Her name was Victoria Campbell.” He flipped open the folder and held up a picture. She was pretty, blonde with glasses and freckles that dusted across her nose and cheeks. Brown eyes, and braces. She looked really young.

“17.” The devil answered. Angelique felt her stomach turn.

“If you have her file, I’m assuming she’s dead and is in hell.” She stated, almost accusatory. The devil growled at her, and that sound sent her stomach dropping straight to her feet.

“Let me make something. Perfectly. Clear.” He emphasized his words as he stood to his feet, his eyes flashing blue fire. “I am not in the business of torturing children. That is not my jurisdiction. Especially not innocent lives like this one.” Angelique raised her hands in surrender, feeling genuinely guilty.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She was quick to assure him she meant no offence. “You can’t blame me. The world has painted you as this horrid being you know.” He took a deep breath.

“I am.” He answered, calm indifference back in his voice. He wordlessly sat back down. “But that’s a bit much even for me.” Angelique waited in silence while he took a beat to relax before he continued.

“I’m showing you this because she is another one of Scott’s victims. Before she died, she saw something very important. Scott’s address.” He grinned. “I thought you might want to ask her about it.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Angelique asked, gesturing at the folder. “It’s rainbow, not a solid color. I’m assuming that means that she went to heaven.”

“Purgatory.” Lucifer answered. Angelique was confused now. So did that mean Catholicism had it correct? Was that the key to not going to hell? She wondered if she should attend a few church services while she was back on earth, for information if nothing else. Could she even do that? Would she be struck down?

“I have so many questions.” She stated, dumbfounded. Lucifer chuckled.

“I don’t have any answers really. I’m a player in this game, same as you.” He answered her. Angelique took a deep breath, despite being told she no longer needed to take those. She decided she didn’t want to know who was right or wrong now. It wouldn’t change things for her either way. She bit her bottom lip in thought and looked up at Lucifer.

“So what does that even mean? Are you bringing her back to life so I can talk to her?”

“No.” Lucifer grinned at her. “You’re going to go speak to her.” Angelique was speechless. She could travel between worlds whenever she wanted? How did that work?

“Now I have even more questions.”

“Those, I think I can answer.” He told her. “When you do decide to sleep, have you woken up in your own head, in the dark?” Angelique thought about it for a moment before nodded.

“Yeah. I never thought to explore that before though.”

“Well. Next time you go to sleep, walk to the edge of the dark.”

“The dark has an edge?” Angelique did not understand his instructions in the slightest. The devil didn’t even try to hold back the roll of his eyes.

“You’re hopeless.” He all but groaned the words. Now Angelique rolled her eyes.

“So I’m sure you’ve said before.”

“Have I?” He asked it like he wasn’t sure. Angelique considered answering, but shook her head.

“I don’t remember. But that’s not the point. Let’s get back to this edge of darkness thing?” she lifted the end of that sentence in a question. Lucifer nodded.

“Where your world begins to blur, that’s where the edge is. Walk towards it. You can travel between here and purgatory at will.”

“So. Why can’t I just stay there?” she asked, tilting her head. “Why did I need to make that deal with you?”

“Special circumstances allow you to travel between realms of reality.” He told her. “But your soul as it stands right now belongs to me. I had the choice to release your soul to purgatory without this deal.”

“So then why didn’t you?” Angelique asked, outraged. He grinned wolfishly at her.

“As you said. I am a horrible entity.” She started to speak but the devil held up his hand to cut her off. “Your new friend is awake. One last bit of advice. When you go under, you will only have an hour. If you don’t get the information you need, I would wait a few days and then try again, but again only for an hour. And I would do this sparingly. Trips to the other side are hazardous to the health of your soul.” Angelique nodded.

“So what kind of…?” she didn’t get to finish her sentence before the devil was gone. She blinked at the chair where he once sat, and then grabbed her pillow and chunked it in the chair, imagining his head being where the pillow struck. She really hated it when he just disappeared like that. No sooner did that thought pass, and the pillow sank itself firmly in that chair, did Kenneth knock on her door.

“Angelique? You up?” he called, waiting patiently on the other side of the door for her to speak. Angelique stood up and opened the door. He smiled at her.

“Morning!” he told her cheerily. He always at least tried to start the day in a good mood. Angelique didn’t even bother with the greeting.

“The devil came to see me today.” She said, stepping aside. He entered her room, his face a little pale. Angelique was almost amused by the way Kenneth’s eyes darted around the room in a nervous fashion. She was quick to assure him Lucifer was gone. He visibly relaxed.

“So what did he want then?” he asked her. Angelique told him the whole story. Kenneth was grinning by the time she finished.

“That’s perfect! That’s the lead we were waiting for!” Kenneth exclaimed. “So what do we do?”

“Well.” Angelique kept her voice calm and confident, despite the butterflies flying around in her stomach. “Now you eat breakfast. And then we attempt to get me to purgatory.”