Reignite
Page 11

 J.M. Darhower

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Lucifer's chest was so full of love he felt like he would burst if he felt anymore.
The day came and went, the creativity not stopping. Creatures appeared on land, animals of all kind, just as elaborate and breathtaking. He sat in awe, his brother silently by his side, as time wore on and the world began to flourish.
How much more could their Father bless them with?
It was during the sixth day, in a glorious garden, when another creature formed, molded out of the earth. Unlike the four-legged animals, and the ones with scales, and gills, and fins, this creature looked eerily like him.
Lucifer watched in shock as the first human came to life.
For the first time in days, his Father's voice could be heard.
Welcome, my child.
The voice was strong and mighty, not spoken out loud, but heard in the mind. Lucifer thought God was speaking to him, one of the few who were blessed enough to hear His voice, when the man on earth responded. "Thank you, Father."
Confusion ran through Lucifer.
He could only gape as the human carried on a conversation with God. Adam was his name, and he was tasked with naming all of the other living creatures, a job he took on happily. Cattle, and cats; Fish, and fowl. The naming went on for most of the day, until they ran out of nameless creatures and Adam was alone.
Lucifer could hear his Father again then, hear his musing about how His new child needed a companion. Adam went to sleep, and from him spawned a second human, a woman named Eve.
A wife for Adam.
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it," He told them. "And have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
A sensation Lucifer never encountered before twisted inside of him. He felt as if he were tied in knots, pulled in different directions, like part of him might break. There's no way he really heard what he thought he just heard. He had to have misinterpreted. There had to be a mistake.
There was no way their Father just gave earth to this human.
"Home," Michael said. "For His children."
Lucifer glanced at his brother. Michael was smiling, still watching it all with awe. He looked genuinely elated about everything that was happening, while Lucifer felt anything but.
This paradise was supposed to be for them.
Wasn't it?
The afternoon air was warm, the sun shining brightly in the sky, not a single cloud to be seen anywhere. The blue went on for as far as Serah could see, crisp and clear. The color reminded her of a set of eyes that frequented her dreams, a set of eyes that watched when she was awake, haunting her.
They were eyes that held countless secrets, eyes that told a thousand stories, but none of which Serah could understand. They spoke to her, implored her, but she couldn't hear what they had to say. It was a whisper of a memory; he was an apparition, there one second and gone the next, fading into thin air like he were made of dust, and the tiniest breath would blow him away. She wasn't even sure if he actually existed, but he was real to her.
If only she could think of his name.
It hung on the tip of her tongue, swallowed back again and again.
She wondered if she were crazy… if she were legitimately full-blown, call-the-doctors insane. She still knew nothing of the person she had been, nothing of where she'd come from or where she was supposed to be.
The only thing she knew was him.
But then again, she didn't even really know him, considering she didn't know his name, or if he were more than a figment of her imagination.
Ugh, maybe I am insane.
Serah walked down the street, heading away from the motel one afternoon, wandering the same familiar neighborhoods she'd wandered every day since the accident. She greeted people warmly as she passed them, her eyes flickering to the windows of the shops as she strolled by, catching sight of the stranger's reflection in the glass with hers, always just a few steps behind.
She knew if she turned around, he wouldn't be there. Nobody would be.
She was strolling along when she came upon the community center, the door propped open to let the air flow in as voices spilled out into the street. Serah stalled in front of the building, surveying it for a moment. She felt a certain draw to the place that she couldn't explain, like she'd been here before.
Curious, she stepped inside. The place was lit up, filled with rows of flimsy metal chairs—maybe three-dozen, but less than half of them were used. Serah slid into the closest one by the door, going undetected. A man standing at the front spoke softly, words washing through Serah. She listened silently, hands folded on her lap.
Something about it all felt familiar to her.
Church.
She fucking went to church.
Did she realize she was going there? Luce didn't know. No matter how hard he tried to get a grasp on her, it stayed as foggy as if she were submerged underwater and trying to talk through it.
The human mind always was a mystery to him.
He stood in the middle of the street, in the exact same spot where he'd lost her, and glared at the community center, listening to the voice inside.
…Satan disguises himself as an angel of light…
…The devil sinneth from the beginning…
…Satan hath desired you…
Always the bad, none of the good.
"There is no good."
Lucifer closed his eyes at those words, spoken from the sidewalk behind him. He'd sensed her essence in the area when he followed Serah here, but he'd hoped she was too preoccupied to bother him.