Santi: The Devil's Pioneer

Chapter 20 - A Moment Alone

            “Ugh, I gotta call Brenda. She sucks ass. She’ll chew me for not making it to her party tonight.” Emily was fully sober by now. We had gotten inside her apartment, and she had washed up and drank coffee to refresh her.

“I swear, I’m never trashing myself like that at Rino’s again. I was just so excited. I met you. I got back to school. Life’s good, you know? And I swear in hell, you’re my soulmate. You just get me, bith.”

Aww, my non-beating heart gives no beat.

“You should go wash up. I prepared towels and fresh clothes in the bathroom.”

“Thanks,” I say as I get up to finally freshen up. My human skin had been feeling sticky from the moment we entered the bar. A bath sounded so exciting.

“Would you mind if I go buy a box of cookies from the building next door? A walk just sobers me up faster, and takes off the hangover, you know?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

Emily was incredibly trusting. I was a stranger she met in jail. She was a rich heiress, probably. Yet here she is leaving her own home to get pizza. I shrug the thoughts off. I never really had plans to rob her, anyway. I just wanted a comfy bed.

I take a nice, relaxing bath in the tub, changed into the new clothes she got me, and headed over to the guest room she was letting me stay in. I wander around, observing the little things in the room. It was quaint but big enough to fit two beds. The décor was minimalistic and vintage-themed. There was a globe at one of the windowsills. A few papers with notes scribbled on them were placed neatly in the drawer by the bed. She must’ve slept here frequently.

On one corner of the room, there stood a tall mirror. I take a look at myself. Hell didn’t have mirrors. Demons weren’t the prettiest creatures, and so, everyone there just wasn’t as vain and interested in themselves.

I had gained some weight since making it to Earth, which was funny as I hadn’t eaten much the first weeks I got here. Hell was just a stony and cold depiction of what I was. Or maybe they were the organs that didn’t exist in Hell. I had noticed some changes in my body. For instance, my finger bled red due to a papercut earlier today in class. I had also noticed a faint heartbeat on me. Though, I couldn’t confirm as there were lots of moments where it literally skipped a beat or maybe disappeared for a few minutes.

I don’t know.

This human body was strange. But also, I felt more alive in this body.

“Do you think it lasts?” I ask myself, facing my reflection in the mirror.

I had found myself in the wonder of these Earthly things. The first week I was here, I had been in a cloudy haze. I couldn’t even get a grip on myself. The transition to the second week wherein I find myself sleeping in this bedroom where I had to take a long-ass elevator ride to arrive was a blur.

Was this another transition phase? Or could I possibly lead a good life here on Earth while plotting against the angels?

I used to sleep on the street. I had nothing to eat but scraps. I hadn’t known I needed the nourishment. My anger always got better of me. had gotten arrested. I’d been taken to a therapist. Made a new friend at the detention cell. Made more friends with that friend. Now I get taken to fancy restaurants three times a day. I will be sleeping in a room larger than the streets I’d laid on. I had a bed to myself.

Just like I did in Hell.

I wonder how my father and Lilith are faring these days. Only hours pass on Hell. It was an eternal dimension. But it has already been more than ten days for me. Lucifer must be dead worried by now. I won’t be surprised if he had already killed, banished, or tortured more creatures than I could count. But I am surprised that he hasn’t found me yet. He had a sort of GPS on Earth.

Or as far as I knew.

He was a discreet person, and I’d never really been privy to his duties as a celestial king. But I know he has his ways. He knew Earth better than any mere human. But he hasn’t found me yet.

Or he did but never bothered to face me.

He must have a plan brewing. He never would abandon me here in this wretched place.

“Hey, you look so gloomy. What’s wrong?” Emily enters the room with a mug in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.

“Oh, nothing. I just got cold all of a sudden.” I tell her, omitting the truth but not lying. I did feel cold. The air conditioner in her room was blasting to the highest power. Even polar bears would feel cold in here.

She places the hot mug and plate of cookies on the table by the end of her bed and adjusts the setting of the machine.

“Thanks for letting me stay, by the way.”

“No big deal. Pretty cool, actually. I finally got a roommate.”

“How long have you lived alone?”

“Apparently, my mother acquired this asset when they had their divorce– her and my father. That was like 8 years ago, I think. But I asked for this apartment when I was 15. So about three years ago. It got quite too toxic at home.”

You can never really question the product of divorces. They were problematic but they were rich as hell.

“You’ve lived here since?” I probed.

“No,” she turns to me with a sad smile. “I only sleep here whenever my dad and I fight. Right now, it’s about that stupid ‘getting arrested' thing. He just doesn’t get me, you know.”

She cozies up in her sweatshirt and I reach up for a blanket to cover me. It was a cold night. It was heavily raining outside. Thunder shook the ground as we were making our way up.

Maybe this was the celestial equivalent to a raging sermon. Maybe this was Lucifer’s rage.

“Aren’t you scared of me, though?” I ask as she takes a bite of her cookie. It takes her a few moments of chewing to respond.

“You were with me in a jail cell. You don’t really scream scary, Santi. Besides, you already know I can be tough. I could maybe even take you on.” She smirks.

I smile back widely, knowing she could never take me on.

“So it doesn’t bother you, at all? I’m a stranger that you met for barely a day.”

“Why? Are you going to kill me in my sleep?” She stops eating and dusts off her hands for crumbs before opening another door by her side of the wall, revealing a walk-in closet full of clothes. “Because if you are, tell me now so I don’t bother doing my night facial routine. It’s a pain in the ass.”

Laughing, she pulls out one drawer from the ginormous closet and holds a necklace up. She takes another bracelet and goes back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“I got a feeling. From the moment I met you, I knew you were one of a kind. You were unique. You, like me, like trouble. You get me. I honestly think I knew you right from the second I saw you.”

Honestly, I was starting to get flattered by her words. She seemed genuine and sincere.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Emman?” She asks.

I shrug.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on, you see it. I see you, Santi. You flinch and cozy up at the same time at his touch.”

That doesn’t even make sense.

“I like my own space. He likes disrupting it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” She reaches for my hand and looks at me in the eye. “I didn’t know he made you uncomfortable. I tell him off, I promise.”

“It’s alright, I can handle it.”

“No, what you did for me this morning was legit a savior-act. I can’t just let you suffer at his wrath. He’s a total gentleman, by the way. He just gets a little too friendly sometimes. But I swear, he doesn’t mean it to seem pervy or creepy or anything.”

It was sweet that she was both genuinely sorry for how I felt and how she defended Emman.

“Hey, it’s okay. He wasn’t being a perv or a creep. He’s just too friendly. I just generally don’t like any form of human touch, that’s all.” I reassured her and she finally stops her rant.

“So, tomorrow,” She looks at me with a smile. “You’ll officially be a Brighton High student. I have some old uniforms in my closet, don’t forget to ask me for them tomorrow. Too tired to get up now.”

“Thanks, babe.” Calling another female human being ‘babe’ was weird, but Emily was properly a babe.

“Aww, you’re learning.” She comments on my words. Ugh, I was starting to turn like her.

“You’re contagious.” I smile.

“Kiki will pick us up around 8 tomorrow. The alarms here are pre-programmed to jump up and down at 7. I get pre-made meals for breakfast every day. And that’s it.”

“Well, this is overwhelming,” I confess.

“What? How so?”

“Last week I was sleeping on the streets, nothing to eat. Now, I have you getting me pre-made meals.”

“You’ll get used to it.” She says with a faint smile. “Everyone else did, anyway.”

“You’ve fostered hundreds of girls before?” I ask with curiosity.

“Let’s just say I’ve gotten a little too friendly with other people before you, as well.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. My conscience just racks me up in the middle of the night.” Her eyes look down on her coffee and she frowns. “I know we’re this rich and all my parents do is fight. The least I could do to give back is help people like you get a head start on life.”

“Is it that bad?” I find myself asking her, with a hand on my chin. I never knew my mother. Lilith and Lucifer never really fought except for the usual banters. Were Emily’s parents so bad that she’d want to escape them so much she’d rather live in an apartment as a 15-year-old and put up strangers in her home? Did she really feel that lonely?

“It didn’t start that bad. But oh, what are we talking about.” She tries to dismiss her sadness with humor. “It doesn’t matter. I’m living just fine. I can get all the booze, fun, and dollar I want.”

“Is that really how you feel?”

“Santi, you’re not a therapist, okay? Quit asking me touchy-feely questions. You weren’t that sensitive in jail.” Now she had resorted to mean comments and harsh tones. “I’m going back to my room. I’m a light sleeper, so maybe you should sleep, too. Remember, school is at 8.”

As the thunder lighted the sky instantaneously, so did Emily escape the room so quickly. It was a sensitive subject for her. I knew. My human inhibitions and curiosity just get the best of me. I hadn’t learned how to strangle my emotions to the ground. This day alone, I had spurted out so many unsolicited or too honest opinions and questions. Guessing from the looks of the people I was with; I don’t think humans like that frankness.