25

'Is that you, Squeaks?' she called out, and the shadow stopped mid-run.

'Oops... how did you guess it was me?' said the rat, approaching her with caution and... guilt?

'The shadow made it rather obvious,' said Grace. 'Why have you been following me?'

'Well, I was told to,' admitted Squeaks, taking a step back. 'I'm sorry, but you already know how bound I am due to the careless mistake of my youth—'

'Who told you to follow me? Why? Was it who I think it is?' said Grace with a frown.

'Who else could make me do something this unsavory...' said the rat sadly. 'But as much as I like you, I'm obliged to obey the wishes of the Devil's Assistant...'

'What does he want to know?'

'Where you're going, and how you're feeling, and what you plan to do.'

'Well, go tell him I'm in the market trying to live my life peacefully, and whatever my plans, they don't involve him!'

'A-all right!'

The rat scurried away, and Grace approached the market uncomfortably. She would have to hurry and go back home as soon as she could. As she walked, she had to pass through a narrow, shadowy alley before she finally entered the main street lined with shops. She stopped and looked up to read the sign above the shop she was in front of.

'The Art of Art'

'Nice name,' she said to herself, and pushed open the glass door, smiling at the faint bell that rang as she walked in.

The walls were lined with all sorts of papers, stationery, paints, colour pencils, etc.

'How can I help you?' asked the shopkeeper, a young man doodling in a sketchpad without looking up at her.

'Well, I'd like some paint...'

The shopkeeper clicked his tongue. 'Which paint? Watercolour, oil, gouache, acrylic...'

'Oh! Erm... whatever works to paint a blank wallpaper...'

'Ah, I see. Here you go. This one should do. It's twelve colour set, and you can paint otherwise with it too, if you like.'

'Thank you,' said Grace, taking it. 'Shall I go?'

'Won't you pay first?' said the shopkeeper, looking up with twinkling eyes.

'Pay?' said Grace nervously.

'Haha! Just joking! Go on your way. Goodbye!'

'Oh, thanks. Goodbye.'

Grace walked out of the shop, anxious to leave as fast as she could and go home. As she crossed the empty street, she felt strangely uncomfortable; as though somewhere near her, danger lurked, waiting to pounce the moment she grew vulnerable. She went into the alley again, which looked even darker and narrower than before, and rather ominous. She quickened her pace, determined to get through it without lingering even a second more than necessary – until she noticed a long, dark figure at its end that made her freeze.

'Don't be scared. Come and walk towards me,' said the smooth, cruel voice she had hoped not to hear – but expected since Squeaks had told her about him.

'I could just run in the opposite direction instead,' she said fiercely, taking a step back, but the Assistant only laughed – an unbothered laugh that seemed to ridicule her naivety.

'If you run, I'll follow you,' he said, and he walked in long strides towards her.

Grace looked behind her, but there was nowhere to go. It was a narrow alley, and she had already come halfway through.

And she was all alone. With the Devil's Assistant smirking as though he had her right where he wanted her.

'What do you want? Why won't you let me be?' she asked crossly, remembering Lucien's words. Resist him, and he can't harm you.

'Because I want you. It's as simple as that,' said the Assistant smugly.

'But I don't want you,' said Grace firmly. 'It's as simple as that!'

'Haha, feeling rebellious, are we? Let's change that...'

He disappeared from in front of her and appeared as suddenly right behind her, startling her as he whispered in her ear, eerily clear, uncomfortably close. 'I don't want to hurt you. I just want to spend time with you... no one ever had time for you now, did they?'

'H-huh?' What's he trying now?

'You were always neglected, always rejected. Always unwanted. But I... I want you; I want you to be my special companion and give you the attention you have always deserved. Why do you push me away so easily when you know you want me?'

Do I want him...? No, I have to resist him!

'No! You don't care about me!' said Grace, backing away into the wall. 'You just want to make me like the other girls you took away! You're evil!'

'Then teach me how to be good,' said the Assistant, placing a hand on the wall and leaning towards her in a way that was too personal, too close. 'Or then... I could teach you how to be bad for a change. A part of you would like that, wouldn't it?'

No, that can't be... I can't be like that... then why do I feel drawn to his words like they mean something?

'Why is it always you doing everything for everyone?' he asked softly.

The harmless question struck her heart like a load of furniture thrown from the third floor. He must have noticed, for he lifted her chin gently and smiled in a way that didn't look bad.

'It's tiring, isn't it?' he said, even softer than before, but she could hear him clearly in the pin-drop silence. 'I can feel your pain... the pain of always having to supress your feelings and sacrifice your wellbeing – all for people who don't care...'

Grace looked at him, stunned. For a few seconds, he didn't look evil, he looked... caring. Like he actually saw her. Like he was different from anyone she had ever seen before – in the best way.

'Come with me, and I'll show you joys you've never known,' he continued, holding her hand in his – cool and firm. 'Or are you too afraid to feel anything but sorrow? Too accustomed to being taken from than being given?'

For a moment, she almost wanted to say 'yes'.

'Say it,' he whispered. 'Say the word, and I'll lay down whatever you wish at your feet, and give you the love and respect you crave so much...'

'But, I can't,' she said slowly, almost disoriented, as though under a spell. 'I stay at the castle with Lucien, and that's where I'm supposed to be...'

The Assistant clicked his tongue. 'Now you're just being loyal to that dumb demon who's the reason you're here; why? He has nothing to give you but headaches and a sorry repetition of your life on Earth. Who are you taking this paint for? Him? He's getting you to run errands already, is he? He's using you! If he cared for you, he wouldn't make you work! He wouldn't send you here alone! – unless... maybe, he wants you to be taken away by me...'

Grace was taken aback. The betrayal! Maybe Lucien wasn't as nice as he had seemed... he was cruel and controlling, just like her aunt had been, and wanted to use her or be rid of her?!

Suddenly, it seemed as though she had been in the wrong hands all this time, and had only just been found by the right someone who was inviting her so kindly, to happiness itself. Happiness in Hell... was it possible?

Or was it just an illusion?

Illusion... the very word seemed to weaken her newfound blind conviction in him. Didn't the Devil work with illusions and quiet, malicious whispers to deviate mankind? She suddenly realised that she could only see the demon in front of her, and nothing else. She was in a void of black darkness, and she hadn't even noticed how she had got there.

'What's wrong, my dear?' he asked, and his voice sounded smooth as ever – too smooth, and it reminded Grace of a slithering snake.

He smiled at her, in a way that must have been intended to be caring, but his teeth seemed too prominent and his long horns stuck out unpleasantly. He didn't look so charming now.

'Happiness doesn't come that easily,' said Grace, looking up into his red eyes, and the blackness around her dimmed a little. 'And I don't trust anyone who offers it to me at the cost of abandoning the values I've lived by all my life.'

'Tsk! Values!' said the Assistant, and his fiery eyes flickered slightly. 'That's for the common man to think about! And you're not common, are you? You're special...'

'I'm just me,' said Grace firmly. 'No more, no less.'

The darkness faded away and the alley came into view, blurred. The spell she hadn't realised had been cast upon her was breaking.

'You need enchantments and evil magic to make me listen to you,' continued Grace, as the view cleared before her eyes. 'But the demon who brought me here wouldn't bother to use that on me even if he could. He never promised me an easy life, but I know that whatever comes our way, we're in it together. So, yes, I'm going to stay with him, not because I've been made to, but because I want to. Maybe you could learn something from that!'

'Damn, you're good,' muttered the Assistant, rather surprised as his spell collapsed, and Grace pushed him away firmly and walked out of the alley without looking back even once. 'How? How is she resisting me so well? How was she giving off that light when I saw her?'
He stared after her disappearing figure and leaned against the alley wall with an amused smile. 'Oh well. Looks like I'll have to try harder next time...'