Part 1: Chapter 4

xxx FOUR xxx
Hidden Wounds Still Hurt

I peer over a window of a nearby flower shop to read the clock, curious to know what time it is.

I've been out for so long, I wouldn't be surprised if it's late in the morning. The darkness that shrouds the shop slowly starts to brighten up, my eyes drift to the clock's whiskers that strike 2 AM. "Oh lord..." I whispered to myself.

"You got a curfew or somethin'? Are you some little boy or something?" Lucifer jokes.

"Don't be ridiculous. Who wouldn't be worried if their kid doesn't come home til 2?" I pause before sneering back at him, "not that the Devil himself could understand 'mortal' feelings."

"Pshhh!" he scoffs without saying another word, unable to reflect my words.

My feet naturally stop in front of a gate of a familiar home, a small and old 1 story house with a flat roof. I was finally home. I've lived here since I could open my eyes for the first time.

Seeing my home put my heart at a bit of ease. But the challenge isn't over yet, as my eyes wander to the peak of the gates towering over me. It stretches surrounding my house without a gap for me to easily sneak in.

"Bwahahaha!! You just can't catch a break!!" he laughs. "Better start climbing, mortal! It's cold out here!" He mentions as the frigid breeze blowing through my wet uniform only helps to drain my energy.

The gates are made up of walls a little taller than I am with a spiky fence on top of it. Although with the condition of my body climbing this gate would be painstakingly painful, I swallowed my spit and decided to climb anyways as there were no other options. I toss my shoes and socks over the gate then prepare myself to climb over.

I jumped and grabbed onto the edge of the concrete wall as my right foot pushes against the wall to raise my body. The sting in my hands and soles are so painful drool started dribbling out of my mouth without me realizing it.

My efforts weren't futile as my quivering elbows managed to reach the top of the wall. I raise my right foot while my left pushes against the wall. I guess my wounds started to bleed again as my left foot slipped and almost made me start over. I grit my teeth, holding the pain.

"Bwahahaha!! You're struggling so much at something so trivial!" he mocks again.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm stronger than you think, asshole!!!"

My worries increase as the white wall of my gate is probably stained with red smears. I'll have to clean that next morning.

After two painstakingly long minutes passes, I managed to get over the gate. Thankfully I made it over before the motorcycle that passed by could catch me climbing the walls of my own gate suspiciously. My body was freezing and shaking - on the brink of tumbling over, but I'm just a step away from home.

I grab my shoes off the ground and walk towards the front door. I peek through the small window next to the door to make sure the coast is clear from my mom.

"It's sooo late! You sure your mom's awake?"

"The last time I went home this late was when my bullies locked me in a public bathroom. I had to climb over the small gap between the stall walls to get out. That fucking nightmare made me go home at 1 AM. When I got home, the door was unlocked and mom was still awake looking tired and paler than ever."

I slowly turn the doorknob while peeking inside the dark hallway. I kept the door ajar as I put my shoes down on the shoe rack. Before I could close it, someone beat me to it while turning the lights on. My mom was standing right behind me with a worn-out expression.

"Yoel?! Where were you this whole time?!?" my mom shouted with a weary tone, "do you have any idea how late it is?! It's 2 in the goddamn morning!!! I was just a second away from calling the cops!!!"

Before I could make up excuses to get out of trouble, she notices my wounds. Panic and fear starts setting in her face as she yelled, "YOEL!!! YOUR HANDS... AND FEET...!! AND WHY ARE YOU SOAKED?!? WHAT HAPPENED?!?" She gripped my shoulders and took a good look at my freezing face.

She hurriedly grabbed me to the bathroom and turned on the shower, drenching me in warm water. "Wait here! I'll call the ambulance!"

The ambulance?! That's just going to complicate things! I forced myself to stand up and reached for her hand. Her hand gripped her phone as the screen was ready to dial the ambulance. "Mom! I'm fine! You don't need to call an ambulance! It's just— shallow cuts! They'll definitely heal in a day or two! The ambulance costs money anyways, it's not worth it!"

"But...! But...!!!" mom tries to argue back as tears started dripping down her exhausted face. After a long and exhausting day at work, I made her cry again. Even Lucifer couldn't muster up his usual snarky remarks.

"Mom, I'm fine! Really!" I clenched my hand as the injuries keep on stinging. "I can handle this, it's just a scratch!" my shaking voice said as a forced smile struggled to stay on my face. Seeing my mom's sorrowful expression triggers me to tear up as well although I prevail.

"Just a scratch?!?" she yelled before whisking her tears away and presses her palms to her eyes, trying her best to keep her composure. She must have five hundred things she wants to say to me, but her weeping clogged her throat and made it difficult to speak.

"Just go to bed, mom. Or wait outside if you still can't calm down. I'll treat my injuries myself." Mom has enough on her plate. She doesn't need to worry about me getting beaten up or injured.

Her hesitance eventuates into abiding by my request. She gives a nod of approval before coming back to leave me clean clothes and sit at the dining table to wait for me.

As she locks the bathroom door, I let out a loud tired sigh. My legs give up and my ass slams into the floor, leaving me sitting on the wet tiled floor. "I wish this day would just end already," I mumbled.

I spend the next half an hour or so disinfecting my scrape wounds and getting rid of the trash scent lingering on my body. "This is all seriously your fault, Lucifer!!!" I whine. He just laughs it off and makes fun of me more.

In retrospect, it was probably the best shower I've ever had though.

xxx

I got out of the bathroom with my head covered in my damp blue towel, wearing a white oversized shirt, comfortable black shorts, and the highlight of my outfit; the creamy white plasters covering my palms and soles.

Mom who was looking at work-related papers turned right toward the sound of the creaking bathroom door. Conflicted feelings were bleeding through her expression as her eyes wandered to my masked injuries but instead offered me dinner. "Are you hungry? Want something to eat? We still have some leftover chicken from yesterday."

My grumbling stomach wanted to gobble up anything that was on the fridge, but my drowsiness convinced me to turn her down. I expected her to give me a lecture about coming home late with fresh wounds, but she let me off to bed with a pained smile. "Let's talk about it tomorrow. I already called your school notifying your absence. You should spend tomorrow resting."

With a gheavy heart I nod and walk to the room right behind the dining room. It's a small room that was intended as a closet, but I developed it into my own bedroom. Inside, a single bed fits cozily between the tight walls.

My drowsiness catches up and sucks my energy out as if I had been tranquilized. I surrender to the fatigue and willingly plunge into bed. "Ah... This is the best, it feels so... nice..." I wiggled around the tight space into a more comfortable position.

Of course amid my comfort, someone had to ruin it all. "You seem to be greatly enjoying yourself, mortal. Let me lick a taste of that comfort, too!" Lucifer barged.

"HAAAAH?!?!" I gasped, extremely unwilling to let him take control. "NO! DON'T WANNA!!! I WANNA REST!!!"

Lucifer huffed, "jeez, no need to get so pissed!" He continues, "this selfish behavior is what I'd expect from Hell, not from you mortal! You know how much I've helped you?! We only met and I'm already this nice to you!"

"That's because you have no other choice! You're fucking stuck in my body! Plus, everything would've been better without your cursed existence in my body!!" I argued.

"Hm?!" Lucifer was stunned by my sentence. "You're... You're bullying me right now!!!" he pretends to cry, leaving me bewildered. "You're telling me to kill myself right now!! You're so evil!!!" said the Devil himself. What a riot.

"You're gonna weep your ass over it? Well you're not getting it! I'm going to bed." I slid under my blankets and shut my eyes close. I don't want to deal with his shenanigans any longer.

Not satisfied, he forces his way into taking over my body. The comforts of my bed suddenly dissapeared as my sense of touch went numb. "Ahhh~~~! So soft, this IS delightful~~~!" he snuggles deeper into my soft blanket.

"HEY!! THAT'S MY BED, YOU DEMON!!!" I hurled as I try to take back control. I don't know how he does it, but I just can't find a way to take over my own body.

Lucifer continued to taunt me, "well then, goodnight mortal! Sleep well in your imaginary bed!"

This is insufferable, I can't even rest properly! "LUCIFEEEEERRR!!!!" I screamed using up all my imaginary lung capacity.

I ended up sleeping soundly afterward anyways.

xxx TO BE CONTINUED xxx