She was gasping for air. She felt like she was underwater and trying to breathe in ash at the same time. It was dark. Shayla reached out, but it was like trying to move through Jell-O. Her hand touched something solid. She pushed on it, beat on it with her fists in slow motion. She tried to scream, but no sound escaped her lips. Instead, her mouth was filled with the awful taste of sulfur. Just when she thought her lungs would collapse under the pressure, there was sweet, fresh air. And a familiar laugh.
“Oh, I knew you’d do it,” Lucifer clapped, “It took a few tries, but you finally did it.”
“What?” Shayla coughed, “What are you talking about?”
“You killed yourself, of course,” he said, “I knew I could keep getting Grace. She was easy, but you were a little trickier.”
“Why would you want me to kill myself?” she asked.
“I wanted your soul,” he said, “And there’s a special place in Hell for people that off themselves and, quite frankly, love, it was looking a little empty.”
“So, you manipulated me into suicide because you were bored?” she crossed her arms.
“Exactly,” he said, “I had so much fun watching you lose Grace over, and over, and over. Plus all the souls you brought me.”
“You’re sick.”
“Thank you.”
“So, what now? You get to torture me forever? What about Grace? Where is she?” Shayla asked.
“That’s the best part,” Lucifer smirked, “Oh, Grace. Would you be a dear and come here please?”
There was a great sound as a pair of large double doors creaked open and there, standing in the doorway, was Grace. She was wearing a sexy red dress and matching heels. Her hair was done up and her make-up was glamorous. Shayla almost didn’t recognize her. The figure walked with her head down and stopped next to Lucifer.
“Grace!” she moved to run to her but was stopped by some invisible force.
Lucifer wagged a finger at her, “Nah-eh-eh.”
“What the hell?” Shayla pushed against the unseen wall looking like the world’s best mime.
“Would you like to explain?” he looked at Grace and put an arm around her.
“Shayla,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”
She broke down into hard sobs.
“Sorry for what?” she stopped struggling.
“I’d be happy to explain if it’s too hard for you,” Lucifer said.
“No,” Grace said, “She needs to hear it from me.”
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“Then get on with it.”
“After I died,” she said, “I woke up here. I was scared. Deep down, I guess I knew where I was. Then Lucifer told me how happy he was that I was here. He offered me a deal.”
“Did he tell you to kill someone to be brought back?”
“No,” Grace shook her head, “He told me that I could either be tortured forever, or I could be his queen if I could get you to kill yourself. When I asked how, he said he’d work out the details later. A few days later, he told me that he’d send me back as many times as it took, but I couldn’t mention the deal, or it would be off. I’m so sorry. If I could take it back, I would.”
“Why were you so unhappy? What did I do wrong?”
“Because,” she choked, “I stopped loving you.”
“What?”
Grace nodded, “It started with the little things. I didn’t want to hold your hand. I wanted to walk alone. I wanted to sleep in my own bag just once. I wanted to find out what a relationship with someone else would feel like. I was curious. It got to a point where I started to resent you a little bit. And I’d rather die than live in a world where we weren’t in love.”
Shayla put her hand on the invisible wall, “Grace, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” she said.
“But you did hurt me,” she said, “Over. And over. And over.”
“I know,” Grace said, “I’m so sorry.”
Shayla closed her eyes. Her head was spinning faster than ever. Every emotion that had been simmering below her consciousness was, at last, coming up like vomit. She was devastated by Grace’s confession and furious at Lucifer, but most of all, she felt guilt. She feared she would never find the words to tell Grace the truth. Her mind was too jumbled to come up with anything coherent.
All that came out was, “I’m sorry, Grace.”
Lucifer watched the pair with delight in his eyes. A smile of pure, sinister joy was glued to his handsome face.
“Why are you sorry?” Grace said, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I did, though,” she said, “Grace, I killed people, innocent people, to save you. But now I see it was all pointless. No matter what I did, you were going to leave me. And now I know why.”
Shayla turned away. She felt nauseous and tired. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep forever, but that wasn’t possible. There ain’t no rest for the wicked. No matter how tired their damned souls may be.
“Looks like you both fucked up big time,” Lucifer laughed, “You must really hate each other.”
“I don’t hate you Shae,” Grace said, “I mean, I started to feel distant for a little while, but now, I see I was being stupid. You’re the only one I want.”
Shayla’s whole body was trembling, “I guess I can’t be mad at you. I fucked up, too. That doesn’t make what you did right, but if you can forgive me, I’ll try to forgive you.”
“What the fuck?!” Lucifer’s face went crimson, “How could you say that? She literally damned you to Hell to save herself.”
“I know,” she turned around, “But I understand why she did it. She was scared.”
“I was terrified,” Grace said, “I still am. I don’t want you to be tortured if I’m safe and sound with Lucifer. That feels so wrong.”
“It’s okay,” Shayla smiled.
“No! It most certainly is not!” Lucifer growled, “The whole point of this was to get you two to hate each other. I don’t want a mistress who’s still in love with someone else. I wanted a mistress full of spite and hatred.”
“Then let me go with her,” Grace said, “I’ll go to Hell with Shayla. We can be tortured together. I think it’s the perfect compromise.”
Lucifer folded his arms and tapped his foot. He looked at Shayla and Grace with fire in his eyes. He was furious. He had never lost before, but he had to accept defeat.
“Fine,” he said, “You can be tortured together. Just don’t go telling the others what happened.”
“Deal,” they said in unison.