Some Trigger Warnings that may apply to this story: Kidnapping; Stockholm Syndrome; Threats of Rape/Non-Con; Mentions of Depression; Suicidal Thoughts; Falling in love with your Captor/Captee; Being held Prisoner; Obsessive Love
Please read with caution. Please practice self-care.
Beelzebub heard a story once, of Hades, the god of the Underworld, who fell in love with a goddess and captured her to keep with him.
When Eve woke up, she was still in her pajamas, but not safe in her bed. She was lying on the cold, dirty floor surrounded by the thick scent of sulfur, decay, and misery. The room she was in was dark, and her head was pounding and her vision and thoughts blurry, only made it harder to realize that she wasn't even in her own house anymore. No, she was in a dungeon.
She rushed to her feet and to the bars, slightly relieved to find that she at least was not tied up or chained to the wall.
"Help!" She screamed, grabbed the bars and shook them. "Help me!" She pleaded.
On either side of her cell walls were animalistic noises; wails and screams, noises not human. Her heart started to race and her breath quicken. "Please, someone help me!" She sobbed out.
She could hear footsteps walking down the corridor. "Hello? Dad? Zira?" Crowley and Aziraphale would have been awake and noticed Eve wasn't in her bed anymore. They would have called Eve's phone, only to realize it was still on her side table. They would have been freaking the fuck out by now, looking for Eve everywhere. Would they be able to find her?
The figure stopped in front of the cell with zir hands behind zir back with a sinister smile.
Eve looked up and nearly spat at zir. "You!" She narrowed her eyes and didn't know if she wanted to throw up or claw at the demon before her.
Beelzebub. Lord of the Flies. Prince of Hell. Eve had seen zir when zir came to the cottage with Gabriel. Ze and Gabriel feared Crowley and Aziraphale because of the stunt they pulled after the Apopa-Didn't and it was unclear of what exactly the pair was capable of. When Eve had told them who she was, it had appeared that they both feared Eve, for it was unknown to them what she was and how powerful she was as well.
Apparently, Beelzebub found out the truth.
"Good to zzzee you're awake," Ze said.
Eve growled. "Let me go! Crowley will be here any minute to come to rescue me."
Ze tutted zir tongue and the flies buzzing around zir and darted away and back. "I'm afraid not, Human. They'll never find you."
The tears ran down Eve's face hot and fast. "What the fuck do you want with me, then?"
"Oh, I'm not quite sure just yet. If we can't punish the traitorzzz, or destroy their relationship, we can take away the one other thing they love." Beelzebub reached forward and touched Eve's cheek, only for Eve to flinch out of zir touch with such force that she nearly lost her footing.
"You can't do that!" She yelled. "My parents will find me and - and - they'll destroy you!"
"We'll zzzee about that." Beelzebub turned and walked away, leaving Eve in her dank cell.
"Wait, no! Come back! Let me out! You can't leave me here, let me out!" She pleaded, but the Prince of Hell did not look back at her. Ze just kept walking.
Eve sank to her knees on the filthy ground and did all she could do— sob and keep screaming for help.
When her voice was hoarse and exhaustion finally won over her, she passed out on the floor for an unknown amount of time. There were no windows, of course, in Hell. She wasn't wearing a watch and had no other way of telling time. She could have been there for hours or days, she wasn't quite sure. Aziraphale and Crowley surely would have realized she was missing by then. Probably out looking for her, calling the neighbors and police, sending Abel to hunt her down, who knows?
She prayed to G-d, too, not that she thought prayers could reach Her from down there, anyway, but it was worth a shot. She prayed to be spared and rescued, that she had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be there. Her prayers became more desperate as time went on, praying for G-d to just take her and let her die, but at least take her to Heaven. And if she did die, for Aziraphale and Crowley to not mourn over her or blame themselves. Eve was human, after all. Human lives were fragile. Hers would have just been cut short.
Eve did think about death, there in the shadows. She had never thought about it before when she was on Earth, no matter how things not bad. But she had heard Crowley mention the terrible things Demons did in Hell: torture, feeding souls to the Hellhounds, rape. Eve didn't know whatBeelzebub was going to do to her, but without hesitation, her mind had decided that death was much better than any of those.
If Eve didn't die by her own hands, she was surely going to die from starvation or dehydration. There were no guards to ask for a glass of water, not that she would trust the water down here anyway.
Beelzebub heard a story once of the goddess of Spring, Persephone. She was beautiful and brought life and joy to Hades' life in the Underworld.
Ze sat in zir throne room, staring at the window in the wall, watching Demons aimlessly wander. Ze should feel nothing for the human girl. Human lives are short and meaningless to a Demon unless they end up in Hell's keep. But Eve was not dead yet, and she certainly hadn't been sent to Hell.
Beelzebub shouldn't have felt anything, so why was there an uneasy feeling in the pit of zir stomach when ze thought about Eve sobbing on the dirty floors of Hell?
Eve was beautiful, that much Beelzebub knew. Even the Demon furthest from humanity could see that. Her aura was beauty and love, kindness and compassion. Being in Hell did not mean ze was blind to beauty. Ze had watched Eve for a while now, observing her life on Earth. Beelzebub saw her smile, saw her laugh, saw how she was so full of love and lit up a room. She was like an Angel, but much less stuffy and asshole-like like the Archangel Gabriel was.
Beelzebub was drawn to her for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was because the darkness and loneliness of Hell had finally gotten to zir. Beelzebub wanted that light for zirself; wanted Eve's smile and her laughter to be just for zir.
But Eve was nothing like she was on Earth. All she did was scream herself hoarse and sob until she passed out from exhaustion. Beelzebub had to do something about it.
She felt weak, just lying on the floor curled up in the fetal position, staring at the wall beyond the bars.
'PLEASE do not LICK the WALLS,' the poster said. Why shouldn't they lick the walls? What was on them? Was it that Hell was trying to prevent the Demons from licking the wall, or protecting them from whatever the wall was covered in? And "please" was a little polite for being in Hell.
Eve heard footsteps again. She didn't raise her head, just stared straight onward. She heard the door to her cell open and somebody step inside. Finally, they're going to kill me.
Her eyes scanned upward, from Beelzebub's dusty loafers and fishnet socks— yes, fishnet— to zir face full of blisters and rotting flesh. Did Dad ever look that repulsive?
"I have a propozzzition for you," Ze said.
"Fuck off." Eve croaked.
Ze bit back a growl. "Fine, then! Starve to death, zzzee if I care!"
Eve finally fully rolled over her body to look up at ze and narrowed her eyes. "But you do care. Otherwise, why wouldn't you have just killed me already?"
Beelzebub narrowed zir eyes. "You're no good to me dead."
"What good am I to you in the first place? What is it that you want from me, Beelzebub?"
Beelzebub heard a story once of the goddess Persephone, who alongside Hades, ruled the Underworld. She gave him companionship.
Beelzebub wanted that.
"I want you to be mine," Ze said it so nonchalantly, Eve had a difficult time registering what exactly ze had said.
"You... what?"
Now, Beelzebub struggled with expressing zir own struggles. "W-well, it's not like I'm ever letting you go home." Ze watched as Eve's eyes filled with tears again, and the look of confusion and fear written all over her face. "And you'll surely die here in the cell if left here. So here izzz my propozzzition: I will take you away from thizzz dungeon if you agree to stop your crying and screaming. And I can give you whatever you'd like." There was no softness behind zir words, no affection or even a hint of flirtation.
Eve could have screamed, keep on begging to go home, but she knew it would be no use. Play the game, Eve, she told herself. Go along with it for now and figure out a way to save yourself if Crowley and Aziraphale can't. Earn Beelzebub's trust and use it to your advantage. And ze was right; if she stayed there, she would die soon enough.
Eve pushed herself up off the floor. "You're not very princely. If you're going to take me as your princess, you'd want to brush up on your manners." She bit back a growl.
"Demons aren't meant to have manners."
"Excuses."
Beelzebub led Eve down the corridor but bound Eve's arms to her side. "Wouldn't want you to run away," ze said. I wouldn't even know where to run to, she wanted to say.
The room Beelzebub took her to was the strangest room she had ever seen. There was a bed in the corner of the room and a bathtub in the other corner. A wave of relief washed over her. A bath. Hopefully a nice hot bath. The walls were black and the room was dimly lit by a red light. On the bed was a tray, with some bread and soup and a glass of water.
She didn't care how non-nutritious it really was, as soon as she entered the room and her arms unbound, she raced to the bed and scarfed down the food.
"Slow down..." Beelzebub winced. Ze had never understood the appeal of food.
"You starved me! And I'm dehydrated!" She gulped down the water in three gulps. When it was empty, it refilled itself. "I need a bath, too." She looked down at her body, now that she had enough light to see. Her body was covered in dirt and grime and so was her hair.
Suddenly, the bathtub was filled with hot water and even bubbles. She smirked, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." Beelzebub snapped.
Eve stood and walked to the tub, ready to take her dirty PJs off, but Beelzebub stayed, staring at her. "Aren't you going to leave?"
"And why would I do that?" Ze cocked zir head.
"What the fuck ever." Eve rolled her eyes and peeled off her clothes. She was past the point of caring. Do you even have any shame when you're being kept prisoner?
Beelzebub stared at her body, not sure what to do with what ze was looking at. On one hand, ze wanted to reach out and touch her, feel her soft, pale skin. She was pure from maggots or blisters or pus or wounds. The only markings on her body were her freckles and her two tattoos on her forearms.
On the other hand, Beelzebub thought that she should be placed on some pedestal, high and behind glass where no one could touch her or ruin her.
Ze watched as she slipped into the water and a look of ecstasy wash over here. She scrubbed and washed away the filth until her skin was pink and shiny.
"Don't you ever take baths? Or is that above Demons?" Eve asked. Better to try and make conversation than Beelzebub stare at her like a priceless work of art.
"No, Demonzzz aren't meant to be nice and clean," Ze said.
Eve shrugged and sank lower into the water; only her head rested above the bubbles. "You wouldn't look so scary if you did."
"I'm suppozzzed to be scary!" Ze barked.
"Even around me?" Eve had her best puppy eyes. Okay, Evelyn, reel it in, no need to be an overachiever. "Please?"
Beelzebub looked just as surprised and a light blush ze didn't even know ze were capable of formed across zir cheeks. "F-fine."
Eve gave a triumphant smirk. "Much better."
"Shut up."
The blisters were gone from zir face, as well as the swarm of flies around zir head. Zir clothes weren't as grimy and zir hair was only just slightly well-kept. In a certain light, Beelzebub didn't actually look too bad.
Now Eve was surprised with herself. She quickly dunked her head under the hot water. If her cheeks were red, she could blame it on the bath. Plus, she needed to get the dirt out of her hair before she lost her mind.
"What time of day is it, anyway?" Eve asked, changing the subject.
"What do you mean?"
"Time. You know, morning, afternoon, evening?"
"There is no time in Hell. At least, not how it izzz on Earth. Dayzzz in Hell could only be a few minutes on Earth."
Eve froze. That meant that perhaps Crowley and Aziraphale hadn't noticed she was missing yet. They may not have even been awake yet. She wasn't really missing much up there. She could still get home and almost nothing would have happened. But, she would just have to keep that to yourself.
"Oh. Interesting."
Beelzebub's idea of clothing for Eve was, well, something long and flowy and off-the-shoulder like that of which you would have seen in Ancient Greece.
It was comfy, nonetheless, and pristine white, and no matter how many dirty surfaces it touched, it didn't tarnish.
The bed was softer than she had expected, as well. She felt her body sink into it, relaxing and becoming completely pliant after who knows how long of sleeping on the hard floor.
Beelzebub just stared at her with zir arms crossed, unsure of what to do. Ze supposed ze would just keep watch; ze had no use for sleep anyway, and ze didn't even find it in the least bit enjoyable the one time ze did try it.
"Do you want to come lie down, too?" Eve asked. There was an odd sense of relief in the pit of Eve's stomach; if Beelzebub was going to do something to her, ze would have had plenty of opportunities when Eve wasn't clothed and under a blanket.
"I don't sleep," Beelzebub grumbled.
"You don't have to, but I'm sure it would be much comfier than standing there while I sleep." She scooted over a bit to make enough room, though it wouldn't have been as much room so that they wouldn't have touched. "Here." She patted the mattress.
Beelzebub took a tentative step toward the bed and then stopped. "I - I've got to go." Ze turned on their heel and sped out of the room, locking the door behind zir, leaving Eve alone.
She smirked to herself when she realized, Beelzebub, Prince of Hell, had no plan at all. Getting home may be easier than she expected.
On the other side of the door, Beelzebub wanted to scream out of frustration. Ze had no idea why Ze felt the way they felt: confused and strange and... warm. Ze didn't care for it at all. "I need to go torture some souls," Ze said to no one in particular and stomped away.
When Eve woke up the next morning? Afternoon? Whatever? she found that it wasn't all just a crazy dream.
Instead, she found another tray sitting on the edge of the bed, but this time with a cup of tea and some toast and jam, but no Beelzebub.
What she also found, was that she was just a bit disappointed that Beelzebub wasn't there when she woke up.
She took a sip of the tea and winced. "Ugh." She made a disgusted face. "No milk and no sugar." She couldn't blame Beelzebub, of course. For not enjoying the pleasures of food zirself, how was Ze supposed to know Eve took her tea with a splash of almond milk and either sugar or honey?
The toast, surprisingly, was better than the tea. It wasn't burnt and it was already buttered, Eve just had to add the jam.
Eve ate her breakfast and Beelzebub still wasn't there. Eve lied down in bed for an hour and with nothing else to do, stared at the ceiling. She wished she had at least something, like music or a book, or Hell, even some chalk. Still, Beelzebub wasn't back.
Finally, she got so antsy and fed up, she walked up to the door and knocked. "Hello?" She called out. "Is anybody there? Can somebody get me Lord Beelzebub?"
A small trap in the door slid open and a demon with gorgeous, long eyelashes peeked in. "Lord Beelzebub has been in meetings with the Dark Council all morning." Ah, so it was morning.
"Well, can't you like, page zir and tell zir that I'm bored?" She asked.
"I don't believe the Council would appreciate me interrupting them very much."
"Hmph. What are you doing here then?"
"I was told to guard the door."
"Why? There's not even a handle on this side of the door."
"No, not from you getting out. From anything else getting in."
"Oh. Well, um, good job then, er, sorry, what's your name?"
The demon blinked. No one had really ever asked that, before. No one had ever really cared. He was just known as the Disposable Demon, cursed to live out the rest of eternity being discorporated over and over again. "Er, it's Eric."
"It's nice to meet you, Eric. I'm Eve." It was the first other person— or Demon— she had met since getting there to Hell, and she so desperately wanted to just talk to someone and hopefully figure out a way to get out.
"Do you know when Lord Beelzebub will be back?" She asked.
"No, Lord Beelzebub could be in a meeting for hours. One time, it was even a few days."
Great, Eve thought. Now I'm stuck here alone in this room. "Tell me, Eric, how does one... get out of Hell? Like, if you were to go to the surface, how would you do that? Hypothetically." She tried her luck.
"Oh! You just go up the elevator!"
An elevator, seriously? "Erm... you know, Eric, I really haven't seen much of Hell at all. And I'm getting quite cramped in here. If I'm, you know, to be betrothed to Lord Beelzebub, don't you think I should get a look around?" She gave her best pleading eyes. "Would you be so kind as to give me a tour?"
"Er... I - I don't know..."
"Please? Oh, Lord Beelzebub won't mind. As you said, meetings could last forever."
"Well... I suppose so..." Eric opened the door.
Perfect.
The only reason Eve didn't sprint away from Eric at her first chance was that Hell was a dark and twisted maze, and she would probably end up lost or run into something much worse than Eric or Beelzebub. Plus, eventually, Eric and she had to walk past the exit.
Unfortunately, said exit was guarded by a ginormous Hellhound, and while it seemed to ignore the other Demons, it just had smelled the human on Eve and growled and pounced in front of her when she tried to pass it. Eric jumped two feet backward, but Eve froze in her spot. Now all of the Demons around here were staring at her, ready to watch the small redhead get torn to shreds by the Hellhound.
The Hellhound bore its large, sharp teeth and got in Eve's face and let out a guttural growl. Drool dripped from its chops and its eyes glowed red.
Eve raised a brow and pointed her finger to the floor. "Down!" She demanded.
"You shouldn't -" Eric tried.
The Hellhound Just inched closer to her, still growling. "I said, down!" She furrowed her brow and snapped her fingers and pointed down again. This time, the Hellhound's ears went back and it obeyed Eve and laid down at her feet, surrendering over to her.
There was a hushed whisper that washed over the crowd of Demons that surrounded them until Eve heard the stomping of boots coming towards them.
"What the bloody Heaven izzz going on here?" Demons slammed themselves up against the walls to make way for Beelzebub. When ze saw Eve, ze glared. "You! How did you get out?" Eve glanced back to Eric, who was trying his best to hide behind Eve, even though she was much smaller. "Demon! Didn't I tell you to not let her out?" Beelzebub looked furious and probably would have killed Eric (again) on the spot if it weren't for Eve taking the blame.
"It was my fault!" She blocked Beelzebub from getting to him. "I lied and said you would be okay with it. Please don't hurt him."
"Come here," Beelzebub said through gritted teeth and clutched Eve's hand, zir fingernails digging into her hand, and yanked Eve back to her room, leaving a still-cowering Eric, a submissive Hellhound, and a room full of confused Demons.
"Ow!" Eve yelped. "Beelzebub, ouch! Your nails! Too tight! Ow!" She winced. "Beez!" She yelled before Beelzebub shoved her into the room.
"What were you thinking? Going out there without me?"
"I was bored and -"
"And nothing! Demonzzz are not nice, Eve. They do not respect anyone, they fear otherzzz! And they do not fear you!"
"They don't even know who I am! I've been here for days and I haven't seen anyone besides you and Eric!" She rubbed at her hand where there were crescent-shaped indents.
"Who?"
"The demon who was guarding the door!"
"And how could you have trusted him, Eve?"
"I don't know? Intuition?" She shrugged. Eric really did seem harmless
"You could have gotten hurt!"
"You weren't here this morning and I missed you!" Eve's face was red and hot. She didn't mean to say it, it just sort of... slipped out. And it only slipped out because, as much as she hated to admit it, it was sort of true. "You didn't tell me where you were going to be and so I waited here for hours for you to come back... But there's nothing for me to do here, so I wanted to look for you."
Beelzebub's expression had softened slightly. "I..."
Eve turned away with her arms crossed over her chest. "Can you run a bath please?"
In an instant, the tub was full of hot and sudsy water. Eve murmured a 'thank-you' and got undressed. Again, Beelzebub couldn't help but stare at Eve's naked frame. She was petite and lean and her skin pale white, like it was pure from anything evil or dirty.
She glowed in contrast to Hell. Like a beacon of light that shone for the first time, and Beelzebub found it utterly intoxicating.
Eve ran her fingers through her long red hair and Beelzebub's eyes followed. And then to her lips... her jaw... her neck... over her curves and -
The water sloshed gently when Eve got in and leaned her head back against the lip of the tub, exposing her neck even more.
Beelzebub could just lean in and kiss and suck and leave zir mark.
"Stop staring at me like that, would ya?" Eve had her eyes closed, but she could just feel Beelzebub's gaze on her.
"L - like what?" Ze asked, trying to feign innocence.
"Like you're going to eat me."
"And what if I did eat you?" Beelzebub smiled sinisterly and took a step toward her.
Eve opened one eye to glare at Beelzebub. "That's not Kosher."
Beelzebub grit zir teeth. "Don't I scare you? Even in the slightest?"
"Hmph," Eve smirked and closed her eye. "If I had anything to be scared of, you would have shown me by now. You're not gonna hurt me, are you now, Beez? Although, you did hurt my hand a bit earlier."
"I wazzz just holding your hand," Ze said.
"No, you grabbed my hand. Big difference." She stood up and held her hand out for a towel.
Beelzebub rolled zir eyes and handed her the towel. "What difference?" Eve gave a cheeky smile and stepped out and wrapped the towel around herself.
"Give me your hand." Beelzebub flinched like Eve had just stuck her hand out with a cup of Holy Water. "Give me your hand, Beez."
Ze slowly put zir hand in Eve's and she interlocked their fingers together. Eve was so soft and gentle and it sent a strange spark through Beelzebub.
"See? Isn't that much better?" Eve looked up at Ze and smiled. It was warm and Beelzebub became too overwhelmed by it and yanked zir hand back and folded zir arms across zir chest.
Eve was still smiling, however, when she turned away and got dressed. "It's too bad you don't have, like, a TV or a computer or something, to watch movies..." She gave Beelzebub The Look ™️ . The same Look that Aziraphale gave Crowley whenever he wanted him to do something.
Beelzebub sighed and snapped zir fingers.
It wasn't a TV, but a Radio would work. It at least filled the empty silence in the room and Eve sometimes would sing along to the music. Beelzebub's idea of entertainment was things to do back before people had cell phones or video games: puzzles and playing cards.
But there was something oddly comforting about sitting on the floor with Beelzebub attempting to put a thousand-piece puzzle together.
"There'zzz too many bloody piecezzz!" Ze shouted.
"It's a thousand pieces, it's supposed to be too many! Now, help me look for the corner pieces." Eve shifted through the pile. Beelzebub grumbled to zirself and helped. "It's supposed to be fun, Beez."
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Beelzebub is too long."
"It'zzz Lord Beelzebub."
Eve turned to Ze with a raised brow. "Keep complaining and I'll make it worse. Buzz buzz, Bumble Bee." Beelzebub made a disgusted face. "That's what I thought."
Eve finally found the four corner pieces and laid them out, but by the time that all was done, Eve's eyes were heavy and she was yawning. "We can work on it some later."
"Wait, what?" But Beelzebub was already invested. Ze was digging through the pieces, trying to match them up. It was the most entertaining thing Ze had ever done in Hell. And the best part: no paperwork.
"'M too tired, Beez." She got up from off of the floor and shuffled to bed, promptly plopping down.
Beelzebub did not pout. It was beneath zir. Ze couldn't help but admit to zirself, though, that Ze rather liked doing such a menial activity with Eve. Eve stayed close to Ze and when their fingers brushed because they were looking for a piece, Eve didn't flinch away.
"Are you going to sit there and stare at me all night like you did last, or are you going to actually lie down with me?" Eve asked.
"What?" Beelzebub whipped Zir head around to look at her and blinked a few times; Eve was patting the space in the bed next to her.
"Did I stutter? You don't have to, I just thought I'd, you know, offer." She shrugged.
"I - I..." Eve sat up on her knees as Beelzebub approached the bed. She reached out to zir and helped ze out of the sash and jacket and pins and tie ze wore. "What are you doing?"
"You can't lie down with all of these things on. It's too uncomfortable." Beelzebub was simply just dumbfounded when Eve took zir hand and pulled ze into bed and pulled the covers over them.
"Just stay on your side of the bed, okay?" Eve laid her head on the pillow but stayed rolled on her side facing Beelzebub, who, having never done such a thing before, laid rigidly still. Ze stayed like that until Eve's breathing evened out, and then Ze turned to face her. As gently as Ze possibly could, Beelzebub reached zir hand out and touched Eve's cheek. Beelzebub hadn't noticed it before, but Eve's skin was absolutely covered in freckles, more than ze had ever seen in zir entire existence. They were like stars, dusting over her body like a small universe.
For Satan's Sake, Beelzebub, now you're getting soft, Ze thought to zirself.
Beelzebub didn't sleep, only watched Eve sleep and her eyes flicker behind her eyelids and watched her dream.
Eve woke up in the middle of the night, or at least, Beelzebub thought it was the middle of the night. Beelzebub, having never really paid attention to time, now based the days off of when Eve's body told her when to sleep and when to wake up.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked shocked until she realized again where she was and who she was with. She let out a sigh. "I thought you would have been gone..." Her voice was soft and groggy.
"Why?"
"Dunno."
"Why did you wake up?" Zir hand had been resting on Eve's shoulder and she had yet to flinch away from zir touch.
"Had a weird dream. Funny, I can't even remember what was so weird about it. Must've not been important."
"Okay... Go back to sleep, Eve." It might have been Eve's cloudy brain, but Beelzebub's tone almost sounded... warm and caring. Ze rubbed zir thumb over Eve's jaw and she actually leaned into the touch. Touch-starved and yearning for any bit of kindness.
It's human nature to want physical contact and it's not out of the ordinary to miss that interaction. Beelzebub was a body, not very warm, but a responsive body nonetheless, and Ze was right there. So, Eve pulled away from zir touch, but only for a second, before she scooted closer to the very Prince of Hell and laid her head on zir chest, tucked underneath zir chin.
"W - what are you doing?" Beelzebub was frozen, zir hands hovering just above Eve's back.
"Just shut up and hold me." Eve closed her eyes when she felt Beelzebub gently rest zir hands in between her shoulder blades and on her lower back. It was so gentle, she couldn't even believe it was actually Beelzebub.
Beelzebub stayed like that, rubbing Eve's back in small circles. After a while more, Beez got braver and started gently gliding zir finger up and down her back. "Eve?"
"Hm?" Eve was half asleep already.
Ze hesitated and pressed her closer. "Can I keep you?..."
"Hm?" She asked gently, not cognoscente of anything going on. "Sure, Beez..."
"Wait, really? Eve? Eve?" But she already fast asleep. And then Beelzebub smiled a real smile for the first time in years, maybe centuries.
Beelzebub heard a story once where Persephone, after some time, began to enjoy Hades' company in the Underworld.
Beelzebub would call that love, for Demons didn't quite understand love the way that humans do.
Eve, who was human, and watched far too much Law & Order: SVU, would call that Stockholm Syndrome.
The Hellhound who tried to attack her, who was appropriately named Deathfang, obediently followed Eve around like she was now the Alpha. Beelzebub has only ever been his Alpha. Eve called him Fang for short.
Other Demons were wary of Eve. There she was, perched on the arm of Beelzebub's throne one day, shining in all white against darkness and grime. Eve was human, and yet love radiated off of her like it did an Angel. Only, she was far from an Angel as far she was from a Demon. She was neither, but she was both, and somehow, harnessed a little power from both ends.
She smiled and whispered funny remarks to Beelzebub throughout the day, which made the Prince of Hell actually laugh, and not because some poor soul was being tortured.
Dagon, Hastur, and Ligur looked upon them with both horror and wonderment. Did Beelzebub have the human girl under a spell, or was the human a witch who hexed the Prince of Hell into loving her? Even more-so, how she got a full-grown Hellhound to lie at her feet.
That's what it was, in the easiest terms: love. Beelzebub, though inexperienced with love, felt something for Eve that Ze hadn't felt since before zir Fall. Ze was bad at showing it, but Beelzebub loved Eve in zir own twisted way.
And Eve, for all she tried to deny it, felt something for Beelzebub. It was not love, at least, Eve wasn't in love with Beez. She could never see herself spending the rest of her life with the Prince of Hell. Perhaps it was just Eve's mind finally coming apart and turning to mush, trying to make sense and rationalize things so Eve didn't snap and go insane. But Eve, for some reason or another, wanted to make her captor smile and laugh. And when she did, sitting on that throne watching Beez's eyes screw shut and zir head roll back from laughing, Eve had to fight the urge to lean down and kiss Beelzebub.
It scared the shit out of Eve, and yet, what did she have to lose at that point?
Eve and Beelzebub had grown closer since she had been there. Not emotionally, but physically. They slept together, tangled in one another's arms. They walked arm-in-arm through Hell, the Prince showing off zir Princess. They sat close to one another on the floor, still trying to put together that damned puzzle.
It was one of those nights, and Eve smelled like honey, and Beelzebub couldn't help but lean closer to her.
"Beez, help me find the last couple of pieces." Eve pouted and shifted through the much smaller pile than what they started with.
"Don't pout," Beelzebub demanded, but by then, there was no malice behind zir words.
"Don't just sit there and watch me struggle." Her cheeks turned dark pink.
"Oh, c'mon, Evie." If Beelzebub had to have a gross nickname, so did Eve. She tried not to think about the fact that it was a nickname Crowley had given to her.
"We're never going to finish this damn puzzle if you're just going to sit there and stare at me." She reached up and ran her fingers through zir hair. It had become much softer, or at least, Beez made it softer, just for Eve.
"Eve..." Beelzebub leaned closer, only a few inches from her lips and then -
"Oh! Found it!" Eve turned her head and beamed, having found the piece she thought she was going crazy about losing.
Beez groaned and rested zir head on Eve's shoulder while she finished her stupid puzzle.
Beelzebub watched Eve strip every night, take a bath, and lounge in the tub with her eyes closed, head back and neck exposed for the taking. She looked heavenly, which was blasphemous in Hell.
"You know what I feel like?" Eve opened one eye to look up at Beelzebub.
"What now?" Ze came to sit on the edge of the tub.
"Something sweet, like chocolate." She grinned.
"Chocolate?" Beelzebub sneered. Sweet things didn't exist in Hell.
"Yes. Please?" She took a handful of bubbles and blew them at Ze. Beelzebub flinched away like she had just blown poison at ze. Eve only giggled, a sound that sounded so angelic, Beelzebub's ears almost couldn't process it.
"Fine, then. You have to get out of the bath first, though."
Eve smiled triumphantly and stood up, the bubbles running down her body, and Beelzebub couldn't help but stare, and this time, Eve noticed. Ze looked hungry, but not for food, not for chocolate... but for her.
A blush crept down Eve's cheeks to her neck and flushed her chest. "Beez, towel? C'mon, it's cold." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Hm? Oh, here." Beelzebub miracled a towel and handed it to her. Eve stepped out and wrapped it around herself.
"Whoever said Hell was hot obviously had never been here." She said and walked over to the bed to get dressed. "It's freezing down here." Once dressed, she sat on the bed expectantly.
Beelzebub roller zir eyes and miracled Eve the damn chocolate. "You're becoming spoiled."
"Hm, wonder where I get it from?" A certain spoiled Angel who's constantly spoiled by his Demon husband. She took a bite of a piece of chocolate and moaned in delight.
Now Beelzebub's cheeks were flushed, and zir eyes wide. "You're inzzzufferable." Ze sat next to Eve on the bed.
"And what does that make you?" She tried to sound offended, but couldn't help but crack a smile. "Here, try." Eve held out a piece.
"No."
"Beez, it's just chocolate; it's not going to kill you."
"You could have poizzzoned it." Now Beez was being difficult for the sake of being difficult.
Eve bellowed out a laugh, "Yes, because where would I even get my hands on anything? Maybe some soap?"
"Well, I don't know!" Ze took the piece and ate it and refused to admit that it actually tasted amazing. Ze watched Eve take a bite of another piece— one filled with caramel— and lick the excess gooey substance off of her lips. Beelzebub would bet zir soul— if Ze had one— that Eve's lips tasted better.
"Beez?" Eve brought Beez out of zir trance. "You've been really off lately, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm... I'm fine."
"You know, you can just talk to me you don't have to keep it all sealed - mnph!"
Beelzebub's lips were on Eve's, chaste but desperate. Eve didn't even have a chance to respond before Beez pulled away, zir face red, not that Eve could see. Ze was turned away from her, frozen. "S - zzzorry, I -"
Eve blinked a few times and took a deep breath. "I - it wasn't... the worst kiss I've had..."
"What?" Beelzebub whipped around and for the first time that Eve's seen, Ze looked... nervous.
"Can I show you something?" She put a hand on zir shoulder and with her other hand, caught zir chin between her thumb and forefinger.
Eve, what are you doing? This is wrong. This is so very wrong.
"Slow... and gentle..." she whispered before she brought their lips together. It was soft and warm at first, and then Beez finally touched Eve; held her waist with one hand and with the other, held the back of Eve's neck and deepened the kiss, but Eve kept the pace.
Eve pulled away and pressed their foreheads together and she giggled.
"What are you laughing about now?" Beelzebub's other hand joined the first on Eve's waist and squeezed lightly.
"Nothing. I just can't believe we did that."
"I've wanted to do that for a while now."
"Wait, really?" She pulled back. "Why didn't you - before?"
"I thought you would have punched me."
Eve raised a brow. "And you... what? You're afraid of me? Afraid of some, five-foot human, who fixes old houses?" She smirked. "Didn't think the scary Prince of Hell cared about those types of things."
Beelzebub took Eve's face and peppered her cheeks with kisses, kissing each Star and constellation. Eve closed her eyes and hummed and brought her hand up to hold Beez's wrist.
This is wrong, Evelyn. Beelzebub is a Demon. Ze tried to kill Crowley. Ze is evil. And yet... Beelzebub is being kind, being gentle.
This is Stockholm Syndrome, she told herself. Then why does it feel nice?
It became a part of their routine. Eve and Beelzebub would go to sleep with swollen lips or lovebites on their necks and chests. It was nothing more than that, just kisses and bites. No one really noticed. No one really paid any attention to Eve.
Whenever she was out with Beez, she was kept close to zir side, usually holding Zir hand or they walked arm in arm. The intimacy of their relationship was not kept a secret either. Beez was much more interested in having Eve in zir lap, playing with her hair and stealing kisses or nibbling on her neck than whatever any Demon had to say. Eve couldn't even lie and say she didn't revel in the attention and the touches.
Dagon, Lord of the Files, did not care for Eve at all. They growled and bared their pointy teeth to her whenever Eve so much as glanced at them.
Hastur, for probably no reason other than the fact that she was Crowley's daughter and bore a striking resemblance, didn't like Eve either.
Ligur, who she had heard Crowley killed, but must've been brought back when Adam fixed everything, seemed indifferent towards Eve. He followed a blind faith to Satan and Hell and didn't seem to really care about much else. One day, when Eve and Beelzebub walked in and it was only Ligur, Eve bid him a 'good morning' and he looked taken aback by it, but after that, he referred to Eve as "The Princess," which she supposed she couldn't complain about.
Eve was 99% sure Hastur and Ligur were a thing, but there was no definite way to prove it.
And then there was Eric, who was the nicest to Eve, and when Beelzebub allowed it, would have Eric keep an eye on her and they would tell each other really bad jokes that weren't funny at all, but they still laughed.
She tried to imagine what they all must have looked like before the Fall, when they were Angels. She couldn't do it, except for Eric and, well, Beez.
Eve was not a Princess though. At least, not yet. To do that, as discussed between her and Beelzebub, she would have to give up her soul, become immortal, and then they would get married. That all sounded easy, except that Eve had to give consent to it all, and of course, she refused to do so. She was still determined to get home.
Eve didn't know how long she was there. Weeks, perhaps a month, now. It was night, or at least, her body told her it was night. Her and Beelzebub were in bed, facing one another. Beez's hand was on Eve's cheek, thumb grazing her freckles.
"You've looked like you've wanted to say something to me for a while now, so you might as well just say it," Eve said.
"I love you." Beelzebub just ripped the bandaid off, and no sooner than Ze regret it when Eve flinched like she had just been hit. Eve reached up and held Beez's wrist and turned to kiss zir wrist and then sat up. She looked heartbroken and Beelzebub couldn't understand why. Ze had just told her Ze loved her, shouldn't she be happy? Where was her beautiful smile?
"Beez..." her voice sounded broken.
"Eve?"
"You don't, though..."
Beelzebub sat up; now Ze looked heartbroken and confused and angry. "What do you mean? Yezzz I do. I just said it!"
"But I don't think you truly know what it means!"
"Yezzz I do, Eve! I love you. I love you, Evelyn!"
This was Eve's breaking point; she had finally had enough. Her heart was breaking and she didn't know why. Was it because she finally couldn't stand to be there anymore, or was it because she knew that she didn't feel the same and she was breaking Beelzebub's heart in return?
She took a deep breath as tears rolled down her face.
"What are you doing? Stop crying! Eve, stop it!" Beez sounded desperate. Ze sounded hurt. Ze sounded human and Eve just couldn't stand it. Beez grabbed her and pulled her close and kissed her firmly, but no sooner had Eve pushed zir away and covered her mouth with her hand.
"You're mine. You said I could keep you, you're suppozzzed to love me!"
Eve shook her head. "Beelzebub, stop! Love isn't possession; it isn't keeping people because people aren't property! Love is... Love is waiting 6000 years for each other... Love is going to Heaven and Hell and back for one another because you can't stand to live without them... Love is... Love is letting someone go because you want them to be happy... And Beez, if you really love me, then you'll let me go home. Please, it's been long enough." She pleaded.
Beez stared at her for a second. Ze had never cared about someone like this before and when ze laid it all out for her, she rejected zir and yet, Beez still loved her. But what use was it to have Eve around if she was unhappy and wouldn't smile or laugh? "Okay." Ze got out of bed and held out zir hand.
"Okay?" Eve gaped.
"Yes! Now c'mon before I change my mind!"
Eve took Beez's hand and they left the room, left the bed, left the tub, left the finished puzzle on the floor. They left hand in hand and walked together to the elevator out of Hell and Beez pushed the button to go up.
Eve turned to zir. "I do love you, Beez..." she reached up and cupped zir cheek. "But I'm not in love with you. I care a great deal about you, but there's a difference. I hope you find someone, someday who loves you back. Because you are worthy of love..." she reached up and kissed zir cheek. "You just can't have mine because it belongs to someone else."
"I can make you forget, Eve... We can live out eternity together. Human livezzz are so short. You'll be gone one day."
She shrugged. "But I know there's life after death. Maybe that's when our time will be. When I die, if I end up in Hell, I'll be yours, Beez."
"You'll always be mine. Please stay." Beelzebub wanted to beg, but what could Ze possibly give her that was worth more than her life?
"You know I can't..." she distracted herself with playing with Beelzebub's jacket. There was a lump in her throat.
"This is goodbye then?"
"No, not goodbye. I hate goodbyes, please don't make this a goodbye?" She but back tears.
"Then what is it then?" Beez grabbed both of Eve's hands and squeezed.
"I'll see you soon. We'll see each other again." She smiled sadly. The elevator dinged and the door opened. "This is me." She pulled Beelzebub down to her level and kissed zir cheek and whispered, "My Beez..."
She walked to the elevator, froze, and spun back around and pulled Beez in for one last passionate kiss and pulled away, stepping back into the elevator. Their fingers were the last to be out of touch with one another and the last thing Beelzebub saw was Eve, smiling and crying at the same time before the elevator doors shut.
"Eve, wait!" Beelzebub tried to pry open the elevator doors, bang on them, miracle them open, but it was no use. "Eve! Eve, come back!" Ze took a deep breath. "Fuck!"
She was gone.
Beelzebub heard a story once of Hades and Persephone. Hades allowed Persephone to go back to Earth for six months out of the year so that she could create Spring and Summer. When she came back to the Underworld, it was time for Autumn and Winter.
Hades let Persephone go because he loved her, just like Beelzebub did. Only, Persephone loved him, too, and came back to him. Eve did not.
This story was originally written because the idea wouldn't leave my brain and I had to get it down, so I just started writing bits and pieces in my Notes App on my phone. Several weeks later, the story turns into a 16-page, 7.9k-word twisted and tragic love story. I thought about keeping it to myself until I could later incorporate it into the main fic, but not knowing when exactly that would be and the constant internal nagging, I decided to just edit out any spoilers only known to myself and post it as a one-shot. When this part of the story finally does come along, I'll probably take this down so I can incorporate it and I'll probably make some new changes, too. Until then, please enjoy.