Arliss woke up on the cold cement floor. Her hands and feet were tied together behind her back. Her eyes searched the room and landed on her family talking together.
"Mom?" She asked lowly.
They stopped talking and looked over at her. Her mother pushed her brother who in return walked towards Arliss. He grabbed her and forced her up on her knees. She tried yanking on the rope behind her but she couldn't get loose. She looked around and found herself inside the circle of symbols drawn on the floor.
"What's going on?" Arliss asked.
"Mom made a deal with the devil," her sister said.
"Not the devil. Just a random demon," her mother corrected. "We needed money. I craved a better lifestyle than the one we were living back then. He was willing to give me all that. In return he wanted Winter's blood 40 years later."
Arliss swallowed by hearing their surname Winter. It was pretty clear her mother had lost it.
"That's why you all got my surname. And that's why you were adopted. Arliss Winter. Winter's blood. I couldn't give away my own children, and I'm not about to take the fall either," her mother said.
"What the fuck are you going on about?" Arliss yelled.
Her mother picked up a big knife and stepped towards Arliss.
"I have to sacrifice you to meet my end of the deal. This is why I adopted you," her mother said.
"But it's not Winter's blood running through my veins," Arliss cried.
"He doesn't know that," her mother said.
"Actually I do," Finn said.
They all snapped their heads in the direction of Finn's voice. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"I thought you locked the door," her mother said.
"I did," her brother said.
"Please," Finn smirked. "No lock has ever been able to keep me out."
Finn walked towards them and held out his arms. His eyes were planted on Arliss' mother.
"I'm surprised you didn't recognize me when I started dating Arliss. After all, you made a deal with me 40 years ago," Finn said.
"That wasn't you," her mother said.
"But it was," Finn smirked. "I know we tend to keep it retro by showing up in our old demon forms. Maybe the black and red colors covered me too well. This is how I normally look when I roam the earth as a human. We're always up here. We're always around."
He let out a humming sound and smiled.
"Time to give me what I was promised," Finn said. "Winter's blood."
Her mother grabbed Arliss hair and tilted her head back. She moved the knife towards Arliss' throat but then seemingly froze in the air.
"No, no, no," Finn said. "You don't get to cheat. There's only three real Winters in this room. You and your other two children."
"You can't have them," her mother said.
"I don't want them," Finn said. "I want you."
Finn held his hand forward. The rope that had kept Arliss tied up untied itself somehow. She crawled out of the circle and over to Finn. He reached a hand down and smiled at her. She hesitated but ended up taking it and allowing him to pull her up to her feet.
"I meant everything I said back home. I love you and I'll never allow anything bad to happen to you. I understand if you choose to walk away after tonight. If that's the case, I'll let you go. I won't come after you. But you have my heart, love. Always and forever."
He turned his focus back to her mother. He grinned at the woman still frozen inside the circle. He snapped his fingers and they all watched in horror as she moved the knife to her own throat and slit it. Blood started pouring down on the symbols on the ground. Her body crashed down seconds later and laid still. Finn inhaled sharply and smiled.
"Father's happy," he said. "Well, folks, let that be a lesson for you all. Don't make a deal with a demon. And if you do, don't ever be so stupid to think you can outsmart us. We are always watching. We know your every move. Same goes with the cleaning up process around here. I'll be watching. I'll be one step ahead. Try and throw me or Arliss under the bus, and you won't like the outcome. No matter what you say or do, we won't be taking the fall. That I can promise. Don't be so stupid to even try."
Finn took Arliss hand and pulled her over to the stairs. They left the house together without a word. They got into the car, and he drove them back to their house. She kept quiet until they were inside the house.
"Talk to me, love," he said.
"What the fuck is going on?" She asked.
"You know that. I won't insult your intelligence by explaining what you just saw. You know what you saw. I won't lie to you the way your mother did," he said.
"But you did lie!" She yelled. "You're a fucking demon!"
He nodded and sighed. He couldn't run from that.
"That's the only thing I've ever lied about," he said.
"It's a fucking big thing," she said.
"I know," he said. "I swear I had no idea who you were when we met. I wasn't about to keep track of your mother for 40 long years. I get caught up real fast once a deal is reaching its end. It didn't take long to figure it out when you introduced me to your family. By then I was already so deeply in love with you that I couldn't leave."
He kept his blue eyes locked on her brown ones. He could only hope she believed what he was saying. It was the truth.
"Do you want me to leave? I understand if this is not something you want to be around," he said.
"You're a fucking demon, and I love you. I can't just stop loving you," she said. "I know you, Finn. I know the man you are. I've spent three years falling in love with you. You just saved me from my apparently insane mother. How can I walk away now? I'm in too deep, and I don't think I want to get out."
He cracked a sideways smile and stepped over to her. He took her hand and looked at her. He needed her to take the next step to make sure. She moved into his arms and rested her head against his chest.
"What happens now?" She asked.
"They're planning on doing what I warned them against," he sighed.
"Me or you?" She asked.
"Both," he said. "Apparently they think if the police picks up both of us, we don't have time to get our stories straight."
"What do we do?" She asked.
"I can bend time and space. I don't usually do it because it's cheating on my part but sometimes it's necessary," he looked at her. "What do you say, love?"
"Do it," she grinned. "Cheat."
He leaned down and kissed her. When he broke the kiss, she looked around confused. She didn't recognize the room.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"Hawaii," he answered. "We've been here the last three days on holiday. Plenty of security footage to prove that, and our plane tickets also show when we got here. Tonight we went dancing all evening in a well known place. Again, lots of security footage to prove that. When your family tries saying we did it, they're gonna look like idiots. I'll plant a few ideas in the cops' heads to make sure they arrest all three of them for murdering your mother. Remember to put on your best sad face. You loved your mother, remember?"
"Oh no," she faked looking sad. "They killed her? Why? I don't understand why they would do such a thing."
"Apparently they were satanists," he whispered. "Crazy people. They're gonna put them away for a long time."
She grinned, grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.
"I do have questions though," she said. "Lots of them."
"I'll answer everyone of them," he said.
"Can demons get married up here?" She asked.
"Yes, we live as normal human beings. We can even die," he said.
"Die?" She asked.
"I got hit by a train once. I went back downstairs and came back up here years later to try again," he said.
"Damn!" She chuckled. "But about that marriage thing..."
"Wait, are you proposing to me?" He asked.
She grinned again. A grin he mirrored with one of his own.
"I'm taking your surname," she said. "I'm so done being a Winter."
"Arliss Balor," he chuckled. "I love it."
"Can we get married here tomorrow?" She asked.
"I guess," he said. "Let's find out. I'm not about to force this through. No cheating when it comes to us. We're gonna ask around and find someone to do it. If not, we're gonna go straight to Vegas on our way home."
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.
"I wanna marry you, love," he sighed happily. "You make me so fucking happy."