Disclaimer: I don't own Lucifer in any way, shape or form, this work is entirely fictional, any resemblances to real people and/or situations are no more than a coincidence. Also, English isn't my first language, and I don't have a beta, so I apologize for any mistakes you may encounter while reading.

Part 1 - Born among the dead.

"My past has tasted bitter for years now

So I wield an iron fist

Grace is just a weakness

Or so I've been told

I've been cold, I've been merciless

But the blood on my hands scares me to death

Maybe I'm waking up today."

Elaine wasn't afraid of the dark. She never was.

Even when she was alone in her room late in the night, her Grandmas would stay with her. Grandma Furness was a witch. You read right, was. She's dead since a long time ago, she even told Elaine about how she was hanged by the people who were scared of how powerful she had become. Grandma Furness would tell Elaine about the darkness and the creatures that lurk in there.

"Remember, girlie.", she said once, paying no mind to the scowl on Grandma Dickman and Grandma Shaw's faces every time she started teaching Elaine the old ways, "Only the weak fear the dark. Tha's 'cause 'ey're prey. 'Cause 'ey still remember bein' hunted by the ones tha' rule the darkness. The Ancient Darkness, the one before the light was dreamed into existence by our Lord.", the spectral head floating and dispersing inside the room, like one of those old lava-lamps Elaine's father was so fond of, "'ey're still 'ere. The Darkness too... People 'ad forgotten, but 'ey didn't. 'Ey won't.", her eyes moving far from her head making the old witch look crazier than usual, "I think 'ey can smell the fear of the livin' still..."

Run.

That was the only coherent thought she had of at the moment, the rest of her mind was being occupied by the most basic instinct of every human being: survival. Her legs ached, and her lungs burned with every breath she took, her eyes darting from side to side trying to see a path, but everything around her was filled with darkness, howling that she wanted to believe were nothing more than than the wind, but that her traitorous mind told her otherwise, creating a deep dread that Elaine never felt before in her short life.

She ran with all her strength until she stumbled on the root of one of the many dead trees that surrounded her, invisible in the pitch-black landscape, she was thrown to the ground, her palms and knees grazing in contact with the dirty forest floor. Stubborn tears burning from behind her eyes, but Elaine refused to cry, there was no time for that. She needed to escape.

The raven-haired girl stood up, wiping her palms on her flannel, kitten printed, pyjamas. She was barefoot, her feet dirty and bruised and she knew that if her mother saw her in that state she would ground Elaine until the end of the century, but at the moment she had bigger concerns than being forbidden to eat the devil's cake until she was thirty-two. After all, what good would it do to worry about it if she wouldn't be alive to eat the cake? Priorities. You need to have them straight.

The crack of a broken branch made her eyes widen, looking too big on her small, pale face, the clammy skin that made the girl appear to be no longer part of the living world. However, this jostled her back into action.

Ignoring the lower tree branches and dry bushes of hawthorn that scratched her skin, pulled her hair and tore her clothes she runs. Everything hurts, but when Elaine was on the verge of giving up and surrendering to whatever it was that was chasing her in the darkness, a tiny speck of light in the distance caught her eye like a lighthouse lures a sailor to safety after facing the storm.

The light was strange, it didn't seem to behave as it was supposed to. That light looked more like fog, dancing in the darkness with fluidity as if it invited and taunted at the same time.

When she finally reached the light the whole scene changed, the dark forest was gone and in its place stood what looked like an infinite room. The more Elaine walked inside this room the more things she found, a comfortable armchair near which there was a small table where a book rested, walking further inside she found paintings, furniture from different eras, nothing matched anything in that room, but everything seemed to belong. After turning too many lefts and one right, she could hear the crackling of the flames burning in a fireplace and the heat that invited her to warm up after the cold that she went through in that forest.

The fireplace was large and intimidating, like something she would have imagined in a palace and not in a room full of mismatched items. The fire was the biggest source of light in that part of the room where bookshelves cast shadows that moved over each other and over some objects. On the floor, in front of the fireplace, a curiously patterned rug caught the attention of the girl who chose to sit there and warm up.

"I want to go home...", Elaine muttered to herself feeling her eyelids heavy and her body being hit by fatigue after having to run more than she ever imagined she would ever run in her life. Okay, that was a lie, she usually runs from the big boys on the playground who like to pick on her for being different.

...

Elaine opened her eyes to the flames dying in the fireplace, in the distance the sweet sound she recognized as being from a piano from the few music lessons she has had since moving to Liverpool. The girl tried to get up but stopped when she felt the weight of something on her shoulders and pulled the fabric to reveal a blanket that covered her. That would have been normal if she wasn't almost sure she should be alone in that room, however, that little voice in the back of her mind that almost always annoys her to no end more than helps, reminded her that if she was alone then who was playing the piano?

And that thought made her feel cold dread settling in her chest.

She was grateful that she wasn't wearing shoes as it helped her to be quieter while trying to follow the sound of the instrument.

What Elaine found was a scene that left her gaping: a grand piano, the kind she only saw on the telly, black and shiny, and sitting in front of the piano was who was probably the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life... Granted, Elaine is only six-years-old (almost seven), so she probably never saw many people she could consider beautiful, and she's still too young to have any interest in the opposite sex (she still thinks boys have cooties).

But that man was handsome in a way that made her feel sad. Was he alone there all this time?

Ah yes! And we cannot forget the huge six pair of wings that sprouted from his back. She felt an urge to touch them. They were so beautiful, it wasn't exactly white, it was purer than just white, almost pearlescent, gleaming in a way that shouldn't be possible.

Unknowingly she took a step towards him and ended up bumping into one of the many articles that filled that strange place, knocking over what she was almost sure to be a small ivory elephant, the noise of the small piece hitting the floor and the ivory trunk breaking echoed in that space in a way that seemed infinitely higher than she imagined possible. The piano man's wings went still immediately as if he's getting ready for a confrontation, Elaine's reaction though was the opposite, she backed up hiding behind a statue that she didn't even waste her time admiring, knowing that any carelessness committed on her part and she would be caught.

"Come out... Come out and play, little mouse.", his voice was deep and low, it didn't sound like her father's, and for some reason, it made Elaine's heart race, as if a part of her knew that it would be of no use trying to hide from him, at the same time that something inside her also knew that he would never hurt her and that there was a great chance that it was he who covered her with the blanket.

When Elaine finally gathered the courage to go out and face him, knowing that she should apologize for entering that (house? ...Room?) place without permission and sleeping in front of the fireplace, she felt a hand on her shoulder shake her lightly, and she opened her brown eyes to find her mother's blues ones.

"Elaine, it's time to wake up, dear.", her mother looked amused at the girl who still seemed lost in what she was dreaming.

Elaine looked around noticing that she was in her room, the pastel yellow wallpaper with small flowers that the girl was gradually learning to hate, the lace curtains that were white when they bought but seemed to be more and more beige every day. Even her backpack that she hadn't bothered to open since arriving from school the day before. She's home.

She's home.

And the man was alone again.

"Elaine, sweet, are you still sleeping?", her mother seems torn between looking amused and irritated, "You have to take a shower and go eat your breakfast before we go.", she finished while opening the curtains and leaving the bedroom. She stopped at the door looking at the girl again, "Try not to take too long, or your pancakes will get cold."

And with that, she was gone.

The raven-haired girl sat on the bed, trying to understand what that dream was and why she wanted to dream about that place again when she went to sleep. Maybe next time she would be able to talk to the piano man.

She took a quick shower, trying not to think too much about the dream and the wings she wanted so much to touch, after all, she had already slept more than she should and knew that if her mother was late to go to church, Elaine would be the one scolded.

She got dressed and ran down the stairs.

"Elaine Belloc, what have I told you about running on the stairs?", her mother shouted from the kitchen, not even having to look to know that the girl would do that.

"Sorry.", she said sitting on the chair and helping herself to some of the pancakes.

Matthew Belloc was an ordinary father. There was nothing to set him apart from other parents except that he constantly expected Elaine to be the best at everything he thought she should learn. Which perhaps explained the girl having skipped two grades already. At the age of six (nearly seven), she already had music lessons at the top of her classes at school and he still intended to put her in more extracurricular activities, always saying that it was never too early to invest in her future.

Normally, he would convince Elaine to play one of his games, which usually involves making her memorize more complicated words or mathematical equations and other random facts that she was learning or would still learn. However, this morning he was looking curiously at the girl over the newspaper he had been reading until then.

It was hard to believe what Barbara had told him that happened in the park yesterday, especially when watching his daughter eat pancakes with syrup as any normal child would.

Certainly Barbara was imagining things, maybe she was tired and really needed that holiday she had been talking about for weeks.

"So, 'Laine. What do you think of the new school? I remember the principal had said something about several clubs that they encourage students to join.", he closed the newspaper, laying it on the table right next to his cup of tea.

Elaine swallowed the piece of pancake she was chewing, trying to ignore how her mother occasionally gave her some strange looks when she thought Elaine wasn't looking, almost as if the woman was wondering what was going on and what was real.

Good luck. Because not even Elaine knows.

"It's okay.", she replied with a shrug, even though she actually hated it. She misses her friends and her old teachers and she didn't want to have moved from North London. Not to mention that she doesn't like her music teacher at all.

The light was filtered through the stained glass in a stroboscopic pattern that caught Elaine's attention less than fifteen minutes after the sermon began. She likes churches, the atmosphere that these places create, it is as if she suddenly went back centuries and was in a sacred place waiting for the priests to start worshipping some God other than that Grandfatherly image that her religious education teacher has taught.

"Mummy.", her voice was no more than a whisper, afraid of echoing in the silence caused by the prayers, "I'm thirsty."

"Can you wait a little longer?", her mother asked, her eyes going from the bible she held in her hands to her daughter's face, seeing Elaine move her head in a negative motion, "Okay. You can go to the courtyard, there is a drinking fountain there. Can you find it on your own? ", Barbara whispered to her daughter, trying not to disturb the other believers.

"I can do it.", Elaine smiled, one tooth missing making her look adorable. And as soon as she answered, she got off the bench and went to the courtyard in search of the fountain.

She had no trouble finding it, it was the only drinking fountain there.

Elaine stood on tiptoe, stretching to get some water, and yet she managed to get her sweater wet. She looked disappointed at the wet garment and decided to stick around instead of returning to where her mother was and receiving an earful.

And honestly, who wouldn't want to stay there? The grass appears to have been mowed recently because Elaine could smell freshly cut grass. The sunlight was warm on her head, but in the shade of the trees, the breeze was cool making that spot perfect for naps, even though Elaine knows she can't do that there, a part of her wished she could fall asleep and try to find the sad piano man again.

"Shouldn't you be inside?"

The male voice made the girl suddenly turn around, she didn't think anyone else was going to be outside because the mass was still going on inside the church.

"I was thirsty.", she explained pointing to the drinking fountain, "But I spilt water on my clothes.", she pouted still looking resigned by the fate her sweater had.

"I see.", the man, whom she knew to be a priest or at least a reverend for the clothes he wore, smiled as if her answer made him want to laugh, "How about I keep you company until the service is over and your parents come to pick you up to go home?", he offered.

Elaine saw no reason to refuse.

Usually, she is shyer around strangers, but this priest did not seem to arouse any feeling of discomfort nor raised any red flags in her mind. Otherwise, she's sure her Grannies would've warned her.

"Okay.", she replied sitting on a bench where she could continue admiring the stained glass windows without really understanding what was being portrayed there but enjoying the bright colours that shone in the sunlight.

Elaine's eyes finally found a familiar figure, with huge wings that glowed when it reflected the light, holding a sword and stepping on what appeared to be a dragon.

"Who is that?"

"Who?", Chris tried to find what the girl was looking at so intensely, finding the stained glass of Saint Michael, "Ah, yes... That is Saint Michael Archangel.", he replied, "In that representation, he is banishing the Devil to Hell after he rebelled against God. It is said that Archangel Michael took into arms to protect Haven and that he has since taken on the role of protecting us against the Devil.", he wasn't sure if that was the type of thing one should be explaining to a child, but he didn't want to lie to her. He felt compelled to respond with the truth. It was funny how sometimes the innocence in children makes us want to protect them from the truth and at the same time not want to break their trust with white lies.

"Why?"

"Why what?", Chris really had no way of understanding how some children's minds work.

"Why did he rebel?", since she started studying (not to mention her father with games that made her memorize historical facts that didn't seem to matter all that much to Elaine), usually, someone who rebels do it for some reason and not just for the sake of rebelling on itself.

It was the first time in months that Chris needed to revisit this topic, usually, Bible study groups focus on the metaphors contained in the Bible, but here was this little girl who must have been no more than seven years old making him discuss the existence of the Devil.

"Some people believe that when God created man He commanded all His angels to kneel before His creation and to love them more than they loved Him.", Chris told the best known and accepted version, "However, one of the Archangels refused to kneel before such imperfect beings and love them more than they loved their own Father."

"It doesn't seem like a good reason to rebel.", she said, frowning as her eyes were still on the Archangel in the stained glass, "My best friend had a little brother before my parents moved here. And she didn't want a little brother, but her parents said that she had to take care of him because she was now a big sister. But she didn't rebel or anything."

"I think those are very different situations, Elaine.", Chris tried not to smile when listening to her reasoning, but it was difficult when a child raises questions that many adults don't even consider.

"Are they really?", she finally looked at the Reverend's face, he has blue eyes that seem kind, maybe that was why until now she wasn't afraid to be there alone with someone who is basically a stranger, "It doesn't seem like that to me. If I decided to turn against my parents then I don't love them that much, so why would I refuse to love other people more than I love my parents in the first place?"

Listening to the girl asking those questions and showing her own point of view made him rethink her age more than once during this brief conversation. Do children usually discuss topics like this?

"There is another theory, of course.", he said after a while, "According to that theory, the members of the Celestial Host have no free will. They cannot make decisions for themselves. The Archangel who later became the Devil, he wanted to be able to make his own choices instead of always having to follow his Father's orders. At this point, the story diverges: some say he just wanted free will, even for humans and that's why he tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit; others say that his selfishness and greed grew so much that he wanted to take his Father's place on the throne, and so his punishment ended up being to rule, but in Hell.", Chris himself didn't know what to believe about this, after years of Bible School discussing this same subject with other students without ever reaching a conclusion, and finally realizing that the way you see this first confrontation ends up defining how you will see a lot of things in religion itself. "But anyway... The Archangel Saint Michael. Are you interested in stories about angels?"

Elaine shook her head no.

"I dreamed of an angel.", she said, recalling the song he played on the piano, "He had wings so beautiful that I can't describe them. I wanted to touch them."

Chris had no idea how to answer that. Children have an active imagination, which would explain dreaming about something like that.

"Maybe you found your Guardian Angel and you didn't realize it.", he joked with a soft smile.

"Guardian Angel?"

"Yes.", he replied, "God assigns a Guardian Angel to each person before they are even born. These special angels are always close to us, protecting and guiding us, keeping us safe, even from something silly like a nightmare. Perhaps, the angel in your dream was your Guardian Angel, showing up just to make sure you were okay.", the smile reached his eyes when he saw how happy the girl looked at the idea of having a Guardian Angel with her.

Before they could continue talking about guardian angels, hurried steps came towards them.

"Elaine?! Elaine, where are you?!"

"Over here!", the girl shouted back, kneeling on the bench to gain a little more height so that her mother could see where she was.

She didn't even believe that the service was over and she spent all that time talking to Reverend Chris about angels all because of a silly dream she had (a dream she wanted to repeat).

"Elaine, why didn't you came back after drinking your water?", her mother asked mildly annoyed.

"It was my fault.", Chris covered for the girl, guessing that she didn't want to say she spilt water on her sweater, "Elaine was keeping me company while I took some much needed fresh air."

Barbara seemed to finally realize who was there with her daughter. "Reverend... I'm sorry if she caused any trouble."

"No trouble at all.", he replied, "Your daughter is a very special little girl.", he said and then looked at Elaine, "And your Guardian Angel too.", he joked seeing the girl laugh.

On the way home, Barbara kept casting strange looks at her daughter, and she even asked what the Reverend meant by that about a guardian angel to which Elaine responded with the truth, telling how she dreamed of an angel and that Reverend Chris said it was her guardian angel.

Back home Elaine spent the rest of the day drawing her angel. She paid special attention to some details like the wings and the clothes her angel wore, it was no work of art, and as much as she liked arts and crafts, Elaine doesn't have much talent for this type of thing. The drawings attracted the attention of her father who asked what it was about to what she replied she was drawing her angel.

Matthew laughed thinking it to be some child quirk that would pass as soon as she put something else in her mind, it had been the same when she read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and she kept drawing owls and trying to convince them to let her had one of her own.

When the night approached and Elaine was ready to retire to sleep, she was just collecting her drawings to store them with her school stuff when her Grandmothers showed up. It was as if the spectral shape of the three women devoured the ambient light and returned it in greenish tones.

"What are you doing, dearie?", Grandma Dickman inquired looking over Elaine's shoulder at the papers she had in hand, "You went all day without calling us once."

"And where did you guys went when I had a nightmare last night?", she pouted, "I was lucky that my Guardian Angel showed me the way to a safe dream.", she complained sitting on top of her covers.

"Angel? Wut the hell are ye talkin' 'bout, lass?", Grandma Furness, as always, cut the conversation in her usual way.

"The angel playing the piano.", Elaine replied reaching for one of her drawings and showing, "See? He was playing the piano while I slept.", she explained, "Reverend Chris said that he is my guardian angel. Although he doesn't look like the ones in the stained glass windows at church. My Angel has six pairs of wings. They don't look pretty here...", she looked at the paper she held in her hands as if the drawing there offended her for not portraying the wings exactly as she remembers them.

Elaine was so immersed that she didn't notice the exchange of glances occurring between the three ghosts in the room with her.

"Girlie, tha's no Guardian Angel.", Grandma Furness said, drawing Elaine's attention to herself, "Tha's the Devil."

AN: About Elaine's personality and her way of talking to people: despite being only six years old (almost seven as she insists for much of the chapter) I tried to take into account the way she was raised not only by her parents who demand that she focus as much as possible in her studies (resulting in her skipping grades despite being so young) but also in the fact that she grew up with the ghosts of her "grandmothers", one of them being a witch. So I imagined the character being different from other children and even talking like an adult because most of the time the people around her treat her as a more mature person. And yes, this will be reflected in how she interacts with children her age and her difficulty in making friends and acting in a more "normal" way. I think that's why Lucifer is going to end up being so important to her, their personalities may end up balancing each other out, but we'll see that later on.

See you in the next chapter.

Remember to comment if you liked it, or if you don't and there's something you think I should change.