"Marcel, please help me out! I know you're busy finding a gift for your boyfriend's birthday, but I really need someone to watch Kurt for a few hours." said a beautiful young woman as she hurried down the sidewalk, a small but handsome boy following close behind her. "Please, I'll pay you! Yes, I know you don't like to take money from me, but I really need you to help me out here."
Elizabeth was in a bind, she was having trouble finding someone to watch her 6 year old son while she went to her evening rehearsal. She was a rather successful Broadway performer, with quite a few reputable shows under her belt, and she was getting ready to add another one to her list. Elizabeth had struggled in the first year of her career, having to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, and debilitating depression. After the birth of her son, Kurt, she had finally begun to make an impression in the theater business. Now, she was living comfortably and reaping the benefits of her success. She had a nice apartment in a lovely part of the city, her son went to the best school available, and she had enough money left over after her expenses to enjoy the little things in life. However, what she didn't have at the moment was a babysitter, and she was just short of begging her best friend Marcel, who she met at a diner she used to work at years ago, to watch her son.
"Please, Marc, none of the girls will watch him. They say he creeps them out." How the hell a little boy could scare fully grown women was beyond her. She gently ushered her son, who had stopped suddenly, into the entryway of their apartment building. "Come, Kurt, we're almost there, then you can watch reruns of Project Runway." Kurt's head perked up and he smiled as he followed her to the elevator. She unlocked the door to her apartment, and her son ran past her to the living room to turn on the TV. Elizabeth laughed at her son's enthusiasm. "Typical Kurt, once you mention fashion he forgets his manners. No, he didn't even take off his shoes first, and you know how much he loves his shoes." She smiled as the man on the other end of the line laughed and made a comment about where he got it from.
"Yeah, I'll be over in a few Liz. I'll just have to take him shopping with me. The horror!" said Marcel as he left the department store to go back to his car. "Tell the little demon I'm on my way."
"Kurtie, guess who's on their way over." teased Elizabeth, to which she barely got a glance from her son. She sighed as she went into her well decorated room to get ready for her rehearsal. She had to admit that things had gotten better as Lucifer had promised. However, she still wondered if it was worth the cost. One would think that a child owned by the devil would be pure evil, but her son was just an ordinary six year old boy. Kurt was a sweet child to most, the only thing that seemed to phase him was other people's horrible senses of fashion. There had been a few quirks that she had noticed in Kurt over the years, but nothing to which she felt the need to worry.
Elizabeth had just finished changing into her stylish exercise clothes when she heard a knock on the door. She barely got into the living room when she heard Kurt throw the door open and launch himself into Marcel's arms. She smiled as she heard Marcel "oof" and tell Kurt that he missed his "little demon" as he liked to call him. If only he knew, thought Elizabeth as she walked into the room to greet Marcel. There, hugging Kurt, stood a lithe man with a light complexion and dark hair. He had soft but handsome features, and a killer sense of style that Kurt adored and of which Elizabeth could only be jealous.
"Elizabeth, you look wonderful. Those yoga pants are really flattering on you!" said Marcel, holding in a sarcastic laugh as he kissed her on the cheek. He turned and leaned down to whisper to Kurt. "Mommy needs to work on her clothing choices, don't you think?"
Kurt giggled, but shook his head. Nothing could be more beautiful to him than his mother. Marcel tutted and helped Kurt into his coat, waving goodbye to Elizabeth as they made their way out of the apartment. He was glad to help Elizabeth in any way that he possibly could, so he was more than happy to take Kurt along to the best clothing stores in town. If anything, it would be a great learning experience for Kurt, who loved seeing the clothing on display. He really enjoyed spending time with Kurt, it was like he had his own little imp to share his fashion wisdom with and mold into the best little fashionista possible. He looked forward to seeing Kurt as a well rounded, but stylish none the less, grown man.
Marcel's boyfriend Anthony was the type of man who had a decent sense of fashion, but couldn't accessorize to save his life. Therefore, it made sense for them to start in a store that specialized in accessories. The moment they entered the store, Kurt's eyes widened as if he was handed a platinum Visa card and told to go wild. He started to bounce and giggle from excitement, making Marcel's arm jiggle up and down from where they were holding hands. Marcel lead them over to a display of belts, looking over the selection for the perfect color to match Anthony's eyes. He let go of Kurt's hand to hold a belt out to test its length.
While Marcel was surveying the belt selection, Kurt busied himself by looking around at the other displays. He was staring at a garish handbag when he saw a man beckoning to him from the other side of the store. It was a handsome man, in his late thirties, holding something that caught and held Kurt's attention. Kurt looked up to see Marcel heavily engaged with the belts, not paying attention to him. Knowing that he wasn't going to be seen, Kurt slowly started walking over to where the dark haired man was standing by a scarf rack. As he got closer, he could clearly see the thing held in the man's hands. It was the most beautiful scarf Kurt had ever seen, it was a combination of blue, green, and gray. Kurt took the scarf the man held out to him, marveling in the silkiness of the fabric.
"Do you like it, Kurt?" asked the man, smiling softly as he looked down at the boy. Kurt had grown well since the last time Samael had seen him. He was a beautiful child, and he would grow up to be a handsome young man capable of making women and men both bend to his will. Samael planned on using that fact to his advantage. When he bargained for the boy's soul, he knew that the boy very useful. However, he could see now that Kurt had more potential than he had predicted. "It's very beautiful, just like you. It would suit you well."
The boy smiled at Samael, a stunning smile filled with all the joys of childhood. He had been very careful not to influence the boy until then. He didn't want the child's mother to become suspicious, that would only be detrimental to his plans. Then, however, was the perfect opportunity for him to evaluate his influence on the child. He knew he could make Kurt do anything he wanted, he had the power, but he wanted to test the child's will. Samael smiled down at the boy with his mischievous smile. He leaned down to the boy's eye level, and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Take it." he said in an encouraging voice. Kurt knew that something wasn't right about the man, but he couldn't tell what exactly. Kurt looked up at the man, then looked back down at the scarf. He really wanted the scarf, he knew enough about fashion to be able to tell that it was exquisite. He held up the tag, trying to figure out if two zero zero was a lot of money, but he wasn't far enough along in math to be able to tell the difference. Kurt looked back up at the man, who kept smiling at him. "Go on, no one is looking."
"But, it's bad to take things without permission." argued Kurt, still clutching the scarf protectively. He had heard enough from his mother to know that stealing was bad, and he would get in trouble if he was caught. The man laughed a small laugh, and held a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. He supposed that if nobody knew it was missing, then maybe it wasn't technically stealing. Kurt squashed down the doubt bubbling in his stomach, and smiled at the man. He gently folded the scarf, and carefully tucked it into the inner pocket of his jacket. He had just barely finished when he heard Marcel's booming voice.
"Kurt! What are you doing?" demanded Marcel as he ran up to the boy. He had finally picked out the perfect belt and bracelet combo when he noticed that Kurt was nowhere to be seen. He had been worried sick until he saw the boy over by the scarf section. He felt terrible when Kurt jumped as if he had been electrocuted. Kurt's face had begun to contort with tears when Marcel pulled him into a hug. "I was so worried, honey. What if someone had taken you? Imagine how your mother would feel if you went missing."
Kurt was beyond scared, he was sure that Marcel had caught him. He looked up to see if the man was still watching him, but there was no trace of him. Kurt was pulled out of his trance as Marcel took his hand and led them to the checkout counter. After they left the store they checked out a few more, with Kurt pointing out clothes that he thought his mother would like, much to Marcel's amusement. They had dinner at a nice little restaurant, and finished with some organic frozen yogurt for desert.
Marcel had just tucked Kurt into bed when Elizabeth got home from her rehearsal. They chatted a while about all the drama she had to put up with. They talked about the stupid things her cast mates said, and how vain they were. Kurt began to drift off to sleep listening to his mother and Marcel talk about her day. The last thing he thought of before he fell asleep was the pretty scarf that he had stashed in the back of his closet, and of the warm and scary eyes of the mysterious man he had met that day.
Thanks for reading. Reviews are love, and they inspire me to write more. Hint, hint.