All Characters belong to Sega/Archie

Ch. 8 Pretend

It's hard to be all alone
I never got through your disguise
I guess I'll just go, and face all my fear

So please,
Let me be free from you
And please, let me be free
I can face the truth.

Pretend by Secondhand Serenade.

Scourge and I walked silently down the hall, only the swift movements of Bane's wings and the click of my heels making the only sound between us. I tried to hold his hand but he quickly pulled away as if it were going to burn him. Honestly, I just wanted some type of comfort. I was scared and felt alone. With everything that's been going on, I guess I should be. None of this was normal nor would seem sane if I'd ever try to tell anyone. Maybe I wasn't sane. Maybe I was always crazy and now it's just truly showing itself. Damn, why couldn't I just wake up and realize that this was all just one big bad dream?

Bane perched on a small ledge in front of a door. "He's in there," the bird said, motioning a feather toward the door.

"Thank you," Scourge said before opening the door. Inside was the interior of an ordinary home office with color scheme of red and black. There was a huge open space, a desk, nice rugs, a large bookshelf, and even a fireplace. Lucifer stood in front of the fireplace, playing with something between his fingers. His glowing red eyes looked up at us before a sly smile came across his lips.

"Ah," he said simply. "The children have finally arrived." He held a long hand out to us. "Rosalinda," he purred. I hesitated, looking up at Scourge as did I grab his hand. Scourge was already staring down at me, a look of concern in his eyes.

"It's okay, Rosy. He won't hurt you," he said softly as he gave my hand a squeeze. His ice blue eyes were soft and gentle, nothing but sincerity lying in them. If there was anyone I trusted here, then it was definitely him. So, I took his word for it and slowly walked up to Lucifer. The devil man took my hand and kissed it.

"My dear, thank you for coming to see me," he said, his mesmerizing voice polite.

"As if I had a choice," I said, shooting a fake smile at him. Slight annoyance flashed in his red eyes but his face stayed smiling as he led me down to a seat. I looked back to see Scourge leaning against the door, his ice blue eyes standing out since the white of his eyes were now black. With a shiver, I turned around. That was definitely not pretty nor did it look human. "Can you tell me if my parents are alive?"

"Alive, dear, can mean many things. Which alive do you mean?" I stared at Lucifer for a second in confusion until I made sense of it.

"You turned them into Dark Angels, didn't you?" Lucifer laughed a humorless, basically heartless laugh as he shook his head.

"Rosalinda, they have no benefit to me if I were to make them one of my Angels. Not like the others."

"So, what are they?"

"They are in cells in Hell, Rosalinda. Their souls are alive but their bodies are frozen in a way. I only allow your mother to watch you grow up because her maternal instincts truly annoyed me. Your father on the other hand…he's just a tortured soul."

"He doesn't know what happened to me. Does he?"

"No, no he doesn't. Dimitri can't know because then that will affect my plans for you."

"And what exactly are your plans for me?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"Would you rather me start from the beginning or from the middle, dear?"

"The beginning please," I asked, trying to regain my patience. I was starting to get anxious, constantly chewing at my lip as I waited for the truth. Maybe he could tell me everything I ever questioned. That's what I actually hoped for the most.

"Well I know that you know the whole story about how your mother and father fell in love and got married and all that other rather uninteresting information. But little did they both know that I'd been watching them closely. Each of them were descendants of people who were once very loyal and dear to me. In other words, they were two pieces of the puzzle that were hard to find. There was no coincidence of them falling in love. That was their destiny. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to be together. But then when it came time for children," he eyed me carefully. "It seemed that your mother seemed to be a bit defective. Miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage. Even now, I still can't possible see what was wrong with your mother but at the same time: I can't bring myself to care." He began to walk around the couch I was sitting on. I watched him, keeping a close eye on the gaze of his eyes – not that it helped seeing that he had an almost emotionless expression on his face. "At that time, I was posing as a doctor; practically waiting for them to waltz right into my plans and sure enough they did. Your mother begged and begged me to help her conceive and keep a child as did your father. But you see child, I give nothing without earning something in return. So, I helped your mother conceive you but if I did then I must have you after you were born. See, they never asked permission to raise the child. Only to conceive and give birth to one."

"So what are you saying? That I'm some sort of Demon Conception or something?"

"Somewhat, yes but in another way no." I raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. Lucifer only smirked. "Rosalinda, after you were born your parents tried to hide you from me. Its almost funny how they thought they could hide from the Devil but they did try. They sent you to an Angel doctor, asking him to give you something to make your more Heavenly and less demonic. More so that I couldn't track you rather than for you to grow up to be a dark child like you are now. Of course the Angel agreed and gave them his blood for you to drink. That angered me so I took care of your mother. I had one of my Angels take her and bring her to me. Honestly, I spared her off very well since she was still of some use to me. I knew eventually we'd come face to face and she would be perfect bait for whatever I wanted you to do." I shivered.

"And what about my father? Why did you take him?" Lucifer tilted his head at me, his red eyes still patient.

"Your 'grandmother' was an ancient Angel who was helping him make sure that your doses of stupid Heaven stayed into your body, therefore making you useless to me. Not that it mattered though. You were still and always will be my Creation. Like my Angels, I created you. Your mother and father just helped. But, back to the point. He was interfering with my plans and he knew it. That's why he left you that stupid journal. To tell you all about his deal with the Devil and how he wasn't your real father. Yes, biologically but not on my terms. See, he had to be out the picture too. Once he was out the way, then I'd take care of that stupid Angel bitch and then you'd be all mine. But instead, you got sent to your Aunt Kira's – away from where you could get Angel blood. I'm sure you've noticed how your heart slowly got darker and darker, didn't you?"

"Yes," I answered after a while as his blank stare almost looked through to my soul.

"So, Heaven sent down innocent little Cody to watch over you. Guardian Angels usually aren't too involved with their chosen person but He couldn't make a dumb move and not have you watched closely. Still stupid since not even Cody could see through Miguel's disguise until you were alone with him. Poor guy. In love with someone who he knows will never love him back."

"In love?" I stuttered out. "Cody and I, we're just friends. He's never-"

"It's forbidden, girl. He is not supposed to be in love with you but you see, humanity catches up to things – even the most divine. But it seems that your heart has already been taken." Lucifer looked over to Scourge who was still leaning against the door. The sight of him scared me. The whites of his eyes were fully black as were his ice blue eyes now a ruby red. The expression on his face was unreadable but a slight scowl was on his face. It was clear that he was paying no mind to us but I could tell there was something he was thinking about that pissed him off.

"We barely know each other," I told Lucifer who merely cocked an eyebrow up.

"You're wrong." He lifted a long white hand, pointing towards something across the room. When I looked over, I almost screamed.

On the wall was a portrait. In it was a boy with silky looking hair that fell into his beautiful eyes that were staring intensely but lovingly at the girl he held in his arms. He wore a black suit while the girl was in a long black dress that hugged her torso before puffing out into a beautiful black skirt. Her long curls fell freely, almost looking as if they were blowing at the wing, as a genuine smile and infatuated eyes looked up at the boy in amazement. The girl and the boy in the picture looked exactly like Scourge and I. If I didn't know any better, I'd believe that it were actually us. That someone had actually taken a picture or painted us in that perfect moment.

"What the hell," I demanded, shooting up from my seat. Lucifer was in front of me, gazing down at me. "What the fuck is that," I asked, starting to shiver as my fear started to catch up with me.

"I would explain if I could possible understand it myself. It seems that you were reincarnated Victoria. Welcome back. I was hoping that one day you'd return to me."

"What the fuck? My name is not Victoria nor was I reincarnated! You're insane! Or better yet: I'm dreaming! You're not real! None of this is real!"

"Rosalinda, I understand this is all hard to come to terms with but-"

"Hard? This is fucking crazy people talk! I swear, I'm crazy! Is that it? Am I crazy? Please tell me that I'm just losing my mind!" Tears started to burn behind my eyes. This was way too much to handle. First I find out that the devil created me, then that I have Angel blood in me, and now I'm a reincarnation of some dead chick. What the fuck?

"You're not crazy. This is all very real. And you, you are the key. Just how Victoria was."

"The key? They key to what?"

"To ending this war. Between Heaven and Hell. Between the Angels and the Dark Angels. Between God and I. You see dear, since you have both Angel and Demon blood running through your veins: you're a use to both sides. Although you want to do good, you can't because deep down inside, you are evil. That's why you push people away, you shelter yourself in black, hide yourself from the world, confine yourself in your drawings. Rosalinda, those drawings of yours was a message. You belong with us. Not with them. Hopefully unlike Victoria, you will make the smart choice not to choose the wrong side."

"And what did she choose? Who did she align herself with?"

"She chose someone else is what she did. Instead of Miguel, she picked Cody. She fell in love with him and left us blindsided. Of course, Miguel killed her but she didn't do what she was supposed to do nor did she earn a victory for the upper powers."

"Wait, Scourge killed her?" I asked, suddenly getting a cold feeling through my body. How could someone possible kill someone that they loved? I mean, I get that he's a Dark Angel and probably has a black heart but in that picture, the love and longing for her is clear in his eyes. How could he forget about all that and replace it with hatred?

"Yes. Betrayal will cause any type of emotion to run through the mind and therefore erase anything else. He killed her out of his newfound hatred for her and therefore his heart turned to black. Good for me but not so good for him. But that's why I guess I'm glad that he found you. Sure, you guys haven't known each other that long but I see that Victoria's feelings have risen up in you and his became new for you. Fate works in such strange ways doesn't it, Rosalinda. As is love a terrible thing. It can kill you, get you killed, or cause you to do something dreadful. But of course, you wouldn't understand that very much now would you Rosalinda? Never have you been in love before nor have you dated much. Don't worry though, you'll soon find out how it feels to be in love and experience that pain or that joy. It's all up to you." His red eyes went to Scourge who I just noticed had come up behind me. I turned to look up at him but he wasn't looking up at me. Instead his intense gaze was on Lucifer.

"Scourge, are you okay," I asked softly, putting my small hand on his arm. He didn't even glance down at me.

"See you again soon, Rosalinda," Lucifer's mesmerizing voice whispered into my ear. I saw Scourge raise his hand but before I could make a run for it, pain shot through my head and my eyes faded into the darkness.

I'm sorry that these chaps are so short but I don't want them dragging on and i'm happy that I've been keeping the suspense going for quite a while now haha.

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