Adam's memories had come to an end, and Charlie returned to the present. He had released her hand several minutes ago and was watching for her reaction, but she remained completely motionless.
Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, which were stained raw from the previous tears she had shed throughout the course of his memories.
Adam narrowed his eyes as he continued to wait for her response. "Uh? Kid? You good?"
She suddenly let out a scream, one so loud and shrill it shook all of Hell. Her scream deepened into a roar, and it was filled with all the anguish and pain of Adam and the rest of the human race.
"Whoa! What the fuck!" Adam tried to fly away as Charlie had been swept up into a firestorm, but the intensity of the flames knocked him backward.
She kept screaming as her body was consumed in flames, but she did not burn. No, instead, there was an awful cracking sound as her bones crunched and her limbs stretched out. Already standing over six feet tall, Charlie doubled in size and towered over Adam and anything else in Hell.
But that wasn't the only thing that changed for her physically. Wings similar to Adam's sprouted out of her back, dark red in color instead of black like his. Her pupils had filled with blood instead of translucent tears, and it dribbled down her face. Horns like her father's and a tail to match grew out, and her already sharp teeth lengthened into fangs as long as a chef's knife.
All the while, Charlie could only repeat her parents' names over and over in her head. Everything they had told her as a child had been a lie. Not even just an exaggeration. But a straight-up lie!
She kept asking why. But that was a pointless question. She knew why.
No one wanted to admit they were the villain of someone else's story. It's easier to pretend and lie to yourself that you were the underdog. The hero who slayed the beast and saved the day.
Clutching her face in her claws, Charlie continued crying tears of blood. It wasn't until she glanced to the side and saw Adam staring at her in complete terror that her tears came to a stop.
Her body started to shrink back in size, her horns and wings retreating back into her. By the time, she had returned to her usual appearance, she was a crumpled heap on the ground. She had stopped screaming, but there were still tears in her eyes.
"This whole time." Charlie's gaze dimmed as she focused on the empty space in front of her. "I always believed you to be nothing more than the villain in the story my mom would tell me growing up. That you were this obstacle in the way of my parents' love."
Adam rolled his eyes. "No surprise there that your bitch of a mother would paint me as the villain."
Charlie ignored the insult. Because frankly, she wanted to call her mother something much worse. "And when I met you, that's all I could see you as. I only saw the worst parts of you. So I thought of course everything I had been told about you was true."
He kicked a rock from under his feet. "Well, I wasn't exactly aiming for a good first impression either."
Charlie remained slouched on the ground, feeling as if all the boundless energy she usually had had been vaporized. She had never been so exhausted. Not even after the battle just a few hours earlier. "I don't even know where to begin. Because I know it will never be enough to cover what's happened."
She sighed and silently prayed that whatever she ended up saying wouldn't make things worse than what they already were. "All I can say is that it starts with sorry."
"Sorry? I'm not sorry!" Adam doubled over in laughter. "Oh wait! I'm sorry your dad is such a fucking loser! Yeah! And I'm sorry your mom is an ice-cold bitch! I'm sorry I ever thought they were cool!"
"No. I'm sorry."
Adam immediately stopped laughing and straightened back up. "What?"
Charlie had turned to face him fully, still on her knees. "Adam, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I judged you without knowing you. I'm sorry I attacked you. But most of all, I'm sorry for what my parents put you through."
When he didn't say anything, she continued. "I don't expect your forgiveness. Most people wouldn't be able to forgive either. I don't even expect you to say sorry. And that's okay. Because I want you to know that whether you say sorry months or years from now, or never at all, I still forgive you. And I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me too."
"What?" Adam repeated, but this time his voice wasn't as confident. It cracked and had a slight waver to it.
"And I want you to know that you're not a failure or a mistake. You're a man who's been through some of the worst things that could ever happen to someone. Even though what you did wasn't right, I understand why you did what you did."
Charlie wasn't oblivious to the fact that most people saw her as a naive, sheltered princess. And while there might be some truth in that, she now knew better than anyone what life as a human on Earth was like. After experiencing tragedy after tragedy through Adam's eyes, she was surprised he hadn't turned out worse. Hell, she knew she would have turned out like him if she had gone through all that.
"I know you think people can't change to be better. But I still believe they can. You've probably given up on yourself. But I want you to know that as long as I'm here, I'm not giving up on you." She remained on her knees and bowed her head.
Charlie knew that Adam could easily make a perverted joke about how she was on her knees in front of him. Or he could laugh at her again and tell her to fuck off. But instead, she heard him mutter to himself,
"That's all I wanted to hear."
She looked up and saw Adam blinking back tears.
"Fuck! Stupid sulfuric gases are getting to me!" He hurriedly wiped his eyes and shifted his head away. "I told you it's such a bummer down here!"
Charlie giggled and shot up to her feet, running over to him and enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Whoa! Hey!" Adam squirmed in her arms and tried to push her off. "Just because I showed you my sob story doesn't mean we're suddenly best friends!"
"But it means we're friends, right?" Charlie's eyes sparkled with hope.
Adam sighed. "You've moved down to the bottom of my shit list. And that's a very long list. Happy?"
She cheered, finally releasing him. "Yes! That means progress! And now I'm determined to be off it completely!"
He slapped his hand over his face. "I'm already regretting this decision."
The smile on Charlie's face never faltered. She was practically bouncing on her heels at the thought of redeeming the first man. If she was able to redeem him and eventually the rest of his family, Heaven would no longer be able to ignore her attempts to redeem the other sinners.
"Oh, since we're friends now–"
"We're not friends," Adam corrected.
"Since we're not enemies." Charlie grabbed Adam's hand, and to her pleasant surprise, he didn't jerk it back. "I need you to agree to a deal with me."
Adam regarded her with obvious skepticism, so Charlie clarified. "Right. I probably should've worded that better after what happened last time. But I need you to agree to be under my protection."
It took him a few seconds to respond, and when he did, he groaned. "Fiiiine. But only because you pulled that shit earlier! Seriously, what the fuck was that about?"
Charlie furrowed her brows. "What was what about?"
"That freaky shit you just did right now!" He pointed at her. "You grew into a fucking giant! Blood was coming out of your eyes! You even had a pair of wings! Could you do that this whole time? Sheesh! I'm glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that!"
"I don't know... I've never done that before..." she trailed off, tapping her chin. "But anyway, Adam, you are now under my protection."
As soon as she spoke the words, a flash of yellow glowed between their hands, blinding them both. The light imprinted on Adam's wrist, the outline of a star now tattooed on his skin.
The symbol of Charlie's surname, Morningstar.
"That will make anyone second-guess trying to hurt you." She smiled at him, reminded of the snake tattooed on Cain's arm. "Anyone who tries will have to answer to me. The Princess of Hell."
A noticeable blush bloomed on Adam's cheeks and he avoided eye contact again. "Enough with the sappy shit. I don't like it. It reminds me of your father."
"Well, it's the least I could do after everything." Charlie dropped his hand and let out a loud gasp. "Wait! I just realized something! You're like my uncle!"
"FUCK NO!" Adam shoved her away from him. "Lucifer isn't my brother. And Lilith, sure as hell ain't my sister!"
But Charlie had already latched onto the idea and wasn't letting go of it. "And after I redeem her, Eve could be my aunt! And after I redeem them, Cain and Abel could be my cousins! I've always wanted cousins! You know, redeeming the bringers of death and chaos seems daunting! But I'm sure I can do it!"
She started to hyperventilate as the thoughts raced through her mind. How would she even redeem something the angels couldn't fix? But she knew she needed to because it was her mom and dad who broke it in the first place. Adam had been right. The reason Hell even existed and why humans ended up here was because of her parents' selfishness and recklessness. When she told Adam that the sinners were her family, that was a massive understatement.
They were her responsibility.
Before she could slip into a full-blown anxiety attack, Adam's abrasive voice brought her back.
"Were you not paying attention, or are you just that fucking stupid? You can't redeem them! They're hopeless! They're all lost causes!"
But Charlie was not deterred. If she had learned anything from Adam's story, it was that nothing was impossible.
"I could've said the same thing about you, Adam." She regarded him with a smirk. "Besides, don't you want to see your family again?"
At an obvious loss for words, he grumbled something inaudible and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm going to take that as a yes!" Charlie's grin grew even bigger. "In terms you'll understand, dude, we'll be getting the band back together!"
"There is no band! That band broke up and packed it up a long time ago!" Adam tried to explain, but Charlie didn't hear him. She started rambling about whether Michael was her uncle, too, since he resembled her dad.
He rubbed his temple and mumbled to himself, "Sera, if you're listening, please just come end me now."
"Speaking of Cain, whatever happened to him? And to Eden? Did you ever see them again?"
"Eden was destroyed by the angels. It's sitting at the bottom of the ocean right now. As far as Cain goes, I stopped keeping up with that fucker years ago." Adam shook his head and rolled his eyes for what was like the tenth time. "Did you know he invented the worst music genre known to mankind?"
She opened her mouth to respond. But before she could even utter a syllable, Adam answered his own question. "He invented country music! And I thought he couldn't be any more of a disappointment!"
"The last I heard, he started a chicken restaurant called Raising Cain's," Adam muttered. "The arrogant prick named it after himself! Can you believe that?! Like who does that?!"
Charlie blinked. She, in fact, could believe that. Because this was the son of the man who had told her he loved putting his name on shit.
It seemed that even after all this time, some things never changed. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Charlie scowled. She had just repaired her relationship with her dad, and now this revelation had to come and shatter everything. Charlie had never been prouder to be her father's daughter, but now she couldn't have been any more ashamed.
"What's wrong? You look constipated." Adam once again interrupted her contemplation.
She put a hand over her head. It throbbed like she was experiencing the world's worst hangover. "No, I'm just thinking that we need to go see my dad."
"We?! There's no fucking we!" Adam turned around on his heel and started to walk away, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm out. Good luck!"
"Wait! No! Come back!" Charlie sprinted after him and tugged him back. "I want to know why he and my mom lied to me! I mean, I know why. But why! I want to at least give him a chance to finally admit to what he did!"
Would her dad finally own up to his crimes? Or would he double down and make up more excuses? More lies?
"You want to know why the Father of Lies lied to you?" An unimpressed look came over Adam's face. "Guess that answers my question if you're really that stupid."
Charlie let out a frustrated breath through her nose. "I just want to confront him and see what he's going to tell me now. Growing up, he told me he was kicked out of Heaven unfairly. But now, I see their punishment was more than justified."
"Like I said, good luck. I'm not going." Adam tried to march off again, but Charlie held him in place. "Let go of me, you brat!"
"I know you're scared. But I placed you under my protection for a reason. When I said anyone who tries to hurt you has to answer to me, I did mean anyone." Charlie's face darkened at the thought of having to go against her parents. Of course, she didn't want to. It made her feel ugly inside. But no one ever said doing the right thing would be easy.
"I'm not scared! Who the fuck said I was scared?" Adam demanded as his wings flapped behind him. "I just know this will be a waste of time! I know your parents better than anyone and they are the last people I want to see right now! When I said I had a long list of people I hate, Lucifer is at the top, and Lilith is right under him! And some days, they switch spots!"
"Well, you would only be seeing my dad," she said. "I... Um, I don't know where my mom is. She's been gone for seven years."
Adam grew still. "Wait, your mom ditched you?! Wow, why the fuck am I not surprised? Heartless cunt."
"Yeah after she separated from my dad, things changed." Charlie frowned. Not because of her parents' separation, but because she never really questioned what exactly her mom had been up to. She had assumed she had been doing something important. But now, she seriously doubted the validity of that too.
Adam burst out laughing again. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for that bitch? Well, I don't! Serves him right!"
Charlie tuned him out and continued to share her thoughts out loud. "But now I'm wondering what exactly my mom's been doing all this time."
A sinking feeling was growing in her stomach, and she couldn't shake it off.
"Plus, I don't think going back to the hotel would be a good idea right now." Charlie's mind wandered to Vaggie. She knew her girlfriend would not accept Adam so easily and vice versa. The wounds they inflicted on each other were still too raw. Putting those two together in the same room was like throwing gasoline over a fire. "They wouldn't understand. At least, not without me explaining everything you showed me."
"Just go broadcast my deepest, darkest secrets all over Hell while you're at it!" Adam snarled.
"That's what I mean. I wouldn't violate your privacy like that." Charlie tried to reassure him. "Going to see my dad is the best option. We can confront him together. You can yell and scream at him, and he won't be able to do anything except take it."
Adam seemed to consider this as his lips upturned into a smirk. "Does that mean I get to kick his ass too? And he can only cry about it like the bitch baby he is?"
"No, Adam. That's not what I meant at all," Charlie said, feeling like a parent telling her son the difference between right and wrong. "There's been more than enough violence for one day."
He simply shrugged. "It was worth a shot."
"Anyways, I think we should start heading out now." Charlie glanced at the last remnants of the black smoke emitting from the crater. The trail it left behind was waning and thin. Soon, it would disappear completely. "I need a drink."
Adam threw his head back and snorted. "Apple juice doesn't count as a drink, princess."
With a groan, Charlie trudged up out of crater, massaging her head. "I have the worst migraine. And I don't think all the liquor in Hell will cure it."
"Fuck it, since I'm in Hell now, I think I'll join you." Adam trailed behind her, almost losing his balance a couple of times. But Charlie was always right there to catch him.
When they got to the top of the crater, they both paused and looked out towards the rest of the city. It was crazy to imagine that just twenty-four hours ago, Charlie was planning to go into battle against the man beside her.
And now, here they stood together, not quite friends but no longer enemies.
It wasn't a coincidence that Charlie was the first one to stumble upon him after being cast down from Heaven. She didn't believe in coincidences, and she knew what happened had happened for a reason.
Adam must've been thinking the same thing since he suddenly turned to her and said, "Kid, I... uh... thank you."
Charlie was taken aback. "For what?"
"For listening." Adam shuffled his feet and averted his gaze. "It's been a long time since someone's done that."
"Oh! Of course!" Charlie nodded her head eagerly. "You've had to keep all that in for so long, but it was time to release it. If you ever need to talk, I'm here. No rush. We've got the rest of eternity after all."
She cracked a smile at her own joke, hoping it would lighten the mood. But Adam didn't look amused. Instead, he kept his eyes downcast and scratched the back of his head.
"Mmmsurry."
Charlie raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer. "What was that?"
"I said, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed before taking a breath and returning to his usual, laid-back self. "Despite my many, many problems with your parents, you're not them. But when I met you, all I could see were your parents. And it didn't fucking help that you were a spitting image of the clown bastard himself. But I shouldn't have been an asshole to you."
She didn't intend for tears to come to her eyes, but she couldn't help it. Although Charlie had accepted that Adam might never apologize to her, hearing him do so made her heart swell.
"AWWW! ADAM!" She squeezed him into another tight hug. "Of course I forgive you! I know I said I did earlier, but I have to say it again!"
"I told you to knock it off with that sappy shit!" He tried to break free from her grip again, but it was no use. Since Charlie had tapped into her new powers, she was a lot stronger than him now.
"You're going to have to get used to it." She let go of him and chuckled at how flustered he was. "Besides, we both know you're a big softie under all those rough edges."
Adam growled before storming off ahead of her, leaving Charlie alone with her thoughts.
Despite all the suffering and tragedy she had witnessed, she still believed in what Eve had said. Love would redeem them.
She didn't know what the future held for the both of them. But as long as they had even a mustard seed of faith, everything would be okay. Things always worked out for good in the end. And if things weren't good, then that meant it wasn't the end yet.
Letting out another giggle, Charlie followed after Adam with a skip in her step and a song in her heart.
Today marked the genesis of a new story, one that Charlie would be the author of this time.