Only now I turned and found myself in a dimly lit room with a female sitting at the base of a bed. She looked almost double my age, in her mid-forties, her face stained from crying and bleeding from some unseen wound. I almost crawled to her having lost all my strength from struggling.

"I need help, please. He is going to kill someone, I heard him over the phone. We need to stop him. I need to find a way out, I can't die here, please" I was sobbing horribly.

She put a hand over my face and spoke in a calming voice "Calm down child, its okay".

I was going to protest but she held me in her gaze like a trance "You can't help, you can't stop the Devil. Lucifer will not stop until he has destroyed everything he thinks is pure or sacred".

"Devil? Lucifer? No, I am talking about him, Ronnie" I stated very confused.

She nodded her head and continued "He is Lucifer. You see dear, the Devil is real. He is not a little red man with pointy horns and a forked tail"

"I saw how he looked at you. He can be very seductive, enchanting and beautiful. But you should never let his charm deceive you. He craves for your desires".

I stared at her in disbelief. "I think you are mistaken, you probably are in a shock right now."

"I am not crazy, girl! What I say is true. He once was an angel, an angel who longed to be human, and that's what made him crush and burn, the taint of human stink. That's what made him fall."

Something in her voice made me want to believe her. She smiled at me sadly and continued "He was a good angel, loving and caring. His revolting nature made him question so many things and he finally broke the most important code of conduct, to never fall in love. He did fall, and it was for a human, a girl as beautiful as you. And he was punished for that; he was banished, robbed of everything that he was, a punishment so cruel that it burned him for eternity."

She stopped to lick her dry lips "Since then he has been as cruel and unforgiving to everything that was innocent, that breathed life. He will not stop till end of time".

Before I could ask anything more the door flung open and there he was looking furiously at us. He had changed to a vest and jeans and was clad with his gun and a small broad sword hanging by a holder from his waist belt. His tattoo more lively now as the snake wrapped him along his chest and left arm and its eyes golden with fire. Another man stood behind him. They came and before I could act he gripped me while the other man dragged the woman from her place. We were pulled forcibly to the garage and pushed inside the back of a van.

I know that we drove for some time through the city as we stopped at intervals at road signals and I could hear occasional honks of passing by cars. I felt helpless as our hands were tied to some clamp inside the van and our mouths taped. Soon we reached our destination I think, as the vehicle stopped with a shriek. Then the back door opened and we were pulled out and into a dingy looking building. As we entered a particular room I saw a man tied to a chair. He was beaten badly, blood dripping from the cuts. He looked tired from a prolonged torture. The woman was thrown to the man's feet. Her ties were unfastened and the duct tape removed from her mouth so that her wails were prominent now. He appeared to be unconscious from fatigue but her wailing woke him up. He looked at her with great effort and a mixture of longing, sadness and desperation crossed his face. As I watched them I was pushed ahead and Ronnie held me firmly by my waist.

"You have me now, then why are you not leaving her. Let her go, she has nothing to do with this." the man shouted but his voice sounded very low and tired.

"I am not going anywhere without you" the woman replied still lying on her side.

"Sarah, let me handle this" he tried to pull his body as straight as he could despite the bindings and looked sharply at Ronnie. I could feel pride and courage radiate from him. Ronnie tensed beside me as his grip on me went tighter.

"Let her go Lucifer, she won't serve your purpose. You can kill me and devour my blood and flesh, but I will never submit to you. You can never have my soul at your mercy"

Ronnie roared with a cruel laughter and I shivered involuntarily. "You are already at my mercy, Samuel. Most of your mates are down and the rest of them will be hunt down soon. Abram will take care of those in the storehouse where you were making plans to strike me. I cannot let your partner go free, as I want to see your pain and your helplessness when I kill her. And then you will give in, you will beg for life, because only I can save you."

As Ronnie finished he turned to look at me for a while gazing at my face and lingering his look on my eyes for a while. He then freed my mouth from the duct tape with utmost care and brushed his fingers over my burning lips. "Agree to my deal, you don't have to be a part of this. I can fulfill all your needs; money, luxury, pleasure, lust..."

I trembled under his stare and looked away. He sighed and handed me to his accomplice. He then walked further in my front and stopped two feet away from the still sobbing woman. He removed his vest and threw it to the floor. I looked on from my captivity as the toned muscles of his arms relaxed and spread. There was a dragon painted in red, blue and green spreading itself massively on his bare back. I stared in shock as the dragon moved its wings as Ronnie moved his hands to grope the sword. There were two distinct scars on either sides of his back that ran the length of his shoulder blades and ended above his torso. They were almost glowing amber. I screamed in horror as the sword was lifted high in the air and fell swiftly with grace. The sobbing stopped abruptly as the mutilated body of Sarah lay lifeless on the floor. A sharp cry left from the man who was referred as Samuel and he hung his head. My legs went weak and I was sure that I would fall and faint, when to my surprise Samuel spoke.

"You filthy creature of hell, you may have taken everything from me, but you will never own my soul".

Ronnie laughed at him, a laugh that was chilling enough. He walked towards the door and the man followed dragging me with him. "What do I do with her Sire?" he asked. As they were deciding my fate I felt bile rising to my mouth, the images of Sarah and Samuel fresh in my mind.

As we walked down the corridor towards the exit I mustered all my courage and mouthed "Who hired you for murder? How many like her did you kill?" I was certain that this was not the first case.

Ronnie turned around and threw me an amused look and chuckled "What do you think of me? Oh I see, you think this is a paid assassination? I thought you were intelligent Maya." He again teased my name with his mouth, but this time I only felt loath and hatred.

"You never talk to Master like this" barked his accomplice as he hit me in the abdomen with his knee and I winced with pain. Ronnie growled in fury and slashed him on his chest with his sword. The man staggered back holding his chest. "Lit the fire" Ronnie growled again and the man moved down the corridor in the other direction.

Ronnie held out his hand to me "This place will be burned down soon. Come with me and be mine till you live or die now. I will not offer twice".

I took a step back "Why are you doing this? Don't you feel any remorse?"

"I know no remorse, no compassion, no fear and no love. I had enough of these ages back. They only gave pain and I burnt in Hell. Now I want repayment. Samuel has to die like all others those have refused to submit to me. More will burn till their souls haunt the earth helpless for me to collect".

Bewildered and perplexed I could now see Ronnie in true light and his true form. Though my mind refused to admit, I had already believed in the fact of the events. Somehow I now knew my purpose here, why I had survived till now, what was I destined for. I steadied myself before daring him.

"I refuse to be yours, rather I would choose death." I saw a regret flash through his face as he held up his sword. The sight was enough to make me numb with fear, so I closed my eyes waiting for the blow and the pain that followed. But nothing happened. I opened my eyes to find him looking at me intensely, his sword back into its holder and his eyes midnight black. We stood there for sometime staring at each other. Then I could hear cracking noises from behind, and felt the temperature of the surroundings increasing rapidly. The fire was spreading. He broke his gaze, turned and walked away. In the blazing torch of the fire that was eagerly growing around I could see his bare back, the dragon moving elegantly over his muscles. For a moment he didn't look threatening, or devilish or divine. He looked just like an ordinary human. As the cracking sounds increased I turned back and ran towards the room where Samuel was held.

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Entry #1 for The Glamour of Grotesque

Word Count : 4668

The prompt is in bold as per the challenge rules.

A loads of thanks to the judges @Nyhterides and @LynnS13 for creating such a wonderful space to encourage the writers.

Lucifer - The Fallen ©DebaratiGhose™2015

All rights reserved.

This work cannot be reproduced or duplicated in any manner or under any circumstances, as a whole or in part, without the written consent of the author or the copyright holder and any violation of this is strictly prohibited by the copyright law.

Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction based on purely fictional characters and events. This does not aim to question or harm any religious or communal belief in anyway.

**Author's Note** Thanks for reading. I really appreciate that you could drop by. If you like this short story please show your support by voting. Also, your comments are very valuable for me. :)