LOGINFive months had passed and Aria went on about her normal life. She'd work her shift and head home after checking on the three boys who had become disabled for life.
The three had broken their spinal cord from the hard fall they had to suffer from Lucas when he threw them into the thick brick wall. Anna felt responsible for their predicament, and though people told her she wasn't to be blamed, she still took the responsibility of caring for them. She got a housekeeper for them, and on every weekend, she'd visit them to cook and clean for them. And in all these months that had passed, she never heard from Lucas. He seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. One weekend, after she returned from caring for her new friends, she scrolled through her phone gallery, and came across the photo Lucas had sent her after the first two weeks of their friendship. He was smiling broadly in the photo, and he had told her to always keep the photo and remember his smiles which she had caused him to have. Aria wondered why Lucas never made any attempt to check in on her. She wondered if he was doing fine, or if he had probably moved on because she asked him to stay away from her. "I guess I wasn't that important to him. All he did was cause me troubles and disappear. What was even thinking to feel that a person like him could have a person like me as a friend? I'm way out of his league anyway." Aria muttered to herself. That night, she deleted the photo, and his contact from her phone. But the next day, as she approached the cake store, she spotted a familiar car. She stopped on her tracks, and her heart raced. "It can't be Lucas. He's miles away from me, and he's not the only wealthy guy with that type of car." Aria tried to convince herself that the car wasn't for Lucas, but she was still filled with doubt. With a sigh, she decided to walk closer to the store, and see for herself. As she got closer to the car, its doors opened and Aria froze as Lucas face came to view. He was looking as handsome as ever, and he didn't even age a day. "Hello, Aria." He greeted her. "Lucas, what are you doing here?" She stammered in response. "Are you really asking me that?" He asked her. "Yes. I am asking you why you're here." Aria retorted, feigning annoyance. "You know it's funny that you ask me that when you called for me." Lucas replied. "Called for you? Are you insane?" "Maybe I am. You practically drive me nuts, especially with the charity work you've been doing so far. That's so noble of you." "Are you stalking me?" Aria yelled out. "Stalking you? No way. But you can say that I have eyes everywhere, and I see what you've been going through for the hounds that tried to hurt you. It disgusts me, and it makes me wish I had ripped out their hearts that very day, and save you this trouble." Aria's face darkened with anger. She blinked a few times, shocked that Lucas would say such words. "For a minute, I thought you were human. I wondered if you were doing good; I felt you might be remorseful for the pains you put those kids through, but I was wrong all along." "You know, I could do you a favor, and relieve you the stress of watching and taking care of them. All I have to do is to simply give them a charitable death." Lucas said, and Aria's hand flew up all the way to his face, and it came down hard on his cheeks before she could stop herself. His guards growled, and for a moment, Aria was scared of what might happen, but Lucas laughed. "You're such a fierce lady. If you had done this that day, I'm sure they would've ran away with fear for your ruthless slaps. At least, all of these drama would've been avoided." Aria was shocked to the teeth. She couldn't believe her ears. "How can you call yourself human? You have no feelings at all." Her voice was shaky as she spoke. "Trust me, I do have feelings. It was my feelings for you that made me do what I did in your defense. Only that you don't understand the concept of protection. If that day were to come again, I'd rip them apart without a second thought." "People were right to run from you whenever you came by. I was the stupid one to think that there was hope for a brute like you. You're the clear definition of evil, and I wonder who raised you to become such a devil." "You do have a way with words, Aria. And I must say that I'm hurt, but yet impressed." Lucas said with a tight smile. "I regret speaking to you on the day we first met. I hate you more than I hate the devil, himself. And let me warn you; if you touch a hair on those boys head, I'll make life so miserable for you, you'd wish you were in hell." Aria threatened, and stormed away. She went into the coffee shop leaving Lucas speechless. He watched her put on her apron and get to work. He went into his car, and as they drove away he remembered her threats and scoffed. "Take me to those bastard's apartment. I think I should pay them a visit." "You know Aria will find out." Levi said to him. "That's the plan. She has to understand that I have power to do whatever I want. Let's go." Lucas replied, and scoffed again, her threats still ringing in his head.The descent into Hell was not marked by fire.It was marked by silence.Lucas did not step through a gate, nor did he summon a portal. Hell recognized himāfelt himāand parted.The air shifted first.What little movement existed in that cursed realm stilled, as though the world itself had drawn in a breath it dared not release. Then the ground beneath his feet darkened further, veins of molten crimson receding like blood retreating from a wound.He had not been here in a long time.Not because he feared it.Fear was a language Hell understoodābut never dared speak to him.No⦠he had stayed away because this place remembered.Every scream. Every fall. Every moment of weakness.And worst of all⦠it remembered his father's humiliation of him.Lucas walked forward, his steps measured, unhurried, yet carrying a weight that pressed against the very bones of Hell. The corridor stretched before himāendless, suffocating, lined with walls that pulsed faintly, as though alive. Shadows clung to th
Aria stepped out of the school gates beside Mark, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the pavement. Their conversation had been light, easyāMark always had a way of making things feel uncomplicatedābut her mind wasnāt entirely in it. It hadnāt been for weeks.Ever since Lucas had started keeping his distance.She had told herself it didnāt matter. That she didnāt care. That whatever they hadāwhatever he had made itāwas better left alone.And yetā¦Her steps slowed.There, parked just across the road, was a sleek black sedan. Polished. Imposing. Familiar.Her breath caught.No⦠it couldnātāBut it was.Lucas leaned casually against the car, his posture relaxed in a way that didnāt fool her for a second. Even from a distance, there was something sharp about him today. Something controlled. Dangerous.Her heart betrayed her with a sudden, violent thud.Why is he here?After weeks of silence⦠weeks of distance⦠now this?āAria?ā Markās voice pulled her slightly back, but s
Lucasās mansion did not feel like a home. Not today. The structure stood tall, elegant as always, its towering windows catching what little daylight filtered through the overcast sky. But insideā Inside, the air felt wrong. Heavy. Charged. Like something unseen had settled into the walls, pressing in, waiting. Lucas stood near one of the large windows, his back partially turned to the room. His gaze was fixed outside, though it was clear he wasnāt really seeing anything. His thoughts were elsewhere. On her. Always on her. The image refused to leave his mindāAria, smiling softly, standing too close to someone else. Letting someone else lead her. Trusting someone else. His jaw tightened. āYouāre going to wear a hole into the glass at this rate.ā Her voice came like silk over steel. Lucas didnāt turn immediately. He didnāt need to. āSelene,ā he said flatly. She stood near the entrance of the room, leaning slightly against the doorway as though she owned the place. Her
Morning came, but it didnāt feel like morning. There was no softness to it. No gentle easing into the day. Just a dull, dragging awareness that time had moved forward whether Aria was ready or not. Rain tapped lightly against her windowānot the violent storm from the day before, but something quieter. Lingering. Like the world hadnāt quite shaken off whatever weight it had carried overnight. Aria lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sheād been awake for a while. Long enough to notice the way the light shifted behind the curtains. Long enough to realize she had no intention of getting up anytime soon. Her body felt heavy. Not tiredājust⦠unwilling. Her mind, however, refused to be still. Selene. That image wouldnāt leave her. The way she had stood in the apartment like she belonged there. The calm confidence. The unsettling ease with which she had spoken about things Aria barely understood. And then there was what she had said. About a coming war... and the decisio
Hell did not burn the way mortals imagined it. There were no endless lakes of fire, no screaming pits lined with writhing bodies begging for mercy. That was a childās understanding of punishment. A crude interpretation of something far more intricate. Hell was⦠deliberate. Alive. Breathing in ways that did not require air. The skyāif it could be called thatāwas not a sky at all, but a fractured expanse of shifting darkness, like glass that had been shattered and rearranged by something with no concept of symmetry. Between those fractures, something glowed faintly, pulsing like veins beneath skinādeep reds, bruised purples, flickers of gold that felt less like light and more like something watching. The ground was worse. It was not solid in the way earth should be. It looked like polished obsidian at first glance, smooth and reflective, but beneath its surface, shadows moved. Not reflectionsāno. Movements. Shapes that twisted and recoiled as though something had been trapped ben
The rain had started sometime before dawn.At first, it was gentleāsoft taps against the window, like someone asking politely to be let in. But as the hours passed, it grew heavier, louder, until it consumed everything. It drowned out the city noise, swallowed the world whole, and wrapped Ariaās apartment in a cocoon of gray.She hadnāt gotten out of bed.Not because she couldnātābut because she didnāt have the strength to.The blanket was pulled up to her chin, her body curled inward as though trying to protect something fragile inside her. Her phone lay beside her, screen dark now, but not long ago it had lit up with Markās name.āHey. Itās pouring. I can pick you up if you want.āHis voice had been warm. Easy. Safe.She had hesitated.For a second too long.Then she remembered.The demon guards.Across the street. Always watching. Always reporting.And more than thatāLucas.The thought of accepting a ride from Mark felt⦠wrong. Not because she owed Lucas anything. Not after the way
The rest of the night was a restless one for Lucas. His mind wandered off with thoughts of what or who could've hurt Selene so bad that she retreated for safety. The goddess wasn't the type to run away from battle. She was just like him_resilient, stubborn, strong and powerful. Back when they were
Days after Lucifer's visit, Aria stayed restless, day and night. She didn't feel right with the devil's advise, especially after witnessing the hatred Lucas showed towards him when he warned him to back off. But the devil's warning lingered in her mind, and it bothered her. She decided to seek Levi
Lucas stared at her with unseeing eyes. Centuries had passed since he last saw her. In the time when Lucas was feared, and only a whispered name among creatures all over the realm, Selene had backed him. Helping him triumph in every battle he fought. She was his backbone. His then soulmate. But aft
After Lucas disappeared, Aria shuddered in fear, and disbelief. She stared at Levi, unsure of what to say, as the thought that Levi could be the same as Lucas lingered in her head.Levi led her out of the battle scene, and brought her back to her apartment, but she was too scared to let him go."I







