Lionel's Presence.
941 Words
Third Person's POV.
The school day had barely begun, yet Shawn already felt restless.
He sat at the back of the classroom, one leg bouncing lightly beneath the desk as his eyes scanned the room. Humans everywhere. Loud. Distracted. Oblivious. It was almost comforting how unaware they were-if ignorance could be called comfort.
The bell rang, and just as the teacher began speaking, the classroom door creaked open.
Shawn stiffened.
Lionel stepped inside.
He looked smaller than everyone else, his uniform slightly oversized, his posture uncertain. To the humans, he was just the new kid being transferred mid-term. To Shawn, he was a storm of unsteady magic barely contained beneath skin and bone.
Their eyes met.
Lionel swallowed.
The teacher gestured lazily toward an empty seat beside Shawn. "You can sit there."
Perfect, Shawn thought grimly.
As Lionel walked down the aisle, the lights above flickered-just for a second. No one noticed. Shawn exhaled quietly and lifted his hand beneath the desk, fingers curling subtly.
The lights stabilized.
Lionel sat, eyes wide. "You did that?" he whispered.
"Focus," Shawn murmured back, not moving his lips. "You're leaking."
Lionel nodded quickly, forcing his magic inward the way their mother had taught him. The air settled, though Shawn could still feel the tremor beneath it.
Minutes passed. The teacher droned on. Humans scribbled notes.
Then Lionel leaned closer.
"There's something you need to know," he said softly.
Shawn didn't turn. "This better be important."
"It is," Lionel replied. "It's about the locket."
That got Shawn's attention.
"There's a library," Lionel continued, voice barely above breath. "Not here. Not in the human world. In Lucifer's Hold."
Shawn's jaw tightened.
Lucifer's Hold was forbidden ground. Ancient. Guarded. Even demons avoided speaking its name aloud.
"There's a book there," Lionel said. "One book. It doesn't show itself unless it wants to be found."
Shawn finally looked at him. "And you know this how?"
Lionel hesitated. "I... saw it. Not exactly a vision. More like a memory that isn't mine."
The room grew colder.
Shawn subtly shifted his foot, pressing his heel into the floor. The temperature corrected instantly. No alarms. No screams. No humans noticing.
Good.
"What's the book called?" Shawn asked.
Lionel shook his head. "It doesn't have a title. But it tells the truth about the locket. Why it was hidden. Why Lucifer doesn't want it found."
Shawn leaned back in his chair, eyes darkening.
"So that's why he punished us," he murmured. "Not to find it for him."
Lionel nodded. "To stop us from finding it at all."
The bell rang, sharp and sudden.
Students rose. Noise flooded the room.
Shawn stood, adjusting his bag. "You don't say another word about this. Not here. Not anywhere humans can hear."
Lionel nodded again, more firmly this time. They headed to the car that their father had just bought for Maya to drive. She had gotten a driver's license with her magic.... diabolical.
"Boys, waltz in." Maya said flipping her hair with a style that felt weird. Obviously, her friends were teaching her a lot.
As soon as they were settled in, Shawn asked,"Lionel, this book, how do we find it?"
Maya's eyebrow furrowed in confusion as soon as she kicked the car to a start.
"A book? I don't remember us speaking of that?"
Lionel sighed as he explained everything he had said to Shawn to Maya.
"Woah!!! I can't....how do we find this book?" Maya mummered a spell and the car began driving the itself making Shawn shake his head....
"I think I should go! It's easier that way and he wouldn't sense it. All his servants are demons." Shawn volunteered, his eyes giving certainty.
"I'll see you guys at home." He said firmly, disappearing even before any of them objected.
"There he goes. Hopefully, Cesar wouldn't catch him." Lionel said with a hint of hope he sits properly while they pray hard to the goddess.
LUCIFER'S LIBRARY...........
The teleportation was silent.
No light. No sound.
One moment Shawn was standing in the dark of his room, the city humming faintly beyond the window. The next-
Cold.
Ancient, suffocating cold.
He staggered slightly as his boots hit stone, the air pressing against him like a warning. The library stretched endlessly before him, shelves rising higher than sight, carved from black stone and bone. Books lined every surface-some glowing faintly, others whispering in languages long erased.
Lucifer's Library.
A place even demons avoided.
Shawn pulled his power inward, sealing it tight. No signatures. No traces. Just enough to exist.
He moved carefully, footsteps soundless against the floor.
The book was not on any shelf.
He knew that instantly.
Minutes passed. Or hours. Time behaved strangely here. The whispers grew louder, brushing against his thoughts, tempting, probing.
Then he saw it.
A pedestal.
Empty-except for a single book resting upon it.
Plain. Dark. Untitled.
But etched into its cover was a symbol Shawn recognized immediately.
The locket.
His breath caught.
"So you're real," he murmured.
The moment he stepped closer, the room shifted.
Shelves rearranged themselves with a low grinding sound, pathways twisting, distances stretching impossibly far. The library was testing him. Trying to lose him.
Shawn clenched his jaw. "Not today."
He flickered forward-not a full teleport, just a slip between steps, careful enough to avoid detection. The air screamed softly in protest.
The pedestal vanished.
Reappeared behind him.
Shawn spun, heart pounding.
The book was moving.
Not away.
Toward him.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
As if it had been waiting a thousand years for someone like him.
And far above, somewhere beyond the library walls, something ancient shifted in its sleep-
Not Lucifer.
Something older.
- Writer
