Desire becomes Her

Chapter 22

22

Lucifer had moved his headquarters to Southern France; preferring the view of the Mediterranean, and the loveliness of the French countryside to the big cities and ugly buildings. This was war, but it didn't mean he had to give up his comforts. They were staying in a villa, since now abandoned, but not without leaving all their earthly treasures; furniture, tapestries, books; all the things that Lucifer took comfort in. The building was large, with wings to separate. Lucifer took the entire West Wing, the East Wing was given to Lucian, Addison and David. The other two wings were divided among the other Sins. The bomb shelter that had been built into the building during WWII had been turned into a war room, keeping track of where the

other side was, what battles were taking place and where his minions and demons were.

Not much touched the area where they stayed. It was well guarded and although the war had just begun, the sun didn't come out much anymore. The sky was gray with clouds, with the sunlight only peeking through occasionally. There was a courtyard in the center of the home, where David would often play, get fresh air and get dirty. Addison would sit and read, and watch him, happy that for the first time in his life he was feeling grass, and soil, and air. It seemed like for a while, there was no war, there was nothing to keep them from living normally. The only difference was: there was nobody around. Southern France was full of country side cottages that had been filled with God fearing people. Their souls had been reaped and now everything stood empty. But it would slowly creep their way and then the reality of what was happening would hit her in full force, making it hard, mentally to even start to realize the importance of who her son was, and what his little life meant.

Lucifer's demons had not been able to hold back God’s Army for long, and one night, they broke through the front lines and made their way to the Villa where she, Lucian and David slept. She could hear the commotion, and suddenly Lucian was pulling himself from her arms and slipping his clothes on in a hurry. "Where are you going? What's happening?" She pushed herself up on an elbow, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Our front line is compromised, I have to go." He buttoned up his shirt; put a pair of boots on and an armored vest. Heads turned toward the door as it opened, and the lower level demon who had been appointed to take care of Addison and David in Lucian's absence, walked in with a

whiney, half asleep toddler. "Stay with them, keep them out of harm’s way," He looked to Addison and gave a reassuring smile. "I'll be back in the morning." he walked from the room and she was left with the demon that David had affectionately nick-named "Bubie", but whose real name was Baham.

"Give him here." David was deposited on the bed next to her and she shushed him, laid him back down and he sucked his thumb, curled his fingers around his blanket and drifted off again. Baham sat down in a chair in a corner and was quiet. He never did say very much, but he acted as a Nanny for the most part, keeping an eye on David, and when necessary on Addison as well.

The night was a rough one; the battle had made its way to the front lawns and the noises of metal on metal kept her awake most of the night. She curled herself around David and simply waited for it to be over. This was her first reality check, that they were not secluded and protected from the rages of a war.

She woke to the gray light coming through the windows, something she had slowly become accustomed too, having spent nearly the last 8 years of her life waking up in darkness. She gave a stretch, and rolled on her back to watch the ceiling fan spin. It was quiet and she could no longer hear the noises outside her window. Baham still sat quietly in his corner, reading a book. David was already out of bed, sitting on the floor with his train set. She sat up, looked to Baham. "Have they come back yet?"

"No, ma'am, they have not." She frowned a little bit and pulled the covers back. She stretched her arms out a little and then gave a sigh as her muscles relaxed. May as well get up and see what was going on. She shuffled to the window and looked down at the lawn. It was horrible and she took in a sharp breath. Bodies lie everywhere, weapons strewn about in the grass, blood, feathers and limbs littered the front lawns.

 "Oh, God…” She put her hand to her mouth at the c*****e below and frowned.

"Don’t worry, we won this one." She turned to see Lucian in the doorway of their room and she smiled, walked to him and wrapped her arms around him. He held her tightly and she leaned back to look at him. She frowned, running her finger over the gash on his forehead.

"Doesn't look like you came out of it unscathed though."

"It's war, Darling. Not many come out untouched." He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. "It won't take them very long to clean it up, why don't you take David out in the court yard; I'll let you know when you can go down to the beach."

She got David dressed and took him into the safety of the courtyard to play. Once he had gotten used to the feeling of grass and dirt, he quite enjoyed it. Playing with toy trucks and cars, shoveling out hazardous holes all over the place, which she had to go back and cover up so nobody broke an ankle next time they ventured out. She sat in a chair and looked up at the sky and day dreamed a little. Back at her life before all this. She had been a spoiled brat really, with a lot of problems. Taking more pills in a day than her liver should have been able to handle, and falling into bed with anyone who would have her.

And then the pain started. The Stigmata appeared and her life had become even more of a mess. The amount of pain killers doubled, and she secluded herself, became violent. She had spent a few years of her life locked away in an institution that insisted she was unbalanced and a self-mutilator. Lucian had been her savior and her captor at the same time. Taking her away from the light, lavishing her with gifts and attention, using her as he pleased. She had felt like a prisoner for so long. He had been frightening at first, overbearing and forceful. But as the years progressed she softened a bit around the edges and after being forced into motherhood, her personality changed. Realizing she could no longer be the spoiled 20 something who did nothing but party and sleep. She had matured into who she is today; it had been a long journey.

"Addison...Hey. Snap out of it." Lucian stood beside her, looking at her funny. She had not realized he was standing there and she blinked the confusion from her eyes. “They've cleaned everything up, you can head down to the beach now if you want."

"Okay...come on David." She got up from the lounge chair and took David's hand. Lucian caught her shoulder a moment.

"Are you okay my lovely?"

“Yes.” She forced a smile.

"Okay...Baham is going to escort you down to the beach. Don't stay too long..." He was wary of her mood this morning and left them to take care of what was to come next. She headed down to the beach with David to spend the day watching him play in the sand and the sea.

.......

When she arrived, Lucifer was waiting for them, smoking a cigarette and watching the sea churn up foam. One hand in his pocket, he was not dressed for the beach. Wearing a black suit, his shoes were covered in sand. She let David run ahead and stood beside him, taking the cigarette from his mouth and placing it between her lips. She let smoke trail from her mouth slowly, took one more drag and handed the cigarette back to him. "Does he know?"

"No, I don’t think so.”  She turned to him with a little smile, leaned over and kissed him.