THE DEVIL FELL IN LOVE WITH THE WOMAN HE WAS SENT TO KILL

The first thing Elena Cross heard was a heartbeat. Not hers. It was too slow. Too deep. Too powerful. Thump. She opened her eyes. Darkness surrounded her. Not the ordinary darkness of a room with the lights turned off. This darkness felt alive. It pressed against her skin like cold water, filling her lungs even though she wasn’t breathing. Thump. Elena tried to move. Nothing happened. Her arms felt numb. Her legs felt as though they belonged to someone else. Then she heard a voice. “Elena.” Her eyes widened. Someone had whispered her name. “Who are you?” Silence. Elena swallowed. Her throat was painfully dry. “Where am I?” The darkness answered with another heartbeat. Thump. Then something cold touched her forehead. She screamed. Her eyes flew open. This time, there was light. White hospital lights burned above her. A machine beside the bed screamed continuously. A nurse rushed into the room. “Oh my God!” The nurse froze when she saw Elena sitting upright. “You… you’re awake.” Elena stared at her. “What happened to me?” The nurse’s face lost all its color. She backed toward the door. “Doctor!” Elena frowned. “Wait.” The nurse didn’t stop. “Doctor! Room 417!” Within seconds, three people rushed inside. A doctor. Two nurses. They all stared at Elena as if she were a ghost. And perhaps, in a way, she was. The doctor approached slowly. “Elena Cross?” “Yes.” He looked at the monitor. Then at her. Then back at the monitor. “Do you know where you are?” “A hospital.” “Do you know what happened?” Elena shook her head. “No.” The doctor exchanged a nervous glance with one of the nurses. “Do you remember yesterday?” “No.” “Last week?” “No.” “Your family?” Elena’s chest tightened. “My mother.” The doctor didn’t respond. “Where is she?” Still nothing. “Doctor?” He lowered his eyes. “Your mother died eight years ago.” Elena stared at him. “No.” “I’m sorry.” “No.” She pulled the blanket away. “I need to leave.” The nurse grabbed her arm. “You can’t.” “I need to find my mother.” “Elena, listen to me.” The doctor looked terrified now. “You were brought here three nights ago.” Elena stopped. “Three nights?” “You were found unconscious near Blackwood Cemetery.” She stared at him. “I don’t remember that.” “You had no identification. No phone. No wallet.” The doctor hesitated. “And there was something else.” “What?” He looked at the nurse. “She had no pulse.” Elena’s face went cold. “What?” “You were clinically dead when you arrived.” The room became silent. The monitor continued beeping. Beep. Beep. Beep. Elena slowly placed two fingers against her neck. Her heartbeat was there. Fast. Terrified. Alive. “I don’t understand.” “Neither do we.” The doctor stepped closer. “You were dead for approximately eleven minutes.” Elena laughed nervously. “That’s impossible.” “I know.” “Then why are you telling me this?” “Because when your heart started again, your body temperature dropped instead of rising.” He looked at the monitor. “Since then, your temperature has remained at thirty degrees Celsius.” Elena stared at him. “That’s not possible.” “No.” The doctor swallowed. “It isn’t.” Suddenly, every light in the room flickered. Once. Twice. Then went out. The nurses screamed. Emergency lights came on. Red. Dim. Unnatural. Elena looked toward the window. A man was standing outside. On the fourth floor. On the other side of the glass. He was wearing a black suit. His hands were in his pockets. His dark hair moved slightly despite the fact that the window was closed. Elena stared at him. The man stared back. And somehow, she knew he was looking directly at her. The doctor didn’t seem to notice him. “Everyone stay calm,” he said. Elena couldn’t hear him. She couldn’t hear anything. The man’s lips moved. One sentence. She couldn’t hear the words. But somehow, she understood them. You were never supposed to come back. Elena stumbled backward. The man disappeared. “Where did he go?” The doctor turned. “Who?” “The man.” “What man?” “He was outside the window.” The doctor looked at the glass. There was nothing there. Elena’s breathing became faster. “I saw him.” The nurse touched her shoulder. “There was nobody there.” Elena pulled away. “Don’t touch me.” The lights suddenly returned. Everything became normal. Except Elena. Because on the hospital window, written in something dark and wet, were four words. HE HAS COME FOR YOU. Nobody spoke. The doctor stared at the message. The nurse began crying. Elena couldn’t move. And somewhere far beneath the hospital, something ancient opened its eyes. ⸻ Three hours later, Elena was alone. The police had come. Then they left. The doctors had questioned her. Then they stopped. Nobody could explain what had happened. Nobody could explain why the hospital security cameras showed Elena walking into the cemetery three nights earlier. Nobody could explain why there was no footage of her leaving. And nobody could explain why every camera stopped working exactly eleven minutes before Elena’s heart restarted. Elena sat on the edge of her bed. She looked at her reflection in the window. She looked normal. Brown eyes. Dark hair. Pale skin. Nothing strange. She touched her face. “Who am I?” The room became colder. Elena stopped breathing. A shadow appeared behind her reflection. She slowly looked over her shoulder. Nobody. She turned back toward the window. The shadow was still there. This time, it had a face. A man’s face. Elena screamed. The window shattered. Glass flew across the room. The nurses outside shouted. But the man was already standing inside. He wore a black suit. The same man from the window. Elena backed away. “Who are you?” He looked at her calmly. “My name is Lucian Vale.” She stared at him. “How did you get in here?” He didn’t answer. “Are you a doctor?” “No.” “Police?” “No.” “Then get out.” Lucian smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile. It was the kind of smile that made Elena’s stomach twist. “I can’t do that.” “Why?” “Because I came here for you.” Elena’s heart pounded. “Why?” Lucian’s eyes changed. For one brief second, they weren’t human. They glowed like burning silver. “I was sent to kill you.” Elena froze. “What?” Lucian took one step toward her. She stepped backward. “Stay away from me.” “I would.” His voice became quieter. “If I had a choice.” The door suddenly burst open. A nurse ran inside. “Elena!” She stopped. Lucian was gone. The nurse looked around. “Are you okay?” Elena stared at the empty space where he had been. “Someone was here.” “Who?” “I don’t know.” The nurse looked frightened. Elena looked down. Something was lying on the floor. A black feather. She picked it up. The moment her fingers touched it, a violent pain exploded inside her head. Images flashed through her mind. Fire. A black throne. Thousands of screaming voices. A massive gate. A man standing before it. Lucian. But he wasn’t wearing a suit. He was wearing a crown. A crown made of black metal. And behind him stood an army of creatures with burning eyes. Elena screamed and dropped the feather. The vision disappeared. She collapsed onto the bed. The nurse ran for help. But Elena barely noticed. Because another memory had surfaced. A memory that couldn’t possibly belong to her. She remembered standing in a vast black palace. Lucian was kneeling before her. Not the other way around. And he was saying something. Something she couldn’t quite hear. Then she remembered her own voice. “If you love me, Lucian, you must promise me one thing.” His answer came like a whisper. “Anything.” Her own voice followed. “When I die, never bring me back.” Elena’s eyes opened. Her heart stopped. For exactly three seconds. Then it started again. Thump. Thump. Thump. The hospital lights went out. And somewhere far away, beneath a world no human had ever seen, a throne room erupted into silence. Lucian stood before the black throne. A woman made of light appeared before him. Her wings stretched across the darkness. “You failed.” Lucian’s jaw tightened. “I haven’t failed.” “You were given one task.” “She was not supposed to remember.” The angel’s expression hardened. “She remembers everything.” Lucian looked toward the darkness. “And that’s why Heaven is afraid.” The angel raised a hand. “Kill Elena Cross before midnight.” Lucian said nothing. “Do you understand?” His eyes darkened. “Yes.” The angel disappeared. Lucian remained alone. For thousands of years, he had never disobeyed Heaven. He had ruled the dead. He had commanded demons. He had watched civilizations rise and disappear. Nothing had ever frightened him. Nothing had ever made him hesitate. Until Elena. He looked toward the human world. “Why did you come back?” For the first time in centuries, Lucian felt something he had forgotten how to feel. Fear. Because if Elena remembered who she really was… He would have to choose between Heaven and Hell. And he already knew which one he would choose. End of Episode 1