In the busy hallway outside the courtroom, Lief was leaning against the wall, studying the cracks in the ceiling with boredom.
The ten-minute recess felt like a ten-year sentence.
Needing to stretch his legs and perhaps splash cold water on his face, he pushed off the wall and walked toward the bathroom.
But just as his hand reached toward the metal plate of the door, it opened from the inside.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't tall, maybe around five foot seven, but he occupied the space as if he were a giant.
He wore an impeccably cut black suit that screamed money, a starched white shirt, and a dark silk tie. His hair, black and combed back severely, framed a face full of character: dark eyes, sunken and vibrating with energy, and a mouth curved in an expression of perpetual amusement.
"..."
Lief's steps stopped dead and his gaze clashed with the stranger's, and an electric shock ran down his spine.
He found him!
Al Pacino.
Or rather... John Milton.
The incarnation of Satan walking among mortals in Italian shoes.
John looked at him with his eyes shining with immediate recognition, and a lopsided smile, full of secrets, appeared on his face.
He didn't say a word, he simply pointed subtly with his gaze toward the end of the hallway, where a red sign indicated the emergency exit to the roof.
And without waiting for an answer, he began to walk.
Lief understood the invitation and without hesitation, put his hands in his pockets and followed him in silence.
The two walked single file down the crowded courtroom hallway.
Around them, lawyers argued, secretaries ran with papers, and police officers spoke on radios, however, no one looked at them.
It was as if a bubble of perception enveloped them, people's gazes slid over them, instinctively ignoring these two figures who, although walking on the same ground, operated on a completely different frequency of reality.
As he walked, Lief's brain was working a mile a minute.
'Is his body real or a projection?' he calculated, watching the man's back, 'For an entity of this level to physically descend here is unlikely...'
If it was just a projection... He believed he had a chance.
Click
The heavy metal roof door opened.
A gust of hot, humid wind hit them head-on, slightly messing up Lief's hair, but leaving John's hairstyle intact.
The afternoon sunlight was blinding, outlining the city's silhouette against a deep blue sky.
John walked to the edge of the parapet and stood there with his back to him, hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the chaos of traffic and the human ants moving through the streets.
"Look at that... it's a perfect machine, don't you think? Gears of flesh and bone turning endlessly, driven by greed, lust, fear... Beautiful."
Without answering, Lief walked calmly until he stood beside him.
John turned his head slowly and his eyes scanned Lief up and down, not with hostility, but with appreciation.
"You're impressive, boy."
"..." Lief arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
John's smile widened, becoming predatory and charming at the same time.
"Beelzebub."
But despite hearing that name, Lief maintained his expression and took a lollipop out of his pants pocket.
The sound of the plastic wrapper tearing was the only thing that broke the tense silence.
He put the candy in his mouth, savored it for a second, and with the lollipop stick sticking out of his lips, replied,
"What's up with that giant fly? Is it still buzzing?"
John let out a dry laugh, "Buzzing? Oh, son, he is doing much more than that," he said looking back at the city with amusement in his eyes. "Let's just say his ego has suffered a serious contusion. Defeating one of his projections... he didn't like that."
"He is livid. Absolutely apoplectic. Right now, half of Hell is laughing behind his back. They say the Lord of the Flies can't even crush a tiny insolent mortal.
"He is throwing a tantrum worthy of an opera diva."
"..."
Lief remained silent, moving the lollipop from one side of his mouth to the other with his tongue.
"It is what it is," he replied finally with indifference.
John turned his head toward him again, but this time, the curiosity had mutated, now there was a glint of delight.
"Interesting... Fucking interesting."
He turned around completely, facing Lief.
"You are standing here in front of me, knowing exactly who I am, understanding the implications of what you just did... and that is your answer. Lief Connor, you are much more special than I had calculated."
!
Lief's heart sank like a stone in his stomach, but his facial muscles did not move a millimeter.
"You are also a curious guy," he replied deciding to abandon the charade. "Did you come up to this rooftop just to tell me that? Is the Lord of Hell so idle that he has time to chat with mortals?"
It no longer made sense to play dumb. If Satan had put the cards on the table, he wasn't going to insult him by pretending he didn't see the deck.
The title didn't provoke even a blink in John.
He simply loosened the knot of his tie with a casual movement, as if "Lord of Hell" were just an irrelevant nickname, or a boring position on a business card.
"Idle? Oh, no, son. I am very busy," he denied shaking his head with an ironic smile. "Let's just say I have a weakness for 'variables'."
He walked a few steps toward the edge, gesturing toward the city beneath his feet.
"Look at this world. It is like a chessboard. Every person is on their square, moving according to pre-established and boring rules. The greedy run toward their own destruction, the kind suffer in silence waiting for a reward that doesn't come, the hypocrites rise by stepping on heads... Everything is very orderly. Predictable and terribly boring."
He pointed with his hand in the direction of the courtroom, several floors below.
"Take Kevin Lomax, for example. A brilliant talent. I gave him a little push, I took the bitter taste of failure out of his mouth. I had a genuine curiosity to see what would happen when the intoxication of victory collided head-on with that shred of pitiful conscience he still drags around. It should have been a wonderful play, a Greek tragedy."
But suddenly his expression changed and pity appeared.
"But then you appeared... the 'variable'. You aren't on my board, you don't appear in the records, but you have the bad habit of altering the direction of my pieces."
"That is very impolite..."
Crack
Lief bit the lollipop, breaking the candy into pieces and with a fluid movement, took the stick out of his mouth and tossed it with a perfect arc into the trash can a few meters away.
He took a step forward, closing the distance between the two.
"..."
In that instant, an invisible pressure descended upon the rooftop.
John did not back down, on the contrary, he inhaled deeply, sniffing the air around Lief.
"You have an unpleasant smell on you..." he muttered wrinkling his nose, "but your soul... ah, your soul is a delight. It is full of contradictions."
John took another step, invading Lief's space.
"You have that holy shine, but underneath... the most primitive desires seethe. You pity the weak, but you don't hesitate to tear your enemies apart with a cruelty that I envy. You are much more interesting than those puppets of light up there, or than the incompetent waste I have in hell."
Slowly, he extended his hand toward Lief.
The palm open, inviting.
"I like variables," he said, and his voice lowered, becoming soft and seductive. "That's why I'm going to give you an option. Instead of being an obstacle in my game... why don't you become my partner?"
"Partner?"
"Exactly," John smiled charismatically. "Think about it, boy. You possess a unique power and together we can make this game much more entertaining."
"You can have it all. Strength. Wealth. Power over life and death... You can even redefine what 'justice' means on your own terms. You can judge whoever you consider guilty without bureaucracy, and protect whoever you want to protect without asking for permission."
"I offer you the power to stop being a pawn and become a god in the human world. What do you think? That proposal is much sexier than helping a weeping girl fight a lost trial in a courtroom, don't you think?"
"..."
Lief felt a shiver run down his spine.
The proposal was perfect.
To be a god....
He looked deeply at the hand extended in front of him, debating.
________
Time: If you're craving more (and I know you are!), I have just what you need. On my Patreon, you'll find exclusive chapters. Join our community and be the first to discover what happens next!
👉 [patreon.com/Athome790]
Your support fuels me. Thank you for the support! 💖