Of Light And Shadows
Chapter Forty Two...

“How are you feeling?” Sellik was back in her vibrant green skin, looking as vital and beautiful as ever while she shone a torch into Jia’s eyes.

“Tired but otherwise okay.”

“No headaches? Nausea?”

“Not since Louie forced me to rest for the day,” Jia replied, smiling at the attendant as she fussed around and wrote notes. “I started to feel better after eating something but the sleep helped a lot too.”

“What you did required an immense amount of energy.” Sellik tapped her pen gently against her chin as she spoke. “More energy than I’ve ever known Lucifer or Satan to exhibit, that’s for sure.”

“All I did was follow Lanthia’s instructions,” Jia shrugged. “I’m not even sure how I managed to do whatever it was I did.”

“You saved a city from falling victim to the Vampires,” the attendant snorted. “No need to be modest. It’s lucky Jezebeth never met you, otherwise she might recognise your energy. You risked your safety to help people you don’t even know.”

“My safety is already at risk just for dating Lucifer. Helping the Witches wasn’t a big deal.” Jia knotted the hem of her shirt in her hands, looking away as her cheeks darkened. “I just wish I knew where it came from. I’ve never been able to tap into my power that way.”

“That’s easy. The moon gate helped you unlock whatever talent was hiding inside you. It’s like an antenna. The power is always there, the gate just helped you replace the right channel.

"Theoretically, now you’ve done it once you should be able to do it again without a gate.” Sellik cast the notes aside and set her hands on her hips. “Next time just make sure you know your limits before diving in head first, okay? I don’t want to hear you accidentally killed yourself.”

“I’ll try,” Jia grinned, sliding off the gurney as Sellik shooed her away. When she stepped out of the Infirmary Lucifer was waiting for her. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Evander standing quietly beside him.

“Hey,” he greeted, stepping forwards to pull her into a hug. “Lucifer said I could be here. I was worried about you.” She smiled into his shoulder before embracing him in return.

“I’m surprised you two aren’t trying to kill one another,” she replied when she was released, raising an eyebrow at them both.

“I promised I’d stop being an asshat, remember?” Evan grinned. “Besides, I can’t be too mad at him or he’ll electrocute me.” He waved a hand, exposing the shock bracelet around his wrist.

“Obviously the bracelet is working then,” Lucifer replied, but there was a twinkle in his eye that gave him away. “I just hope I don’t have to use it.”

“You and me both.”

“Did you two just come to greet me or is there a more serious reason that you’re here?” Jia asked.

“Unfortunately there is. We found the first group of Demons on our hit list. My brothers are making plans to return to the human world as soon as you feel well enough to help us. Evander wants to come with us,” Lucifer explained.

“I need to say goodbye to my family.” The Vampire spoke plainly but his shoulders were tense, betraying just how deeply the thought hurt him. “I need them to know that I’m not dead and that I’m not a danger. Even if they hate me, at least I said goodbye.”

“What about Hannah?” Jia asked. Evan cast his eyes down.

“I haven’t decided yet.” He sighed. “Will you come with me? I was hoping you’d try to help keep them calm.”

“Of course I will,” Jia agreed, taking his hand in both of hers. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be any good at it but I can definitely try.”

“Will you have the energy to do that and influence one or more Greater Demons all in one night?” Lucifer asked.

“I hope so. I did something impossible earlier,” she shrugged.

“And knocked yourself out in the process,” he replied disapprovingly. “We thought you were dead at first.”

“I’m fine, Louie. I can do this.” He looked down at her for a long moment before his shoulders sagged.

“I know,” he agreed eventually. “I just worry.”

“You don’t need to,” she assured him. “I’m ready to do this.” Lucifer looked between them both and nodded.

“Alright then, if you really feel ready we’ll go now.” Jia nodded and a second later they were stepping through a shadow portal and into Lucifers’ study where Mammon and Belphegor were conversing in low voices.

“Jia, how are you feeling?” Bell asked, pulling her into a gentle hug.

“Much better now. The rest did me some good,” she grinned. Mammon chuckled.

“In that case how about you come Demon hunting with us, shortstack? We have the current location of the first guy on our hit list. He’s a friend of Abaddon so we’ll be going back to your old home town. You up for it?”

“You bet.”

“I have a favour to ask,” Evan cut in awkwardly. “I feel safer doing this when you’re all there to stop me if things...escalate, but I want to see my family. I need to say goodbye to them. Do we have time to include that in our plans?” Lucifer looked to Mammon, who shrugged.

“Sure,” he agreed. “Killian will be in the same place for a few days so we should have plenty of time to turn him away or put him down afterwards.” Evan’s shoulders visibly sagged with relief and Jia had to resist the urge to hug him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“Are we ready to go or do we need more time?” Belphegor asked. When nobody said anything he nodded. “Alright, now it is.”

The streets all looked the same even in the dusky evening. People still hurried home, shops still sold their wares and busses and cars still trundled loudly down the streets, rushing to get to their destinations before the curfew came into effect. Everything looked the same and yet it was all so different.

Jia watched her surroundings with new eyes, noticing the frightened looks on the faces of people moving to and fro, the way they kept their eyes on the alleys and the rooftops.

She noticed the increased police presence as they prepared to move along any stragglers when the time came to lock down the streets. The whole atmosphere was tense and fraught with worry so thick she could almost taste it.

“This way,” Evan said quietly.

His hood was up again, the mask over his face to dull his sense of smell. He walked with hunched shoulders, trying to make himself seem less intimidating.

They did the same as before, splitting into smaller groups to avoid attracting attention. Evan walked alone at the front with Jia and Lucifer arm in arm behind him, followed by Mammon and Belphegor at the rear.

The agreement had been that the rest of the Devils stay behind to avoid being caught up in the drama. Anybody that was caught would almost certainly be killed and Lucifer wanted to keep the damage to a minimum if that happened.

Jia shuddered at the thought of coming face to face with Satan again and huddled into Louie’s side, thankful that he was with her.

After about fifteen minutes of walking they reached the street where Evan had grown up. Elda felt a pang of sadness at the thought of what his family had gone through just because he’d chosen to protect her in that alley. His parents probably thought he was dead, his sister would be devastated, and Hannah...

Guilt soured the sadness as she remembered the kiss she and Evan had shared. She knew she loved Lucifer, but it didn’t change the fact she’d kissed another woman’s boyfriend.

Her cheeks reddened with shame and she turned her face away in the hope Lucifer wouldn’t notice.

Evan stopped at the end of his garden path and took a deep breath, looking up at his old home. The curtains were drawn but there was light blooming behind them, signalling that somebody was home.

He turned back to look at Jia with fear in his eyes, and Lucifer nudged her forwards before moving to stand back with his brothers.

“I don’t know if I can do this now I’m here,” Evander mumbled. His voice was strained. “I need to say goodbye to them but...God, this is so hard.”

“You lived through two Vampire bites. You can live through this. I’m right here with you, Ev.” She squeezed his arm gently, hoping it might offer him some comfort before what was quite possibly going to be the worst night of his life.

“Right.” He nodded, squaring his shoulders and putting his hand on the wrought iron gate. “One way or another, I can get on with my life after tonight.”

He swung it inwards and walked down the path, pausing at the front door and looking at the doorbell for a long moment.

“You okay?” Jia asked softly.

“Ringing my own doorbell feels wrong.” He reached out anyway and pressed the button, flinching as the sharp buzz pricked at his sensitive new ears.

Jia took his hand and squeezed it, only letting go when she heard a key turn in a lock and a chain unlatch behind the door.

Evan held his breath as it swung open to reveal his father at the other side, already looking like he was expecting a cold caller and had a rehearsed response to turn them away.

When he saw his son standing there all the colour drained from his face and he put a hand against the door frame to steady himself.

“Jesus Christ, Evan?”

“It’s me.” His dad took a shaking step forwards but Evander held out a hand to stop him. “Wait. Before you come near me there’s something you should know. You might not want to touch me after.”

“What is it? Where’ve you been? We’ve been worried sick!” He turned back to shout into the hallway. “Celia! Celia get out here quick!”

The sound of hurried steps from the living room reached them a second before a small woman with dark hair and rich brown eyes appeared. The similarities between her and Evan in his human days made Jia’s heart squeeze painfully.

“I’ll answer your questions, I promise. I just...” He looked between the two of them with their teary faces and trembling hands and Jia could swear she saw his heart break right in front of her.

His silver eyes were shadowed by his hood, his new fangs covered by his mask. They had no idea what he was.

“Evan, it’s alright sweetheart,” his mother said softly as she reached out to him. He skipped back a step and shook his head.

“No, it isn’t mum. It’ll never be alright again. I...Screw it.” He pulled down his hood to show them his eyes. His mother gasped. “I’m a Vampire.”

“Oh my baby,” she whispered, and then she began sobbing. His father drew her into a hug and moved the pair of them a couple of steps away from Evander. His fists clenched but he didn’t try to follow.

“I can’t take the mask off. It stops me wanting to kill people. I wanted you to know what happened to me. I couldn’t stand the thought of you believing I was dead or missing and always having that hope that I’d come home.” His voice was thick with tears. “I wanted you to know.”

“How?” His father looked like he couldn’t decide between hugging his son and slamming the door in his face.

“He saved me,” Jia piped up softly. “We were on our way to get food when two Vampires attacked us. He held them off to try and keep me safe but he was bitten by both of them.” She hooked her arm through his elbow to show she wasn’t afraid of him. “What he did was brave and he’s still my friend.”

“Can I hug you, my darling?” his mother asked through tears. Evander hesitated for a second, then held out his arms. She lurched across the space and slammed into him with a force that made a lump form in Jia’s throat. A moment later his father joined them.

“I’m sorry, son,” he said after a few minutes of crying and hugging. “I’m glad you’re alive. We’ve gone through Hell wondering what happened to you. We sent your sister to your Aunt Mybel just to get her out of the city.”

“The city is warded against hostile Vampires now. It should be safe to let her come home. Will you tell her what happened to me?” Evan asked as his parents stepped back.

“You’re not staying?”

“I can’t, mum. Vampires are hated. The last thing I want is for the neighbourhood to attack you because I was bitten. If they replace out you’re harbouring one of my kind here they could try to hurt you.

"Maybe when things calm down I’ll visit again, but for now I have to go. There’s more going on than just the Vampires and we need to help put a stop to it.” He squeezed her hands and patted his father’s shoulder one more time. “I love you both. Tell Celia I’ll see her around.” And then he turned and left.

He got half way up the street before he couldn’t walk anymore. Jia watched helplessly as he sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. She realised then that he’d been expecting them to hate him.

He knew he couldn’t live as a killer in the human world when the option to exist in the Demonic Realm without murder was open to him, and he’d accepted that. Knowing they still loved him had made walking away from them a thousand times harder.

“It’s alright, Ev.”

She folded him into a tight hug, kneeling beside him like she could hold the broken parts of him together through sheer force of will.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Eventually he stopped crying and got to his feet, offering her a hand up. She saw a new steely determination in his eyes as he faced Lucifer.

“I’m ready to go. Let’s go get the Demon and be done with this place.”