Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I excused myself silently after the demon’s disappeared, I went into a bathroom that marked men’s. I looked down at the note, ‘Open in private, -L.’ I kept reading those words over and over again, the scrawl on the envelope was beautifully written, a little familiar, but for some reason I couldn’t place my finger on who the mysterious ‘L.’ was. I opened the letter, everything went dark, I could hear the screams of the burning and I knew instantly who L. was. Lucifer.
            I looked down at the letter, there seemed to be a red glow that was illuminating the letter. In the beautiful hand writing, it said:

“Michael,
Your first assignment should be easy, I want you to find a Mr. Jacob Gonzales. I want you to kill him, and make sure he can never, under any circumstances, come back to life. He was a bad man, one who doesn’t seem to die all that easy. I hope you won’t let me down, Michael.
-Lucifer”

            My eyes kept reading over the letter, over and over again the name of the man was sticking out to me. Who was he? I asked myself, what did he do to make Lucifer want him dead so badly? I got up and went outside, Brutice was sitting with Lizzy, trying to calm her down. Tears streamed down her face, and when I came in she just looked at me.
            “What happened, Michael?” Brutice asked, “One minute you and I was talking, the next you take off after hearing this little girl screaming your name. But boy, I’ve never seen someone move as quickly and efficiently as you did then.” He let out a low whistle. I looked at him and just felt like I didn’t know what to do. There was no way I could take Lizzy with me, but a part of me didn’t want to leave her. Maybe, just maybe, Brutice wouldn’t mind coming with and watching Lizzy?
            He was studying me, and finally he put a hand on my shoulder, it was light to the touch, but it held so much power. “What you thinkin’ about, son?” He asked, worry lit his eyes and I just shrugged him off. I would rather not talk about any of this in front of Lizzy.
            “Can we talk… Alone?” I asked, looking at him. I needed him to come, I just had to. Even though I had just met the man, I felt like I could trust him. But I couldn’t make him come if he didn’t want to, I knew that.
            He nodded and followed me as I walked to a place where I knew Lizzy wouldn’t dare come near. The boys’ restroom was a pretty clean place, I’ll admit it. “What do you need to talk ‘bout son?” He asked me, seriously. I gulped down the lump that had just formed in my throat and was thinking on how to word this right.
            “I need someone to come and watch Lizzy while I do stuff I need to do.” I told him with a serious cold voice. I just needed him to come, not only for Lizzy, but because when he was around I felt kind of protective over him even though he looks like a good ten years older then my present body.
            He nodded and smiled, “Yes’sir.” He said and walked off, I couldn’t make myself tell him what stuff I needed to do, it just made me seem all the more evil though keeping something like that from a nice, understanding man like him. I shook off the feeling and walked towards to where Lizzy was sitting, combing a dolls hair.
            Watching her sit there, so calm, and still having a child hood made me remember what it was like to watch my Stefani grow up. Through my time, it was my favorite past time. I didn’t need to sleep much to function properly but when my body says I’ve had too much sleep I used to watch her. She loved playing with Barbie dolls. She loved dressing them, brushing there hair and acting as if they were real. Her playing always brought a smile to my face on the worst of days. But it killed me knowing that she would never have a dad.
            I remembered the night me and her mom made love, our relationship started as a friendship, but over time I grew to realize I loved her. But one night, and I was never allowed to see her again, or to put it in more correct terms, she was never allowed to see me again. I was allowed to watch her, as long as she never knew I was there. But whenever I watched Jaine, Stephanie’s mom, sleep, she would whisper my name.
            Oh how I wanted to tell her I was there, but I couldn’t I just couldn’t or she would have to be killed along with Stefani. I guess Lizzy was a replacement for the Stefani I never got to protect but I don’t know, it seemed like I was meant to protect Lizzy.
            I shrugged this off and sat down next to her. “Hi Michael.” She said to me with a huge smile. “You wanna play dollies with me?” She said it with so much enthusiasm I couldn’t say no, so I nodded and she handed me a doll.
            Her and I played dolls for about an hour before she got hungry. I smiled and picked her up, she always seemed to get hungry for stuff that was decently healthy for her. She smiled up at me and pinched my nose. I wrinkled my nose and pretended like I was going to lick her. She squealed and tried to get away but was laughing too hard. I smirked and found her something quick to eat.
            She ate it furiously, I didn’t think a girl her size could eat so much so quick. I grinned at her and took a bite of my little snack.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

            After we ate we both fell asleep on the floor, I know it might have been disgusting but in a small store such as this one I don’t think there’d be any better place to sleep. I felt something gently cover me, and suddenly I felt very warm as Lizzy curled up next to me.
            I know to some me and Lizzy would have probably looked wrong to some people, but I swear to the Lord himself that she just reminded me of my daughter.
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

            It was a beautiful day, the birds were out chirping, the wind was in my hair, and something else just seemed different to me. I seemed, well, happy. I looked around and noticed a little girl running towards me, she looked about twelve or so and she came up to me and yelled “Daddy! Come play tag with me!”
            I grinned and nodded and started chasing her, playing around. I tagged her and started running, she was a fast girl. And she was also very beautiful. She had wavy blonde hair, vibrant green eyes, and she looked so familiar but I couldn’t find her name in my mind.
            “Daddy!” She yelled, laughing when I tackled her and tagged her. It’s like my mind went into hyper mode, this girl is not your daughter Michael. Stefani is your daughter. Said a little voice inside my head.
            I shook myself and looked at the girl. “What’s your name?” I asked her. She looked at me like I had lost my mind and just turned away.
            “It’s Lizzy.” She told me. I stopped in mid stride and looked at her. Wait a damned minute here, she called me ‘daddy’ like she thought of me like… like a father! But I only wanted to be a father to one girl and that was my daughter.

I looked at her and said “Elizebeth, come here!” I said, an authoritive tone entering my voice. Wow. She turned around, there were tears on her cheeks.
            “What do you want!?” She yelled as more tears spilled over, I suddenly felt like a total a*s for not realizing who she was.
            I went over to her and hugged her, “I’m sorry Lizzy, I had an old timer moment.” She just cried into my shirt as I rubbed her back. “Why did you call me that?” I asked her, not being able to say the word.
            She looked up at me and looked at me quizzically. “Called you what? Did I call you Demon?” Her voice changed, as did her eyes. Everything around us started changing into a fiery pit of hell, a whole new look over took her eyes and the smile she gave me probably frightened me the most. She had a smile of no soul, it scared me. Then a different voice took over her, she said in a language I had no clue of, but for some reason could under stand. “Michael, hurry up or you will be the head angel of Hell and you’ll spend all eternity there.” An evil laugh racked through her body.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

            I sat bolt upright and looked back down at Lizzy, my heart was beating rapidly. I couldn’t believe the dream I had just had…