"Here comes Lucifer."
Standing in group, Adam's family slowly stood from the dining table and clapped their hands toward him. Jenny was eating grapes on the other side of the room while his uncles hurriedly ran toward him with joy on their faces.
His newly polished black shoes echoed across the dining hall. The sound of his heels on the tiled floor drowned the cries of dead people below the surface of the earth. No person alive has seen hell yet, but Adam had.
The ceiling was as wide as the sky. Every inch of the ancient wall was carefully painted with medieval arts. Adam's mother went out of the kitchen to meet his son. She's wearing a white dress, donned with pearls on her neck and rubies on her shoes. Her hair tied in a bun and her face younger than her age.
"Please. He's not Lucifer." his mother said.
On her toes, she led her son towards the table and placed a kerchief on his lap.
"I'm okay. I can do this myself."
Adam took his fork and knife and started eating his meal. There was cheering, music, dancing and celebration all through out the room that Adam could hardly hear the voices of dead people suffering in hell.
All of his family was gathered together. It's the first time in three years since they had a reunion. Adam lived by himself on a small town in nowhere where he built a mansion for himself, deep down on a forest, after a lake. He's been providing his family for 6 years. Six whole years since he sold his soul to satan just to have the luxury he never had and never imagined would have for the rest of his life.
He came from a broken family and it's funny to see how everyone gathered together in this one small day just to see his face because he supplies their wealth. He doesn't care about any of the riches he has. All he wants is to be happy, and nothing makes a a family man happier than to see his family with shining smile on their faces.
On the table, he was sitting on the main seat prepared for him. No one disapproves of his power in the family. He could be the head and the father if he wants, that's how much his family loves him.
At first, he doesn't like how he was treated. But as the years went by, his cockiness grew to to the point that he likes how he is served now. He loves his family, that's the truth, but who doesn't like power too?
If he'd tell his uncles to bark, they will do it for him. If he'd ask his aunts to strip, they would do it and make their daughters do it too. Too much and too unhealthy, but that's how much they would go for the sake of satisfaction of Adam. Thankfully, he never ask them any of this.
Adam is the bravest and kindest person one might meet but there's only one thing he's afraid of-- death.
Adam had seen it all. He had been to hell, back when he was still 15 and lonely and discarded like a trash on a subway. It took him months of praying and hoping to meet satan to ask him of his desire.
In exchanged of selling his soul to the king of the underworld, he required unlimited wealth and a position in hell. The devil only sneered at him then, then brought him underground
It's been 6 years since he's been there. 6 years since the last time satan brought him to his kingdom. It was very filthy and noisy, full of screaming of poor souls who ended up in hell because they don't believe and never acknowledged the Almighty one in their lives. Souls of the people who sullied the Holy Spirit, fallen angels who just laugh as they chop, burn and punish the souls of the people who never make it to paradise. It wasn't a lovely sight but before the devil returned him back to earth, he heard him said, "lovely, right?"
He could still hear, see and feel everything about hell even when he was only there for less than a minute. It was a pitiful place with endless pains and woes of the dead. He know he'd be there soon, but before it happens, there's now.
His uncle clenched his shoulder then sat beside him.
"I'm glad to see you again."
Adam rose and smiled to him.
"No, sit down."
"Uncle, I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you."
"Don't be. I'm living a good life whether I see you or not. I am living the best life a person could ever have. How could I possibly be disappointed to you?"
Adam just smiled humbly.
"Ah, and don't call me uncle. Just call me Uno. Don't make me look old." he chuckled.
"Wow. Here comes the morning star. You're shining brighter than anyone here in the world, Lucifer."
"Ross, how many times would I tell you that my son is not Lucifer?"
Adam's mother came from the kitchen with a new baked pie on a platter.
"As expected of my little sister, you sure know how to bake well."
"Unlucky of you, you're not allowed to have a taste."
"Must you two argue about food when Adam is here?" Uno called to Ross and Sona.
"Don't mind me. I'm more than happy to see you all doing well. I really just came for dinner. I still have an appointment later."
"Later at 3 a.m. again?" Sona asked her son.
"Well it's how they do the meetings there, right Adam?" Ross answered.
Adam rubbed his temple.
"You must be really tired from the flight. Why don't you sleep first and then I'll wake you up at 2 am later?"
"No mom, I'm okay. Besides I haven't met my cousins for a very long time. I should hang out with them."
"I know how you love your family, but you need to take care of your health. You can't get sick. You know you can't die."
All the people in the room instantly froze as they heard Sona uttered the word "die". The music stopped and so did the noise of happiness. Everyone looked at Adam with concern on their faces -- not for him, but for them.
If Adam ever die, everything they have in life will be over. Wealth, Fame, Power. Everything will be gone. Even the kids wailing on the couch for ice cream stopped their tears as soon as they heard the word. Die. Adam shall not die. Not yet. Not never. Or else everything will be over.
Adam loose out a breath and smiled.
"Why did you all stopped being happy? Eat and be merry, that's our motto in life!"
No one moved.
Jenny was always the one who seldom speak to the family members. She's a devoted Catholic and it pains her to see how her family relies on her cousin who sold his soul to satan than to God who is the maker of the Universe.
Jenny walked toward Adam and smiled faintly.
"Why don't you just sleep? Everyone is worried sick about you right now. You know what this means."
--
No cheering was ever heard again that evening. Silence became their music. Fear became their snacks. But it looked like fear was the one snacking on them. Picking on their worries. Shaking their very core.
"Do you think it's time I should be devoted to God now?"
"Stop it. Adam is only 21. He's not yet gonna die."
" I know he won't yet. But don't you remember what the demons told us when they possessed Tara? They said before Adam dies, half of us will die first too. So that we can't repent our sins and so we can rot in hell with them. "
" I think I should attend church already. I should also start saving. "
" Saving won't do us any good. Once Adam is gone, money won't buy us anything anymore. There are a lot of satanist in the government. Do you think satan would let us have all the luxury still once no one is chained in hell? "
" Why don't we sell another soul to him after Adam? "
" Are you crazy? We all know how Adam is in his sleep. He cries and sleep walks. He never forgets what the devil showed to him. "
" Is hell really that creepy? "
" What shall we do now? "
" I don't want to die yet. "
---
Sona woke Adam by 2:30. No one was still asleep. Some are drinking their liquors and others on their phones trying to cover their worries with worldly deeds. Adam felt the tension too. This what worries him the most. He really doesn't like it when his family isn't happy.
Even so, he couldn't do anything about it. Telling them not to worry makes them worry more. No one escapes death. He remembers it as he drank his breakfast smoothie and rode on the way to the illuminati meaning.