"Diego Cortez,"
Nothing scrubs bold notions out a man's head quite like a night spent in a cold cell with ghastly looking miscreants, partly revealing their jagged brown teeth as they flashed menacing grins his way now and then, their preying gaze unwavering. That was inferior to the terrifying state Lucifer had latched onto him by comparison, leaving him visibly edgy and frightful. So striking each time he closed his eyes was Lucifer at the epicenter of many tormented screams and anguish.
The night got colder for him as sat on the bare floor, too afraid to fall asleep and yet too scared to imagine what would become of him when morning would come- his life was finally a living nightmare.
He had drifted off to sleep in the corner where he sat with his arms wrapped around his knees shortly around 6 am but jolted up from his drowse the moment he heard his name.
"Diego Carrillo Cortez!" A husky voice bellowed.
"That's me," he answered as he edged through the stares of his fellow cellmates to meet the policeman holding a flier at the other side of the cell gate.
"You're free to go," The policeman voiced lazily then went on to buzz the cell open.
"What?" Cortez gaped in disbelief. "What's going on."
"Just step out and come with me, will you? I don't have all day," The policeman muttered.
Cortez's face was stricken with disbelief even as he followed the officer to the counter. Like clockwork, his eyes were drawn to Pamela gesticulating in a heated argument with a younger man marked out by the FBI symbol imprinted on his jacket. From Pamela's expression, she wasn't liking what the man in the FBI jacket was saying and Cortez had a feeling it had something to do with him.
She shot a glare at him just as he walked by then turned to the FBI agent.
"Donnie won't be happy about this," she fumed.
"Hey, I'm not the one who gave the order," The man raised his hands in his defense.
"Hey, quit slacking!" The policeman escorting Cortez barked.
Shortly after filling out a form, the officer handed him his belongings from when he was apprehended the day before.
"Alright then, you can leave now."
"Am I dreaming?" Cortez wondered with a questioning stare.
"I don't know man, just get out of here," The officer sighed and walked away.
The rays of the scorching morning sun and the noise from the open street were enough to convince Cortez that he wasn't dreaming. He was truly free.
But how?
** ** **
Detective Pamela had called Donnie while he was having breakfast about the sudden change in their investigation on Cortez and he had gone mad just as he expected. Now, he stormed into the precinct with his shoulders tensed in rage and ready to beat anyone who stood in his path.
She quickly ran to meet him as she tried to calm him down.
"Where the hell is that bastard?" Donnie growled.
"Oh, so I'm a bastard now?" A voice cut in from the side. Both the two detectives turned their necks to see a familiar face Donnie knew too well. He was tall and white with a square jaw and his gelled blond hair was swept back in the 90's fashion.
"Jacques, you son of a bitch," Donnie's stare switched to the FBI badge that flashed on the fairly built man's breast pocket. A position he had grown to loathe since he couldn't graduate from the academy.
"Nice to meet you too, Donnie." Jacques beamed a fake smile. He and Donnie were both trainees and friends at the academy but drifted apart immediately after Jacques became an agent, mainly because of Jacques' ego and Donnie's jealousy.
"From your reaction, I take it your partner filled you in already, I'm here to take this case off your hands." Jacques' French accent could not be mistaken. "It's about time someone competent handled this don't you think?"
"Bull shit! This isn't a federal case you don't have jurisdiction," Donnie blurted. "Besides we already caught our guy, he was definitely gonna spill after spending a night in jail but you stormed in here with your FBI high and mighty crap and ruined everything."
Jacques scoffed, "Your wrong, my friend."
"What?"
"Well, long story short, while you were chasing after doctors and businessmen, we were carrying out our own investigation and we discovered that the explosion was actually triggered by a terrorist organization."
"That's impossible!" Pamela countered.
"Oh, my dear yes it is," Jacques retorted. "Probably some deranged psychopath who doesn't want to see America great again."
Donnie and Pamela turned to each other in disbelief. Could it be that all the facts gotten from their investigation were wrong?
"But he confessed!" Donnie gaped at Cortez.
"Oh, the poor guy, I'm sure the testimony was coerced. Oh, the devil, he's here." Jacques's high pitch mimicry of Cortez pissed Donnie even more.
"And I must say, going through your files was a bit pathetic." Jacques continued. "Now you see why you were never selected, Donnie? You never read in-between the lines--"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Donnie roared as he grabbed Jacques by the collar.
Jacques scoffed and shook his head.
"Oh, you're mad now?" Jacques chuckled. "What are you going to do, hit me? Go on then, I'm sure your captain will love to hear about that."
Donnie grimaced. His eyes narrowed as he wrapped his fists together in rage. A couple of officers and FBI agents began to gather around in anticipation of what would happen next.
"What are you going to do big boy? You're already making a scene," Jacques taunted with a smug.
Donnie gave no response to the question as Jacques expected. It was too big a risk for him to take at this juncture. The fact he brought Dr. Cortez in solely based on a coerced confession, his captain must already be losing faith in him. He cursed under his breath as he dropped his fists.
"Good boy," Jacquez smiled. "Now let go of me, before you get yourself demoted." He pushed Donnie's hands away as he snapped.
Donnie left without saying a word, leaving Jacques to smile at his victory over his former friend.
"Alright people, shows over, let's get back to work."
** ** **
Cortez lived in a penthouse at the top of a huge skyscraper, its design and interior decor screamed only one word, Luxury. He was always alone except for some certain nights where he brought a lady in to satisfy his sexual cravings. Tonight could have been one of those nights but he was left alone to pace back and forth between the balcony and living room, trying to make sense of all that was going on.
At first, Skullz's phone appeared in his office from nowhere, and now the FBI had declared him innocent for a crime he knew certainly well that he committed. How he had come to live in such luck not only eluded but worried him. No, he couldn't be pure luck, he reasoned. Something else was in play here- something a mere human couldn't dream to understand. Just like he couldn't understand what he saw in Dr. Bates's eyes or why he did see it. The darkness was not of this world, and yet it felt so real.
Cortez held his hands together to stop them from shaking. Just recalling sight sent cold shivers down his spine and made him sweaty all over. Still. He managed to calm his nerves. He had thought he was dead for sure after that experience but here he was, alive with a clean slate and a traumatized mind. What was he to do exactly?
All of a sudden a bright yellowish light materialized from thin air so bright and blinding that it sent Cortez straight to the ground. It seemed never-ending to Cortez who shielded his eyes with a hand but the light vanished almost as immediately as it appeared, revealing a strongly built figure with long golden hair. He wore a long jacket on trousers and long boots on his perfectly chiseled frame but everything else was left bare and he was suspended above the ground by two large white-feathered wings protruding from the figure back which flapped repeatedly, hanging the figure in midair.
"Wh-What are you?" Cortez shrieked in utter awe.
"So this form also scares you," The figure's voice was calm but his sudden appearance was enough for Cortez to bow his head in fear. "Puny humans," He spat. "Always ignorant and terrified of the unknown."
Crouching and quivering on the floor, Cortez felt tired of the rollercoaster of emotions he had been feeling since the day began.
"If you want to kill me why don't you just do it already?" He muttered with a bit of courage. If this was the end for him then so be it.
"No, I don't want you dead," The figure chuckled. "I came to you because I believe fate has great plans for you and me."
Cortez raised his head in skepticism.
"What are you talking about?"
"My name is Modriel," The figure began. "I am Ar'el- one of the strongest races of angels in the silver city."
Cortez remained silent as he studied the angel's blank expression. What the hell does an angel want from him? He wondered.
"Are you familiar with biblical theologies, doctor?"
"I'm a scientist; do you think I would ever waste my time with such farfetched fables?" Cortez cut back, resulting in a smirk on the angel's face.
"Eons ago there was a war in heaven, one of us lead a rebellion against Elohim- our father. The battle was a fierce one as a third of heaven's angels had sided with him and there were a lot of casualties on both sides until finally the archangel Michael prevailed and ended the war."
"Yeah, I know this; I said I am a scientist not dumb." Cortez retorted. "The angel who led this rebellion was Lucifer and after his defeat, he was cast down to earth and now he is the bloody devil and he has his kingdom and whatnot. What does a war that happened thousands of years ago have to do with why you are in my living room?"
"Lucifer, the angel you just mentioned now resides in Dr. Bates."
Cortez gaped in disbelief even as he was still on the floor.
"Th-That's impossible!"
Modriel smiled.
"That is correct, I put him there."
The angel wore such a bold look that shredded every doubt in Cortez's mind.
"If that's true, then that means…" Cortez gasped. "That means I'm not crazy! What I saw was real and he is the devil."
"Yes, you are not crazy," Modriel reassured.
"But why would you do that? And how?" Cortez inquired.
"I understand why you ask all these questions, I would think of you as a fool if you didn't. But I have waited so long to enact my revenge for and now the time has come." The angel added.
He noticed the puzzled look on Cortez's face and continued.
"Lucifer was responsible for wiping out a vast number of angels from my race and I would have been a part of that casualty if not for Michael's intervention. And then Father's ideal punishment for Lucifer's rebellion was stripping him of his celestial nature and banishing him down to earth."
"Whoa, that's not fair," Cortez admitted, now sitting on the floor with his hand on one knee.
Modriel nodded, "To me, Father didn't pass a judgment at all, he was just being merciful to Lucifer. You might be wondering why I didn't object- how could I? He is the almighty after all. Moreover, despite how valiant of a warrior I am, I am not strong enough to face Lucifer on my own. So I spent years bottling my rage and my frustration until I stumbled upon your colleague's little project and then an idea dawned on me that if I could merge Lucifer with a human, he would grow weaker and I would be able to carry out my revenge. It was, for this reason, I opened the portal to his realm and fused him with Henry."
A wicked smile bred on Cortez's face as he reasoned how cynical the plan was.
"Well, I'm pretty sure the guy is clueless about your plan, playing rich doctor with someone else's fiancé. Why don't you just go ahead and enact your revenge right now? And what the hell do you need me for?"
"He hasn't gotten as weak I'd like yet, and I also want to keep him ignorant for as much as possible- that's why need you, to help me make sure he remains in Henry's body for as long as possible until the time is right. You will be my eyes and instrument so he doesn't suspect anything. And that's why I had to keep you out of trouble." The angel explained.
"Do you mean me getting free all of a sudden and the phone appearing in my office was all you?"
Modriel nodded in response.
Still maintaining the smug on his face, Cortez slowly rose to his feet.
"So you want me to be your puppet huh? What's in it for me?" He inquired.
Modriel didn't take his eyes off Cortez even as he descended to the floor. His wings vanished in an instant and now they stood squarely at each other.
"You shall receive what you have always wanted- to be number one. Your adversary, Henry is nothing but an insignificant vessel in this fight between Lucifer and me, and when it is all over, he is sure to get eliminated, leaving you to rule Omega labs as you see fit."
"Hmm, I like the sound of that." Cortez grinned. "So where do we begin, partner?" He extended a hand forward.
The angel's eyes stared down at for a moment but then figured Cortez offered it as a seal to bind their alliance. He took it in a firm grip as the muscles of his square jaw tightened.
"For now we wait, a big surprise is heading Lucifer's way just as we speak."