At school, Lucifer slumped in his desk, staring at the Concord make-up exam in front of him with a mixture of dread and resignation. The classroom was eerily quiet, save for the scratching of pencils and the occasional frustrated sigh from his fellow academic underachievers.
Who knew that Concord could be such an effective instrument of torture? Lucifer mused, tapping his pencil against his temple. I should have paid more attention during class.
As he struggled to remember the difference between past perfect and past continuous tenses, Lucifer's mind wandered to the events of the morning. Seeing Ezra outside his apartment had thrown him for a loop, but he'd managed to keep his cool. Mostly.
"Good morning, Lucifer-san," she'd said, her voice formal but with an undercurrent of... something. Curiosity? Suspicion? "I hope you don't mind me walking to school with you and Piper-san."
Piper, of course, had been thrilled. She'd immediately launched into a rapid-fire interrogation of Ezra, peppering her with questions about her hometown, her hobbies, and (much to Lucifer's mortification) whether she had a boyfriend.
Ezra had handled it all with remarkable poise, deflecting the more personal queries with practiced ease. But Lucifer hadn't missed the way her eyes kept darting to him, studying his reactions, searching for... what, exactly?
A sharp cough pulled Lucifer back to the present. He looked up to see Ms. Margot Chadwick, the Concord teacher, giving him a pointed look.
"Mr. Morningstar," she said, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness, "I do hope the test isn't proving too difficult for you. Perhaps you'd like to share what's so fascinating about the ceiling with the rest of us?"
Lucifer felt his face heat up as a few snickers rippled through the classroom. "No, ma'am," he mumbled. "Just... thinking deeply about verb conjugations."
Margot raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "I see. Well, do try to keep your 'deep thoughts' focused on the paper in front of you. Time's almost up."
As she turned away, Lucifer couldn't help but study her more closely. Margot Chadwick was an enigma wrapped in a riddle, dressed in gothic lolita fashion. Her blonde hair was styled in elaborate ringlets, and her outfit – all black lace and ruffles – looked more suited to a Victorian tea party than a high school classroom.
But it wasn't just her appearance that set Margot apart. There was something... off about her. A sharpness to her gaze, a subtle tension in her movements that spoke of barely contained power. Lucifer had long suspected she was more than just an eccentric Concord teacher.
Takes one to know one, I suppose, he thought wryly.
With a sigh, Lucifer turned his attention back to the exam. He'd barely made it halfway through, and time was running out. He was just about to guess his way through a particularly nasty set of reading comprehension questions when a commotion in the hallway caught his attention.
Raised voices, the sound of running feet, and then – was that a growl?
Margot's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing. In a fluid motion that seemed far too practiced for a simple teacher, she moved to the classroom door, peering out into the hallway.
"Everyone stay in your seats," she ordered, her voice suddenly hard and commanding. "I need to check on something. Continue with your exams."
As soon as the door closed behind her, the classroom erupted into excited whispers.
"Did you hear that noise?"
"Maybe it's another Rebis attack!"
"Don't be stupid, they wouldn't let one of those things into the school."
Lucifer sat frozen, his mind racing. Could it be connected to yesterday's incident? Had someone tracked him here? Or was it just a coincidence – some other supernatural drama playing out in the halls of Paradise High?
He was halfway out of his seat before he caught himself. No, he thought firmly. You're supposed to be laying low, remember? Let the professionals handle it.
But as the minutes ticked by and Margot didn't return, Lucifer found it harder and harder to stay put. The other students were getting restless too, craning their necks to try and see out the small window in the classroom door.
Just as Lucifer was about to throw caution to the wind and investigate, the door flew open. Margot strode in, her face a careful mask of calm.
"False alarm, everyone," she said brightly. "Just a little... plumbing issue. Nothing to worry about. Now, back to your exams. You have five minutes left."
A collective groan went up from the class, but Lucifer barely heard it. He was too busy studying Margot's appearance. Her carefully styled hair was slightly mussed, and there was a tear in the lace of her sleeve that definitely hadn't been there before. But it was the smudge of what looked suspiciously like ash on her cheek that really caught his attention.
As Margot's gaze swept the room, it lingered on Lucifer for just a moment longer than necessary. There was a question in her eyes, an almost imperceptible nod that seemed to say, We'll talk later.
Lucifer swallowed hard, turning back to his exam. Somehow, he had a feeling that his grade in Concord was about to become the least of his worries.
The rest of the exam passed in a blur. Lucifer scribbled down answers with barely a thought, his mind too preoccupied with what might have happened in the hallway. As the final bell rang and Margot collected the papers, he hung back, pretending to search for a lost pencil.
When the last student had filed out, Margot closed the door and turned to face him. Her usual cheerful demeanor was gone, replaced by a steely intensity that sent a shiver down Lucifer's spine.
"Mr. Morningstar," she said, her voice low and serious. "I think it's time we had a little chat about your... extracurricular activities."
Lucifer's mouth went dry. "I don't know what you mean," he said, aiming for innocent confusion and probably landing somewhere closer to guilty panic.
Margot's lips quirked in a humorless smile. "Oh, I think you do. That little incident yesterday at the mall? The one with the Rebis? Ring any bells?"
Lucifer felt his heart skip a beat. How did she...?
"I... I don't..." he stammered, but Margot cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Save it," she said. "I know what I saw. What I don't know is exactly what you are, or why you're here. But let me make one thing clear – if you're a threat to this school or its students, I will not hesitate to take you down. Understood?"
Lucifer nodded mutely, his mind reeling. Margot Chadwick, the quirky Concord teacher with a penchant for frilly dresses, was threatening him. And based on the steel in her eyes and the residual smell of ozone clinging to her clothes, she might actually have the power to back up that threat.
"Good," Margot said, her posture relaxing slightly. "Now, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. You haven't caused any trouble here, and you did help with that Rebis situation. But I'll be watching you closely, Mr. Morningstar. Very closely indeed."
With that, she turned and began gathering her things, as if they'd just had a perfectly normal teacher-student conversation about exam results.
Lucifer stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do or say. Finally, he managed to find his voice. "Ms. Chadwick," he said hesitantly. "What... what exactly are you?"
Margot paused, then looked back at him with a enigmatic smile. "Now that," she said, "would be telling. Let's just say I'm someone who takes the safety of this school very seriously. And leave it at that, shall we?"
As Lucifer left the classroom, his head spinning, he couldn't shake the feeling that his life on Paradise had just gotten a whole lot more complicated. Between Ezra's watchful presence and now Margot's veiled threats, maintaining his cover was going to be harder than ever.
Well, he thought with a wry smile, at least I probably won't have to worry about that Concord exam anymore. Assuming I live long enough to get the results.
With a sigh, Lucifer headed towards his next class, wondering... what to do?... about all these ladies on his back!
***