As Emily jammed the door of her apartment, she was first greeted by the kisses of her dog, Cooper. This wasn't unexpected, as Cooper was always eager to see her.
The Caucasian shepherd was the only family she had left eversince her parents died in a tragic accident, leaving her alone at a very infant age to face the burdens of this harsh world. Emily had joined the police force years later, with the intuition that her parents' death wasn't just an accident, but as time passed she had found herself letting go off that purpose to protect human rights.
With work, Emily had made little or no friends, the friends she made were all within work, but there was only one exception with the lady she purchased her coffee from every morning.
Anyways this was her life— everything she'd ever wanted-...
…Maybe not.
"Hey boy," she greeted her agitated dog.
"How've you been?"
Cooper barked in response, his tail wagging as he panted happily.
"Is someone hungry?" she asked and walked into her room, got changed as fast as she could into her night dress, and headed to the kitchen.
"I didn't have time to buy any groceries so we'd just have to cook up something," she said and opened a cupboard,
"How about some chicken and rice bowl?"
Cooper barked in response.
Asides just being a cop all day, Emily also had a life of responsibilities, she remembered Cooper was brought in the same year her parents died, and eversince then, she'd become like a mom to him, caring for every of his needs and understanding his emotions had become a duty for her. And of course, as an officer, she was able to train him properly too.
However, nothing still had changed, as she was already used to sharing meals with him. She believed that there was still more to know about Cooper as he grew everyday, and bonding was the best way to that.
Besides, she also made really good food.
It was only until she ate before Emily realized how exhausted she was, and so as Cooper lay on her lap and she brushed his fur with her fingers, her consciousness drifted off to sleep. But only as she was about to accept to slumber, the thoughts of Lucas made an appearance in her head.
She'd put all her bet on him now, hoping he'd do the same and be able to trust her. But she saw that look in his eyes, like he wasn't even going to give a shit to the deal she'd proposed.
No, now was not the time to misunderstand. She knew that that was his normal face expression and just maybe deep down in him, he considered it.
Please make him consider… please.
She didn't know to whom her pleas were directed to, God had stopped paying any attention to her eversince she condemned him for the the life she was living. Her parents were probably somewhere in Heaven, waiting for her to make findings about their death.
But something serious was at hand now, something that could threaten the city. . . No, the country if she didn't get her answers soon.
And she couldn't think of no one else to help her than Lucas, if there was anyone who knew alot about these "demoniacs" and how she could get rid of them, there couldn't have been a more suitable option.
As she pondered on a new strategy, sleep slowly but eventually took her away.
♠||•♠•||♠
The thoughts seemed to have washed through Lucas as he stood on his balcony. True, this woman hadn't given him any convincing reason to help her other than keeping his secret, even though there were still many mysteries about him that she didn't know. However, for some reason, the thoughts concurrently played into his mind.
Agreeing to help our only meant that he was willing to put his life on the line, as demons could sniff out their threats. Emily was so hell-bent on finding the one who was casting demoniacs around the city, but she didn't realize that she was only venturing into danger, as Asmodeus could begin to awaken once the two of them got closer than strangers.
Even little did she know that she was possessed.
And he wasn't about to risk his own life over a menial case of detective work. Yeah, he had spent thousands of years in the world, but he was only just starting to enjoy the benefits. Throwing that all away for a human didn't seem like a wise thing to do.
As he thought, the night air blew vividly across the room, and it had a touch of the winter to it. It was only late September, but the cold season had already began ushering in. Lucas shook his wine glass and took another gulp– one dedicated solely to his frustration.
It wasn't understandable as of why he was so confused.
"Are you going to agree to her deal?" Kai asked behind him.
Lucas sighed in exhaustion, "is this a prediction or a question?"
"I mean, she did say your true identity was on the line." Kai replied and shrugged.
"Come on, we both know that Asmodeus is within her, probably hating on me and yearning to come out, it would only make it worse if he continues to grasp my scent."
Kai walked towards him and leaned onto the railings,
"Lucas, don't you think you're stalling quite a bit?"
"Am I?"
"Of course, or else you'll know that it doesn't matter how much you try to keep him asleep, eventually, Asmodeus would still wake up." Kai explained,
"And by then, he'll be able to manipulate his full strength to find you. Isn't it better to take your actions now before it becomes too much of a task?"
Lucas took another sip on his wine, looking out at the night's azure as the city's lighting reflected in his eyes. He understood what his steward was saying, but the thoughts of taking an innocent human soul resurfaced the scars of his past.
He just couldn't see himself coming to that conclusion, but however, there was no other way, if that woman lived, that means Asmodeus lived too, and the demon was too strong to be absorbed by him, and that only meant that the only way was to kill her. . .
"I'm going bed first." Lucas said, walking away from the question.
He had just enough at the brink of his frustration that he'd hoped he would just sleep off tonight.
♣||•♦•||♣
A WEEK LATER. . .
The weather's wind moved along the air smoothly, but the peace was too luxurious for Emily.
Her teeth clenched tightly as she faced down her desk, refusing to reveal her sudden expression of anger. It had been a week since she asked for some supposed urgent help, and ''help' was rarely something she'd ever ask for.
But she had forgotten her pride and gone all the way to a strange man's house, she had even eaten and pretended to be comfortable just to make a daring and intimidating impression,
But it had all been for nothing.
Even when she'd dropped her cellphone number with him, Lucas Ross hadn't called, not even at the least a text.
Maybe she was wrong about him afterall, or maybe she was only getting impatient.
But this wasn't a situation that equipped patience, as far she knew it, she was never off this case until she could deal with the unordinary. And her superiors hadn't stop questioning her progress every hour, the way her task felt rushed by them constricted her breath.
"Em, you okay?" David asked on noticing her weary movements, afterall, it was supposed to be a splendid afternoon since they hadn't gotten any emergency calls yet.
"I'm good." Emily managed, anything else and she could be screaming anger out of her lungs.
She would pick up her cellphone randomly and throw it back to the table, this was her consecutive manner of expressing her unexplainable state of furiousness. A constant sip on her warm cup of tea seemed to have kept her from going beserk.
If not that, she was only just a second close to yelling.
"I'll be on the roof-" she said as she stood, heading upstairs for a little chat with her consciousness.
"She sure has been acting weird since the church incident." David said to himself and adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses.
As Emily pitched on the roof, nothing seemed to have helped. The best thing she seemed to have been doing was groaning and voicing out to no one in particular.
"What's his deal?" She asked in her soliloquy.
"He's so proud to think he can just lay off this proposal and bring my hopes to the ground.
Who does he think he is ignoring the law? I was even too nice enough to make a deal with him. Otherwise I could just arrest him and force him to do it as an accomplice of the crime.
Ugh, he's such a jerk, an heartless jerk, who the hell does he think he is—"
As she spoke on to herself, shedding out anger from her words, she was interrupted by a voice behind her.
"I'll do it."
Emily turned around, hoping for nothing more than to see those deep red eyes and cold face expression. And there they were, her eyes locking into his.
Lucas steadily approached her and stood ahead of her, a serious and deathly gaze held his face up.
"I agree to your deal."