11 PM - December 24th
My name is Lucifer. I am currently naked, standing in the middle of a place I do not recognize. I am reasonably certain this is Earth. It is just not what I expected it to be, after eons of being away.
Lucifer stood on the cracked asphalt of a dark, empty road. The air was warm and thick with the scent of distant rain and damp soil. She had no clothing, no possessions, and no understanding of her exact location. She knew only that she was, somehow, on the surface of the human world. An hour earlier, such a thing had been impossible.
That hour had been spent in a furious confrontation with Archangel Michael in the sulfurous depths of Hell. Lucifer, suffocating from millennia of boredom, had sought a passage to Earth. Michael had blocked her path, voice echoing with glacial authority, declaring that Lucifer's foot must never again touch the soil of humankind. But Lucifer, ever the strategist, had found a crack in the vigilance. A moment of misdirection, a burst of diverted power, and she had slipped through the seams of reality, arriving here. Wherever 'here' was.
She began to walk, her bare feet silent on the pavement. Her eyes, accustomed to eternal fires and cavernous gloom, scanned the surroundings. The change was profound, almost disorienting. She remembered this world from a different age.
The trees are so much smaller than they used to be. I see no great shapes moving in the shadows of the bushes. I hear no deep-throated roars shaking the leaves. Did the great beasts all perish because of that long-ago cataclysm?
She looked up. The sky also does not illuminate the night as it once did. The celestial tapestry is dimmed. Should I just burn these trees down to create my own light?
Lucifer shook her head, the motion sharp.
No. That would be unwise. Michael is likely already pursuing. If I use my power, it will shine like a beacon in the void. They would track the disturbance, and I would be dragged back to the pit before I have even taken a proper breath.
A low, growing hum disturbed the heavy silence. Ahead, two points of bright light appeared, cutting through the darkness and moving toward her. Lucifer squinted, a faint, curious smile touching her lips.
Is that the *sóh₂wl? Has humanity learned to craft its own captive suns?
The lights belonged to a boxy, metallic vehicle. It was speeding down the road. Not understanding what it was, but drawn to the light it emitted, Lucifer stepped directly into its path. She stood firm in the center of the lane, a pale, unclad figure in the blazing glare.
Inside the car, a man named Cain was distracted, his eyes flicking between the road and the screen of his phone. When he finally looked up, the sight ahead made his blood run cold. A tall, naked woman was standing perfectly still, right in front of his vehicle. He gasped, the phone tumbling from his hand onto the passenger seat.
"Holy shit!" he yelled, his voice strangled.
He slammed his foot onto the brake pedal. The tires screeched in protest, a long, harsh sound that ripped through the night air. The car skidded, shuddering to a halt just inches from Lucifer's knees. The engine idled roughly. Cain sat for a second, his heart hammering against his ribs, his hands clenched on the steering wheel.
What the hell is wrong with that woman?I almost killed her!
Lucifer did not flinch. She examined the vehicle, her head tilting. She saw the panicked human inside, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. The construction was fascinating. A chariot of some sort, but without beasts to pull it. And the light… it was so bright, yet so cold.
The driver's door was flung open. Cain stumbled out, his legs feeling unsteady. He stared at her, his initial fear quickly being overtaken by shock and confusion.
"Hey!" he shouted, his voice ragged. "What are you doing? What is wrong with you? Standing in the middle of the road, naked, at this hour? Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
Lucifer looked at him. Her expression was one of calm assessment. She smiled then, a deliberate and practiced gesture, and raised her hand in a slow, graceful wave.
"Greetings, human."
The wave was so bizarrely polite, so utterly disconnected from the situation, that Cain's anger stuttered. He blinked. The lady was clearly not right in the head, but she didn't seem aggressive. Almost without thinking, he gave a stiff, awkward wave back.
He let out a long, slow breath, trying to regain his composure. He moved to the passenger side, opened the door, and pulled his denim jacket from the seat. He walked back toward her, holding it out.
"Look, I'm sorry I yelled," he said, his tone softer but still strained. "But what are you doing out here like this, miss?"
Lucifer blinked at the offered garment. She took it, holding it up by the shoulders, studying its seams and buttons as if it were an artifact from a lost civilization.
"Honestly," she said, her gaze returning to his, "I do not know where I am. My arrival was… recent. I am new to this version of the world. Would you mind assisting me?" She leaned forward slightly, the seductive smile returning, a weapon she had wielded for millennia. "I can give you anything you wish for in this world."
He is still a human. He will succumb to his earthly desires. It is their nature.
Cain looked at her. He looked at the smile, at the poised, expectant posture. His face remained utterly blank, unmoved. He simply turned around and started walking back to his car door.
Huh? Lucifer's mental voice was pure, stunned silence. Did he just refuse me? Me?
A spark of genuine surprise, then indignation, flared within her. Before he could reach the car, she closed the distance in two swift steps and grabbed his forearm. Her grip was firm, cooler than he expected.
"Wait," she said, the playful tone gone, replaced by one of blunt insistence. "I am an Angel, and I speak the truth. I am lost… Even though my status is… altered… the ancient curse, the one that turns a being to stone for speaking falsehood, can still bind me. I swear it. I am genuinely without direction here."
Cain turned, looking from her hand on his arm up to her face. She was tall, taller than him, and her expression held a piercing sincerity that was hard to dismiss as mere insanity.
But…
An angel? What is she talking about? Is she schizophrenic?
He looked down the long, dark, empty road. The image of someone else finding her here, someone with cruel intentions, formed unpleasantly in his mind. He sighed, the sound heavy with resignation.
"Fine," he said, pulling his arm gently from her grasp. "But first, put that jacket on. I am not driving with a… shirtless person in my car. It's a rule. And second, you have to be quiet while we're on the road. No more strange talk until we're somewhere else."
Lucifer tilted her head, the motion bird-like and curious. "What is a jacket?" she asked, holding the denim out slightly.
Cain froze, his hand on the car door handle. He stared at her, his mind blank for a full three seconds.
"What do you mean, 'what is a jacket'?"