This story is by A.J. Aisling and was part of our 2024 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
Time was such an unlucky ally. Lucifer was bored. No matter what tragedy befell mankind they marched on. Tragedy and comedy entwined. While it was sometimes entertaining, in June 1929 it was pathetic. They were inches away from a terrible time with so much delicious suffering, yet for now it was monotony. Endless moronic and miasmic boredom.
And then, at the Crossroads Carnival, he saw her.
Daphne Pemberton was a plucky and strange breed of humanity. Part ambition and greed, all idealism and codified personal ethics that she refused to impose on anyone but herself. Thus far, the girl had been rejected by her father for not being a boy who could manage the farm, by her mother as a lazy, big-eyed dreamer, and most recently by a beau as not-quite-wife material.
The thing was, Daphne had potential, but she was also someone he wanted to believe in. No one would accept that Lucifer, the fallen angel, the devil, Satan himself could believe in anyone or anything, but that wasn’t true. He was once an angel and it was in his DNA to hope and dream. In all honesty, he saw a bit of himself in the girl.
Lucifer was given the twin gifts of foresight and mind-reading. He could see all the possibilities for each silly human. Most of them were pathetic. Daphne was also pathetic, but there was also a spark that intrigued him.
If she was his next victim, how would he entice her? What would she most want? She wanted to be loved, that much was obvious, but loved by whom? By a backwoods beau? A businessman? Children? Adoring audiences who would listen to her melancholy melodies?
He closed his eyes and tried to focus. The answer was there, past his powers of perception, he just needed to lock onto it.
There! There it was! Buried deep within her subconscious he saw a nugget of longing. It was delicious, that miniature morsel of destruction.
And yet…and yet Lucifer was hesitant. He saw himself in this woman.
It was one thing to offer a deal to someone he knew deserved only suffering. That was easy, it was just. Even though Lucifer wasn’t known as the purveyor of justice, he sought to make decisions with payoff–that was the goal, to point out the failings of humanity. He aimed to show that none of them, even the good ones, were truly good. That way he could demonstrate to his father that punishing the angels who dared challenge him was hubris, injustice personified.
Daphne marched with determination to the fortune teller’s booth. As she sat, he gazed deeply into her eyes having already altered his appearance and set up shop as the prognosticator of destiny. He looked every bit the mysterious and beautiful woman who would connect the girl with her destiny.
Most people didn’t realize that the crossroads in life were rarely literal. In her eyes he began to see the small decision that would begin the unraveling of Daphne’s life. The deeper he looked the more he saw his own reflection, not physical but imperceptible, invisible, the truth.
That made this perfect. After all, if his father saw this girl fall from grace, he would have to see Lucifer as well. The just reward for the deal with the devil would seem unjust in the life of Daphne Pemberton. His father would be revealed as a hypocrite, once and for all, forcing Lucifer and his brothers to suffer when all they did was what so many humans did every day.
She settled into the ratty, mildewed chair with defiant determination. Certain he could entice her, he walked around and sat at the table with the obligatory crystal ball obstructing his view of all but Daphne.
He read her thoughts and they were dark and sad, like Lucifer’s own. The sweet and innocent Daphne Pemberton was an expert at punishing herself. Her greatest desire was to heal the world with love and music. If she was handed that ability on this day, just two months before the crash of Wall Street, she would fulfill her purpose in such a way that everyone everywhere would know and love her. She could have everything she’d ever wanted, and Lucifer believed she would make good on that without being corrupted.
He stared at the girl and focused all his energy on understanding her past, present, and future. What he saw was a glimmer of hope for his ultimate revenge, but not a certainty. The girl had grit and determination that was admirable. Combined with her idealism and ethics, she might never give in to her demons.
But then, would that shove it in his father’s face? That was Lucifer’s goal, afterall. Or perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps he could give up on his revenge fantasy, and live in an eternal peace of his own making. He often wondered…
No, this had to work, he may never get another opportunity like this. The decision was his and he knew it, but he wouldn’t make that decision until she made hers. If she didn’t work out maybe quitting could be the remedy he craved.
With a mysterious rasp and an air of supernatural superiority he asked Daphne, “What do you most desire, child?”
She blushed and refused to make eye contact. “I don’t really know. I suppose I just want to be happy and loved.”
“That isn’t true, dear.” He wanted to coax her with charm but scare her a little too.
Daphne was still blushing, clearly uncomfortable being the object of the fortune teller’s attention. She continued to hesitate but finally blurted out, “My parents despise me and my beau abandoned me. I have nothing to lose and nowhere to go.” She was close, but she hadn’t hit upon it yet.
“And…?” With a flirtatious smile, he nudged her a bit with his hand, to wheedle her will to his whims.
The girl twirled her hair on her index finger and still refused to make eye contact. “I need a purpose and a home. I guess I want to make the world a better place, a sort of musical utopia. I want to lead people to a place filled with peace and love.” As the last word left her lips, she looked up and at last made eye contact.
That was the thing! There was so much delicious possibility in that hope. Utopia was impossible in a world with so many self-centered, self-serving people. And with the Great Depression mere months away! Her hope would never be realized and the more she tried to make it work, the more horrible unintended consequences would befall her. She would never be loved: she would be admired by those who didn’t know her and despised by those who did as a self-loathing and self-sacrificial reminder of their own moral ineptitudes.
“I can grant you all these things, my dear, but a price must be paid.”
The girl opened her little purse and he placed his hand over hers, stopping her. “No, not money. Something less… tangible.”
Fear contorted Daphne’s features as the price being demanded was comprehended. That look gave him pause, but only for an instance. If she was as innocent as she wanted to be, she wouldn’t be so eager to hand over the money she worked a year to earn. Daphne Pemberton wanted the world to know and love her. If there was utopia, that was all the better, but it was love and power she craved, and in that order.
Lucifer saw the impending devastation her choice would bring. Her future husband would be envious of her power and the way her followers adored her and he would withhold his love for her. Her children would be sacrificed for the sake of others, and they would despise her for it. And the followers would give, only to see their fearless leader misuse the money, mishandle the power, and lose everything they gave. They would turn on her and tear her apart.
It was a sort of microcosm of this whole human experiment his father so loved. It would fail as his father’s experiment had, and Daphne Pemberton would be the sacrificial offering of realism. Daphne would reflect Lucifer. Then his father would see.
“The moment to decide will soon pass, child, and with it your hopes and dreams. You must choose.”
“But what is the price I must pay?” Her innocent eyes almost stopped him in his tracks. She was so sincere it was heart-breaking.
He couldn’t let feelings get in his way. This was business, and this was the way the world worked. Daphne would get all she wanted and more.
“The price, dear, is everything. All that you are and all you will ever be. If you agree to offer that, you will see all your dreams come true.”
There was a moment’s hesitation, then a shake of her head. “No.”
Plan B it was, then. Time for vacation.
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