"Oh Hell"

Prologue: "Just my Freaking Luck"

Ella Lopez was having a bad day. Truly, if you had asked her to rank the worst days of her life in a top five list like some YouTube videos did for various things, she was going to struggle putting that list together, or figuring out where this particular day was going to fit on that list. It had started off well enough, she'd woken up, said hello to Bob and Margaret, the latter being her usual charming self, she's gotten into work with her donuts and plenty of hugs for everyone. Chloe had squirmed a little awkwardly but that was pretty par for the course. She'd jammed to her music in her lab as she worked on cases, gotten called out to some gruesome murders and done her thiang and completely rocked as usual. Everything had been going pretty well. Sure she was sad that Lucifer wasn't around, but Amenadiel and Maze had made up for it in their own way, Dan and Linda were somewhere. The former was on vacation somewhere and the latter was attending a conference in Fresno of all places. Ella wasn't bothered by that, it made sense that even Linda would have to go to some of those. Chloe still rocked like the surrogate big sister she was, hearing out Ella's wild theories. She had even gotten to see not-so-little Trixie when Chloe brought her by the precinct to hang out with Ella while she worked. It didn't happen often as Chloe usually had a sitter or someone else to take care of her daughter, but of course, Trixie had gotten herself suspended from school. Again. Ella hadn't pressed her for circumstances, she'd just hugged the kid and offered to hear her out if she wanted to talk. Trixie hadn't wanted to talk about whatever was bothering her and so Ella had given her some help with her science homework and considered how to help. So what had gone wrong? well it was the anniversary of her getting in that car wreck... she tried not to dwell on it. She wasn't bothered that she had been left unable to walk for months or had been in a medically induced coma for a few weeks. She tried not to be bothered by the scars that she tried to keep hidden. She wasn't ashamed of them, why would she be? She just hated talking about them. She found herself thinking of everything else that had gone right. More killers had been caught and put behind bars, her forensic skills had often been what landed the perp in a cell. Of course, it was still the anniversary. Ella hated it, she had no reason to feel guilty for the car wreck or everything that had happened after. She had no guilt about for Rae-Rae. She just hated that as a child, she thought the wreck was her fault. Therapy was meant to try and get these feelings out of her head. It was meant to help her cope, and yet it hadn't. her family had thought her insane, had drugged her up and left her in mental hospitals. As much as she loved them she couldn't bare to be close to them. Their judgement had been worse than the bullying from her peers, or the disapproving looks from the other kids Moms and Dads. No one had believed her, and that was ok she guessed. Self-love had always been what she deemed to be most important. A part of her always wished she could have had more of her family's love after that car wreck. She hadn't even realised she was lost in thought until Chloe tapped her on the shoulder. Ella started, but Chloe quickly held her hands up in peace. "Whoa, take it easy Tigress" she said with a warm smile. Ella forced herself to take some calming breaths. "Wanna talk about it?" asked Chloe when she saw Ella clearly calmer. "Its... its just the anniversary of that car wreck I was in. Eighteen years ago, my life changed forever, cool to be unique right?" she asked, lunging forward and taking Chloe in a hug. Chloe for her part just hugged Ella back as she spoke. "Has uh... has Rae-Rae dropped by?" Chloe asked, deciding to be as sensitive as possible. Ella retreated from the hug and went back to doing her work, trying to come up with an excuse. Chloe had her answer from the silence alone. "Nah. I mean she wasn't there when I was in a coma, she wasn't there when I was being bullied, she wasn't there when my Mom threw me in a mental hospital for months on end. Why would she be here on the anniversary of the day my life changed?" Ella asked, trying to remain as happy as possible. "I'm sure she's ya know, really busy. Ghosts have jobs too right? Ya know they have bills to pay, and families to support too right?" Chloe placed a sympathetic hand on Ella's shoulder. "They also have friends and obligations to those friends" Chloe says gently and then looks around for Trixie. "Where's Trix?" she asked, being about as delicate as bull in a china shop with her changing of the subject. "Vending machines. I'm off soon so I promised I'd take her to the pier. Figured it'd help you if I let her burn off some energy" Ella said, and Chloe could only nod her thanks. "Think you can find out what happened at school?" she asked, and Ella's face fell a little. "I'm meant to be the cool aunt Decker, not the judgemental mom" she said in protest and Chloe held up her hands in a surrender motion. "I know I know... please Els? Dan's on vacation, Linda's on a work trip, I have cases to work and court tomorrow. She doesn't know Amenadiel well enough to talk to him, Lucifer is... away. You are literally my only option. Please?" Chloe was begging and Ella knew it. Were she a woman of more dubious morals, Ella would be negotiating a hefty price right now. Since she was Ella Lopez though, she made sure she was as reasonable as possible. "Ok ok fine, but you're buying all my rounds at the next Tribe Night" she said, back to her usual happy tone. Chloe didn't press her to talk about everything that was happening, and so just nodded. "Deal" Chloe promised with a smile and stayed where she was stood, struggling to decide if she should have said more to Ella about the accident. Ella noticed her hesitation. "So uh, you probably want stuff from the Williams case?" she asked, and Chloe took the polite change of subject for what it was. "Yeah, please tell me we're not chasing a serial" Chloe requested. Ella could see her desire clear as day, and frankly shared in it. Rachel and Tom Williams had been found in a brutal homicide that morning, Tom in a suit while Rachel was wearing a wedding dress, and they had also been found inside a heart drawn from blood. It reminded Ella and probably Chloe of the Broken Hearts killer. The difference between this killer and that one was simple. He had broken the hearts of cheaters, whereas whoever had committed this crime and the one before had gone after happily married couples. "Wish I could oblige Decker, but uh... yeah. I think it's a serial, everything lines up" Ella said sadly. It was hard to dim her bright light and outgoing nature. This was doing a good job of trying though. "Ok, and Ella... I hope you and Trixie have a good time. Don't forget to take care of yourself too" Chloe ordered, and Ella nodded with something of a sad smile. She quickly made her promises and said her farewells before grabbing Trixie and heading for her car. She had no idea just how bad her day was going to get.