Theodora thought that her life was over when she died, but little did she know her death was only the begining.
Lucifer's life was mundane, nothing interesting ever happened, he was lonely, until she came.
This is a love story between the King of H...
Before I start I want to add a quick trigger warning. This chapter is the most intense yet and deals with topics of addiction, abuse, and suicide. I love you all dearly and I would be absolutely heartbroken if my writing were to ever cause undue stress. Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy. Also stick around to the end for a small, and what I hope is nice, treat :)
"Before I start though, I need you to promise me one thing," Thea said, not looking at Lucifer but instead choosing to turn her gaze back towards the ocean and grabbing hold of his hand. "No matter how rough the things I may tell you tonight are, I need you to not say anything. It's going to be hard, the things I have to tell you tonight are not easy, but if you say something I may lose all courage I have." Luce squeezed her hand in response, showing her he understood.
With the both of them looking out at the setting sun over the ocean Thea began her story. "I wish I could remember a before, I know there was one. Before my brother left he would tell me stories of before, before Mom started using, before she left, before Dad learned how satisfying fists could be. He would tell me about how Mom and Dad would tuck us into bed every night, how Mom would read us stories while playing with our hair, how Dad would bake bread every Monday morning, how excited he would get every time one of us lost a tooth, how when I came home from my second day of kindergarten crying because a girl pulled my hair so hard that a chunk came out they marched all four of us down to the school and we both sat there watching as they yelled at the principal for not doing anything. I wish I remembered those times, but I don't. Instead I remember Dad yelling at Mom because she pawned her wedding ring, I remember Mom driving my brother and I across town to sketchy looking trailer homes and leaving us in the car for a few hours, I remember coming home from school one day Mom being gone, I remember the first time Dad hit me, I remember when he stopped apologizing for the hits, I remember screaming at my brother to take me with him, I remember him leaving, I remember when Dad moved on from just hitting. I remember it all." Thea stopped speaking for a while, instead she took a few sips of wine and took a deep breath.
"My junior year of high school was when I decided I needed to make a plan, that I couldn't live this way forever. I started using my study hall to research colleges and work on trying to graduate early. It took me a few months, but when I got my acceptance letter to Western Washington University it all felt worth it. I graduated a few months later and left that very day. I spent 5 years in Bellingham working on my English Literature and Teaching degree and then I came here. I bought Carol, spent my weekends reading, writing, and doing home improvements. Nobody knew where I came from, and they never asked. I was free, I had everything I wanted, I thought I escaped. I stopped looking over my shoulder for Dad, I stopped changing my phone number every year, I stopped thinking he would find me. But that's the thing about Dad, he never stopped looking. I can't say I blame him either. Everyone he had ever loved left him, we all left and he was forced to face his reality. He was angry, angry at Mom for getting addicted to pain pills described by her doctor, angry at Mom for leaving him, angry at my brother for leaving him when things got bad, and angry because I couldn't stop it either. Abusing me was the only thing that made him feel any feelings other than anger and he got addicted to it just like Mom. It's why I should never have thought I was safe, I should have always known he wouldn't stop until he found me again."
At that point of Thea's story, she had tears in her eyes and Luce was trying his absolute hardest not to lose his mind. He wanted to hurt someone or something in a way he had never before. He wanted to destroy. He wanted to hunt down her mother, father, and brother and make them pay, to punish them for hurting her. But he knew he couldn't, not until she was done with her story, he couldn't break his promise. So instead he held her hand, sipped his wine, and listened.
"He found me. One day I came home from teaching and there he was, sitting on these very chairs drinking a beer. Waiting for me. It was so strange to seem him here, I stepped onto the deck and walked inside. That night I made us dinner, it was all so surreal. I made us a nice pasta dish that I had learned a few months earlier, we ate, not a word spoken between us. When we were done eating I cleaned up and we sat here again, watching the sunset, just like we are now. Once it was dark he finally spoke. He told me how he had found me, apparently because he was my father he could call the people in charge of my student loans and get my mailing address from them. He told me about what happened after he left, how he became talk of the town, how people felt bad for him and made him dinner, how they realized what had actually happened to his family, about how everyone shut him out. It was so sad Luce, he was so sad. He looked at me and just said 'I think you know what is going to happen know'. I didn't want it Luce, I promise I didn't, but I didn't fight it. When he started hitting me again I didn't try and stop it, when he hit me so hard I couldn't move I didn't try and yell for help, I did nothing. I let him drag me over to the edge of the deck and throw me over. I heard him as he said 'its finally over' and watched as he walked away. I couldn't swim, I was still paralyzed from his fists, so I just had to watch and wait for myself to succumb to the cold water and lack of air. The next thing I knew I was waking up in a bed in the gray room of purgatory, and well, you know the rest."
Thea's story was finally over, she had told him everything. Luce tried to think of something to say, something to help her understand just how sorry he was that she had to go through that, something to comfort her, something to tell her that he didn't blame her one bit, that he wasn't upset with her at all, but he couldn't. All he could do was pull her out of her chair, help her get changed into some more comfortable sleep clothes, bring her to bed, and hold her while she cried all while planning what he was going to do to her father. Because little did Thea know, she had awoken something in Luce. If anyone thought he was the brutal king of Hell before, they certainly weren't ready for what was in store for those who dared hurt the woman he loved.
Wowza, this was a hard and weird one to write. I have had this chapter sitting in the back of my head ever since I first started thinking of this story and I really hope I have given it the spotlight and attention it deserves. As stated in the beginning, I promised you all a treat. I spent a small bit of time trying to figure out what Thea looks like to me and have created an image that I think gets pretty close. I hesitated to share it with you all because I know some people don't like to see the author's vision of characters, but I figured for those who are interested you would enjoy seeing our lovely and brave Thea! Without further ado, here she is-
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