THE GUARDIAN DEVIL

Chapter 23 "The familiar smell"

Angela's P.O.V

I have never seen Lucifer laugh like he was laughing today. I have seen him smiling, chuckling, smirking, and even chortle especially when he and Asher banter with each other. But he never laughed. No matter what emotion was painted on his face, but his eyes were always sad and lonely, as if longing for something. And I could never muster up the courage to ask him the reason. 

To be honest I was myself not sure whether or not I had the right to ask him anything. While on one hand, I didn't want him to think that I am taking some undue advantage of his kindness by prying into his life as he was already going out of his way for me whom he barely knows, on the other hand his care, the honesty in each and every thing he does for me and the sincerity in each and every word he says to me makes me feel like family instead of the stranger that I am. 

It makes me want to be present for him like he is always there for me. For some unknown reasons that no matter how hard I tried to understand but could not, I wanted to provide the same support and comfort to Lucifer like he does for me. For reasons that are indecipherable, I wanted to be someone that he could be proud of. 

Today too, no matter how much I was frightened, no matter how much I wanted to scream to let all the pain and the memories out of my mind, just the mere knowledge of the fact that he was close to me in the same building, just a single glance at him and I felt protected. All my terror was washed off by just his mere presence. 

The worry on his face when he saw my tear struck face, made me wanted to be brave..for him. 

And to be honest, it is scaring me to the core. With Lucifer, I unknowingly let all my guards down. Without even knowing I let him penetrate all the walls that my past has taught me to put around myself. And whats more frightening is that I don't regret doing so.

"Hey..you okay angel?" Lucifer's worried voice fell on my ears, bringing me back from my trance.

I nodded not trusting my voice and instantly a relieved smile formed on his face.

"Just wait for a minute and I will bring the car." he said and moved towards the parking area but not before he assured that I am fine waiting alone, though it would  just be a matter of a few minutes.

A small smile started to form on my face by the warmth my heart felt as I saw Lucifer's retreating back. He almost ran towards his car, probably to lessen the time for which he had to leave me alone waiting for him. 

When he got out of sight, I subconsciously turned my head towards the other side looking no where in particular and that's when my eyes landed on the ice cream truck that was parked on the opposite side of the road. People were lined up waiting for their turn while others were already relishing the delicious heaven. 

Two years ago, whenever I used to be upset, happy, anxious, sad... basically anything, just a tub of chocolate ice cream was enough to treat myself or uplift my mood. 

Subconsciously I tiptoed and slightly tilting my head to the side and I looked in the direction Lucifer went. Hesitation encircled my thought of whether it would be right to ask him to get me a cup of my favorite chocolate ice cream. A few moments of pondering and a quick second glance at the ice cream truck was all it took to take my decision.  

A small smile involuntarily started to form on my lips by just the thought of having one of my favorite thing, the heavenly chocolate ice cream in my hands, in just a short span of time. I could feel my mouth watering by just the image of me relishing and drowning in its taste. 

My feet subconsciously took a step forward in the direction in which the ice cream truck was parked, but I was not able to take the second step, as a familiar smell hit my nose. 

The smell of cigar. 

The smell was enough to freeze me in my place. Though it was not exactly the same smell but it was close enough to make me feel like my life has been sucked out of me. I could feel my body shaking and sweat forming on my forehead. Suddenly everything around me seemed to swirl and in no time, all I could see were the blurred images of everyone and everything around me.

I was not even sure of whether I really stumbled a few steps back or it was just my imagination. My body seemed to have lost all its weight and my head was spinning. A throbbing pain stung on one side of my head and I immediately lifted my hand to put pressure on it, in hope to ease the pain a bit but even before my hand could reach the side of my head, the pain engulfed my head completely. 

I quickly clutched my head with both of my hands and subconsciously entwined my fingers tightly around my hair. I wanted to scream but my voice seemed to stuck in my throat. It was taking everything in me to breath, my chest heavily heaving in a rhythmic manner with my struggles to suck in some air into my lungs. 

Black spot started to appear in front of my eyes and my eyelids no longer seemed willing to remain open. My legs wobbled and I could feel myself gravitating weightlessly to the ground. I waited for me to fall and unconsciously anticipated the inevitable pain, but suddenly I felt a pair of strong muscular arms wrap around me. 

A few soft pats on my cheek forced my drooping eyes to open for a moment and a struggling smile managed to etch on my lips seeing the face that was visible in that tiniest second. My lifeless hand involuntarily started to lift to touch his face but the darkness that was engulfing my senses overcame my efforts and even before my hand could reach up to his cheek, my eyes closed and all I could see was black. All I could feel was hollow emptiness.