YOU WILL BE MY DOWNFALL
"SHE'S DEAD NOW AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT"
12 Years Ago - Los Angeles
THE BIRDS WERE CHIRPING, and the sun was shining bright. Lucifer Morningstar was going to have a great last day on Earth. Starting the day with a long, peaceful nap-
His phone rang.
He began stirring in sleep, groaning at the sound. Coved his ears with a pillow, cursing at whoever was calling this early.
A smile began to form as silence filled his apartment.
It soon dropped, hearing his ringtone once again. He let out a frustrated sigh, throwing the blanket off to the side. He sat at the edge of the bed, picked up his phone off the nightstand, and brought it close to his ear, ready to give this person a piece of his mind.
"You better have an excellent reason to why-"
The man on the other line began to rant, interrupting him.
__________
There he was, standing in front of the police station. Wondering why he was told to come here and if it was too late to turn back.
The man on the phone made it seem like it was an emergency. Although Lucifer could care less, it was his curiosity that lead him here.
Eventually, he pushed all those thoughts aside, took a deep breath, and walked through the front doors.
A policeman stopped in his tracks to see who walked in. "Are you Lucifer Morningstar?"
Lucifer was a truthful man. Not lying about anything nor about who he was. People never believed him when he was going around calling himself the 'Devil'.
Overall, he was a pretty well-respected man and very wealthy. For that, he owns one of the best nightclubs around, 'Lux'.
He also wears suits... only suits.
"The one and only," Lucifer answered. "Why exactly was I called here?"
"Ashley Morningstar, your daughter, came in asking for you," The man replied. Assuming that she was his daughter seeing how they share the same last name.
"Morningstar?" Lucifer whispered. He grew confused at the similar last names. Not thinking much of it, he pushed it off and thought it must've just been a coincidence.
"Where is she?"
The man pointed to the corner of the station. There you see a brown-haired girl with hazel eyes sitting in a chair. In her hands was a piece of paper that she played with to keep herself entertained.
"We tried contacting any other family members, but it seems it was just her and her mother," The officer informed.
"And you of course," He quickly added on.
"Is the mother on her way?" Lucifer asked, bringing his attention slowly back to the officer.
"She was the first we tried contacting." The man looked down as he sighed. "But, unfortunately, not much later she was found dead. They said it might've been suicide."
Lucifer's mouth slightly opened. "Did she see?" Gesturing toward Ashley.
The officer shook his head, turning his head to face the girl. "She wouldn't talk, hasn't even cried once yet. We think she might be in shock." He turned his attention back to Lucifer. "The only time she did talk, she was asking for you."
Lucifer's face softened, feeling a bit of sympathy for the girl. "Could I speak to her?"
"Of course," The man smiled. "Maybe you'll have better luck than us," He continued. Patting Lucifer's back before walking away.
He was hesitant to take the first step because thoughts and questions stopped him. Now was his chance to leave. What would he say to her? She isn't his responsibility. He can't leave her here, can he? JUST LEAVE-
A hand fell on his shoulder, helping him regain focus. He turned to his right to see that same officer as before.
"You got this," The man smiled before leaving once again.
Lucifer stood up straight, fixing his suit, and scoffed. Of course, he can do this. He is the Devil after all.
He walked toward the hazel-eyed girl and slowly sat next to her.
"Hello there."
"Hi," Ashley greeted. Not making an effort to look at the man sitting next to her and just staring at the ground.
Lucifer glanced at her hands. "What is it you've got there?"
The girl froze and gripped the paper tightly. She then slowly handed it to him.
He read it once. No, twice. He just kept going through the note over and over again, not believing what he was reading. 'Daughter' was the only word that stuck out to him.
He slowly looks at the young girl next to him. Getting a good look at her, and comparing their features. There were some similarities, but he didn't want to believe he had a daughter. Never in history has this happened before.
He quickly looked at the end of the note, 'Victoria Houston'. Lucifer mentally face-palmed himself.
Seven years ago, he and Victoria hooked up. It was sex, just sex, nothing more. He quickly realized Ashley was born seven years ago. He missed his daughter's life for seven years. He didn't even know he had a daughter... for seven years.
"You're mine and Victoria's daughter," Lucifer states.
Ashley nods.
"She's dead now," She mutters. "and it's all my fault."
He was taken aback by her words. "Now why would you think that?"
"She said it was." The girl paused for a moment. "She said-"
__________
"Do you think I wanted a daughter like you?" Victoria screamed from the living room. "I never wanted you in the first place! You make me feel crazy!"
She didn't believe Lucifer when he said he was the 'Devil' like everyone else, but it wasn't until she had Ashley that she actually believed it.
"What did I do? I can fix it, mommy," The young girl said softly, holding back her tears, and clinging to her teddy bear tightly.
"You can't!" The older woman yelled back. "But you know what you can do?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a note, tossing it to her daughter. "You can take that note, go to the police station and ask for Lucifer Morningstar."
The young girl was confused, she didn't know who he was at the time. She reached to grab the note off the floor. "Who's that?"
"He's your father, the reason why you have that disgusting Devil face," Victoria shouted, getting in her daughter's face.
The young girl got scared at the sudden closeness and fell to the ground.
This 'Devil face' Ashley's mother was talking about was a whole different side of the young girl. This face looks dead, and rough, but appears to be human without skin. More than half of her face was red, including one of her eyes. She didn't know how to turn it on or off. It would just happen randomly. She wanted nothing more than to find a way to stop it from showing, to keep her mother from being disgusting.
"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered, getting up from the floor.
The older woman was not only ashamed but scared of her own daughter. She couldn't bare looking at Ashley. She couldn't raise a monster.
Victoria walked to the kitchen with her daughter following behind. She was searching for a knife. Finally finding one, she held it against her throat. "You did this! This is all your fault." And with that, her body fell to the ground, blood pooling around her.
Across her body, was Ashley, watching it all unfold. She stood there staring at her mother's cold dead body. Her teddy bear was soaked in blood from when she dropped it.
Ashley did what she was told to do. She made sure she had the note, left through the front door, and walked her way to the police station.
When she made it, she quickly asked for Lucifer Morningstar and sat in a corner chair. Her mind replayed what just happened over and over again, and not speaking a word to anyone.
__________
Lucifer open his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say. What can he say? He thought about saying 'sorry', but that seemed too... worthless from what the little girl had been through. So, they just sat there in silence.
"Are you going to take her home?" The same officer from earlier asked.
"Where's home?" The girl asked softly, looking up at her father.
And again, he didn't know what to say. He had an underworld to run. Certainly, he couldn't bring a seven-year-old girl with him. Could she call Hell her home? As much as he didn't want to bring her, he had to.
"She's coming with me, she's coming..." Lucifer faced his daughter. "Home." He whispered. He then looked back at the officer. "Is there any paperwork that needs to be filled out?"
"Yes, come with me," The man answered.
Lucifer got up and followed the officer, not being too worried that Ashley would get up and leave.
And he was right, she didn't leave. Where could she even go? She doesn't have anyone else. She doesn't have a place to call home.
__________
"Where have you been?" Said a woman with brown hair. She was walking toward Ashley and Lucifer. "Better question, why do you have a child with you?"
"Maze, meet Ashley..." He paused for a moment. "Morningstar, my daughter." He continued softly.
Maze, a soul-less Demon. Her only purpose was to be in Lucifer's army, along with other demons. But after a while, he and her soon became close friends.
She let out a laugh. "You can't be serious."
Her laugh died down when she realized he was actually serious. "How did this even happen?"
Lucifer put his hand on top of Ashley's head. "A hook-up mishap down on Earth."
"You had a child with a human? Not possible." Maze looked at the little girl closely, "How are we so sure she's yours?"
"Well look at her." He crouched down to his daughter's height and smiled. "She's dashing just like her father."
Ashley looked at Lucifer beside her, then back at the Demon in front of them. She pressed her face against his and smiled too.
"Looks human, and only human," Maze states. "She might have similar features but wouldn't she have a hint of the Devil in her?" She crossed her arms.
Lucifer stood back up and thought about it. "You do have a point," He said, pointing his finger at Maze and then turning his attention to his daughter. "Can you make this face?"
His face quickly looked dead, similar to Ashley's but both his eyes were red.
The young girl took a step back.
"See, what did I tell you, she's-"
Maze stopped talking once she saw Ashley's face flicker into a 'Devil face'.
"Well, I'll be damned. Looks like she is your daughter. Who's her mother?"
"Why would I tell you, when I could show you," Lucifer said while smiling.
The young girl looked up at her father. "My mom is here?"
"Of course, she is!" He answered, looking down at the young girl. "People on Earth think you go to hell by doing bad things, but in reality, it's your guilt that brings you down here. Your mother's guilt was... well you know." Closing his eyes, sticking out his tongue, and swiping his hand across his neck.
"Don't you think that was a bit much telling her that?" The Demon said.
"Nonsense, she's my daughter she can handle it." He looked down once again and put his hand behind his daughter's back. "Would you like to see your mother?"
Ashley hesitated to answer, opening her mouth but nothing came out.
She thought about everything that happened and came to the conclusion that she didn't want to see her.
It might've been selfish, but she realized that she didn't need her. She didn't need Victoria to be a good person, she just needed her to be a mother... but she couldn't even do that. So, what's the point of holding on to someone if they just wanted to leave you?
"Look what you've done. You've broken the poor girl." Maze gestured toward Ashley. "Would you like to look around and meet some of my friends?"
The girl nods.
Maze put out her hand for her to hold. Which she accepts, grabbing the older woman's hand with a smile on her face. They walked away, leaving Lucifer all alone.