Chapter Twenty-Four: I Am The Prince Of Hell
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I leave Sam on the bench and walk deeper into the room where I take a left turn and get into a stall, locking the door behind me. I chuckle silently as I realize there is absolutely no need to do that as I’m sure the locks pose no barrier for the Devil. Moreover, he gave me his word that he didn’t plan on being a peeping Tom and so far, he has always kept to his words.
However, the locked door seems to provide me with a false sense of safety.
“If you don’t speak every language, how then do you communicate with everyone in the world?” I continue the conversation as I start to strip.
“I speak the language of the Angels,” he answers. His tone is one of boredom as though this isn’t exactly an interesting story, or he feels like it’s something I should already know.
“The language of the Angels?” I repeat, wondering why it sounds so familiar, yet so strange. I turn on the shower, letting the cool water wash the paint off of me.
“Yes, that’s what I said. I believe I was very clear. I speak, and you hear me in whatever language you so wish. So, if a French man were here with us, he’d hear me speak French while you’d hear English.”
“Wow!” I breathe out, pausing to reflect his words. A thought suddenly dawns on me. A Bible passage that was read to me years ago. “On the day of the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on Peter and –”
“Yes, yes! Father gave him the divine ability of Angelic unison. Looks like someone was paying attention in her Sunday school.” His teasing tone causes me to giggle.
“I do pay attention in church, but I’ll have to admit that I don’t always understand the Bible.”
“You can’t. You’re human.”
His explanation causes me to scrunch my brows, though he cannot see my expression of confusion.
“Care to explain?”
“Not necessarily.” He sounds nonchalant and I sigh at how he went from being teasing to being impassive.
I spend the rest of my shower time in silence as I have nothing more to say, and Sam doesn’t seem to want to make any small talk. Once I am done, I dry myself and slip into the white knee length gown Sam earlier gave me.
The material is so soft, it almost feels unnatural. The sleeve and the neck are covered with lace and the top part of the gown hugs my body, accentuating my shape. It spreads out a little from the hip downwards, giving me room to stretch my legs. Overall, the gown looks causal, yet super elegant.
I pull out a pair of white heeled sandals and slip it on. By the time I’m done, I shyly open the door only to find Sam staring right at me as though he could see through the walls the whole time. He has a smug smile playing at his lips.
“You look a whole lot less repulsive. I’m impressed with myself.” His violet eyes shine with admiration and pride – to himself. “Now, let’s do something with that hair.”
“It’s still wet,” I tell him, not wanting to loosen the towel from around my hair so I don’t ruin the pretty dress. He however scoffs at my words and beckons me over.
With uncertainty in my steps, I walk closer to him and turn my back to him. He gets up from the bench and helps me get rid of the towel, holding my hair before it falls on my dress. I feel a warm tingling sensation on my scalp, but before I can ask what it is, it fades away and my hair falls over my shoulder, completely dry.
I let out a breath of astonishment and try to reach and feel my hair, but he swats my hand away so I let it fall limp as I try to contain my excitement.
His fingers comb through my hair, sending shivers down my spine. I try to stay still and pretend like I don’t totally love the feeling of him playing with my hair. Somehow, the moment feels intimate and I find blood rushing to my cheeks every time his fingers brush against my skin.
Regardless of how hard I try to remind myself that he’s the Devil; the prince of deception, I cannot help but enjoy being in the company of the enigmatic, handsome immortal being.
“Good!” He suddenly exclaims, placing a palm on my shoulder and using it to turn me so I am now facing him. “You look presentable. Which is a good thing because I cannot be known as the boy who stood beside the clearly embarrassing girl.”
Only Sam can do something absolutely thoughtful and sweet for the most selfish reason.
“It’s a rather heroic image, don’t you think?” I raise a questioning brow and he scoffs.
“Heroes are mostly morons who people don’t like. Villains however have an alluring appeal to them.”
I want to argue with him, but I realize it is his snide remarks and generally villainous character that makes him all the more appealing. It all just makes up the interesting person that is Sam Light.
For a moment, I find myself rooted to the spot, my gaze transfixed on his violet eyes that are so unique and so unnatural, it is almost impossible to look away from. Something about the golden-haired boy with unusually white teeth and a smug smile seems to reel me in, forcing me to desire the undesirable.
I should be thinking about Asher – the boy that I like and who most likely likes me back. I should be thinking about proving to myself and Sam that Asher had nothing to do with Ben’s death, and not enjoying a moment with the Devil.
“Stop doing that,” His voice is smooth and soft like the finest silk and pleasant to the ears like honey, Yet, it is strong and affirmative. My eyes momentarily land on his lips and I whimper, forgetting how to perform the simple task of breathing.
“Doing what?” My voice comes out as a breathy whisper which totally surprises me, but I am too far gone to care. I find myself leaning closer, wanting desperately to run my fingers through his incredible looking hair.
“Staring at me like I’m the most remarkable thing you’ve seen. Well, I am, but stop it. You look like you’re falling for me, an act which I would consider completely idiotic.”
“Why?”
“Need I remind you that I am the Devil? I am not only eons older than you; I am also the very Devil you have been taught to be wary of and according to you humans, I prowl the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of you pitiful humans.” His tone is cold and devoid of emotions and he gives me a deadpanned stare that snaps me out of whatever trance he had me in.
I mutter an apology as I take a step backwards, internally reprimanding myself for harbouring carnal thoughts towards the boy.
Gee, Bells! You just had to make a beautiful moment totally awkward, didn’t you?
“Don’t beat yourself up. I’m a handsome Devil and it is only normal that your hormones should act wild after being around me for long. In fact, I would consider you broken if you were completely resistant to my charms.” He winks at me and my stomach summersaults. “Well, your bell will be heard in three, two –”
The shrill sound of the bell pierces through the air and I suck in a deep breath as I fiddle with the hem of my new gown. Inside of me, nerves churn in anticipation of getting thrown once more into the busy hallway that’s filled with mean students that lurk in the shadows, waiting to make a fool of me.
“You look like you’re constipating,” Sam notes as he walks towards the door. “It’s ruining the beauty of the dress, so please, stop doing that with your face.”
“Can you pretty please just give me a word or two of validation?” I smile shyly at him and he turns back to me, his brows narrowed in thought.
“Hmm…” He taps his chin. “The dress is astonishing. Of course, it is. It’s from Sheila Stores. I designed everything in the VIP section there. Now, is that validation enough for you?”
“Not really, but it’s the best you got, I guess.” I walk towards the door but he suddenly raises a finger, stopping me in my steps.
I watch with curiosity as he snaps his fingers and stretches his gloved palm to me, and much to my amazement, a small white box appears atop it. With his other hand, he opens the box and gestures for me to take it.
A gasp escapes my lips when I catch sight of the beautiful silver jewelleries that’s resting majestically atop the velvet lining inside the box. My lips stretch into a wide grin as I pick up the silver chandelier earrings and put them on.
Sam watches me, his head inclined to the side and mild boredom and curiosity in his eyes; a very odd combination. When I am done with the earrings, I pick up the silver chain and chuckle when I see the pendant.
“A flame for a pendant? How fitting!” I muse and he spares me a small smile.
“I am the prince of Hell, after all.”
“Could you help me?” I hold out the necklace to him, but he surprises me by shaking his head.
“I helped you with your hair and you looked like you were about to kiss me. I don’t want to provoke your raging emotions any further.”
I pout at his words, but he shrugs and before I can utter a word of protest, he turns on his heels and walks right out of the room, leaving me all by myself.
Typical!
I breathe out heavily through my mouth, then put on the necklace without any aid. Sucking in a deep breath, I walk into the hallway.
Luckily, there are no mean girls lurking in the corner, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on me. Instead, people stop and point at me, muttering words of approval. Feeling totally self-conscious, I arrive at my locker and much to my surprise, it is complete clean, and so are all of my books.
Something throws me off guard though. Atop all my neatly arranged books, there is an unfamiliar object that causes my heart to start a stampede in my chest.
I look around, and no one seems to be paying me much attention anymore. No one really stands out in the crowd either, but I don’t expect them to. It’s not as though the secret admirer could conveniently be standing idly by wearing a poster that said ‘I’m the one who’s giving you the poems and gift, Bells!’
I wish life could be that easy!
I pull out the chocolate bar and the neatly folded purple note. I examine the chocolate with scrutiny and when I decide it hasn’t been tampered with, I tear it open and take a bite. Relishing in its deliciousness, I open the note to find it is written in the same print as the other notes.
'Of course! The stalker couldn’t just write the letter by himself. Of course!' I think to myself.
I’m sorry for being unable to protect you today. I wish I had known what she was planning. It angers me to see you so publicly humiliated. I wish I could just shield you from all the wicked people in the world. Trixie has to pay though.
In the meanwhile, I hope a little chocolate bar makes you smile. And I’m sorry for forgetting to tell you that you are positively astonishing as always.
Love; yours.
I smile when I realize the particular note isn’t as creepy as the others. Perhaps the secret admirer isn’t bad and doesn’t mean any harm.
It actually feels nice knowing someone out there deeply cares about me.
~~~
Who do you all think this secret admirer is? I'm curious.
I hope you're all enjoying this book.
❤❤❤❤
Love you all.