18 Next to me

Aisha.

The first thing that runs through my body when I regain consciousness is relief.

Immense relief.

The pain in my chest is finally gone, which is gratifying.

I open my eyes slowly and see him.

He's there, sitting there with his gaze fixed on me, his brown eyes turning darker as they meet mine. His appetizing lips are half-smiling, his hair looks unkempt as always, the desire to caress him takes hold of me.

He is here.

Next to me.

"You found me..." I whisper, unable to believe that he is finally by my side.

"I always will, trust me, I have no other option." he assures me with his usual confidence. "I told you, there's no point in trying to get away from me."

"I would never try that." I laugh to see that he is in a joking mood.

"No?" he asks mischievously. "I've been looking for you for a long time in this world, I told you not to let go of my hand, now I'll have to punish you."

Oh hell...

He approaches extremely slowly towards me, I feel that my whole body vibrates when he caresses my ankle with his hand, then he moves his hand along my leg, I bite my lip to avoid a nervous laugh.

"What kind of punishment?" I ask with false innocence as I feel my entire body craving for his.

He leans down until his lips brush mine.

"One you'll never forget."

Just as I'm ready to devour his lips, the door opens.

Everette closes his eyes in frustration and I hear him curse under his breath. Shameena enters in a fury and Asmodeus follows her reluctantly, Ava walks next to them with a radiant smile and I feel my breath catch when I notice that her hand and Death's are intertwined.

She watches me smiling and walks towards me, then her eyes land on Everette and I sense some fear in them.

"I'm glad you're okay, Camille." she murmurs.

"Stop calling her that." Everette rolls her eyes in annoyance. "You should have explained her, Life, it bothers me greatly that you have kept my soul in ignorance."

"I apologize." She bows slightly to him. "I really didn't want to risk the mission that brought us all here in the first place, we must catch the Infernal beast."

Death stands up next to her and bows in the same way.

"I apologize in the same way for the behavior of my companion of existence." assures the demon.

"No more bowing." orders Everette. "I know you didn't mention anything because you knew she came from Hell and that she would lure Death to you, don't think I don't know how manipulative Celestials can be."

Ava grimaces in discomfort which confuses me even more.

Celestials?

"Son of Lucifer, I'm really sorry." she assures him.

Everette denies and sighs, he rests her eyes on me for a few moments and then looks at Ava again.

"In the past this would have been an offense, but I guess now that I have a partner in existence I can understand that the connection to them causes us to do crazy things." he smiles sideways. "I am pleased that you have finally reunited with Death."

Ava smiles in relief and hugs Death.

"I thank you." she replies.

I look at Shameena, hoping that she will instruct me a little to understand all this, but she and Asmodeus are staring at each other with anger and desire.

Let's just say that any grudge I had against her vanished when she saved me from that disgusting human.

"This is Aisha." Death's voice makes me react and I see how Ava bows. "The companion of the prince of Hell."

"Enough with the formalities." laughs the brown- haired that stands next to me. "Life, this is my soul."

Ava approaches me and bows.

"It's a real pleasure to know your name, I'm so sorry to have confused you so much until now. Allow me to introduce myself properly." she sits up and smiles tenderly at me. "My real name is Life."

I blink astonished and look at Death, who smiles showing his perfect teeth, I had never seen him smile like that, his eyes are full of a light I don't recognize.

"Life?" I murmur awkwardly. "The Life?

Death laughs and she imitates him while Everette just rolls her eyes with a smile.

"Yes, Life. I'm so sorry I haven't introduced myself properly in the past." she apologizes formally.

Okay, I officially have no idea what the hell is going on.

Did she lie to me?

Did she pass me off as this Camille?

All this time I've been terrified and she just played along!

I'm beginning to think my expectations of Celestials were too high.

"Somebody explain what the hell is going on." I mumble, dropping onto the bed.

"Everette said he wanted to wait until you regained consciousness." Shameena speaks for the first time. "And boy, did it take you long."

Always so nice.

"Brother, we are waiting." Asmodeo points out.

"It's pretty straightforward actually, I'm surprised you guys haven't already come to a conclusion." Everette shrugs his shoulders. "As you already know, Aisha is not a demon, she is still simply a lost soul, but unlike the others, she is mine, so her presence in this world must be mitigated by the existence of another being. As we were not with her when she fell through the portal, her dark presence took the place of a human girl."

"So she replaced the existence of this Camille?" Shameena asks. "What happened to her? Is she dead?"

"It is likely that her presence is unconscious between the border of life and death, when we leave her body will materialize again in this world." explains Everette.

"The humans see Aisha as this Camille?" Death wonders.

"No, but you know that it is very easy to play with the minds of humans, they are weak and clueless creatures, in their minds

Camille always looked herself as Aisha, when the original Camille returns they won't even remember what the face of my soul looked like."

Everyone nods satisfied with the explanation.

I look at him dumbfounded.

Is everything really that complicated?

"Why didn't you take the place of a human?" I ask.

Everette, Asmodeus, Shameena and Death look at me offended, while Life looks at me laughing.

"We are pure-blooded demons, if we took the place of a human in this world, we would extinguish its existence completely, we don't need anything to materialize here." Everette says obviously.

"My case is similar." comments Life. "I am a pure Celestial, so I can come and go without needing to take the presence of humans."

"But why do they call you Ava?"

She laughs.

"When I saw you in that cemetery I knew you were a demoness, so I thought you had some connection with Death, I approached you because I knew that sooner or later, Death would make his presence known, although I wasn't entirely sure if he had been recruited to come by the Infernal beast, of course I had no idea you were the princess of Hell either, in the celestial realm we are never informed when a demon gives his mark, and personally I never thought Everette would give his." her eyes fall on my necklace.

"But you say you don't need to take the presence of a human, yet you attend the institute as several humans know you." I reply with even more confusion."

"Everette already said it, it is very easy to put ideas in the head of humans, of course as a Celestial I never do this unless it is necessary, every human being is wonderful and we must respect their existence."

Shameena lets out a low chuckle and we all watch her, she clears her throat uncomfortably.

"I'm not going to apologize, what you just said is really ridiculous." she objects.

Asmodeus rolls his eyes with a smile and Everette laughs.

"I hope you do not feel offended Life, a few millennia ago we do not approach this world, and the only contact we have with humans is when we steal their souls or torture them to death." Asmodeus shrugs.

Life looks at Death with annoyance and he raises his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"I do my best to control his thirst for souls. You should be proud, they've only killed one human so far." he defends himself.

"They have?" Everette mockingly retorts. "This time only Shameena is responsible."

"Oh, come on!" she exclaims defensively. "We're not even entirely sure that human is dead."

Life looks at her with horror and Shameena notices this gesture and winks at her.

"I guess it's admirable that they are controlling themselves so much..." Life murmurs. "I thank you very much for helping them control themselves." she says to Death.

He smiles and comes closer to cradle her face in his hands.

"You know I would do anything for you." he says confidently.

She laughs nervously and leans in to leave a slow, loving kiss on his pale lips. Seeing Life and Death in love is like a poem, so different but so perfect for each other.

Shameena snorts and sits up.

"Now that we are aware of how stupidly complicated this situation is, I think it's time to return to our quest." she says as she takes Asmodeus' hand.

It seems to be an unconscious gesture because once she makes contact with it, she lets it go with annoyance.

Everette laughs.

"I must admit it's pretty funny when it's not just me." he teases.

"You have been caressing Aisha's leg for a long time." defends the red-eyed boy.

"I'm just preparing her for her punishment." he shrugs. "I find it very entertaining to give her a false sense of security before devouring her completely."

Everyone present grimaces nervously.

"Remember that Aisha is still Camille to hundreds of humans out there, I don't think it's appropriate for her to shout your name." Life laughs.

"I will not shout his name!" I shriek indignantly.

"Of course not, I'll leave you so ecstatic that you'll lose the ability to speak." he winks. "That will solve the problem of your screams being heard all over the place."

I grimace and fold my arms.

Stupid, damn demon.

(...)

"And that's what happened..." Shameena finishes.

"Now you'll be with Asmodeo for all eternity?" I ask in surprise.

"It seems so." she grimaces.

"But if you desire Asmodeo and you won't lose your demonic powers, I don't see why that's a problem."

"The problem is that I can't control the bond that this mark generates." she says in exasperation. "I burn with rage when a human even breathes in Asmodeus' direction, and now I worry that he's in the best shape possible, it's pathetic!"

"I think I understand you..." I murmur.

Life enters the room and sits on the edge of the bed.

The others decided to go scour the area for the Infernal beast, when I regain all my strength I can go with them, but Everette insisted that Shameena and Life keep me safe.

"Do you mind if I have a say?" she asks.

Shameena rolls her eyes.

"Clearly we have no choice."

Life smiles complacently.

"I don't mind falling in love with a demon, as long as that demon loves me as much as he loves Hell."

We both look at her without understanding.

"Remember that Celestial metaphors do not help in our case, we live in Hell, my dear." Shameena blurts out obviously.

"I mean that the mark is never a mistake, the connection will be for all eternity, you just have to make sure that the love he feels for you equals the darkness that consumes him."

"Love?" my companion asks in disgust. "Asmodeus and I do not feel anything remotely similar to love, we are not weak."

Life observes her impatiently.

"Recognizing that you love someone makes you braver than you think." she encourages.

Shameena sits up with a start.

"I can't deal with this, I don't understand how Death can tolerate the Celestials." she leaves the rooLife sighs and smiles apologetically.

"I guess you think the same as she does." she says to me.

I deny.

"Actually I find it very admirable that you see things in such a beautiful way, you managed to make Death love you, I think you are a being too superior."

She denies.

"You made the Devil's son choose you, I think it is evident who is superior." she winks.

"Believe me, Everette feels my presence is a nuisance half the time, and the other half she simply holds back because of the mark."

She takes my hand in a gesture of encouragement.

"Let me make something clear to you." she moves a little closer. "If it were all because of the mark, neither you nor Everette would be so miserable to be apart, neither would have that connection and that incandescent desire for each other, the mark only brings repressed desires to the surface."

Repressed desires...

If the mark is in charge of that I think I'm pretty lost, because deep down inside all I desire is a demon with an unwieldy personality.

Specifically the prince of Hell.