Chronicle XIX: Lies

I met Daniel when we were little, some time after his mother passed away. Since we were neighbors of the Johnson family, we met the first time when he was adopted. His adoptive mother, Iris, and my mother were close friends; so I clearly remember the first moment I saw him like it was yesterday.

Empty and lifeless eyes... Red from crying. From what I could understand at the time, it was just Daniel and his mother, and when she passed away, he was left alone until his adoption. What his father did, as little as the adults knew at the time, was that he had abandoned them long ago, leaving her alone to raise her child.

The Johnson family have a heart of gold. Although a few months had passed since Rex was born, they did not hesitate to adopt Daniel. According to them, seeing him so unprotected, so broken, so lonely... Awoke in them the feeling of providing him with the love and warmth that he needed.

Needless to say, the Johnsons worked as volunteers at a church near their home, and since my family (including myself) are of the Christian faith, every Sunday we were there to attend mass, so I saw Daniel every weekend. Perhaps I did not understand it at the time, but unlike me, my parents and the Johnsons, Daniel always felt a rejection of the Church. His adoptive family always wanted to instill in him the faith in God, but he always rejected it.

Now I know why.

The truth is, acting so early, the innate ability and extraordinary simplicity of lying were worth it. We all buy the act. It was... It was very, very real; genuine, true and committed.

One day, while our parents were talking, he and I were having our own childish conversation away from them, while Daniel held Rex in his arms playing with him. I don't remember why we were talking about church or faith, they were pretty advanced topics for a couple of 8 year olds to discuss with each other. But we did it anyway: and at one point, with the dignified curiosity of a child, I asked him if he believed that the evil Devil existed and watched us closely so that, on the day we did something wrong, he would take us to his home.

I clearly remember how he stopped playing with Rex's hand and stared blankly at the grass. With an icy voice, looking at me with those emotionless eyes, he replied that he had already seen it. Seeing him like that obviously scared me, but then I laughed thinking it was a joke he was playing on me. After that, my mother called me to leave, and I said goodbye to him and the Johnsons so that we would never touch the subject again, and that conversation was forgotten.

Growing up, even if he smiled with his family, or with me and my parents, he showed himself to the outside with that rough and cutting attitude. He never had any friends except me. All the children who approached him ended up getting away for some particular reason. This caused bad rumors that followed him all the way through high school, banishing him from society, leaving him alone. But it didn't seem to affect him.

But like I said before, now I know why. Now I know the truth... Why everyone kept away from him, why he considered me his only friend, why he was attached to the Johnsons and why he had disappeared in recent months.

I must say, I totally swallowed the act. The miserable act was perfect. I felt the need to never leave him. Somehow, his attitude was different with me than with the others, and that ended up making me fall in love.

His warmth and concern. How he regarded his actions when I was around, or how he cared for his words. The affection for his family and the desire to help people when they needed a hand. In general, a person with a heart of gold.

But everything... Everything was a fucking lie!

He wanted me to feel that way. He kept an eye on all of us to control his plan. Thanks to... The Devil, and the new guy, Aaron Crane, I got rid of that act that he inserted into my brain, and I finally got to see it for what it really was.

When I returned to the... Human world, I suppose, we met face to face. When I saw his face, I wanted to curse him and vomit. Just looking at him made me sick. He tried to explain to me, supposedly, the truth. I threw all his lies in his face, and when I called him a monster, he showed his true face.

Black and red eyes that still make my blood run cold when I imagine them, and that demonic voice still gives me chills. But... When I saw his face when regretting , and hearing his words, I hesitated. He sounded sincere, afraid that I really believed everything I had told him.

But when Aaron and the Devil showed up, he was furious. He was screaming to know what they had been done to me. But to my surprise, the Devil, Astaroth, confronted him, revealing his entire plan and what he had done. He even revealed his real name: Zarathos. He even said the name of Daniel´s mother: Erika.

It was when he exploded. He showed those orange flames, skeleton skull, and again those black eyes of hell. Hee automatically lunged at him, but that's when everything went black for me. My body couldn't handle all those emotions.

When I woke up, only Aaron was by my side. He told me what happened while I was unconscious, concluding that they had defeated Da-...Zarathos, but he had managed to run away. I panicked hearing this, but he assured me that he couldn't escape for long and that sooner or later he would be caught.

He let me go home, making sure that if Zarathos was lurking, he would know and step in to save me. Then, he said goodbye taking my hand and placing a kiss, and he disappeared after going through a portal.

I felt insecure, but I started walking back to my house anyway.

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The night was turning dark. Elizabeth stepped onto the cold sidewalk with her gaze fixed on her, until she looked up as she turned a corner. The next thing her eyes discovered was enough to leave her in utter surprise.

The giant cloud of smoke slowly invading the night sky completely alarmed her. Recalling the streets and locating in her memory, her surprise turned to terror when she realized that it was on her street.

Turning a corner, he got a perfect view of the state of the neighborhood.

The entire street was smashed, shattered and completely on fire. She could see the bodies of her neighbors near the rubble of the houses, completely charred. All she could do was cover her mouth, trying to suppress a scream of horror. With trembling steps, she advanced, looking at the death around her with a heavy heart. She was a witness to behold utter carnage.

She caught a glimpse of her house in the same state as the others, causing her to snap in. She ran and ran towards her home, praying to all the divine beings she knew for her family to be okay. But all her hope vanished when she, stopping near her home, saw him.

A burning silhouette emerged from the building. The clothing it wore was enough to recognize him; after all, the last time she saw them was a few hours ago. That same figure turned to see her. Black sockets bored into her frightened eyes, and she felt a shiver run through her entire body, totally frozen with terror and disbelief. The Ghost Rider climbed onto her motorcycle, giving the girl one last look, and she could swear she saw him smile. Letting out a demonic laugh, he abandoned the destruction he had created, embracing the darkness of the night itself and disappearing into it.

Reacting a few seconds later, Elizabeth dove into her burning home, only to discover the corpses of her parents on the floor, charred. Tears flowed from her eyes as she let out a piercing cry of sadness and pain, falling to her knees, surrounded by the surging flames closing in on her, ready to consume her.

A sudden warmth surged behind her, unlike the blazing fire in the house. A hand rested on her shoulder, slowing her cry even though the tears continued to fall from her face.

- Elizabeth Walker - the stranger said - . Fear not... We are here, as we always were. Your destiny is not to perish here... It's time to go.

The hand left her shoulder, and new arms wrapped around her body, shielding her from the heat of the flames. The girl could not deny herself before such an act, limiting herself to continue crying while she was embraced by those wings that covered her. An unreal painting considering the scenario. Maybe not so much.

Immediately afterwards, the same light from which the angel emerged enveloped them both, and they disappeared from the place as if no one had stepped on the construction in the last few minutes.

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Hours passed of such a tragedy. As soon as they found out, all the media reported the terrible news. The press speculated about a mass murder caused by a pyromaniac. The police were investigating the case and declared that no one could get away with such a heinous crime. However, the person responsible for such an act had already done it.

The figure of the Ghost Rider that Elizabeth beheld with her own eyes brought his vehicle to a halt in the middle of nowhere. Under him something similar to a magic circle was formed, taking the form of a portal in which he plunged transporting himself to another place. With only a few seconds passed, he was in the Empire of Astaroth: the Underworld.

She got off the motorcycle, which vanished in crimson smoke, and walked down a lonely hallway. With each step she took, the illusion that she maintained her appearance vanished. The colors of the fire she embraced became stronger and more aggressive, taking on a reddish color. The shape of her skull also changed, as did her clothing and the shape of his body. The real assassin showed himself to the Emperor of Hell after leaving the corridor.

Astaroth's satisfied smile was an action that showed more than a thousand words. Both demons successfully faced each other.

-I assume the spell was a success, right? -asked the Emperor, even knowing the answer.

- 𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲- Vengeance confirmed with a smile-. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀.

They had already made their move on the board.