The Devil's Mate

Chapter 2

In mainstream Christianity, the devil is usually referred to as Satan. Some modern Christians consider the devil to be an angel who, along with one-third of the angelic host (the demons) rebelled against God and has consequently been condemned to the Lake of Fire. He is described as hating all humanity (or more accurately creation), opposing God, spreading lies and wreaking havoc on the souls of mankind. Other modern Christians consider the devil in the Bible to refer figuratively to human sin and temptation and any immoral human system.

Satan is often identified as the serpent who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent. Though this identification is not present in the Adam and Eve narrative, this interpretation goes back at least as far as the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation, which specifically identifies Satan as being the serpent (Rev. 20:2)...

"Miss Heavenly," Mrs Johnson snaps from the front of the classroom. "What are you reading?"

Stuffing the papers under my desk, I look up to her as innocently as I can, "The textbook."

"Very well, name me Kronos' children."

I think hard, trying to remember what I had memorised by heart. "Um...Zeus, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter."

"Miss Heavenly you missed out one," She smirks like a cat with a plate of cream.

"No," I rebuke, looking straight at her. "Hades an outcasted child of Kronos."

Her smirk is wiped clean off of her face as the class's eyes dart between her scowl and my dead set face. I know for a fact that I'm right.

Mrs Johnson doesn't ask me any more questions after that and I continue to read the papers that I got from the library.

The bell rings and I gather my things, sighing having found nothing relating to his words, I walk out of the classroom.

Going to my locker, I take out my jacket and my school bag to go home.

Greek Mythology is a dry subject that could give History a run for its money when it comes to how boring they are.

Walking out to the carpark, sleek silver Range Rover Evoque is waiting for me. Punctual as ever...

Getting into the passenger seat, I buckle up, smiling slightly to the reddish brown-haired, twenty-year-old man wearing a red plaid shirt over a white T-shirt with a pair of worn-out jeans and walking boots, before turning to look aimlessly out the window.

"How was school?" He asks, not taking his eyes off the road."Victoria?"

"Huh?" I mumble, looking over to my older brother, Danny."Oh, school...it was as boring as ever."

"Anything weird happened today?" The standard question...

Yes. "No."

"Good. So, same old same old eh?"

I give him a weak smile. Yeah...not really. The image of the man I bumped into this morning has been floating around my mind, distracting me the whole day.

There is no way I'm telling him what happened, my mind drifts off as I watch the trees, cars buildings and whatnot speed by the window...warm hazelnut brown eyes...the tingles I felt when he 'accidentally' pulled me against his body...

"Victoria?" Danny snaps his fingers in front of the car window. "We're home."

Shaking my head, I open the door going to the elevator across the underground carpark.

Pressing for the thirteenth floor, I avoid the curious stare of my brother by looking down at my worn-out black high tops.

"So...where do you wanna live next?" Danny asks as the elevator takes its time crawling up the levels. "It has been five months..."

I don't reply, I can't be bothered to. I know it's never up to me where we move to next, to me it has always been a family tradition to move in June or December. Danny's lips form a thin line as he stares at the side of my face probably wondering what's up with me. Thankfully he decides against engaging me in conversation resulting in a silent ride up to the apartment.

Heading from the joint elevator lobby into the three-room apartment, I don't bother to call out that I'm home knowing mum is probably at work. Dumping my bag on the floor of my white-walled bedroom, I hop onto my bed grabbing the papers that I was reading during Greek Mythology.

Who gave these to me?

Shaking my head, I discard the papers into an empty file on my study desk.  Grabbing the cursed things they call homework, I begin to do my calculus homework. By the time I make it through hell, it's almost 10 o'clock and I haven't had dinner yet.

Stretching, I moan loudly as I feel my tense muscles relax from sitting in a hunched position for so long. Sweater, wallet and the file in hand, I go out into the living room in search of my older brother who was supposed to make dinner tonight. If the snoring was any indication that dinner hasn't been made then I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to go out for a takeaway. As usual.

Scribbling a note on the reminder board on the fridge to inform him that I went out to get food for dinner, I exit the apartment in search of food. The delicious smell of melted cheesy goodness that wafers from the pizza parlour around the corner decide my dinner for me. I haven't had lasagna for quite some time too...

Ordering an extra-large, extra cheese take away Hawaiian pizza and a tray of lasagna to go. I am directed to a booth to wait for the cashier to hand me my order in 10-15 minutes. While waiting, I take the opportunity to open the file to read the rest of the papers from where I left off.  Surprisingly find the papers begin to talk about more in-depth about the fallen angel.

 Most other religions and cultures teach of an evil being who roams the earth wreaking havoc and fighting against the forces of good. In Islam, the devil is known as Shaytan and, like the Devil in Christianity, is also thought to have rebelled against God. In Judaism, Satan is a verb and generally refers to a difficulty or temptation to overcome instead of a literal being. In Buddhism, Maara is the demon that tempted Buddha away from his path of enlightenment. Like Christianity's Jesus resisted the Devil, Buddha also resisted temptation and defeated Maara.

The idea that the Devil governs hell may have come from the poem by Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, published in the early fourteenth century. In it, God created hell when he threw the Devil and his demons out of Heaven with such power they created an enormous hole in the centre of the earth. In his poem, Dante portrayed the Devil as a grotesque, winged creature with three faces—each chewing on a devious sinner—whose wings blew cold winds throughout hell's domain. 

In people of almost any religion or even in those who don't follow a religion, the Devil is almost always synonymous with fear, punishment, negativity and immorality.

Beyond the common belief that the Devil is incapable of love, the following ancient text which is written in stone near where it is believed to be the place that the Devil fell to after falling from grace, the hollow earth.

"There will come a day when the fallen will find someone to calm the fire that rages in his heart. Where he is ruthless and evil, she will be the embodiment of his opposite. The Queen of Hell. His perfect half. His mate."

At the bottom of the page is a handwritten paragraph in the chicken scratch that the note stuck to these papers held.

'My name is Dominic Hunter. As you may have already figured it out, those who worship my father have given me many names, some of which you may have already known. Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles and perhaps the most amusing one of all, The Devil. Nice bumping into you today, my mate.'

What...