The Devil & The Draxon

2. Victim One

"Oh now this is much more fun in person!" Nyx says, almost dancing down the streets of LA.

Passers by pay no attention, spare a few odd glances here and there.

"Nyx," Jinx says, having taken the form of a young man and walking along behind the draxon. "Calm down."

"But why?" comes the giddy reply. "Look at them. They pay no attention. They have no idea what lurks among them. Blissfully ignorant of the darkness that could suddenly strike. You've kept your skills sharp, I presume?"

"Of course," Jinx replies. "After living as long as I have, there's not much else to do back home."

"No, there's not, is there," Nyx says, seeming to deflate a little before he smiles brightly, perking up again. "Well, at least this new environment will be exciting. The devil, a demon, an angel, a powerful maybe-psychotic goddess. LA sure has it all. And now it has us. The draxon and a shape-shifting dragon hunting a group of shit-eating demons. Oh this is going to be such fun!"

"You've definitely changed," Jinx mumbles.

Nyx pauses, tilting his head. "Huh, I guess I have... Must be the centuries in Hell. You don't leave that place with everything you had when you went in, especially after a couple lonely little centuries. You don't mind though, do you?"

"Not really," Jinx replies. "I've always been a little mad, remember?"

Nyx grins widely, "of course! Nobody liked cleaning up after the mess you would leave. That reminds me, I got word that you enjoyed that knight period humans had, when all they wanted was to hunt and slay dragons."

Jinx snorts at the reminder. "Fools thought they stood a chance against me."

Nyx chuckles and they continue walking down the street. "Now, how should we go about this demon hunt? We could be subtle or loud with this. What do you think, Jinx?"

"I'm all for being loud, but didn't you say Lucifer's working with the LAPD?"

"Oh yes. Well, that settles it. I know how we're going to do this now. Come, Jinx. Let's not keep them waiting."

⚯

"Lucifer, you're here early," Chloe says, seeing the man walking towards her.

"Well good morning to you too, Detective," the devil replies, making Chloe roll her eyes. "And I happened to be in the area and decided to come earlier and see if there's anything exciting that I normally miss. What've we got?"

Chloe gestures to the body. "Victim is a man, around his early twenties, exact cause of death is still undetermined, but the guy's been stabbed at least ten times and looks like he was strangled. We're just not sure what came first and so far, we've found no witnesses."

"Actually," Ella says, looking over the body, "this body staged. Killed somewhere else and was moved here. There's not enough blood for him to have bled out here."

Chloe looks over the concrete of the park's path, noticing that she's right.

"Caller saw nothing," Dan says, appearing next to her. "Says she was out on her morning jog and found the vic here, groaning and barely alive. Vic died just before paramedics arrived."

"So either he was moved here almost impossibly fast, or he was attacked somewhere nearby, and only shortly before he was found. The caller saw no one else around?"

"Says she didn't. And— hey where'd Lucifer go?"

Chloe looks around, realizing Dan is right, that the devil had disappeared from nearby.

Meanwhile, Lucifer stands in front of the distraught jogger, the woman who had found the body and called police.

"Hello," he says. "You're the one who found the victim, right?"

The woman nods, glancing past Lucifer to where Ella is examining the victim.

"Ah, look here," Lucifer says, her eyes meeting his. "Tell me, what do you desire?"

The effect is instant. The woman's eyes gain a distant look as she whispers, "I want vengeance."

"Oh, really?" Lucifer chuckles, not breaking eye contact even as Chloe appears beside him with a glare. "Tell me love, who do you want vengeance on, hmm? What did they do to deserve punishment?"

"A friend's lover," the woman whispers. "For hurting him. Abandoning him."

"What exactly did she do?" Chloe asks, causing the woman to look at her and gasp, hands coming up to cover her mouth, eyes wide.

"Oh I shouldn't have said anything," the woman says nervously. "But I... She got word from a jealous ex that he was cheating on her. She confronted him, and didn't believe him when he said he wasn't. Broke up with him and wouldn't listen to a word he said trying to tell her it wasn't true. He loved her, a lot, and I thought she loved him."

"Yes, love is a strange thing," Lucifer says, missing the barely hidden glare the woman gives him. "One second everything can be fine, the next everything goes to hell."

Chloe sighs, turning to the woman. "Are you sure you didn't see anyone else?"

"Well, I think I might've saw someone jogging that way, but he disappeared around that corner right after I glanced that way, so I'm not sure. I'm sorry, I just don't know."

"It's alright," Chloe says. "You're free to go. Here, call if you remember seeing anything else."

Handing the woman her business card, Chloe takes Lucifer and turns back to the victim's body.

The woman watches them go, then turns and walks away, looking around. She spots a car waiting nearby and hurries over, getting into the passenger side. Lucifer watches the car drive away, getting a quick look at the driver, one that makes his eyes narrow and his body tense in shock. He tries to get another view, but the car is gone.

⚯

"How'd it go?" Nyx asks.

"Fine," Jinx replies, shifting back into the form of a young man. "Close call when Lucifer tried his freaky desire thing on me."

"What did you say?" Nyx asks sharply, turning into an empty parking lot and parking the stolen car.

"First of all, you're actually not a terrible driver for this being your first time," Jinx says, earning a scoff from the draxon. "And I said I want vengeance then gave them a story of a friend's lover leaving him. Basically your story except more acceptable for humans. Lucifer's a girl, he was told you were cheating and just broke up with you, no attempt on his life because that would raise some flags with the police."

After a second, Nyx nods, accepting that. "I think that went well. Did Luci seem suspicious at all?"

"Don't think so. Different environment, but it's remarkable how little he's changed. I think he might've seen you as we were driving away though. He got this shocked look."

"Good," Nyx says with a wide smile. "Get him guessing and scared."

"We're not going to hurt him though, are we?" Jinx asks, slightly disappointed, having not been lying when he said he wants vengeance.

"Oh no, we're not hurting him," Nyx says, voice light but with an underlying tone of malice. "He's still mine and I still love him, but I want to watch him squirm for what he did to me. He loved me and locked me in hell without giving me a chance, I can love him and make him scared."