Look who came crawling back

Vynessa jolted up from her bed with a start. Her eyes darted around her room skeptically, looking, searching. For what? She could not tell.

Her mind razed and churned, as she cold already feel a light headache forming. How was she in her bed? Where was Azaziel?

It was morning, there was no shadow, or darkness or thunder striking or a dark, imposing creature with glowing red eyes. She didn't know how she felt about that.  Everything looked normal, just like she remembered it.

"What a fucking weird dream" she mumbled.

"A dream?" The dark voice came from right behind her.

"Oh God, fucking hell! Fuck!! Jesus!!" Vynessa could not put a lid on her mouth as she cursed colorfully.

"Language, young lady" Azaziel said as he materialized in front of her. "You curse like a sailor, Vynessa" 

"You're here..." She said wiping her hand over her face.

"...It wasn't a dream" She said more to herself than to the demon in front of her looking just as hot and equally brooding as the night before.

    "A dream? Did you just call a one-chanced apparition and meeting with me, a dream?" He really was here, still speaking like he was counting his words and performing an old ballad.

"I'm a little offended, Vynessa. I much rather prefer a nightmare. That seems to be more suiting to me. Does it not, Vynessa?" He was staring at her again, his white hair gleaming in the early morning sun that streamed in from her window.

" so, yesterday..." Vynessa started tentatively.

"Yes. It happened. I came to you, You cut a deal with me and today, I begin to fulfill my end of the deal" One moment he was in front of her, speaking, and the next he was at the corner of her room, leaning in the wall.

"Oh God..."

"Language!" Azaziel reprimanded.

"What? So I can't curse now? Vynessa said throwing her hands up in frustration as she walked tentatively towards her wardrobe, she didn't know what to do with herself when he stared at her like that, and sitting on the bed felt way too casual.

"Curse. You can curse, but I have a loose alliance with The big Man upstairs, and it would be nice to not throw his name around, now, wouldn't it, Vynessa?” Azaziel had no issues with Him, they just lived in different places and stood for different things.

In all his centuries of existence, he had come to know that it was his own people he should be more wary of.

"So, about that deal, how would we go about it?" Vynessa muttered, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth.

She noticed Azaziel stare at the movement, his eyes honed on her lips, and quickly pulled it out, releasing her lips from her teeth.

"First" he began, "we're going out." Azaziel said as he pushed off the wall and walked towards her.

"Going out? To where? Why?" He was standing a few feet away from her.

"To create buzz of course. We're going to put you back in the scene, get everyone talking about you" He walked the remaining space, now standing in front of her, be bent from his waist to be nose to nose with her; "I am going to get you dressed, and then take you out for lunch" he said and then placed both of his hands in pocket.

"Lunch?" She did not remember the last time someone offered to take her out. Even though she would have refused going of course, she didn't feel ready to go out, worse still to a social gathering. The anxiety alone would kill her.

"I don't think you understand, there's nothing interesting about me to create buzz with. Nobody is going to be talking about me. No body!" Vynessa said. It would hurt her for Azaziel to see how true that was.

He was still nose to nose with her, his breath reminded her of burnt wood and rain.

Now that he was so close, she noticed that his previous red eyes we're a striking shade of grey. It was fascinating. But before she could enjoy getting drowned in the sights and scents of him, he pulled back and was talking again.

"Believe it or not, Vynessa, you are pretty, a literal sight for sore eyes, but if you don't believe you are, you automatically aren't in the eyes of a lot of people" he said.

"I never said I wasn't pretty" Vynessa defended. She didn't say it, but she believed it. Azaziel did not need to know that though. Since he thought she was pretty, she would just let him think it.

"You didn't say it out loud, but you think it. And that's what we must change. Shower. Go. Now!" and just like that Vynessa was hurried into the shower. Soon after,  dressed in a simple Jean and top with a black sneaker, she walked out to meet Azaziel.

"By the gates of hell! Who would ever look twice at you if you dress like that? Even the lowest demons in hell would hiss and bare their teeth at your presence. Go change." Vynessa could not even register the insult as she stared stupidly at him.

"Your hair. You cut your hair" She stuttered as she took in Azaziel and his new appearance. His previously long hair was now barely touching his shoulders, he had cropped it short and grazed the sides, giving it a more modern look. He had even  loosed the black robe, but settled instead for a black flowing leather jacket, with a black turtle neck, black jeans with ankle high black leather boots.

"Well, I didn't want to take ALL of the attention from you today, some other time maybe. Besides, my hair fashion can only be appreciated in hell, humans would shit themselves if I go out on my true glory anyways" He said as he swaggered towards her holding out a strapless sundress and a two inch kitten heels.

"Put this on. Don't argue, don't tell me how you feel inside your head and about being uncomfortable. Put it on, and come out"

"But I don't..." Azaziel's eyes flashed red, effectively silencing her. Vynessa scurried straight into the bathroom to change again.

She came out, dressed and ready, feeling uncomfortable in her skin, even though there were times she had worn things like this.

    "You sure love it when people fear you" she whispered under her breath as Azaziel raked his eyes over her and the dress.

"Oh, I do. Fear is good, Vynessa. It protects you from running head first into beings like me, it protects you from yourself" He walked slowly towards her as he spoke his next words; "The problem then lies with me. Your fear doesn't deter me from hurting you, it only fuels me, invites me, draws me to you like moth to a flame. Much like the darkness within you draws me, calls me to you"

Vynessa swallowed audibly.

She had tried everything to shake off the darkness. Therapy, medication, exercise, meditation – nothing seemed to work for long.

And now the darkness had materialized into a being and was in her house.

    Now that she got a good look at him without all the thunder and brimstone of yesterday, she had to admit─he was a damned handsome demon. There was a time she and her former friends had sat to talk about men like him for hours, giggling and swinging their feet. If only he was a man.

"Well, chop chop. Lunch won't eat itself and the gossip won't spread itself either" 

"Don't take this the wrong way, your esteemed, royal bogeyman, but how do you plan for us to get there? You may not have noticed, I don't have a car" she replied, looking up at him smugly.

"You don't, but I do" he answered

"What? You do? You drive? Why do you− I mean, how do you...? You got a car? Do demons drive? You have a license?" She said all at once.

"I'm a high demon, Vynessa. You do not expect me to walk all over the streets of the earth do you?" He said, looking every bit like the demon-prince that he was.

"You exceed my imaginations every time" Vynessa said with a smile. It was the first real smile he had seen on her, and her first smile in two years.

"There's a Rolls-Royse in my driveway!" She said from the door.

"Is there?" Azaziel asked as he walked to stand behind her at the driveway. "Would you like to get in it, or just gape at it from outside?" Before, he could even complete his sentence, she was already running around the car, opening up the passenger door of the sleek, black car and sitting. All the while smiling like a kid.

"Seatbelt, Vynessa. You may not die today, but I would hate to get a ticket" Vynessa placed her seatbelt on even as she let out a chuckle at the idea of a demon getting a traffic ticket.

There arrived at a small restaurant and Vynessa eyed the place warily.

"This place... Can we go somewhere else?" She asked nervously.

"No. My plans for you has to begin here" and with that, he opened the door, holding it open for her to enter before entering himself.

He found a nice, free area, pulled out one of the empty seats for her time sit and then sat down.

Vynessa blushed at the chivalry.

There settled in, just as the waiter walked to them to take their orders.

She noticed the waiter cringe in disgust or annoyance at something behind her, and instinctively turned to see. And there with his mouth down another girls throat, was her ex boyfriend.