The sound of something hitting the ground startled me out of sleep.
“Wha…?” I asked, though my voice was drowned out by the sound of snarling. Instantly I was out of my chair and in front of the hounds.
“Venus, what the hell are those?” my mother choked out from the doorway. I glanced back at her and noticed a broken plate at her feet. Her wide eyes were locked on the hounds in front of me, who’d gotten up and looked even bigger since they were standing on my bed.
“Hey, stop that,” I called out in a firm voice. Their gaze turned to me and I could feel my entire body tremble. “She’s done nothing, leave her alone and sit back down.”
They obeyed and I sighed, not fully expecting them to listen to me even though they’ve been incredibly obedient with everything I’ve asked of them.
I bit out a small laugh as I turned to face my mother.
“So… I’m pet sitting—”
“You don’t say?” my mother interrupted with a high voice.
“What’s going on?” my father asked, poking his head in through the door.
Instantly, Diego and Ella were on their feet again.
“Stop that!” I yelled, grabbing a few leftover fish sticks and throwing them in their direction. Unfortunately, I missed and ended up throwing them at the window, which wouldn’t have been such a problem if they were normal dogs.
I watched with horror as Diego chased after the sticks, breaking my window and wall to get them. I could hear him land outside with a light thud. Ella barked and jumped out after him.
“Alright, explain,” my father said in a cold voice, crossing his arms. His entire body filled the doorway.
I could feel the heat rush to my face. I looked at the wall beside his head. “So, like I told mom… I’m pet sitting—”
“Those things are pets?” my father asked dryly with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. They’re… Exotic dogs. Yeah. And, um,” I stuttered, glancing at my mother and looking away. “I actually don’t really know them or their owner, to be honest with you.”
They stiffened and I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Their owner appeared out of nowhere and told me to take care of them for tonight and he left before I could ask anything about them. I don’t know how to reach him— well actually, I kind of do but he said he was busy tonight so I didn’t want to bother him. Anyway, I had to take care of them! They’re not bad, I swear. They’re just a little…. Too much for this world.”
I could see from my parents’ expressions that they didn’t agree with my actions. I didn’t know how to explain to them why I couldn’t leave the devil’s dogs alone in the park without having to explain how I got mixed up with the devil in the first place. Not when they were so intent on making sure I didn’t know anything about their deal with him.
“You put yourself— and us— in danger to take care of dogs you don’t even know? From someone you don’t know either? How could you be so stupid?” My mother accused. I swallowed. “Did they do that?” she asked, jerking her chin towards the hand Diego bit. I nodded.
“It was an accident, though.”
“I don’t care if it was an accident, Venus. You’re returning those dogs to wherever you found them, whether their owner is there or not.”
“You want me to leave them in the park alone? They could get hurt!”
“Look at you!” My mother yelled. “They’ve bitten you and they’re aggressive towards people! How can you stand to be around them? They don’t even look like dogs!”
I bit my lip. My breath came faster and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to cry or scream.
“Your mother has a point,” my father said. “They’re dangerous. Just look at what they did to your window. What kind of dog would be strong enough to break through glass? Enough to also break the wall around it?”
I took in a ragged breath. “They just really love fish sticks.”
“Venus,” my father sighed. “Please understand where we’re coming from. We only want your safety.”
I shook my head. As much as I adored them for being this concerned, I hated that they couldn’t just be accepting of Diego and Ella. Yes, I understood where my mother was coming from, but they were just dogs. Hounds. Hellhounds, to be precise, but they were still innocent animals. They didn’t deserve the hate against them. Sure, they were huge and intimidating and destructive, but they were just overgrown babies. I wouldn’t have accepted to look after them if I’d thought they were evil.
At least, I hope I wouldn’t have.
“Dad, I made a deal with their owner. I can’t just go back on my word because they’re big scary dogs.”
“What kind of deal?” my mother asked sharply. Her eyes were far too focused on me for my liking. As if I’d sell away my soul or something.
That was yesterday.
“It wasn’t anything big. I just asked them a few questions and they left me their dogs. That was their terms.”
“What kind of questions?” my mother asked.
“What does it matter?” I snapped. “Why are you so interested?”
My mother took a step forward and my father reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. They looked at each other and my mother brushed him off.
“I’m interested because you’re my daughter and I don’t like the idea of you going around making deals with random strangers.”
“Technically I’ve known him since I was born,” I grumbled under my breath.
“What did you say?”
I stared at my mother. “Nothing,” I said. My head was starting to hurt.
The air around me became thick with… something. I opened my mouth and I could taste ice on my tongue.
Without warning, the space in front of me opened up and Lucifer stepped into my room. Everything was so fast I didn’t have time to struggle for air like last time.
From across the room, I could see my already pale father change to an even lighter tone, almost lacking any color. My mother was frozen to her spot, eyes wide.
Lucifer shifted slightly and gave me a wink.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. He really did have the worst timing. And wasn’t he supposed to be busy tonight? Isn’t that why I’m in this whole ordeal in the first place, because he absolutely had something to do?
No. Thinking about it, he never said he would be busy. He only said I had to watch his dogs. For all I know, this could’ve been his plan all along. Asshole.
I felt my eyes water and blinked rapidly. My throat was closing up so I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.
To cry or to scream— at this point I was ready to do both.
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