Struggling (2)

"Lucifer?" Aaron croaked. The word echoed strangely around the room. Aaron's vision was blurry, still sleepy, as he frowned around. Everything was dark, the soft light that came from somewhere making it slightly more visible, but only marking the shapes of the things that surrounded him. Aaron was sure that he wasn't in any place he knew. There was something odd, deadly, in the silence. He cleared his throat and spoke more clearly, "Lucifer?"

"You have awoken then?"

Aaron turned his head quickly towards the sound of the voice and yeah, bad idea.

"My apologies," he said, sounding everything but sorry. "This was the best room we could find for our Lord's escort." Aaron felt a hand grabbing forcefully his jaw, pulling him towards the voice, inclining his head to the side so lips would whisper on his ear. "Hope you like our hospitality, doll."

He opened his hand and let his head fall free. Aaron grunted when his head thunked back against the surface. He tried to move but his ankles, like his wrists, were secured to the opposite ends of the bed.

The man hummed, walking around the bed as he saw Aaron fighting with the chains before he decided to stand up the best he could so at least he would see better his face. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" Aaron asked breathlessly, his head falling again. He was so tired.

"Aw, doll. We've just met and you already want to know all about me?" The condescending tone in his voice made him scrunch his nose. "That's a little too bold."

"Well, you're the one that has strapped me," Aaron answered, surprised at how sarcastic he had sounded.

"A little feisty, huh?" he chuckled. The sound made something nasty swell in Aaron's stomach. "I wonder why, though. You're just an insignificant human, after all."

There was a sound of ruffled papers and then, the bed started shaking slightly before it moved in a vertical position the next second, Aaron going along with it. He gasped, his heart pounding hard against his rib cage. There was a snap of fingers and a bulb flickered up above them. He blinked, his eyes trying to get used to the sudden light, and see the room he was in. There were small tables around the bed, some pointy objects on top.

He turned his head when the man walked closer, two other men standing behind him as bodyguards.

"Mammon," he said in a breath when he could see him better, using the name he heard Meg call him. His memory was a little fuzzy but he gradually was able to recall everything.

"So, do you remember me now?" A smile spread through his cheeks while his dead cold eyes rummaged through a file in his hands.

Aaron's mind worked slower because of the pain, but he could still connect dots just fine. He gave special thought to the conversation Mammon and Mag had before he went unconscious. "You want to use me as bait," he said.

"You're smart for a petty human." Mammon's looked up at him, smile broadening. "I wonder if that's why Lucifer is so enchanted with you?"

"Why are you doing this? He's going to kill you, you know."

"No, if I have you, doll."

Aaron greeted his teeth at the nickname. "You said it yourself," he said tightly. "I'm just an insignificant human."

"Of course you are." He turned the file so Aaron could see it. He frowned and squinted at it, his headache made it harder to read but his eyes widened when he saw his name on it. It was his file. "A depressed petty human."

"How did you─" Mammon raised an eyebrow, even Aaron wanted to roll his eyes at his stupidity. "Okay, I get it. But why would you want to have it?"

"That hurts, you know? I just wanted to know you better, little doll─"

"Don't call me like that."

"─Like," He continued, ignoring him, "I didn't know that your birthday was in August, or that you liked to read on clear spaces, or that your father died because of your fault."

"That…" Mammon leaned on the bed next to him and waved a hand.

"Oh, don't try to make excuses. I get it. I truly do." He pressed a hand against his chest, looking at him with what looked real concern on his features. It made him sick. "He was drunk. He spent more money than he was worth. Made your brother work." He patted his arm soothingly, his lips moving close to his ear. "I would have done the same."

Aaron swallowed. He had never told anyone about his dad, not even Erika, only Marcus and his doctor knew ─Dr. Simigh signed a confidentiality agreement─ about how, before his father crashed the car, the owner of the bar had called him. He told him to send Marcus to drive him because his father was too drunk, but his brother was tired that night and he knew that even if he went he would stay there a long time trying to convince their dad to go back. He was young and he thought that if perhaps something happened to his father, perhaps some bar fight, he would stop drinking. He was stupid.

"You didn't say anything because you wanted something to happen to him," Mammon said as if reading his thoughts, lips hovering near his ear. "You wanted him to learn a lesson."

Aaron clenched his teeth and tried to look at the other side, wanting to move away from those lips, but the demon grabbed his chin and steadied him in place. "And even after he died, you didn't feel remorse, did you?"

Aaron's throat went tight as he tried to swallow.

"Have you noticed," he said softly, "how everyone around you keeps dying? Your mom was the first, and then your Dad. The girlfriend and your brother were last." He smiled as if Aaron's features were a mere show he was watching. "Perhaps that problem wasn't them, it was you."