Trials of Astania Prompt:
Dark red snow begins to fall from the sky.

WARNING: Mentions of gore, blood, violence, and slight abuse.

Reader discretion is advised.

I hate Christmas. I hate this town. I hate my life. And that's saying something, because I usually love Christmas. Except this year, the vibes, energy, and everything else plain sucks.

As I pass a group of carolers belting out Christmas songs in front of a smiling couple standing in their doorway, I think: what a bunch of fake bitches.

Almost all year-round, the townspeople will fight and argue over anything, even something as trivial as their pizza arriving one minute later. I've witnessed a man give the pizza delivery boy a bloody nose for arriving forty seconds late.

And yet, on Christmas Day, everybody is jovial and pretending that everything in this town is like that every single day.

“Will you stop being such a Grinch?” My boyfriend Chris says to me when I roll my eyes at two giggling small children running past us. “It's Christmas. Cheer up.”

“Everyone is just so fake. I can't stand it,” I sigh.

“So? It's the holidays. At least people are pretending to be happy. You could too.”

I roll my eyes again and kick at a small mound of snow in my way as we continue to walk along the sidewalk towards our house.

Chris and I have been dating for roughly fourteen months. We met back in New York City and moved to this small NY town fifty miles from any decent civilization about four months ago, because Chris wanted a life “in the wild” as he called it. I don't really remember much about my life two years ago and beyond, which is weird, but I definitely know that I enjoyed the previous Christmas at least. I was genuinely happy, unlike this fake town.

Chris suddenly stops and grabs my arm, causing me to spin towards him and almost lose my footing on the slippery ice-covered sidewalk.

“Look Anna,” he says and takes a deep breath. “You could at least pretend like everyone else. For me? Come on.”

He looks at me with that look which says “my way or highway”. I roll my eyes once again and exhale exasperatingly before replying:

“Okay, fine. But just so you know, I wish this town would just go to hell.”

Immediately after I said the word “hell”, the sound of thunder resounded from the clouds. We both jump from shock and look up at the sky, only to see nothing but clear skies.

“Weird,” Chris mutters.

I'm also thinking that it's really weird, but after living in New York City, I've seen and heard my share of actual weirdness. We continue to walk towards home when suddenly, a great shadow starts to spread over the ground.

I look up and the previously clear skies are replaced with the darkest and reddest clouds I've ever seen. Suddenly, snow starts to fall, which only further dampens my mood.

“Not more fucking sn—”

I abruptly stop when I notice the color of the snowflakes. They are red. Blood-red. I rub a few snowflakes that land on my hand and smell the melted snow. It smells like iron mixed with sulfur.

“What the fuck…” Chris exclaims as he gapes at the dark red snow dancing and falling from the sky.

Before I can reply, a distant scream echoes throughout the town. Chris curses while I feel a strange feeling of calmness spread over me. It's weird. The sound feels… therapeutic.

I notice that the town has become deadly silent as the scream suddenly stops. The carolers have stopped their screeching cat noises and everyone is frozen in one place save for a few terrified people running inside their homes.

Thunder and lightning crack across the ominous clouds that still retain their dark-red color while releasing more blood-red snow. And all of a sudden, I see the shape of a creature slithering through the sky. No, not just one. Several of them begin to emerge from the sky and head straight down towards the town.

What happens next is almost incomprehensible. Demonic sounds and roars fill the air, as well as people screaming their lungs out. I watch as one serpent-like creature snatches ten people with its mouth and snaps its jaws shut. Waterfalls of blood spurt in every direction, staining the terrified people running below it like ants on fire.

I hear Chris next to me yelling in terror as I watch the gory scene unfold before me. A winged bear with shark teeth swallows five small children while a vulture-like creature with a lion's head grabs an elderly couple with its talons. I hear the satisfying crunch of bones as the creature devours them, their screams disappearing into the void.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you smiling?” Chris suddenly yells at me. Next, I feel a blow to my face as he hits me.

That's when I realize that I am smiling. I'm enjoying the show. I don't know why. I can feel the fear yet at the same time, watching these people getting torn apart and consumed is the most satisfying thing I've ever felt to this day.

I feel another blow to my head that knocks me down to the ground, leaving me dazed. I look up at Chris's familiar furious face as I wipe the blood off the side of my face.

“Are you sick? Mentally deranged?” Chris yells, and I suddenly feel another menacing smile creep upon my face.

He widens his eyes in a mix of anger and fear, and before he could kick me, his upper torso is ripped from his lower body in one smooth motion. I barely blink as his warm blood sprays all over me and his intestines pour out into a quivering heap on the ground, still moving like little snakes. I watch as his upper torso is flung into the air and the serpent catches it in midair with its jaws with one snap.

Chris’s lower body topples to the ground and reveals a man wearing black angel wings standing behind. He's wearing a devilish grin that feels so familiar but I can't place where I've seen it.

“Hello, babygirl,” the stranger says in a deep, sultry voice that makes me feel warm heat gather in a pool in my stomach.

“Do I know you?” I ask, trying to wipe away some of Chris’s gross blood off my face.

“Yes… and no,” he replies, his grin becoming even wider. “By the way, a man should never hit a woman.”

“I’m used to it, so thanks,” I scoff sarcastically.

“Used to it?” The man's eyes darken. All of a sudden, he grabs Chris’s lower body and with a loud roar, tears it in half and flings both halves into the winged bear’s mouth behind him. He then kicks the now-still intestines to the side. “His soul will be tortured for eternity, mark my words.”

Watching him tear my boyfriend's dead body like that was… hot, to say the least. I raise my eyebrow at him in surprise and notice how beautiful he looks. His jawline must have been chiseled by the gods, his blue eyes are electrifying that sends lightning bolts into my heart, and his upper body is completely naked save for the two gorgeous black wings on his back. His tanned skin is perfectly flawless except for the blood smeared all over, which only makes him hotter. His abs and muscles ripple with life as he cocks his head to the side with that devilish grin of his.

I shake my absolutely inappropriate thoughts away (considering the situation) when he reaches his hand out, and I hesitate to take it.

“Come on, don't be scared,” he says.

Scared? Ha, I'm not scared. Why would I trust a man who just ripped my boyfriend's body into pieces, even though he kind of deserved it? But I finally grab his sizzling hot hand, literally, and he pulls me to my feet. I brush off the red snow from my clothes before asking:

“What, or who are you?”

He chuckles darkly, and the vibration of his deep laugh sends shivers up my spine.

“My bad. I can be such an airhead sometimes. Airhead. That was your nickname for me,” he adds wistfully with a venomous yet seductive smile. “I am “Lucifer”. And you were my wife. Or rather, almost.”

I blink at him in shock and disbelief. I was… Lucifer’s wife? The fuck was that supposed to mean?

“Hold on. Is this a prank?” I ask hopefully.

“Uh… look around you, babygirl. Does this look like a prank to you?” He waves his hand around at the bloody and gory scene that's happening all around us. “We were supposed to get married, but before we could, you decided that you wanted to live with humans. I mean, you gave up a life of power for these pathetic weaklings.”

“Why can't I remember any of that?” I ask as Mrs. Doyle's head, the local baker, suddenly lands at my feet, her eyes gazing up at me in horror.

“We wiped your memory clean since you wanted to basically be reborn into the humanoid world,” Lucifer replies, his tone dripping with disappointment. He kicks the decapitated head to the side. “You were my favorite, you know? They wanted me to kill you, but I spared your life. And I promised that I'll always come to your aid should you ever request for it.”

I furrowed my brows in confusion. When did I ever request—

“When you wished that this town would go to hell,” he interrupts my thoughts. Of course he's a mind reader.

“I didn't mean, like, kill everyone!” I say.

“Oh come on. Admit it. That bad blood flowing in your veins made you love it,” Lucifer says with a malicious smirk as he towers over me.

He is… tall, and I have to tilt my head back all the way to look at his face. I watch him with bated breath as he continues to move towards me, making me step backwards until he has my back against the wall of a building. I press my body against the cold stone as he places his hands on the wall on both sides of my head and brings his face close to mine.

“Maybe… maybe I did,” I gasp as he stares into my eyes as if he wants to steal my soul.

His hot breath near my ear feels like someone has opened an oven on full blast. And what he whispers next brings my mind and body into a hot trembling mess as I feel my legs begin to quiver.

“That's my good girl.” He lightly bites my neck and I feel a trickle of fresh blood on my skin as my breath hitches.

“Now sweet dreams, babygirl.”

I wake up gasping for air. I can hear my heart pounding against my ribcage like a thousand drums as I clutch the covers drenched in sweat.

“Hey, hey. It was just another nightmare, baby. It's okay,” my girlfriend Camilla whispers as I feel her throw her arms around me in a hug. “I got you. I'm right here.”

And as she rocks me back and forth while soothing me with her words, I look out the window and watch as the pure white snowflakes dance and twirl to the ground. I can't shake off the feeling that the nightmare felt too real…

Was it really all just a dream?