Holidays Are Hell Esther Egg Hunt by Sam Cheever

of her Gramma Mills who used to tell her someone had walked over her grave when she got one of her dark feelings. Esther wished it were that simple. Unfortunately she’d seen the truth in Luc’s face across the table. He didn’t think she knew they were heading toward an impasse. But she had no misconceptions about what was ahead. Something was out there. She could feel the dark, oily evil just beyond Luc’s pretty, green circle. They’d come for her, and Esther now knew they’d get her. She’d been stupid to think she could run from her fate.
    Despite Luc’s assurance that she wasn’t to blame for his situation, Esther knew better. She’d forced him into action by doing something stupid. And now he’d pay the price for her selfishness. She couldn’t let that happen. Esther was going down, but she had no intention of dragging Luc down with her.
    A low rumble shook the porch, and Esther’s coffee mug bumped across the table, spilling coffee in its wake. She grabbed for it before it tumbled over the edge and braced herself against the porch rail. The rumble grew in power, until the glass in the cabin’s windows rattled beneath it, and culminated in a concussive boom. A silver explosion of light burst through the windows, painful in its intensity.
    Esther covered her face as a blast of heat ruptured the air. She jumped up and started running, screaming Luc’s name as she flung open the cabin door. She coughed, her eyes stinging. The scent of ozone was thick in the air, like the moments before the onset of a violent storm. Light still pulsed through the room, emanating from a creature whose head nearly touched the ceiling. Massive wings pounded the air, knocking Esther backward to slam against the wall. “Luc!”
    The thing was holding him off the ground by the throat as if he weighed nothing. Luc’s handsome face was purple, and his hands clawed at the creature’s grip. The winged creature turned his head, focusing a fearsome gaze that glowed golden amidst the silvery white of his energy. Long, golden hair flowed around a square-jawed, impossibly handsome face, the full lips tightening with anger as he looked at her. His enormous wings lifted, the feathers sparking in the sunlight that speared through the window. “Esther Mills.” His voice boomed around the space, bouncing off the walls and vibrating her eardrums, sending pain like knives spearing through her. She cried out, covering her ears and falling to her knees.
    A distant roar brought the creature’s gaze sliding toward the window.
    Esther leapt to her feet and charged, flinging herself against the winged man. Electricity spit as she met his flowing robes, and searing pain flared in all the places where they touched. As she fell away, he turned and a wing slammed into her. Esther’s feet left the floor and she sailed across the room, crashing against the wall. The last thing she heard as she slid downward was Luc’s voice screaming her name.
    * * *
    She doesn’t belong here .
    She certainly doesn’t belong in Hell .
    I can’t help you, Lucifer .
    Can’t? Or won’t ?
    Does it matter ?
    She’s suffered greatly, Briathos. She doesn’t deserve it .
    I don’t know what you want from me .
    Take her away .
    The voices tugged at Esther, drawing her toward consciousness. She fought her way through the black void, the words springing from her comprehension like peas off a fork. She didn’t begin to grasp their meaning until her eyes blinked open. Then it all came together with horrible clarity. Luc was bargaining with the creature.
    Bartering away her life.
    Her heart rate picked up, and Esther’s chest grew tight. She was hidden from view by a wide, upholstered chair, her body crumpled along the base of the wall. She tried to sit up, and pain slammed across the front of her skull. The pain made her nauseous and dizzy. Esther lay back down, closing her eyes against the light that made her head throb.
    “The last time I saw you, you smote me,