The Devil is in the Details- Part Three by: Enemyoffun Eddie Bloomberg is trying to deal with life after his change, wondering if he made a mistake when he decided to help Cassie and trying to deal with the ramifications of that decision.

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 3. It might be a little shorter than the others but there's a lot in it. This story is going to be a lot faster paced than most of my other stories because its not going to be as long as them. I'd like to thank djkauf for the devilish good editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Three:

It wasn’t easy, well not at first.

“Cissie” I said, smiling.

She looked even more confused. She had this look on her face like she thought she should know me but couldn’t quite place me. I hated that feeling. Every once in a while it used to happen to me in school. I’m not saying I’m a jerk that forgets people but there are some people who just slip my mind. It’s really hard to remember the names and faces of everyone you meet, especially if only for a second. It was worse for me, being on the football team and all. There were a lot of people in school who thought just because they saw me on the field that they were my best friends. I hated those people, especially when they got angry that I didn’t acknowledge their friendships.

“I’m sorry,” she said, frowning. “I don’t know you.”

I smiled. “You wouldn’t.”

She looked even more confused. I reached forward and gently took her hand, leading her inside. I wanted to jump for joy. I wanted for so long to hold her hand and even though I couldn’t feel it, I knew I was doing so. I led her through the living room and into the kitchen. Mom was still downstairs so we had a few minutes. The folders that that jackass dropped off were still sitting on the table. I groaned when I looked at them. There was nothing in there that said I couldn’t tell people about all this. Even if there was, there was no way I was going to let the government dictate my life anymore.

I took Cissie over to the table and we sat down. She still looked like someone who had no idea what was going on. I hated keeping her in suspense but I needed to be sure that she could handle things. I looked into her face, trying to gauge her. She’d been very welcoming and trusting of my true form. She might have been a little apprehensive when she first saw me, but she accepted me. From the day of the revelation until two days ago, she’d been coming to my house everyday to tutor me. Two days ago that ended because Eddie Bloomberg was dead and I was no longer a student. So the last time I saw her was at the cemetery, which is pretty strange given she was there to mourn me even though I wasn’t really dead.

Finally she spoke. “Look, if Eddie doesn’t want to see me, I can go.”

She tried to stand up but I gently pushed her back down. I took a deep breath. “He wants to see you; in fact he’s seeing you right now.”

There, just like a band-aid.

Cissie looked more confused. Then her eyes roamed over my body and they widened. “Eddie?” she asked in a soft voice.

I nodded. “In the flesh, sorta speaking.”

She gasped. “I don’t understand.”

I smiled weakly then took the biggest plunge of my life. I took a deep breath and told her about what happened last night. After I was done, she didn’t say anything. So I showed her. I slipped the ring off my finger and poof, Ellie Jackson was gone. Cissie gasped and almost reached forward to touch my hand. I pulled it away quickly. She stared at me for a while, tears in her eyes. I let her look at me for a few more minutes and then I slipped the ring back on my finger. My demonic self disappeared, replaced by the mirage again. Cissie smiled but she looked like someone ran over her cat.

“Hey, it’s still me,” I said.

She reached forward slowly, touching my cheek. It sucked that I couldn’t feel her touch. She kept her hand there for a few seconds and then pulled away slowly. I reached forward and did the same to her but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I moved the hand across her face to her hair. I ran my fingers through it, caressing it. You have no idea how long I wanted to run my fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes, letting me caress her cheek with my other hand as I continued to run my fingers through her hair. Then I took another plunge. I moved gently forward, pressing my lips to hers. It was a little awkward at first. I think she was a little hesitant but it didn’t take long for her to get into it. Soon we were going at it.

After a minute or two, we pulled away. There were tears in Cissie’s eyes. I smiled and she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, still running my fingers through her hair.

She shook her head, pushing my hand away. “You’re not him.”

She pushed my away violently then jumped to her feet. She dropped her books on the floor and ran out of the kitchen. I gave chase, calling to her but she didn’t stop. She ran for the front door and pulled it open violently. I took off after her but she was half way down the street by the time I got out the door. I flinched at the light, not used to show much brightness. I had to shield my eyes as I watched my girlfriend run away from me. Then I cried. I dropped to my knees on the front lawn, burying my face in my hands. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. The ring was supposed to make me normal and now I was more repulsive with it on than I was with it off.

I cried for a long time until I felt some one gently help me up. I turned and buried my face in my mother’s chest. She held me and the two of us stood on the lawn for a while.

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She didn’t officially break up with me but she didn’t come back.

For the next few days, I stayed in my room, crying for most of the time. Things weren’t supposed to be this way. The ring was supposed to be the answer, not the problem. My girlfriend was repulsed by the fact that she was kissing a girl. So the ring wasn’t going back on. It was sitting in a drawer on the far side of the room, locked away. Forever for all I cared. I caused so much pain with it and I wasn’t going to do that again. I hoped that Cissie would come around. I tried calling her, telling her that the ring would never go on again. But she wouldn’t return my calls.

The day after Cissie left, Cassie came by. The two of them were friends and I’m sure they had a little “girl talk.” Cassie was already in the loop too. She worked for the DEO now, even if she didn’t want to. When she showed up, I didn’t talk much. But she did. She told me that Cissie was scared and that she couldn’t deal with it. She sounded kinda annoyed about it actually. I hated the fact that Cassie was at odds with Cissie over this but she told me that we had to stick together. As far as I knew, there were only two of us in Chicago. Amy was gone; she disappeared a few days after the spa incident. Not that anyone besides me, Cassie and Connor remembered her. It was like she never existed. Cassie said they told her that their psychic fixed things. How creepy is that? I wonder if the psychic could make Cissie forget she ever loved me. When I suggested that to Cassie, she punched me. It wasn’t very hard but it kinda hurt.

“Give it some time,” she told me “I’m sure Cissie will come around.”

But I could tell by her tone that she wasn’t very confident. It was nice that she tried though.

I talked to Connor too. He seemed to think that Cissie was being stupid. I had to agree with him there. He tried to comfort me by cheering me up but it didn’t really work. He offered to come over and play some games with me but I wasn’t really in the mood to watch him play---I can’t touch the controller because they melted in my hands. And like I said before, I’m not wearing that damn ring again.

My Mom tried to cheer me up too. She was back to wallowing too. I felt kinda bad for that but she’d have to deal with it. Yeah, I know now I’m being a jackass. But didn’t matter, nothing mattered anymore. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She tried to talk to me about it but I didn’t want to talk. All I wanted to do was cry and try not to think about it. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face. It hurt so much that I just wanted it to stop. It didn’t help that every time my emotions got a little overloaded, I burned things. There were now several new burn spots on the carpet and a new chair was now cinders.

But it didn’t stop Mom from trying.

She knocked on the door, trying to get my attention. “Eddie, you can’t stay in there all day.”

It hadn’t just been all day. It’d been the last three days. The only time I came out was to eat and that was only once a day. I wonder if she even understood that. “I’m not coming out.”

My mother sighed; I could hear it through the door. “I know you’re hurting sweetheart, I understand your pain. But you can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

She was right even if I wasn’t ready to openly admit it. I’d been wallowing far too long and not just about Cissie. It was partly about her but it was mainly about me. I knew it was only a matter of time before she left me actually. It was hard to think that a pretty girl like her would stick around with me---a freak---for very long. I could already see it actually, her attention waning. It was little things, like how she kept coming a few minutes later each day and the way she shied away from me when I got too close. I tried to ignore it at first but it was hard too. Now the nail was in the coffin and we were done. At least she could have been remotely civil and officially break up with me.

“Mom” I said, sighing heavily. “I think I’ll lie down for a while.”

My mother sighed too. “Ok sweetheart.”

I pulled myself off the floor and wandered over to the dresser in the corner. The only time I wore the ring now was when I slept. So before when I said I didn’t wear it anymore, I was actually telling a half-truth. But wearing it while I was sleeping didn’t really count, did it? I don’t think so. Besides no one was going to see me while I slept. Not wearing the ring was dangerous too because of nightmares. Heavy emotion and I did not go hand in hand any more.

I slipped the ring on my finger; the clothes it manifested were a pair of pink pajamas. I’m not sure how it knew this but somehow it did. I tried not to think about it. There were a lot of things about the ring that troubled me and so far, I had no answers. I wanted to talk to Jade about it but I had no way of contacting her and she’d yet to show up with answers. It made me wonder if she had abandoned me too.

I sighed heavily as I lay down on my mattress and let sleep take me.

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I dreamed but I’m not sure what it was about. But I saw that man again, the one from the pool side in the other dream. He was sitting in a chair, smiling at me in this new one. He didn’t look familiar but there was something about him that was really off putting. I think it was his eyes; there was no life in them. They kept staring at me, like they were burning into my soul. When I woke up a few hours after falling asleep, those eyes were on my mind for the rest of the day. True to my word, I went downstairs to eat something; I think Mom was just happy to see me out of the room. I’m not sure why but I kept the ring on, still in the mirage of the pink pajamas.

Mom didn’t say a word about it.

When I went to bed that night, I had trouble sleeping. I think I was afraid I’d have another strange dream. When I finally did fall asleep, he was there again. We were in a room together; he was sitting in that chair of his, this time next to a large fireplace. He didn’t say anything but he stared at me again. Those eyes were horrible. They were like two black pits that didn’t seem to end. When I woke up the following morning, I once again couldn’t get them out of my head.

At breakfast, Mom noticed something was wrong. “Are you all right, honey?”

I sighed, running my fingers through my long red hair. “I’ve been having unsettling dreams.”

She nodded. “Do you want me to call someone?”

“A shrink?” She nodded and I shook my head. “They’re not that bad, Mom.”

But I was lying. They were troubling, really troubling. I just didn’t want to see a shrink about it. How would I explain things anyway? Ellie Jackson wasn’t supposed to be here for another week or two and Eddie Bloomberg was dead. Who would the shrink think I was? But there were other problems, too. I didn’t want to discuss what else was going on with me. I’m not sure if it was the ring or if it was me all along but I kinda liked seeing Ellie in the mirror. I’m not saying that I’m that way but it was kinda nice. She was pretty and other than Cissie’s aversion to her, I think others might actually like her. As strange as it sounded, I was kinda looking forward to going back to school as her. Why the change of heart? I’m not really sure but I woke up this morning feeling like a million bucks, besides the creepy guy in my dreams, of course.

That night when I went to bed I was feeling pretty good about myself. That is until I dreamed again and something happened. I was in the same room as before---with the fireplace---but this time I knew I was Ellie and he was smiling. His other facial features were clear to me now too, not just his eyes. He was a sinister looking man with shoulder length white hair and a sneer. He was holding a silver goblet, his legs crossed. Then he did something he’d never done before, he spoke.

“You think you’re so clever, hiding what I gave you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

He smirked. “It was a wonderful gift, something I give to very few people my dear. I wanted it to be something very special to you as well. After all it was a part of the agreement.”

“Agreement? What agreement?”

He waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter, nothing matters.” He got up from his chair, the goblet disappearing from his hand. He walked over to me, almost gliding across the ground. Then he was in front of me, in a blink of an eye. “This is not what I had planned for you but it is so much better.”

I looked down for the first time and noticed I was wearing a tight red dress. It should have freaked me out but I felt kinda sexy. “Who are you?”

He smiled the corners of his mouth curling up a bit so I could see his teeth. What I saw wasn’t possible. They weren’t human teeth, he had sharp incisors like a dog or maybe a vampire. “Not a vampire, nothing as bland as that. As far as a name, I have several but if you must call me by one then you can use Neron.”

“What do you want from me?”

He laughed, it was a cruel laugh. “I want your allegiance, dear girl, I thought that was abundantly clear.”

“I’m not a girl,” I stammered.

“We both know that and yet when you put the ring on, you chose this form above all others.”

“There was a glitch.”

He laughed. “We both know that’s not true. That’s why your little friend hasn’t come back because there’s nothing wrong with the ring. This form of yours was of your choosing” He walked around me, taking in my whole body. “And what a form it is. Very lovely indeed.”

I shuddered. “I have powerful friends,” I said, trying to see if I could scare this guy away.

He laughed. “The demigod?” He laughed even louder. “The Olympians have no sway over me. They cannot enter my Realm and I cannot interfere with theirs. It is a mutual understanding we have.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed. For the first time I noticed the trembling echo of his laugh. “Of course you don’t. You’re a minion, a lesser being, a means to an end. I need an army and you’re one of the soldiers. Do as I say and everything will be fine, but cross me and you’ll be sorry.”

I’m not sure what happened but it was like a light bulb. I suddenly knew what this thing was. “You’re some kinda demon,” I said with an angry sneer.

“Something like that.”

Something else dawned on me. “You turned me into that thing didn’t you?”

“A little slow on the uptake aren’t you.”

My anger flared again. “I want nothing to do with your plans. You’re a monster!”

He shook his head. “I so wish you hadn’t said that” He wagged his finger. “Now I’m afraid I’m going to have to punish you.”

A large fireball appeared in his hand. I backed up, trying to get away from it. He smiled, his vile fangs showing. Then he reared his arm back and threw it at me. I put up my hands to shield myself but it was no use. The fireball hit me and burst on my body, engulfing me in flames. I screamed at the top of my lungs, burning to death in my own dream…

_____________________________________

When I snapped my eyes, the first thing I noticed was all the smoke. The second thing I noticed was the intense heat. I snapped up in bed and screamed. The whole room was on fire. The flames were everywhere. I looked at my hands, have expecting to see them red and taloned but they weren’t. They were human hands, Ellie’s hands. How was this even possible? I tried to wrack my brain for answers. There was just no way that I could manifest flames through the cloak of the ring. Jade promised it would shield my abilities. Unless…unless the dream was real. I shook my head, that was crazy.

A blaring noise shattered my thoughts. The smoke detector. I looked around the room, trying to see through the piercing flames. Even though I was wearing the ring, I wasn’t getting burned. So apparently, it only shielded my powers from escaping but it I still had them. I wonder if that meant that I caused this. Being burned to death in a dream can be a very scary thing, too scary in fact. Did that mean I lost control and somehow brought about these flames? Was that even possible?

My thoughts were shattered again by a scream. Oh my God, Mom.

I didn’t think about anything else as I ran for the door. I grabbed the burning hot knob and tore the door off its hinges. I didn’t even wonder where I got the strength. I ran into the hall and froze. The flames were here too. In fact, they were all over the place. I could barely see through the thick black smoke but I managed to move down the hall, making my way toward Mom’s room. About two or three feet from my bedroom, a piece of the burning ceiling dropped in front of me, a near miss. I barely dodged it. I cursed, jumping over the burning beam. The whole house was definitely on fire. But I tried not to think about it, it was just a house after all. I needed to get to Mom.

I tore down the hall, moving as fast as I could. A normal person would have collapsed by now due to all the smoke but I wasn’t normal. I’m not sure what I was but a little smoke wasn’t going to stop me. When I got to Mom’s room, I kicked open the door. She was on the bed, coughing, the whole room a sea of flames around her. I shouted for her but she couldn’t hear me over the roaring noise. So I took a deep breath and charged into the room. I jumped over her flaming armchair and landed on the bed next to her.

“Eddie” she said weakly, her face and clothes covered in black soot.

“I’m here Mom,” I said, relief overwhelming me.

She was lying on the bed and reached up for me. I bent down, allowing her to touch my face. “My sweet boy, I’m so proud of you.”

I nodded, frantic. “We don’t have time right now Mom. We can talk as soon as I get you out of here.”

She coughed and shook her head. “I’m so weak Eddie.”

I bent down and scooped her into my arms, surprised at how strong I was in the Ellie form. A few days ago, I wasn’t this strong. “Hang in there Mom; I’ll get you out of here.”

She smiled weakly at me. She reached up to touch my face but her hand dropped limply. I knew the truth but I wasn’t willing to admit it. So instead, I did what I promised and turned toward the door. I jumped off the bed and the next thing I knew I was in the hallway. I’m not sure how I jumped that far but right now, it didn’t matter. I charged down the hall, flaming debris from the ceiling kept falling around my head. I dodged it all, moving like a man possessed. When I got to the stairs, they were already gone. The whole house was a total loss, roaring with flames and black smoke. I took another deep breath and jumped.

I’m not sure how but it was like I glided to the floor. When I landed, I didn’t think about it and kept running. I went right for the front door, turning sideways as I slammed into it. I smashed it from its hinges and stumbled out into the lawn. By then there were fire trucks on my front lawn, firefighters running here and there. When I came charging out of the house I don’t think they knew what to make of it. One of the closest ones looked at me. He stared for a long time, paralyzed with shock. It didn’t last long as he shook it off.

“Miss, you need to get checked out now,” he said.

I shook my head. “I’m fine, take care of my mother.”

I held her out to him and looked down. I nearly collapsed. What had once been my mother was now gone, in my hands was her badly burned body. I numbly dropped her into his arms as the world went in slow motion around me. I heard the police sirens and saw the cars pull up. There were five or six of them. They were followed by two black SUVs. When the doors of them opened, I saw some men in suits run out. I had a pretty good idea who they were. It was especially apparent they knew who I was too because they pulled their guns on me.

I snapped back into reality after that. I held up my arms. “I didn’t do this.”

“GET ON YOUR KNEES NOW!” shouted one of the DEO agents.

I shook my head. “There was fire when I woke up but it wasn’t me.” I flashed him my hand. “This ring prevents my powers from coming out.”

They didn’t listen. I got angry that they weren’t listening. They kept shouting at me, screaming at me at the top of their lungs. They were moving in, both agents and cops, all of them with their guns drawn. My anger got the better of me. I’m not sure how it happened but the fire came. I screamed at them, shouting that I was innocent and as soon as I did, the fire came out of my mouth. It tore through their ranks, burning them on contact. It scared the hell out of me. It wasn’t supposed to happen. The ring was supposed to prevent it.

I looked on my hand, wondering if it was broken. But the ring was gone. What the hell?

The guys in front of me screamed as they flailed around in flames. I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. So much death, so much pain and suffering. I had to get out of here, I had to get away. I felt a tug at my back and a rush of air as I went up. I’m not sure what was happening but my neighborhood got smaller the higher I went. I turned in the air, noticing the red of my skin and the flap of my leathery wings. The ring failed, and I was the monster once again.

I turned west, trying to get away as fast as I could.