Lucifer's Witch

Supper had been delightful. Luce was fluent in Cantonese, and “knew of a good place to order”, as Hiserly changed out of the dress into comfortable clothes again.

The conversation had been light and appealing to the appetite, nothing deep and dangerous. They had briefly discussed the upcoming Gala, and the weather. What her involvement was to be of the Rebuilding of Salem was still a mystery, only that he wanted the article to be unbiased. Hiserly was still dreaming of the red dress but knew that it would be impossible to find one before tomorrow evening.

They were enjoying a few after dinner cocktails on the veranda as the sun was setting, Luce asked again if she was finding all that she needed in the area.

“Well, it’s not like shopping in the city,” she started, “the selections around here are….different.”

“Tell me what you can’t find, we can order it from the city.” Luce responded. “I realize this whole situation is a bit unorthodox, but I assure you that your comfort is essential in your work.”

“Unorthodox…. that’s putting it lightly.” Hiserly countered, “I’m a woman staying at a man’s house, without supervision and you are catering to my every need.” she laughed. “It’s like an old fashioned romance novel.”

“Old fashioned romance novels?” Luce laughed. “I didn’t think you read such things!”

“It is an essential thing to have a few novels around to stave off the boredom of the Restriction Time. That and food.” Hiserly answered.

“Restriction Time, ah yes. It’s one of the most archaic, demeaning, interruptive times….” Luce started.

“Archaic? Demeaning? Interruptive? I can agree on that last one. Especially if you are traveling, have a work timeline or like to be followed by the Praetorian Guard.” Hiserly shook her head. “ Why do you have such an attitude about it? It’s not like YOU have to be restricted, unless it's the dating aspect.”

“I’ll admit it can be a great idea for women to have some time to themselves. The whole division of the sexes and population control is a basic bullshit idea. Men should be taught to control their primal urges. Not rape, not force women to feel they have to submit, and the whole idea that women have seduced men, put ideas into their heads by way of witchcraft is really objectionable to a cultured man!” Luce was pacing now. The subject seemed to aggravate him.

He wasn’t a calm cool fella after all, thought Hiserly, this will be interesting.

“Salem was at the center of the combative revolution. Women claiming that they were raped, subjected to horrors that men forced them to have sex, and prostitute themselves. The men saying they had been bewitched, or had a spell put on them to keep from being jailed for the offenses. Are you objecting to the possibility of witchcraft or are you objecting to men using it as an excuse to get away with the crimes? I believe both sexes were to blame back then.” Hiserly had some good points.

Lucifer took a deep breath and refreshed their glasses.

“For many thousands of years, women have been vilified.” Luce began. “If you follow the bible teachings, back to Eve tempting Adam with the apple. What a farce.” The women in history are either temptresses, poor role models or simply the antagonists of every major conflict. Helen of Troy for instance. Poor judgement on both parts. Temptress, according to the professionals. Witchcraft, bah. I believe that women and men both have powers that they do not understand, and those that do, are labeled as witches, wizards or worse. It’s all in the control of the powers within.” Luce was pacing. “This Division of the Sexes for the domestic safety of women is a bullshit excuse to control women, and men! Look at the results of the riots that happened before the destruction of Salem….Women rioting because they felt threatened by men, rape, harrassment, inability to have control of their own bodies in birth control and abortion, population sacrifices, men refusing to care for the children they produced because of lack of self control or lack of birth control protection. It was a mess. That doesn’t mean that Salem had to be destroyed, it became the symbol of the “oppressed man”, because some idiots decided to call it “‘witchcraft’’. Luce downed his drink.

“This needs to be exposed, Hiserly. All of the lies, the propaganda, all of the evil, for what end? Population control? Possibly. Safety of Women? HA! I know of quite a few women that can kick a man’s ass without hesitation. But in today’s society, she would be jailed for insurrection of a riot. This Rebuilding of Salem needs to lead the country in a new direction for the equal rights of everyone. I’m tired of being demonized.” Luce sat down, looking exhausted, his entire being had been caught in a whirlwind of emotions.

Hiserly could feel it, in her body, her bones, her soul. She had been around impassioned speakers before, but this was different. Her intuition told her that she was on a journey to make things right where they had gone terribly wrong.

“You certainly have a good sense of what happened then.” Hiserly finally responded, trying to lighten the mood. An oppressive cloud had converged over them during his speech. “I suppose you will be escorting this wayward woman to the Gala tomorrow night? We must obey the proprieties after all.”

Luce snuck a quick look at his guest, “Why yes, I’m glad you mentioned it. I have a car ordered for tomorrow evening. I should open up the fancy clothes closet to air out my tuxedos. Do you happen to have the appropriate accessories for that dress?”

“THAT dress???” Hiserly bristled, but calmed herself, realizing he was intentionally teasing her, “Yes I ordered accessories, why?”

“In my cultured opinion of dresses, while the blue one is charming, it simply didn’t capture your ….soul effectively. You really should be wearing red.” Luce answered in a calming voice.

Hiserly felt that calmness soothing her, “I was trying to find a red dress. I don’t wear dresses often. Even for an important occasion.”

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Luce laughed. “Come with me sweet Hiserly, I know where we can find a few options….”

Lucifer escorted her upstairs to the master suite doors. Hiserly hesitated, she had been told to stay out of there, but she was curious as well. Lucifer felt her pull back as he reached for the doorknobs. Turning to her he said,

“You have nothing to fear from me, my dear. I simply am going to show you to my family treasures.”

He opened the doors, stepping inside a spacious gallery, with many doors leading to other rooms. Obviously the family had quarters for living separate from the rest of the House. She noticed the space, it was clean. No dust, no cobwebs, not even a smudge on the door handles. The rest of the House had been a frightful mess. How was it that this part of the House was not in that condition? There was a natural light that seemed luminous and slightly changing as they walked to the fourth doorway.

“Here we are, I believe this is the room.” Luce stopped at the doorway. He turned to her before opening the doorknob. “At one time, my family lived here, most of them at least. Cousin, Aunts, Uncles, Grands. They have moved on, or died off. This was a cousin’s room.” He opened the doors and led her into a bright cheery room with a lot of golds and silvers to accent the deep reds and blacks.

“WOW!” Hiserly exclaimed. She had never seen such a beautiful, exotic room, even the downstairs opulence paled in comparison. Luce led the way to the walk-in closet the size of a small bedroom. As with the rest of the master gallery there was little dust, dirt or cobwebs, perfectly clean. In the closet, on two walls were red dresses, of every style, ranging from short mini-dresses to long, flowing dresses and exquisite gowns with subtle stitching and designs. The third wall had a door and drawers with glass boxes showing red, black, gold and silver accessories. She glanced at Lucifer, expecting another closet with more accessories. Luce walked up behind her, “Yes, she loved the reds.” he chuckled, reaching up to snap a hidden latch opening the wall and allowing the third wall swing in, doubling the size of the closet.

Hiserly began to browse through all of the longer dresses, wondering if they would fit her form. She was a voluptuous young lady, some styles didn’t fit right. She pulled out 4 dresses and hung them on a nearby hook to examine the styles and closures. Hiserly didn’t want to be messing with a difficult dress in the bathroom. Lucifer added 3 more dresses and a few cloaks.

“This is just unbelievable. I’ve never seen such a closet in my life. It’s bigger than my apartment back home.” Hiserly took a step back, looking around and shaking her head.

“You’ve been wondering why there is no dust.” Luce said. “Until we entered this wing, it was hermetically sealed. It helps prevent aging.” He stepped around her to go to the door. “I will leave you to explore, feel free to try on whatever you need.” He opened some drawers with jewelry in it. “Just don’t leave the room. I don’t know what boobie traps the family has put into place.” Lucifer laughed, but his tone wasn't humorous. He left her to find a dress that she liked.

Hiserly spun around, completely amazed. Inside the closet, was a full length mirror, actually there was a trio of them, she could see herself from every angle. She shook her dark wavy hair and started to look in earnest for a dress that would work for the Gala.

**** **** **** ****

There was some breathtaking work in these dresses, some with corsets, bustles, layers of skirts and over skirts. If she chose any of the fancier ones she would need help dressing and would probably be overdressed. Nope, simpler was better, and would draw less criticism.

An hour later she had narrowed it down to three dresses, one that Luce had chosen, and two she had found. Hiserly was buttoning the front corset of the final dress when she noticed Lucifer was standing in the doorway to the room.

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” he said softly. “You look….amazing.”

Hiserly twirled around, “I feel like a princess.” she giggled.

Lucifer crossed the distance between them in an instant, “More like a Priestess.” He was near enough for her to feel the heat of his gaze, not uncomfortable, but she wasn’t used to it. She stepped back, breathing a little ragged. “Thank you, I haven’t decided yet. There are so many lovely dresses here.”

Hiserly had actually decided on a dress. This one was so beautiful. She wanted to keep them all, but she was only borrowing it for a night. “I think I will go with something a little less pretentious. Given the circumstances.”

Luce noticed her movements and stepped farther away to give her space.

“I’m sure you will find the most beautiful dress here. Please continue, when you have chosen, take it and the necessary accessories back to your room. I’m sure they can use a little airing out. I will be in the drawing room with a late night coffee if you wish to join me.” Luce left the room.

Hiserly took a deep breath. She changed clothes and gathered the chosen dress, cloak and accessories and closed the door to the room as she left.

If she was going to be around this man, she would need more than coffee to calm her down.