NOVPUBThe van hummed along the cracked mountain road, gravel clinking off the undercarriage as it dipped and jolted down every bend. The trees were still. No wind. No birds. Just silence and distance.
The sky was a little too bright, like a light left on too long in a room that should’ve been dark. But there was no fire anymore. No screaming shadows. No monsters whispering from behind the trees.
Just the long road home.
Ivy sat up front, arms folded, jacket zipped tight. She hadn’t spoken since the cabin. Not really. Just nodded when someone asked something, or blinked once if they looked at her too long.
Aiden drove. Eyes fixed to the road, knuckles pale against the wheel. His jaw was clenched like it was the only thing keeping him together. The speed limit didn’t matter. They weren’t running anymore—they just wanted to get home.
Clara sat beside Jess in the middle row, her hands clutching her charred Bible like it might still protect her. Jess leaned against the window, staring out into the trees. Her knees were drawn to her chest, lips pressed shut. She hadn’t cried since they left, but her eyes stayed red like she might start again at any moment.
Liam rode in the back, earbuds in, but no music playing. He just needed something to block out the quiet.
And in the last row, by himself—
Lucifer.
He looked out the window like he was watching something no one else could see. Not with dread. Not with concern.
With peace.
The kind of peace you only find after leaving a place you never wanted to be in the first place.
The kind of peace that doesn’t care what comes next.
The van hit a bump. No one spoke.
"You really think it’s over?" Jess whispered finally, her voice barely a breath.
Clara looked at her. "We closed the book."
"Yeah, but we still brought him back." Jess nodded slightly toward the back seat.
Lucifer didn’t move. Didn’t respond. Just kept watching the trees.
"Do you think it’ll follow us?" Ivy asked, finally breaking her silence.
Lucifer blinked. Slowly.
"It already has."
That was all he said.
The van filled with a heavy quiet again. Like the words had weighed them all down.
"But… nothing’s happening," Aiden said, voice tight. "No shadows. No sky cracks. No… monsters. If something followed you, wouldn’t it have done something by now?"
Lucifer looked up at the rearview mirror, just enough for Aiden to see his reflection.
"It doesn’t need to rush. It’s patient. Curious. And unlike me, it’s never seen a world like this before."
He paused.
"I could stop it."
Everyone looked at him.
"But I won’t."
Liam finally pulled an earbud out. "Why not? You’re literally Lucifer. If you can end it, then just—"
"I’m done helping," Lucifer said flatly.
The words hit like a slap.
"I helped once. Long ago. I followed orders. I fought for rules I didn’t believe in, to protect a world I was never welcome in. I stood between light and darkness more times than you know."
He looked out the window again, softer now.
"And none of it mattered."
The trees thinned as they passed a weathered sign:
CITY LIMITS – 14 MILES
"Wait," Clara said, her voice brittle. "So you’re just gonna let it… what? Burn everything?"
"No," Lucifer said. "I’m going to let it be. Whether it destroys this place or not is up to it. Not me."
"Why?" Ivy asked. "Why even bother coming back, then?"
Lucifer turned to her.
"I didn’t come back for you. I didn’t come back for the world."
He leaned his head back.
"I just wanted out."
No one answered. No one could.
They drove in silence for a while after that.
Past rusted mailboxes. Past empty porches and gas stations that hadn’t changed since the ’90s. The mountains slowly gave way to hills, and then to flat roads dotted with telephone poles.
The sky stayed blue. The sun kept shining. Birds flew overhead.
Everything looked normal.
Jess pressed her forehead to the glass.
"It doesn’t feel like we should be allowed to just… go home."
"You are," Lucifer said simply. "You’re not chosen. Not cursed. You’re just the kids who left the door open. That’s all."
Liam rubbed his eyes. "So that’s it? We just go back to class Monday and pretend we didn’t drag the Devil out of some cursed book?"
Lucifer smiled. "You could. Or you could tell someone. They’ll put you in therapy. Say it was trauma. Blame it on some bad drugs."
He looked out the window again. "But no one will believe the truth."
"Because they’re not ready for it?" Clara asked.
Lucifer shook his head.
"Because they never believed it. Even when they saw it."
The buildings started to rise around them. Strip malls. Laundromats. A car wash with soap-slicked water running into the gutters. The world kept turning.
They passed a family walking their dog.
A bus stop packed with tired commuters.
A teenage couple laughing on a bench.
Lucifer rolled the window down, letting the city air rush in.
It didn’t smell like sulfur or smoke.
Just gas fumes and cheap coffee and someone’s lunch from a taco truck.
He breathed it in.
"Still loud," he murmured.
The van finally pulled into Ivy’s apartment garage. They parked in the shadowed corner of the bottom level.
The engine shut off.
No one moved.
No one knew what came next.
Lucifer opened the door and stepped out. The others followed slowly, like they weren’t sure if it was okay to move again.
Ivy leaned on the van, staring up at her apartment window. "What do we do now?"
Lucifer shrugged. "Sleep. Eat. Pretend."
Jess hugged herself. "But it’s still out there. Watching."
Lucifer nodded. "It is."
Aiden stared at him. "And you’re really not gonna stop it."
Lucifer turned to him.
"I spent ages holding back monsters for someone else’s dream. The old man’s dream."
He looked up at the city.
"This time, I want to see what happens when I don’t."
The group fell quiet again.
Finally, Ivy walked to the elevator.
"You staying with us?"
Lucifer smiled.
"No. I’ve got places to see."
"Where will you go?" Clara asked. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Lucifer started walking.
"Everywhere. Nowhere. Doesn’t matter."
He stepped out of the garage. Onto the sidewalk. Into the sunlight.
People passed by him without a second glance. A mother pushing a stroller. A delivery guy wheeling a cart of packages. A teenager blasting music from her headphones.
Lucifer walked among them like he’d always been there.
Like he’d never left.
The kids watched until he turned the corner and vanished from view.
And for a while, no one said anything.
Then Liam sighed. "This is the part where everything should go back to normal, right?"
Aiden opened the van door. "Let’s hope it never does."
They headed upstairs. One by one.
Carrying silence with them.
Behind them, the sky stayed bright.
The world stayed loud.
And far away—beyond the edge of what humans could feel—
Something waited.
It wasn’t angry.
It wasn’t in a rush.
It was just curious.
And for the first time in forever—
It had an open door.
