《ENCHANTED》 Chapter One - The Demon Marina Chapter One: The Demon What do you do when all your life you had to learn to run? There¡¯s a point where you start to get tired. You try to catch your breath and it feels like you''re slowly dying because maybe you are. But then the strangest thing happens. You don¡¯t feel your legs anymore and your mind becomes clearer, soon enough you become used to the feeling. It would feel weird if you stopped running so you end up running even faster because what else can you do? I snap back into reality and look over to my best friend Astro. He looks back at me with a tired but steady smile. We have to act fast or this demon will catch up to us and win. I draw my sword from my hip and Astro knows the plan just from the expression on my face. We turn the opposite way and bolt. I slash their arm with my sword and Astro knocks them to the ground. As soon as he gets them down, I anchor my knee to their chest and place my blade right underneath their chin. I look straight at the face of a person who was on the side of a corrupt leader whose selfishness never stopped growing. To take over my people''s land and to take our magic for their selfish use. My face wasn¡¯t well at hiding the disgust that had been boiling inside me. ¡°Tell me everything you know before I have to kill you.¡± The demon stopped for a bit and then let out a laugh, a big cold-hearted laugh. ¡°You think I''d tell you anything? You don''t scare me, you and your little pet are nothing but past-time for me.¡± I look back at Astro who has been visibly upset by the pet remark. ¡°We are more than a past-time if we were able to knock you down so easily,¡± I say. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The demon lets out an annoyed growl. ¡°Do you think I can tell you anything? If I do then my commander will just torture me to death herself. You are not worth my pain.¡± For some reason, those words struck me. ¡°You don''t have to live like this, you could join us.¡± The demon pushed me off them. There was a second where I could see that my words had affected them. And there we were standing face to face just staring at each other. It might have been seconds but it felt like an eternity. The demon reached over his shoulder and just like he appeared he was gone leaving behind a green smoke. ¡°These missions have been harder ever since these demons laid their hands on these teleportation crystal things,¡± Astro says behind me. ¡°I know they''re a pain in the butt!¡± I let out a desperate scream. ¡°Just to think that I was so close to helping him!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t help all of them, Mari, they need to want to be helped,¡± Astro said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I give him a warm smile. ¡°It¡¯s just that I know demons aren¡¯t all bad, they have the power to be good, it''s not all about where you come from, it''s about who you are as a person¡± I sighed. ¡°They are fighting us to survive. I guarantee you that if given the choice, they wouldn''t even want to fight in this stupid war!¡± Astro looks at me with sympathetic eyes. ¡°Hey let¡¯s get your mind off things! How about cake? I heard the shop might have a new cake flavor!¡± I let out a much-needed laugh. ¡°Cake sounds amazing actually¡± ¡°Yeah! But first, we need to get you a new sword.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said, startled. I look down to realize my sword has bent during the fight. The swords they usually give to soldiers my age are extremely flimsy. You¡¯d think that maybe we would save money by just making better swords rather than making hundreds of them. ¡°I don¡¯t remember my sword bending,¡± I say. ¡°Huh, must have happened when you weren¡¯t looking or something¡± ¡°I am always looking, you know that.¡± ¡°Maybe you aren¡¯t as sharp-minded as you thought!¡± Astro puts on a giant cheeky smile. I scoff dramatically. ¡°Okay wow, you''re paying.¡± ¡°What! That¡¯s not fair!¡± ¡°Oh it is, you insult me and now you buy me cake it¡¯s a completely understandable trade.¡± ¡°Okay fine whatever¡± he scoffs As we are walking to the Young Knight Center, which is called Y.K.C. by most, I can''t help but notice a strange aura surrounding Astro. I look over to see his gloomy face and immediately remember why. We never mentioned the pet comment, it was always a sore topic for Astro. Animal spirits like him are always treated as less than Thesians. He never wants to use his wolf side in combat because then they''d know. Very few of our colleagues know that he is an Animal spirit but demons can sense it. I know how he feels. It''s one of the many reasons why we are even friends. He knows I¡¯m part human and must completely change myself around normal Thesians. My eyes are a dark brown color as opposed to the usual green, purple, or red. Every morning I have to put on my contacts to hide my real eye color. Humans are more emotional than Thesians, they cry, laugh, and feel love for others (or so I was told) but Thesians are more serious and don''t feel these things. Eventually, after hiding a huge part of yourself you feel ashamed, alone, and especially scared because you don¡¯t want people to know the real you. I look over at Astro who is still looking gloomy. ¡°You know that I''ll always have your back right?¡± I say. ¡°Of course and you know that I''ll always have yours. We have each other.¡± We give each other a small smile and keep walking but now the air feels lighter. It is nice to know that in this whole world, I have someone that I can be myself with. I care so much for Astro and I know he cares for me, so I plan to keep him with me for as long as possible. Chapter Two - The Sword (Part One) We walk inside the YKC and make our way to one of the main offices. I knock on the door and Claire opens on the other side. ¡°Hey guys! Come on in we were just finishing up our latest project¡± We walk in to see Brandy welding something and Alice looking over him with a clipboard. ¡°You guys came just in time! We were just putting the finishing touches¡± said Claire The triplets are rarely in the same place at once; they all have the talents that they use outside the Y.K.C., Brandy is the only one who cares deeply about this place, he cares so damn much that he has subconsciously made it his life''s mission to run this place. There was a time when they were all inseparable, they created amazing things but they also wanted to have their own lives which is respectable. ¡°What are you guys working on?¡± I say ¡°Just something special for our little cousin,¡± Brandy said as he took off his gear. ¡°For me?¡± I say ¡°Yeah Astro was in on it,¡± Alice says ¡°The triplets asked me to bring you over so I bent your sword as an excuse¡± ¡°It was you I knew something was off I always pay attention in combat!¡± I punch Astro''s shoulder in a teasing way. He tumbles over dramatically. ¡°Ow.¡± ¡°Mari, are you ready to see your gift?¡± Alice says as she gets behind me to cover my eyes. ¡°Yeah, I love gifts!¡± She gently puts her hand over my eyes and I can feel how Brandy puts a small circular object in my hand. ¡°Now open your eyes!¡± Alice removes her hands from my eyes. I looked down to see what I thought was a red pocket watch with the Y.K.C. symbol engraved on it. ¡°A pocket watch! Thank you guys it¡¯s so pretty¡± I say ¡°Not a pocket watch! Click on the symbol.¡± Brandy smiles as he steps back. I start to get a bit worried that this was one of their pranks but I press on the symbol. In the blink of an eye, the small object had turned into the most beautiful sword I had ever seen. It had a red handle and a beautiful engraved blade. I look up and see my cousins towering over me. ¡°Congrats on ranking up!¡± They all say in unison You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this!¡± I gently touched the blade ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful!¡± ¡°We thought you needed an upgrade and Astro mentioned that you kept complaining about the flimsy swords,¡± Brandy says I smile shily. When you wanna close or open it just press the symbol¡± Brandy says as he helps me close it. ¡°And then you can wear it as an amulet around your neck!¡± I have to admit I am shocked by the amount of detail that they put into this. They are really sweet when they want to be, especially when they all come together to create something. ¡°But that it¡¯s the only thing Mari looks in the back, behind the symbol,¡± Claire says I look and my name is engraved with a heart next to it. ¡°It¡¯s your mother''s writing,¡± Alice says I looked surprised. ¡°But how?¡± ¡°Well when you were about to be born your mom and dad were trying to come up with names so they started writing down all of the potential names for you and when they got to Marina your mom loved it so much she put a heart next to it,¡± Claire said Run my fingers through my name and I can¡¯t help but feel weird inside. We usually don¡¯t mention Mom at home, it¡¯s always been a hard topic for everyone. My cousins try to tell me stories they remember occasionally but for the most part that¡¯s it. My mom died when I was around five and nobody knew why, she was young and healthy but out of nowhere she felt extremely sick and died. Her sudden death was hard for my brother and sister but especially for my Dad although they would never like to admit it. Sometimes I wonder how life would have been if she was still around. Maybe Dad would be home more often or perhaps I would know more about what it¡¯s like to be human. Maybe I''d have a chance to visit Earth. Life could¡¯ve been different. Is it possible to miss someone I never got the opportunity to know fully? As I snap back to reality and notice the tears falling on the amulet. I feel Astro hugging my arm and the triplets joining in. We all hug in silence for what feels like an eternity. ¡°Thank you guys this was so thoughtful.¡± ¡°You know we love you, Mari,¡± Claire says ¡°I love you guys too.¡± I know deep down that perhaps they don¡¯t know what love is. ¡°Love¡± is categorized as a human emotion, a powerful sensation that can only be felt when you care deeply for someone or something. Since they are Thesians I have no idea if they truly mean it when they say the word love. I¡¯m not entirely sure if I know what love is. But moments like this solidify the fact that if I don¡¯t feel love then this would be the closest thing to it. As we leave the office I try to catch reality but my mind keeps slipping off. Everything was just a lot and though I''m grateful I can''t help but feel¡­ well to be truthful I''m not sure how I feel. ¡°Mari!¡± Astro waves his hand in front of my face ¡°C''mon you''re slipping on me¡± ¡°Sorry Astro, I didn''t mean to, what were you saying?¡± ¡°I didn''t say anything but now that I''ve got your attention let''s start heading our way to the cafe c''mon I''m starving! Y''know fighting demons gives me the munchies¡± I let out a small laugh ¡°Okay let''s go you dumb goofball¡± As we make our way closer to the cafe Astro suddenly stops me. He has this alarmed look on his face and I grow worried. ¡°Do you hear that?¡± he says. I close my eyes to see if I can hear the same thing he does and just before I was about to open my eyes to tell Astro he was imagining things I hear faint muffles coming from the back of a building nearby. Astro and I look at each other in understanding before we run towards the noise. As we were running we realized we were having trouble finding the source. We were running in circles with no direction. Astro lets out a frustrated grunt and lets his wolf form out just a bit. He sniffs for a second and says ¡°Follow me¡± he runs but I have trouble catching up to him. Finally, we find the source of the noise: a demon was holding a young girl by her mouth to the wall. We wasted no time and jumped straight into action. Astro clings to his neck and pulls him away from her. The girl falls to the ground. I quickly put myself in between her and the demon. I remember my new sword and wasted no time in using it. I started waving my sword at the demon while Astro was ready to attack from the back. The demon wasted time and jumped at me claws out. Chapter Two - The Sword (Part Two) Chapter Two: The Sword (Part Two) I blocked the attacks with my sword. If this didn''t involve an innocent civilian you could say that I was almost excited to use my brand new sword. As we kept fighting this demon I finally took a stab at him through the arm he fell to the floor in agony and Astro tied his foot to a pole to not escape. I figure we need to take the girl out of here since she was still on the floor presumably in shock for the whole wave of events. I go up to her and give her a nice warm smile. ¡°It''s okay I''m here to help you,¡± I say as I offer my hand she looks up at me and as I''m looking at her face something inside me lights up, I''ve never felt this way before I was almost taken back from this I am not one to notice someone in that way, not like this. She takes my hand and stands up. I am now directly looking at her and am intimidated for the first time in a long time. Astro walks up to us ¡°I''ve already called for backup. They should be here any moment to take this guy in¡¯¡¯ he directs himself to the girl ¡°Hey do you need us to take you anywhere, maybe to your house or something?¡± she smiles and says ¡°Don''t worry I have somewhere to go that''s not too far from here I can see you guys are busy so I do not want to take up much of your time thank you for saving me!¡± she says as she walks away holding a basket with what I think are flowers. ¡°Yeah, no problem!¡± Astro yells back to her. I find myself looking at her leave and I can¡¯t help but wonder who she is, her hobbies, whether she has a good relationship with her family, and whether she has any long-lost secret. I wanted to know it all. My thoughts are interrupted by the demon ¡°How long are you children going to keep me suffering!¡± Astro rolls his eyes and bends down to the demon level ¡°Hey not to be rude but can you shut up help is on its way you are being annoying right now.¡± ¡°I am bleeding my arm out, I am in pain!¡± he says in an angry tone. ¡°We both know that''s not true and you wouldn''t be bleeding your arm out if you didn''t attack that girl,¡± I say The demon rolled his eyes and shut up sulking in silence. It wasn''t long before help came and some other members came and took the demon to a captive facility, if they weren''t able to get any useful information out of him then they had no choice but to release him. That''s the awful thing about playing for the good side; we must abide by the rules. Long before the war the queen and Erebus made a pact saying they could not hold each other''s subjects in captivity, this was to keep the peace between the two kingdoms. Now this rule has become inconvenient to us for obvious reasons. ¡°Hey guys don''t worry we got it from here,¡± says Jace Jace is one of the older kids. He is ranked higher but that just means he has more skill than us. We have interacted somewhat but the times he has he has let us know that he is pretty cool. ¡°Alright thanks, Jace I''ll see you around tomorrow,¡± I say ¡°See you later man¡± Astro waves The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. We make our way to the cafe and take a seat, the waitress takes our orders and now we are just waiting for the food. Astro stared at me for a few seconds before I asked ¡°Is something wrong?¡± He squinted his eyes, staring at me more intensely. ¡°I don''t know Mari is there?¡± I became slightly nervous. ¡°I''m not sure Astro¡± We stare at each other for a second before he blurts out ¡°So we aren''t going to talk about how you had a moment with that one girl?¡± I choked a little. I didn''t realize that he saw through me that easily. It was obvious. Could she see it too? ¡°I''m not sure what you are talking about,¡± I say, deciding that I should play it cool. ¡°Oh I think you know perfectly well what I''m talking about you can''t fool me Mari I saw the way you looked at her¡± ¡°I think you''re overthinking this¡± ¡°I''m not! I know I''m not¡± he points his finger at me as if he were trying to interrogate me ¡°You are going to tell me what that was missy!¡± I smiled and looked to see that the waitress was standing above us with our food. I realized that we were being way too loud to the point other people were staring at our table. She gave a nervous laugh, set the food, and walked away quickly. Astros face turned red immediately he quickly his face with his hands and took a long sigh. I started giggling at Astro''s embarrassment. ¡°Do you still want to know Astro?¡± I said to him, ¡°I''m ready to share my feelings!¡± ¡°No I don''t care anymore¡± he starts to quickly eat his cake. I laugh and start to eat my cake too. ¡°Hey, did they assign you a mission for tomorrow?¡± I ask ¡°No, I think I''m just going to be training. I hope I don''t get Luca and his little friend group. They are always trying to prove they''re better than me and for no reason too like I''m just trying to exist I''m not trying to steal your spotlight!¡± he rolls his eyes. ¡°Why do you?¡± ¡°Yeah they assigned me a mission with my sister¡± ¡°That''s weird you and Angel are never assigned a mission, must be serious did they tell you what it was?¡± ¡°No, they said they were going to tell me tomorrow must be top secret or something¡± ¡°That sounds fun I wish I could go with you¡± he takes a bite of his cake ¡°These days they don''t assign me any fun missions I wonder why¡± ¡°That''s pretty weird I could talk to Brandy if you want¡± ¡°No, it''s cool I kind of like just chilling it''s less stressful¡± ¡°Yeah I get you,¡± I finished my cake. ¡°That was so good.¡± Astro is finishing with his so I take the liberty to look around. I look outside the window and notice the bookshop that''s across from the cafe. I''ve lived here my entire life and yet I have never even gone to the bookshop and it''s not like I don''t like books. I love to read a good story from time to time. ¡°Have you ever visited the bookshop?¡± I asked Astro. He swallows and answers ¡°The bookshop?¡± he thinks about it ¡°Yeah I''ve gone there once before¡± he smiles before taking another bite. ¡°I don''t know it''s a little weird I haven''t visited it¡± ¡°It''s a lovely place,¡± he thinks about it ¡°If you want we can go another day¡± ¡°Yeah sure¡± He yawns ¡°It''s getting late, we should go home, the sun is setting and I want you to be alert for your important mission tomorrow.¡± I laugh ¡°Yeah okay let''s go¡± We leave money on the table and we stand up to leave. As we are walking home I see the sunset and Astro isn''t talking, we are just appreciating the beautiful scene ahead of us. After a while of walking Astro goes his way and I go mine. I walk into my home and say a brief hello to my siblings. I went into my room and took off my necklace and set it next to my bed and a vase I had placed there a few weeks prior. The flower I placed had died already but I had been too busy to replace it. I kick off my shoes, change into something more comfortable, and go to sleep. Chapter Three - The Girl Chapter Three: The Girl Angel and I walk into Brandy¡¯s office and he is waiting for us with a folder. He handed one to each of us. I take a look inside to see the title of the mission project rejuvenate. I look up, obviously confused. ¡°What is this brandy?¡± I ask. ¡°This is our newest plan, an opportunity to take back all of our stolen lands¡± ¡°Brandy, you and I know this is a terrible idea. All of that stolen land is filled with demons and they are all probably using it up by now,¡± says Angel in an irritated tone. ¡°We don''t know that¡± ¡°Yes we do and worst of all you want to drag my little sister into this?¡± ¡°You know well Marina is one of the only people who knows your little secret.¡± Angel steps back and rolls her eyes. She looks at me with a reassuring look and waits for Brandy to speak. ¡°Look I know this isn''t ideal but this could work, angel can blend in so we can gather up as much information as possible. Your dad told us the info town 87 is practically empty there is a timeslot where they practically leave the town empty before they decide what to do with the land.¡± Our dad is the general of the Lumidawn army. He tries to fight the demons at the border of our kingdoms, but recently, more deaths have led them closer and closer to us. Angel and I exchange looks, I smile at her and touch her shoulder. She takes a deep breath before putting her hand on mine. She smiles at me and then looks up at Brandy ¡°Okay tell us what we need to do,¡± Angel says Brandy wastes no time; he jumps up and hurries to pick up something from his desk. ¡°Remember that demon for yesterday Mari?¡± He says ¡°Which one?¡± I reply ¡°The one that you stabbed¡± ¡°Oh yeah that one¡± ¡°Wait, you stabbed someone?!¡± Angel replies frantically ¡°Yeah, she did with her new sword!¡± Brandy gives me a proud smile ¡°Wait, new sword? Did you get promoted? How come you didn¡¯t tell me?¡± Angel has a sad look on her face. The truth is I¡¯d love to tell my siblings about the things that go on in my life but as I got older I seemed to distance myself from them. I think I realized that they¡¯ve got their stuff going on and just rather not tell them because I don''t want to preoccupy their mind with me. They worry too much about me already. ¡°You two two can talk about this later right now the most important thing is this¡± Brandy pulls out a crystal. ¡°Is that?¡± Brandy cuts me off before I can say anything ¡°A teleportation crystal we got it from the demon they were never able to use it because Astro and Marina tied his hands together he was unable to use it and now thanks to them we can get our hands on this technology!¡± he hands the crystal to me. ¡°Now we don''t know how many uses this thing has so you two will only use it twice¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Twice?¡± I ask ¡°One to go and another to come back now remember try to find any information that is useful for us anything is better than our current nothing so we have nothing to lose¡± ¡°Easy for you to say¡± Angel snarks ¡°Oh and another thing¡± Brandy holds up a rebel uniform ¡°you need to blend in, in case things go bad¡± ¡°You just adore to piss her off don¡¯t you¡± I laugh As we step out of the portal I look around to see empty abandoned streets, a once town filled with people was now lifeless and dull. Innocent people are being forced to leave their homes to comply with a kingdom that thinks they have the right to do this and worse. I feel cold, my heart is slowly breaking as my mind fills with the thought of these people having their own lives, where are they now? ¡°Marina¡± I look at my sister with teary eyes, she looks at me back with soft compassionate eyes. ¡°It''s okay I''m here with you we will be here 10 minutes tops¡± I shake my head in agreement and we make our way to explore the town. It''s nothing but lifeless shops and empty houses we try to find anything useful to us and that''s when we spot it, two demon Viledorn soldiers on the stand they seemed to not pay attention they barely counted as guards they were just talking and making jokes mostly because they didn''t expect anyone to be out here. We listen in for a few minutes waiting for a moment where they could make an asset to us, and that''s when we hear it, the plan they were planning on going after the following towns next: 40, 12,23,20. I breathed a sigh of relief, the angel looked ecstatic. Finally, we could make a plan to outbeat them. We try to make our leave as quickly as possible. We decided to find a good area to teleport without making a scene as we were looking for an angel to stop us out of nowhere. I look up in confusion and she is looking into the distance ¡°Do you see that?¡± she asks I look to where I was looking and I see a faint purple-blueish light coming from an alley. It could be anything if we are going to proceed we need to do it with caution. ¡°Wait here,¡± says Angel She gets closer to the light she is now far enough that I can barely see what is happening and then I hear the most chilling scream I''ve ever heard ¡°Please don''t hurt me!¡± It sounded like a girl. I rush over there as fast as I can, drawing my sword out ready to face whatever comes my way. I looked and saw the face of a girl staring at me terrified she looked to be around 19 years old. I transform my sword back and rush to her. ¡°Are you hurt?¡± I say ¡°No, are you with Viledorn?¡± her voice is shaky ¡°No we are Lumidawn soldiers,¡± Angel says ¡°But- the uniform¡± ¡°We are undercover. If you come with us, we will help you.¡± Angel reaches her hand out to the girl. ¡°But how will I know whether to trust you?¡± ¡°You just got to take the chance¡± she smiles The girl takes Angel''s hand and right when she does we hear footsteps, they are getting louder and louder. We take off running and Angel pulls out the crystal and just like that we jump into the portal as soon as we know it we are back in Brandy¡¯s office. I try to catch my breath as Brandy jumps up from his desk to help us. ¡°Oh! Hello?¡± he says to the girl. ¡°Hi,¡± she says ¡°I''m Brandy, Chief Commander of the YKC, you are safe here, there is no need to worry anymore, would you be open to giving us a statement later?¡± ¡°Yes I have no problem with that¡± Brandy directs his gaze at us now ¡°Did you two find anything?¡± ¡°We did Mr. Chief Commander, "Angel says, teasing Brandy. I chuckle a bit at the joke. Brandy tries his best not to look flustered but I could tell he was a bit embarrassed. ¡°We gathered information on the following towns being attacked. I think it is wise to prepare our troops over there to provide proper shelter to the families who are going to be affected. If we do this right then we can finally start to win some of our towns over.¡± ¡°Wow I''m impressed,¡± Brandy takes a step back ¡°I will schedule a meeting right away to discuss the following steps of our plan, angel you can take off the uniform while I try and get a statement from the girl,¡± Brandy says Angel dismisses herself and goes to the private restroom in the office. I suddenly realize that this strange girl now knows the identity of my sister, if she were to be set free then she would tell everyone and our cover would be blown. Nobody can know that she is a demon, if they find out our whole organization will turn on us and Dad will be made to be a spy, unfortunately, the outside world is still under the stigma that every demon is part of Viledorn, it''s a stigma that I hope to get rid of once we win the war then my sister may be free maybe I could be free too. Chapter Four - Starting a new life Lailah Chapter Four: Starting a New Life I feel uneasy. Did I make the right choice by following these people here? I think I have heard about this organization before, possibly in a flier or a passing conversation. It''s a bit weird that they have a demon on their side. I can feel silent stares at me. Am I ready to say what has happened? How much can I say? Brandy and the curly-haired girl go and speak privately for a moment. She says something to him and then he looks back at me worriedly. He says something quick to her and then walks over to me. She goes over and grabs something from his desk. He pulls three chairs and sits in one of them. The curly-haired girl comes over with a voice recorder. I can see that she hits play as she sits down. I can see that Brandy is trying to find the right words. ¡°Well firstly,¡± he pauses ¡°we have to learn your name, could you please state your name for the record¡± I nod ¡°My name is Lailah 87¡± ¡°Okay great! Again I''m Brandy and this is my cousin Marina we are both from town 12¡± Marina waves at me and smiles at me. She seems like a sweet kid. ¡°Could you please tell us a little bit about your life before the attack¡± Okay, it''s happening. I''m still unsure of how much to say the pain from it all is very fresh and these people are strangers to me. ¡°I lived with my boyfriend Jason and his family and I have lived there for the past five years¡± I try to be as broad as possible. ¡°Okay,¡± Brandy says, he looks as if we were expecting more ¡°What about your family can you tell me about them?¡± I let out a sigh ¡°I don''t have a family well maybe I used to in the past but not anymore, I was raised by this lady who found me as a baby her name was Frances but she passed five years ago that''s why I started living with Jason¡± Frances was the only family I had ever known, I miss her more than life. The thought of her still hurts my soul. I know that if she were still here she would have found a way to protect me from all of the bad things that have happened. ¡°I''m sorry to hear that, we can try to find where Jason and his family moved so you can be reunited with them¡± ¡°That''s sweet but Jason and I broke up days before the attack so I don''t have anyone¡±. I looked up to see that both Brandy and Marina were just looking at me with sympathetic faces. ¡°You probably need other information besides my dumb relationship,¡± I say in a joking manner trying to lighten the mood. I wish deep down that I could open up about how awful my experience with Jason was and how I was never the same after that. Marina stands up and puts her chair beside mine. She looks at me and puts her hand on my shoulder. I set my hand on hers and smiled at her. ¡°We are going to get you some help, you have my word,¡± Marina says, growing more frustrated. ¡°I can''t even imagine how you must feel, you have gone through so much.¡± Brandy coughs and gives Marina a look. With that look, she calmed down and lowered her manner. ¡°I apologize please continue,¡± she says This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. As soon as she does the demon girl comes out of the bathroom with normal clothes and a hat covering her horns. She takes a seat and smiles at me. ¡°Could you please tell us what happened during the attack? If you could give us as many details as possible it would help us greatly.¡± ¡°On the day of the attack I was on my way to try and find a job the town was very busy people were shopping and going in for work the sun had risen for a couple of hours at this point and all of a sudden there was a terrifying scream it was a man his leg had been cut off some people rushed to help the man and when they did Viledorn soldiers fell from above and started stealing goods and money from the townspeople, blood was everywhere people''s last cries were heard throughout the town. I ran as far as I could and hid myself inside a trash can. I waited for what seemed like ages until I heard nothing. Silence filled the air and I tried to get myself out of the trash can as quietly as possible, I saw nothing. There was nobody there, everyone''s things were gone and the streets were clean, the people had just vanished. I know that the rational thing to do was to break into someone''s house for shelter but my morals didn''t let me do that. I decided to sleep in the alleys. I would occasionally hear soldiers moving around but apart from that nothing. I stayed there for around three days before you guys found me.¡± Marina stopped the recording, I had forgotten that she was, and my mind took over the moment reliving the events in my head. I tried to look up and all three of them were just staring at me. I couldn''t help but wonder, what will I do now? I had nobody I''d never been outside of my town and even then I was confined in the little space owned by someone else. In the past, my future looked linear. I would get married, have kids, raise them, and then spend my last days with Jason but now my future''s a mystery. I don''t know what to feel. It is almost as if I feel so many different things that I feel nothing at all. As I ponder the demon girl sitting next to me, I then realize that Marina is helping Brandy do something. I look to see the girl smile at me. ¡°You look lonely,¡± she says ¡°I kinda am,¡± I say, trying to make a joke out of it. She thinks for a moment before saying ¡°I don''t think I introduced myself I''m Angie but you call me Angel¡± I think she saw my look of confusion because she followed it by saying ¡°It''s the nickname my siblings chose for me It''s ironic but that why I like it¡± ¡°That''s sweet,¡± I say with a polite laugh ¡°I''m Liliah¡± ¡°Well, nice to meet you Lailah im- ¡± She stops herself. ¡°What?¡± I ask ¡°I was going to say that I was an angel but I already said my name is Angel¡± ¡°Did you forget that you already said your name was Angel?¡± I giggle ¡°Yeah!¡± we both look at each other and laugh, after awhile we just sit in silence ¡°I can''t imagine being in your shoes,¡± she says ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well from the little that I heard you say it sounds like you''ve been through some terrible things, I know I work for Lumidawn and help people who are being attacked. I never really get to hear their stories. I just kind of helped with the aftermath. You seem like you''re my age and I just think to myself and what I would do if I were you.¡± We both look at each other in silence before Mirena comes in and interrupts. ¡°Brandy is trying to see if there are any rooms here at the facility that you can stay in¡± ¡°Wait, you don''t have a place to stay?¡± Angel says shocked ¡°Maybe we can trace your family, what are their names, I can look them up in our systems¡± Marina grabs Angel¡¯s shoulder and simply nods no. Angel seems to quickly understand she pauses for a minute and says ¡°We have an extra room in our house if you''d like¡± ¡°Yeah, you can be our roommate!¡± Marina jumps with joy ¡°We can each other''s hair and play together it will be so much fun!¡± ¡°You''d let me stay with you guys?¡± I ask ¡°Of course, we would have to ask Johnny first¡­¡± ¡°Nooo I forgot about Johnny¡± Marina¡¯s mood goes down immediately ¡°Who Johnny?¡± ¡°He''s our brother but I think if we explain the situation then he will understand¡± ¡°Johnny likes to play dictator when dad is away, we just adore to boss us around¡± Marina rolls her eyes. ¡°Stop that! Johnny takes care of us plus he''s your older brother and has to respect him¡± Angel scolds Marina. ¡°Anyways it''s two against one so I''m pretty sure we have the winning hand. If you make a good impression then I think that''s bonus points for us.¡± ¡°Okay, make a good impression, I got it,¡± I nod. Brandy joins in ¡°Hey I think that you can stay in room 923 nobody goes in there¡± Marina cuts Brandy off ¡°No worries cousin we figured it all out she will be staying with us¡± ¡°Oh okay awesome well if you need it for whatever reason room 923 is available if you need it.¡± he grabs some of his stuff ¡°I''m going to head out for the day please lock the door when you guys leave¡± ¡°Okay, we will!¡± Marina says ¡°I think we got to head out we need to get there early so we can talk with Johnny,¡± Angel says ¡°He is something else girl you gotta prepare yourself mentally¡± Marina follows. At that moment one thought got into my head, what the hell did I get myself into? If this Johnny guy is as bad as they are describing then there is no way that I''ll be able to convince him. Either way, I have a plan b, Brandy says that the guest room is there so maybe things aren''t as bad as I thought. I''ve got to be optimistic. This is my opportunity to start a new life. Maybe things won''t be so bad after all these people seem nice and I''m already warming up to them, kinda. Chapter Five - The Question Angel Chapter Five: The Question I''m starting to question my decisions right about now, I am now realizing that I''ve just invited what is to me a total stranger into our house. Was this a mistake? There could be a very real chance that she could be lying about the whole thing and she is a spy from the other side ready to betray us at any moment. I don''t want to have to kill her, she seems so nice, but I guess that won''t matter if she rats us out. I take a peek at her trying to see if there is anything suspicious about her at all, maybe she is wearing a secret spy device or something that would be perfectly hidden under her very long black hair. She notices me looking at her and she just smiles at me. This girl is nice, maybe too nice. As soon as I have that thought I realize that I am talking like my brother and if I''m being honest that is the last thing that I want to do. Maybe I need to be more trustworthy, perhaps this is a sign to let loose a little more. I look up to see that we are now coming closer and closer to the house. I look over and see Marina talking to Lailah. She seems surprised about her amount of energy. People are usually surprised to see the amount of energy that Marina has, it''s most likely her human side. We are now facing the door and we all go quiet. I take a big sigh before saying ¡°We''re back!¡± Johnny comes from around a corner and looks at Lailah, for the first time that I''ve ever known him he was too stunt to speak, I''m sure that his mind has a million questions but the first thing he said was ¡°Who is this?¡± ¡°This is Lailah,¡± I say ¡°Okay sure do you know that you are supposed to let people in the house know when someone is coming over for obvious reasons,¡± he says very clearly pissed off at me. ¡°Chill, she knows I''m a demon and soon enough she was going to know that you two are humans,¡± I say, taking off my hat and tossing it on the couch. ¡°Marina?¡± he now directs his gaze at my sister ¡°I didn''t say anything about the human bit I had my contacts on the whole time! But she knew Angel was a demon because we found her while being on a super secret mission to town 82 but she doesn''t have anywhere to live so we figured that she could maybe perhaps live here?¡± Marina stubbles over her words. ¡°I have no words,¡± Johnny says throwing his hands in the air ¡°Johnny what are we supposed to do she has nothing we are fortunate enough to have plenty of space in this house plus she already knows the family secret. She is practically one of us!¡± I am trying to lighten the mood. Johnny thinks for a minute and then looks at her with a puzzled face. He walks over to her very slowly and says to her ¡°My family is everything to me, my sisters have asked me to trust you to live here but if you are there are some things you have to do first¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Yes of course¡± Lailah immediately says yes ¡°You must never mention our secrets; whatever is in this house stays in this house. I am not going to change the way we live just because you are here now I have the right to preserve the peace of this house no matter what¡± ¡°I promise with my life and soul that I will never mutter a word,¡± she says intensely, almost matching Johnny''s energy perfectly, almost. ¡°Another thing is that we all do our part here everyone has got to contribute in some way¡± ¡°I was already planning to find a job first thing in the morning. I will contribute financially as well as help out around the house.¡± ¡°Okay well then¡± he sighed ¡°I guess you will be staying with us,¡± Johnny said hesitantly ¡°Thank you, Johnny!¡± Marina jumps to hug Johnny; he reciprocates it by giving her a side hug. ¡°Here I''ll show you to your room,¡± I say, taking her to the guest bedroom which is now officially Lailahs room. ¡°It''s pretty empty but once you get more settled in you''ll get more things eventually¡± She looks around the room in amazement ¡°It''s perfect thank you¡± In that moment I think I realized how lucky I was to be in the position that I am in, I never had to struggle financially or had a family to back me up. ¡°Hey, I just realized we need to get you some clothes to come to my room. You can pick out whatever you like!¡± ¡°Really? Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah of course just for the time being, we can hit the shops sometime in the next few days so we can get you some new stuff¡± ¡°I don''t have any money right now,¡± she says shyly ¡°I''ll buy it!¡± ¡°I couldn''t ask you to do that¡± ¡°Trust me I have enough money plus I want to do this for you to show that you''re not alone anymore you have me¡± She takes a long pause and then turns to smile at me ¡°Thank you for everything you and your family have done for me it means more than you could ever imagine¡± I take her shoulder and she puts her hand on top of mine. I cannot help but notice that she has a puzzled look on her face. After a few moments, she looks and me and takes a deep breath ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Yes of course,¡± I say ¡°Well I don''t want to come off as rude but it''s a different culture than mine and since I''ll be living here I''d love to know as much as you''ll let me but-¡± ¡°It''s okay Lailah you can ask questions¡± I chuckle ¡°I wanted to ask what was that thing with the arms that Marina did with Johnny, I thought she was attacking him at first but I guess not based on his reaction¡± ¡°Oh!¡± I laugh at her reaction ¡°No she wasn''t attacking him, although he''d probably think otherwise, that was a hug¡± ¡°A hug? What is it for?¡± ¡°It''s more like a form of affection to show that you care about someone it''s a bit like a shoulder touch but it''s much deeper than that, I''m not sure how to explain it, perhaps one day you''ll be able to experience it for yourself¡± ¡°Me?¡± she stops for a bit ¡°I don''t think I''d be able to get that close to anybody but it is a nice thought¡± I can''t help but smile at her. I feel this sense of hope for the future. I want to see where this new chapter of our lives will take us, things will change around here maybe for the worse but more likely for the better. I''ve only known Lilah for less than a day but she already knows so much more than people I have known my whole life. My identity is something so sacred to me and I didn''t realize that the possibility of being myself with someone who isn''t my family could feel so nice.