Year 1020 D.E.

  Keshiema hummed quietly while running a brush through her knee-length metallic blue hair. Someone rapped lightly on her door. "Hold on!" Pushing off her vanity, she spun around in her chair and slid to the door. "Who is it?" Standing up, she shoved the chair away with her foot.

  "Housekeeping!" a clearly faked feminine voice called loudly from the other side.

  Chuckling, Keshiema opened the door to find a green-haired man grinning widely at her. "I don't think you've cleaned anything in your life, Cresil." She gestured for him to come in and shut the door softly. "No Sonneillon?"

  "He'll meet us there. His C.O. final is today." Cresil adjusted his collar in her mirror. Seeing her hairbrush on the vanity, he pointed at it. "You mind?"

  She studied him for a moment before responding. "You washed?"

  "Of course, I washed." he feigned insult. "What do you think I am?"

  "Dirty? Unclean? Soiled?" She gave him a hard stare. "Dare I say, Impure?" They both laughed.

  "Fair enough. You ready to go?" he looked her over from her black sleeveless choker shirt, black capris, and shoeless feet. "I can borrow you a nice pair of heels. I think Azazel wears the same size." He ran the brush through his hair and set it back in its place.

  "Come on, my feet aren't that small." She smiled, fishing a key out of the pocket of a light jacket hanging next to the door. "Besides, she'd probably knock you off a cliff if you lent something of hers to me."

  "She can't really be that bad." he stepped into the hall and waited for her to lock the deadbolt.

  She handed him her key, and he tucked it in his pocket while rolling his eyes. "She teamed up with Tommy to sabotage my archery midterm." Her chest tightened. ‘Plus what happened with Marthim…but you don’t know about that…’

  Cresil's eyes darkened with the mention of Tommy. "He graduated last year, right?"

  "Yeah, he's a district guard in the City Center now.” She tied her hair into a high ponytail and fanned it out.

  "Good. At least he won't be around to bother you anymore. Wish you would have let me pull some strings. Could've had him stationed at the farms."

  She decided not to tell him about her run-in with Tommy earlier. "So, where are you taking me?" She hated dwelling on the past. "It better not be a party."

  "it's a surprise." He waved his hands in front of his eyes and smiled widely.

  "I hate you." She giggled and punched his arm. When they got outside, a stagecoach waited for them. He handed her a blindfold. Rolling her eyes, she tied the black cloth around her eyes and held her hand out for him to take. After guiding her into the carriage, he ordered the driver to go.

  The hoof beats mixed with the creak and rumble of the large wheels unnerved her. She hated carriage rides. Sensing her discomfort, Cresil wrapped his arm around her protectively. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

  When the horses stopped, a cacophony of confusing sounds greeted her. A long, low rumble, followed by an oddly high-pitched jumbled noise; a loud clunk; a machine-like whirring; and finally, another softer grumble made a repeating pattern with occasional cheers and boos mixed in.

  The sound grew louder when they exited the carriage and proceeded to walk along warm asphalt. "We're in the city?" Her heart pounded, knowing Academy students had to stay on campus unless given orders otherwise.

  "Don't worry, I got permission." Tugging on her hand, he guided her through a parking lot. "Sorry we couldn't get out closer. There's barriers blocking the lot." She heard a soft squeak, and the noise increased drastically. "One step up." The floor changed to cold, hard wood.

  Letting go of her hand, Cresil stepped behind her. "You ready?" He removed her blindfold. Colorful lights danced around the large building. Groups gathered around tables in front of slick wooden lanes, and each lane had a demon rolling a heavy stone ball at a group of oddly shaped white blocks.

  "Cress, there's a lot of people here." She took a step back, bumping into him. Her hair shifted to silver.

  He set his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "It takes a lot of power to pull this kind of thing off. I didn't think you'd want to use the grid, so I had a few of my buddies help. In return they invited some friends." She looked up at him with scared gray eyes. He hated that color on her more than any other. "If you want to leave, I understand."

  Looking around, Keshiema pushed back her fear. "No, they're just people. And it's not like I'm helpless." Several familiar faces stood out in the crowd, but no one even looked at her when she walked in. Her hair and eyes went back to blue as she stepped away. "You gonna show me how this game works?"

  Leading Keshiema to a lane, he explained the rules. "It's called 'bowling.' Usually, you're supposed to wear special shoes." She gave him a glare. "But I think you'll be ok as long as you don't drop the ball on your foot."

  Picking up the ball Cresil had suggested, she followed him to the top of the lane. Following his instruction, she took a few steps back and prepared to roll the ball. A hard push from behind sent her falling forward. The ball slammed down against her hand, shattering two of her knuckles.

  "Oops, I didn't see you there." Keshiema recognized the honeyed voice immediately. Her hair turned a vibrant red.

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  Cresil rushed to help her up. "How's your hand?"

  Turning to face the faun that knocked her down, Keshiema bared her fangs. "Azazel."

  "Oh, Keshiema," Azazel smiled sarcastically. "Well, I'm sure you'll heal just fine." She turned away laughing. "Happy birthday, by the way."

  Cresil looked away towards the bar at a dark-eyed demon with black feathered wings watching the confrontation. He gave a slight shake of his head and returned to helping Keshiema. "Sorry, Kesh. I would have kept her away if I knew."

  Keshiema blew on her hand. Lavender swirls shimmered within her icy breath. "Its fine, looks like she's leaving anyway." She watched the faun walk past the empty bar and out the front door with a small group of other demons. The door slammed behind them, cutting off the sound of their obnoxious laughter.

  Focusing on the lavender aura surrounding her hand, Keshiema healed the damage. A dark mist rose in front of her, forming a humanoid shape with glowing silver eyes. "Sonneillon! You made it!" Her hair changed from red to gold with red streaks.

  "What I miss?" he lifted a lock of her gold and red hair.

  "It's nothing." With a deep breath, Keshiema's colors returned to normal. "My hand's better, let's play."

  ***

  Cresil hoisted Keshiema onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his back. "Come on, Kesh, let's get you back." Carefully, he climbed the three flights of stairs. When he reached her door, he shifted her weight to fish her key from his pocket. After tucking her into bed and setting her alarm, he patted her on the head. "Happy birthday, Kesh. Hope you had fun." Setting her key and a black velvet clamshell box on her vanity, he quietly left the room.

  Once in the hallway, he took his lock picks from his jacket. In less than five seconds, he had her deadbolt locked. Leaving the women's dorms, he crossed the lawn towards the men's dorms. A dark figure waited in the shadows near the entrance.

  "She's safe. You should know by now I wouldn't have left her if she weren't." The figure remained silent. "You gonna take care of the goat? If not, I've got a few ideas of my own." A surge of power filled the air at the mention of Azazel. "Alright then. I'll let you take care of it." Entering the building, he left the dark figure behind.

  ***

  Year 1005 D.E.

  Red and blue lights flashed brightly on top of the horse-drawn carriages crowding the house's large gravel driveway. A young man walked out of the house and spoke to one of the officers. "This doesn't look human sir, and there's no evidence of a break in."

  "And what of the girl? Has she talked yet?" The older officer scratched at the stubble on his cheek as he spoke to the young man.

  "No, not yet. She's in my carriage. I'm taking her back to the station now."

  Keshiema woke up in a cold room with stark white walls and too-bright fluorescent lights. Eyes peered at her from behind the large mirror in the wall. A woman entered the room. Her beautiful white gown flowed magically as she entered, and her long white hair grazed the floor as she took a seat with Keshiema at the metal table. Crystals, the color of fresh blood, dangled from her ears as well as a small chain on her neck.

  Her aunts and uncles looked through the mirrored window at Keshiema. Feeling the eyes staring at her through the glass, she glared into her reflection. No one knew what to think anymore. Nothing human killed that family.

  "Hi, Keshiema. Do you know where you are? Would you mind if we asked you a few questions? Just nod your head yes or no, okay?"

  Turning her glare to the woman, Keshiema nodded her head.

  "Do you have a favorite color Keshiema?"

  Again, she nodded.

  "Do you have a reason this is your favorite color?"

  Keshiema shook her head no and continued to glare.

  "Do you dream very often?"

  She huffed at the pointless questions but still nodded. Lolling her head back, she stabbed the ceiling with her hatred since the woman seemed unfazed.

  "Can I ask you more personal questions?" After a moment, Keshiema shrugged. "About that night?" Keshiema took a minute before responding. Finally, she looked back at the woman without the glare. Taking that for an affirmative, the woman took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you remember that night?"

  For a brief second, Keshiema looked strangely at the woman as if she had just asked the color of the sky. The look vanished instantly. "Who could forget?" Keshiema spoke, emotion absent from her voice.

  "What happened that night?"

  Pieces of her memory were blurry and faded. "Someone came into my room from the window." She put her hands on her head, trying to focus on the fuzzy memory. "He was my friend."

  The woman pressed on, keeping her words soft and gentle. "What did this friend look like?"

  Her head ached as she tried to focus on the blurry memory. "I think he was a little older than me." She paused and closed her eyes, trying to picture him. "He had black horns." She patted the top of her head. "Black angel wings." She spread her arms out wide.

  "But that would be." The woman's face went bright as if she had discovered something she had been waiting to find for a very long time.

  "He had a white moon necklace. Sharp claws. No shoes." she paused and looked down at her own shoeless feet. She struggled to remember him as a whole person, but if she focused on small details, the fog lifted slightly.

  "Is this all?" The lady looked very pleased.

  "Uh-huh." Keshiema replied after a few moments.

  “You can tell me what happened once you’re ready.”

  "You won't believe me." The flat tone in her voice left no room for nonsense.

  Without missing a beat, the woman matched Keshiema's tone. "Does it really matter if I believe you or not?"

  "I guess not." She closed her eyes again, trying to think past the dull ache. "He came in and said we need to leave." She paused frequently to collect her thoughts. "But then he said a bad word and picked me up. He covered my ears. He told me to keep my eyes shut. But I didn't listen. and then. Blood. Everywhere." Keshiema's eyes filled with disgust, and her face twisted into a sour expression.

  "I saw Arista crawl out of bed. A shadow covered her. I closed my eyes again. When I looked up a monster was there instead. It was ugly and covered in red goo. Skin falling off. Tangled hair. Red eyes. Teeth falling out. I couldn't hear anything. But it looked like it was yelling. I cried and screamed at him to help my sisters. But he wouldn't. He wrapped his wings around me and then... I don't remember."

  "Keshiema." the woman stuttered out. "I'm sorry."

  Keshiema glanced around the room with tear-stained eyes. The memory of the boy was already fading, and all she was left with was the image of the monster. Unsure about what to do, she rested her head in her arms and waited. Existing felt pointless now without her family. Horrible thoughts for anyone, let alone a five-year-old, raced through her mind.

  She had lost her sisters, her grandfather, both parents. She had lost all sense of security. She had lost almost everything but her life that night. She wished she could have lost that, too.

  "Keshiema, I have something I need to tell you." A man set his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the lady in white had disappeared. "This is going to be hard to hear. But you were adopted and since your adoptive family is gone, you have to go back into the system." The officer's words hurt, but somewhere deep in her heart, she always knew she did not belong in her family. "Also. You're not human. At least not fully. And I know you don't know much about that now, but you'll learn. In the meantime, we're sending you to an orphanage in the city."