Chapter One: Happy(?) Birthday

2023 Words
Life is only plain when you let it be and you’re only ordinary if you don’t know what it means to be special. Or maybe there is no such thing as special and everyone who thinks they are is delusional. I come from a family of psychics so that's our own way of feeling special. Father reminds me and my many sisters that we weren’t special. That having these abilities while being human wasn’t something to feel special for, it was like having a supernatural target on your back. Most humans with these abilities would be taken by the order and raised as their puppets but my father protected us from them. Not because he didn’t want his daughters taken from him but because we were valuable. One of my older sisters was married off to demon nobility in exchange they gave my father wealth and power through alliance while another was married to a dragon shifter for similar benefits. My father was a big name in the magical and demon world.  What would become of me as I turn 19 today? I wasn’t sure but there wasn’t too much for me to lose.  “Red!” My father called for me. I walked down the stairs and to him. “Yes, father?”  “We're going into the demon realm today.” He said and I wasn’t surprised. He wanted to show me off and see if he’d get any offers of marriage. I wasn’t the best looking of my father’s daughters. I was awkward and socially incompetent or so I’ve been told, by my father and sisters.  “Father about that.” I took a deep breath to remain calm and keep my courage. “Mother didn’t get married at this age, she explored the magical realm and the demon realm helping those in need.” I admired my mom more than anything and believed I was the daughter to take up after her the most. My father on the other hand didn’t agree or want that. He looked down at me with his piercing eyes. “Are you implying that you could be anything like your mother?” Yes. “You couldn’t but even if you could it isn’t a worthy aspiration. You would bring nothing meaningful to this family, not riches nor power. You wouldn’t even be able to provide for yourself. Your sisters are going to help you look presentable for today.”  “Could we at least go to the magical realm instead?” Demons wouldn’t be my first choice to be married to.  He said nothing, just glared at me so I took it as a no. Demons had more to offer him. I walked upstairs and into one of my sister's rooms. “Father wants you to make me look presentable so he can do what he always does when one of us turns 19.” I sighed and sat down in a chair. “Red, marriage is an honor, especially to someone powerful or of high status. I know you wanted to learn magic and strengthen your psychic ability while traveling the realms helping people or whatever bullshit but it’s unrealistic. Just think about what happened to mom.” She shrugged and grabbed everything she’d need to make me somehow look desirable.  I didn’t want to think about what happened to our mom. “I just think it would be cool to achieve my dreams and marry for love.” How could that ever be unrealistic? “No one really marries for love sister, unless they have mates like werewolves and dragon shifters. I think people fall in love later on.” She said as she put my curly hair in a tight and neat low ponytail. “We all need someone to protect us from the order and other threats. Especially you. It’s dangerous for people like us, we don’t get the luxury of being able to be alone.” I just don’t think anyone is considering that we could learn to protect ourselves and each other.  She started doing my makeup. “I think I’m still going to end up suffering the same fate as Mother at this rate,” I said. She stopped and stared down at me seriously. “Don’t ever say that. Please everything will still work its way out sister and we’ll still have each other even when we’re all married.” She finished and let me borrow one of her dresses. “You look so pretty.” She giggled. I didn’t feel pretty, I felt like someone else. Someone everyone else wanted me to be but not who I wanted to be. I walked downstairs and my father was satisfied with my appearance so we left in Father’s car. I looked around as we passed buildings and so many other places I never had the chance to go to. I lived in this world but I couldn’t feel more disconnected from it and other humans.  Father parked the car after driving for two hours. We got out of the car and we held hands as we crossed through the border by chanting a spell. He let go and we started walking down a busy area in the central demon city.  There were all kinds of demons and I knew everything about each type. My father taught us all we needed to know about Demons and their realm since he intended on us being a part of it. We walked around for a while and I felt like I was being watched, stalked. “Father I’m going to find a restroom.”  He looked at me and nodded. I walked around trying to find the man watching me, the feeling he gave me was a strong one. A good one. I gasped as I was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway. “Wh-what?” The touch felt numbingly amazing. “You’re a human girl?” He asked with a scowl on his face but other than that I couldn’t see him very well. The scowl didn’t scare me. I nodded slowly. “Y-yeah…” I panted, I felt good, I felt electricity and butterflies. I was sure I never felt this way before, it was magical. “I’m-“ “I don’t care who you are, you’re a human so you’re no one.”  In that moment the best feeling I had ever felt turned into the worst. “But... I’m ps-“ He mumbled some words that I couldn't make out and I started crying in pain. I realized what had happened. I was this demon’s mate and he was rejecting me for the fact that I was just a human girl.  I looked up and he was gone. My father stood behind me now. “Red, what’s going on?” He helped me up then noticed the newly formed x on my shoulder. “Goddammit Red. You’ve been rejected, do you know how much harder it’s going to be to find someone who’ll want you now?”  Now my tears weren’t just because I lost my mate just as quickly as I found out I even had one. I was also crying because my self-worth did decrease. My father quickly took me home.  My sisters did not speak to me, they heard what had happened and wanted to give me space. I couldn’t stop hearing his voice because what he said kept running through my head over and over again.  I walked to the staircase and overheard my father on the phone. “Red is hopeless, she’s unrefined, undesirable, and now she’s been rejected by her mate. I wish I could have prepared for that. I might have to make a deal with the order, give her to them in exchange for them not trying to recruit my other daughters.”  All I was worth now was a deal to protect my other sisters. I walked into my father's study and grabbed a book on the order. They taught humans like us, turned us into well-adjusted sorceresses for their own agenda. Maybe I’d be happier there, I still wouldn’t have my freedom but I’d learn how to use my powers to their full potential, learn magic and maybe even end up marrying for love.  By the morning I had done a lot of thinking and not that much sleeping. I realized I was glad I’d be taken in by the order, it was my best-case scenario now. I was even a little excited. When my father called me down I came down as soon as possible. “You look terrible Red.” All my sisters were downstairs, the ones who still lived here. “Say goodbye to your sisters, you won’t be returning.” I hugged and said goodbye to all five of them, I was sad I couldn’t say goodbye to the two older sisters I had but they were moved out with husbands now.  We left to the demon realm which confused me because the order resigned in the magical realm. I looked around as I followed my father into a huge building. I looked around and saw demons who looked as if they were all of a high class. A woman approached us and smiled. “Hello again, this is one of your psychic daughters?” Father nodded and looked at me. “I will be in the crowd, she will take you where you’re supposed to be.” He walked away without telling me what was going on. I followed the woman to the back of a stage. There were all kinds of creatures in cages and artifacts. I then realized I was at an auction, was I supposed to be auctioned off like an object? I couldn’t help but start crying.  Hours went on, each item was taken to be auctioned. I was last, the woman brought me to the front of the stage. I had bags under my eyes and my face was red and puffy from crying. I looked out at the giant crowd of demons. “Who would like to bid on this 19-yr-old human psychic?” The bids started coming in and they were all low, it was humiliating. I could help but cry all over again. “hey kid that’s really unprofessional, you won’t get high bids like that.” She whispered. “Seven Billion Mecrons.” One demon said. He was skinny and tall, didn’t show much emotion in his eyes. I could see my father in the front row, he looked shocked and so was I. “Sold!” I was taken away and placed in a room by myself for hours until the same woman came in. “Your buyer is here.” I’m guessing my father didn’t even bother to say goodbye. A man walked in and sighed when he saw me. “You’re a mess, come on, follow me.”  I got up and followed the man out of the building and to a car. I got in and stared out the window the entire way. “Am I a s*x slave…?” I had to build up the courage for ten minutes to ask that. “You’re whatever the Demon King wants you to be.” He stated. “He bought you, not me.” “Demon King??”
Free reading for new users
Scan code to download app
Facebookexpand_more
  • author-avatar
    Writer
  • chap_listContents
  • likeADD