Marked by the Devil

Off To First Day!

STREET 666, House of Lamentation.

‘Dude, this screams demon on so many levels.’

Matilda tapped the mailbox, her jaws cackling as her dangling eyes swayed merrily. “Welcome to your dorm house, girlie.”

The clapping of the thunder around the gloomy castle gave-off Halloween vibes. Cent realized that the hill where the castle was located was the only place in the entire island that was constantly shrouded with dark clouds and zaps of lightning. No amount of sunlight was able to penetrate the hill where the Halflings resided.

Grabbing her suitcase, Cent faced Matilda with a smile. “Thank you for your time, Matilda. You saved me from all the hassle.”

The bony zombie squirmed from her words. “It is an honor to be a help of the Grand Duke Beelzebub’s kin. I have to go, girlie. It won’t be good for a Malevolent student to anger Professor Michael or we’ll end up fried and toasted.” Matilda snickered from the joke that Cent did not quite grasp so the latter just smiled. Watching the bouncing bony body of Matilda away from her, Cent blew a breath.

‘Right. Kindness is a foreign thing in the demon world. Matilda might have a desire that’s why she helped me.’

Cent already knew that, but the humanity in her was still new to the concept of being a demon no matter how much she adored her demonic dad. Taking her suitcase in her right hand, she used her left wing to push the dingy gate producing an irritating sound. Closing it using her right wing, Cent walked towards the double doors of her new dorm.

‘I don’t think I should knock though.’ Cent pondered for a while if she should knock or just barge in.

“Are you gonna come in or what?” An annoyed voice from her back startled Cent, dropping her egg in the process.

“Holy s**t!” ‘My familiar! Dude, it’s going to be a scrambled egg’

Like in slow motion, Cent tried to reach for it even to the extent of using her wings to catch it, the keyword was ‘tried’.

‘I, daughter of Beelzebub the Glutton, got beaten by gravity.’

Accepting the fact that the precious egg would shatter, her glowing green eyes flashed like crazy only to stagger back as she looked at a dragon-like tail that saved her familiar from being a scrambled egg.

“You know, we are forbidden from anything that is holy. You don’t want to get fried, right mate?”

Cent straightened up from her awkward crouching position only to stagger back again as she was met by a horned being like her. Flashing and glowing red eyes, an enormous swirling horn with a dragon-like tail, before her stood a Halfling.

“Thank you. Who are you? I mean, I know you are Halfling. But you get what I mean. I’m Cent, by the way, daughter–”

“Daughter of Grand Duke Beelzebub, the Glutton, I know. Judging from your wings, there’s only one demon aside from the Grand Duke that owns one.” In one swift move, the Halfling in front of Cent grasped her right hand gently as he kissed the back of her palm. His glowing red eyes never leaving her gaze as he kissed her hand. “I’m Levi, son of Count Leviathan the Envious. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”

Not used to demon-ish touch or any kind of touch aside from her father, Cent awkwardly withdrew her right hand from him as she pondered how to leave him alone. She badly needed to go away. Her smile that looked like a wince made Levi grin even more. “Cute. Here’s your familiar’s egg. Take care of it if you want to survive here in Transylvania Academy.”

Cent immediately took the egg from Levi, but his first word stuck to her like a sore thumb. “I’m sorry, what?”

Levi stood a foot taller than her with broad shoulders and silky black hair. Ever since she saw him, his playful grin was always there as his red eyes twinkled with mischief. Cent could sense danger from him. On instinct, she knew that Levi was neither a friend nor a foe and that type of being was the most dangerous one. They would make you thought that you could ignore them and when you did, they would pounce at you from the back.

“Princess is so cute that I want to put you inside my room just to stare at you all day long.” His tail playfully touched her cheek, patting her like a foolish child.

Not blinking her glowing green eyes, Cent slapped Levi’s tail with her left wing. “Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t control my wings, you see. So please do excuse me if my wings will hit you next time.” Though Cent’s voice and face looked apologetic, she knew that Levi got the hidden message from her actions and words.

x-x-x-x-x-x

SITTING INSIDE her gothic-inspired room which oddly felt familiar as if her father knew what she disliked and liked. Glancing around, Cent observed her new room. Neon colors flashed on her walls with her decorative lightings; her lavender-colored drapes that surrounded her queen-sized bed; the canopy with the painting of her father’s true form, a decent-looking living room, and an enormous silver cabinet.

Cent walked towards her study table located at the right side of her bed where she saw earlier her quill, parchment, tablet, phone, and her bag from the foster shelter.

‘How did Dad get my bag? Ah, maybe Gukasho took it for me. Aww, my Dad is the sweetest.’

Walking to the gigantic windows in her room, Cent saw the flashes of lightings together with the endless clapping of thunderclaps. But beyond the hill where the House of Lamentation was located, she saw the serene sunrise signaling the daybreak for all the creatures residing on the floating island.

For Cent, it signaled her first day in Transylvania Academy.

It’s been hours since she woke up. No. Not because of her hellish dream—she stopped having those dreams since she met her dad—it was because of her body clock that was used to waking up in three in the morning.

“I still got a few hours before my first class,” mumbled Cent as she walked back to the study table. Crouching to her study table, her straight black hair spread like waterfalls atop the grand table while holding a black parchment with golden inks written on it.

It was a letter from her father. She was supposed to feel happy about it, but all she could feel was longing. For the first time, Cent was missing home. Though she was never been at her father’s estate in the demon world, she considered anywhere home as long as her father was there.

‘How can I love someone in a span of a few days? I miss my Dad.’

Cent spent hours waiting for her first class wallowing on self-pity as she missed her father. Though she already had the resolve of not attracting too much attention, she also wanted to go back to her father. To do that, she needed to be a monster in Transylvania Academy. No time to waste.

Checking her pocket watch, thirty minutes before her first class would start according to the schedule her tablet showed to her. Dashing to the large mirror attached to the equally gigantic wardrobe, she checked herself.

Horns – check

Black dress – check

Lacy gloves – check

Black stockings – check

Black wedge – check

And the last one, it was delivered to her by last night by her father’s shadow along with the letter, a green-colored brooch with a teardrop design. The color matched her flashing and glowing green eyes. According to the letter, it was a necessity to wear the brooch as a symbol of her status. Cent did not care for it so she never agreed to it. But after reading the last part of the letter where her father told her that he bought the brooch himself, Cent changed her mind as swift like the wind.

She was about to head out through her room’s door when she remembered the sly smile of Levi. “I have no plans of meeting any Halflings this early in the morning,” said Cent in grumbled manner. Cent spun towards her window and jumped from it. She did not summon her wings right after she jumped, she enjoyed the feeling of free-falling so she opened her arms and legs wide. “Yeeehaaa!”

Two meters away from the ground, a blonde-haired figure appeared from nowhere. “f*****g guacamole!” The blond-haired man screamed. Cent spiraled to change her direction midway as she summoned her enormous dragon-like wings, opening them in a grandeur way in the air. “Sorry!” Cent shouted as she flew away so she did not hear nor hear properly the words of the person she almost crashed into.

Cent could not afford to get late. Remembering what happened to her professor brought shivers down her spine. Cent could not afford to be late and stare at the professor again.

‘Are my eyes not effective to the supernatural beings?’ She wasn’t sure yet. After all, she only accidentally flashed her eyes to her father, Gukasho, the Headmaster, Matilda, and Levi. They were either from the demon world or some crazy strong being like the headmaster so she could not say that it would not affect those from the Benevolent Dorm or the Ambivalent Dorm.

After approximately fifteen minutes of flying towards the academy’s walls, it was quite easy for her to find a place to land which was far from prying eyes and she chose the grey-colored Willow Tree just inside the wall of Transylvania Academy. Sure, Cent could hear the buzzing of the students inside the academy, but she could not sense anyone near her so she chose to land behind the tree.

Cent landed with a thud. Regaining her balance, she hid her wings back from anyone to see as she immediately hid behind the tree’s trunk. “No one saw me, good.” Closing her eyes, she transformed into a flock of black butterflies together with her things.

‘It is time to go to school, I guess. Now, let’s go become a monster. Just, wait for me, Dad!’