Chapter 1

SCARLET'S POV

I can feel myself shaking and panicking. I'm all sweaty. My mind goes into overdrive and starts to make me overthink everything. What if it's my turn now to present to the class? If I do get chosen, what if I mess up? What if I stumble? What if I stutter? Everyone's attention will be on me. What will I do with my hands? I don't want to go next! I don't feel ready!

"Now it's Miss Murphy's turn for her presentation," the teacher announces. I let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank God it's not me!' I think to myself.

***

"Alright, Miss King. It's your turn." I take a deep breath to compose myself then head up to the front of the class, subtly shaking and my face burning red. I present my work and I feel myself shaking.

'Calm down! Just talk, ignore these bastards staring at me!'

My hands and face start sweating and I have the urge to fiddle with my hands. I stare at the back wall, avoiding everyone's gaze. I have the lingering fear that my voice will crack and everyone can see how nervous I am. I clench my fists with the hope to contain myself.

***

"That was an amazing presentation Scarlet," the teacher praises me.

"Thank you," I reply awkwardly. I anxiously walk to my seat, feeling everyone's sour and mocking gaze on me.

"Of course the teacher would praise her," one student says.

"What do you expect? She's a nerd," another says.

"I bet you she's jumping for joy," a third person comments.

"She doesn't feel joy. She's just cold and angry, like her father," the first person spits out.

"Don't let her hear you. She'll beat you up," there is a hint of fear in the second person's voice.

"Yeah. The last time she beat you up, it was not pretty," the third person states.

'Fucking cunts!' My anger bubbles as well as my nervousness. I'm not really surprised that they commented, but it still hurts all the same.

***

The bell finally rings out, and I grab my stuff and dash out of the classroom. I don't want to stay in here another minute!

I enter the corridor and spot my cousin, Mathew. I approach him. He notices me and gives me a big smile.

"So Scarlet, how did your presentation go?" he asks.

"Fine," I reply half-heartedly.

"You definitely passed. Your's was so fancy." I roll my eyes at his statement.

"Do you have any classes next?" he asks.

"Not at the moment. I'm just gonna chill in the library. I'm meeting Viktor there,"

"Alright, I'll see you later." I give him a slight nod, before heading off to the library, my safe zone.

I enter the library and spot my friend Viktor on his phone. I approach him. When he notices me, he puts his phone away to greet me. This gesture makes me feel reassured that he actually wants to be friends with me.

"Hey," he greets

"Hi,"

"You doing alright?"

"Pfft! I dunno. I'm still crapping myself from my presentation,"

"Don't worry about it. It's not like that memory is gonna be imprinted in the students' minds for eternity." I fall silent. Was I being too dramatic panicking? Oh no! Viktor must think I'm a wimp now.

I heave out a sigh of frustration. I hate how I always question everything. Viktor looks at me with worry on his face. Crap! I hope I haven't worried him!

Just then, Viktor's friend Julia approaches him.

"Hey, Viktor. How are you feeling today?" she asks in a fake sweet voice.

"Fine. What about you?" he asks.

"I'm doing good. Thanks for asking." She also happens to be his ex. And Viktor, being the Saint he is, is friends with her. But I know she wants to get back with him.

'This bitch and her fakeness!' I can't help but roll my eyes.

"So, I was wondering if you're free on the weekend. Perhaps we could go out?" Julia blabs.

"I'm kinda busy. Maybe some other time?"

'Thank fuck he declined!'

"Sure. Remember to tell me." Julia's annoying voice starts to ring in my ears.

"I will,"

"Bye!" she squeals. She blows a kiss at Viktor and he starts to look uncomfortable. She finally exits the library.

"I still can't believe you dated her," I complain.

"Well, you don't need to be so negative. We're not dating anymore," Viktor retorts. I roll my eyes yet again.

***

We spend roughly an hour chilling in the library and talking. Viktor stands up, says bye to me then takes his leave to his next class. I feel anxious as I am left alone there. I decide to head out of the library and look for my cousins.

I walk on campus and finally spot them.

They're all telling amongst each other. One of them - Isabel - notices me. She greets me.

"There you are. I was looking for you,"

'That's not a good sign,'

I zone out and look around campus. I see two girls walk near us and whisper amongst themselves. They're not very discreet - I can hear them from where I am standing.

"Oh my gosh! It's the King cousins," the first one squeals.

"I know! Between you and me, who's your favourite?" the second one joins in on the 'excitement' of our presence.

"I'd say the twins, James and Jaden. They're so smart when it comes to pranks,"

"I'd say Mathew. He's soo mysterious," The second girl swoons. They both look like idiots, it's ridiculous.

"We can both agree that Isabel is fun to hang around with,"

"Duh! She's so cool!"

"Then there's her cousin. Scarlet King,"

"Ugh! Don't get me started on her,"

"I know right! She's so weird,"

"It's creepy how she looks and acts like her father Silas King,"

"Exactly! It's like she's the female clone of him." The two girls begin to laugh with each other. I feel rage take hold of me when they mentioned that bastard's name. I look in their direction and glare at them, my arms folded across my chest.

'I am nothing like him!' I try so hard not to scream this at them. Nobody should ever compare me to him - unless they have a death wish or something. The girls notice me glaring and start to panic.

"Oh! She's glaring at us! Let's get out of here!" They run away completely panicked. I roll my eyes again.

"My mum and Aunt Emma are at the mall. They've invited us." Isabel snaps me out of my angry spell.

"No. I'm not going," I sternly say.

"Class is over anyway. Please," she begs.

"I don't need anything from there,"

"It doesn't matter. You may find something you like. Now come on. They're waiting." Isabel drags me across campus and I start to complain. However, she just ignores me. I grumble on the way there, and she gets a bit annoyed.

After Isabel asks her mother where she is, we wander through the mall until we find the right shop. We enter - Isabel still dragging me - and look out for her.

We finally find them, and Isabel excitedly greets them. I just quietly say 'hi' and stand there uninterested.

After a while of tedious wandering, my Aunt Katherine and Isabel begin to look at jewellery. I stare at the ground and hear them talk.

"Mum, what do you think of this necklace?" Isabel asks.

"I like it," Katherine replies.

"Good. Because I'm getting it for you,"

"Aww. You don't have to,"

"I want to,"

"You're so cute. I love you,"

"I love you too,"

I can't help but feel envious that Isabel had a carefree life with a nice father and lived with her mother. I stare at the ground in sadness. Tears threaten to pool out of my eyes as I enter multiple flashbacks. I see the day Silas kicked my mother out, the day I reunited with her, and the day I lost her again...

I was only five years old at the time. I was hiding and eavesdropping on my parents arguing. I was scared for my mother. Scared that Silas was going to hurt her - physically, and with his words.

The living room door flew open, and out came Silas dragging my mother by the arm. I could tell he was extremely angry. He came to a stop at the front door, and my mother seemed terrified.

"Silas, what are you doing?!" She asked, frightened.

"You keep failing time and time again to provide me with a male heir! I'm disappointed, Rachel. I really don't see you becoming useful to me, so you may as well leave," Silas declared. I didn't know what he meant at the time, now I do. I'm even more furious that he kicked her out for something as little as having girls instead of boys. Mother told me that Silas forced her to abort the girls before they were born.

"Y-you can't do that!"

"Yes I can! Get out!"

"But what about Scarlet?!"

"I said get out! NOW!" His angry voice rang through the whole house. I started to sob, completely terrified.

My mother didn't move. She refused to leave. However, Silas's word was always the last. Nobody defied him. His anger increased and his aura darkened. I could see my mother trembling and I started to sob even louder. Silas had folded his arms, and I could tell he was scowling. My mother did her best to hide her fear from him, but it's impossible to hide anything from him.

He slowly approached her and she backed up until her back hit the door. He began to speak to her in a low voice, and I was trembling. She replied in an equally low voice. The next thing I knew, Silas threw her over his shoulder and headed out the door.

"SILAS PUT ME DOWN!!" she screamed. However, he didn't listen.

After a while, Silas stormed back into the house. I ran up to him, crying, and started screaming for my mother. I screamed and cried and started hitting him with my little fists.

"WHERE'S MUMMY?! WHERE'S MUMMY?!" I kept shouting and screaming for her.

"SILENCE, YOU STUPID GIRL!!" His vicious black eyes turned around to glare at me. He dragged me to my room then left, locking me in there alone. I was left there crying and crying for my mother. But she never came back...

I am now twenty-one years old, running away from home. I finally found my mother. I called out to her, and she called out to me. We ran up to each other and embraced each other so hard. I had burst into tears, and so did she...

It is now roughly five, six months later. I am pointing my gun at someone, and I'm covered in blood. Some random guy had started bothering me and my mother, and I lost control of myself. I used my powers to mentally torture that man, turning him insane, before I killed him. And damn, it felt good. I was looking at my victim, feeling proud. My eyes red and my fangs bared. I was smirking at his dead body, then sensed strong fear coming from my mother. I turned to face her, and she was terrified.

"S-Silas?!" She questioned

"Mother, it's not Silas! It's me, Scarlet!" I started to panic at my mother's state of panic. She turned on her heel and ran for it. She was afraid of me.

"Wait, no! Come back! I'm nothing like him!" I ran after her, but I couldn't find her. I haven't seen her since...

"You feeling okay Scarlet?" My Aunt Emma's voice snaps me back into reality.

"I'm fine," I say, not really meaning it.

"What's on your mind?"

"I'm just thinking, if I hadn't scared my mum off, she would be here with me. But because of me, we have no idea where she is,"

"It's not your fault, okay." I look at the ground in sadness. Of course it's my fault. It always is.

"I...I'm going now." I turn around and run as fast as I can out of the mall. I don't want the public to see me like this. It'll give them another thing to talk about.

I walk across campus and come across Viktor.

"Hey, are you-" I walk past him, completely ignoring him. I'm not in the mood to talk.

I continue walking and head into the dorm hallway. I walk towards my room, then I bump into some random person.

"Ugh! You bastard!" I yell.

"Sorry," the guy apologises.

"Fuck off!" I leave him there and storm off into my room.

I feel reassured when I enter the familiar place. I decide to take a quick nap with the hope to quench the negative thoughts. I strip, before climbing into bed. I hug my teddy for comfort. I know I'm too old to sleep with a toy, but I find it comforting. It makes me feel like I'm not alone, that I can have someone - or in this case, something - to hold on to.

As I lay in bed, I can't stop feeling depressed. It's like whenever I do something, the depressing thoughts come out of nowhere to haunt me, putting me down. And it's all Silas's fault. That bastard brought this sadness onto me. It's all his fault. My thoughts run wild, making me feel alone and sad. I feel myself get tired and drift off into an uneasy sleep...

Everywhere is dark. I know what this darkness is - I've been dealing with it most of my life. Dread washes over me as I hear footsteps approach me. And there she is, this bitch inside my head.

"What do you want this time," I question, trying to act big.

"Oh, nothing. I just want to remind you that you're all alone. You seem to be feeling a lot of things lately. Perhaps you should just listen to me, and you'll feel nothing." I stare into the face of the demon in my head. She looks exactly like me. She's got my thick jet black hair, my pale skin. But she doesn't have my black eyes. Instead, she's got red ones. She smirks at me, her fangs bared. She looks exactly like me when I expose my powers.

"I know. I try to, but I can't help it," I say in defence.

"I still don't get why you feel these things even though you know you don't deserve any happiness. Happiness will never come to you. It's just not meant to happen," the demon taunts.

I know. Please, just take control again. I don't want to feel." This is one of the many times I've succumbed to the demon. Sometimes I don't have the energy to fight her.

"With pleasure,"

I slowly wake up. I remember my dream and just lay there in bed. I had lately been feeling lonely, I don't know why. I guess my emotions are going all over the place again. No matter how hard I try to shut down and not feel anything, my emotions are stronger.

'I just wish I had someone. I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to...'

'Calm the fuck down! I don't deserve anyone! I don't need anyone! I'm not weak, I can survive on my own!' I am torn between wanting someone to hold onto, and being alone. Part of me sees being dependent on someone and showing emotions as weak. I already am weak and pathetic as it is. I don't need my emotions bringing me down.

I feel my demon powers stirring within me, wanting to burst free. I use my telekinesis to lift my bag up as an outlet for my powers. I feel my eyes turn red and my fangs come out in the process. I continuously throw my bag against my punching bag. I guess the disadvantage of being the daughter of the most powerful being in the world is that whenever I feel like I'm losing control, I feel my power's incredible strength, making them harder to control. I wonder how my family does it, considering we're number one in the demon world. Their self-control never ceases to amaze me.

***

It is another monotonous day at university, and I'm sitting in the library for some peace and quiet. However, it doesn't last long. People enter the library laughing amongst themselves, and I instantly think they're laughing at me. I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

"Where's the new kid?" one of them asks.

"Did he get lost?" asks the other.

"I'm right here," the new kid appears out of nowhere and stands with them.

'They remember his existence and they barely know him. What is wrong with me? Did my old friends ditch me because I was too boring? Too Quiet?' I question.

'Of course they did,' the demon replies.

'Looks like I'm not meant to have friends after all,'

I zone out, then I spot the new kid looking around the place. I start to feel anxious and worry. What if he looks at me? Is he looking at me? I realise he looks familiar. I suddenly remember that I bumped into him yesterday. I start to panic. What if he sees me? Will he get angry at me? Will he confront me?

'I don't like this. Let's just get the fuck out of here.' I stand up and discreetly walk out of the library with the hope to not be seen.

I walk through the corridor, then I'm stopped by a group of three. I feel nervous as they approach me laughing.

"Well well well, look who it is. Scarlet King," the first girl states.

"Have you had fun scaring people and beating people up?" the second girl comments.

"You know, if you wanna let your anger out, I can show you another way. If you know what I mean." The third guy winks suggestively.

I nonchalantly stare at these fucks, drowning their stupid voices out. They can say all these things, but I'm not gonna play their game. Although it hurts, I'm not gonna give them a reaction. But something happens, which causes a reaction out of me.

"Hey, leave her alone!"

'The fuck?!'