Devil's Daughter

Chapter Three

I stand at the top of the steps, the castle looming before me. It had once been a marvellous structure, clean white stone, tall and large. Now its towers have rotted and most were crumbling away, all except mine. I am Hell's version of Rapunzel. But instead of being kidnapped by the witch, I was the witch's sister. The rest of castle has also rotted and is stained by mud and scorch marks. I take a deep breath before entering it once more, feeling sad, angry and above all betrayed. I head straight to my room.

"Hey, Thunder, hey Storm," I chimed patting their heads. Thunder and Storm are my Hellhounds, basically demon dogs. They protect me and in return I feed them and look after them. On Earth, Hellhounds look like normal pet dogs but are usually vicious and only show they're true form during a hunt. But my little guys aren't like that. Hellhounds are large black dogs with glowing red eyes, super strength and some leave a trail of fire in their wake. Thunder and Storm are only pups so they aren't as strong as older Hellhounds but they are showing signs of having the power of fire. I'm proud of them. They're my family – more of a family than my sisters – and I can't bear to leave them. I open my door before standing to the side, letting them trot in first. Once they do a quick sweep of my room – you never know with my sisters – they came back to the door and stood at either side of me, bowing their heads. I enter and give them both a slab of meat; it's like feeding a pack of lions. As I grab a book and get comfortable on the cushioned window seat there was a loud knock at my door. I look at Thunder who lifts his head and sniffs the air to see if it was someone bad before going back to sleep. By his reaction, it wasn't. I open the door and gasp. There at the other side of my door is my other sister, Thea. She looks worriedly at Thunder and Storm who rise, alarmed by my gasp.

"ηρεμώ!" I whisper to them, moving my hand up and down, the universal sign for calm down then I look at Thea who looks at me bewildered. "It's Greek for calm, Hellhounds only understand Greek and Latin, I speak both to them but I feel like they understand Greek more. Look," I say and turn to face them, both are siting down but still on alert. "Somnus," I say in Latin but they just look at me so I try Greek instead, "ύπνος." This time they do what I said and curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

"That's... impressive, what language is that, when did you learn them?" Thea asks still glancing from them to me. Her uneasiness makes me feel sick.

I may not have powers but I can feel other people's emotions and sometimes if I have a lot of energy or if the person is extremely emotional I get visions. Not that I've told anyone this, I don't want my remaining powers stolen like the rest. If it is even powers, not just something that happens to people in Hell.

"I don't know much, just basic commands," I lie; I can have a conversation with a Grecian and not stumble over anything. I am fluent with both. "And I learned from a book when I saved Thunder and Storm, it's a shame I couldn't safe Lightning," I reply.

Thunder, Lightning and Storm were triplets whose mother died during birth – I guess – and were starving to death when I found them. Thunder and Storm were healthy, hungry but healthy. Lightning however had a gash along one of her back legs. I took all three of them home and took care of them, feed them and treated Lightning's wound. However, the wound wouldn't heal because she didn't have enough energy and strength. It was too much for her; she lasted a month and a bit before she passed away too. I cried. Thunder cried. Storm cried. We all cried.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, you really cared for her and tried your best to keep her healthy." This was the difference between Leanna and Thea, where Leanna would have laughed at me for mentioning Lightning and for knowing different languages, Thea listens and cares. I don't know if it was act or if she really did care.

"Yeah, I did. So what's up?" I ask, trying not to sound mean or stubborn.

"Eh... I... uh... I was wondering if... if it was true... are you... um... leaving?" she replies and I nod my head, not wanting to speak and hear my voice break. "If you don't mind me asking, why?" I stare at her in disbelief.

"It's not like I want to, it wasn't my decision, Dad's making me, says it's not safe for me to be here. Do you want to know why it's not safe for me? Because someone stole my powers and made me a human!" Thunder and Storm wake up to the anger in my voice and come to stand beside me.

"I'm sorry that you're leaving but I... uh... I came to warn you," she whispers, her voice shaking at Thunder and Storm, her fear making my stomach twist.

"Warn me about what?"

"Leanna, she said that... that..." she keeps stumbling over her words.

"For the love of... spit it out Thea."

"She said that now you're going to Earth she can take you down and Earth with you," she gulps. I stare at her gobsmacked for a moment before urging her one. "She couldn't really harm you here because one we're in Hell and two because of Dad, but now that you're leaving she can, and she'll get away with it. She'll make it look like a human did it and then dad will get mad and kill them all, making an empty world for her to rule." I gasp but she isn't finished. "And she said that she's going to make it as hard for you as she can. She's even getting the guards to send you away, drag you away at night and fling you into the portal." Now she has finished. I think she is going to give me a hug but changes her mind when Thunder growls at her. Slowly she starts making her way to my door, her short light brown bob bouncing up and down, her pink skater skirt swaying side to side and her green-tinted skin glowing.

I pat Thunder and Storm before shakily making my way to my dressing table. I sit down and stare at my reflection. My dark hair swirls around my head like a lion's mane and stops at my waist, my thick chopped side fringe covers half of my left eye and my small plump lips are cracked and dry. But what always catches my attention are my wide mix-matched eyes; my right one is a normal dark brownish-amber while my left is piercing green similar to a lizard's or cat's. How am I going to fit in anywhere with eyes like mine?