Crimson Shield ( Sentinel of Realms Book 1)

CHAPTER THREE

Erda, England

It's been a couple of days since Alexis has discovered her parents' past and what she has now become. Staring into the mirror every morning since her newly forced red marking appeared has now become a habit for Alexis. This morning Alexis is endeavouring to find anything else that might have changed about her appearance. But all she could visually perceive was the effulgent red markings on her forearm; nothing else looked different. No stereotypical horns or tails or any weirder markings have made any appearance.

"I don't even recognize myself anymore", Alexis whispered to herself as she traced the markings on her forearm with her fingers.

Giving up on examining herself in the mirror, Alexis decides to go and get ready for volunteering. Every time Alexis has free time, she would help her grandmother out by volunteering at the resident home Alexandra worked at. Usually, Alexis would drive with her grandmother to the resident home. However, due to current circumstances, she decided she would like to walk there and because she still was not ready to talk to her grandparents about the elephant in the room, which was her newfound heritage. Just as Alexis was about to leave the house, her grandmother stops her in the hallway.

"Darling, before you leave, please let me wrap up your arm so no one can see the markings," Alexandra said in a hurry.

"Grandma, I know you are worried about other people finding out, but I can pass it off as a tattoo, so I don't need to cover it up," Alexis said like it was no big deal, trying to shrug her Grandma away.

"Lexy, please listen to your Grandma. Everyone knows what a Demon marking looks like, and we just don't want to risk it. Please do this for us. It will make us less worried about you. Please," Alexis Grandpa begs from behind her Grandma.

Alexis sighs in annoyance; she nods her head in agreement with her grandparents. She didn't want them to keep worrying about her, mainly since she owes them a lot for raising her even though they knew what she was. Alexis still hasn't forgiven her grandparents fully for lying to her and keeping her real identity a secret for all this time, but she knew that they had their own reasons, and she should respect them.

"Ok ... ok, I will wear it. So please stop worrying about me." Alexis says, giving in to her Grandma's request. As soon as she agreed with her, Grandma started pulling her toward the kitchen.

As soon as Alexis sat down, her Grandma started to roll up her t-shirt, revealing the demon marks. Alexis Grandma took a bandage out of the first aid box and started wrapping it around the top of Alexis' forearm.

"All done!" Alexandra said, clapping her hands as she inspected her handy work on her granddaughter's forearm.

Alexis got up from the chair, walked out of the house, and headed to the resident home. She did not live far away from the residential home to walk there without a problem. Alexis loves walking by herself any time of the day because she finds it peaceful. Whenever Alexis felt upset or angry, she found out that a long walk helps her cool down and clear her head. Moments like these are what Alexis needed to come to terms with her new life and scary future.

While volunteering, Alexis walked into the communal area of the resident home, where all residents can come to talk or do activities together. Alexis was doing a quick tidy of the room when she overheard some of the residents talking about the 'good old times, but only one word caught her attention: demon.

"I remembered when one lived next door to me, he was so secretive and every time I invited round for tea or something I was always rejected! Thank the realms the rude beasts disappeared," one male resident said in disgust.

Alexis didn't feel comfortable listening to the conversation, but these residents probably knew more about demons than her and have actually met some. Listening to them might give Alexis more of an insight into the demon's side of her.