Cameron sniffed, but her tears kept falling. She curled up in the corner, rocking herself slightly. Wishing there was some way this could end. She was an adult, being locked in a closet, hell being held against her will, was illegal. Abuse was illegal. Not that it would have stopped her stepfather. He'd locked her in this closet for the last ten years. The authorities suspected, but there was never any real proof of abuse, and none of them bothered to dig for it. It was there, but everyone just looked at the surface and walked away. 

The argument people always made when they heard about abuse stories "Why didn't you just leave?" screamed in her mind for years. She'd tried to leave a number of times, but somehow she always found herself back here, in this closet.

Now, she sat there, entirely by choice.

“You’re a demon!” He’d screamed at her that morning when she came down for breakfast. “You force pure men to think impure thoughts!”

He’d dragged her by her hair to the closet, painted white inside, with pictures of his Messiah hung everywhere, the light shining brightly down on her as he locked her in.

“Pray for yourself, and for Gods forgiveness girl.” He’d said as he stood outside the door.

She thought about what she did wrong. But in the end, she knew she didn’t do anything. She’d worn the clothes they bought for her. Simple black and white, everything covered from her neck to her toes. No makeup, her hair was down, and there was no jewelry. She’d kept silent, kept her eyes downcast, and didn’t touch anything unless her parents said it was okay. In the end, it didn’t matter, she still ended up in the closet.

For ten years this had been happening. Same words repeated over and over. The result, always the same.

“Why don’t you just screw her and get it over with already!” Her mother finally screamed at her stepfather. “It’s not like you’d be the first man to do it, at least they paid me!”

That had her stepfather, a "good", "pure", and religious man flying off the handle and began to beat her mother. She could hear it through the door, and no matter how much she shouted, no matter how much she screamed. He didn't stop, and no one came to help.

When her stepfather opened the closet door, his hands were bloody and his eyes were crazed. Instinct kicked in, and she shoved past him as hard and as fast as she could. She’d never fought before, so the act its self-caught the man by surprise. She rushed to get out, but everything was locked or blocked off, trapped in the kitchen, she armed herself with a knife and waited.

He came at her like she knew he would. Screaming, preaching, and more crazed than she’d ever seen him before. She swung the blade and stabbed. When he fell, she ran. She hid in the closet. It would be the last place he looked for her. How ironic, she’d run from this tiny space so many times, and now, here she sat, trying to hide from it all.

She hadn’t seen her mother, and she didn’t know if her stepfather was okay. So she sat, tears falling uncontrollably, and rocking herself back and forth. She wished she could rewind time. She wished she could run away from it all. She wished she could just disappear. From this house, from this world, and never return.

The room went dark, and she sat for a moment in darkness. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the extremely dim lighting. Steadily, the floor came to life. Glowing a soft red hue, that seemed to pulse like a heart. The brighter it got, the more she came to realize, this, wasn't her home. Where was she?

"A place that is, and a place that isn't."

She looked up and saw a throne built entirely out of human bones. A creature with pitch black skin, looking like it had been peeled off, cooked slightly, then sewn awkwardly back on, sat on the throne. Razor sharp yellow teeth were seen as he grinned at her. She could only guess it was male as it was shirtless but wore loose fitted pants. From his back, sprouted wings that looked like sheer fabric ready to rip at a moments notice. They weren't folded against his body, but rather, standing straight up and falling on either side of the chair. A robe laid off to the side, apparently, he'd forsaken it, choosing to show her his true self.

"No!" She sobbed falling to the floor. "He was right! I am a demon!"

The creature chuckled, but it was hoarse, leaving it coughing at the end. "Not yet, but you will be."

"I don’t want to be a demon!” She cried.

There was another chuckle. "No one wants to be what they are child."

"I don’t want to be a demon!" She screamed with all of her might.

"Whether you want to be or not is irrelevant, you have been marked, Cameron."

She looked up at him, “How do you know my name?”

“I am a God. The God of Demons to be exact. I know all who are of my kin.”

“What do you mean by marked?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He shifted in his seat, as he did, his wings were positioned awkwardly. "Some years ago, longer by human standards, but a short time for myself, my kin roamed every galaxy, every planet. Now, they reside in only a few. But their bloodlines have continued. You may not have the appearance of a demon, but there is demonic blood in you child. It called to me, or rather, your cries did. Your blood merely saw to it they would reach me. So now here I sit, ready to grant you your wish."

"At what price?"

The demon raised his hand, and a force pulled her up and pushed her down onto another chair made from human bones.

"I need a Champion to go to the world the other Gods and I have created." He hissed. "There, you must obtain power, and much of it."

“Why?”

“That is all I am at liberty to say at this moment in time.” He sighed. “But I will assure you, the reasoning behind it will make sense and you will not regret your choices once you learn the truth.”

"What of my life, my parents?"

"The female is dead. Killed by the male. The male is, regrettably alive, but the mortals, police, I believe you call them, have learned of the situation, and they wish to find you to help you. Save you. They know you merely acted in self-defense." The demon looked at her, "If would put you at ease, I can make the mortals forget about you."

"Does it really matter? I’ll be in another world"

The Demon chuckled. "So, you shall be my Champion?"

"Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice." She sniffed. "I’ve heard my entire life that I was a demon, might as well make it true. It’s clear from the look of things I can’t fight it."

Her body shook, and tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall. She desperately wanted to fight, but looking at the demon in front of her, she knew struggling was useless.

The Demon held up three fingers. "One ability, one item, one favor. Three things, that is all I am at liberty to grant you."

He waved his hand and a blue screen appeared before her. She pressed the box that said abilities and read over them.

Fallen Angel: The path of the Bloodless Champion

This ability Champion can use some white magic, choosing to solve conflicts with magic and manipulation

does not take lives or spill blood unless necessary

Only dark spell Champion has available is Dark Hypnosis: the spell allows the champion to fix a victim with their demon eyes and hypnotize them.

Allowing them to manipulate the victim to an extent

can grow two small thick black feathered wings, and remain air born for one hour Demon Blood: The path of the Half-Blooded Champion

With this ability, Champion is half human, half demon, able to reason and works with others

looks human, acts like a demon

spills blood easily, but does not actively kill unless there's reason to

can grow wings and fly

Unable to wield white magic, and white magic attacks make the Champion ill.

has two dark spells Champion can wield Dark Hypnosis and Blood Call: a spell that after the Champion has spilled the victim's blood, should the victim be allowed to live, or survive,

the Champion can then call on the victim by summoning them with their blood

Can grow two small bat-like wings, can remain air born for half of a day/night The Endarkened: The path of the full Blooded Demonic Champion

With this ability, The champion will slaughter indiscriminately, blood first, questions later

The champion is a full demon and takes on the appearance as well as mannerisms of one

Note, Champion will be subject to personality change to allow for the ability to take life without remorse

Any white magic attacks are henceforth lethal.

Dark magic is the weapon of choice now. While bladed weapons and staffs are able to be wielded if desired.

Can grow wings and fly, though prefers flight to be at night so others will not see the true nature

Well, she was a demon, wasn’t she? She clicked the Endarkened ability. Might as well commit to it fully, at least with that ability her personality would change and she wouldn’t feel the need to fight what she was anymore.

Ring of Lust

As long as one wears this ring, any person will be sexually attracted to the wearer

Warning only works within a certain radius depending on one's power

She looked at the Demon, "There’s only one item."

He merely chuckled. "You will resemble a demon, my dear, not everyone will be attracted to you. In fact, most will run away in fear of you. With this ring, you'll be able to be around the people of this new world, and they won't run away. You'll even be able to mate with them as you please. You'll be a demon princess after all. It's your job as a female royal to produce more strong royal demons."

"I’m not ready to be a parent." She whimpered.

"Neither am I ready for you to have a weak little whelp suckling at your breast when there is work to be done." He growled. “So it will have to wait. So I think, for now, you shall remain barren, your fertility shall be restored later on."

"That's my favor?"

He grinned at her. "No, that it is not. You have to choose your favor, I cannot pick it for you. What is the favor you would ask of me?"

"I, I don’t want to remember anything about my past. I’ll know I come from Earth, and all of my knowledge should be there, but I don’t want to have any of my memories."

The demon's eyes rolled to the back of his head, after a couple of minutes those bright neon eyes fixated on hers and he grinned. "So be it."

He jumped then, crossing the distance, and that mouthed crushed against her own before she fell into darkness. Light surrounded her, and the sound of birds whistled overhead.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. So this was the new world huh? She looked down at her hands and saw the ability she'd chose actually had changed her appearance. Her skin was now a dark pink, her hair was much longer and no longer the muddy brown, but thick ebony locks that would put the traditional Snow White's hair to shame. Protruding from her head was a pair of horns.

There was a small bag at her hip, she opened and found the ring. It had a diamond band and a ruby gem carved into a rose. She slipped that on her finger as the other champions, at least she hoped that's who they were, started to wake up.

Inside the bag, was also a mirror, she took it out and saw that her horns were bronze colored, with engravings that seemed to be inlaid with onyx and opal. They were actually very beautiful. They almost looked like a ribbon blowing the in the wind the way they grew out of her head. Her eyes, once a deep chocolate brown, now matched the bronze color of her horns. Her red lips parted as she smiled, revealing two, very sharp canines. At least she didn't have a row of sharp teeth. She quickly stashed away the mirror and looked around at her fellow champions.

Then, the screaming started.