A few hours later I hear a commotion down stairs. I can’t quite make out what exactly is going on for a few minutes, but slowly it becomes clear two people are having a very loud shouting match. I get up and walk over to my door, planning to just crack it a little so I can hear what's being said. But as I get close I can feel a small, low to the ground presence in the hallway, and I notice the door knob jiggling slightly, like someone is trying to turn it. I think I know who is on the other side of the door.

Mana: 2732/4224

Checking my mana really quick, I find it high enough that I can comfortably transform. So I put all my demon parts away and open up the door. Sure enough Tommy is on the other side clearly trying to get into my room, but failing since he probably didn't realize I had the door locked.

"Tommy, you know you're not supposed to go into my room." I tell him sternly. He just looks up at me with sad little eyes.

"Mama Dada yell." He says in a sad voice while pointing down the stairs.

Sure enough my parents are still yelling, except now I can make out what they are saying.

"... not our place to pry! She is a teenager, she needs some space!" My dad yells.

"What she needs, is to tell us these things so we can make informed decisions!" My mom yells back.

Pick Tommy up and pat him on the head and start heading down to the living room. I promised to play with him earlier and I might as well keep him distracted.

"She's almost eighteen! She can make her own decisions. We need to support her, not fight her!" My dad continues yelling.

"We know what's best for her! She doesn't even realize how dangerous magic is!"

"You think YOU know what's best for her! I'm not going to go along with your preaching anymore. I've been resented by my oldest daughter enough!"

"She's just an angry teenager! She'll grow out of it! She needs to learn respect and discipline!"

Hold on, is my dad standing up for me? Normally he's either a pushover or goes along with her bullshit. Why is he pushing back against her now? Well either way, it will help keep her off my back, so not like I can disapprove. Though poor Tommy seems to be confused and scared. I get to the bottom of the stairs and slip around the corner to the living room unnoticed by the still screaming inhabitants of the kitchen.

"We almost lost her, Agitha! We almost lost her and we didn't even know it. She didn't tell us! Why!? Because she doesn't trust us! Because you keep doing shit like this!"

"What, what do you mean!? She did something with magic, didn't she!"

"No she didn't! She fought a fucking demon on Monday! She got hurt and didn't want to tell us! Because you would have turned it against her instead of comforting her!"

"Bullshit, why didn't we hear about it then!"

"Because she didn't want to tell us! I only figured it out when my coworkers brought it up and I found the news story!"

"Th-th-th-that couldn't have been her!"

"I know my own daughter when I fucking see her Agitha!"

At this point I walk into the family room and put Tommy down while tuning out the conversation. He immediately runs over to his blocks and starts stacking them into a tower. From the kitchen I can hear my mother sobbing. Damn, talk about family drama. Unfortunately for them, I don't plan on giving them another chance. They've had years to stop, too late to ask for forgiveness now. Well, OK, my mom and the twins are getting cut out. But after that little showing, my dad might, just might be able to bring it back. I highly doubt it though. They had to have been arguing quite a few times before this for it to finally blow up like this. Still not my problem, I'll be gone in four months off to college. Originally I planned to bolt, find a place to live, and take multiple jobs to support myself until school started. But with my magic, I might be able to drop the multiple jobs part. I’ll probably be able to get to a better place too. Now if only I didn’t need to turn into a demon to get it, ah well, can't have everything I guess.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

By the time I'm done with my musing Tommy has successfully built his tower and seems quite pleased with himself. Then he grabbed the box with the remaining blocks and dragged it over to me.

“Lucky build tower too!”

So I took my turn building a tower of blocks, all while Tommy constantly monitored and ‘corrected’ my work. It was a surprisingly soothing experience, one that I needed after all the chaos and insanity of the last week. But all good things must come to an end. After a few minutes and a couple more towers, my father walks into the living room holding an orange card.

“Hey kiddo, mind if we have a quick chat?” he asks me with a sheepish smile while holding out the card.

“What’s there to talk about?” I ask, feigning ignorance while getting up to take the card.

“Lucy, don’t be like that. Me and your mother are concerned about your safety.” He says as I grab the card, but he does not release his grip. I don’t let go either, instead looking up and silently meeting his gaze, calling his bluff. He quickly lets out a sigh and lets go while sitting down on the couch.

“Your mother got a hold of your mail, obviously. I’ve talked to her and she shouldn’t do it again but keep your eye out just in case. Unfortunately, she took the liberty of calling a few of the numbers and trying to arrange things. I’ve made her promise to call them back and cancel but…” He says in a dejected and tired voice.

“But she might not do it, and even if she does they still know and might harass me.” I say interrupting him.

“Yea, that…. Look I’m not going to claim your mother had this completely thought out, but please try not to hate her.”

“Kinda hard to do that when she’s trying to turn me into a pinup doll against my will.”

“That's... A bit of a harsh way to look at it. Look sweety, we’re a bit concerned. You're exceptionally young to have these kinds of abilities. I for one don’t want you getting in over your head and ending up in a bad way. Your mother… alright I’ll admit she hasn't focused on you as much as your siblings, and I’ve been absent a lot because of work, but that doesn't make it right. You’ve always been more independent than the twins and well…. You’ve seen their grades. We, your mother especially, focused more on them because they needed the attention.” He says, followed by a sigh. When I don’t respond he takes that as his cue to keep talking.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you as much attention as you deserved growing up sweety. I thought your mother had it handled and by the time I realized she was playing favorites, well…… I should have been more attentive, that's my fault. I know you don’t want much to do with us, and I can’t entirely blame you. I’ll try to keep your mother off your back and maybe we can do some stuff on my days off together, but I’ll admit now it will be hard because of my work. They demand as much time as I have and then some.”

“Hmmm, Aren't you still working twelve hour shifts five days a week?” I ask.

“Yes, its utterly exhausting. But the good news is you, the twins, and Tommy have your college paid for and then some.” He says with a smile. I just give him the raised eyebrow look, because no way in hell my mom hasn’t gotten a hold of that money.

“What, don’t give me that look. I get paid well, your mother wanted a bigger house but I convinced her to stay here. It’s a small but cozy place that's big enough for our needs. The last three years of nonstop overtime have stolen my soul but it's worth it knowing you kids are all taken care of. I set the accounts up so your mom can only deposit, not withdraw or transfer either. So unless I die tomorrow you’ve got more than enough to get through college. Not that I think you will need it. You're a bright girl sweety, you do well and apply yourself. You’ll probably be able to go on only grants and what not. So anything that's left over, you can, I don’t know, buy a house with it or something.”

“Really?” I ask, stunned.

“Yes really. Contrary to what you might think I do actually love you sweety. I’ve just been….. Bad at it.”

That's…. Wow. I was not expecting to actually feel loved this morning when I got up from, well, I didn't actually get up because I don’t sleep. I get up and walk over to dad, then give him a hug. One he happily reciprocates.

“Thank you.” I say, barely keeping the tears out of my eyes.

“Your welcome sweety. Like I said, I’ll try to talk to your mother…..” My dad says, only to be interrupted by Tommy jumping up and joining in on the hug.

“Huggys!” he yells.

This would be a wonderful moment, if it wasn't punctuated by my mother's sobs in the background.