"Which choice will give me the happily ever after?" I asked. It echoed in my mind long after the sound had faded. Movies, books and the stories of the older generations had closure. And yet, here I sat by myself. No answers and no direction.

"I should be happy" I thought with frustration.

The frustration galvanized me to action, standing up, pulling back the horizontal blinds and staring out at the snow covered apartment complex before me. It was November the first true snow fall had settled on the trees and cars. Tiny icicles forming on the edge of my roof. And I stared out blankly, hoping something within my field of vision would make sense my life.

It didn't.

I turned back to the apartment with a sigh. Running my fingers through my ear length black hair, it was sometimes silken smooth and flat. At the moment half the hair had decided to rebel and was poofed up in the opposite direction, I hoped a shower would settle it down, sometimes I was lucky and it returned to my tyrannical rule. Other days, it maintained its rebellion and I was forced to wear a hat.

I glanced in the mirror as I pulled off my shirt and sighed again, it was going to be a hat type of day I suspected. Sports bra was off next, then the rest of the clothing. I turned on the shower. Water hot enough to boil a chicken hissed and with the skill of a safe cracker I turned the water, finding the perfect spot where scalding water changed to pleasantly warm. It was something I needed to do still, call in maintenace and have them correct the hot water levels. But I couldn't do it. Calling someone to help me. I turned my thoughts back to the normalcy of the water cascading over me.

I stepped reluctantly from the shower and toweled off. Used the same towel to wipe down the mirror. I ignored what I saw in the mirror. Jet black hair (with the rebellious hair still sticking up), green eyes that caught the light perfectly and made the color in my irises all the brighter, soft rounded features and a chest that was small, I was a thin gal and despite what all the movies told you, thin usually means little fat and breasts are made most predomintaly of...you guessed it fat. Not that I minded, some of my friends were well endowed and they had back problems all the time from their heavy upper decks. I also ignored the demon clutching his book of NeverNight. He was running his nails over the binding causing the pages to hiss with pain and anticipation. I threw the towel over my shoulder and it covered his head. I walked past him and grumbled "It's well before dark, Aegemon. What are you doing here?"

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The demon yanked the towel from his head, the fabric caught on a horn and he made a grunt of surprise as he almost tore his own head off. His voice was surprisingly high pitched as if he had been huffing helium. A stark contrast to his square jaw, handsome features and well toned body. "I'm here to take your oath."

"You can't keep showing up here at random hours asking me to join your little madhouse of the demonic." I pulled on clothes and donned a baseball cap with a stitched cartoon mouse on the front.

I surveyed my sparesly decorated bedroom, with a pile of clean clothes on the floor. "I needed to clean this place up." An idea occurred to me "Say, Aegemon. You mentioned that if I joined you, that I would get powers, and maybe even other gifts for joining."

The blue skinned demon's ears perked up at this "Yes!" he shouted, his voice rising to an octave that set off all the dogs in the apartment complexes around me.

I pointed at the laundry "Fold these, and clean my house perfectly and I'll think about joining."

His face lit up, he started folding the clothes inexpertly. "Yes, yes. Right away, a small matter."

"Dusting, dishes everything. Got it?!"

"Got it, got it!" He squeaked again.

I left my apartment for the first time in three days. I was feeling better after my tiny victory with the demon and attempted to whistle a jaunty tune, but the cold sucked the moisture off my lips and no sound occurred.

It didn't defuse my little flame of happiness.