The day Damien brought me home was a joyful day. Isabell had just sold her first wedding cake. It was a 5 layer cake, with real flowers put on top of it. It was not easy to cook a cake, because she had to take a metal pan, heat it up evenly, and pull the cake out without messing it up. It was not easy. Once she laid each layer on top of each other, she would ground sugar into powder with a bowl and growder. She'd take the powdered sugar, and sprinkles it all over the cake. She’d take strawberries from the farm and place them on the outer rims of each layer. She had Damien pick wild flowers, and she'd put them on top of the cake. It was a masterpiece.
The couple who ordered the cake had just left with their order when Damien walked through the door with me in his arms. I was naked when he found me, so he wrapped me up in his shirt. He was holding me to his chest to keep me warm.
“Isabell.” He called for her as he stood in the doorway of the bakery, shirtless. Isabell was in the back pulling the bread out of the masonry oven. She walked calmly into the room, and stopped as she looked up. She almost dropped the bread pan she was holding. She was surprised to see me in his arms. A baby. There I was as calm as could be. She ran over to me, pulling me from Damien’s arms into her arms.
“Who is this little angel?” She smiled at me till she noticed the bumps on my head. She was worried I was hurt. She ran her hands across them gently. When she noticed they did not hurt me, she looked up at him.
“Is she hurt?” There was a hint of sadness in her voice.
“No, I think she was born that way. She only looks a few days old.” Isabell pulled me to her face and kissed my forehead.
“Poor thing. Are you sure her parents aren’t looking for her?” She was worried I was lost. It wasn’t normal for a baby to be alone in the world. .
“She was all alone in the middle of that grass field. You know the one you like me to get your flowers from?”
“What should we do with her?” She was now bouncing me in her arms, making funny faces at me to get me to smile.
“Well, I know we already have two kids… and barely have time to take care of them…. But I thought maybe…” He tried to hint at what he wanted. Isabell stopped in place and stared at him.
“You want us to keep her?” There was surprise in her voice.
“Yes.” And that was all it took. They took me in as their own. Phebe and Isaiah took a liking to me easily. Phebe saw me as a sister she could one day play with, and Isaiah was happy he had someone to be a big brother to. Phebe took care of me while mom and dad worked. She was actually really good at it. She had been taking care of Isaiah since she was five, so she saw this as way easier, because she was older now, and could do a lot more. She would wake up with mother and father when the sun came up, and feed me. They had a friend who was a farmer with animals, so I drank fresh cow milk. After she would feed me, she would make Isaiah a piece of bread. He ate sugar on top of it. She was real good at taking care of us.
Phebe and Isaiah spent most of their day helping mom and dad while I slept. Isaiah mashed grapes and strawberries for dad, and Phebe mixed flour and water to make dow for the bread. Bread was what mom mostly selled. Every once in a while she would get an order for a cake or pastry. We would one day take over the family business so they wanted to make sure we knew how to do everything.
As years passed, I grew bigger, and learned to do things too. Because Phebe learned about baking, and Isaiah learned about winemaking, I was free to choose which I wanted to do. I could never decide, so I ended up learning both. I would switch every other week. By the time I was ten, I was able to make bread myself, and mix the grapes and strawberries in the wine barrels. Our parents were alway proud of all of us, but they were amazed I was able to learn both skills. I did not tell them, but I had a photographic memory. I remembered everything from the day I was born till now. This made it easy to learn new things. I only had to see how to do something once and I could do it myself.
Even though Damien and Isabell never told me I was adopted, they did not have to, because I had a memory I’d seen at night in my dreams of a woman holding me, talking to me. She said that everything would be okay, and how she would always be there for me. I also remember the sound of my father. He was rushing her for some reason. I do not remember their faces, just their voices. I knew Damien and Isabell were not my real mother and father, but I loved them the same.
By the time I was 16, my mother let me run the shop by myself, while Phebe baked the bread. Phebe was no good at math, so she could not handle taking money, and giving the right change back. Even though she couldn’t do math, her baking was amazing. She had even created a circle bread that she put fruit in the center of before baking it. When it was done, it was a delicious center filling. Mom was so proud of her invention, she started selling it as a special in her shop. She had not named it, but it was popular. Mom said she would one day make something the queen herself would eat. After mom told her that, it was her dream to bake for the queen.
My bumps had gotten bigger as I got older. By the time I was 16, they were more like pointy knots. They were still blue. It did not hurt, but I could feel something was trying to break through the skin. My mother began to worry for me, so she took me to the town doctor. He analyzed them to the best of his ability. He told mom that they were like bull horns. A piece of my bones poking out. He said he had never seen a human with them, and wanted to keep me there to study. My mother called him crazy of course and walked out, pulling me by the arm out the door.
I’m 20 now, and the doctor was right. My bumps turned into little bone horns; shape to the touch. The blue was more noticeable now. It made me wonder if all my bones were blue. My family did not abandon me though. My mother made me grow bangs to hide them. Under the bangs, I wore a headband. She said it looked like the headband couldn’t hide the bumps all the way, but my bangs would for sure. I had to be careful not to show anyone my forehead. I had no clue that these horns of mine would be the death of my family. They were a sign of who I really was.
It was just another day. We were all working at our family business. Phebe was working in the back of the bakery with mom, while Isaiah and dad were bringing in the wild flowers that mom needed for her next cake order. Phebe had gotten so well at baking bread that mom let her do cakes now. She had made a few, and messed up alot. She had only made one cake correct out of her 7 tries. I was at the register, greeting people who came in to buy stuff. Even though I could cook and make wine, I was the only one in my family that was great at math, reading, and writing. My dad was okay at it, but he said I was better at it than him. I was standing there listening to mom and Phebe talk to each other, joking around about the cake they were fixing to make when a man dressed in all black walked into the bakery. He was wearing a cloak, so I could not see his face very well. He gave me a bad vibe, but I greeted him all the same.
Mr. Limer had a plate of cheese, bread, and bacon waiting for me when I came out of the room. I sat down at the table and tried to eat. I was starving, but had no desire to eat. It was still sinking in that I lost everything. That my family was gone. What should I do now? I am 20 years-old. I am supposed to be married, have kids, and already started my own business with my husband or be a at home mom. Our parents didn’t make us worry about what we were supposed to do. My sister put the bakery first, so she never found a man. My older brother was training to take over the winery. Once he was in charge, he could get any girl he wanted in just a few years of starting his own business. I was going to help Phebe with her bakery. She had always dreamed of expanding our family business to the capital. She wanted to give the queen her baked goods.
The merchandising guild was a stone building with two stories. When you entered the building there was an open space with tables and chairs, behind the open area were several desks with clerks behind them. There were stairs that led up to an open space with more tables and chairs. There was a bar behind those table and chairs. It was nice. People were talking to each other at the tables. It sounded like important conversions about how they ran their business. I walked up to one of the desks. Trying not to bring attention to myself. “Hello ma’am, my name is Wonda. How can I help you?” There was kindness in her voice. She looked me up and down. I wondered if she noticed my horns. “I’m new in the capital. I would like to purchase a building I can use as a home and a shop.” She turned around, and walked to a table full of maps.
“Hello!” The man spoke to me in a voice unlike any I had ever heard before. It was like a relaxing sound that melted all my troubles away. As he spoke, I could feel a calmness wash over me. I felt happy for the first time since my family died. “What are you?” I asked. He paused, and looked at me confused. “I am a customer?” He tilted his head, smiled, and showed his brilliant white teeth. “That’s not what I meant… What is that on your head and your back?” I pointed at the wings and halo. His eyebrow shot up. “You can see them?” I was confused now. Was I the only person that could see them? “Can’t everyone see them?”
I felt calm, and safe as Theodore looked into my eyes. He would protect me, even though I had horns and different colored eyes? I have always been different, but my family did not care. They were the only ones to accept me for me, and now they are gone… but now there's this angel. He says he knows who I am… but does he really? I just met this guy… could I really trust him with my life? His silver eyes made me want to believe him. To trust him. “And who am I?” I asked, looking at him, pleading in my eyes. I had never wanted to know who I was or who my parents were, but now that I am alone, my family gone, I wanted… no, I needed to know. He let go of my chin, then turned around. He walked to the door, and opened it. “It’s better you don’t know. I will be back.” He turned to face me with one foot out the door. &
At the bottom of the stairs stood a woman dressed in black, kneeling on one knee. Her head was down, facing the floor. She was dark skinned, and had a cat tail and ears. She wore clothes I had never seen before. They were tight, unlike mine, and showed her figure. “Princess!” She spoke with power in her voice. It was like she was speaking to God himself. She looked up, and I saw them. The cole black eyes the other demon had. I took a step back. “I am here to bring you back home. Your cover has been blown and it is no longer safe for you above ground.” In that incense, Theodore came into the shop. He was fast. One minute at the door, the next by my side. “And what can you do to protect her? Not a thing! Isn’t that why she is up here in the first place? Because Luc
I was standing in the bakery, holding Jamira's hand, then I felt a hot breeze against my skin. I closed my eyes for one second. When I opened them, I saw rock. I felt sick to my stomach. As I tried to gain my balance, I fell to my knees, holding my stomach. It felt as if my guts were being pushed up my throat. “I feel like I might throw up…” I let go of Jamira’s hand. I slowly got to my feet, then looked around. There was a red sky, with a black sun, with a golden ring around it. It was like an eclipse. There were black rocks surrounding the whole area as far as I could see. I was standing at the top of what looked like a castle. The castle was made with obsidian. There was a pretty shine to it. Unlike my hair, the rock shined with a tint of gray spots all over it. The doors, a red tint of obsidian. From what I could see, we were standing in the yard of the castle. There were different kind
“Layla?” The woman stood from her seat fast. She ran up to me, and looked me over. “Lucifer! It’s Layla! The woman jumped up and down, her breast bouncing so hard, they looked like they were going to come out of the fabric. She hugged me tightly, making me feel like I was in between closing walls. “I... can’t… breath…” I got out a few words before she squeezed all the air out of my lungs. “Breath?” The lady asked, like it was a weird statement. She looked at Jamira. “This is my daughter Layla, right?” Jamira looked seriously, and said yes. Lucifer got up from his seat, and walked to the woman. “Lilith, she’s been in the