1. The Devil's Daughter

"Hey Jenna," Luna said. "What's that up there?"

I looked at my friend's face, bathed in blood. Luna suddenly gasped, checking herself in the mirror. At the turn of her head, the red moved. Realizing that the color was that of a light, I exhaled the pressure accumulating in my lungs. My rapid heartbeat began to slow.

Luna, on the other hand, was hysterical. "Is it a pimple? A mole? Please just pop it! I'll close my eyes!" Her soft voice had soared several octaves and my poor eardrums cried.

"Now you're just seeing things. Your beautiful, cocoa skin is as smooth as silk," I said.

Luna closed the mirror. "What did you see?"

"It was the trick of the light. That red light. I thought it was blood." She looked at me worriedly. "You said you saw something, right?"

Luna regained her composure and I succeeded in steering the attention back to her. She opened the sun roof and the cool, night air settled in her car. Above us hung a brilliant red disc in the sky, isolated from the stars.

"That's mars, I think," I said.

"Is it always that bright? It's a little unusual."

I shrugged. "I'll look in the yellow pages and ask an astronomer," I said with a smile.

"Then ask if there was a UFO sighting seventeen years ago. It may belong to your real parents," Luna said back.

I yawned. "Sure thing. Thanks for the ride home Loo-Loo." Grabbing my purse, I stepped out of the car. We exchanged good nights and I watched her car disappear down the road.

Not a second after her departure did I feel a pain in my chest. Luna didn't mean to but she poured salt in a wound that would never heal. My father.

Where was he? Who was he? These aren't the questions a child should have about their parent. A heavy sound roared in my ears, like a dragon's wing beats. I wanted to ask my mother again, but that would be beating a dead horse. If I saw her now, I'd be mad all night, and a fight at this time at night would be pointless.

A sort of heat radiated on the back of my neck. I looked over my shoulder to see the bloody circle staring back at me. Was it the moon? It was like an alien painted the full moon red. Forgot about cryptic messages, apparently.

Another light caught my eye. It must've been in the kitchen. I speed-walked to the back of the house, my feet navigating me perfectly in the darkness. I got my key from my purse and was in the house. Now if I could just make it to my bedroom...

"You're back," my mom gasped. I turned around but she wasn't there. Something in her tone- disbelief, astonishment, fear. She couldn't have been talking to me; I only went out once and awhile. "I thought you were dead." Okay, she definitely wasn't talking to me.

I tiptoed closer to the kitchen and put my back against the wall, the only shield from me and this mystery person. Pictures of my mother and I in colorful frames hung on the wall. I risked a peek.

From what I could see, the man towered over my mom by at least a foot. Brown hair curled at his neck, poking out of a baseball cap. He wore a white, sleeved shirt and black pants. I couldn't see an inch of his face because it was buried in my mother's hair.

I wanted to reveal myself now but my mother started sobbing. If she knew him, I was interested to know him too.

"It's been so long, Jeanine," the man said, longing laced in his words.

"I was told you died in battle. I attended your funeral. Where have you been?"

Judging from their conversation, this guy was a soldier who (supposedly) died. But what was he to my mother. Boyfriend? Husband?

"I've been living a human life. The demon banished me from the Shadow World. I lost all contact and senses with the other world and was left clueless in the human world."

"Demons can do that?" Mom said incredulously.

The man nodded, then he touched her stomach. "Where is she?"

I gulped. "She" was right here. I stepped out and said, "Here I am."

The man, my father, faced me. He turned as white as his shirt as his eyes took me in. With a smile, he ran to hug me. Over his shoulder, Mom watched thoughtfully.

This was all happening too fast. I tried not to show panic on my face but couldn't help the tension in my body. There were no tears of happiness or sadness. He seemed to notice this and pulled back.

"Are you alright, my daughter?" Instinctively, I nodded. "Good. I quite like the sound of it. I finally have my daughter." His lips peeled back in a smile (it was as nasty as it sounded).

My mother finally realized my distress. "Robert, you have plenty of time to bond. We all do."

His hazel eyes appeared to darken. The veins underneath his skin pressed against the surface. "No we don't." I noticed his sharpened teeth as he talked. And then he attacked my mother.

I slid across the kitchen floor, flinging my arms out to grab something. Instead I hit the refrigerator on the other side of the kitchen. The hypnotic beating bounced around in my ears as I struggled to concentrate on my mother. She laid on her back, a pool of red fanning out around her black hair. A nasty gash ran across her throat. Blood emptied onto the white tiles.

"No!" I screamed. I grabbed the handle of the refrigerator door for balance but fell on my hands and knees, forced to crawl. Her twitching fingers were her only sign of life. They were like the hands of a clock racing against me. Almost there-

A hand clutched my shirt and yanked me off the ground. My feet dangled a bit before the man slammed me against the wall. Fighting through my increasing disorientation, I saw a vicious face with cruel, black eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth. Was I imagining this? What happened to the other man, the man claiming to be my father?

"Got you," the creature hissed.

"Let me go! I have to help my mother!"

His claws pinned down my shoulders. "I wasn't lying when I said you were my daughter. You are mine."

Resorting to drastic measures, I screamed at the top of my lungs. The demon grunted and punched me in the throat. Was my esophagus broken? Instead of a scream, I coughed a spray of blood on the man's face. No, this was a demon.

With a flick of his tongue- black like a pupil- the blood was cleaned off. My face contorted in disgust while blood and bile bubbled in the back of my throat. I tore my eyes from him to catch a glimpse of my mother.

"Mom!" I sobbed, blood trickling from the side of my mouth. I swallowed, causing the pain to double back on me. Yet my heart burned the worse, branded with the vicious mark of loss. Despite my cry, my mother didn't respond.

"Quit your crying," the demon grunted. "Here, drink this." The demon plucked out a clear, cone shaped vile from a pocket inside his cloak. Where had that come from? A whole new outfit replaced his mundane disguise. And he wasn't wearing any shoes; his scaly feet probably wouldn't fit any kind.

"It'll heal you," he said.

"Then give it to my mom! Save her!" I pleaded.

The demon glanced over his shoulder and sneered. "And have a newborn vampire mucking things up? I don't think so." He uncapped the vile. The recognizable scent drifted up my nose.

"No more," I said. "No more blood."

Ignoring me, the demon pushed the rim against my lips. A sharp pain stabbed the back of my head as he yanked my head back. My strangled cry of defiance echoed in the kitchen. My eyes closed shut and refused to open.

Something flooded my mouth. A bitter, coppery taste washed and stained my tongue and teeth. Forced to swallow, my own throat ceased to bleed. Miraculously, when I swallowed again, this time on my own will, the pain was gone.

But it was evil, that my body knew. Yet the empowering side-effects won over instinct and my stomach contained it. The demon raised the vile higher, the last bit cascading down into my throat.

I stuck my tongue out and he smiled again. "Get used to it. There will be much more blood."

"Hopefully mine," I whispered.

Then he laughed. "You've got quite the tongue. I knew I made the right choice." His hands opened and I was free.

Dizziness hit me again and I collapsed on the floor. I finally made it to my mother, who had finally stopped bleeding. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. I wanted to close them but saw that the wound had splattered blood on her face, too. I recoiled and my knees slipped in the puddle of blood. My chest fell on hers', mine loud with my heartbeat and hers' silent as a stone.

"M-mom," I said. Tears finally flowed down my cheeks, my nose running like crazy. The longer I felt pressed against her, the bloodier I felt. The more I felt dead.

I glared daggers at the demonic bastard. "Why did you do this?" I said. "You got what you wanted. Just leave us be."

The demon meant my eyes. "I am not even close to what I'm going to accomplish. You humans are so near-sighted."

"You need me, don't you? How are you gonna accomplish that?"

"Not torture." I silently blew a sigh of relief. "I'm going in a different approach."

I wiped my nose. "I'm listening."

"Everything you could want. All except death, of course. You'll be taken care of and called upon when necessary."

"Why?" I asked.

"You're going to bring my dreams to life. If you succeed, I will love you. More than I love myself. You will grant me my greatest wish."

I looked down at my mother. "You said everything I want. Please, please take my mother and I'll agree to go. Willingly, too. That stuff you gave me to drink was vampire blood. Turn her for me and I'll be your-" I broke off "- your daughter."

He crossed his arms. I forced myself to keep eye contact, overlooking the twisted face of a monster. But if he could save my mother... I'd do it.

"It may not work. She's been dead for some time," he warned.

"There's still a chance."

"I just think you should know the stakes. Because if your mother doesn't turn over, you will still be mine. Forever."

If my mom did turn into a vampire, I would have her for forever. This was my only chance to keep her. I reached out my hand. "Forever," I said.

He outstretched his own and we shook hands. The deal was final. I didn't even know what he wanted from me. It could be one of the most painful experiences I'd ever feel. But my mom would be by my side.

"Let's leave. The blood is back at the manor. And you mother doesn't exactly have all night." I backed off so he could scoop her up in his arms.

"Be careful," I said. I snatched my mom's hand and massaged it. It occurred to me that her skin would be cold like this forever. I'd better get used to it.

The demon started walking but turned back to me. "Don't be too frightened by what you see," he said. I nodded wearily and followed him out of the front door.

The red moon looked down upon us. The demon kept his eyes entirely on it. A beam of red shot down and painted the three of us in crimson. The air began to buzz and the heavy beating again sounded in my ears. Were we moving?

Something caught my eye as the pressure built around us. The world flickered to an ashen color like a black-and-white movie. What was I seeing? Where were we going?

What had this demon called this place while talking with my mother? The Shadow World. Between the bleak color and the darkness inevitably waiting in my future, the name seemed appropriate. And in one great explosion of red, we were gone.