Clara lives a depressing life full of bullying and when she dies, she vows revenge on those who caused her death. A demon answers her call and offers her revenge. Clara accepts and is reborn into the body of an heiress. Together she and the demon set about getting revenge. Over time secrets are unveiled and feelings are revealed and Clara's second life becomes less about revenge and more about love.
View MoreThe weather on the day she died was perfect. The sun was shining brightly against the blue sky which was unexpected as the weather had been cold and grey all week. The strangely good weather should have told her that something bad was going to happen.
The warm weather meant that Clara sat on the outdoor benches to eat her lunch instead of inside the school cafeteria. It was considerably more fun to sit outside by herself than in the busy cafeteria with all the noise and disdainful stares.
She stuck out like a sore thumb at Trinity Academy in her second-hand school uniform. The only good thing right now was that she didn’t have long left to go before she graduated.
Clara’s high intelligence unfortunately meant that instead of attending a standard high school where there would be more people in a similar situation as her, she had earned a scholarship to attend a posh private school where all the students came from rich and well-connected families.
As a scholarship student with foster parents, she had become a target for bullying almost immediately. It had started out simply with name calling, then it had progressed to trashing her locker and now she had cigarette burns on her arms and her physical education uniform kept going missing and ending up in the trash.
“Only six months left,” she said out loud to herself.
Her attention turned to the nearby school sports field. Trinity Academy had a very good sports curriculum and their teams were doing well this year in the championships. There was a soccer game playing out on the nearest school field and her heart jumped when she recognised one of the players.
It was Xavier King, the most popular boy at the school. He was the crush of most girls and sadly she could include herself in that group.
He was perfect in every way from his brown wavy hair to his tall height to his deep voice. Xavier was in a few of her classes and had sat next to her in Physics for an entire semester. She had been too shy to speak to him outside of relaying practical instructions and answers to questions.
Xavier had never bullied her so she still had a crush on him. Other crushes on boys had fizzled out fast once they had become bullies or supported others in being mean to her. Clara wasn’t naive enough to assume that Xavier was completely innocent and unknowing either.
Everyone at Trinity Academy knew she was being bullied and it was apparently socially acceptable to join in because she was the poor scholarship student with no connections. By never doing anything to help, all students were culpable.
Attempting to leave after her first month hadn’t worked. Her foster parents were determined for her to be the star child who graduated from an exclusive school despite being adopted. She was a poster child for foster children and she was stuck in her situation.
Clara shook her head to banish those dark thoughts and reached for her sketchbook. Art class was her favourite class and she wanted to improve her sketches. Her current project was themed around sketching nature scenes and adding in fantasy details.
She looked around for inspiration and the sight of Xavier’s flushed face on the sports field caused her to decide to take a break from her art project and do something more personal.
She skillfully sketched the outline of his face and began to add in details like his high cheekbones and square jawline. When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, she had the whole picture shaded and used the eraser on the end of her pencil to add shine to the eyes.
Clara hurriedly packed her sketchbook back into her school bag and the plastic wrappings from her lunch into the nearest trash can. Her next lesson was History and it was a long walk. She had learnt that it was easier to be on time and enter the classroom with everyone else rather than draw attention to herself by being the last person to arrive
The lesson started and nothing of note occurred. It was a quiet time of year as the exams were several months away and lessons had a slower pace. Clara appreciated the calmness, but part of her preferred the frantic exam period. The bullying was less frequent in those months as most students had more important things to focus on and only a few could be bothered to trip her up or break into her locker.
Math followed in much the same way. She got there on time and the classwork was extremely simple. Clara liked Math as everything had a correct answer and nothing was abstract
Then the school bell rang and it was the end of the school day. Clara packed up her bag and pulled her coat on. She had a walk to the bus stop, a long bus ride home and not much to look forward to.
She walked through the archway outside the school and someone call her name.
“Clara!”
It was a very familiar voice.
She turned around to see four girls in Trinity Academy uniform standing outside the entrance. Beckah, Joey, Victoria and Heather were constant figures in her school life. They were her original school bullies and were the worst out of all the people who had bullied her over the past three years.
“Hey, come here before we make a scene in front of everyone!” Beckah called.
Clara turned around and reluctantly walked back through the archway. She couldn’t deny the four of them, she was outnumbered and outranked.
“What do you want?” she asked once they had come to a stop.
Beckah held out her hand and Clara frowned. They never normally wanted something from her.
“Watch your manners. Is this how all unwanted children speak?” Beckah laughed. “I want your sketchbook. We have the same art project for homework and I can’t be bothered with it. You’ve got more free time than me. You can just draw more sketches.”
Clara froze. If she handed over her sketchbook, they would see her drawing of Xavier. It was obviously a sketch of him. Her life would be even more unbearable if they saw it. She needed to keep the sketchbook out of their hands.
She steeled herself to lie.
“It’s a new sketchbook and I haven’t done any sketches for that project yet. I’ll do some later and give them to you tomorrow.”
Her voice was steady and her eyes remained locked with Beckah’s steely gaze.
Beckah’s hand dropped and she twirled a strand of her instead.
“Oh. That sounds okay. You’d better cough up some sketches tomorrow or else.”
She drew a line across her throat and the message was clear. Clara knew what she was going to spend her evening doing now. At least the drawing of Xavier was still secret.
“Wait, I looked out the window at lunch and she was drawing something then,” Heather interjected. “She’s lying to you.”
Her drawing of Xavier had been the second worst decision she had ever made. The only thing worse was her decision to take the entrance exam for Trinity Academy.
Beckah’s eyes narrowed and Clara knew she was screwed. Beckah’s hand grabbed her backpack and wrenched it off her. Her sketchbook was immediately pulled out and opened. Clara waited in agony for the drawing to be discovered.
She knew it had been seen when Beckah’s gaze changed and went back to her.
“Well, it’s certainly not a landscape,” she commented in surprise.
The other girls leaned over to have a look and a smirk appeared on Heather’s face.
“Do you like him? I can’t say I blame you. He’s hot.”
“Everyone here likes him, looks like the poor scholarship girl is no different,” Joey added. “What should we do with it?”
The four girls exchanged glances and Clara felt dread in her stomach.
“Let’s give her some help…” Heather said. “I know where to find him at this time. It’s a good drawing…”
Clara wanted to cry in frustration. She couldn’t cope with the idea of her drawing being seen by Xavier. He would probably look at her in disgust. Her next six months would be filled with teasing about her crush on Xavier.
Beckah nodded.
“That’s perfect. She’s our friend after all. Friends help each other out. Come on Clara.”
She wanted to run away, but she knew it wouldn’t do anything. There were four of them after all and they had resorted to violence before. Clara knew all she could do was grit her teeth, bear the embarrassment and go home.
The walk to the sports centre was disappointingly short and all too soon Beckah was knocking on the door of the boys changing room. Clara stayed at the back of the group and kept her eyes on the floor. The door to the changing room opened and a male student stuck his head out and a blush formed on his face when he saw who was waiting outside.
“Did you four come to see me?” he asked hopefully.
Heather rolled her eyes.
“Fucking hell, no. We wanted to speak to Xavier. We have something to give him.”
The boy pulled a face and withdrew into the changing room. A moment later Xavier appeared in his soccer uniform. Clara wished a hole in the floor would open up and swallow her so she could escape the mortification that was certain to come.
“How can I help you ladies?” he enquired curiously.
Then their eyes met and a frown appeared on his face.
“Are you four up to something?”
Beckah giggled and hit his arm playfully.
“Don’t be silly. We wanted to give you something. Come with us to the picnic tables outside. There are too many people around here. We don’t want to embarrass poor Clara after all.”
Xavier raised his eyebrows and stared at her curiously again before leading the way out the sports centre to an area of picnic benches outside.
“Out with it then,” he said.
Beckah produced her sketchbook and Heather gripped her shoulders in a vice like grip.
“Clara drew this for you,” Beckah informed him with a smile. “It’s very sweet of her to draw you.”
Xavier took the sketchbook and opened up. He looked surprised at the sketch and he smiled. Clara felt her face grow hot and Heather’s grip on her tightened even more.
“I’m surprised to see it. It’s really well done,” Xavier said to her slowly. “Should I be flattered?”
Beckah’s smile became a snarl and Clara got the feeling that she wasn’t happy with Xavier’s reaction. That wasn’t good.
“It’s creepy actually,” Beckah said loudly. “I was going to post about it on social media. She didn’t ask to draw you and I wonder if it’s even her first time. You should be worried, not flattered.”
“You should get a restraining order against her,” Heather added. “She’s unnaturally infatuated.”
“I completely agree,” Victoria interjected. “It’s not right.”
“We need to post a warning on social media so everyone can help you out,” Joey suggested.
Clara dared herself to look at Xavier to see his reaction to their lies. He wasn’t smiling anymore and his brow was furrowed. He met her eyes again and this time he looked suspicious.
“I don’t really know what the best thing to do is. Please don’t draw me ever again,” he told her. “I don’t like it and it’s going to make more trouble for both of us.”
He handed the drawing back to Beckah and Joey promptly took a photo of it on her phone. Clara could see that she already had a social media post drafted. Her life had just got worse. Everyone at school would see that post and there would be a fresh round of bullying.
“Fine, I won’t draw you ever again. Can I leave now?” she requested.
Heather’s grip stilled and Clara tried to pull away. The tight grip returned.
“Apologise first,” she demanded. “You made everything awkward for him. Xavier is being very nice about this.”
If doing that meant she could go home, she would have to do it.
“Sorry for drawing you and making you uncomfortable,” she said in a shaking voice.
Xavier nodded and turned away with a disappointed look on his face. Clara’s heart broke and she struggled to keep the tears in. Her illusion had been completely broken with that look.
He walked away down the path leading back to the sports centre. Clara also turned to leave so she could finally leave the school grounds. She would gladly never return after this.
“I’m going now,” she muttered.
Beckah shoved her sketchbook into Clara's unwilling hands.
“You can take this back and you’d better turn up with some sketches for me tomorrow.”
Clara trembled at the thought of having to use that sketchbook so soon again. It wouldn’t even be for her own grades; it would be for Beckah’s benefit.
“See you tomorrow!” Heather called out cheerfully. “If you don’t come, it will be even worse. Everyone will think you’re hiding out. Come in with your head held high. You’re good at that.”
Clara winced. She had been so proud of herself in the first year for managing to always walk through the school gates with pride despite all the bullying from the previous day. Now she didn’t even bother.
“Sure,” she said and trudged away.
Once she was down the road and away from the school, the first tear started to fall. Her life for the next six months was going to be guaranteed hell. Dropping out was not a choice, she was too far into Trinity Academy’s curriculum to go to another school.
She was doomed now and she felt like she would do anything to escape her cursed life.
“I’m getting married!” Clara announced happily. She smiled over her coffee and Arthur watched her with a bemused look on his face. "When is the wedding?" he asked. “Next month,” Clara told him. “I was planning to invite you. We’ve only just decided on the date so there’s no invitations to give out yet.” “Do you not have wedding planner then?” the hacker questioned. “Invitations are normally sent out much sooner.” “I don’t want a big wedding,” Clara replied. “James was fine with it and just asked that I invite him.” She was a little surprised that her grandfather had agreed with her desire to have a very small wedding. They both enjoyed high positions in society and people like them normally had grand weddings with a long guest list and a high budget. “I shall consider an invite as a great honour then,” Arthur quipped. “How many guests are invited?” “I’m inviting 12 people,” Clara said. “Caiden has invited a couple of friends. He doesn’t have any relations to invite.” “Of cour
Their first month of dating passed by quickly. They soon fell into a routine of meeting after work and going on dates. Clara was blissfully happy, but she knew they needed to discuss their future together. Caiden was only living temporarily in the UK after all. She chose to ask after they had finished eating Caiden’s latest attempt at a home cooked romantic meal. His cooking skills were unique to say the least. “Are you going to stay here in London when your job here is finished?” she asked. “Where would you like to live?” he questioned. “Here or in a different country? We have lots of options.” Clara thought about the matter seriously. She had grown up in the US and had been unexpectedly pulled into a different country. She did prefer living in the UK, but there were other countries to try as well. “We can move around,” Clara said. “I think we should make this our main country and travel to other places. That is if you want to. This is a decision we should make as a couple.” Ca
Clara kept a careful watch on the office building opposite so she wouldn’t miss seeing Caiden leave when his work day had finished. She had already missed seeing him before, she wasn’t going to do it again. Fortunately, he was one of the first people out of the building and Clara immediately began to pack up everything she had brought with her. Caiden entered the coffeeshop and beamed when he saw her waiting by the door. “Excellent. You’re ready to leave on our date,” he said and held his hand out to her. “Can we take a diversion first?” she requested. It was only fair to let Arthur know that she had found Caiden, but she had decided a text wouldn’t suffice and it was better to let them meet in person. “Will it take long?” “I want to introduce you to someone,” she explained. “Arthur has been helping me look for you and I think he would like to see the success of our search.” Caiden looked thoughtful and then he nodded. “I would like to meet him. He has provided assista
When Clara finally looked up from her phone and glanced back at the door, the person she had been waiting for had already left. She had missed a lot in the two minutes her attention had been diverted.A member of staff approached her table with a cup of coffee in her hand. Clara looked around in confusion. “I didn’t order anything,” she said. Clara was aware that she was the strangest customer in the coffeeshop and the staff were probably wondering when she was going to leave. She had been the first customer of the day and had only ordered two drinks in the past three hours. “One of our regulars came in a couple of minutes ago to pick up his online order. He saw you looking tired and bought an expresso for you,” the staff member explained with a smile. “He’s a nice person.” Clara blinked in surprise. She had never noticed any of the customers paying attention to her. The incident must have occurred when she had been occupied with her phone. She checked the name tag on the girl’s
The weeks quickly turned into months and soon an entire year had passed. Clara had taken a position at St. Clair that had enabled her to travel around the world just so she would have better chance of finding Caiden. She returned to the family mansion on the anniversary of her return from the demon realm after an unsuccessful trip to New York. Her actual work had gone well, she just hadn’t found any signs of Caiden in the city. There hadn’t been any traces of Caiden in any of the 10 countries she had travelled to over the past year. He didn’t have any presence on the internet either and Clara didn’t have any idea of how she could improve her search methods. Clara collapsed onto her bed and closed her eyes. She was physically and emotionally exhausted from her search. Despite everything, she wasn’t going to give up. She would sleep for a while and then she would look at other highly populated places to visit. “Clara Kennedy.” Clara’s eyes opened immediately at the sound of
Clara landed on the floor of her bedroom alone and fully aware of the gravity of the situation. She didn’t have Caiden at her side anymore. She needed to find him for that to happen. Clara stood up and realised that her legs were shaking. She had been feeling intimidated by the demon king and had refused to let him know. Now her nerves and lack of sleep had got to her. She took a deep breath to calm down. She had vowed that she would be able to find Caiden and she needed to start working on that.One person came to mind immediately. Arthur would be able to help her. She took her phone out of her pocket and called him. “...Hello?” Arthur asked cautiously when he picked up the call. Clara realised he had assumed that the phone call was someone else using her phone to inform him of her death. “It’s me, Clara,” she told him immediately. “Things have changed. Can we meet up? I have a lot to tell you.” “Of course,” he said. “I think we'll need to go somewhere that allows for private c
Caiden was lost for words as he watched the events that he had foreseen so many times play out in front of him. It was no longer a vision of the future; it was happening in reality. It was finally the end of Clara’s life. Her soul floated in front of him as her eyes slowly closed. Caiden made his decision in that moment. He grabbed hold of Clara’s soul with his hands and pushed it back into her. Despite being very light, her soul wouldn’t move until he exerted all of his power. Clara’s eyes snapped open when her soul returned to her. “...What’s going on?” she asked breathlessly. “I can’t take your soul,” Caiden admitted. “I want you to keep it.” He had no real idea what was going to happen now. The contract had not been fulfilled properly. He had completed his part of the contract and he had stopped Clara from fulfilling her part. There was no precedent to follow here. He was the first demon to refuse a soul. “What’s going to happen to both of us?” Clara questioned weakl
Clara knew that her grandfather was confused to hear her sentimental words. They rarely talked about their personal feelings. “I haven’t been the best grandfather,” James replied with a deep frown. “I brought Beryl here to be your mother figure as I had felt that it would prevent you from becoming like my daughter. It turned out to be the worst decision I have ever made.” Clara could not deny that James’ decision to date Beryl and bring her into the family had been lethal for Clarissa. She decided to focus on something else. “Thank you for rescuing me when I was a baby,” she said. “I’m sure Clara would also thank you for looking for her.” “You don’t need to thank me for that,” James replied. “I would also like to thank you for taking me in instead of leaving me to the care system,” Clara continued. She didn’t know much about the British care system, but it was likely similar to the American one she had lived through. She had been lucky to be adopted by a decent set of foster pa
“It was a good ride,” Arthur said with a wink. “You kept me guessing for so many years. I’m so pleased to finally know what was going on the entire time.” Clara relaxed. The hardest part was over now. “Is everything over now?” he asked a moment later. “You’ve brought all of your targets down apart from Xavier King.” “It is,” she confirmed. Arthur nodded and then he looked deep in thought. He coughed awkwardly before speaking again. “Where did Clarissa go if you are in her body?” he questioned. Clara had been expecting this question. Arthur was the only person who had a connection to Clarissa and knew that she was using her body. It would have been odd if he didn’t ask where Clarissa had gone. “...She died when she committed suicide four years ago,” she explained. “Her body was alive for a short time and I was put into it. I’m sorry to tell that she died all that time ago.” Arthur frowned and looked away. “I see... That’s sad,” he said. “It’s odd to hear that Clariss
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