Chapter 3

Sixteen years ago.

The year was 1907, December 6th. The wind howled silently as feathery snowflakes fell peacefully on everything they could.  An attractive lady dressed in black leather pants and a jacket holding a baby in a golden carrier had just stepped into a road full of approaching speeding cars. A massive screeching sound ensued as several cars spawned their brakes to avoid colliding.

Such reckless endangerment deserved multiple yelling, but no one voiced even a whisper at her. Something was charming about her; something simply irresistible made them chill out. She smiled knowingly. She thought of the last time she consumed a human through sex and huffed. It felt like a million years ago. Finding love had made her stop consuming humans. She crossed over to the other side, and the cars resumed their motion.

Anyways, what was a demon doing in Felfili? A town meant for humans. They despised the place. Demons of all creatures hated humans, but to protect her son, Baselroth had to give him up. She had to keep him as far away as possible from his family. Angels, and demons, were strictly forbidden to have a relationship, let alone conjugal bliss.

Due to the circumstances surrounding the child's existence, after birthing him, she agreed with his father that they had to give him away. She was tasked with finding one of the pesky inferior beings to leave him with until he grew older and could fend for himself. To ease her stress a bit, she narrowed her search to mothers who had infants of theirs.

At some point, Baselroth gazed at the sky with a forlorn look. Snow pelted down her face, adding beautiful patches of white to her red hair. The baby cooed in the carrier, causing her to turn her gaze to him. She ran her thumb on his forehead, wondering if he could tell what was on her mind. She eyed every passer-by with the move-along-nothing-to-see look. Also, since her demon family could possess humans, she looked out for them, but she didn't see anyone following her. She found a secluded spot under a large oak tree where she took a break to feed him.

Baselroth then searched for hours, turning at various street corners and pausing to observe different homes. After canvassing the entire town till dusk, she finally found somebody who seemed slightly worthy.

Baselroth, employing her demon eyes, saw through the barricade of wall and door, which ordinarily should have offered them privacy. As she spied on the compact family inside, Baselroth paid more attention to the woman standing and holding a baby in her arms. She had just finished feeding the child with a bottle, and she used a napkin to wipe out the liquid milk smeared on the child's mouth after feeding. Her husband was sprawled on the couch, and though he was watching the TV through his wire-rim glasses, he looked sickly.

The woman strapped her baby to a chair. She squeezed the water out of a napkin that had been soaking in a bowl, using it to dab her husband's forehead gently. She felt his temperature with the back of her palm, placing it between his neck and shoulder. The way she switched between caring for her child and husband effortlessly was simply beautiful.

Something felt right about this compact family, and Baselroth didn't know why her demon instincts churned around them, urging her that they were the perfect one. Baselroth called out to Cinzel, the father of her child, telepathically to tell him that she had found somebody, but for the umpteenth time that day, he didn't reply. She felt anger welling up inside her as she wondered what the heck could be happening.

Baselroth set down the golden carrier on the woman's front porch, planting a kiss on his forehead. She spoke a few words in demon tongue over the child, and nothing seemed to happen, but something did happen. The boy was fully awake now, looking at her with such innocent eyes. He tried to reach out to her with his tiny arms and feet. Baselroth ignored the gesture with pain in her heart, and she proceeded to bang on the door.

Inside, the couples looked at each other with perplexity because of the hard knock on their door. The man sat up, wanting to get up, but the woman eased him back on the couch, insisting that she would answer the door. She handed the baby to her husband and approached the door cautiously. However, before she could arrive, Baselroth had hidden beside the corner of a lone car parked beside the house.

"Who's there?" the woman demanded. "Step over to the peephole."

When there was no response, she hesitated for a moment before deciding to unlock the door and check. She looked around and saw no one, but she had clearly heard a knock. So naturally, she became curious and wanted to know what was going on, but as she took a step further, her toe stubbed into something she had earlier missed.

Baselroth hoped the woman would accept her son. She had left a note and a black card which contained enough money to cater to anyone she would end up giving the child.

The woman scooped the child out of the basket, discovering the other two items.

"Hello, little one, did mummy drop you off with a stranger? Don't worry. I can be your new mommy. Did you know you have a sister? You want to meet her, don't you?"

Baselroth watched and listened with glee. She began to back away slowly until she turned around and suddenly, she saw someone walking up to her. It was another demon.

"Princess, I've searched endlessly for you. Your father demands your return to Oxlock instantly."

Baselroth moaned and replied, "And why would father send you? He knows I don't think highly of you."

"Really? I'm the fucking demon of envy! I'm easily your father's favorite demon."

"Exactly, envy is such an ugly trait to possess."

"Seriously? Nope, don't answer that," he said. "Anyways, what are you doing here? I thought you were done consuming humans?"

"Do not forget your place Momodaus," Baselroth warned, exerting some level of dominance.

Momodaus cowered a little bit fearfully. Baselroth suspected he had a hand in why her father wanted her to return to Oxlock, the demon realm.

She wondered what news he must have fed her father to warrant him to send for her. She truly despises Momodaus, but he would never give up trying to win her over.