Of Light And Shadows

“Lisbeth, get up!” Her father’s voice grated on her as she sat up in bed and groaned quietly to herself. Another day, another nightmare.

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was five in the morning. Her classes didn’t start for another four hours but her father had other plans for her. ”Lisbeth!" His voice was sharp as she swung her legs out of bed.

“I’m awake,” she replied.

She hated that name. It didn’t feel like it belonged to her any more than her life in the human world did. When she was twelve she’d been found wandering the streets by Lucifer and his brothers.

She hadn’t been shocked when they’d carried her to another world and told her they were Demons. She hadn’t panicked when they had to teach her to read and write again, or when she had to learn how to speak. She’d spent almost a year away from the human world while she learned how to function again.

“Get out here!” The shrill yell cut through her thoughts like a knife. She sighed and stood, pulling on a jumper and a pair of leggings before entering the living room to find him standing by the sofa with his arms crossed.

“What do you need?” she asked.

“You’re supposed to be awake before me.”

“I’m sorry, father.” She saw his shirt buttons weren’t done. The cuffs of his sleeves were unfastened and his tie was over the sofa arm. She stepped forwards, suppressing a sigh. “I was up late last night.”

“I gathered.” He shot her a disdainful look as she began fastening his buttons for him.

Abe Vandemeer was a politician. He was happy portraying the perfect picture of a suburban family man to the masses when he was out campaigning, desperate to climb the ladder towards a position of power within the government.

Behind closed doors he was cruel, violent and controlling. She hated the twist of his mouth as he stared down at her.

In her mind she wasn’t Lisbeth Vandemeer, daughter and servant. She was Jia. She would always be Jia.

She pushed back her anger, careful to keep it out of her eyes in case she earned herself a slap.

“It won’t happen again, sir.”

“See that it doesn’t.” She moved to the cuffs, smoothing them down over his wrists and clipping the cuff links into place before reaching for the tie. As she tied the knot she thought of her time in the Demonic Realm. She’d thought about it every day for eight years.

She finished fastening the knot and straightened the tie, careful to make sure it was perfect as she smoothed it down. Without needing to be told, she got down to her knees and slipped his dress shoes onto his feet, tying the laces in two perfect bows.

She didn’t rise when she’d fastened them. If she did he’d hit her, so she knew to wait until he let her move.

She ground her teeth silently when he walked away to admire himself in the mirror, leaving her on the floor with her head bowed. He went to fetch himself something to eat from the fridge and she heard the kettle flick on, and still she waited.

Jia studied the mark on her palm, the symbol from the Demonic Realm recognising the pact she’d made with Mammon before she left. She could call him to her at any time if she wanted. She knew he’d tear her father apart if he saw how she was treated. She knew Belphegor would knock every one of his teeth out. And Lucifer? He’d wipe her father from existence.

But she didn’t call Mammon. She knew even if she did that eventually she’d have to return to the human world. She wasn’t a Demon so she couldn’t stay with them in the Demonic Realm. She had no money and she was still finishing her studies. So she stayed where she was and she waited for permission to get to her feet, keeping her eyes on the carpet.

When Abe was finished with his breakfast she heard him walk back into the living room, moving behind her. A moment later his foot was on the back of her neck, pushing her roughly to the ground. She managed to turn her face at the last second to avoid her nose being smashed into the floor, grunting as he applied enough pressure for it to hurt.

“Do you know why I had a child?” he asked, his voice almost a hiss. The sole of his shoe was bruising her neck. She’d have to wear her hair down for days to hide it.

“To serve you.” Her words were choked off by the pressure at her throat.

“Exactly. How do you expect to serve me if you can’t even get out of bed?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“You should be. Tonight you don’t sleep. You need to learn that disobeying me has consequences. Do you understand?” He pressed harder, making it difficult to reply.

“Yes, sir,” she forced out. Tears sprang up in her eyes as they watered against the pain. He stayed there for a moment longer before stepping back. She resisted the urge to cough when the pressure was finally released, staying face down until he said it was okay to move.

“Get up,” he snapped. She could hear the disgust in his voice. She blinked away the moisture in her eyes and stood slowly. “Clean the kitchen. I expect it done before you go to class.”

“Yes, sir.” She moved towards the sink, starting with the washing up as she heard him shrug on his suit jacket. Anger boiled in her veins.

She was Lotura. She should’ve been able to make him think whatever she wanted him to think. Lotura had the ability to influence humans and even others of their kind by changing their thoughts. Some, like her, could even occasionally take control of their targets and command them like puppets.

Abe’s cognitive abilities were far less than hers, and yet when he commanded her to do something she felt powerless. He didn’t need to use his abilities. His words alone were like a cast iron collar around her neck, reminding her of her place.

She bowed and scraped and kept herself meek and quiet and all the time a fire burned in her chest that she wanted to let go. She wanted to release it and let it burn everything around her.

Her hands were trembling as she washed the dishes, anger and shame coursing through her while she waited for him to leave.

Eventually the front door closed and she sagged against the counter, allowing herself a second, just a second, to feel the fear and the weakness that her father inspired. She sucked in a few deep breaths, closing her eyes against the tears that threatened to come.

And then she switched it off. The wall came down and she forced the fear back, focussing instead on the dishes in her hands and the water in the sink. She continued like that, working mechanically until the kitchen was clean and the dishes sparkled.

She walked to the bathroom like a zombie, showered and dressed herself for her classes, never looking at her body in the mirrors she passed. She brushed her long blonde hair, teasing it over her shoulders to hide the already darkening blue bruise at the nape of her neck. She found a fabric scarf and wrapped that around her throat as well, hiding every inch of the mark.

Her cheek had begun to bruise where it had struck the floor so she dabbed makeup on her face until it was hidden. The small compact mirror made it difficult to apply an even layer of foundation, but it was better than having to look at herself. She grabbed her books and went to leave, pausing outside her mother’s bedroom door.

“I’m going to school, Mum. Do you need anything?” She never got an answer, not in the eight years since she’d been returned to them.

When she was first brought back to the human world and the police tracked down her parents she’d been welcomed home with open arms. Her mother had looked sickly and pale but her parents had beamed like the happiest people in the world to finally have their daughter returned to them.

The police investigation had gone nowhere. Jia had stuck to the story that she didn’t remember anything from that year to keep the Demonic Realm a secret. They’d continued to try and figure it out and she’d had many visits over several more weeks to check on her well-being as she adjusted to life at home.

As soon as the visits stopped and the investigation was abandoned her parents had shown their true colours. Her mother, Lauviah, had disappeared into her room and not come out and Abe had become a tyrant.

Jia sighed and walked away when nothing but silence echoed back through the wood. She worried about her mother. She was convinced that Abe was hurting her. She’d tried to get into the room before but the door was locked and sealed with a sigil. She’d never been able to break it so she settled instead for speaking to her mother every day before she left, hoping that the sound of her voice might help. She’d given up the hope that Lauviah would come to her rescue many years ago.

She touched the symbol on her palm again as she locked the door and walked away from the house. She’d thought about calling to Mammon a thousand times over the years and always thought better of it.

Lucifer and his brothers were the Ruling Caste in the Demonic Realm and that role left them busy. She knew they were running Apollyon Academy in an attempt to bring together the higher echelons of their realm, hoping it would help to reduce the animosity they all felt towards one another. They had a lot on their shoulders and she didn’t want to burden them with her problems, not when she could fix them herself.

The bus took its time to arrive and when it did she took a seat at the back, resting her head against the glass and ignoring the aches from her fresh bruises. She watched the streets speed by, seeing people hurrying back and forth to work and ferrying their children to school. She wished she could be a part of that normal hustle and bustle of life.

When the bus pulled to a stop she rose from her seat and stepped outside, heading to her class without a word to anyone. She kept her head down and her books close to her chest as she traced the familiar steps to the lecture hall where her Accounting class would be held.

She didn’t want to be an accountant. In fact she found it mind-numbingly boring, but it was a qualification that would lead to a well-paid job. If there was one thing she needed to escape the hell of living with her father, it was money.

She found a seat at the back of the room and waited for the benches to fill up around her, opening up a book and reading over the lecture material while she waited for the tutor to arrive and start speaking. The buzz of chatter in the room relaxed her enough that she could forget about the bruises for a while.

She welcomed the boredom as the tutor began his lecture, writing down the things she needed to remember despite the desire to lay her head down on the desk and sleep. She’d been kept up the night before preparing her father’s suit for his press conference that day. He’d insisted it be washed and pressed and when he wasn’t satisfied he made her do it all over again. He was never satisfied.

A/N: Feel free to leave a review or a heart if you’re enjoying the story so far!