Chapter 1

"Are you ready?"

Isaac was looking at his reflection when Alex came in. The brothers had grown up together, side by side. Isaac owes Alex so much that he'll never be able to return the favour. Alex had accompanied Isaac in every mission as support and protection. He had been on every training to make sure that Isaac improved his abilities. He even took the blame for something Isaac did, twice. But this time would be different because this time Isaac was his own. Isaac had gotten a mission where Alex couldn't help him. Even if he used to wish for this opportunity he couldn't help but think of the consequences if he failed.

"It shouldn't be that hard, right?" Isaac answered, mostly trying to convince himself. "I mean exploring the world above shouldn't be that hard."

"Are you nervous?" Alex laughed. "Really? Of some harmless humans. I can promise you that those pathetic little shrimps would collapse in fear if they've known who you are."

"We've learned not to underestimate them, brother," Isaac said sharp. "All the damage they've done..."

"Will be their own death," Alex rolled his eyes. "Nature always gets its revenge. They will destroy themselves. The more they evolve, the more stupid they get."

"Wow, that's dramatic. I didn't know you were such a drama queen," Isaac chuckled.

"I'm not a drama queen. I'm just telling the truth," Alex defended.

"That's what a drama queen would have said," Isaac turned around to finally face his brother, while Alex sighed and shook his head. Somehow Alex always knew how to lighten up Isaac's mood, even if it was with his bitter attitude. Alex was about to say something more when a demon guard came in. The brothers turned their attention to the guard.

"It's time," The guard said with a deep depressing voice. They followed him through the great hallways, with magic fire lighting up every corner of the room and glass decorations that filled the rooms with colours. They arrived in the throne room where their father sat and waited. They both bowed down to show respect to the king of hell, who also happened to be their father.

"My sons," The King's voice echoed through the walls. "It pleases me to see both of you so grown up and strong. I've taught you well, my sons."

Isaac clenched his fist as his father talked. It angered him how his father dared to sit there and talk about how good he raised them when it was Alex who taught Isaac everything he knows? A part of him wanted to defend his brother, but Isaac knew that Alex wouldn't appreciate it. He always says that he's used to it which always made Isaac feel worse.

"My youngest son Isaac Daemonium shall travel to the world above and study them for a year," The King continued. "My demons have prepared everything you need and you'll attend the school immediately. May your research become instructive and give us new information about humanity's evolution so that we can rule hell in the best way possible."

Isaac saw how his father opened a portal with a snap. Isaac's eyes met Alex's. He gave him an approving nod as Isaac started to wonder if this was a good idea. Isaac looked back at the golden portal that showed him a picture of an unknown location.

"Good luck brother," Alex said. "May hell still hunt you."

Isaac looked around one last time, at the depressed, dark and lonely world he grew up in, at his selfish but strong and mighty father and lastly at Alex, the one who has always been there for him and taught him everything he knew. So basically if Isaac dies he can always blame Alex for his lack of teaching skills. After one last nod towards Alex, he was finally ready to go through the portal. The home Isaac found boring would be a piece of art for someone else's eyes, but today, it was Isaac's turn to find something new.

*****

"Ivy!" Jason called. "Your ride is almost here and I don't think you want to be late on your first day at school and I don't think Luke would appreciate it either."

Ivy took one last look in the mirror. Her dark wavy hair was as it always was, hanging down loosely. She took her bag as she ran down the stairs. Jason was waiting for her downstairs as he always did before she went to school. To be honest, she was too old for that, but she knew how much it meant for Jason.

"Finally! Oh wait, I forgot your lunch in the fridge. Just wait a minute," Jason walked away as Ivy looked at the family photos. Catrine had a bright smile on every photo. She was the closest thing to a mother Ivy ever had. When Ivy was younger she found out that her real family was murdered the same day as Jason had found Ivy on their doorstep. Even if her past was tragic, she couldn't be happier over the family she had.

"She would have been so proud of you," Jason said as he came in and saw Ivy looking at the pictures. "I wish she was able to see what you've become. A strong and independent girl with a unique role in this world."

"I miss her so," Ivy said as she stared at the photos. Everything was just a long-gone memory now. The day they lost her was one of the worst days of her life. "I wish she was here with us."

"Don't worry, she is," Jason said as he pulled Ivy into a comforting hug. The hug didn't last long because the sound of a car was heard from the outside.

"Seems like Luke is here," Jason said as he slowly let her go. "Don't keep him waiting and remember...."

"Hide your secrets to be strong," Ivy finished. "I know and I promise."

Jason gave her an approving look as she walked out. There he was, the only reason she succeeded to stay in one school for more than one year. Luke Wintermoon, Ivy's absolutely best friend and the only one that understands her. It kills Ivy every day to know that she has to lie to him about her powers, but she doesn't have any other choice. He sat there playing his classical music in his black truck as Ivy jumped in.

"Ready for another day in hell?" Luke joked as he started to drive towards school.

"That's offensive to hell," Ivy replied. "Do you think there is any way that Jack Armstrong has gotten any common sense in that little brain of his?"

Luke didn't reply immediately. He pretended to think, really hard and long while he was parked the car in the school's parking lot. There were familiar faces, and there were new ones. Ivy saw people screaming and hugging each other of joy and others that talked as if it was an ordinary day, nothing had changed.

"Nah," He replied after a while.

"You're probably right," Ivy agreed while pretending to make a conclusion of Jack Armstrong. "The chance of that to happen is as big as the chance that you start listening to rock music."

"Be careful Ivy," Luke joked. "Who knows? What if I love rock music now?"

"Well, the chance of Jack changing is still incredibly small," Ivy laughed. "But sure, if I find you listening and singing to a rock song I promise to worship Mr Armstrong."

"It wouldn't be worth it, and I would give a lot to see you say anything to him, except for insults and small comments," Luke said as they jumped out of the truck.

They talked as they walked to their lockers. People were talking around them, people were whispering and gossiping about everything that had happened during the summer. Ivy didn't care, her focus was to survive the day without a problem. It was a mission that failed almost immediately when two boys showed up in her sight. One with Espresso brown hair and ice-blue eyes and the other caramel hair and cognac coloured eyes, the description of Jack Armstrong and his friend Aiden Nike.

"Well, well, well, I thought that you were going to switch school like all the other years," Jack said. "I was actually hoping that I wouldn't have to see your face again after the summer."

A part of Ivy wanted to slap him, which is a natural reaction, but she would never get the courage to do that and it would be a dumb move. Both Jack and Aiden are stronger than her and Luke, so she decided to let it be. It was something about him that irritated Ivy, something more than just the irresistible personality. Probably the fact that he always knows so much about her and her past, and that he's using it against her.

"What happened to you?" Jack smirked. "Lost your ability to speak during the summer or just too scared to get in trouble?"

"Just leave her alone," Luke hissed before Ivy could come up with an answer.

"Really? You need your boyfriend to protect you?" Jack laughed. "A real power couple aren't you?"

"Whether we're friends or not is none of your business," Luke replied.

"But of course," Ivy finally joined the conversation she should have ended a long time ago. "You wouldn't even know what love is even if it was right in front of you."

"So she can speak. You usually stay silent and let people do the work for you," Jack said as he turned his attention to Ivy again.

"It's called being a good friend," Luke said.

"You should try being that sometimes," Ivy added, trying not to show how she was panicking on the inside.

"You think you're so funny," Jack was pissed off now. "I have to admit that your small meaningless answers are quite amusing."

Luke was about to hit Jack in the face, but Ivy stopped him. He wasn't worth it. It doesn't matter how much he insulted her, she won't get in trouble the first day of school. Once again Jack smirked victoriously. People around them were whispering and listening to their conversation in secret. Her eyes meet Aiden's for a small second, he does what he always does, stands behind and watches Jack do what he does best.

"That's not how you treat a lady," A new voice said.

Everyone turned their attention to the new person. It was a new student, naturally blonde hair and dashing grey eyes, quite breathtaking if Ivy had to admit. He walked towards them and took Ivy's and Luke's side. Ivy was confused, she had never seen him before, probably a new student. He looked around her age, maybe even the same class. Whoever he was he showed no fear, only confidence as he looked at Jack and Aiden.

"I happened to hear how wrong you treated this young and strong female, and I have to say that I've never liked people like you, who think that they're better than everyone else," The new boy continued. "I mean why waste time on disturbing others when you can fix that attitude instead?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jack was taken back by this sudden interruption. It was clear that Jack didn't find this as amusing as the new guy did.

"So impolite of me. I'm Isaac, Isaac Daemonium, to your favour." He introduced himself and made a small bow while he smirked.

"And why do you think that you can interrupt this conversation? Haven't anyone told you to mind your own business?." Jack asked. "Don't get in my way again, it won't end well."

"Well, you wouldn't want to risk that little pretty face of yours would you?" Isaac said with such confidence that made Ivy envy him. It almost seemed like he enjoyed it like this was some kind of game for him. He talked as if he knew exactly how everything would go and had every move planned.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," Jack threatened as he clenched his fists. "Trust me, you don't want to become my enemy."

"No, you trust me when I say that you should back off. I know your deepest fear and I will use it against you if you don't stop bothering people that don't want your attention," Isaac said with a threatening voice. "The choice is yours."

Jack took a step forward ready to attack him, but Aiden prevented it from happening. Ivy could feel the energy in the air, but something was wrong. As if there was more history behind the words.

Ivy looked back at the two boys, they were almost the same height and were still staring each other dead in the eye.

"Let's go, Jack," Aiden said as he stared at the trio in front of him. He still had his hand on Jack's shoulder to prevent him from starting a fight. "This isn't worth it."

Jack shook off Aiden's hand as he continued staring at Isaac. Ivy feared that he planned to attack Isaac anyway and someone would get hurt, but he got some common sense in his head and decided to walk away. They knew that no one would tell any teachers about it, especially not the duo that just walked away, it would be hard for them to explain what went wrong.

Ivy was mostly shocked after the event, what had just happened? Suddenly this new boy comes up and defends her? Since when did things like that happen? Not to mention that he's ridiculously handsome for someone their age. What impressed her most was probably her courage, and she wasn't the only one.

"Damn," Luke said, clearly surprised. "Wherever you got that confidence, sign me up. What you did there was amazing! I mean you just came in here and roasted him like he was some toast."

Isaac laughed at Luke's way to express himself and honestly, it was the cutest thing Ivy had ever heard. Just looking at the boy made her feel drawn to him as if there was something unique to him.

"Well, I'm just glad to help," Isaac replied. "What's up with him anyway? Why is he treating you so poorly? Did you do anything to him?"

"We've been enemies since our childhood," Luke explained. "It's always competition when he's around and he hates when I prove to him that I'm better."

"And what about you?" Isaac turned his attention to Ivy which caught her off guard because she was deep in her thoughts.

"Oh, I?" Ivy said as soon as she understood that he was talking to her. "I guess it's because I'm who I am? Or because I'm hanging out with Luke? Or for attention, I'm actually not sure."

Ivy had never thought of it before. Why did Jack hate her? She knew that when she first got here, it took him less than two weeks before he picked her as a target, about the same time it took for Ivy and Luke to become friends. She couldn't think of any logical reason why he hated her.

"Hey you don't need to think about it," Isaac said after a while. "He could just be an asshole too. There are a lot of possible reasons why he picked you, who knows that little fellow might have a crush on you."

Now Ivy snapped out of her bubble. Luke was laughing by her side, not exactly helpful. Ivy glared at him to signalise that she didn't find this amusing, not that he cared.

"Excuse me?" Ivy said as she tried to make this whole conversation less weird. "That just sounds like a plot of a bad fan-fiction, and it's disgusting. Eww, I need that thought out of my head. "

Now it was Isaac's turn to laugh and once again Ivy felt that feeling of joy. She didn't know why and wasn't sure if she wanted to stop it from happening, all she knew was that she owed him after what he did today. Before anything else could happen the bell rang, and people started heading towards their classrooms.

"Time to go," Luke sighed. "Isaac, what do you have?"

"Math," Isaac said as he looked at his schedule.

"Same here," Luke said. "You can come with us. It's the least we can do after you saved our asses."

"Are you sure? Because I don't want to be disturbing or anything" Isaac said. "It's okay if you want to go on your own."

"Stop talking," Ivy said. "If you continue being an angel you'll give everyone else a bad reputation. Besides, you might need some backup after your little argument with Mr Armstrong over there. He's not that kind of person who lets people live in peace if they disturb him."

"Because you two were so good at protecting me back there," Isaac said sarcastically. "Thanks, I feel so much safer right now."

"What the heck man?!" Luke burst out. "Are you calling us weak? Huh?! Are you saying that we're not strong enough? Dude, I watched my favourite superhero character die in a movie and here I am, still standing up on my feet. Do you know how much power it takes to keep your emotions in control?"

Isaac stared at him for a moment while trying to decide if he was serious or if it was a joke. He stood there slightly confused until Ivy and Luke burst out in laughter.

"Come on man, don't be so serious. Just follow us to class without any objections or we'll have to drag you there and that's not a good first impression," Luke said and Isaac finally gave in. Together they walked towards the classroom.

*****

When Ivy came home after school the scent of smoke covered her lungs the second that she stepped into the house. A horrible picture of a burning building and burned marked bodies came up in her mind which made her quickly drop her things and run towards the smoke. It led her towards the kitchen door. The room was covered in such thick fog that she was barely able to see anything.

"Jason?" She shouted as she tried to get rid of the smoke by opening windows around the house. "Jason are you here?"

"I'm here!" Jason shouted back, as he came from the kitchen covered in ashes with dirt on his face.

"What happened here?" Ivy asked as she walked into the kitchen. The smoke came from the stove. There were burnt cookies and cookie dough everywhere. Ivy looked around and saw that the whole kitchen was a mess with flour on the floor and butter on the walls. "Is there even a logical explanation?"

"Well," Jason said as he rubbed his neck and looked at the mess in the kitchen. "I found Catrine's secret cookie recipe and I wanted to surprise you when you came home, but the instructions said that it should be baked without magic and apparently I'm not good at baking without magic."

At first, Ivy just stared at him completely shocked, but then she started to laugh, quite a lot. After a while, Jason joined in, at that moment Ivy felt so lucky for having the chance to live with Jason. Even if life was full of surprises, Jason helped her get through. Cleaning up would take a lot of time since there was dough everywhere but it wasn't something a little magic couldn't fix.

"I'll go open more windows and try to get the smoke out of the house. Perhaps you should fix the kitchen so that I can bake some real cookies," Ivy laughed and Jason nodded gratefully, smiling at her.

On his way out she stopped him.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

*****

Isaac was back in the place that was supposed to be his new home. His father had overdone things. The house was big enough for at least eight people. It was huge and had everything, from a pool with a trampoline to a king size bed. All the things made Isaac feel more lonely than ever. He would never say it out loud, but he missed his brother's company. Isaac decided to take a break and clear his head. He thought about Ivy, the girl he met before. He felt an unknown connection between them. He somehow knew that they both would have great importance in each other's lives, or it was just him being paranoid by new people. During his thinking, he decided to take something to eat when the doorbell rang. The sound of the doorbell surprised him and his first instincts were to grab a knife. After a moment, he slowly walked up to the door and looked through the small window before he opened the door.

"Yes?" Isaac said as he looked at the two boys in front of him.

"We need to talk," Jack said as he walked in, without permission. Aiden just rolled his eyes and sighed before he followed Jack and his stupidity. Isaac looked at those two and let out a frustrated sigh.

"And what is so important that you had to track me down and stomp into my house?" Isaac asked, clearly irritated by their behaviour.

"You're not human," Jack said and looked Isaac straight in the eyes. "You're a prince of hell, a demon. So what are you doing here, in this world?"

"Am I not allowed to visit the earth?" Isaac asked innocently and rolled his eyes. "I haven't heard of a rule that forbids me to be in the living's world."

"So you decided to visit the living world and then protect that ordinary girl, who happens to be special to the Prostátis?" Jack looked around the house. "Coincidence? I don't think so."

"It's obvious that you don't know in which way she's special," Isaac pointed out with a smirk. "I guess that you and your family aren't in the inner circle like the Wintermoons. Just so you know, envy doesn't suit you, Jack."

"I don't envy Luke," Jack corrected defensive. "And I bet that you don't know what's special with her either."

"Perhaps," Isaac admitted with the same level of confidence as before. "But I know more than you and I'm pretty sure that your description of her earlier was quite wrong"

Jack wanted to punch Isaac to teach him a lesson, but he knew that Aiden would stop him before he even got to begin. Irritating in one way, but Aiden seems to be good at keeping Jack out of trouble. Jack studied Isaac for a while, trying to decide whether he was becoming a problem or not.

"Thanks for your time," Aiden said while Jack stared at him with disgust. "We won't disturb you anymore, but remember that the Prostátis are watching you."

"I'm fully aware of that, thank you very much," He replied with a sarcastic. He watched Jack and Aiden walk out before he closed the door in frustration. This year might be harder than expected.