CHAPTER 1: Our First Encounter…

It was a quiet winter night. I was lying face down under the bed in my parents' room trying not to make a sound otherwise my hiding spot would be compromised.

Just then the door creaked open and I heard footsteps in the room. As the footsteps got closer to the bed I put my hands over my mouth to make sure I didn't make a single sound, but I think it was futile. The feet disappeared so I assumed my pursuer had left the room, but then someone grabbed hold of my ankles and pulled me out from underneath the bed.

My heart jumped. I didn't know if it would be wise to run away again or just to end it here because I was sick and tired of running.

"I gotcha!" yelled my little brother Toby. "I knew you were under the bed. You always hide there" he said with all the glee in the world. "Lenette!" I heard someone call out my name from the down stairs living room. I rushed down with Toby right behind me trying to make a competition out of the situation, "Last one to kitchen is a rotten egg!" "I'm 17 Toby, I don't care about being the rotten egg" I said as we entered the kitchen together.

"You did when you were 7 years old." My dad said while he chopped someone onions and put them into the pan.

"Dad, when will be mum be back from her business trip?" Toby asked. "I'm sure she'll be back a day after tomorrow son". "That's what you said last week dad" I said like a detective interrogating her prime suspect- I watched a lot of crime drama on TV.

"Lenette Brianna Gray! What's that supposed to mean?" "I'm just saying Dad it's been a while since mum left. Is she okay?" My dad suddenly had this look on his face that meant 'something is up but I can't tell you.'

I decided to just drop the matter and started setting the table for dinner.

"Dad?" Toby said, "What job does mum do again?" My dad answered while serving the pasta into Toby's plate "Your Mum is a Psychiatrist Toby, I've told you this about a million times this week alone."

We had a nice dinner then I helped my Dad clean up the dishes and we put toby to bed a few hours after dinner. "For an 8 year-old, Toby sure is easy to put to bed. You were a hassle." My dad said with a slightly forced grin on his face, "I guess I wasn't too fond of bedtime".

I went back to my room around midnight. The Gray Manor was the biggest house in the tiny secluded neighbourhood of Whitby in the UK. It was said before I was born, my parents used to hunt supernatural beings which haunted the people of the town. Whenever I asked my parents they would just shrug the question off and change the topic like I never even mentioned it.

CREAK!!!!!!

I heard a sound coming from the hallway so I went to go check it out. I went down the east wing stairs which led directly to the indoor garden which my father had been working on for forever. The sound of the leaves rustling on the ground began to sound more like footsteps so I quickly hid myself underneath one of the gardening tables and watched as the intruder quietly snuck past me trying his best not to make a single sound.

I was terrified.

Was this a break in?

Was he going to rob us- he'd probably be set for life if he did- of all we had?

He walked silently into my mother's study as if he knew exactly where he was going. I followed him.

I peeped into the study with the utmost caution to see what he was doing and to get a better look at him.

He looked rather young to be a burglar. He had bushy, curly hair with a taper fade. He had dark skin- and I don't mean dark as in light skin dark, I mean dark as in dark chocolate dark. You know the kind of dark that makes you wish you could get a piece to keep forever.

He was tall about 6 feet, slightly taller than my father. He seemed too cute, too innocent to be a burglar. I didn't realize it but while I was fantasizing about how handsome he looked, his hazel brown eyes locked with mine and we stood there starring at each other for about thirty seconds before either of us decided to utter a word.

"It's not what it looks like." He said to me in what sounded to me like an American accent.

"Honestly, I would love to see how you'll explain this one." I said trying to hide how attracted to him I was.

"My Name is Gregory Callaghan… and I'm from Akron, Ohio." He said that like it was supposed to explain everything.

"Yeah well I'm Lenette. Nice to meet you. Now could you please explain to me why you're in my house before I shout for my father?" He starred at me as if he was checking me out. Then I remembered I was in my pyjamas. "Well, before I start I would just like to say…"

"What's going on here?" I recognized that voice instantly. I turned to see my father pointing his hand gun at the two of us. I stood between my father and his target and said "Father. Relax. This is…" "Gregory. How are you my boy?" My father said with sweet, soft kindness in his voice. "I'm good sir. It's been quite a while sir." Gregory said to my father as if they were old chums meeting for the first time since high school. "Yes it has. The last time I saw you, you were just a toddler. How old are you now?" "18 sir."

'Oh so he's just around my age huh? Interesting. Quite interesting.' I said to myself while I continued switching between fantasizing myself in his arms and trying not to show it

"Well...."Gregory hesitated.

"What is it my boy?" my father asked him anxiously. "Spit it out!" I said in a very unnerving voice. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but … He's back."

My father stopped moving when he heard that phrase.

Who was He and why did his return have so much effect on my father?

"Your Father has returned?" My Father asked like it was the worst thing that could ever happen. The grim look on his face made the whole thing all the more suspicious.

"Yes Mr. Gray, my dad is back." Gregory also sounded like his father's return spelt the end of the world.

"Um… well isn't that a good thing? How long has he been away?" I said just trying to remind them that I was still in the room. However, after I said this, they both looked at me like I was the dumbest person on the planet.

"No, Lenette it's not a good thing neither is it a bad thing. It's the worst thing that could happen to mankind." Gregory said with the utmost seriousness. How bad could his father possibly be?

"Why is your father the Devil or something?" I asked as a rhetorical question.

"Yes. My father is the Devil himself. I didn't properly introduce myself. My name is Gregory Callaghan Luciferoa, the son of Lucifer. How pleasant it is to meet you." Gregory's answer astonished me but my father looked at him like he wasn't supposed to let me know about that part of him.

"Oh and your mother is…" My father cut him short. "She's not supposed to know that yet. Not until her powers manifest themselves." I didn't get what was going on. "First, this boy tells me he the son of the bloody Devil and now you're telling me that there's something about my mum that I shouldn't know? Well, not until certain powers show up?" I was still confused

"Why don't you just tell her?" Gregory kept insisting to my father that he told me. "Fine! Teacup-that was what my father called me whenever he wanted to break bad news to me- there's something you need to know."

I anxiously waited to hear what my father was going to say about my mother. I thought maybe it was that she was dead and the person that has been living with us was a robot. That would have been better than the actual truth.

"Honey, your mother is Gregory's Aunt. By that I mean your mother is a demon." My father just blurted that out like it was a natural thing to say. "You see, your brother and you are what we call a demi-demons. They are living beings that are practically immortal like their demon parents and also have the tendency to possess supernatural powers such as telekinesis, telepathy, flight, and other special powers depending on their parents." My father continued to explain what demi-demons are and how being one is not a bad thing. He also told me that was the reason why I always get a headache at church and that possibly, my little brother and I going to church might be the reason why our powers are still dormant

"Let me just point out that you're lucky to be a demi-demon." Gregory said as if he was trying to console me. "So what you're a demi-demon too?" I asked him.

"No. No, no, no, no, no! I am a full demonic being or just a demon for short. My father is Lucifer and my mother is… um…" Gregory hesitated to continue "Just tell her. I don't want to keep anymore secrets from her." My father assured him that it was okay to open his world up to me. A world my father knew of and became a part of the day he decided to have kids with my mother.

"Well, you see how we have Greek gods? Well, these 'Greek gods' are actually just fallen angels who possessed special gifts given to them by God which they used to gain favor from humans." Gregory continued to open my very oblivious mind to the things around me that were right under my nose. "Let me guess? Your mother is one of those 'gods'?" I asked impatiently. "She isn't just any 'goddess' she is the goddess of love; Aphrodite. It's partly the reason why I'm a pansexual. I just have love for all living things, my ex was a male centaur." Gregory said with a smirk on his face. I could feel my heart clearly fall into a trench of despair seeing as my first crush might never feel the same way about me. Then all of a sudden, my father and Greg burst into laughter. They couldn't contain themselves. Greg told me he was 100% straight and that he has never dated a male centaur. But he did however, tell me that he dated a female centaur a few months ago and that they are still friends. Just then Greg looked at me with dead eyes. His pupils turned white and he starred at me for quite a while. Was he checking me out again? "No, I'm not checking you out, I'm scanning you're demon core to see why your powers haven't emerged yet." Did he just read my mind? Oh God, has he been hearing all the embarrassing thoughts I've been thinking about for the entirety of our conversation?

"Well, that's enough demon talk for one night. I know demons don't sleep but you're welcome to spend the night in our manor." My father was always very hospitable to people. He once let a hunchback spend the weekend here, he was a nice man though. I quite recall his name was James. "I'd be delighted to spend the night. Provided I can sleep in a room of my choice?" Greg asked with a wryly smile on his face. My father hesitated before agreeing to his condition. "Excellent, I want the room right underneath hers." I was flattered, and I'm pretty sure Greg could tell without reading my mind. I was literally red all over.

While I was in my room fantasizing about Greg, he phased through my floor like it wasn't even there.

"Don't be alarmed. I just wanted to say something that I didn't get to say before your dad interrupted us." I was eager to know what he was going to say to me. "Oh yeah, what did you want to say to me?" I said while trying to flirt. I think it worked. He said "I wanted to say that… you look really good in your pyjamas and yes, I could hear all your embarrassing thoughts. The one that intrigued me the most was the one about the 'dark chocolate'" He looked flattered and kind of shocked to see how much I liked him. "Well, you weren't supposed to know about that." We both laughed at my remark. "I am also attracted to you Lenette." Greg said as he stepped forward and locked eyes with me. "Your beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair are like magnets to me. Let me not forget to mention how you tied your hair in a bun, I really dig that. I also kinda have a thing for girls in glasses." He kept complimenting me while he closed the space between us up until the only things stopping our lips from meeting were my boobs and the enormous height difference. Gregory leaned down, delicately put his hand on my cheek and brought his lips closer to mine. They were about to meet when my father opened my bedroom door. "Hey teacup, I was checking if you were okay." My father said while scanning the room to see if anyone else was in there with me. "Yeah dad, I'm fine."

"Okay. You get some rest now honey. Goodnight." "Goodnight dad." I said while I was practically holding my breath.

"How didn't my father see you?" I said to Greg who had been standing in front of me the whole time.

"This is called a demon projection. Only other demons can feel and see this projection, humans with the gift of sight see it as a blur of smoke." Greg explained. "Now where were we? Yes, I was about to taste those cherry red lips of yours…" Gregory once again leaned in for the kiss but this time my father walked in and said, "Gregory, I know you've demo-projected in here. Get out before I banish you out." Just then my father fixed onto Greg like a missile to its target. "Sorry Mr Gray, won't happen again sir. Goodnight Lenette. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure" I said to Greg as he phased through the floor again to his room beneath mine. My father looked at me a smiled and left my room. Just then, I felt a surge in my head as if someone just opened the door to it.

'Sorry to barge into your subconscious unannounced but I need to tell you that we can communicate telepathically so if you ever want to talk shout out my name in your mind and I'll answer.' Gregory telepathically told me all I wanted to hear before I got into bed and fell asleep listening to him sing in his mind all night long.

'You're cute, Greg.' I thought very loudly and he said

'You're pretty Lenette. PS: You don't have to shout'.