The little girl

Marissa and Lia stood up from the couch as we entered the room.

Marissa was dressed in a fancy black gown, with her hair pulled up in a bun. She also had, what I assumed to be a glass of wine in her hand.

Lia had on a blue dress, and her hair was put into two ponytails. She was holding a doll in her hand.

"Who is this dear?" Marissa asked in a very kind tone.

"We found this poor young man in the cave. He saved me," Derrick said as he patted his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh my! Thank you for bringing my husband back to us. What's your name sweetie?"

"Jaden," I said nervously.

She smiled. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Jaden."

I didn't understand these people. Why were they so willing to let me stay here?

Derrick turned his attention back to Marissa. "Where's my son?"

"Oh, he's off to school. He won't be back until late this evening."

Derrick nodded. "Right. I forgot about that."

I turned to Derrick. "There are schools here?"

"Of course." He said, but nothing more was said on that subject.

"Well, I'd better get back to work. Someone will serve your food Jaden. I'll see you in the morning."

He then left the room, and I was left with Marissa and Lia and two supposedly servants who looked as if they could take me apart for looking the wrong way.

"Lia, why don't you go back to your room and play with the dolls I gave you," Marissa said.

Lia nodded and went back to her room.

Marissa sat back on the couch and motioned for me to sit next to her.

I hesitantly sat down.

"So Jaden, are there more of you where you come from?"

I didn't want to answer, but they already shared their information with me. So I thought why not do the same?

"Yes. There is."

"Where are you actually from Jaden?"

I paused and tried to remember, but It was hard.

"I can't remember much about my life before coming to this world."

She nodded and took a sip from her glass. "Isn't that a shame?"

I looked back at her. "Do you remember what your life was like?"

She looked up to the sky for a moment. Her long sharp nails tapped on her lips. She then looked at me with her eyes wide and gave me a very creepy smile. I could see her veins running through her neck and small wrinkles on the sides of her cheeks.

"Nope. Not a clue." She said In a deeper voice.

Terrified, I quickly got up from my seat. "I think I'm going to go eat."

I ran into the next room, where I saw Lia sitting on her bed.

She jumped when she saw me.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was looking for the dining room."

She paused a little before speaking. "It's fine. The dining room is down the hallway."

"Thanks."

I turned around to leave, but she stopped me.

"Wait. Come back."

I turned back around. "What is it?"

I walked over and sat in a chair in front of her.

"You're from the other side of the cave?" She asked me.

"Yes. What about you? Are you from here?"

"No. I'm from…Uh… somewhere else. I can't remember. All I remember was that I was pulled in through a painting by a scary monster. My sister tried to pull me out, but she ended up being pulled inside with me. The monster took me here where I met this family." She whispered.

"Where is your sister now?" I asked her.

"We got separated. Her name is Malaika Kaari. I thought she would be here too. I searched everywhere, but it's hard to go anywhere without people following me. There are a lot of places here that I wasn't allowed to go to."

I frowned. "Who are these people? And why are they calling you their daughter?"

She paused and looked at the door before continuing. "I don't know, but they want me to play along. They said that if I don't pretend to be a part of the family, they'll feed me to the monsters."

I looked at her with a confused face. "What?"

"Those people scare me. Especially the lady. One minute, she acts nice, and then the next minute she looks like she wants to hurt me. She's not my mom, and I need to get out of here."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Lia. I'm going to get you out of here, and we'll find your sister together. I'll meet you later tonight. After I steal one of those rocks, we can teleport our way out of here. Sound like a plan?"

Lia smiled and nodded.

Suddenly Marissa came into the room. "Jaden. I thought you were going to go eat?"

Her face was more serious this time, almost as if she was angry.

"Yes. I was just asking Lia where to find the dining room."

She crossed her arms. "I don't want you talking to my daughter alone, it's inappropriate. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Now come on. I'll show you to the dining room."

She turned around and left the room. I followed behind her while giving Lia a serious look.

We walked down a long hallway. Marissa did not say a word and everything around me was very quiet. I kept my distance from her as we walked.

Suddenly I noticed that she was holding something in her hand. It looked like a knife.

I stopped walking, and she suddenly turned around and swung her arm at me. I quickly caught it, but she was still determined to stab me.

"I heard everything that you said. You don't think I'll let you take my daughter away from me do you?"

"Lia! Run!"I yelled.

Lia quickly ran out of the room. I tried to follow after her, but Marissa grabbed me again. I tried to push her away, but her sharp nails dug into my skin.

I quickly grabbed one of the objects hanging from the wall and hit her with it. Then I ran as fast as I could, to catch up with Lia.

Lia stood at the doorway, banging on the door. "I think she locked it!"

I moved her to the side and used the object that I had in my hand to break the doorknob. After that, I opened it and Lia and I ran out.

We were no longer in the mansion. I had to find one of those rocks.

I began hearing loud sounds from behind me. I turned to see Marissa running after us with the two servants and they had those weird weapons in their hands. "Bring me back my daughter! Now!"

I grabbed Lia's hand and we continued to run.

We quickly ran into one of the lab rooms, and I locked the door.

"What are we going to do now?" Lia asked in a worried tone.

I looked around the lab and searched for the rocks.

I saw dead demons being dissected on the tables.

Lia grabbed my arm and held onto it tight.

"Don't worry. They're dead," I told her.

The lab connected to another room, where I saw people sitting in cages. They all had scratch marks on them, and they looked very sick as they rested against the bars.

A man suddenly got up and ran to the bars. He stuck his hand out and tried to grab us.

Lia screamed, but I held on to her tight.

Suddenly a door opened and Derrick walked in.

"What is going on here?" I asked him.

Derrick smiled at me. "Didn't I say that I was building an army?"

I clenched my fists and frowned at him. "You're turning people into Demons?"

He nodded. "They can't repopulate, so how else am I supposed to make more? You were actually going to be my next victim."

Lia buried her face into my arm.

"What are you doing with my daughter, Jaden?"

"She's not your daughter, you psychopath! Were you planning to turn her too?"

He shook his head. "No, my wife wanted a new daughter. She was supposed to play along, but since she didn't follow the rules, I might consider it."

Lia squeezed my arm. "Please don't let him turn me into a monster!"

"Don't worry Lia. I won't let him."

A bunch of guards followed behind Derrick. A few more came from behind me as well.

They all charged at us. I quickly pushed Lia out of the way before they got to her.

I tried to fight them, but I couldn't get them all. I ended up being beaten up over and over. My clothes were ripped, there was blood all over me and I could barely move.

"Bring in the demon venom!" Derrick shouted.

Suddenly someone walked in with a vile of purple liquid, and transferred it over into a needle syringe.

"Hold him down." I heard Derrick say.

I was now pinned to the floor.

"No!" Lia yelled.

She quickly ran over to Derrick, pleading and asking for forgiveness as she grabbed the rock out of his pocket.

Derrick grabbed her arm. "Give that back!"

She tossed the rock at me. "Go! get out of here! Find My Sister, Malaika!"

With the little strength I had in me, I stretched out my arm and caught the rock. A greenish-black portal opened up beneath me, and I vanished into it.

The next thing I knew I was in the Forest surrounded by demons. I knew that I had the rock and could use it to protect me, but I couldn't remember how. Something about that portal affected my memory at first.

I ended up being chased by a lot of demons, and I almost lost my mind.)

"That is, until I found you guys. The portal led me right to you, Malaika."