Scaring the crows away.

Inside a dark room one could find a girl, a red wine glass twirled between her fingers, her beautiful eyes red from all the crying.

Being born as a prodigy in a rich and influential family had its ups and downs.

As a result of her bright mind and boundless talent, her grandfather favored her more than the rest of her peers even planning to make her the heir of the raindrop family.

For this reason, her peers were jealous, her father, her uncles, her aunts, and even her sister wanted nothing but misfortunes to follow her.

Emma knew this but felt that it would blow off in time.

As time went by she got more influential and even found a lover, a man from a powerful family called Ethan, he did quite well.

She thought her life was going well until she was framed, her sister was kidnapped and tortured but with the influence of her family, she was quickly found and rescued.

The perpetrator on the other hand was detained by her family, and after months of torment and questioning he finally confessed that Emma had sent him.

He even showed some vague evidence before somehow ending his life.

That was all it took for everyone to turn their back on her, her lover, her friends, and even her grandfather who valued justice and morals more than everything else, she was quickly blacklisted and labeled as an object of scorn and disdain.

"Ha-ha," Emma chuckled slightly, looking at her watch it was almost time to leave; her flight was leaving in a few minutes.

She had already packed her essential belongings in a duffel bag and with that, she walked out looking more scared than anything.

As she left a maid assigned by the raindrop family to watch over her spotted her, feeling confused at where the madam was going to dressed like a normal person in a black sweater and jeans she asked "Good evening madam, forgive me for asking but where are you headed?"

Hearing the sudden question Emma froze for a bit, but she quickly smiled dryly and replied, "I'm just heading out for a party, but don't worry I'll be back in a few hours, and I don't need an escort."

The maid felt skeptical for one it was odd to go to a party carrying a duffel bag but it wasn't in her place to question her madam.

In a few hours Emma had arrived at the airport, to avoid the tracking of her family she parked her car in an ally and took a street cab.

At the airport, she was received quite well after all only rich people could afford flights.

The airplanes of today were quite different in the sense that they looked more like one of those fighter planes from an army movie, but the inside was different offering a combined sense of luxury and comfort.

The windows were sealed, as it was against the international laws of the Shelter for a person traveling by public transportation to see the world outside, the reason for this law was unknown.

It was because of this law that Emma couldn't look outside like she wished to.

The flight lasted for eight days, and during that time she was very nervous, "my family should be looking for me by now," Emma reasoned as she let out a short breath.

After the long flight, the plane landed in an airport in Twilight City, the most popular city in the seventh shelter.

The scanning process was quite strict, after checking her passports, scanning for hell energy, testing her for any diseases, and checking her Contractor License they finally let her go.

Walking out of the airport Emma almost didn't believe she pulled off such a stunt, running away from her family.

Emma was exhausted from her long flight and she didn't have the energy to look for a place to stay.

Luckily she booked a room in a five-star hotel nearby.

"Ting!"

She received a notification on her phone, it was a message from her Uber.

Looking around she saw a guy waving at her, this man had a big smile on his face and he stood beside a yellow car.

Smiling she waved back at him as she walked towards him with her luggage.

On her way towards the car, she turned quite a few heads, after all, she was an attractive woman.

Apart from that her elegant and confident body language stood out from the women around her.

The Uber driver blushed a bit feeling startled at such a warm smile but he quickly regained his composure a small glint flashing past his eyes.

"I'm James, I'll be your driver today, it's nice to meet you," the driver said while stretching his hand for a handshake which Emma received with a smile.

They both got in and drove off, at the back of the car Emma looked out the window while thinking about her future, "I've always wanted to explore the shelters, now that I'm free I can do that now," she thought to herself.

She could protect herself from most things after all she was a threat level eight Contractor.

Now that she had finally run away it was for the best, nobody would miss her anyway, "thank goodness I planned," Emma thought.

She had saved money in a separate account, and the money in there should be enough for her to live comfortably for a while.

Suddenly "tap, tap," she felt a small tap on her hand, somehow an unknown creature had appeared before her.

It was a squirrel-like creature completely black in color but what was strange about it was that it had two tails and was about the size of a palm.

Upon seeing this cute creature Emma smiled, this was the demon she had made a contract with.

Coming from a family like the Raindrop family had its advantages, the first one was being allowed to create contracts with high-level demons.

Emma had the opportunity to create a Contract with a demon of threat level thirty but it didn't work out, her soul couldn't endure it, and after consistent trials and errors it was discovered that threat level eight was the highest she could endure.

Her demon disliked humans and would mostly choose to stay in her soul most of the time, but despite its small size, it could kill a normal human instantly, low-level demons had difficulty communicating with humans but they had a connection with their Contractors.

"Tap, tap, tap," it tapped her again this time more rapidly than before, a feeling of worry and anxiety for her was transmitted over their contract.

One thought appeared on Emma's mind when she felt this, "I'm in danger."

She looked around and noticed that they had somehow driven towards a deserted road, with trees at the side, "what's happening?" She asked while looking towards the driver but he didn't answer.

"Where are we?" She asked again and this time the driver let out a nervous breath, he took a while to answer but he eventually said while stopping the car, "I'm sorry."

Emma could see him reaching for his cabinet a faint shadow of a gun could be seen on his hands.

"Black," she called the name of her demon through her contract, the demon didn't even need to be told twice, it turned into a flash moving quickly and nimbly from the back seat to the front seat and before the driver even noticed it was in front of his face.

The driver's eyes suddenly registered a black furry object on his face, but he didn't feel anything climbing him.

"Ahh," he uttered a short scream of pain but was quickly silenced as his body went limp, if one had a view from the front seat one would notice that a visible black some was slowly seeping into the driver's pores originating from the cute demon on his face.

Up till the time he had died, his face had a look of confusion as he couldn't understand what happened to him too clearly.

Quickly Emma got out of the car, her heart was beating rapidly and her hand trembling slightly, this was the first time she had killed someone.

Just when she thought it was over Black scurried out of the car as well climbing onto Emma's shoulder and tapping on it, the feeling of worry was still as strong as ever.

"I'm still in danger she thought," but before she could think any further something assaulted her.

She felt a sharp pain in her head and the worst memories of a child getting bullied constantly flashed through her head.

These memories weren't hers they belonged to that driver, all these bad memories including how all his dreams of becoming a Contractor were crushed and he had to become an Uber driver to make ends meet constantly flashed through her head causing her great pain and internal turmoil.

A feeling of amusement was transmitted over her contract; the demon seemed to be happy at her suffering.

"So this was the price mentioned in the contract," she thought as she shuddered, tears leaking from her eyes.

She felt terrible having experienced every terrible moment in a person's life all at once, this was the price for using her demon to kill a person.

Since it was her first time it left her significantly scared, "hoho, so you've killed someone for the first time," a voice sounded out from behind her.

Looking behind her she saw a man with a facemask and a black hooded sweater on.

Beneath his hood, she noticed a pair of unsettling, glazed eyes, emitting an unsettling madness. The presence of a dark backpack on his back added an ominous touch, evoking an unmistakable sense of danger.

"Who are you?" Emma asked trying to act composed, her voice shaking and trembling a little.

"Black," she called for her demon telepathically but it didn't move not listening to the bind of their contract.

Seeing no other option she turned and ran, or tried to run, but before she could move

Emma felt a tremendous force hit her head, and her vision turned black.

******

(An unknown amount of time later)

"CRUNCH!"

The sound of leaves crunching woke Emma up as she slowly regained consciousness her eyes were blurry and a stinging headache assaulted her senses.

Gradually she took note of her surroundings "were am I?" She thought hazily, a feeling of uncertainty plaguing her.

But that uncertainty rapidly turned into horror, "hmmmm, hmmmm," she tried to scream but the gag in her mouth blocked most of the sound.

Her hands were bound by her sweater and her feet by her jeans, she was in nothing but her underwear shivering as the cold wind hit her skin.

"Hmmmm," she whimpered even more as she felt dry liquid on her forehead, it seemed to be dried blood from when she was hit.

"You're finally awake," a male voice sounded out, it was the man that kidnapped her earlier.

"Hmmmm, hmmmm," Emma begged but the gag in her mouth made her words seem unintelligible.

"Pa!"

A heavy slap tore through her cheeks flinging her head sideways, "HMMMMM," Emma squealed, but the man didn't show even the slightest shred of compassion.

"Shut up," he yelled as he took off his backpack a chilling smile gracing his lips, Emma watched with horror as he brought out tool after tool.

A hammer, some nails, a knife, a blade, razors, needles, and many other items, "are you still gonna continue squirming you bitch?" he asked in a threatening tone, as to which Emma shook her head rapidly.

"Better," he said while sharpening the knife.

"Slice, Slice," the sound echoed as he continuously sharpened his knife, the sight before her was so horrifying that it made Emma tremble.

The man glanced at her with a sick glint in his eyes, "you know the person who sent me, also gave me a message to deliver to you," he said pausing a pic before darting in.

"Ha, how does it feel when you fall from grace? How does it feel to lose Granddaddy's trust? Hahaha."

Amidst his chilling laughter he glanced towards her taking a proper look at her body, and suddenly the glint in his eyes changed.

"ZIP!"

He removed his belt and unzipped his fly, making Emma widen her eyes, "you know you have such a nice body, It'll be of no use if I ruin it, so why don't I put it to good use first?" he said with a smile.

"Hmmm, hmmm," Emma cried, tears leaking out of her eyes as she desperately shook her head.

"Rip," a loud rip sounded out as the man practically ripped her underwear out of her body.

What followed was too cruel to say, but for the next few hours, the retched and desperate screams of Emma rang out in the forest scaring the crows away.

************

Aiden found himself at the base of the tower, he was inside, and in front of him were spiral-shaped stone steps leading up.

"Looks like you're gonna have to do some climbing," the voice in his head said.

"Yeah I guess so," Aiden muttered as he started walking, ascending the endless flight of stairs spiraling upwards.

"Tap, Tap, Tap," Aiden walked up for a few minutes, minutes turned into hours until finally, Aiden could see a door, the door was glowing purple, and it seemed to be made from the same materials as the purple stones back at the cave.

"Hey demon, what do you think is behind this door?" Aiden asked.

"Honestly at this point, I don't know, " the demon in Aiden's head answered.

Taking a deep breath Aiden stretched out his arm wanting to push the door open, but before he even touched it the door opened by itself.

"Gruuuuu," the tower trembled, as the door opened wide, the insides were pitch black but Aiden stood his ground and walked in anyway.

"Bang," the door closed behind Aiden with a bang startling him a bit.

His surroundings were dark and Aiden couldn't see anything "What now?" Aiden asked the demon in his head.

"How am I supposed to know?" the demon replied with an unsure tone.

Suddenly Aiden saw something, a lemon-colored glow illuminated the horizon, and suddenly everything became clear.

He was in an open field, well field wouldn't be the best place to describe it, it looked more like a dissolute land hard and rocky with thousands of cracks on the ground.

His surroundings might have been strange but Aiden could barely focus on that, what stood out most was the pole in front of him, the pole was about the size of a fist but its height was unnerving.

His eyes traced the pole up until he could vaguely make out an outline of something or someone squatting at the very top of the pole.

Suddenly something happened, "hmm, your imagination is interesting, but this makes quite the view don't you think?" a deep and calm voice sounded out echoing throughout the realm.

"Who said that," Aiden asked even though he already knew who spoke.

"Why state the obvious?" the voice responded, sounding more bored than anything.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of wind whistling sounded out, and from above a faint figure could be seen falling to the ground at breathtaking speed.

"Bang!"

The figure landed on the ground raising a dust cloud as cracks spread everywhere.

Aiden was shocked there was no way a human could survive a fall like that.

"Who are you," he asked absentmindedly.

"Hahaha," the figure uttered a low chuckle before darting in.

"For someone so compatible you sure ask a lot of questions, the ones before you were much more composed, then again it's our irrational behavior that makes us stand out isn't it Aiden?"