It was 10:07 PM.

Curfew? I didn't know her.

I sat behind the register, scrolling through my phone, trying to find some lame game to play. I could've left a while ago, considering I had been here for more than 8 hours, more time than my shift called for. However, I decided that I was going to stay and do absolutely nothing. It wasn't as if I was going to get anything done at my house. Our lodging, as the demon cops call it, was monitored every single hour of day and night.

Sigh.

When I thought about it, this boring yet highly controlled world was nothing that I wanted to be a part of. I mean, no one wanted to be a part of it. No one wanted to be told how to live their lives with immediate death looming over their shoulders. This wasn't the world that any of us were born in, yet we were forced to succumb to the wishes and desires of this so-called demon lord. Though I remembered bits and pieces, I could vaguely put together the day all hell broke loose in the nation we once knew as America.

I wasn't sure if it was even called America anymore.

It might as be named Hell, considering that was what it was.

The demon lord considered himself the 'God' of our world and those thirteen commandments were his instant way of showing us that he could do whatever it was that he wanted and we were going to oblige. Why? He had one thing over us.

The sheer fear of being killed.

The thought of freedom.

I just wanted to know how could someone, who no one in the entire world, has ever seen or met, come into our world and do something so cruel? He had no idea how much he affected our lives when he rose straight out of the red flames of hell, murdering left and right without a single thought to it. He had no idea whose lives he took with him.

I gritted my teeth, shutting my eyes as tears threatened to make their way through. Now was not the time to be thinking about memories that didn't matter anymore. "I should leave at 10:30," I muttered to myself, the silence of the store mulling over my thoughts as I scrolled through my holographic smartphone, the glass taunting me. "I need to get some more food and clothes," I said to myself, devising a plan to avoid contact with the numerous amount of demon cops strolling around at this time of night. It was crucial that I avoided these demon cops because unlike the ones during the day, they were a lot more vicious and ruthless.

I guess it was because, at night, all bets were off.

"I wonder who I could call tonight," I licked my lips, flicking through my contacts of girls. "Marley? Nah, she might be a lil wary," I chuckled. "Tara? Maybe." I thought about how good I was going to treat her. She had me once but no one said she couldn't have me again. "Heh," I shot her a text, knowing that she would be quick to respond. No one could resist the charm that I had, even if fucking was off limits.

I mean, we all had to get off in this ghost town of ours. We all had to do what we could to receive some pleasure, no matter what the cost was.

Just like that, you could only depend on yourself in this cruel and evil world of ours. No matter where you went, what you did, what you said, you always had eyes on you. It was like that burning sensation that blazed and stung your back with every walk in your own direction. It was that prickling feeling that one felt even in the obsolete comfort of the home you were given. Everywhere you turned, you were monitored.

Invasion of my god damn privacy.

I groaned, putting my phone on the counter before, not knowing what to do. All of a sudden, I saw the flickering of blue and yellow lights, lights that belonged to the flashlights of the demon cops, and a loud knocking on the door of the entrance shocked me.

"Kee lghsi!" I narrowed my eyes, trying to study the figure at the door. I could make out a very short and chubby girl with light fair skin and long black hair. Her brown eyes were wide with fear as the visible parts of her were completely covered in black clothing. Had I of been able to see the rest of her, I would've tried to hit her up. "Help me!" She screeched in a language that I could understand, hands banging harder on the door and I got out of my chair, walking towards her. The chants were getting louder, the swish of the flashlights getting closer as her brown eyes turned yellow.

Ah, a god damn demon.

The girl looked petrified as her eyes pleaded with me to let her in. I didn't fuck with demons as they were the very things that I hated.

I stood halfway to the door, staring at her. The angry part of me wanted to walk away and pretend that I never heard her. I mean, I had every right to. She belonged to the very species that I detested. I wanted nothing but to see them pulverize beneath the feet that were America's humanity.

But as she stood banging harder and harder, her skin getting harder to conceal, I thought to myself. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't leave her behind.

I was a complete fucking asshole, but I wasn't that cruel.

"Open!" I yelled and the door obeyed on command, the girl falling through onto the floor with an instant, the doors closed and locked once again. I rolled my eyes and backed up slowly out of the view of the doors, the demon on the floor. She panted heavily as she threw her sweaty hair over her shoulder.

It appeared to me that she had the power of invisibility.

I held my breath as the chants got closer and closer, the yells and growls of the demon cops rushing past the store, going off into the distance. "What is it that you want?" I made sure that my voice was void of emotion as she stood slowly, the rest of her body coming into view. "Thank you so much, human." The girl had a smile on her face, fangs creeping over her lips as she beamed at me. "Don't piss me off." I had no idea what her intent was or who she belonged to, but I wasn't trying to be apart of her issues.

"Leave." I pointed towards the door and she nodded, holding her hands above the floor. "Hannah is going to kill me," She complained before muttering something in her demon tongue, a pink glow coming out of her palm and burning into the ground. "I'll never forget what you did for me, human." The black-haired demon waved at me before disappearing into the ground and I blinked slowly, making sure that this was indeed happening.

I shook my head and reached over to grab my things. Now that she thankfully created a distraction, I could easily slip out and go to the market to get my items. I could thank her for that. I walked slowly over to the door, it opening upon sensing my body temperature and I dashed out into the dark and cold night.

It was still raining and I had to run on foot since I didn't want to bring unnecessary problems forth. I threw on my hood and ran through the abandoned back alleys of No Man's Land, places that were unguarded. I could hear the slosh of my boots hitting the water as the flash of lightning rattled the sky. I looked back and forth, making sure that no one was behind or in front of me as I dashed forward, the store just mere feet away.

I wasn't scared.

Not at all.

In fact, I felt exhilarated like this was the only moment in life where I could truly be free. One could call it picking a fight with the law.

"There," I whispered to myself, seeing the old abandoned brick building off to the side, its appearance turning everyone away. To others, it looked like a building that had gotten caught on fire when the demon lord made its first appearance and it was empty, waiting to fall to shambles but to me, it was the place where people could go and get the things that they wanted. Things that were no longer manufactured or produced.

No one knew how this mysterious seller got them, but he did.

I ran across the dark street like a criminal, reaching the door in no time. I chuckled to myself as I opened it slowly, the creak filling the silence as I stepped in. Inside, it was light with aisles and aisles filled with forbidden temptation: food that was no longer allowed to be consumed, clothes that were not allowed to be worn, and items that were not to be possessed by us humans.

Why?

No one knew.

I went to grab me a bunch of boxes of Lucky Charms, along with some snacks that I used to like. I even picked up a gallon of milk. No one knew if there were cows still alive on the other side of the wall circling No Man's Land, but the milk tasted the same as it did a long time ago and for that, it reminded me of home. I picked up a bunch of others, taking it to the man who sat behind the counter. He said nothing in his rugged appearance as he bagged up my items securely and once he was finished, he nodded at me, taking my white cash that held the exact amount.

This world was different than what we once knew it.

I crept my way outside, making sure that no one saw me leave. I looked before dashing through the alleyway that would soon lead me to the main street. Jade and I's house was a mere ten minutes away on foot but that wasn't the problem. For some reason, those ugly ass cops liked to roam our street every minute they got. I had never come in contact with them, thanks to my godly good stealth skills, but I never wanted to risk anything. "Shit," I cursed, hearing their native tongues flowing like the window as I came upon the intersection that would lead me to my house.

There was nothing else that I could do at this point. 

I stepped out into the open, their eyes darting towards as I ran towards them. In one swoop manner, I kicked the guns out of their hands, staring defiantly into their yellow eyes, the disgusting color of pee. "What the fuck do you want?" I growled, not caring how I talked to the demon cops. This pair was much different than the one that stood outside my house. They were much uglier. God, why didn't their parents throw them in the trash after birth? It was like pouring acid in my eyes.

"How come we've never seen this kid before?" One of the demon cops asked the other while I grasped my bag of groceries containing all the food I bought. I refused to let them touch that bag. "I don't know." One of them turned on their glasses and lasers began to dot my body. "He's Troy Victorino Morelli, age 18, born on March 23rd, 2114, to Vasily and Maria Morelli, who were eliminated not too long ago." I gritted my teeth and stared coldly at them, wishing that I could crush their skulls with everything that I had in me.

"I'd guess ya'll would fucking know." I gritted my teeth, wanting to stab them. No one knew of the venomous hatred that plagued my soul at this very moment. No one had any idea of how much rage I carried within me. I took a deep breath and shook it off, reminding myself that the past was the past. My house was in mere sight. One of the ugly ass red Cheetos held up his hand, a yellow glow beaming from his palm as he narrowed his eyes at me, his webbed tongue flicking out. "We cannot let you go with that bag, sir." The one demon on the right held out his hand and I looked at him as if he thought I was stupid, "You might want to retract that nasty hand. I'm not giving you shit." I stared blankly at them, plotting out how I was going to escape. "Mr. Morelli, you currently have 4,865 offenses in regards to the 13th commandments," He noted, his gun floating back to his hand as he cocked it, analyzing me. "It's only a matter of time before the demon lord pays you a visit." I yawned, letting out a loud sigh.

"And it is only a matter of time before I give a fuck."

I rolled my eyes, catching them off guard before I acted, dashing past them. I wanted to get home to eat, damn it, and those fucktards were stopping my process. I ran down the familiar back path that would lead me straight to my house. "It's only a matter of time," I mocked like I really cared. "Let that damn demon lord bring his ass up here. I got a few words for him." I grumbled, tearing through the small forest clearing as I knew that no matter what, they would not come after me.

"Troy, you're back!" Jade was waiting for me at the main door, the glass sliding down to let me cross. "I was so worried!" Jade didn't hesitate to pull me into her arms, her tears staining my shirt. She held me tightly and I stared at nothing in particular, not really fond of touching. I couldn't recall the last time I was ever embraced like this, so I never wanted to feel it.

"Man, no need to be so worried, Jade," I grinned as she pulled away, wiping her eyes free of tears. "As you can see, I'm just fine." I chuckled, the small robot taking my bags away from me. He was issued to us from the demon lord, however, he had his own free mind so he didn't monitor what Jade or I did. He was my dawg, my homie.

He was cool like that.

"Come on," I put an arm around her as the stairs moved up underneath our feet, directing her to her room. "It's time for us to sleep. We had a long day." I whispered and she nodded, squeezing my hand. This was her way of dealing with the fact that the only person she had ever come to rely on, could die at any given point. That was just how this world was.

"Please stay safe, Troy," Jade clutched my hand tightly. "You're all I've got left." That was all she said before the door to her room opened on her command and I left to make my way to my own, finding refuge beneath my sheets. There was nothing else for me to do but sleep another day away in this heartless world. 

I didn't know if I dreamt or not. 

I mean, what were dreams? Were they figments of realities that we wanted to experience, snippets that we wished we could trade our current life with? At this point, I was sure people just wanted to die so they didn't have to deal with this shit anymore. Once upon a time, we had free will, but then that bastard who calls himself the demon lord took everything away from us and for what? 

What did he gain from this?

No one would ever know.

The next morning, I woke up to my bed vibrating upon alarm, and I groaned, not wanting to get up. I had no idea what day it was, seeing as there was no use for calendars anymore, but I quickly put it together that it was Saturday since I went to school for five days in a row. "Wake up, Troy," I felt a gentle nudge on my arm and I grumbled, knowing who it belonged to.

"What the fuck do you want, Avery?" I opened my eyes, the darkness of the sky and the rain pelting the window greeting me. "Stop cursing, Troy," My friend hissed in annoyance as he sat in one of my chairs. "If you're not careful, you'll get more offenses." He warned and I rolled my eyes, sitting up in my floating glass bed. The Avery I met didn't really care about rules and whatnot because he had experienced the brutality of those demon cops. "Well," I cleared my throat. "For someone who should be treating me with royalty, you're doing a shit job at it," I teased, running a hand through my hair.

"Huh?" My friend furrowed his grey eyes, confusion running through his vision, tainting it. Now, that was a look I ain't never seen in his eyes. "What are you talking about, Troy?" He asked and it made me wonder if he was playing fucking dumb. "You know? When I saved you and your sister from being killed by that guy a long time ago?" I raised a brow and he stared in thought, in obvious bewilderment. "You sure you okay?" I asked, really questioning everything. If he forgot something as big as that, I didn't know what I was going to do.

"Y-yeah," He stuttered, waving a hand at me. "Just a bit under the weather is all." I stared, wondering when the fuck he learned to talk so proper. Last I remembered, we learned English three years ago and the Avery that I met used no type of politeness in his speech. He was just as bad as the rest of us, save for the fact that he never cursed. 

"Sure," I nodded, unconvinced. Was it just me or was every single fucking person acting odd lately? "Did you come to hang out with me?" He nodded in reply as I stood up, a holographic screen coming out of nowhere, a moving stool directing me to the bathroom. "Give me a second," I called out, stepping inside the clear pod. "I need to bathe myself." Once the pod closed, I leaned forward to press a button, picking the type of wash that I wanted. When I was set, I leaned back on the ledge, laying down and holding my breath as water shot out of the jets, soap coating my figure as A.I hands washed me completely. 

When I was dried by the air, I stepped out of the pod, using the screen to pick an outfit: ripped jeans, a casual t-shirt, and some boots. "What you wanna do?" I asked Avery as I made my way back into my room, sitting in the chair next to him. "Let's just talk," He said. "There isn't much that we can do since it rains all the time." He was right about one thing.

"What do you wish for, man?" I asked, looking out the window, seeing the orange sky darkened with blue flashes of lightning. "I mean, I wish to go back to who I was before all of this happened. I wish to live in that damn time. I wish that none of this happened. I could go on and on," I tilted my head with a smirk, looking at him. "You get the gist." Avery chuckled, running a hand through his brown hair. I remembered how scared he was, how hard he was to open up to me. He didn't trust me and that was fine. In this world, you trust no one; not even yourself.

"I guess I want to be able to find a better life for my sister and I," He confessed and I bit my lip, solely agreeing. I didn't remember if I had any siblings or not, but Jade was the sister I never had. I would do anything for her. "Well, the only thing we can do now is to try and hope for something that would change the world." No one knew what had to be the catalyst in order to return to what used to be. "I don't want to say there's no hope, my guy," I laughed humorlessly, dread coating my soul. "But you gotta do what you do in a place like this." I mumbled, trying to remember who the Troy Morelli was before he came here. 

"We all know what you do." Avery muttered sarcastically and I chuckled, grinning. "You do know me." I offered, not feeling bad about my past actions. "You know a man like me got needs, huh?" It was no secret that I was a player. It was no secret that I laid in most of the girls' bed. I did what I did and if no one liked it, they could tell me all they wanted. It wasn't if I was going to listen. "Troy!" I heard Jade rush into my room and I raised a brow. "Speak." I motioned to her and she panted, pointing towards the stairs. "It must be your lucky day," She drawled. "The girl you call yourself liking is here." She rolled her eyes and I moved, wondering what was happening.

"Natanya?"