It couldn't be true.

The pain on my forehead was still there, throbbing and pulsating as if it was reminding me of the deeply hidden truth. 

I sighed as I slid on my black ripped jeans with my blue tank top, completing it with a beanie for the final look. I shook my head, sighing heavily. I was really trying to remain optimistic because if Jade was indeed telling the truth and I had been out for so many hours, that would mean that the old Troy, the Troy who said that he didn't believe in love, would still be here. I didn't want that because I told myself that I would gladly believe in love if it meant that I shared it with Maddox for the first time.

Right.

Maddox.

"Got to be fucking kidding me," I rubbed my face, wishing that I could just go back to sleep and try to imagine that dream again. Something was telling me that it wasn't a dream, but Jade was very adamant because she had no clue what I was talking about and from knowing her all this time, Jade McKinley couldn't lie for shit.

"Jade, are you almost ready?" I called out, slinging my bag onto my back. There were so many clues that pointed me to the truth and I was a firm believer in believing what I wanted, so I knew that what Jade was telling me wasn't the truth. "Yes," I rolled my eyes before stepping out of the house, seeing a demon cop perched at our mailbox. I internally screamed as I walked past him, seeing him scan my body from the corner of his eyes.

"Get the hell out of my way," I said as the demon cop kept his gaze on the ground, the image of myself projecting onto his screen as he began to recite my information like a robot. 

"Troy Victorino Morelli, age 19, born on March 23rd, 2114 in Wichita, Kansas, to one Vasily and Maria Morelli—" The demon cop stopped himself short, staring at me deeply. I could've sworn I had seen this dude before, Kylar, if I recalled his name. Maybe I was imagining things, but my mind was telling me that this dude's name was Kylar. "You should already know who the fuck I am, Kylar," I muttered but there was no heat to my voice and his eyes widened as the demon cop standing next to him smacked him in the back of the head, whispering something harshly to him in their native tongue.

Kylar gritted his teeth, clenching his hands as the other cop reprimanded him. He seemed as if he was put in a really tough situation and it was so weird because I cursed in front of them and they acted as if I wasn't there. Kylar shook his head, his yellow eyes narrowed as he stared directly at me, the orbs conveying to me to help him. He looked as if he was silently begging me and I just turned to walk away, not wanting to catch any more offenses to my name. 

"Taen..."

I forced myself to keep walking even after my eyes widened at the sound of that familiar nickname. I wasn't hallucinating nor was I conjuring up things to appease my broken heart. He really said it and it led me to believe that something was happening and I was not made aware of it. I clenched my jaw and put a stride to my steps. I couldn't do anything about it, seeing that I was here. I could only hope that my worst fear hadn't come true. 

"Troy! Wait!" I could hear Jade's voice from behind me as I summoned a hoverboard, an umbrella coming along with it. Wow, I was so lost in my thoughts that I couldn't even feel the cold rain pelting my jacket. "Yea?" I muttered lifelessly, feeling my stomach churning again. "I'll come with you," She said, rolling up next to me on her own board. I nodded as we began our descent towards the University of Toronto, the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the city highlighting the terror of the dingy forest, the orange and grey murk of the sky. It was truly a disaster. 

"Tell me about the dream that you had," I shook my head, knowing that it would be pouring salt into my own wounds. I really felt as if everything that happened was real. I mean, the burning in the same exact spot that Maddox touched me in. That couldn't have been a coincidence but yet, everything was leading me to believe. "I'm fine," I grumbled, feeling a pain in my stomach, boiling and palpitating as I felt the urge to vomit. "You mind getting me some medicine for nausea though on the way back?" She lifted up her umbrella, looking at me.

I felt a hiss of annoyance as she looked at my stomach. I knew that my shirt didn't go past my zipper like it always did. This time, the hem stopped just above my pants line. "Do you think I look fat? I think I do," I pouted, poking at the fat around my stomach as much as I could. I thought I was doing myself justice when I kept working out every day with Maddox as a fool of encouragement. He would always push me further and further, telling me that I could do it.

Oh right.

It was all my imagination.

What a load of shit.

"No," Jade shook her head. "I don't think so, but your skin does look pale and clammy. Are you tired?" Now that she mentioned it, I felt as if I could go crash for 19 more hours. "Maybe," I grumbled, flipping my finger to multiple demon cops that we passed on our way. "Troy Morelli, 0 offenses," I heard one mutter solemnly and I would've called him out for his tone of depression had I not have recognized what he just said. "0? I should have 4,800 something," I whispered to myself, another clue that this whole situation was bogus.

"Troy, look!" Jade yelled and I snapped my neck up. "Fuck, what?!" I asked and she looked at me, smiling as she pointed to the horizon. "It stopped raining," She cheered and it was the truth. I took off my umbrella to see that the sky was now a pretty blue, a rainbow looming over our city as the last drop of rain crashed onto my hair. Jade was grinning happily, dancing around because this was something that we never had. 

Ever.

This was a beautiful thing, that was true, but I couldn't help but think that something bad was happening because never in the last four years, have we had a sunny day like this. I could feel it in my gut that something was wrong.

"Maddox..." 

I scratched all thought out of my mind as we came upon the campus of our university, the same old shit greeting me. People were walking and talking in hushed whispers, looking over their shoulders as if they expected the worst to come. I hated that part about them, they were so afraid of what they hadn't seen. I mean, I was a bit afraid but everything changed once I knew the truth.

Right. The truth.

I let my hoverboard disintegrate from beneath me, deciding to walk. I had a lot on my mind and I just wanted to figure things out so I could at least attempt to get to the next point. Life was so mundane here and I hated coming from such an unusual life back to ordinariness. "I'm going to go to the bathroom really quick," Jade said as we entered the history building, silence and doom falling over us like air.

"Okay," I waved her off, moving to go see my old spot in front of the big window. I really wanted some time to myself and I was going to get it. For sure.

"Oh, you're back," I rolled my eyes at the sound of the voice, turning on my heel to see one Natanya Kane waltzing over to me, a guilty look on her face. I hope she didn't think I forgot what she did. "Yea." I muttered flatly as she neared me, wondering what she wanted. I had no clue why she was greeting me as if I had been gone for a long time. That was another clue, which led me to believe I wasn't fucking stupid. "If that's all you wanted to say, I'm gonna go, you know," I shrugged, turning around to escape the situation. "Floss my frog," I hissed, hoping to run away. As scary as she was, I wanted no parts of this situation.

"I'm sorry for the way that I acted."

I stopped with a screech in my tracks, looking over my shoulder to see her twiddling with her fingers. "I knew that I was starting to like you more than I realized and I was jealous that you were talking to someone else. I know how immature of me it was to act that way and I shouldn't have laid a hand on you so for that, I deeply apologize," I could feel my feet moving to face her, narrowing my eyes.

"L-like me?" I sputtered, wondering what type of family shit I got myself into. First the daughter, then the father, what the hell? Natanya chuckled, sensing my inner turmoil. "At first, I thought I liked you romantically, but then I realized that I like you in an admiring way. It didn't matter to you who my father was," She tilted her head. "You still wanted to be my friend. I guess I was scared that I was going to lose that part of our relationship and it caused me to lash out," She flicked her big blue gaze up at me, asking me to forgive her.

"Oh thank fuck that you don't like me. I couldn't imagine such a thing," I collapsed on the railing next to me, realizing that I had time to kill. "I guess you're alright, Natanya. Please don't hit me again though because I'm not so nice a guy that I'll just let someone hit me," I warned, raising my brow as she stared at me intensely. "You really do have the qualities of a leader..." She mumbled to herself and I ignored her, not having the time or the energy to contemplate such things.

We sat in silence, just soaking up what we could before the storm came.

"So how was Hell?" She asked as she leaned against the railing next to me. I said nothing but frowned, wondering what was the truth. "...I've never been there," I said hollowly, knowing that it had to be false because my memory was cut short and I remembered up to the point where the demon lord rose from Hell in his saucer. 

Natanya narrowed her eyes, studying me intently. She sniffed the air and frowned, her eyes trailing from my own to my stomach. She stared at it, a small smile coming to her lips before returning her gaze to my face. I had no idea what the hell that was all about. "My roommate told me that I was out for such a long time and I had dreamt everything," I sputtered in disbelief. "Is that right?" She raised a brow and I knew that I wasn't the only one who felt as if something was off. 

"No," I shook my head. "There is just no way that I could've imagined everything that happened in the last few months in 19 hours. There is no way," I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists. "I never had a dream since the damn day Maddox rose from the fiery pits of hell four years ago so for me to have one now, it makes no sense," I had no clue what was happening or who was playing me for a fool, but something sinister was happening. 

"If it indeed was a dream and it was only something I imagined," I turned to her. "I suppose that you wouldn't know that your father's name is Maddox Zavir Kane and he's 31 in angel years, banished from the paradise of Eden. I suppose you wouldn't know that he likes Hot Cheetos so much, they're practically his lifeline. I suppose you wouldn't know of Availa, Nya, Lexica, Zero, or even those little duplicates he created," I shrugged and she nodded, her eyes gleaming over in recollection. 

"Because if it was a dream," I lifted up my shirt, showing her the various claw indents in my hips and the fanged mark on my neck along with the many bruises that plagued my chest, ones that were insistent on staying. "I wouldn't have this," I blushed heavily as Natanya covered her mouth, a small giggle leaving her lips. "I see," She motioned for me to bend down and I did, watching her look at the neck mark.

"Do you know what those words mean?" She traced the lettering underneath the two holes and I hissed, shaking my head. "Ad te pertinent ad me, with the symbol of the demon lord at the end," She smiled at me, taking a step back. "You belong to me," She translated and my eyes widened. "Seems my dear daddy wasn't thinking," Natanya turned back to gaze out of the window. "This first piece of DNA is why you didn't forget anything. It worked on everyone else because they have no parts of his DNA inside of them, but you do," She didn't have to explain anything else. I knew. The question was: why?

"I can't tell what he's thinking, but he has done something bad. So bad to the point where I can't even get access to Hell or to anyone down there," She was really upset, I could see it in her face. She looked so defeated, so crestfallen and I wanted to do something to help her. "We just have to wait on the others to realize," She squeezed her hands, clenching her eyes shut. "...I don't even know if Maddox wants me in his life anymore. He told me that I was the reason why he broke his promise to Tion," I mumbled, unsure of why I was telling her. This should've made me uncomfortable, but it didn't.

"Don't be stupid, Troy," Natanya waved a hand at me. "Everyone knew that he knew from the moment that he met you, he had no plans of letting you go," Her words warmed my heart and gave me the courage. She turned to me with a fierce look, pinning me down. "The question is," I gulped, wondering when all demons were this scary.

"Do you?"