Sniffling as I knelt down on my knees, I began to retrieve the candles from my bag, setting them out in the grass around me. A silver bowl, a knife, and a box of matches came next out of the backpack before I slung it carelessly onto the ground beside me. Quickly, I lit the candles before snatching the knife up. This was it: now or never, I thought to myself as I gazed down at the weapon, sun glinting off the shiny silver. Sighing, I made the decision and ever so slowly, slid the sharp blade across the skin of my palm. The metal edge sliced my flesh, making me wince as the blood began to dribble down into the bowl below.

It trickled down my forearm only slightly as the bowl began to fill with the crimson liquid. My eyelids fluttered closed as I began to chant then, the Latin words spilling off my tongue with ease.

"Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem..."

Almost as soon as the words had left my mouth, a vision of a dark place filled my mind. It looked almost like a prison of sorts - entombed in darkness, dampness, and decay. He appeared then - I saw him clear as day. And it was in that moment that I knew where my father was. But slowly, his head swiveled towards me, almost as if he sensed me watching him. It was then that the connection broke and I was thrown backwards into the grass, eyes flying wide open as I gasped for the breath that had been knocked out of my lungs.

My fingers dug into the dirt as I sat up hesitantly. I could find him now. With those thoughts swirling in my mind, I hurriedly stood up, albeit a bit wobbly from the exertion of energy from the spell. Flicking my wrist slightly, I murmured the word on my tongue.

"Appārěo."

Within seconds, I was teleported to the location I'd seen in my mind's eye. Just as in my head, it was dark and ominous-looking. Creepy, even. But I felt an odd sense of...home being here. As if I belonged in a strange way. It was an odd sensation, enveloping my senses in a cotton warmth that overwhelmed me.

But my feet seemed to know the way down the hallway even if my mind did not, leading me down darkened corridor after corridor before finally, I rounded a corner. The large room that opened up before me took my breath away, leaving no room for guessing what it was used for. Pillars dotted the room here and there, supporting the framework but the most prominent feature was the daunting throne situated at the very front. And more importantly...the man sitting on it. He smiled at me, his expression a mixture of pride, malice, and...warmth? I shook the thought away as I stepped farther into the room and finally, he spoke, his thick British accent sticking to the words like honey.

"Parker...lovely to see you again, my daughter. I've been expecting you."

Swallowing the thick lump that had formed in my throat, I made my way to the throne, stopping when I was just at the foot of it. My gaze connect with that of Crowley's and he smiled once more.

"Now what brings you here to my Kingdom?" he asked me, arching one eyebrow before picking up a glass from the table situated beside his throne and taking a sip from it.

I shuddered to think of what was even in that cup. Shaking the thoughts loose from my mind, I cleared my throat.

"I need your help. I...I've been having...I've been going through some-" I started, stumbling over my words before he cut me off.

"You've been coming into your demonic powers," he said, more of a statement than a question.

Slowly, I nodded, a sense of shame and confusion over the whole ordeal filling me.

"And?" he pressed, sitting the glass back down before it was quickly taken away by one of his demon flunkies that seemed to be sparsely populate the room here and there.

"What do you mean 'and'?" I questioned him, suddenly feeling angry at his nonchalance, "This is your fault! I want you to fix it!"

"And what exactly am I presumed to fix, Parker? You were born with those powers - it's not like getting a vaccine or taking Tylenol for a cold," he rolled his dark eyes, infuriating me even more.

Silence ensued then and I clenched my hands into fists at my sides. How dare he not help me! I was his own flesh and blood, how could he do this?! After all, he was the one to make me this way in the first place! Crowley's eyes traveled down to my fists, arching an eyebrow questioningly.

"What? Going to use some of your witchy magic on me? Make me disappear?" he mocked, "You can't make me do anything, daughter,"

I scoffed, shaking my head as I scowled in disgust, "No one ever could, right? Not even mom since you never bothered to show up all those times she tried to contact you after I was born,"

His eyes hardened with the accusation, my words seeming to hit a nerve with him.

"I couldn't come back there to care for a child and she knew that!" he shouted, slamming his fist down on the arm of the throne, "She knew what she was getting into when we got involved. She knew the consequences,"

"SHE WAS SCARED, YOU IDIOT! She was terrified of raising a half-demon child among witches!" I spat at him furiously, venom dripping from my words as I stepped closer to the throne, "And did you ever stop to even think about what that was like for me growing up?! To not only be treated differently for being part demon? Or the added fact that I was just a mixed-race BRAT that everyone hated because I clearly wasn't white enough for their standards?!"

Heavy breaths escaped my mouth as I finished my rant, leaving Crowley silent as he stared at me. It was clear my words had stunned him. Silence reigned over the entire room, no one daring to say a word as Crowley and I just stared back at one another. And finally...finally he spoke.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do... I'll teach you how to control it." he said softly, surprising me completely.

It was in that moment as I gazed back at my father, I realized that the hardness, that cruelty I'd seen previously in his eyes had disappeared entirely - replaced by a softness that shocked me. As the anger melted away from me and Crowley himself led me to another part of the building so we could talk privately, I knew then that things were changing between us. Perhaps for the better.