A Contract For The Bride

Chapter One (Part One)

The trees appeared to fly past the window of the taxi as I peered out into in the distance. In the seat adjacent to me, sat a young girl of seventeen years. Blonde, childish curls waved down to her shoulders where a pink top that barely covered her shoulders lay with brown shorts to follow. Most of her legs were exposed, slightly pale skin coated her whole body. People could easily mistake her for a twelve year old, especially with the small braided lock of hair in her fringe. Her eyes held a curious and anxious glint within them as she lowered the window to embrace the scents of the world outside the moving vehicle. A sharp breeze cut through her, pushing her blonde locks away from her face. She shivered from the cold and forced the window to rise once more before she wrapped herself in her arms to allow her to embrace the heat of the car. After a few moments, she proceeded to glance towards me as I continued to observe our surroundings. Her innocent, petite voice pulled me from my focus as her impatience took over.

"How long now?" She whispered.

I had revised the map for our journey in order to make sure that if questions such as this were asked, I would be able to answer her.

"Approximately ten minutes Miss Yui," I replied.

"Thank you Isadora, and please stop with the formalities," she ordered.

"As you wish."

This girl was my mistress, Yui Komori. For sixteen years I have been by her side as a servant, although her preference is that I am her friend and not her house maid. Unfortunately those years have taken their toll on my body. My beautiful raven hair has faded to a ghostly white due to my lack of intake of food and sleep. My slim body is no more than skin and bone. Being a demon is far more difficult than any story, myth or legend depicts. My appearance contrasted hers incredibly. I preferred to dress in the colour black, every piece of clothing was forced to cover all of my skin. The clothing I did choose to wear gave off the appearance that I was a male, considering I wore skinny jeans, converse, long sleeve top, and hoodie all the colour black. I had pulled my hair back from my face into a tight braid which was always covered by my hood. Yui always questioned my reasoning for dressing as I did, and I always lied. Behind this clothing lay secrets, ones that had to remain hidden from Yui. Today was the day she finally came of age and had to leave home. Her father claimed to be going overseas for business while Yui had to stay here. However, she was to move in with a family, the Sakamaki family, a close relative of Yui's family agreed to take her in, as well as I. I had never heard of them until now, my only order was to accompany her, which I am fulfilling. Few words were exchanged between us up until that point where her impatience forced her to speak.

"What do you think they are like?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I do apologise I wish I knew more myself," I replied, lowering my head slightly.

"Don't apologise, this isn't your fault. I only wish I had a better idea of who I was staying with," she replied, keeping her eyes on the trees we passed.

I continued to stare down at my hands, the paleness of my skin giving me great joy for some reason that I could not think of. I was beginning to wonder as well what this family would be like. I have never been afraid of anything in my life, not even now, but my curiosity was clouding my mind. With Yui, I had met many strange humans, ones that all held dark secrets, even the purest soul had a hint of darkness within it. That soul reminded me of myself, I've stayed too far from hell, my home. If I returned now, it is possible that they would no longer accept me as a demon. I've spent too much time in the human world to be what I used to be, understood human emotion and action to almost feel it myself. I have not once cried, nor loved, dreamed, laughed or smiled, my face remains blank. Any happiness that Yui perceived to be true emotion was fake. I can fake my emotions well, a useful skill for a demon. My eyes moved from my hands to the girl to my side. The scent of her soul has grown stronger these past few days and I can sense it growing stronger. Soon I will get what I deserve.