Forbidden Desires

Chapter One:

If there really is a road paved to hell, the one passing through Oriondale would be it.

The cobbled streets beneath my feet are layered with thin sheets of slimy moss and every few steps, I slip. If I'd been worried about being graceful, I would have blown it by now, but I'm not. In every direction, the desolate town is deserted. If I couldn't pick up on their auras, I'd think the buildings were abandoned.

I hoped a stroll would ease my mind about being confined to a small town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by humans, and other creatures that hate my guts, but now I'm more worried about surviving the boredome.

There is nothing but grayness in every direction. The ground is grey, the houses are grey, the trees are grey, and even the sky is grey. A thick fog looms around the outskirts of the border, no doubt pixies staking their territory.

Those pixies are in for a rude awakening. I'm sure they weren't expecting the devil's daughter to drop by for a visit, but they'll bend at my will. I'll burn their forest to the ground if they dare raise a defensive finger against me. I don't need to hide from the pixies. Weak little fools.

The real issue are the humans, the witches, the vampires, the werewolves, and the fairies. A vast majority are damned to hell for the chaotic wars they've started, and they'd like to see the demonic royal blood line gone.

If I'm discovered, I'll have thousands poised for an attack and my father won't do anything to help. His terms for my punishment were that I'd face any and all consequences of earth on my own. Try telling that to a four hundred year old she-devil born with a golden spoon in her mouth, raised in the lap of luxury. It isn't an easy conversation. I certainly didn't handle it well. That's why my time has been extended.

I need to push through the 365 days I'm imprisoned here, and then I can return home. As long as I don't slip up. Any mistakes now could cost me my throne, my birthright. I've waited centuries to become the empress of hell and the title isn't going to slip through my fingers.

I release an irritated sigh when I realize I'm exactly where I begun my walk twenty minutes ago. Not only is this place hideous and dull, it's small. I'll develop claustrophobia.

I walk up to the stone mansion my father secured for me. It was his last deed towards me. After all, I can't be sleeping in anything short of exquisite and expensive. It would harm our family's reputation and I've done enough of that what with getting temporarily exiled from hell.

I fall onto the couch in the living room and call for Populus. Populus is a short man with a belly that hangs over his crotch and a thick head of pink skin. My father allowed one soul from hell to accompany me and I'd been given the runt of the litter.

"Grab me a fresh blood bottle." I order when he sinks into a wobbly bow before me. "And some lady fingers. This time, choose a hand with less hair."

Populus nods and disappears into the kitchen. I wish I hadn't cut out his tongue. Some company in this dreadful place would have been nice.

He comes back with a bottle of blood. I uncap it and take a sniff. My face lights up. I thought all the Italian blood was finished. I pop a few skinny fingers into my mouth, spitting out the bones. Fresh ones right off the bodies taste better but these will do.

Tomorrow, I start my first day at Oriandale High. Academics are just another part of the torture I'm meant to endure. I'll have to constantly be on guard, and I'll have to go a full day without blood or human flesh. I could always find a nice friend to feast off of daily but that's against the agreement I made.

After I've eaten, I trudge upstairs to my bedroom. It's spacious with a queen sized bed, a dresser and a desk. I don't need sleep but I can choose to if I feel like it, and I can't think of a better way to occupy myself.