"The Man", Past
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“Master, the deed has been done. The youngest heir has been killed, though I did not get the older one. She wasn’t home. I don’t know how much they know about their true nature, but the younger one knew. I don’t know about the older one.” A Russian man said. He was tall, buff with a shaved head. He was covered in tattoos and had a scar running along his right eye.

“Thank you. What else did you find out about them?” Master asked. “Master” didn’t have a name as far the man was concerned. Master was lean and tall, with brown hair and grey eyes. He wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just jeans and a t-shirt. The shirt was even stained. What the stain was, the man didn’t know. And he wasn’t interested in finding out.

The restaurant they were in wasn’t anything special, just some random fast food place. They blended right in with everyone else, except they weren’t everyone else, they were different. They weren’t normal, not in a sense to the rest of the people in building, anyway.

“Not much, Master. I think they kept the relics hidden. They very rarely spoke of them and of our world.”

“Go on.”

“Everything else seemed boring. I think they’re trying to keep the oldest one in the dark. I think she might find out within the next year, if we even have that much time.”

“What else did you find out?”

“I overheard a few conversations. They’re considering returning to their clan. That’s all I know. They barely talked about at all.”

“Thank you. Next time, we’ll get the older one, Annalise.”

***

Annalise, Present


Today, it has been a year since Aden died. She would be eleven. Everyone else knows what day it is. They’re also treating me like a kid. Even Isaac.

“Anna?” Isaac walks into my room, interrupting my thought process.

“What?” I say.

“It’s dinner time. Do you want to go out or have the others make something?”

“Go out.” I think Isaac knows where I want to go.

Isaac gives me a look. He knows it’s one of the last places I saw her alive. “I’ll get the car started.”

“Okay.” I sit on my bed for a minute. Do I really want to go out? It’s been a year since I’ve been there. Since I’ve seen my own little sister. I miss her so much. What did she do to deserve this? She’s never done anything to hurt anyone, at least not enough to make anyone want to kill her. What did we do to deserve this?

“Kill him. Find him and kill him.”

I hear a voice. Inside my head.


“Master will be happy with you. The man, he’s no longer of use to Master.”

Master?


“If you don’t do it, I will.”

What?


“Silly girl. They never told you, did they?”

“Truth?” I say out loud.


“On your 16th birthday, I awoke. I am everything you fear, stupid girl.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”


“Centuries ago, there were four clans. In these four clans lived powerful and beautiful beings. They were feared and adored. They were not human or monster. They were beings of nothing but power and will.”

“What does this have to do with me?”


“The four clans were Aureum , Inanis, Tempestas, and Argenti . The Aureums  were elite warriors, protecting humans and earning their trust. They were loved and powerful. The Inanis were feared. Once every generation in the head family, a child was born with a demon inside of them. They were feared. The Inanis were also warriors. Many of the clan members in the head family were barely holding onto their sanity, and the other clan members were scared of them.”

“What about the others?”


“The Argenti were very mysterious. There were few warriors in their clan, but the ones that made it were powerful. The ones who didn’t were either healers or could speak to animals. The Tempestas were fighters. No warriors, but fighters. They trained their bodies in physical strength.”

“What do I have to with this? Who are you? Why are you in my head?”


“So many questions, girl. You are part of Inanis. The most feared clan. You were born of the head clan.”

“Tell me everything.”


“When you born, there hadn’t been a child with a demon in them for two generations. The other children had only had minor demons. But you? Your demon is very powerful. You, somehow, were the exception. Even the head family feared what you would become. I am your demon. The demon of death. I am inside of you.”

***

Isaac, present


“Her demon awoke.”

“Just right now? How can you tell?” Darkness can tell that death woke up? But how?

“Death is one of my siblings.”

“I should have figured.” I need to get Anna out of there before she tries to use her power.

“No. My sister is not mad. She’s confused. And hurt. She thinks she’s going insane. After dinner, you should let me talk to her.”

“Let you talk to Anna? Somehow I don’t think that would go well.”

“She’s my sister! Let me talk to her!”

“Sister? What makes Anna your sister?”

“Her mother was my mother.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Death and darkness have been around forever, but the demons haven’t. Not us in particular, to be exact. We were slain by destruction. Our mother, deception, killed destruction. Death and I are the reincarnations of death and darkness. After deception killed destruction, she met my father, hate. Deception was a mother to fear and anger before  she was a mother to death and me.”

“So Anna and I are only one of four?”

“Yes. Our older brother is anger, and our older sister is fear. Our younger sister, as you already know, is death.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier, darkness?”

“You never asked, Isaac.”

“I shouldn’t have had to ask.”

“I’m sorry.”

I decide to wait for a few a more minutes before going to check on her. I think I’m the last person she’d want to talk to. After all, I’ve only lied to her for her entire life.

“I need to be the one to train her.”

“I’m not sure how Anna would feel about that…”

“Then ask her. I should have some kind of right to be with my sister!”

“In the last life, were you still brother and sister? You’re starting to sound weird like you did something wrong to her.”

“Yes, we were. I should have been better to her then, and I plan to spend my life making it up to her.”

Just then, I see Anna walking down the long driveway. She doesn’t look any different. Not confused or upset, but normal. I’m not surprised. She always was a good actress.

“Sorry I took so long. Couldn’t find my phone.” She says brightly.

“It’s okay. Ready to go now?” I say.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

Anna, present


Isaac and I are back home. Whatever it was in my head, death or not, shut up.

“Anna, can we talk?” Isaac askes.

I look over at him. “Okay.”

We walk for a few minutes before Isaac looks down at me and starts talking.

“There’s something I never told you.”

I look up at him. “What?”

“You ready?” Isaac says to no in particular. Then Isaac’s blue eyes turn grey. His light brown hair turns black. I stare at him. whoever is staring back is not Isaac. Whoever he is, he’s the exact opposite of Isaac. For every inch of light Isaac was, this guy is darkness.

“Isaac?” I say, unable to stop myself.

He looks down at me and smirks. “Sorry. Isaac’s not in the driver’s seat anymore.”

“What do you mean, ‘Isaac’s not in the driver’s seat anymore?’ It’s his body! Of course he is!”

“I’m just borrowing it.”

“How the heck can you just ‘borrow’ someone’s freaking BODY?!”

“You can’t.”

“Then what the heck are you doing in Isaac’s body?!”

“Talking to my little sister.”

“And who on earth is she? If you get that over with, I can talk to Isaac.”

Wait. He said talking. Not “I’m going to talk to my little sister.” No. NO.

“Now you’re getting it. Yes. I am your big brother, like it or not.”

I hate this guy. “I have two questions. One, who the hell are you and two, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!”

“To answer your first question I am the demon of darkness. And if you’re asking how I’m borrowing Isaac’s body, it’s too complicated and boring for me to describe. Long story short, I’m possessing him.”

“And why would Isaac let some freaking demon possess him?”

“I’ve known him longer than you have. In fact, I’ve known him since he was born.”

“So Isaac’s parents just happened to be friends with demons?!”

“No.”

“Then how have you known him his entire life?”

“I’ve known Isaac his entire life, same as death has known you your entire life.”

I just stand there. How does this guy know about death?

“I have nothing I want to say to him.” Death says inside my head.

“I have nothing I want to say to you,” I repeat.

“Death has nothing she wants to say to me. But I think you do.” Darkness says.

And suddenly, he seems familiar. His face.  The familiar dark look in his grey eyes. This guy really is my big brother. And I’ve missed him. My body seems to move without my consent, and I’m hugging him.

“I’ve missed you,” I say. At first, he’s tense, but after about five seconds he hugs me back.   

“NO! Stop!” Death says in protest. But I don’t stop. It feels like it’s been a million years since I’ve seen him, and I’m not eager to see him gone again. I feel like if I let him go, he’ll disappear.

Darkness laughs. It’s a surprisingly human-like sound, and for a second, he’s like any other brother. “I’m not going anywhere.” He says.

***

I almost forgot I had school today. Last night Darkness stayed up explaining everything to me.  And after I went to bed, Death decided she didn’t want to go sleep. I told her to shut up, but she didn't listen.

“Time to get up, Sleepyhead.”

“No. It’s too early.”

“You’ll be late to school.”

“I don’t care.”

“GET. UP. NOW.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Today Darkness is taking me to school, and we’re picking Cayley up. I’m going to try to avoid any questions about why Isaac’s not driving us, but knowing Cayley, she’s bound to ask some questions.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast, I head out to the car where darkness is waiting.

It’s about 5 minutes later when we arrive at Cayley’s house. She climbs in and whispers to me. “Who’s your new driver? Is he single?”

“Yes, but he’s too old for you and I’d never let you go out with him anyway.”

She pouts. “Why not? He’s kinda cute.”

“Because… he’s my… never mind. But it’s complicated, and anyway, he’s not your type.”

“He’s your what? Spill. Now. Ooh, is he your fiance? Like is it an arranged marriage?” Cayley says, sounding a bit too excited for my liking.

“No, he’s not my fiance. He’s…” I take a deep breath. “He’s my big brother.”

“What?! Since when did you have a brother?”

“Since yesterday.”

“What’s his name? How did you meet him? How did he find you?”

Damnit. I never thought of a name for him. I run through names that might be good for Darkness.

“Um... Adrian. His name is Adrian and it’s complicated. I’ll tell you later.”

“Why does this annoying human need to know? Darkness might not be happy about this.”

“Shut up,” I mumble. I don’t need death messing around in my head during school.

Dark one. In Latin, Adrian means ‘dark one’. Or ‘from Hadria’, but the first reason is why I chose the name.

Wait… How do I know that?

“Because I know that.” Death says.

“Anna?” Cayley’s voice brings me back. “We’re here.”

“Right.” I grab my bag and get out of the car.

“Will you be picking us up?” I ask Darkness.

“I think so. Isaac agreed to give me a full day.” He says.

“Also I gave you a human name. Adrian.” Hope he doesn’t mind.

Darkness seems to consider it for a minute. “Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”