The Princess and the Black Bird

       My parents never loved me like my adopted mother Countess Hartley did. I was given up as soon as I was born. Countess Hartley saw past whatever my parents hated in me.  However, I never imagined she would love me enough to make a deal with a demon.

       My adoptive mother needed protection, or so she thought. I honestly thought things were going fine. Though, I couldn't help but notice how nervous she seemed sometimes.  She convinced herself that she was in enough danger to summon a demon and make a deal of protection. Not just for herself though, but for me as well.

       The deal was double sided though. The demon had a son close to my age and he wanted me to marry him when I turned 16.  She was against it at first but she must have seen something in that demon's son to agree to such a thing.

       About when I was 15, the countess was struck by a mysterious sickness. Lying on what she thought was her deathbed, she told me everything. I didn't believe her story, thinking it was just her sickness talking. So, to cheer her up, I told her I would find a cure in no time.
       ...That's when the nightmare started.