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***

"I have a headache," I moaned as I rubbed my temples.

"Suck it up," Keatyn held no sympathy in her voice.

"How would you like to be compelled?" I threatened with a wicked grin. "For I am count Dracula!" I laughed maniacally with fries stuck in my mouth to resemble fangs.

"Geez, I'm terrified," Keatyn said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"Can you two just shut up," Death snapped at us. "I don't get why I have to be here." He made a point. None of us wanted grandpa grumps here any more than he wanted to be here. No matter how many times someone tried to lighten the mood, Death was still pissed, AF.

"Because we are going to achieve some level of normality in this house." Devin was the only one who thought that this arrangement was normal. A human, a demon hybrid, the angel of Death himself and the Devil just casually eating breakfast together, nothing strange at all...

"You don't even live here!" Death protested as he stabbed his fork into his third pie. I didn't understand how anyone could eat that much, and that says a lot since I eat more than both of my parents combined.

"I didn't see your name on the mortgage papers. Great news everyone, I get to stop paying the bills!"

Death's icy glare sent chills down my back but Devin easily brushed it off.

"So Lucy, how was your day? Talk with the big man upstairs?" I made another feeble attempt at a conversation.

"Andrea, you were raised better. That's dinner conversation," Devin scolded but he held a playful look behind the charade. I couldn't help but burst out laughing, Devin was funny. Even Keatyn choked on the water she was drinking as she tried to swallow the drink.

"I think there's water coming out my nose," she said as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Classy," Death said sarcastically as he reached out to grab another pie.

"How much more can you eat?" Keatyn said in disbelief and grabbed a pie to go before Death could devour them all.

"A hell of a lot more and a soul or two wouldn't be bad on the side so watch it," he snarled.

"Behave," Devin warned Death in a low tone.

"You're not my dad."

"I might as well be, I've looked after you since you were a boy. I think I'm more than qualified to be your dad."

Since he was a boy? I found it hard to picture Death as a boy. The word boy seemed to innocent for such a soulless creature, one with no remorse, no regret, no conscience. What had happened to his parents? What had caused Devin to take him in? Could it really have been that bad that Devin would have to get involved?

"Whatever," Death swiftly dismissed the conversation.

"What happened to your parents?" I blurted out without thinking. As soon as I said it I wished that I could stuff the words back down my throat.

"Don't ever ask me about my parents," Death growled. The room was plunged into a bone chilling silence, no one said a word.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry..."

"I said leave it," he barked as he left the room.

"Don't feel bad Andrea. Death's parents are just a-" he paused as he searched for the right words, "sensitive subject."

I nodded quietly as I finished my food. Someone could've cut the tension in the room with a knife.

"I'll be right back," I excused myself as I left my napkin on the table.

Keatyn shot me a glare that seemed to say, 'don't you dare leave me." Devin simply raised an eyebrow but let it slide.

I quickly ran down the stairs and into the gym room. Just as I'd suspected, Death was doing a trial. There were normal workouts and then there were Death's trials. Death's trials were absolute torture. The simulation equipment built into the gym simulated Demons, Angels, Fallen and so on so forth, every single creature you could ever imagine was built into the simulation and was programmed to attack you. But attacking you wasn't enough of a challenge for Death, no. He had them set to kill mode. A simulation so real that it was actually solid and deadly.

My only problem with the simulations is that Death preferred to do them half naked. Apparently clothes were too alternative for Mr Macho and his bulging biceps were flexing as he took a swipe at his attacker. It was quite distracting.

A few drops of the oozing black blood splattered across my cheek. "Enjoying the view?" Death growled as a fallen took a swipe at him again.

He quickly dodged the attack and countered, as quick as lightning. Fallen were dangerous, but Death, he was deadly. "On the contrary, I don't find a mass-murder very attractive," I snorted, trying to keep any trace of lying out of my voice. It was dangerous to be this attracted to Death, just wrong.

"I'm sure you don't," he smirked as the trial ended. "What do you want?" the easy-going expression had changed in an instant.

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier and-"

"Don't bother," he snapped as the simulation ended.

"But I really think that-"

"Did your parents drop you on your head as a baby?" Death growled. "Cause you don't seem to understand when to shut up."

"Well, actually, I don't remember much from my childhood..."

"That explains a lot."

"Excuse me?" I scoffed at the blatant insult.

"You heard me," he pushed past me.

"You're such an arrogant asshole!"

"At least try and be original," he rolled his eyes. "If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard that..."

"You're such a narcissistic, egomaniac, self-obsessed, sadistic, evil poop head!"

"Poop head? Really?" Death's tone was laced with amusement at my poor choice of words.

"But at the same time," I ranted on, "you're fucking crazy and I hate it. I hate that I feel the need to impress you all the time! I hate that I want you to stop hating me! I hate that nothing I ever do is good enough! I hate that I don't hate you!"

"Well if we're going to be hormonal teenagers and rant on about all the problems we have with each other, then you are the most annoying, spoilt, nosy little brat I have ever had the mispleasure of associating with and I could think of a hundred different things I'd rather do to you than be stuck with you all day every day."

"But..." I waited for him to add on something that would at least soften the blow a bit.

"There's no but Alexandrea. You're simply intolerable."

Ouch. "Fine."

"Fine," Death shrugged.

He had no idea of the crazy thoughts that were running through my head.

***

Author speaks: Hello there. I just wanted to thank y'all for reading so far and please, please, pretty please can y'all vote like crazy folks! If we can get 100 votes per chapter, I solemnly swear to put more hours into writing. Finals are coming up soon so I've been trying to write as much as possible so that I can still update regularly even though I'm trying to get good marks so that I can finally leave my school (I really don't like it there). Thank you all for reading this far though! Let's make a deal, for every 50 votes I get on a chapter, I'll do a double update. Yes, this is me bribing you 😀 But you know you love me!

Xoxo
-Naughty Cupcake