Hellbound

Prologue

Wiping away the stray tears that slipped from her eyes, Azazel pressed her lips into a thin line as she watched her father quietly bandage the wound on her knee.

She couldn't clearly remember the last time she had seen him. Back then, she had only been nine years old at most. Seeing all the kids at school with both their parents had made her jealous so, Azazel had decided to go on a journey. She was determined to find her father, even if that meant entering the depths of hell itself. If all the other kids got to see their father every day, then she needed something more than just a photograph and some vague stories. She deserved a father who was there.

At that time, she believed that whatever issues kept her parents apart, she could solve them. After all, Azazel had been told that she was a smart child. She did well in class and she was definitely better than her peers. But she was also nine and naïve.

The only thing her journey had done was put her mother through so much heartache. The only thing her journey had done was make her realize the kind of man her father truly was. It made her see the reasons why he stayed away. The reasons why she spent every important moment of her life without his presence.

Now, at age fifteen, Azazel had no desire to see her father, to know him. All she wanted was to live a normal and most importantly, a human life. After what had happened in school, that didn't seem possible anymore.

It had been a harmless prank, just a little push. But she had gotten hurt. She had been in pain and she had been so very angry.

"Azazel," her father called out as she finally looked up at her with eyes she couldn't recognize.

Since her mother only had one picture of her father, Azazel had spent hours looking at it, hours memorizing it. The man in the picture wasn't the man sitting before her, yet, somehow, he was.

Azazel had always been told that she looked like her father and she used to believe it too. After all, her father was supposed to have dark skin and almond-coloured eyes. He was supposed to have black hair, curly, just like hers and he was supposed to be tall, broad-shouldered with a smile that lit up his face.

The man before her though, he was tall but thin, his deep blue eyes stark against his porcelain skin. Wavy blonde hair fell over his forehead and went down all the way to his shoulders.

But he was her father. Azazel knew this because she could recognize the guilty look in his eyes, the same look he always had whenever they met. Whenever she asked him why he couldn't stay.

"You always asked me to stay with you, remember?" her father reminded, smiling wearily.

"That was a long time ago," Azazel whispered, looking away from him. "Mom has Michael now... I have Michael now. And Alice."

Her answer was meant to hurt her father. It was meant to show him that she no longer needed him. She didn't want him. Especially not in her life. Yet, when sadness flickered through his eyes, she couldn't help but regret her choice.

"I know you do." He smiled. "Even so, I was wondering if you wanted to come stay with me for a while."

Azazel blinked in confusion. Out of everything he could have said, she wasn't expecting an offer like this. When she was a child, she had begged him a million times to take her home with him but he never had. Though, now that she was older, she understood his reason for it.

"Why would I do that?" Azazel asked carefully, a little suspicious of her father's intentions.

"You're my daughter," he answered. "Isn't that reason enough? When you were a child, I couldn't keep you with me but now, things are different. You know who I am. Most of all, you know what you're capable of. If you come with me, I can teach you. I can get to know you."

The offer was everything that Azazel had ever wanted. It made her heart flutter in her chest and it made her want to burst into tears, to accept wholeheartedly. But she couldn't forget the time he had left her behind either. She couldn't forget the times when she looked for his face in the crowd but he was never around. When she had said that she had Michael and Alice, she was serious.

While her father had never been part of her life, Michael had. He had loved her like she was his own daughter, taken care of her and shown her that she mattered. Then there was Alice, her little sister and the light of her life. Azazel finally had a family.

"I can't," she answered, shaking her head. There was only one thing she wanted her whole life and now that she had it, how could she just leave it behind?

Squeezing her hands, her father nodded.

"I understand," he said as he got up. Since he had done what he came here to do, it was time for him to leave.

The way he always did.

Leaning down, he kissed Azazel's forehead and, in that moment, she wanted to change her answer. But gripping the cushion beneath her, she tried to stay strong.

"My offer will always stand," her father said as he pulled back. "If you ever change your mind."

"I won't," Azazel answered, determined to be human. To be normal.

Her father smiled, "In case you do. I'll ask you again when you're 18. Until then, goodbye Azazel."

And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone without leaving behind a single trace of himself.

Staring at the place where her father once stood, Azazel made up her mind. She knew exactly what she would say when he returned for her.

No.

Nothingor no one in this world could change her mind.