Melina abruptly awoke to the sound of her alarm clock ringing loudly on her bedside table. Half asleep, she raised her hand, reaching for the snooze button. Pressing the button, she sat up and stretched, her duvet covers sliding down her body.
Yawning, she looked over at her cupboard door to spot her school uniform hanging on the doorknob. She stared at it for a second, confused, before it suddenly kicked in – it was her first day at school.
Looking over at her clock, the time made her jump out of bed. It was 7am and she had slept through three alarms. Scrambling to the bathroom, she tripped over something and fell to the ground.
Trying to figure out why she had tripped, she looked to the side and realized she was in her demon form and had tripped over her own wings. Melina sighed.
Guess today is not going to be my day. I'm late and still can't fully control my demon form, even tripping over my own wings.
She took a deep breath and tried focusing like her brother had taught her. Jason had explained to her that sometimes she would transform into her demon form when sleeping as it was a more natural way for their species to sleep.
Over time she would be able to control her demon self, even in sleep, but until then she had to use a controlling technique to hide her demon form.
Within a few moments, Melina was standing back up and heading to her bathroom, her demon form hidden by magic. She quickly took a shower and headed back to her room to get dressed.
As she finished tying her shoe laces, she headed to the vanity, grabbing a brush and a purple ribbon. She was running late, so she couldn't do the hairstyle she had planned on doing yesterday, instead having to settle for a high ponytail.
She then headed downstairs to the dining room to grab something to eat. However, as she made her way down the stairs, she bumped into Kai.
He quickly made a grab for her, stopping her from falling down the stairs. She looked at her brother and saw him smirking.
"Finally wake up, sleeping beauty." Kai said, flicking his wet hair back, almost wetting Melina as drops of water splashed everywhere. "I was about to come wake you for breakfast."
"Yes…" Melina said, blushing. "And… um… thank you."
"No problem." Kai said, letting Melina go. He then stretched out his arm and said in a joking manner, "Care to join me in the dining room."
Melina hooked her arm with his and replied, "Yes my good sir."
Kai stared at her for a second before he began to laugh. Melina joined in with him and the two made their way to the dining room. As they entered, Melina saw that Jason and her father were already sitting down, having breakfast.
Both of them were in black suits and her father was taking a sip of what seemed to be coffee from a fancy tea cup while he read the newspaper.
Jason, meanwhile, was toasting bread with some sort of jam. He looked up upon hearing the door open and spotted the two, giving them a quick smile before taking a bite of his toast.
"Melina, Kai…" James suddenly said, not bothering to look up from his newspaper. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence."
"Apologies father, I overslept." Melina hurryingly said as she made her way to the seat next to Jason.
James looked up and smiled at his daughter. "No worries, dear. At least you're already dressed. Unlike someone…"
James looked sharply at Kai, who was sitting across from Melina, making a grab for a plate of eggs, before he turned back to his newspaper. Kai was wearing nothing but a pair of blue sweatpants, still dripping water everywhere because of his wet hair.
Seems like Kai just finished a workout session, Melina thought to herself.
Kai rolled his eyes and replied, "I'm not going anyway today so I might as well be comfortable. Besides, I have those extra drills that you gave me to do."
"You could have at least put a shirt on." Jason said. "The maids have done nothing but stare and blush at you since you came in."
"Well, what can I say. They know how to enjoy beauty." Kai smirked.
Melina rolled her eyes as she ate a piece of bacon. "You sure do think highly of yourself, Kai."
"Pfft…" Jason coughed as Kai glared at Melina.
"Seems my little sister has a bite too." Kai muttered, stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of egg. "I'll have you know, I do modeling as a hobby."
"Really?" Melina asked, turning to Jason for a response.
"Yeah, he's been doing it for two years now." Jason replied, before leaning down to whisper, "However, most of it has been in front of his mirror."
This time it was Melina's turn to cough from Jason's words to stop herself from laughing out loud. Kai glared at Jason about to make a comment when Andrew suddenly appeared.
"Master, the cars are waiting outside." Andrew said, standing at James' side and handing him a black briefcase. "Shall, I have the chef prepare lunch for you?"
"No, I'm going to be late today so just have a snack ready instead." James replied, standing up and taking the briefcase from Andrew.
He walked over to Melina and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Have a good day at school."
"Ah… yes." Melina said, a little awkwardly. "Um… thank you."
James smiled before he turned away. He walked to the door and left the three siblings alone in the dining room to finish up their breakfast.
"Melina, we should get going soon." Jason said moments later, breaking the silence.
"Ah… right… Let me just quickly brush my teeth and grab my bag." Melina replied, finishing off her toast.
"Sure. I'll meet you at the front door."
"Wait, you're taking Melina to school?" Kai asked.
"Yeah. I'm heading past her school for work so I'm going to drop her off."
"Mind if I tag along?"
"Dressed like that?" Jason asked. "Also, I thought you were staying home… Am I wrong?"
"You piece of-"
Melina stood up quickly and left the room, not wanting to hear them bicker. She made her way back upstairs and quickly brushed her teeth before grabbing her new school bag.
She had originally planned on using her old one but Andrew recommended she use the new one as he had charmed it to weigh nothing and fit everything she needed. And with all the textbooks she had gotten yesterday, she understood why he had recommended it.
Throwing the bag over her shoulder, she hurried downstairs to meet Jason at the front door. He was leaning against the wall, typing on his phone.
Melina poked him in the shoulder and said, "You ready?"
Jason looked up and smiled, waving a set of car keys in the air. "Yeah, let's get moving."
The two walked outside and headed to a black sedan car parked in front of the mansion. Melina headed for the passenger seat, while Jason took the driver's seat.
Once both were inside, Jason turned the car on and they made their way to Melina's school, driving in silence.
After driving for about five minutes, Jason pulled to a stop in front of a huge brick building. Students with different colored uniforms were walking to the building either in groups or alone.
"Jason, why does everyone have almost different uniforms?" Melina asked suddenly.
"It's to show which species or clan you belong to. Of course, all the uniforms are charmed with an illusion spell that humans think they all look the same. It's one of the reasons why they are custom made."
"I see… Guess it'll make it easier for me to figure out who to stay away from."
Jason nodded his head. "Yes. Now-"
A knock on the car window interrupted Jason and they both turned to see someone was standing in front of Melina's door.
"Ah… That must be Michael. He's Steven's younger son and will be helping you out at school."
"Oh yes… I remember." Melina said, recalling the conversation her father had had with her.
The door opened and Melina saw the person before her looked like a younger version of Steven. He had dark, brown hair, piercing black eyes and little brown skin. He was wearing long gray pants and a black blazer.
"Hey Jason…" The boy said before he turned to look at Melina. "And Melina, I assume. Nice to finally meet you."
He smiled at the last words, a fang peaking out. He held out his hand and Melina took it, giving it a shake.
"Nice to meet you too, Michael." Melina said before stepping out of the car.
Michael moved to the side and Melina leaned down to peek inside the car. "See you later then, Jason?"
"Sure…" Jason smiled. "Have a good day."
Melina nodded before closing the car door and turning to face Michael. Standing next to him, she realized that he was quite tall, almost a head taller than her.
"Let's get going then. Before we're late for class." Michael said, turning to Melina.
"Alright… Lead the way."