The Damned Demon

Grace\'s heart stopped in her chest as she stared at him, her breath catching in her throat, "Remy?" Her voice was barely a whisper, trembling as she took in the sight of him standing there, safe and well. She couldn\'t believe it—couldn\'t believe he was real. Tears welled in her eyes as she reached out a shaky hand toward him.

Remy stumbled forward towards her bed, his own eyes shimmering with unshed tears and couldn\'t believe he truly heard her voice after all this time.

This wasn\'t a dream or an illusion.

She was already more than 90 years old when she "died". But now she was looking younger, as if in her sixties, with long yet elegant white hair and soft wrinkles on her skin.

There could only be one reason why she could look like this despite being so old and everything was making sense now.

"I... I thought... they said you were dead," he mumbled, his voice choking as he dropped to his knees beside the bed, his hand trembling as he took hers.

Grace cupped his cheek with her hand, her thumb brushing away the tear that slid down his face, "I\'m here, my child," she whispered, her voice full of emotion, "I never left you. I never will."

Rebecca crossed her arms, leaning against the wall with a huff, "Well, isn\'t this a tearjerker," she muttered, though she couldn\'t help but think of receiving Oberon like this when he returns safely.

Grace couldn\'t care about anything else. All she cared about was the boy in front of her—the grandson she had risked everything to protect. The grandson she would fight for, no matter the cost.

Remy\'s chin quivered, overwhelmed by guilt and sadness as tears began to streak down his face. He wrapped his arms around his grandmother tightly, his voice trembling, "I am so sorry, Grandma. You were alive all this time, and I… I didn\'t even know. I—" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Grace gently pulled him back, cupping his tear-streaked cheeks as her eyes softened, "Don\'t, Remy. Don\'t feel guilty. I hid the fact that I was alive on purpose… to protect you. Ever since I sold my soul to a demon, I couldn\'t be near you without putting you in danger. Watching you from afar was the only way I could keep you safe."

Remy\'s lips trembled as his voice grew weaker, "Did Hellbringer manipulate you into selling your soul? Did he make you do this?"

Before Grace could answer, Rebecca, standing tall beside them with her arms crossed, scoffed. "Manipulate? Your grandmother willingly sold her soul. She was practically waiting for someone like Hellbringer to come along so she could get revenge for you and your parents. You should be thanking her for having the courage to make that choice instead of dying a pathetic old woman with no justice." Her radiant red eyes glinted with a mix of coldness and challenge.

Startled by the imposing figure, Remy blinked. He had momentarily forgotten she was standing here in his shock and pain, and now that he once again noticed her, she looked both terrifying and commanding.

Her piercing yet radiant red eyes and menacing presence unsettled him, but he didn\'t dare say anything back. He was too shocked that his grandmother had willingly allied with a demon to seek revenge.

Grace chuckled softly at Rebecca\'s words and turned to her with a teasing smile, "My grandson just got here, and you\'re already trying to scare him?"

Rebecca snorted, "Scare him? I\'m just making sure he doesn\'t get all sappy for you. You humans need a reality check sometimes, and I\'m giving it to him."

Grace shook her head helplessly, then turned back to Remy. Her voice softened again, "Remy, listen to me. I have no regrets about the choice I made. I\'d do it all over again if it meant protecting you and avenging your parents. What she said isn\'t wrong—my soul couldn\'t have found peace knowing that those responsible still roamed free."

Remy\'s hands gripped the bedsheets tightly as he listened, conflicted. "I understand, Grandma, but I\'m worried about what\'s going to happen to you now. What if Hellbringer makes you do something terrible? He\'s a demon, and no demon helps anyone without demanding a price in return. What did he ask from you?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, crossing her arms with a look of annoyance and envy, "Your grandmother is the luckiest human alive, brat. To be favored by a demon like Hellbringer? That\'s practically winning the lottery. He doesn\'t even show me, his right-hand demon, the same kind of favor he shows her."

Remy\'s mouth dropped open as he stammered, "Y-You\'re a demon?" He had suspected something, but hearing it outright was still shocking. Her presence, while chilling, didn\'t radiate the kind of darkness he expected from a demon.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What did you think I was? A regular, pathetic Hunter? I helped your grandma try to save you. Of course, we failed spectacularly," she added with a frustrated grunt.

Grace looked at Remy seriously and spoke in a low voice, "Remy… now that you\'re here, it\'s time you know the truth. I\'m the Huntress, the leader of the Coven of the Damned. I do Hellbringer\'s bidding, just like Rebecca. But Remy, Hellbringer isn\'t the kind of demon you think he is. I wouldn\'t have believed it either until I learned what kind of man he really is."

Remy felt a chill crawl up his spine. His heart raced as he whispered, "Grandma… what do you mean? What kind of demon is he?"

Grace\'s eyes held a fierce light as she spoke, her voice steady but filled with conviction. "He\'s not just a demon who wants to destroy and feed on souls. He knows more about this world and the forces pulling its strings than you can imagine. Derek, the WHA… they are not the saviors they pretend to be. They\'re hiding things from us, controlling us. Hellbringer… he\'s trying to break that control. He\'s fighting to expose the truth."

Remy\'s eyes widened as he listened to her words. He had always trusted the WHA, believed in their mission to protect humanity from demons. But now, hearing his grandmother speak with such certainty, his entire worldview began to crack. "Expose the truth?" he whispered, "What truth?"

"It\'s time I told you a few truths..." Grace began as she began to reveal and explain some things, making Remy\'s eyes grow wider the more he listened to her.

Grace told him about the M.A.M experiments, the experiments on young demons kidnapped from the Shattered Dimension, and the real reason why his parents died, which was something that shook Remy the most, never expecting the man behind all this to be the president, Derek Sterling!

Remy\'s back slumped under the weight of the truths he had just learned. Everything he had believed in, everything he had worked and trained for, now felt like a cruel deception. The ideals, the justice he thought he was serving, all of it seemed tainted, twisted by hidden agendas he could barely comprehend.

"I can imagine how devastated you must be feeling now," Grace\'s voice was gentle as she reached out, holding his hand. "I felt the same when I first learned the truth. I\'m sorry I had to burden you with this all at once, but there\'s no time for slow revelations. I know you\'re strong and smart enough to understand and do the right thing. So, my child…" She squeezed his hand, her eyes soft yet filled with urgency. "Do you realize what you must do now?"

Remy looked into his grandmother\'s eyes, her face filled with determination and love. One thing was certain: she had sacrificed everything for him, fought tooth and nail to protect him. Even if his entire world had been turned upside down, he couldn\'t turn his back on her.

"Grandma…," Remy said, his voice steady, though his heart was heavy with uncertainty of the future, "Whatever happens, I\'m with you."

Grace\'s smile was one of deep relief as she pulled him into a hug. The warmth of her embrace calmed some of the storms swirling inside him. But before the moment could linger, Rebecca snorted from the corner, her arms crossed, "Good thing you made the right choice, brat. Or I would\'ve had the interesting task of skinning you alive until you agreed."

Remy blinked, caught off guard by her bluntness, while Grace shot her a quick, piercing stare. Rebecca cleared her throat and waved her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes, "Of course, it\'s a joke. What kind of demon do you think I am?"

Before Remy could process any more of Rebecca\'s unsettling humor, the door creaked open, and two radiant figures stepped into the room. Emiko and Yui entered, their faces glowing with warmth as they saw Grace reunited with her grandson.

Grace\'s face brightened, and she gently turned Remy toward the girls, "Remy, these are the two who helped rescue you from the WHA," she said with a proud smile. "They\'re like my granddaughters, and we\'ve taken care of each other ever since I joined this cult."

Yui\'s radiant smile widened as she eagerly stepped forward, shaking Remy\'s hand with both of hers, "Finally! I\'m so happy to meet Aunt Grace\'s grandson! I\'ve heard so much about you. I\'m Yui, and this is..." She tugged a startled Emiko forward by her hand, "...this is Emiko. We both owe our lives to your grandmother. We wouldn\'t be here if it weren\'t for her."

Grace\'s eyes glowed with warmth as she watched the introduction. Remy, though still processing everything, found himself offering a soft smile, "Thank you," he said sincerely, his gaze shifting between the two girls. "Thank you both for helping my grandmother and for saving me. I can\'t say how grateful I am for you taking care of her when I wasn\'t able to."

Emiko returned a small but genuine smile. "That\'s fine. You can be there for her now," she said softly, her words like a quiet reassurance.

Remy nodded, feeling a flicker of hope amidst the whirlwind of revelations.

Grace\'s expression shifted as she looked around the room, "Where is Master?" she asked, her brows furrowing slightly, "I thought he\'d come in with you."

Yui blinked, her eyes widening. "Oh, he was with us when we arrived! He must be in one of the other rooms," she said, glancing over at Emiko, who nodded in agreement.

"I will go talk to him. You guys can stay here and catch up," Grace said with a smile before walking out of the room.

Remy looked in the direction his grandmother left for a while, wondering what kind of relationship his grandmother had with Hellbringer.

Good thing to wonder about :#