A knock on my apartment door startled me awake, causing me to fall from the couch where I’d been sleeping. The TV was on, playing a cooking show that made my stomach grumble. Sadly, the TV was loud enough that, in my thin-walled apartment, the person at the door would know I was here. Glancing at the time on my way to the door, I paused. staring blankly at the time I reconsidered opening the door. Who would knock on my door at 3AM? Not to mention the fact I recently moved cities and didn’t even have any acquaintances yet, let alone friends. With a sigh, I decided to check the peephole. If the person didn’t leave I could call the police. Or deal with them myself, a single person brought no fear to me. If no one was there I might as well go back to sleep. With the silence of a mouse, I slowly walked to the taunting door and checked the peephole. A soft sigh escaped my lips. No one was there, thank goodness. Turning off the TV and lights I went to bed. If I slept on the couch all night I’d be sore in the morning on top of the usual exhaustion. “Being human sucks,” I grumbled. As my mind wondered down slumber road, I faintly heard a sweet murmur of singing, soft and barely audible. My dreams that night were filled with the lullaby, taking my mind back to my childhood when my mother sang similarly when I couldn’t sleep. The next day, as I stared at the delicately wrapped box now sitting on my table, after finding it on my doorstep, I wondered if I did have a friend and forgot. Or maybe a stalker. That would be horrible since I just moved less than a week ago and have barely left my apartment except for work. Speaking of work, I was going to be late if I didn’t leave. The strange gift could wait, my new, super exciting, assistant job awaits. I just love serving coffee and getting yelled at by my boss. I barely got to the bus before it left, what I have to do today filling my mind as I forgot about the gift. Why did humans have such stressful lives? In fact, I forgot about the gift up until the moment I got home. Squinting at the fancy looking wrapping paper, red and black in colour, I once again wondered who could have given this to me. They likely put it on the wrong doorstep. Shrugging at the thought, I sat down and tore open the neatly wrapped paper. A velvet black box was revealed and, before I could overthink this simple task more, I removed the lid. A sharp intake of breath and tear filled eyes is how I met the item inside. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t possible. It had been so many years since I last saw them. Too many. A sharp grin spread across my face. Taking out the delicate and twisted black crown from the box, I allowed the dormant energy inside me to flow through my veins once more. My true form, a winged demon with red eyes and small horns, revealed itself. Under the twisted crown sat a gorgeous, blood red dress. The scarlet matched the deep red of my eyes perfectly. “Mother, you’ve outdone yourself.” I grinned wider. “I knew I heard you last night.” Glancing behind me, where my mother had been waiting. Of course, during a rebellion she had changed from the last time I saw her. I had merely been a child back then. One of her horns was broken, replaced with red crystal to hide the sensitive bone. Her black hair was shorter, cut above her shoulders instead of the remember waist length. She examined me for a moment before swiftly gathering me into her arms. “I’ve missed you so much Sorrow.” “I missed you too, Mom,” I whispered back, tears threatening to fall. “I’m ready to go home.” My mom pulled back a devilish smirk on her face. “Hurry and get ready. “ She gestured to the dress I held. “We have a party to get to!” One thing I learned about humans is that they threw terrible parties. Human parties were boring and all they did was drink and dance. Demon parties created calamities and today the world would crumble. Because I was going home. Finally.