Chapter 1 Devil's Shadows

• The rain poured like the clouds were crying for Ivy Everett. Standing under a streetlamp outside Mary’s Hospital, she was holding a crumpled prescription slip in one hand and an empty wallet in the other. Her mother’s coughing echoes in her mind. Bills piled up, her paycheck barely covered food, and now this, a new round of medication she couldn’t afford.
• “Just a few more hours,” she whispered to herself, trying to gather courage. Ivy had picked up a late-night shift at the diner to scrape together the money, but the crushing weight of her situation left her breathless.
• That’s when the black car screeched to a stop at the check.
• The vehicle looked out of place on this rundown street, its polished exterior glowed under the light. Two muscular men stepped out, seeing the area before one of them opened the back door. A man stepped out like a predator.
• Harrison Willow.
• Dressed in a sharp three-piece suit, his presence was giving an aura authority and danger. His clean-shaven face and charming smile could fool anyone, but there was something about his cold blue eyes, as though he could stare at a person and not see them as human.
• Ivy didn’t know who he was yet, but the street knew. The few lingerers vanished into the night, leaving Ivy alone with this devil in disguise.
• Harrison barely looked at her as he walked into the alley across the street, his men following close behind.
• Ivy’s eyes go on the alley with a mix of curiosity and unease passing inside her. The part of her screamed to go home, but fear overpower caution. Her feet carried her toward the alley’s entrance just as a scream broke through the rain.
• Peeking around the corner, Ivy paused.
• A man knelt on the ground, blood going beneath him. Harrison stood over him, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He held a knife in his hand, his other hand adjusting the cufflinks on his sleeve.
• “Last chance,” Harrison said, his voice has no emotion. “Where is it?”
• “I—I don’t know!” the man hesitated.
• Harrison tilts his head, studying the man as though he were a broken toy. “Wrong answer.”
• Before Ivy could process what she was seeing, Harrison drove the knife into the man’s chest with a swift. The man’s scream cut off as he collapsed.
• Ivy gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth too late. Harrison’s head snapped up, his cold eyes locked onto hers.
• “Who’s there?” one of his men shouted, drawing a gun.
• Harrison raised a hand, stopping his men. His lips curled into a smile. “Step out, darling. I don’t like games.”
• Ivy’s legs felt like lead, but she stepped into the alley, her heart thumping in her chest. Rain soaked her clothes, and her breath fogged in the cold air.
• “I—I didn’t see anything,” she stammered.
• Harrison’s smile widens as he approached her, each step slow. The knife in his hand dripped red blood.
• “You didn’t see anything?” he repeated, his voice mocking. “How convenient.”
• His men chuckles, but Ivy couldn’t get her eyes away from Harrison. There was something magnetic about him, even as fear holds her.
• “What’s your name?” he asked, his voice soft but commanding.
• “Ivy,” she replied, swallowing hard. “Ivy Everett.”
• Harrison nodded, as if binding her name to his memory. Then, to her horror, he reached out and brushed her wet hair from her face.
• “You’re quite brave little mouse, wandering into a lion’s den,” he said, his voice low and almost amused. “But bravery won’t save you.”
• Ivy took a step back, her heart racing for a way out. “I swear, I won’t tell anyone. I’ll just leave, and you’ll never see me again.”
• Harrison’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold expression. “No. I don’t think I can let you go that easily. You see, Ivy, trust is something I don’t give freely.”
• He leaned closer, his voice a whisper. “But you interest me. So, let’s make a deal.”
• “A... deal?” she hesitates, confused and terrified.
• “You’re in a chain, aren’t you? Working yourself to death for someone else,” he said, looking at her worn-out shoes and the prescription slip still clutched in her hand. “I can make your problems disappear. Money, power, protection will be all yours.”
• Ivy blinked, struggling to understand where he was going. “And what do you want in return?”
• Harrison chuckled. “You. Your loyalty and your obedience.”
• Her heart sank. “You want me to….”
• “To work for me,” he interrupted smoothly. “You’ll be my assistant. I’ll provide everything you need and in exchange, you’ll do exactly as I say. No questions.”
• It sounded like a trap but Ivy couldn’t see a way out. Her mother’s face flash in her mind, pale and weak in that hospital bed.
• “I don’t have a choice, do I?” she whispered.
• Harrison’s smile returned. “There’s always a choice, Ivy. But I wouldn’t recommend the other.”
• As Ivy hesitated, the sound of approaching sirens fills the air. Harrison’s men got tensed, their hands on their weapons.
• Harrison turned to her. “Decide quickly, darling. The clock is ticking.”
• Ivy looked at the lifeless body on the ground, the knife still in Harrison’s hand, and the smirk on his face as if he already knew her answer.
• “I’ll do it,” she said.
• Harrison’s smile widens as he put the knife into his jacket. “Smart girl.”
• But as his hand gripped her wrist, pulling her toward the waiting car, Ivy couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just signed her soul away to the devil.
• The car door shut, locking Ivy inside with Harrison. “Welcome to my world, Ivy,” he said, his voice was a dark promise. “You’re mine now.”
• To be Continued….