Just another damn day in the life. Erika thought as she got up from her comfy bed and headed to her bathroom. She looked herself on the mirror and just like everyone who just woke up, her porcelain white face had red stripes from the sheets , her long light brown hair was a mess and her eyes kinda red. She had Heterochromia, that means her eyes were two different colors: the right one green and the left one, hazel. Something peculiar and rare, and she loved it, well, except when people kept staring at her to see if they got it right.

Since last year she had been living back in Detroit. But it wasn't always like this… She was actually born in Vancouver, Canada and lived there the first three years of her life. Then, her dad was transferred by the company he worked for to Massachusetts, the three of them: Erika, her mom Helen, and her dad Chris, lived there until when she turned seven.

That was when they moved to Detroit. She liked the different places, she usually made friends with easy and loved to play with them. In Detroit she had good neighbors, couldn't really remember their names now, but she remembered that they took good care of her when none of her parents were at home. It was a pity it only lasted for one year, the next one, they were moving to Chicago.

They stayed there for long, until when Erika turned fourteen. Weeks later, her father announced that he'd have to move back to Canada, and that's when her mother had enough. It wasn't pleasant at all to be carried like a piece of luggage now and there, but what mattered to Erika, was that they were all together. And that matter was broken when her mom asked for the divorce, she didn't want to move again and her dad couldn't stay.

The last thing Erika wanted was to go through court, and that was exactly what happened. Her father tried to take it on easy, to hurt her the least possible, but not her mom, she wanted Erika to stay with her by any coast. They were still fighting over her when her dad surrendered and gave the custody to Helen. After a long talk with him, Erika understood his real reason: this wouldn't be over anytime soon, and it'd only become more painful as the time went by. Since both were successful Architects, the probability of Erika end up with her mom anyway was really high, like always in those kind of cases. He made it clear to her: he loved her more than anything and couldn't stand seeing her suffer like she was. Erika never doubted a word, when she called or emailed him, her dad was always there for her. He never gave up on her.

Her life with her mother wasn't bad at all. They loved each other, and Helen always tried her hardest to give Erika the best stuff around, but that doesn't mean she's spoiled. You'd guess that someone with that bank account would only wear expensive brands, but she didn't care about it, she was happy with Gap and H&M. Most of the money her mom gave to her and her dad sent to her, she saved on her own bank account. They weren't millionaires or such, but let's just say that money wasn't between their worries.

"Erikan, time to get up!" Her step father called from the other side of the door.

She sighed, his voice annoyed the shit out of her "I'm already up!" She answered with no sympathy. She didn't like him and as if everything wasn't enough, she hated the damn nickname he had given her.

The time she tried to tell him to knock it off, her mother said it was "sweet" and that he should keep it, that was enough to Dracon, or Dragon like she secretly called him, to keep it going. The man was a damn false, he seemed to really love her mother and all, but that 'all' didn't include Erika. At first, it was all a bed of roses, after they married, hell started, and that was exactly one year ago.

Bringing them back to Detroit seemed the only thing he had done right. Erika tried to convince her mom to move back to the house where they lived so long ago, but Dracon refused, it was too "cheap". Now they lived in a rich ass apartment, in the finest area of Detroit. He was a rich bastard, his father owned a big computer company, of which he was the head manager. And that gave him the thought that he was better than everyone, but the reality is that he was a dumb ass. Sure, he always provided them with the latest computers and really understood of that area, but if you asked him what was going on the country, he was more likely to say "which country? Oh, ours?"

"Hello sweetie" Helen greeted from the dinning room, as Erika walked straight to the kitchen, already wearing her school uniform.

"Hi mom" After taking her favorite mug from the cabinet, she sat on the chair, with them. The maid, Loren, never put her favorite mug on the table under Dracon's orders.

"Erikan, why do you insist on drinking on this mug?"

"'Cause I like it"

"Because" He corrected her and she rolled her eyes, just like a 17 year-old girl would do. "Don't roll your eyes at me, that's very impolite"

"Is breathing also impolite?" She asked with a fake smile and acid voice.

"Excuse me?"

"Erika!" Her mom censored before dropping the subject "So, what are you going to do today?"

"Same old mom, school then back home… That's what I'm gonna do" She said quickly before start drinking her coffee and eating a toast with butter all over it.

"Aren't you going to ask what I'm going to do?" Helen asked with a small smile. Erika shook her head 'no'.

There wasn't really a point to be sweet with her mother anymore, she wasn't the same anymore and yes, all Dracon's fault. All Dragon's fucking fault! She was always on his side, even when it was obvious that he was wrong. But he made her happy, she couldn't exactly figure out how, but he did anyway, and despite it all, the last thing she wanted was to see her mother sad, that's why she never really made a strong attempt to fight against him.

"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway"

Erika shrugged "Suit yourself" She said with her mouth full of chewed toast. Her mom looked at her in disapproval, that made her to smile inside.

Helen smiled at Dracon, who smiled back "Today we have a doctor appointment"

She wasn't interested at all, but felt inclined to ask "Why's that?"

"I'm three months pregnant" Her mom was really thin, not in the anorexic way, and the belly had just started to show off.

"WHAT?!" She swallowed the food all at once and ended up coughing at bit. After recomposing herself, he looked shocked to her mother, who had a big smile on her face. And the demon was laughing

"I told you she'd be shockingly happy"

Erika looked at him with a brow raised. She didn't care about having a brother or a sister, maybe that'd be good, but not a baby from that monster, that could be anything but actually good news.

"Aren't you happy sweetie?" Her mom asked while touching her arm.

Erika soon took it off "Extremely" She answered without any sign of a smile "I'm late" She got up of the table, when she was already by the hall, she heard Dragon saying

"You didn't ask to be excused!"

Fuck you! A sudden wish to give him the finger and punch his face took over her, but the wish of never seeing his face again was stronger. After brushing her teeth, she took her stuff and rushed out of the door. The only person who said goodbye was Loren, and Erika could only manage a weak smile before shutting the front door.

Since they moved, Loren had been working with them. She was about her 30's, with crystal blue eyes and curly red-ish brown hair. Lately, she was more of a mother to Erika than her own.

The elevator seemed to take more than usual to get to the last floor and when it finally did, she raced to the first garage, where her dark green racing Jeep was parked. It was a gif from her father when she turned sixteen, she loved it more than anything. Dracon wanted to give her an Audi, which she refused fiercely. She didn't want to show of, the car had nothing to do with her style, plus, she didn't want anything from him anyway.

She drove to the school while guitar solos blasted from the speakers. As she finally parked the car, she gave a heavy sigh and took a deep breath. She never was much of a model student, nor was the kind who only skips classes, she was mostly just a bit above the average grades, it was good enough for her. She surely considered skipping today though, but her mother probably had already called the head master, the last thing she wanted, was problems at school.

Erika took her purple and black shoulder bag from the passenger's seat and locked the doors, not that she thought anyone would like to steal her car with a parking lot full of Mercedes, BMWs and security guards, but she just wanted to make sure. The Chermical High School's entrance was full of teenagers doing the same as she, preparing themselves for another day full of useless stuff.

"Hey Ka!" Her friend Alexis greeted whit a smile while she made her way to Erika.

"Yeah, hi" Erika answered with no attempt to force a smile.

"Ok, spill it out"

"Not now Alex. Let's just get inside"

"Did something happen?" Alexis insisted and Erika sighed.

"You're not gonna stop asking 'til I tell you, will ya?"

"Nope! Learned that from you"

"Yeah, remember me to kill myself later!" Alexis chuckled "Oh no, maybe I should do it now?"

"You and your trash! Come on, what's wrong?"

"My mom's pregnant"

Alexis' eyes grew "Is it Dracon's?"

"No! It's the neighbor's!" She answered with dark acid humor

"Shit! What now?"

"Good question! What now? Maybe this will be good and Dragon will stop breathing down my neck!"

"I hope so! Damn, I'm so sorry"

"Yeah, me too. Though it's gonna be interesting… Do you think my mom has an egg inside of her?"

Alexis laughed out loud and Erika joined her as they walked in and mixed themselves with the teen mass.

"Hey Ma!"

"Oh, good morning Bobby! Where were you?"

"Just went for a walk! Is Fairy up?"

"Son, I already asked you to stop calling him like that"

Bobby laughed "Sorry Ma. Is Jackie up?"

"Not yet, why?"

"I ran into that friend of his, Dan I guess or somethin'. Anyway, he asked me to give him this" Bobby said while showing Evelyn a brown envelop with a small smile.

"You didn't open it already, did you Bobby Mercer?"

Bobby laughed and started walking upstairs "Of course not!" He wouldn't be able to convince a fly with that.

Two hours later Jack woke up and headed upstairs, the house was empty as he expected. After putting himself a full bowl of cereal with milk, he landed on the couch and turned the tv on. During the commercial, his eyes landed on a small envelope on the coffee table, right in front of him. He looked around, like if checking if someone was looking at him while he'd take a sneak peak, he didn't need it, but as they say, old habits die hard.