It started not long after I was born. It was mum Celest Delamare, my father Alister Delamare and me Marisa.

My father was never around much, he was always at work…… you see he was head of the church we went to and he was soon up for a promotion to be Cardinal of the Magisterium.

Five years past, I am seven my mum had another baby, his name is Marcel, and my father got the promotion. We don't see him ever now unless he comes home to collect some clothes. Eventually he left my mother and married a young girl who was maybe eighteen and had no children to hold him back. This made mother very angry.

My brother and I would become scared when our mother became violent towards us. If I got bad grades in school, I got a beating, if my brother came to my aid, he'd get one to.

At first, they only came when one of us would slip up in school or at home, now they come whenever my mother is unhappy…. Which is all the time.

As time went on my brother and I would grow numb to the pain and not give our mother a reaction every time she would hit us.

Another five years past and I'm turning twelve. I'm on the cusp of changing. My daemon who has no name is slowly changing too. When I'm on my way to school, I envy all the rich kids who have fancy clothing, fancy daemons. I just wish that was me, I want to be that rich and fancy, I want to marry a rich man and have the life I was deprived from.

My mother has sent me to an all-girls boarding school just to get me out of the house, I feel sorry for my brother as he's now on his own. During my time at this school, I get the highest scores and was able to graduate early. I was on my way back home and I come across a…. I don't know how to explain it, but I could see through it. I dropped all my bags and walk through it, it's not like my mother is waiting for me.

As Marisa walks through the window thoughts cross her mind. Will I die? Is this ever going to come to an end? What will I find at the end?

At the other end of the window, there was another city, one like my Oxford but very different in so many ways. I walked the streets with my daemon who has settled as a majestic snub nose golden monkey. His fur glistens in the bright sunlight.

"Hello pretty lady. I was wondering if I could paint your portrait? My studio is just there the one called Skipton's". said Grinstead

Marisa wasn't sure as she never had a portrait done, but she always wanted one as all the rich people have them and that's what she wants to be.

"Ok, sure but I haven't got any money to give you"

Grinstread just smiled. "I'm sure we can work out something"

Marisa sat the three hours, her daemon didn't like sitting still for that long, after thirty minutes he was getting anxious and wanted to get up and move.

"Ok I'm done, what do you think?" Grinstead turns the canvas to show Marisa her portrait.

"Oh, I love it. You've brought out all my best features" Marisa said with a big grin on her face "Do you want me to work for you to pay off the portrait? How can I pay you back?"

"I only want one thing from you dear Marisa, I want you to be my girlfriend. That's the only payment I want"

I wasn't too sure on the whole dating thing as I've never had a boyfriend, but I couldn't say no.

They went everywhere together, Grinstead treated Marisa like his queen. It didn't last long, he got sick and Marisa had to leave and return to her own world.

Marisa returns to her world and not much had changed. Her mother never noticed that she went missing for a month, Marcel on the other hand noticed his sister was gone.

Term was starting up again, Marisa attended St Sophia's College. When she wasn't at school, she was a member of the Holy Church and was heavily involved in politics. After graduating St Sophia's Marissa married a man who was also a member of the Holy Church and a politician.

I didn't want to marry Edward, but my mother pushed for me to do it. I now look at it as I've gained some power. I wrote an academic work called The Bronze Clocks of Benin

What has made me extremely mad is I can't publish my own work, it has to go under a man's name and he get all the credit for my work.

I joined the Magisterium, became one of maybe five females in a male's world. I obtained a role in the CCD, then made my own program The General Oblation Board. I was very proud of how far I got in my life. I was in a miserable marriage with a man who liked to beat me when he came home drunk. I learnt very quickly to block out the pain and the horrible slurs he would yell at me. I was seriously thinking of leaving him, he told me if I left him, I would lose everything and become a nobody. I WILL NOT GO BACK TO LIFE.

Edward would go away a lot and leave me at our flat alone. I started getting more involved with what I called my baby, I don't know why I enjoyed watching children get separated from their daemons, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders knowing these kids were safe from a life of sin.

The Magisterium had me go off to conferences to show off my work I've been working on, then I met HIM! Lord Asriel Belacqua. He was so handsome and rugged, his daemon was a gorgeous snow leopard, her fur still had snow on it from being outside. I got distracted with some board members and didn't see him again that night.

Day two of the conference, I was hoping I'd see the rugged explorer. As I was almost out the door, someone grabbed my hand. I never thought in my wildest dreams it would be him. We walked outside and talked.

"So, what brings a beautiful young lady like you to a place like this?"

I blushed so hard as not even my husband spoke to me like that. "I work for the General Oblation Board and the Magisterium sent me here to get more knowledge about what we are doing with dust. I know some things as I studied it, but there are just some things I need answers to"

I started to shiver from standing in the cold, Asriel gave me his thick jacket to keep me warm. "Aren't you going to get cold?" I said to him.

"I'm use to the cold as most of my work is done up in the north, where it is the coldest"

"Marisa Coulter, you are needed in the board room" said a voice that came from the front door.

"Thanks for this Asriel, but I have to go"

"WAIT! When can I see you again Marisa?" Asriel put out his hand to grab Marisa's

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow till the ball that's happening tomorrow night. We can meet up if you like?"

Asriel smiles and nods "Till tomorrow Marisa"

Marisa looks down at her daemon and grunts at him "WHAT? It's not like I'm going to sleep with him. He's just a friend and that's it"