Chapter Twenty-Seven: Jade’s Reigns:

Jade held tight control over her daughter. She had everything perfect. Jessie was her ideal tool. It came apart when her daughter met a boy.

Hikaru ruined all of Jade’s hard work. Jessie used to follow orders with no questions. Before then, it took work to break her. Ah yes, Jessie was an unruly demon in those days. From the moment that her daughter was born, Jade hated her.

The succubus demon didn’t want to be a mother. She never knew who the father was. Jade thought that she could throw away the baby after giving birth. Fate refused to let her part with her unwanted child. Different demons passed the baby around before she returned to her mother. Jade tried in vain to dump her daughter again.

It didn’t take long for Jade to find a use for Jessie. Her friends helped her reach that conclusion.

“My kids are the best pets I ever had,” one of them told her. Jade looked up perplexed.

“You can do that?” she asked.

“Yep,” the friend replied. “They do everything I tell them.”

Jade leaned in, curious. “Tell me how you did it.” Her friend indulged her in violent secrets. Jade soaked them in and held them in her brain. The torture began when Jessie was three.

Jade went out with her methods. It started with the beatings. The curvy demon used her fists, shoes, chords, and whips. Jessie folded under the pain and fear of her mother early on, but Jade wasn’t satisfied. She wanted that little girl broken beyond repair. So, she got to thinking. I need something to make it all stick. After three days, the answer came to her. She waited for the right moment.

One night in July of 1985, Jessie accidentally broke one of her mother’s perfume bottles. Jade raced into the room at the sound glass breaking.

“What did you do?!” she roared. Jessie crouched on the floor, trembling.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Jade’s mix of anger and joy boiled over as she raced over to her daughter. She grabbed Jessie by the hair and dragged her down the hall.

“Mama!” the little girl cried. “Please let me go! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Jade wouldn’t hear of it. Her stomping made her daughter weep.

“Oh shut up!” her mother barked. “You brought this on yourself!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Sorry gets you jack shit!” Jade dragged. Jessie to the downstairs closet. Her daughter sobbed as she was shoved inside.

“This is where bad little girls go!” Jade hissed. She closed the door and blocked it with a clothing truck. Jessie pounded on the door, screaming as her mother walked away. She left Jessie in the closet for ten days. By the evening of the last day, Jade finally let her out. Jessie could barely stand. She looked so pale as her body shook.

“Will you behave?” Jade asked. Jessie gave her a slow nod. Her mother smiled.

“Good,” she said. The demon woman walked her to the dining room. The hall closet became punishment along with the beatings.

By the time Jessie reached her teens, Jade groomed her to hustle. The plan worked just as  perfectly as her mother hoped.

It all came unraveled when Jessie fell in love.

The pet defied her master by lying and avoiding her altogether. Jade suspected something was wrong by six months’ time. It didn’t take long for her to start spying on her daughter. When she spotted Jessie and Hikaru together in his apartment, she sneering, shaking her head.

This will not do!

Once Jade disposed of the young man, she regained control of her daughter. Ten years later, that ended up short-lived. Another young man tried to free Jessie from her abusive grasp. Jade would not have it.

I worked too hard to get her back! Yet, she had another problem on her hands. Was it worth the headache anymore? It would be easier to just kill her. This revelation led to today. Jade looked at the clock on her cell phone.

“I think it’s time,” she said. Jade turned and unlocked the cage. Jessie sat inside, pale and trembling like she had when she was a little girl. Her mother grabbed her by the chain around her neck and dragged her out to the arena for the final duel.