Alice looked at Taura as she came into the house. She jumped a little and looked at her blankly for a moment. "Oh...um...hey!" That was the most awkward she has ever been around her friend. She wasn't fully thinking of what she was saying, she just said it. "Yeah we can order out. We can wait for Shay to get here and see what she wants." She responded being more of her cheerful self. "I hope I didn't make you guys worry about me earlier." Alice gave a cheesy smile and got up off of the couch. After a few minutes Shay was there. With none other than Twitch. "Shay come on, him?!" She asked with a whiny tone. It was the cursed mouse that caused her great embarrassment from earlier.

"I'll order pizza, but you have to do something with him!" She nodded to the mouse as she walked over to her cellphone. "Thank you!" She hung up the phone then walked back over to Taura and Shay. "So what did you guys think of Satariel?" She asked then saw the fatal flaw in her question. She forgot to mention the other brothers. She mentally slapped herself, then quickly changed what she said. "I mean him and his brothers." She tried to cover it up, but Shay would probably still point it out. It was just what she didn't need right now. Her friends asking her if she liked him. Now she had to admit that she actually like him, but she wouldn't dare say that to Taura and Shay. They would go do a credit check or something crazy.

While Taura wasn't a fan of any kind of rodents, she wasn't scared of them either like Alice. So when Shaylin came in with the infamous Twitch, she simply giggled at Alice's uneasiness.

"Alice, to be fair, Shay wouldn't bring him if he has all his shots right?" she asked, looking straight at Shaylin.

At least he had better gotten all his shots. She forgot about Twitch when Shay demanded pizza. It seems they were always ordering out pizza when they did this sort of thing. Well, Taura wasn't one to complain considering how much she loved pizza herself. Her thoughts were diverted though when Alice asked them for their opinion concerning Satariel. In all honesty, Taura hadn't really though much about him that evening because her thoughts tended to drift towards his brother, Incendia. When Alice tried to correct her answer, Taura raised an eye brow. Now it was apparant that she did like the boy. As much as Taura didn't like Alice with any boy, she was honest in her answering.

"He seems decent enough, Alice. They all do. Still something about him and his brothers seem 'off' to me. I can't quite explain it. Until I do though, I don't think it's smart to trust these guys. We've only known them for one day after all. What do you think of Satariel, Alice?" Taura grinned at that last part to show Alice that she didn't buy the girl's coverup.

Shaylin scratched the top of Twitch's head with her index finger and continued her pouting. "Aw come on Ali, it's not like he has rabies or anything. And him crawling up your leg was his way of being friendly and saying hello." She grinned cheesily and placed him on top of her head. Her stomach growled once more and she was thankful Alice had already ordered their pizza.

As soon as her friend bought up Satariel and his brothers her smile grew and she scooted closer to Alice and rolled over on her stomach. "Ooh you really want to know what I think?" She started, letting the suspense build," they seem okay but you never know, I think they're hiding something. Like maybe they're aliens or axe murderers! As soon as you start to get comfortable around them bam they abduct you or hack you to tiny pieces with a meat cleaver!" She flailed her arms around to add dramatic effect. It wasn't that Shay had anything against them, she said the same thing about every new person she met, male or female.

"Forget about what we think about them, what me-and I'm sure Taura too- want to know is what you and Satariel were talking about on your little getaway." Shaylin giggled and poked Alice's leg, she'd been dying to ask her every since they parted ways with the boys at the theater.

Alice couldn't help but laugh nervously at Taura and Shay. She wouldn't dare tell them what she really thought of Satariel. Sadly for her her friends did pick up on her faux pas about Satariel. Really half of her wasn't paying attention to what her friends were saying. She hoped Satariel would ask her out to prom. That would make her prom great. "Umm...what? Oh yeah I like him as a friend." Alice was a bad liar, and hoped her friends didn't pick up on it. "Why don't we watch a movie!"

Laughing nervously she scratched the back of her head. She couldn't believe how cheesy she sounded. She was never like this around anyone. It was definitely something new to her. Alice walked away from her friends hard eyes and walked into the kitchen. Was she really advoiding them now? Wouldn't be easier to just tell them. Of course not! They wouldn't let it down if she brung it up. She wad already in a tight spot with them being suspicious of get liking him. Sighing she walked back over and laid on her stomach. Alice put her head face down, and started thinking again. Were was Satariel and his brothers now. She knew they weren't aliens or serial killers, but where was the Dark Kingdom? She asked herself as she laid on her stomach. What was she going to tell her friends. She wouldn't be able to lie to them forever. She was really stressing herself out.

Taura was very concerned when Alice started dodging their questions. She never see Alice act this way about a guy before. Her gut feeling told her this could get serious, which would be sad, seeing how she was leaving for London soon. Thinking about that saddened her. When Alice walked into the kitchen, Taura leaned over to Shaylin and whispered in her ear.

"Let's let her be for now. She has enough to deal with." she whispered in a serious tone.

When Alice returned and suggested a movie, Taura tried to think of one.

"Let's see, we've already seen an horror and a romance. Let's do a comedy, we all need a good laugh right now." she suggested.

And hopefully a movie could distract her enough from thinking about Incendia too. Briefly she wandered what he was doing right now.

Part of Satariel felt relieved, though he wouldn't admit it, when he saw Incendia emerging from the gloom and taking his familiar place by the Prince's side. The Vigil's next words, however, were not so comforting. Satariel raised his eyebrows as Incendia finished.

"You think they've come for me?" Satariel asked. "I did see the lights in the sky, but why assume the worst? The Usurper has millions of agents going about their duties every minute. I'm sure those two messengers are here on some other errand. We have done nothing to draw attention to ourselves." Satariel spoke with a confidence he didn't entirely feel, trying to reassure himself as much as the others. Truth be told, he was slightly nervous. He had grown up hearing tales of how vicious and cunning the Usurper's agents were, but now that he thought of it, how did he know those stories were true? After all, he had spent a whole day in the human world and nothing terrible had happened to him. What if those tales were made up to keep him locked in the palace? The only histories and stories he had been allowed to read were those chosen for him. He could easily imagine his parents and the royal bureaucracy feeding him lies in order to control him - they would say it was for his own good, no doubt.

On the other hand, Incendia seemed to be genuinely worried, and the Vigil's instincts were not to be lightly put aside. Satariel knew from past experience that Incendia's knowledge of potential threats and dangers was second to none, and his advice was usually worth heeding. But... now a small suspicion began to bloom in Satariel's heart. Could he trust Incendia? Perhaps Incendia was lying about the threat posed by the Usurper in order to 'protect' Satariel "for his own good". After all, Incendia had connived with Satariel's parents to deceive the Prince once before, for his own good. What if... what if Incendia had been sent by the King and Queen to keep an eye on Satariel while he was on Earth? Could that be why Incendia was in such hurry to get them back to the Dark Kingdom?

Satariel looked at Incendia's face, a face he had come to know and trust. The Vigil was not as open and approachable as Rocky, and he could never inspire the same warm feelings of loveable fondness, but in Satariel's eyes Incendia commanded a different kind of affection. He was an unyielding, faithful and powerful presence in Satariel's life, and the bonds between Prince and Vigil had grown beyond the limits of their station into a deep friendship. But always there was a doubt in the back of Satariel's mind, because whereas Rocky followed Satariel out of friendship, Incendia followed Satariel out of duty to the Throne. And if it came to that, if Incendia had to choose between his friendship for Satariel and his duty to protect the Dark Kingdom's heir, then... which charge would he betray? Satariel hoped that day was a long way off. Nevertheless, it weighed on his mind, knowing that Incendia might lie to him in order to protect him. The Vigil was good at deceiving. He had done it before. That last thought made Satariel smile a little. "You should have been called Shaitan," he said softly, under his breath. "You're the one who deceives, not me."

The joke was this: one of Satariel's names was Satan, the Deceiver, a traditional title given to the rulers of the Dark Kingdom. Today, amongst the angels and humans, the word "Satan" meant something evil, but originally the rank of Deceiver had been an honoured title. The Deceiver appeared evil to the ignorant, because his task was to misguide and lie to people, but in fact he was actually helping people by testing the strength of their souls. Anyone can be a saint in the absence of hardship, suffering or temptation. Only the Deceiver could separate the true saints from the spiritually poor, by trying to lead people astray, putting them in difficult situations and forcing them to make hard choices. He wanted the humans and angels to pass his tests, but they so often failed to resist his traps, and then they cursed him and blamed him for revealing the flaws and shortcomings in their own souls. So the name Satan came to mean something evil, when it really only meant something that tested for evil.

Satariel was not living up to his namesake. He had deceived his parents and the entire kingdom, but his lies were not told with some noble purpose. His lies had been selfish ones, told to earn himself escape from the palace and taste true freedom. But could he be blamed for wanting to escape? He deserved to have a life of his own.

When Rocky spoke next, Satariel was snapped out of his deep thoughts. "What, you too, Rocky?" he asked, turning to his usually easygoing friend. "We don't even know that these beings are here for us, let alone that they've managed to link us to the three human girls. I don't think we need to be concerned about anyone's safety just yet. But I do agree with the two of you on one thing: I would like to get Alice back to the Dark Kingdom as soon as possible." As the thought crossed his mind, he felt another echo of that strange sensation on the edges of his consciousness, like a premonition of things to come. He didn't know what this feeling was, but if it was magic, it was unlike anything he had heard of before. It seemed to grow stronger when he and Alice were alone together, or when he merely thought about her. For some reason he felt that something extremely important was about to happen. If he brought Alice back to the Dark Kingdom... some great event would occur. He didn't know whether it would be something wonderful or something terrible, but he knew it would be enormous. An event that would change his destiny, and maybe the destiny of the entire Kingdom for ever... The only question was... did he want it to happen?

"Now that I think of it, Alice seems to be very attached to her friends. And it won't be easy for her, being the only human in our world. It may be best for all of us to bring her closest friends along." Satariel didn't add this, but he knew that bringing all three girls would complicate matters for the other citizens of the Dark Kingdom. One human would be a shock, but three of them at once would stretch their tolerance a great deal, especially if they were staying in the royal palace. Maybe Satariel could arrange for Shaylin and Taura to be hidden or disguised as demons. If worst came to worst, he could send them out into some forest in the middle of nowhere while Alice stayed with him. She would still get to see her friends occasionally, and it wouldn't be such a huge scandal as three human girls staying the palace, but somehow Satariel knew that Alice wouldn't agree to being separated from her friends.

As his thoughts returned to Alice, he remembered how strange and special it had felt being alone with her in the park that night, how she had held his hand and put her arms around him, touching him. He suddenly resolved that he would ask her to the prom the next opportunity he got. Before he did that though, they would need to sleep and make preparations.

"Come on," he said to his two companions. "Let's return to the pavilion and get some rest. We'll go on foot this time, I'm a little tired. I know the way." He began to walk down the street. He didn't tell them the real reason he was reluctant to use his wings: he was starting to suspect that using his powers had attracted the attention of the heavenly beings in the first place. Not that the beings were here for them, of course. Probably. But if they were angels around, it was best for the three boys not to draw attention to themselves.

The question which Satariel had posed to himself was one Incendia had also debated on before.

What would Incendia choose if pressed? Duty, or friendship.

There were multiple things that would weigh down on his decision. The first was that he was a Vigil, and had been a Vigil before he was the Prince's friend (that in itself coming close to violating codes of conduct amongst the Vigils). He had been vetted and bred from the day of his birth for his job. He learned multiple languages (should he ever find himself in the human world), he had been versed in a variety of writings, trained in a range of both armed and unarmed fighting styles, and had been bred to be one of the most observant poeple in the entire Dark Kingdom. All of this had been done to him with only one purpose in mind: to make one of the most perfect guards the Prince could possibly ask for; one that stood out from amongst the dime-a-dozen soldiers stationed at the Royal Palace. If anything were to happen to the Prince that the Vigil was capable of preventing (which was everything if the Vigils were to be believed), the Incendia would be dragged off to the gallows, and left hanging as a warning to any other Vigils if the King and Queen were to find out. As a result, he was bred with the mind-set that, if it would help the Prince, then he would gladly die. After all, they can always give the Prince another Vigil, but it's harder to raise another Prince.

Then there was the friendship he had with the Prince. Friendship between a Vigil and a member of the royal family was virtually unheard of, and some would argue that it came close to breaking the code of conduct for them. Normally they were like Incendia's own father and mother were with the King and Queen: physically close at almost all times, acting only as trusted security advisors, and lethal guardians should the need arise. Yet they had not met their charges in the same manner. Incendia had been part of a lie against the Prince, "for his own good" as some would say. He had masqueraded as one of the Prince's fellow class-mates in the highly elite classes in which he and other nobles were taught. He had been told to get close to the Prince in order to keep an eye on him. The teachers always did their best to make sure that the two were sat near each other, Incendia always offered his aid when the Prince struggled with any of his work, and since the Prince was often locked away in the Palace it wasn't hard to spend time with him often. That had set a foundation for the chains of their friendship, now anchored in place, but there was still one question always at the back of his mind.

What would he choose if pressed?

The duty that had defined him from a young age?

Or would he choose the friendship that had helped mold him in to who he was now?

It was one kept always at the back of his mind.

"Not that it's alone back there, anymore. I still need to work through what I think of Tau. . . Ms. Lanston. Best to stay professional."

If there was one thing he was certain about: Vigils didn't have time for love, at least if his parents were a good example, anyways.

At Satariel's suggestion they go on foot, Incendia nodded. As much at ease as the quick travel the wings provided would put him at, they could also attract the attention of the Usurper's agents . . . assuming the trio hadn't already done that. Besides, the main threat they would have to deal with in this case was a vagrant human or two who had decided that they wished to cause trouble for some "human teenagers". In that case, they would have no trouble. At the slightest sign from Satariel: Incendia could unleash a furious storm of pain that the three worlds hadn't seen since the clash between Lucifer and the Usurpers. So Incendia fell in behind Satariel once again, hands at his sides (never in his pockets, so that he could always be quickly ready to fight), and he was totally silent as he kept an eye on their surroundings.

Shaylin put on her pouting-face but listened to Taura without hesitation. There would be plenty other opportunity's to hound her friend with questions. For now she would just enjoy their company and relax. She gasped dramatically at Taura's suggestion for a comedy, "Finally! No more," she interjected some gagging noises and giggled, "romance. Let me pick it!" Without another word Shay dove to the floor and searched through Alice's giant movie collection, she saw something that looked like a comedy and put it in the DVD player without bothering to read the title. She was just relieved it wasn't a sappy love story, another one so soon after the first would surely drive her insane. Shaylin sat back on the couch and situated Twitch on her left shoulder, away from Alice just in case the girl held a grudge against him.

At the start of the movie Shay laughed, rather obnoxiously, and was nearly reduced to tears from her incessant laughter. Idly she wondered what it would be like if she had her own reality show, would other people think she was hilarious or needed to be locked away in an insane asylum? She decided she would be comfortable with either option. Seconds later Shaylin started struggling to keep her eyes open, her head kept tilting dipping like she would fall asleep at any minute. Soon enough she was curled up against a soft pillow and snoring lightly, dead to the real world. Her homework would just have to wait until the morning.

Alice listened to her friends in the back. It was hard to think straight right now. "I'll get it!" Alice jumped up and ran over to the door and got the pizza. "Thanks!" She smiled at the man before sitting the pizza on the counter. Taking a slice she went and sat on the floor again. She kept thinking about Satariel, to the point it was annoying her. Does he like me or not? She asked herself as she ate the pizza and watched the movie. Alice kept nodding off to sleep, finding it hard to stay awake. Slowly she ended up falling asleep on the floor.

She didn't mean to, but what the heck. She was clearly tired and needed some good sleep. Hopefully everything would be clear when she woke up. She wished her parents would come home and say they weren't moving. Most of all she wished that Satariel would ask her out to prom. Which it didn't make sense. She knew she was going to move, but still wanting to start another relationship was crazy. Why would she do that now. Of all times he would come to the school now. Where was he at the beginning of the school year? Maybe she was thinking too much. Someone like him probably already had a girlfriend. He was to nice to not have one. It would be likely he was just being friendly to her, not really liking her.

Rocky sighed at Satariel's answer to their worries. If only he would take things more seriously. There nothing he could do about it though, for even if they were friends, and even if Rocky to get closer to Satariel than other people could even dream of, he couldn't directly tell him what to do. He followed suit when Satariel and Incendia headed back to their 'home', not wanting to give much thought to the trusting Incendia problem. He was feeling tired, and he just wanted to go to bed.

Taura did her best to put the day's events out of her mind, but it was hard. It was another reason why she suggested a comedy because they always distracted her. And tonight it wasn't an exception. She cracked up just as much as Shaylin. Unlike her two friends, she didn't fall asleep during the movie. When it was over, she put it up. She also took the time to clean up by putting the leftover pizza in the fridge and their cups and plates. Since Taura had been to Alice's house numerous times, she knew where to get some blankets and placed them over her friends. She brushed her teeth and washed her face before taking out her portable clock with a buzzer on it and ended up sleeping in the guest room with her own pillow and sleeping bag. She did this so the buzzer wouldn't wake up her friends, particularly Shay for Taura was always the early riser out of them. Sleep came easily to Taura and she soon found herself asleep.

When they reached the pavilion, Satariel immediately slumped onto the nearest couch, closed his eyes and rolled over without bothering to remove his human clothes. He had been unusually silent on the long walk back through the streets, partly because he was tired out from all the events of the day, and partly because his mind had been filled with peaceful thoughts. He hadn't wanted to spoil the feeling by breaking the silence.

Tomorrow I'll see Alice, he thought drowsily. I'll ask her to the prom. He closed his eyes and felt sleep overtake him.

A dream...

He was speeding through the air on wings of purest light, the whole Earth spread out beneath him with its forests and deserts and rivers and seas. Above him opened the heavens, the night skies wide and dotted with a million points of light. He was poised between Heaven and Earth. Which one did he belong to?

He was looking for someone. He must find her now, before it was too late. Ahead, the horizon was pierced by a dark shape, a tower rising from the ground and thrusting towards the sky. He would find her there, he knew. He flew on, pushing himself to the utmost, feeling his wings ache with the strain of Earth's heavy atmosphere. Everything faded from his vision but the tower, and above the tower a point of light shining like a lighthouse beacon, guiding him safely home. On and on he flew, but the tower seemed to come no closer.

===

Meanwhile, somewhere else in town...

It was a slow night and Rob and Leo were making their rounds in the police cruiser. The graveyard shift was a pain, but someone had to do it. They had their firearms, but there'd never been much reason to use them before, because this was a good neighbourhood and there was rarely any serious trouble even after dark. Leo was behind the wheel, cruising slowly along as he listened to his favourite station, Great Classic Hits. He couldn't really get into the music young people listened to these days, it all sounded noisy and repetitive to him. Rob was sitting in the front passenger seat, staring out the window and munching on his usual chicken salad roll. He sat up and made a surprised noise as they passed the mall.

"What is it?" asked Leo, slowing the car down. Rob pressed his face against the window and stared up at the roof of the mall for a few seconds, his brow furrowed, before shrugging and going back to his roll.

"Thought I saw something," he said. "Guess my mind's playing tricks on me again."

Leo chuckled and stepped on the accelerator. "Lay off the booze," he said.

"Hey. I never drink on the job, you know that."

The next few minutes went by without incident. They drove through the downtown streets, quiet and almost deserted now, dark except for the lonely neon pools of light made by the street lamps. Suddenly Rob rapped on the window.

"Stop the car," he said.

"What is it now?" asked Leo, bringing the car to a halt.

"I definitely saw someone that time." He pointed out the window at the dark facade of the movie theatre. "A couple of guys round the back alley. One of them was huge. Looks like trouble."

Try as he might, Leo couldn't see anything from his vantage point. "You sure you saw them?" he asked. "Not your mind playing tricks on you again?"

"Yep. Let's go."

Leo heaved a big sigh. "It's probably just some punk-ass college kids with nothing better to do." He was looking forward to getting home. His wife had made her special roast lamb in plum sauce and honey. Usually she saved some of the good pieces for him, but if he didn't get back in time, his greedy kids would have gobbled the whole thing. But he got out of the car anyway and followed Rob.

They walked along the footpath beside the movie theatre, their breaths misting pale and foggy in the cold air. As they rounded the corner and moved to the back alley, Leo saw that Rob had been right. There were two guys there, and they did look suspicious. They were both wearing pure white, a really bright white that nearly hurt the eyes to look at, and by some trick of the light they looked as though their forms were almost glowing in the darkened alley. The first one was tall, though he looked short standing beside his companion. He had a face that could have belonged to a model. Leo was not very good at judging the attractiveness of other men, but he could see that this one was definitely handsome, with perfectly symmetrical features and a strange, delicate beauty. It was almost disturbing how flawless and pleasing the man's face was: artificial, even inhuman, like a doll made by a perfectionist craftsman.

It was impossible to comment on the other man's features because his entire face and body were wrapped in what looked like thick white cloth. But from what could be seen of his form, the man was huge. He towered over Rob and Leo, and the outline of his body under the cloth was very broad and powerful-looking, like a bodybuilder on serious steroids. Together, the two men made an extremely disturbing picture. Leo found his hand wandering to his holster to tighten on the reassuring weight of his gun.

"What are you two doing, loitering around here?" asked Rob. The shorter man ignored him. He seemed to be looking for something, his hands passing back and forward across the metal door of the move theatre, his face turning left and right like he was searching for something he'd dropped. "I said, what are you doing?" Rob raised his voice and took a step closer to the smaller man.

The short man finally paused what he was doing and turned his head towards them. "Leave us. Go from this place."

Rob was starting to lose his temper. "I don't think so, buddy. We're police officers and we want to know what you think you're doing. The theatre is closed, buddy. You should be somewhere else. You can come back tomorrow, in the morning."

The short man shook his head. "They were here. They were here, but I cannot find the trail. If I fail, I will be punished severely."

"I'll ask you one last time: what are you doing here?"

"We are doing the Lord's work. It does not concern you humans. Go from this place."

Rob exchanged a glance with Leo. These two were starting to sound a little crazy. Leo was thinking that maybe they should head back to the car and radio for backup. He didn't fancy having to wrangle with the big guy by himself. Maybe he could take the shorter pretty-boy and leave the big one to Rob. Rob, of course, would never back down from a confrontation. He just didn't know what was good for him.

Rob folded his arms. "Is that so? I'm sorry to tell you this, but this does concern us. You may be doing the Lord's work, but we're doing the State's work. And this State has laws. You can't just do whatever you please."

The taller, cloaked figure stirred. "I grow weary of this," he said. His voice sent shivers down Leo's spine. It was like the rumble of thunder, the ringing of a great brass bell. Leo had never heard a voice like that before. "I was sent to chastise the spawn of Satan. Not to suffer the presence of filthy humans." The giant figure took a step closer to Rob and Leo, and the two of them involuntarily retreated a step back. "They reek of corruption. Their souls are tainted. I smell their sins. I smell the foul stench of their wickedness. The wages of sin is death."

"No," said the shorter man. "We were not sent here for them. Let the Lord take them in His own time."

"Are you threatening me?" Rob shouted. He drew his gun and aimed it at the cloaked man. "I want you to uncover your face, and the two of you get down on the ground right now. Do it now."

"Human," said the cloaked figure. "I do not fear you. You were born in sin and you shall die in sin. For you were born from woman, and it was woman who was deceived by Satan, and who disobeyed the Lord."

"Get down!" shouted Rob. "Do it now! And uncover your face." Leo drew his gun as well, aiming it at the shorter stranger.

"You wish to see my face?" The tall figure stirred. "So be it." The white cloak began to burn with a fierce light, and Leo saw that the cloak was not made of cloth, but feathers, feathers wrapped around the figure's head and body. And now the feathers began to part, and four pairs of wings unfolded and slid away, revealing the form that was beneath, burning with fire and light.

"Oh God," cried Rob. "Oh God, oh sweet Jesus. What is it? It's not human, it's not human!" He fired the gun, once, twice, three shots echoing suddenly through the alley, but the thing with the wings of light moved slowly and unstoppably towards him. It drew a flaming sword and in one smooth movement brought it down on Rob's head, the sword burning through flesh and bone like it was butter, splitting the skull and slicing Rob's body almost in two. And then Leo decided that he'd had enough, they weren't paying him enough for this shit and he wasn't going to wait and see what happened next, he turned and ran through the alley, ran and ran faster than he'd ever run in his whole life, a sob tearing in his chest, but before he reached the end something struck him with the force of a thunderbolt and he felt pain tearing through him. He was lying on the ground with the taste of blood in his mouth, looking up at night sky, twinkling with stars (how beautiful), and the figure with a jewelled sword of fire was standing over him now.

"Pray for your soul," it said. "You have ten seconds." Leo prayed and prayed, please God someone anyone help me save me, then the sword swiftly came down again -

Outside on the street, the police car sat abandoned in the silent night. There was a sudden blaze of light from a nearby alley, then darkness.

Alice woke up with a blanket around her. It was a nice sunny day out. "Taura must be up stairs sleep." She rubbed her eyes a little and stretched herself out. Getting up, she walked upstairs and took a shower. "Oh my gosh I forgot Shay!" As she dried her hair off she ran down stairs again and pushed Shay awake. "Get up we have school!" It was 8:00 and school started at 8:30. Running upstairs with her wet hair hitting her face she ran into Taura's room. "Hey hey school in a half-hour!"

She yelled at Taura as she ran into her room and started to change. Coming out in new clothes and light make-up she ate an apple. There was no time to get any real food. No way was she going to be late, she was never late for anything! She gathered her bag and waited for her friends to get ready. As she was sitting there she started thinking of Satariel. It was the last thing she should think about, but it was the first thing she was. Already she felt like they were dating, but he hasn't even shown true interest yet. Oh well at least she still had her friends.

Taura was actually already up and was about to wake up her friends when she heard Alice's shouting. She was in the process of putting on her make up, which was very little considering how she really didn't need much. She had on a black skirt and a royal blue blouse with her sandals. Her hair was pulled back in a bun and she placed her glasses on. Once she was ready she came out of the guest room.

"Alice, I made some muffins so you can eat one on the way. We're carpooling today so both you and Shay can eat." she said, in a serious tone.

She knew Alice and Shay both skipped breakfast when they were running late, and she absolutely forbid them to do that while she was with them in the morning. While she was waiting for her friends to get ready she thought about Incendia.

The silence reigned through the air like an invisible power. Rocky didn't dare speak, as he felt Satariel was in a bad mood. When Satariel stationed himself to sleep, Rocky gave him a worried look. He didn't like the effect that that girl had on Satariel, his head was up in the clouds now. He sighed and took a bath, then changing into sleep wear. This time he took for the floor, spreading out to get comfortable and drifting to sleep.

Rocky was having the dream again. He always knew when he was having it, because it always started out the same. His mom tickling him, and him trying to pretend he was asleep. Then he would look up, and his mother would be gone.

The young Rocky that snuggled to his bed giggled as his mom tickled him. He knew she knew he wasn't awake, but he was having fun. He turned his head to look at her, a big smile on his face.

What Rocky would do to warn him, tell him not to look.

As expected, his mother was gone, replaced by his father, who only gave him a cold look. Young Rocky looked to his lap, remembering where his mom was. She was in the room, brought down with a sickness, and he needed to get up and tell her good morning with his father. It was like a ritual they had.

Don't go. Don't look. Rocky felt like a stranger in the room, watching the dream lay out and having no control over it.

Young Rocky hopped down from his bed, grabbing his father's hand as they walked to his mother's room. They opened it up and walked in, ready to tell her hello. The first thing Rocky noticed when he walked in was that it was dark. Father hadn't been in here today yet. The next was his mother's hand, pale and limp, hanging from the side of the bed. Before anything else could happen, Rocky's father put a hand on his head. "Rocky, I need you to go play. Someone had visited Mommy, and Daddy needs to call a doctor." Young Rocky nodded and did as he was told, running outside to play. Maybe he would go and find Satariel and they could play a game.

It wouldn't be until he returned that he would learn what happened to his mother.

Shaylin was sprawled out on the couch with Twitch curled up in the crook of her neck, she hadn't moved an inch since she fell asleep the previous night. Everything was so quiet and peaceful, and then Alice shook her awake and she started flailing her arms around like she did whenever someone woke her up like that. "What what? We're going where?" She moaned and buried her face back into her comfy pillow again, laying there a few more seconds before actually getting up. "Can't I be sick today? I don't think I can make it through a whole day of school." Shay shuffled into the bathroom, showered, threw on a purple V-neck T-shirt, and a pair of dark skinny jeans, then was out in the kitchen. The aroma of freshly made muffins had practically carried her to where they were placed on the counter. She thought for sure if she leaned in close enough she could hear them singing.

"Merciful sweetness, get in my stomach now." She wasted no time tearing away at the muffins happily, already feeling much better than she did ten minutes ago. "I'm ready to go!" Shay grabbed her book bag full of unfinished homework, and stood by the front door. "Who wants to let me drive? I promise I won't kill anyone." Of course she was joking, anyone who knew Shaylin knew that she wasn't a bad driver, but she did suffer from road rage and was prone to yelling at people out the window when they annoyed her. It was for that reason her dad bought her a vespa instead of a car, she couldn't really run anyone over with it.

Alice chuckled at Tuara and Shay. "Well I'll have a little, but we need to go now!" She pushed her friends out the door. "I know your parents don't want anyone drive your car, but nothings going to happen if I drive." She smiled at Taura before pushing her into the car. Eating a muffin, she pulled out of her driveway and sped off. "Thanks Taura these are great!" Alice couldn't help but laugh at herself shoving the muffin down. Normally she didn't eat to fast, then again she has never been late for school. A couple more minutes and almost car accidents later, they arrived at the school. Alice jumped out of the car like it was on fire and ran into the school.

She was a mess right now; considering her hair was still wet from the shower earlier. "I'll see you guys in the next class!" She yelled at Shay and Taura. Alice was determined to make it on time. "Just two more minutes." Taking corners and almost hitting people she finally made it in time. "I'm here!" She took the time to announce it to the classroom, but she was the first person there. "Wow there must have been a party last night, and I didn't go." She pouted her lips then remembered the nice walk she had with Satariel. Well I guess it was worth it. She thought as the rest of the classmates walked in. I wonder if they will be here, or if they went to a party themselves?

((You know, I should have made notes on when they have classes together lol.))

Taura was use to Alice's speediness, but after a few close calls and several curses later, she found her patience nearly broken. She was relieved when they made it to school and in one piece. When they made it, Taura turned to go to her first class. After that threatening text message from last night, Taura kept her guard up. She wouldn't put it past Jason to pay someone to get her, but knew he liked dealing his vengence personally. Taura had heard rumors that he once paid several freshmen on the freshmen football team to beat up a nerd who accidentally tripped and spilled his meal on Jason. The boy never returned too. Unfortunately because he never came forward, nothing was ever done about it.

Taura was almost to her first class when she saw someone place a foot out in front of her and managed to avoid it. She caught the person who did it and saw it was a junior girl whom she saw was on the dance team, Andrea Mitchell. Taura glared at the girl and Andrea turned quickly away.

~So it starts.~ Taura thought before going into her first class.

Satariel woke and dressed himself quickly, feeling slightly unsettled. For one moment after he'd opened his eyes, he'd been confused about where he was. He'd been having such a vivid dream, something about flying towards a tower, looking for someone. There was something else, too, a strange sensation in the air like... an omen. Ever since that walk in the park with Alice last night, he'd been feeling not quite himself. All his senses were heightened and his thoughts were disturbed, like he had forgotten something important and couldn't remember it.

But he soon pushed those troubled thoughts away, focusing instead on the upcoming school day. Today he would see Alice again and he was determined to ask her to the prom. He was feeling extremely nervous, as he'd never had to invite someone to accompany him before. Back in the Dark Kingdom, his family had organised all his partners for social events.

But isn't that what you were angry about, your family controlling everything and making all your decisions? he thought to himself. He had wanted the freedom to make his own choices and discover new experiences, and now he finally had the chance. It looked as though he was on his own for this one.

Once Rocky and Incendia were ready, the three of them exited the pavilion and walked swiftly up to the school grounds. As they walked through the gates and into the corridors, Satariel noticed that quite a few of the humans were paying attention to them. Some of the female students greeted them in a friendly, or perhaps over-friendly way. Satariel supposed that the three of them were quite good-looking by human standards, and that combined with curiosity about their recent transfer to school, as well as excitement about the upcoming prom, was making them quite popular. On the other hand, there were some humans who were eyeing them in a more negative way, glowering and muttering under their breath. Satariel wondered if it was due to their earlier brawl with the human called Jason. From what Taura had said earlier, it seemed that he was a dangerous enemy. But he was a mere human, and if he tried anything with the three demons he would end up very sorry.

None of the attention bothered Satariel too much. He was only interested in one human, and that was Alice. It was easier to follow her trail this time, because when a demon was interested in a person and spent a lot of time with them, they started to become attuned to that person's presence. Once he found the classroom she was in, he saw to his delight that there was an empty place beside her. He quickly made his way over to it and sat himself down.

"Hello Alice," he said softly, giving her a smile.

((They have first hour, fourth (I think), and then Alice and Satariel have the last class of the day.))


Yet another night spent guarding the door.

Incendia awoke from his light sleep, standing guard at the door of the pavilion. As he heard Satariel stir in his sleep early in the morning, he looked over his shoulder briefly to the Prince. Instantly he realized that he must have been suffering from a bad dream. He looked away once more and waited patiently as he watched the rising sun peak over the roofs of the buildings outside. Humans started to emerge from their homes, going about their daily routines, and quickly moving on as Satariel rose. Once the Prince and Rocky had prepared themselves, Incendia went about his own daily routine. When he was done, he quickly moved to follow them to school.

He watched the humans as they moved through the halls. More than once, a slender hand reached out to him in a manner that would brush his sleeve, and he would hear murmered "hellos" come from the lips of many of the human girls who looked to them. Some of them had scarlet-colored cheeks and would quickly glance away upon making eye-contact with any of the three of them. Not that Incendia much cared. He didn't concern himself with such matters . . . or did he? Briefly his thoughts flashed to Ms. Taura Lanston. She was . . . unique. She made him feel things that he wasn't very used to. Once again, he pushed those thoughts to the back-burners as he noticed some of the glares they were getting.

"This will be trouble." He thought grimly.

Entering their first class, he once again assumed an overwatch stance near Satariel . . . sitting beside Ms. Lanston once again.

He gave her a polite nod of his head, "Good evening, Ms. Lanston."

Alice looked at the front of the class, not really paying any attention. It was the end of her senior year, so it made no sense to stress over it now. She pulled out her notebook and began to jot down some notes. Her attention was pulled away when she heard a familiar voice. Is that... Alice looked up to see Satariel sitting next to her. "Hello." She couldn't think of anything else to say to him right now. She wasn't prepared for him to come up to her. She cast an awkward side glance at someone else not really wanting to look at Satariel right now. It would make no sense to start a relationship and she is about to leave the country all together.

She felt her face turn red, and she quickly pulled her hair down covering the sides of her face. The last thing she needed was him to see her that way. Alice didn't want to lead him on, she wasn't that type of person to anyone. Hopefully her friends won't hint around to her liking him, then she will never hear the end of it. Taura would do a background check and Shay would try to beat him up and test his toughness. Alice was a wreck right now and she wanted to get up and run home, but she couldn't do it in the middle of class. I know I'll fake sick...yeah I'll be able to fool everyone! It's the perfect plan! She thought as she pretended to write notes down in her notebook.

Rocky woke from the floor, his body not liking the floor as much as he did. He could have sworn he felt a pop as he rose, being slow in getting ready. Soon, he was rushed out the door.

Once at school, he watched the girls as they fawned over him and his three brothers. Prom was nearing closer, and as Incendia and Satariel became closer and closer to each other. Rocky felt a little left out, but has he scanned the crowd of girls, none of them looked interesting. In fact, he had been thinking of it for a while now, and it seemed to him that Shaylin always crept into his mind every time he thought about prom. He'd love to go with her, but...

"Bleugh who needs romance,"

Those words seemed to sting much more now than they did when she originally said them. Every time Rocky thought about her, he'd hear her say it again. As he followed his brothers, he came close to running into a pole, hoped his brothers didn't notice, and sat down in the classroom in the same spot as before. He didn't see Shaylin yet, and he wondered if she would show.

It seemed stupid. Yesterday, he didn't care. Did he? Yes, he thought about her...but not as much as he was today. It was like she had infiltrated every thought he had, like a Shaylin Heart Assassin. He stared out the window, ignoring the teacher. School was pointless, stupid, and no one needed it. He didn't see the point of the human school system, other than to make friends. He had to thank it for meeting Shaylin after all. Would she miss school when they took her and the others to the dark kingdom? Would she miss her family? Somehow, he felt like he was betraying her by planning to take her to the Dark Kingdom. Would she feel like a slave? Would she hate it there? Would she want to go back?

All this thinking had Rocky feeling rather depressed. He folded his arms on the desk and laid his head down, keeping his stare out the window. Life in the Dark Kingdom was so much simpler... maybe this really was a mistake.

Shaylin felt like a zombie, for some reason she just couldn't shake off her fatigue. The others headed off to class and she stood by her locker wondering if she should just fake sick and find a nice place to sleep until school was over. "It's close enough to summer, I can't miss anymore class." She frowned and fished through her locker for a glittery red bag she kept various candies in. It was her emergency stash but she considered this an emergency. There was just no way she could muster up the strength to stay awake and actually pay attention all morning without a boost of sugar. She grabbed a bag of skittles and started for her first class of the morning, which she shared with Taura and Alice. Of course she was the last one to arrive, but everyone knew she was the least likely to ever be on time for anything.

She saw that Satariel was already sitting next to Alice, so she went and sat close by in the same row, next to Rocky. He seemed to look unhappy so she tapped his shoulder and grinned. "School really sucks but candy always makes it better." She opened her palm and revealed a handful of multi-colored skittles. Shay was usually stingy when it came to sharing her treats, but for him she would make an exception.

Taura watched as the 3 brothers arrive before Shaylin. She saw the bag of skittles and realised how tired her friend was. She gave her props for showing up. It seemed like she mostly saved her energy for her swimming events. Just before class started, she send Shay a text.

Shay, you know I can get those energy pills for you that my father uses.

This wasn't the first time she offered them to either of her friends but they kept insisting they were fine. She looked and saw Alice and Satariel. She could tell her friend was having a mental battle. Here was a guy she finally showed interest in and she was moving away. Life is just too cruel sometimes. In this kind of situation, Taura honestly didn't know how to help her. All the while she kept stealing glances at Incendia. Soon class started.

Satariel couldn't help feeling a little hurt when Alice greeted him half-heartedly and turned her face away. She became very interested in the lesson, writing down notes and avoiding his eye. What was wrong? Last night she had acted like she enjoyed his company. Why was she suddenly giving him the cold shoulder? Even after her friends arrived, she remained quiet and kept to herself. Satariel sensed that she was feeling sad for some reason.

He made his mind up to do something about it. Leaning closer to her, he said, "Alice, are you feeling well? If you're sick, I can walk you to the infirmary." Maybe if he got to spend some time alone with her, she would tell him what was wrong.