Eden's Isle

Chapter 1

The fact that Mrs. Winslow was shanked on her porch yesterday evening, was old news. The people of Eden's Isle were used to that sort of thing. It came with the territory, and it came with the wisdom that she must have been in with some bad company. Either that, or Mr. Winslow's gambling debts had caught up with them again, and the leader of the club had come to collect payment.

Being a child of Lucifer meant that there was little honest work, and that no matter who you were, you simply weren't good enough for the mainland. It had been fifty years since the archangel war, and fifty years since my family had seen the shores of Solara. Once, I had sat on my grandfather's knee as he told me that the ocean had been so beautiful and blue. That it was on those beaches that he met my grandmother.

He said that he had instantly known that she would be his one. Though she was much slower. On their first meeting, she shouted at him for his staring, and asked his to kindly fuck off. Grandpa told me that I'm much like her. The daughters of Lucifer tended to be feisty.

I often wished that I could see the blue of the ocean, but contrary to the fact that we live on an island, our water tends to be gray, and hazardous. The barrier around the island keeps us in, and keeps the mainland safe. Or so they say.

I bet it gets tiring being nice all the time. Saying, please and thank you, to the people that you despise. I had once wondered if the children of Gabriel even had it in them to hate, but I knew that was false, because they hated us.

Fifty years ago, we lived as one on the mainland, but the children of Gabreil weren't happy with us. They looked down at us and treated us like scum on their toes, until finally Lucifer gave Gabriel a choice. Control your people or face the wrath of mine.

Needless to say, neither of that happened. The goodies continued to look down on us and when Lucifer finally ordered us to war, we lost. Majorly.

And afterwards, our people were banished to Eden's Isle. Named for the place where Lucifer gained his first followers.

There was one beautiful piece of scenery on the island. We got to keep The Garden. In the middle of it stands a large Gravenstein apple tree. The tree was gorgeous and held the truth. It was the same tree that Adam and Eve had eaten from, giving Lucifer his first followers. Under the tree was a statue of Adam and Eve. They were reaching up toward the tree, in anticipation of tasting the apple that hung from the lowest branch.

It was a high honor to be allowed such a thing, and I often dreamt of doing just that.

I sighed as Papi tossed a half burnt pancake onto my plate and hummed along to a tune of his own making.

He tossed two pieces of bacon onto my plate next, and then turned the stove off and looked at me for a moment. "How is the night shift, Amar?" He asked and brought his own plate over to sit next to me.

"It's alright." I told him. "I'm working my ass off to make money. Hopefully then you can quit your job at the mine. You know how dangerous the work is."

"Language, Aria." He scolded, but nudged my shoulder, like he didn't really mean it. "I like working at the mine. What kind of friend would I be if I left Cliff on his own down there."

"Ay! Papi, nobody likes working in the mine. And sooner or later, Cliff is going to retire, leaving you alone."

"And when he does, I will."

"Tu serás mi muerte." I mutter, moving from my seat, scrapping my half eaten plate into the trash and saving the bacon for later.

"Yo también hablo español, niña."