The Shadow of the Blessed

Chapter 1

"Gosh I wonder what demons we'll be assigned!" Kayla squealed as she and her two best friends, Nazareth and Kaitlyn, made their way to Heaven's main office building. Kayla had been waiting for the day she'd be selected to help a Demon attempt to gain angel status since she was a little girl, Kaitlyn had already been assigned a demon years ago and was met with depression and despair after she failed, and Nazareth wasn't looking forward to training someone to become an Angel when she didn't even want to be an Angel herself. Nonetheless, the three girls strolled through the gardens and up the staircase into the large, glass "Heaven HQ" building. Kayla practically sprinted to the front desk to be informed which floor they would need to be on, while Kaitlyn and Nazareth stood behind. "Don't look so worried, Kaitlyn. I bet it'll be different than last time." Nazareth attempted to comfort her worried friend. Kayla came rushing over and informed the girls they would be heading up to the 76th floor. Upon getting into the elevator, Kayla made sure all of her paperwork was in order for the 100th time, Kaitlyn hummed along to a song in her own head, and Nazareth stared down at her worn-down converse sneakers.

As the 76th floor approached, the girls realized how close they were to having the biggest opportunity and Angel gets. Kayla approached the desk once again and was then told to sit and wait to be called. As they all made their way to seats, two Angels emerged from the rooms behind the desk, one ran out in tears and the other stormed out in fury. This gave Nazareth an uneasy feeling and even shook Kayla's eager exterior. A tall man leaned out of his office and looked around. "Nazareth Paniagua, Kaitlyn Carduff, and Kayla Cruz?" Nazareth felt a chill start at her feet and it ran all the way up her body in seconds, Kayla gave a small giggle and Kaitlyn continued to stare at the floor. They all stood up in unison and walked to the office.

Nazareth was the first to hand over her information and be assigned a Demon. "Ms. Paniagua, your Demon's name is Lynn Meyer. All of the information you need will be sent to your Halo account." Nazareth nodded and thanked the worker before leaving the room silently. Kayla eagerly pushed her paperwork to the worker and held in her anticipation. "Ms. Cruz you have been assigned Paris Hernandez. Again all of her information will be forwarded to your Halo." Kayla skipped out of the room with glee, leaving just Kaitlyn and the HHQ worker. "Ms. Carduff, I see you have been through this process before and failed." Kaitlyn looked down and sighed "Yes, sir." The worker tapped on his desk to grab the attention of the upset Angel. "Your Demon is called Lorcan. Lorcan Magno. I've heard very promising things about this one, Ms. Carduff." Kaitlyn stood from her chair and thanked the worker. She exited the office room and was met with Nazareth and Kayla right outside. "Were you guys spying on my assigning?" Kaitlyn questioned with just the hint of playfulness in her voice. The three girls laughed and walked down the hallway, on their way back to their apartment complex to read the information just sent to their Halo.

"Satan I don't want to be assigned to some dumb Angel." Lynn groaned. Being assigned an Angel was seen as a prison sentence for Demons and Lynn had never been thrilled to be assigned to a new Angel. Lynn had been assigned to a dozen other Angels, all who had failed to give Lynn the angel status. Paris was secretly excited to be assigned just for the hope that her Angel would finally be the true love she had been searching for. Lorcan was the most nervous yet the most thrilled to be assigned, because he felt he was never supposed to be a Demon in the first place. He always believed whoever decided who should be a Demon and who was supposed to be an Angel made a mistake and sent him to the wrong domain. The trio made their way to Hell HQ, some faster than others. Lynn took a fast pace to the HQ just to get the process over with, while Paris and Lorcan hung back to wonder about what their Angel would be like. "I hope my Angel is as excited to meet me as I am to meet them!" Lorcan whisper yelled to Paris. "My Angel better be cute. I don't think I could deal with an unattractive Angel trying to give me Angel status for months." Paris replied back to Lorcan. "Come on, guys! Pick up the pace here! I just want to get home, this is a waste of time." Lynn called. Paris and Lorcan hurried their strides and met Lynn in front of the long, desolate brick building that is HHQ.

Walking through the doors felt like prison to Paris and Lorcan, but to Lynn this was all too familiar. They were immediately brought back to a small cubicle where a small computer sat. Lorcan typed his name into the computer first and the screen loaded for a few minutes before bringing up a smiling Angel with long brown hair, big blue eyes and freckles dotting her face like constellations. "Oh my Satan! She looks great! Kaitlyn Carduff!" Lynn turned their body toward the computer and stared in awe. "She was my most recent Angel. Sweet girl. I think I may have ruined her a little, though." This made Lynn chuckle and Lorcan quiver. "Okay my turn." Paris nudged the two of them out of her way to type her name into the old system. The screen brought up a picture of a short girl with medium-brown skin, wavy brown hair and kind brown eyes. "Kayla Cruz. She looks nice. Hopefully she knows how to take a joke every once in a while." Paris laughed. Finally, Lynn approached the small, square device and typed in their name. A girl with short black locks, large glasses and a serious face with playful eyes appeared on the screen. "Nazareth Paniagua? Looks like a pushover. Let's make this Angel fail number 13." Lynn smiled.

As they walked out of the building, they made sure their cell phones were all off silent. If they knew of their Angels, their Angels knew of them and would be calling soon to meet them in the mortal realm. Angels and Demons must stay in the Mortal world until the Angels either succeed and give the Demons angel status or the Angels failed and the Demons were damned back to Hell. The two groups couldn't have had more different thoughts for the events about to unfold before them, yet everyone was awaiting the meeting.