Demon Level

"Those things will kill you." I scowl at the lit end of his cigarette.
He doesn't look at me as he puffed it twice to prove his point that he doesn't care. Smoke flows from his lips and rises to ceiling to join the rest. "If you smoke you'll die. If you drink you'll die. If you eat you'll die. No matter what you do , Iris, you'll die."
"Then why try to live at all?" I challenge.
Turning his head to me, he leans forward with his elbows on his knees. "Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you set out on a search every day of the week? Why do you keep moving?" He doesn't give me time to answer. "Because you're not living for yourself, your living for someone else. It's such an unconscious thing you don't even know that's the reason." His head turns downward to where he is now looking between his knees. "For quite some time I though I should just give up because I never could find why I was living." He then looks up at me. His nearly pitch black eyes staring sadly into mine. "But now I have."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the horrific battle between angels and demons, that destroyed our world, the levels were created. The Demon Level is our own planet, a forgotten waste land. The Earth Level is an exact replica of Earth. The Angel Level is believed to look like heaven and only some of the wealthy live there. During the Leaving 14 year old Iris was left behind on the Demon Level. Three years later she's still fighting for her life when she meets a peculiar stranger. As the truth unravels and relationships are tested, Iris needs to fight a greater force to save all of humanity.