Reds, blues, greens, indigos rushed past me, whirl winding together above as I hurtled through a portal towards Earth. Pressed against my back, my wings ached, unable to get them into any simbalance of working order to attempt to slow my descent. Anger bubbled in my stomach, jaw clenched, teeth grinding together and tears pricked my eyes.

How- Why did this happen? I just couldn't wrap my mind around it!

Why would everyone think that I would betray them?

The tears over flowed and my lungs ached as I breathed heavy through my nose, the tears rising upwards. The last words I heard reran through my mind.

'Larcrion, it’s hard to believe that you would do something like this, but the evidence against you is undeniable. Until this has been resolved, you are hereby banished to Earth,' Uriel stated sternly, face solemn as a portal opened beneath my feet and I dropped like a sack of bricks.

All this without letting me get a word in to defend myself! The accusations were completely outrageous, and now my life was being ripped away from me. The pillars that supported the cathedral ceiling twisting themselves into one above me. White splitting into reds, blues, and purples. It didn’t help that I had no idea how long it'd take to be transported from Heaven to Earth, seeing as I wasn’t one to travel down below.

Letting my mind finally going numb and body limp, I faintly noticed that the lights around me had started to reform. Twisting my head to look over my shoulder, I noticed that the ground was approaching. Getting my feet beneath me, I fully expected to be able to watch the ground approach, however a blinding light filled my sight for a brief moment, knocking me off balance as I landed heavily.

Dirt and rocks dug into the soles of my feet before my knees gave out and I landed hard on the ground. Grass cut like miniature swords against my unguarded skin, leaving small red welts in their wake. Taking a deep breath, the sweet floral flavor filled my lungs before an unbearable foul stench made me gag.

Even with my eyes closed, I could tell that the world around me was unbearably bright. But I needed to see. I needed to look around and see the world around me.

Slowly cracking an eye open, seeing acres of corn all around me, eyes watering as my senses were assaulted. The wind through the stalks, birds calling everywhere. Heat from the sun on my skin, the ground pushing up against my shins.

It was so much to take in!

Staggering to my feet, finally casting my gaze along the horizon, an unsettling feeling clenched my heart, goosebumps erupting along my arms. It had been a very long time since I felt this sort of presence.

Turning so fast the heels of my feet tore and what stood before me wasn’t anywhere close to what I was expecting. This demon was a young looking male where I was expecting a hulking large beast with fur that covered his body, where this one was a young adult that definitely held my gaze. Ruby eyes slowly shrunk to glare with his feline pupils.

"Angel," the demonic language grated my ears, hair standing on end though there was no hint of malice in that one word.

"Demon," I retorted in kind, playing his game.

A quiet yet deep rumbling growl erupted from him, riding the wind before I watched the ruby eyes shutter close, taking a breath as he forced himself to relax. Finally opening his eyes, they were now a more muted red, far more comforting to look at compared to the fire he was sporting before. "Guessing you're here on business?" He inquired, crossing his arms over his chest as he reverted to speaking the common tongue.

Surprised at the switch, I frowned, wondering why he wasn’t attacking like we were told that demons would.

Despite the teaching, his actions threw me off. I had no way to contact Heaven and if his intent was well meaning, then maybe there was more than meets the eye to this world. I wasn’t one to lie, but this was a demon. What would happen if they found out I did lie to them? Would there be no chance for me to get back to heaven? Well, better safe than sorry I suppose.

"No, I'm not.”

A curious tilt of his head as a pregnant pause filled the space between us. Pursing his lips, he finally questioned. "Do angels even take vacations?"

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but he kept his gaze fixed on me. Opening and closing my mouth, I tried to form some coherent response but before I could answer, the male before me held up a hand. "Probably going to answer no to that too, but I'm going to assume that you're who the rumors are talking about.”

First the nerve of him silencing me, and now making assumptions?! My lips went tight, I crossed my arms. Rhythmically tapping my finger as I waited for him to continue. “Even though I've been staying here for a while, demons like to gossip and you’re already the talk of the town." Gesturing for me to follow, the noirette turned on his heel and headed out of the field.

I didn’t follow after him, I wanted more of an explanation before I put my life in his hands. "Come on featherbutt, there's a Haven right up ahead,” so it seemed he noticed that i wasn’t following him right away.

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" I challenged, which got a shrug out of him.

"You're obviously not a traveling angel, so you don't know where anything is. So what else are you supposed to do?"

He had a point, sadly. Though how in the 3 worlds he knew I wasn’t a traveling angel is beyond me. Chewing my lip, he turned around. "I'm not your guardian, so you're free to do whatever you want," his tone was flippant as he started walking away yet again and that basically made my decision for me.

I had nowhere to go, no one to trust and I would die if I didn’t get help.

Falling into stride next to him, I kept my mouth shut and it didn’t seem that he didn’t want to say anything either.

Casting my gaze around, there wasn’t much to see aside from a few houses in the distance and several mounds of grass covered dirt. Before a white building came into view, I inquired. "What kind of place is this Haven?"

Catching the cocking his head to the side from the side of my eye, the demon seemed to think it over before speaking. "Well," he drew out coyly. "I could let you find out for yourself," the smirk he was bound to be wearing was audible.

A harsh frown took over my face and I looked over at him. "Why is it so hard to get an answer from you?" The words came from me sharply.

Taking a breath, pausing to get my cool back, the demon paused for me to catch up, he turned to eye me. "This is a human's dwelling. Her family runs it. She's become a dear friend of mine," he drugs his fingers through his hair, while he let out a heavy breath. "I want you to see for yourself what humankind is capable of."

A demon and a human being good friends?! That sent red flags blaring through my mind. All the warning signs that we were trained to note made my stomach churn as I took a deep breath and stood my ground. Narrowing my gaze on him as I asked him point blank;

"Did you use some sort of mind trick on her?"

In a blink he was in my face, noses nearly touching. "Don't you dare think I would do something like that to Loria. She's the kindest soul I have ever met and I won't allow you to disrespect her in any way, shape, or form."

The low tone had me flinching back before it was back to trailin after the hard march, clenching my mouth shut. Just from that alone, this Loria seemed to be a good person, invoking the protection of a demon so thoroughly.

We passed a small hill and before our eyes was a treehouse near a large pond; a few waterfowl just meandered on top of the still water.behind that was a large house with a wrap around enclosed deck. An assortment of windows shimmering from the sunlight; forming the illusion that the back of the house was made of glass.

"The human's name is Loria McClanahan and you better be nice or I will throw you out," he warned me, and this was something which I didn't understand and really wanted to know;

"Why are you so nice to her?" I voiced, casting a critical gaze over at him and cocked my head to the side.

"That is none of your concern," he opened the door to the porch and slipped inside.

Huffing, I barely caught the door before it clicked shut and followed suit, a female was just about to slip from the door that connected the enclosure to the main homestead.

"Oh!" She paused startled before smiling warmly at us. "Hello there," she greeted before looking at the demon curiously.

"He landed in that field outback," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder while her eyes darted back and forth between us.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," a hand outstretched to me, a wide smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you as well, my name is Larcrion," accepting the offered hand and smiled softly at her.

"My name is Loria, come on in," she stepped aside to allow me to pass but the demon moved faster and entered into the home first. Clicking her tongue against her teeth, she waited for me to enter before trailing behind him.

"Is that any way to act in front of a guest, Ezekiel?" she chided and my legs froze, looking at the shimmering blue tipped male.

Red eyes immediately locked onto me, lips disappearing in a harsh frown. Time slowed as I read the unspoken words.

The meaning of his name was not something to be commented on.

"Doubt he minds," he finally retorted, breaking the trance that had encompassed us.

Shaking my head as she looked at me for confirmation, she shrugged. "Whatever you say," she sighed, shrugging her shoulders as the beeping of a timer filled the air before awkwardness could set in.

Chewing my lip, I decided to change the topic. "What were you making?" I inquired, stepping up to the dining room table that separated the main kitchen from the baby blue colored living room.

The human looked over with a cheeky grin. "Our resident demon likes to make bread so I was just baking one of the frozen batter," a soft giggle escaped her.

"Oh, what kind?" I inquired curiously, tilting my head some.

"Zucchini," she smiled and pulled it out and the smell hit hard.

Instantly my mouth watered and my stomach growled. "That…smells delightful," I whispered, wiggling in my seat. Would I be able to have some? Or would the scent just taunt me?

"Would you like a slice?"

Flushing slightly, I sat up straighter. "Yes please, thank you, Loria," I answered as she was already slicing the bread and putting them on plates.

Coming around the peninsula, she set the plate covered in plentiful slices on the table. "Help yourself, just make sure to save some for Zeke and me," she sang, walking back to the bread to finish cutting it up to have ready.

"Of course," I agreed, offering a plate to the demon who was leaning against a door, scrolling through his phone. "Here you are, Ezekiel."

It took a while before he moved to sit at the head of the table, phone still nearby as Loria circled the divide and stood near a chair across from me.

"So, Larcri-Larc-Lark-may I just call you Lark?" She inquired, with a soft blush when she couldn’t pronounce my name, causing me to pause.

A nickname? That was something I hadn't heard in some time. "Oh, um, sure?" I stuttered out, heat rushing from my cheeks to my neck.

"What brings you to Earth?" She finally questioned, grabbing a binder that was sitting on the other end of the large table.

I chewed my bottom lip as I pondered just how much to tell her. "I uh-I was banished," I explained softly and picked at the food on my plate, wondering if this changes if I was allowed to stay.

"What for?" This time it was Ezekiel asking the questions.

Even I didn’t know the whole story, they didn’t give me all the answers that I deserved. But there was one thing that I did know. "Something that I didn't do," was my answer.

Hoping to cut off any further questioning, by the looks on their faces, I achieved that.

Loria started scribbling something in the binder, I nibbled a bit more on the bread as the human finally sat in the chair, pushing brown hair over her shoulder. "So you'll be here for a while?" She quested, pulling a plate to her and started to eat the thick slice of bread.

"Yes, as Ezekiel pointed out earlier I don't have anywhere else to go," I grumbled, sitting back in the chair.

"Understandable, you're more than welcome to stay here and take all the time you need to get things sorted out," she offered and I nodded absently.

"May I see where I will be staying?" I requested and she nodded, gesturing to Ezekiel.

"Will you please take him to the room up top?" She asked with a smirk as he let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah," heavily fell from his lips as he shoved back from the table and looked at me who was soon following suit. "Let's go."

When we got away from Loria, Ezekiel paused to look at me. Eyes flaring slightly in the darkened hall that was near the stairs.

"I'm going to tell you now," he warned, eyes flaring to that ruby he had met me with. "If you dare think that you'll just loaf around, you're wrong. You will not be treated any different than anyone else staying here," he warned me, face uncomfortably close to my own.

“Who else is staying here?” I asked, honestly curious about if there were other guests and it seemed to catch him off guard.

“Just me- but still. You’ll be expected to help around the house.”

“That’s fine with me. I don’t want to be a burden.” And he pulled away and seemed to be sated with the answer.

"Good," he headed up the stairs, pausing again once we reached the top. "Now, this is the master bedroom where Lorias' parents stay when they're home. This one is hers and the rest are spare rooms for other guests and that’s the full bath that is shared between all of us. There are small bath kits in the rooms for each guest that is restocked as needed. The rest of the rooms for rent are in the basement, it's whatever they wish." He finally asked and I had to pause, his quick speech nearly going over my head.

"Oh, alright. Which is yours?" Casting a gaze around the floor to try and take it all in. Nearly all the doors were closed, so I couldn’t gauge anything about where things are, so it’d be trial and error figuring out the rooms.

"This one is mine so you can choose any of the other ones," he gestured to the four other empty rooms.

"I'll take this one," I pointed to the one at the end of the hallway.

Stepping to the side for me to walk past, I walked into the room and started to look around.

"I'll let you get settled," He slipped into the room beside him, the one he had said was his.

Slowly casting my gaze around, opening the drawers and closet as I explored. "I need human clothes…" I murmured to myself, noting what Loria and Ezekiel were wearing and how I would stand out in these robes.

But how would I get them? Would Loria buy them for me? Maybe I could ask her tonight at dinner.

Finally, I moved to the windows and slowly opened the curtains that looked back on the field where Ezekiel had found me, I noticed that there seemed to be some sort of glowing figure near the pond that resided on the edge of the yard.