Aurora - Book 1 - The Blessed Ground

I open my eyes as the sunlight dances off the tree leaves above me. I stretch out my arms. The grass is cool and soft on my fingers. I hear a stream in the background as I try to collect myself. Nothing hurts. What a weird dream. I half sit up and check myself. Jeans and a tee-shirt. Tennis shoes. I don't remember these clothes. This is not my garden. Shade trees are everywhere. But this is more like a tree park of some kind. "HEY!" A man in the distance is pointing at me. He doesn't seem happy. A strange alarm blares through the park. I bolt. I'm obviously somewhere I'm not supposed to be. I don't remember where I am or how I got here though. There's what looks like a six-foot wall. It must go around the whole tree park. I can't see the end. I get myself pulled up and sit on the wall. I seem to be in the middle of a town. "COME HERE." Another man from inside the tree park yells. I turn too fast and fall off the wall. The concrete sidewalk catches me rather harshly. I wipe my hand off on my jeans. "HER. RIGHT THERE." Three men are running after me. I do a double take. They look like they have wings for a minute. But I focus and run. I need a safe spot. "LUCIFER, GRAB HER!" A man with tan skin and black hair steps in front of me. I pretend to go one way then take off another. I get around him and see more guys coming at me from the new direction. They do have wings. Big feather wings. One of them has black wings. The other two have white wings. I turn and run back the other way. Then I see a woman with white wings in the air. I have no idea what to do. "Come here." The man I dodged earlier grabs me. "You're ok." I shake my head and scramble up him. "Please please please help." "Everything is fine." His tone is soothing and his arms are warm. He wraps a black wing around me, blocking the crowd from my view. I cling to him. "What is happening? I want my dad." "She's a teenager, Lucifer. Be easy." I hide my eyes in his neck and touch his wing feathers. They're so soft and silky. His heartbeat is steady. He puts a hand under my ass and lifts me a little more. I feel him shiver as he does it. "Sweetie, what is your name?" The woman who was in the air has her feet on the ground now. Her wings are white. She has a dress on. It kind of looks like a sheet. I peek out at her. Then I shove my eyes in his neck and shake my head. "This is different. Will you come to me?" A man with big white wings and long blond hair reaches his hands towards me. I hold on tighter to the man with black wings and try to get away from the other guy. A few of the people around us laugh. I don't think this is funny. I want to go home. The woman puts her hand on the man with blond hair's shoulder. "Xander, she's very scared. Sweetie, what is your name?" My body shakes and the dark-haired guy bounces me. "Everyone, go away. Bring Rave here." "Rave? Really?" The blond-haired guy crosses his arms. "They're about the same age, asshole." He hoists me up again. "Angels need to stop thinking they know everything." "She needs to come with us, Lucifer. It has nothing to do with that." The woman rolls her eyes. "You all need to back off." I cuddle him. I think he's getting mad. He rubs my back. "It'll be ok." He's the only one who's speaking calmly. "NEW GIRL." A girl with black hair grabs my arm and pulls. "Come on. I'll show you around. Let go." I hold on tighter. The blond man shakes his head. "Lucifer, you need to..." The black-haired guy takes a step. "I don't have to do s**t. Come on, Rave." He carries me to what seems like a coffee shop. Rave follows us. But so does everyone else. "STAY OUT!" Rave slams the door on them. Then she smiles at me. "I'm Rave. This is Lucifer." Lucifer sits on a couch and leaves me straddling him. I relax against his chest and see something move out of the corner of my eye. I try to see what it is and I spin too fast. I fall right to the floor. He picks me up and puts me on the couch beside him. I twist and turn trying to sort it out. I have wings. They're just as big as everyone else's. "Try stretching them." Rave's black wings stretch out to the sides. They're probably seven feet all stretched. It's almost natural to stretch them. It's like my body knows how to do it. They're connected near my spine by my shoulders. I stretch them and peek. One is black and the other is white. "Am I dead?" She gives me the weirdest look. "No. We're alive. What's your name?" "Aurora." "Welcome to The Blessed Ground, Aurora." "Is this heaven?" "No." Lucifer motions someone and they bring us drinks. "Heaven and hell are different. You're in the land of angels and demons. Most humans don't come here when they die. This is very rare for us." "So, I did die?" He shrugs one shoulder. "Your human life is over. But you came here instead of going to heaven or hell." Rave nods. "We're alive. You're alive. You didn't die. You're just existing differently now. For whatever reason, you get to keep living." I hug myself. "How? Does my dad know? Does he think I just disappeared?" "We don't know what happened yet. To us, you appeared here ten minutes ago. I promise we'll figure it out. And this is your immortal body. The body that died didn't leave the planet." "Why did this happen?" I wipe the tears off my face and hug myself again. Lucifer shakes his head. "We don't know Amlio's plan. We only know you were brought to us." "I want to go back." "You can check on the people from your old life sometimes. But this is your life now." Rave hands me a cookie. "You can't go back to living like you did." "I want to live with Dante and my dad." "No, you don't." Lucifer stands me up. "Welcome to immortality, kid. They will die eventually, and you would be left alone forever. This is your life now. The faster you accept it, the easier it will be." My chest hurts. I don't want to think about them dying. I grab his shirt and tears fall out of my eyes. "But I want to go home." He wipes a tear off my cheek. "You are home." Rave rolls her eyes. "I'll show you how to check on them later. For now, let's..." The door blows open and slams into the wall. The blond man comes inside and crosses his arms. He glares at Lucifer. He seems really mad. I drop back on the couch beside him and get as close as I can. Lucifer smirks and puts his arm around me. "Xander, this is Aurora. She's new here." "Relax, Xander." The blonde woman with white wings comes in behind him. "Aurora is a beautiful name. My name is Eden. We need to get you to the school, sweetie." "School?" I try to get closer to Lucifer. She nods. "Lucifer is a student there too. You may have classes together. But we need to get you checked in. Then I can explain some things. Will you come with me?" Rave pulls me up. "You can be my roommate. I don't have one yet. I'll show you our room." "That's very sweet of you, Rave. She will need some extra assistance for a while." The blonde lady turns to me. "Can we please go there now?" I glance at Lucifer and he chuckles. "It's fine. She won't hurt you. Watch out for Xander though." Xander huffs and tosses his hands up. Then he walks out. I nod and run to Eden. She gives me a hug. "I am very proud of you. You're doing so well." I hug her tightly. I like her. She wraps her wings around me, and I feel calm and love. It has to be some kind of magic. I don't feel sad or anything bad at all. She keeps a wing around me and walks me out. "We're going to walk. It's not far." I look all around me and Lucifer isn't here. Rave takes my arm. "He'll catch up. He stays at the school too. But there's not much he can do right now. Don't worry." My eyes dart all over while we walk. In some ways, it seems like a normal city on the planet. There are no cars though. Angels walk or fly around. The buildings seem to shimmer. A big crystal building sits on some clouds. A gold stairway leads to it. A gold road that leads into a park catches my eye. Rave pulls my arm. "This is the main city for angels. There are a few more, but this is the main one. It's hidden in the clouds but it's not like mortals could see it anyway. I'll show you more of the city later." She turns us toward the shimmering building. "Welcome to Tryty." Then she gestures to it. "The school of the angels and demons." My mouth falls open. I stare at her for a second too long. "You go to school with demons?" She giggles. "I am a demon." Eden nods. "We are bound by different rules, but we live harmoniously. Welcome to Tryty University, Aurora." Rave grabs my arm. "White wings are angels, black are demons. But don't worry, we've lived together for ages." "What am I?" I glance at my two different colored wings. Rave pulls me until I walk again. "You get to pick after a year at school." Then she smirks. "Demons have a lot more fun. Just so you know." "Can anyone pick either?" "Yes, it's your choice." Eden smiles and gestures at the main building. "Angels have a lot of fun as well. We also try to do good for people. You'll learn about it in school." "Why do we wait a year?" "So, you can understand the laws for each of us and make an informed decision." Eden smiles warmly. "You can't switch later; it will be a permanent decision." "Wow." I stumble and freeze as I finally see the building. The place is beautiful. The front doors are like two stories tall. The building is at least three stories and shimmers. It's open. The balconies are the hallways. I can see people walking around. "She's in shock." Rave shakes me. "Not surprising." Eden pulls me in the doors. Angel paintings are floor to ceiling. We get into the main entry, and a huge staircase stands in the middle of the floor. It goes up to the second level. I get pulled around the side of the staircase and into an office. It's like any office I'm used to. A desk, chairs, couch, bookshelves, and lots of books fill the room. Eden helps me into a chair then she sits on the other side of the desk. This must be her office.