Chapter One

After centuries of settling on possessing one single body, my Nephil vassal, for just two weeks a year, I finally reached my limit. I wanted to feel, I wanted to know what it really meant to be human. Why else would I have fallen from Heaven to begin with? If I had known then what I know now - that simply falling didn't mean that I would instantly become human - would I still have done it? That question plagued me for the better part of my time on Earth, and the only answer I ever came to was yes. Yes, I would fall again. At least this way I had two weeks a year to feel, to pretend & experience what it was like to be human.

I was getting restless, looking for the solution to my problem. I remember hearing about a book when I was in Heaven. The Book of Enoch. There was a legend, though nothing confirmed, in the book that said if I killed my Nephil vassal, Chauncey, I could become human. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Chauncey is a half demon, which basically means that he's immortal. There was one other way, though. I needed to find one of Chauncey's female descendents and sacrifice her for my greater good. That wouldn't be so hard; I have done worse in my time. I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult to track his family tree and follow the chain to the lucky girl.

I spent the better part of my time researching and tracking descendents. My search finally turned fruitful and I soon found myself in Coldwater, Maine.

What a boring town. I really needed to hurry up and find my prey so I could do what needed to be done and get the hell out of this place. If I was going to be stuck here for any amount of time, though, I needed to find a place to relax, make some money, and have a little fun! I found a pool hall that fit the bill – seedy and tough. I spent most of the time I wasn't reconnoitering there and quickly earned a pretty stout reputation. Seemed that other people were looking for a little excitement as well as someone to challenge. I was more than happy to lend a hand, help out the locals. Ha. I quickly racked up some pretty pricey possessions and money – man, I loved that part of humanity, people always so quick to try to prove how bad-assed they think they really are. I loved watching their faces fall and turn all shades of red after they had their asses handed to them. No one likes to lose, I knew that; I wasn't stupid, so I always had to watch my back when I left the hall. It wasn't my fault that I was just that good!

I looked up the female descendent, Nora Gray was her name. She was a high school student, so it wasn't really hard to keep an eye on her. Actually, she was really easy on the eyes. Great legs. Dark curly hair with natural red highlights – ah, I was always a sucker for redheads. Pretty eyes, nice skin, perfect lips. Hmmm… Pretty, very pretty. There was a certain kind of classic beauty about her, or maybe it was innocence. Was I sure she was related to Chauncey? Who knew his genes, or at least parts of them, could result in her?

Nora spent most of her time at school, at the library, or at home. She was always with one friend, another female. That girl looked like she could be an Amazon warrior – she was HUGE! Pretty, sure, if you went for that type of girl. Back to Nora. I couldn't believe that she didn't have a boyfriend. She was a very pretty girl and seemed to have a good head on her shoulders – smart, compassionate, and confident. I wondered what kind of guy she would be into? Would she like a fallen angel kind of guy? Someone who had a dangerous air about him? Someone with devilish good looks? Someone like me? Ugh, why was I thinking about that… I digress…Nora lived with her mom in a farm house that was really quite remote compared to the surrounding suburbs. After weeks of tailing, making notes, and taking pictures (a lot of pictures), it became pretty clear that Nora basically lived by herself. Her mom was very rarely home, always on the road. Could this get any easier for me? A high school student who doesn't have a lot of friends and who was home alone most nights? This would be a cake walk!

I started plotting my attack. Was it better to make it look like a mugging gone wrong for the poor girl while she was on her way to the library? Or was it better to stage an in-home invasion? I even considered making it look like she was involved in a tragic and fatal car accident. It didn't really matter to me, just as long as her blood was spilled by my hands. I decided that more recon was needed, I had to make sure everything was perfect, nothing overlooked.

I followed Nora more intently, daring myself to get as close as possible. I had to, after all, get to know her a little better for my plans to succeed. The funny thing, though, was the closer I got to her, the more little things would spark my curiousity. Silly things like certain facial expressions she made or some of her hand gestures. Again, humans never ceased to amaze me. So many little movements to convey thoughts and feelings without speaking one single word. What was she passionate about? What made this girl tick? Answers to those questions would certainly be helpful in my task, right?

That decided my next step – break into her house, find out more about this girl. I waited until she went to school, after her mom went to work, and before their housekeeper arrived. Their house was tidy and comfortable. I went upstairs and quickly found Nora's room. Again, it was tidy and had a certain order to it. I took pictures of the room so that I could study them after I was gone, just in case I missed anything of importance, of course. I looked through her CD's, her books, papers on her desk (looked like college brochures), and her journal. That was a piece of art – her journal was filled with simple yet thought provoking poetry. Interesting. I took pictures of a few of the more intense and poignant poems. I opened her closet and found a large hard-cased item – a cello. This girl was a classic. I wonder what it would be like to watch and listen to her actually play? Did she still play? There were a few pictures of Nora and her parents on her dresser and her nightstand. Hmmm… In all the time I've been watching her, I've seen nothing of the father. He probably ran out on them. Jerk.

With all this new food for thought, I felt confident about putting my plan into action soon. The anticipation was killing me. I decided to go to the pool hall to calm my thoughts and relax a bit. Maybe I'd even take some poor fool for some money or something even better. I found a poker game that looked pretty interesting. The stakes were high, chips all over the table – my kind of game. I pulled a chair up to the table and started taking money from the overly eager guys. I was interrupted by BJ, the new owner of the club. He said a lady was here to see me. What lady in her right mind would come to a place like this? I told him to send her down. I gathered my chips, pushed away from the poker table, and walked over to the pool tables. I leaned against the table facing the stairs. Who I saw walking down the stairs surprised and shocked me. Dabria.