The Fine Line of Heaven and Hell

This chapter was beta'd by Gaia! Thanks! ^.^

A/N: I got reviews! For some reason, that makes me happy. *grin* I even got a vote! It was a good vote, too.. I’m all giddy like a schoolgirl now. ^.^ On the up-hand, I’m not so nervous anymore. I’m not entirely sure if that’s good or bad, but hey, it's different. I actually feel really sorry for the friends who pestered me to post a story…. I’m sure they’re regretting creating such a terrifying monster. ^.^


WARNING: While I do adore Mythology, and am an avid Mythology nerd, this story will not align with any particular region of Mythology or Religion. Quite frankly, it disregards ALL mythology about angels and demons. The reason being that so many people have done the same thing about demons and angels over and over… It’s rather boring. So I’m offering alternate ideals on the “reality” behind both mythological races. At least, that’s how I’m saying it so that it makes me feel better for insulting anyone. *smile*

Angels CAN reproduce, and are very equipped to do so. Angels can retract their wings and in this story, though they were once able to roam the planet freely, must now acquire specific permission with secretive and twisted reasons to join the humans on earth.

The reason behind this is the demons. The demons currently have dominance over the earth, meaning they can walk around the planet however much they want, with complete disregard for humans. They don’t enslave the humans or anything, but they do belittle them and treat them badly… Anyway, demons can’t retract their wings and most demons have irregular eye colors. Grey, silver, gold, neon colors… etc. Shuey thinks that all demons have gold eyes simply because her eye is gold.


Chapter 2: Where Angels Don’t Trod.
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A musky smell penetrated Shuey’s nose, making her waken unsteadily from her slumber.
Something was digging into her wrist, nearly to the point it might be drawing blood. It
was a rather uncomfortable feeling, so semi-alert eyes blinked open slowly to see the
blade of her dagger cutting into her flesh. With a small sigh, she rose up and straightened
her jacket, pulling at the sleeves and finally standing up.

Then, much to her irritation, a knock resounded, quite loudly, on her door. With only a
moment’s stretch, she walked towards the door, her usual unexpressive attitude plastered
blatantly on her face. Once at the door, she paused, realizing she had even fallen asleep
with her boots on. With a withering glare at nothing in particular, she unlocked the door
and twisted the knob with surprising speed.

The door swung open to reveal the clerk from earlier, tugging at his clothes as if he were
uncomfortable and generally fidgeting in an annoying manner. Instead of a pleasant, or
unpleasant, “Can I help you?” Shuey simply cocked an eyebrow at the twitching man in
the doorway of what was now her ‘quarters’. “M-Mr. Cordon said t-to meet him
downstairs in the b-bar.” She nodded as he shook slightly and turned, nearly running
down the hallway. Was it her or did he seem to be afraid of her? Running her hand
through her hair softly, she realized her mistake. With a scowl planted firmly on her
features, she moved her bangs to cover that seriously fucked up eye and grabbed her
keys.

The bar was in what Shuey would consider a basement, but it was decorated cheerfully
with glowing yellow lights in seemingly random locations on the ceiling. Mr. Cordon,
aka "Sir”, was standing at the entryway waiting for her as if he had all the time in the
world. ‘Probably does,’ she thought, figuring he was the type of manager who only
yapped orders at people and never actually did anything.

Now that she had seen them, his wings seemed more obvious to her when he waved her
over and turned to enter the bar completely. It was almost as if you were looking at
something through a wave of heat, only it was a bit clearer than that.
“You’ll just be observing tonight, if that’s alright. I’d like to go over a few things with
you and ask you some questions before you actually begin.” She looked at him coldly for
a moment, uttering curses under her breath at the thought of spending more time with this
man.

Her hand itched to grasp her dagger as she had before, but she refrained from it by
gripping the bar as she came within range. “I’d like to start as soon as possible,” was all
she said. She didn’t want to owe this creepy guy anything for any amount of time if she
could possibly help it. He sat down fluidly, as if he were actually floating into the seat.
With a strange smile that made her somewhat tense, he patted the seat beside him.
Crinkling her brow a bit, she sat in the seat he offered.

He leaned on the bar, propping his chin on his entwined fingers as he looked her over.
“Alright then; you can start once I finish my questions, how does that sound?” When he
received a clarifying nod, he flashed her another smile, which of course made her visibly
blanch. This seemed to be a quickly forming routine. She was still wearing the clothes
from before, whereas he had changed into a boring black suit with a white undershirt.
Because he had seen her draw the weapon once before, he could now see the glinting
handle of a small silver dagger at her wrist. He had to admit that she had hidden it
surprisingly well.

Though she was dangerous, she only seemed to know the basics of combat. If she were to
be confronted chances are, she’d rely heavily on her little trinket there. “How old are you,
Ms. Shuey?” he asked politely, leaning back a bit and ordering a drink for himself. The
girl clenched her hands a bit, probably resisting the urge to pull out her knife and kill
him, but soon relaxed with a stiff exhale of breath. She wasn’t the type of woman to hide
her displeasure under a façade.

Hoping her age wouldn’t lose her the job, Shuey muttered a low, “Seventeen,” and gazed
at her nails. They were black today… no wondering why, she supposed. “Will that
compromise my place here, Sir?” she asked with in expression, watching the bartender on
shift swirl some concoction in a glass before sliding it into the hands of one of the
customers. The place had two types of customers: demons and humans. Some glanced
her way furtively, while others stared at her openly, making her wonder what they were
thinking.

That irritating, low chuckle rang in her ears, making her scowl before she could stop her
brain from sending the ‘scowl at that’ signal to her facial features. “No, it’s not a
problem,” he said calmly before moving on to his next question. “What level of education
might you have?” With nothing but a shrug, she listened to the next inquiry with
increasing irritation. “Do you have any education?”

She nodded slowly, checking herself from doing considerable damage to the man beside
her. “I was personally tutored at my place of residence,” she stated flatly, ready to just
serve some drinks to idiotic drunks who had no idea what she was giving them, anyway.
This seemed to only garner the pristine man’s attention, making him shift forward, his
face leaning in. His dark hair fell around his face, showing her a faint blue hue to it when
the lights from the bar shone onto it.

Silver eyes seemed to bore into her again as he seemed to contemplate a few things, his
eyes wandering her frame and causing her to feel slightly apprehensive. "Very well, I’ll
issue you some questions in a review later. In the meantime, you may call me Mr.
Cordon, since you have some distaste for informalities. If you should choose to call me
by any title other than ‘Sir’ or ‘Mr. Cordon,’ you can call me Jerrick. Go ahead and get
behind the bar, I’ll only linger for a bit longer.” Why he was telling her this, she couldn’t
fathom. “Oh, and you may want to begin wearing colored contacts. I believe you’ll
understand why at the end of the night.”

She paused at that, looking directly into his eyes for some hint, but finding nothing.
Colored contact lenses? When she moved off of the stool without another glance at
‘Jerrick,’ she got a few risen eyebrows and cold stares. It would seem Mr. Cordon and
respect amongst the demons. It was rather strange, but understandable once one noticed
his wings. Although she’d only seen a demon or two, she hadn’t thought their wings
could look that way. Judging by the wings of the current inhabitants of the bar, she was
guessing it wasn’t a common trait of demons. Observing the winged people inside the
well-lit bar, she paid particular attention to their eyes. Some were bright silver, others
strange neon colors, and then there was her employer’s grey ones. Not one of the demons
had gold eyes like her own. She’d even spotted one with bright orange eyes, but none
with soft golden tones like the beer she had begun pouring.

Shuey glared down into the glass she’d prepared before roughly handing it to it’s new
owner; a demon with dusty brown wings that looked like leather and neon green eyes.
“Oi, would ya look at that, Deamon. She’s got angel eyes.” Her eyes must have widened
comically, because said demon began laughing hysterically. Angel eyes. She’d forgotten
that almost all angels had eyes like her clear cerulean blue one. Her skin prickled as if the
demon’s stubble-lined jaw had grated against her arm and she backed up ever so slightly.
‘Deamon’ meandered over, leaning heavily on the countertop to get a good look at her. A
low chuckle came from his thick throat as he surveyed her with chilling red eyes. His
chocolate skin stretched over taught muscular arms, visible under his tight shirt. His paler
friend clapped him on the shoulder and laughed in his ear, making his eerie eyes narrow.
Deep plum-colored wings twitched in discomfort as the man leered at Shuey. “Yeah,
Vicrim, she doesn’t seem to know where angels shouldn’t trod. This planet belongs to the
demons, little one.”

Shuey felt her muscles tense at the insult, her hand flying to her knife and pulling it out
with little more than a small jerk. Stepping glaringly up to the demon before her, she
buried the dagger into the bar… all the way to the hilt. “I’m no angel,” she stated bluntly.
And she wasn’t, that much she knew.
The dark-skinned demon only seemed to find amusement in this, straightening up a bit
more and leaning his entire body over the counter, his thick hand reaching for her face.
Pulling her little weapon out of the bar, she moved to gouge the man’s arm with it, only
to find it pinned down by Vicrim. Blond hair moved about near her arm as the dustywinged
demon pinned her arm with little trouble. “Careful, Deamon. She’s stronger than
she looks.”

‘Deamon’ nodded to his friend; they seemed to more partners than friends at this point, or
so Shuey was beginning to think. “Now, little one… let me see those angel eyes.” A
muscled hand gripped her chin firmly, twisting her face to one side and forcing her bangs
to fall alongside her ear. Gold and blue eyes flared in anger, her arm ripping away from
the slightly smaller demon and the dagger burying itself into his partner’s arm, just above
the wrist.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” After that, the bar members fell silent; all of them gaping at
her openly as she turned to wash a few of the dirty mugs that had piled up. Deamon
nursed his wound, but never stopped smiling at her every time her eye met his. Though
her bangs had fallen back into place, everyone in the bar seemed to stare directly at it.

The irritating man that happened to be her new employer finally rose from his seat,
obviously satisfied that he had proven his point. Glaring harshly at Cordon, Shuey went
back to her glass cleaning while muttering a stream of curses under her breath. She didn’t
have any more trouble from the demons, although some had left with disgusted faces.
Others stared at her in dumbfounded wonder, and still others watched her in amusement.
She had expected some angry retaliation from Deamon and his buddy, but received
nothing but interested glances. She wanted to just ask what was so interesting, but
refrained for the sake of her new job.

Yes, this seemed to be a great place for her to work.
The hours dragged by as she did nothing but mix drinks, clean mugs, and wipe down the
bar. Once the fat greasy man who called himself the day bartender was satisfied with her
work, he left without a word, leaving her there alone. It was getting fairly late now,
possibly around twelve-thirty, and the bar seemed to gain two for every customer that left
the place.

It seemed these newcomers, who spoke to those who had been there previously, began to
watch her as well, making her increasingly uncomfortable with every new body that
entered through the bar’s doorway. Finally, two o’clock rolled around: closing time. She
set down the glass she was currently cleaning, and looked around for someone else who
worked there.

After skimming the small crowd for about five solid minutes, she developed a tick
somewhere in her eye that would not cease it’s twitching. “Can I offer you a drink, since
it’s closing time?” Her narrowed eyes reverted instantly back to their normal size as the
words ‘closing time’ reached her ears. She looked at the bringer of wonderful news only
to find that it was actually just her employer leaning against the bar. She had been
watching the bar studiously; how did he get in there?

Shifting for a moment, she looked from the door to Cordon. “I can leave, then?” She saw
a glint of amusement in those strange grey eyes as he nodded slowly. As she went to do
just that, a slightly muscular arm held her at bay. Looking up with her eyebrow slightly
above the other, she tilted her head in question.

“Please, call me Jerrick. I’d appreciate it if you did.” There was a long pause as the
beauty he held his arm in front of seemed to contemplate his meaning. When that
glittering blue eye looked back at him, there was an accusing darkness to them as the
alluring woman backed up a step.

“Sir,” she said pointedly, making Jerrick’s smile fade a bit. “I’d like to leave.” Somehow,
he’d known that wouldn’t work. When he failed to move from his position, thinking
maybe his authority over her would help keep her tame, the bloodied blade from before
magically appeared in her hand in a threatening manner, so he moved aside gracefully.
Giving her his charming smile, he watched as her pretty eye narrowed as she stiffened up
once again and seemed to stalk away. He could almost envision a furry cat's tail waving
in an irritated manner behind her wonderfully swaying hips.

Abruptly, he turned to his audience and spread his arms. “Gentlemen. I’m glad you could
make it.” The greeting trailed away from Shuey’s ears as she briskly walked passed the
clerk towards the door. She needed some fresh air.

Before she actually got there, however, the night clerk stopped her with a, “Ms. Shuey?”
She turned a withering stare to the woman, showing her displeasure at being stopped.
Blond hair fell into a curtain around the shy looking woman’s face, her eyes barely
visible under the rim of thin wiry frames. She seemed to gather up some form of courage
before straightening up her figure, a book solidly gripped in her arms.

Just as Shuey began to ponder if the book was something she’d intentionally grabbed for
protection or something she had been reading, said book appeared in front of her chest
rather abruptly. Pale blue eyes seemed to draw her in as the clerk looked up at her. It was
the first time she’d been looked in the eyes seriously for awhile. “This book is yours. Mr.
Cordon told me to give it to you when you passed by after your shift, Ma’am. Would you
like it now? If not, I can send it to your room.”

A strange sense of amusement entered Shuey’s persona, but she paid it little heed as she
examined the woman before her. Instead of lowering her head and whimpering like the
day clerk did, this creature looked at her directly and didn’t flinch. In a strange sense, it
was comforting to see someone of such courage in this strange new place. Holding out a
hand without much of a change in her expression, she opened it and crunched her fingers
in what she considered agreeing to take the book. Taking her reaction as a positive one,
the blond woman smiled at her in a blinding flash of white and handed her the brown and
black book. “Have a good evening, Ms. Shuey. Your schedule will be in your room by
noon tomorrow.” At that, the woman turned and steadily walked back to her post, dualcolored
eyes watching her calmly.

“Thank you,” she muttered softly, knowing the woman heard her when she looked up
with a smaller, less blinding smile and nodded her head politely. Her anger hadn’t
completely dissipated, but it seemed a bit less…. well, just a bit less, she supposed as she
continued on her journey to the streets outside.

Once she was finally where she wanted to be, Shuey glanced down at the worn thing in
her hand. It was mostly a muddy brown color with a few horizontal black lines decorating
the cover, surrounding the words ‘The Way of Angels and Demons.’ She scowled to
herself; a guy like that would give her a book like this. He was so assuming, it made her
rather sick sometimes. Despite herself, she found a decent place to sit: the curb of the
slightly risen sidewalk lining the parking lot, and flipped open the book with one hand as
the other held the spine firmly in place.

Among other things, the book basically summed up both cultures, explaining their
traditions and beliefs, along with regular customary titles and how to differentiate
between demons. All-in-all, it was a very useful book, and she hated to admit the man
who had given it to her had done her a favor. The book she now cradled in her hands after
hours of reading also had a brief history lesson in it. Mostly, it just gloated about how the
demons claimed the earth and it was one of the battles the angels lost. After reading this,
she was very clear about demonic arrogance.

When reading about differentiations, she became rather confused, and even considered
asking for help. Cordon would definitely not do, but she really knew no one else. It was
rather sad to admit, but she feared she may have to ask something else of the man whom
she had come to automatically dislike. Something about him just triggered her internal
alarm and she really didn’t like it. She supposed what upset her the most was the fact that
his wings were clear. How were his wings clear? Was he hiding them, or were they
naturally that way? It was really bizarre once she saw so many of the other demons
flaunting their wings boastfully about the bar. Even now, as she sat outside the inn, she
saw both demons and human wandering about as the sun began to rise.

Sun? Shuey looked to the colors dancing along the horizon, finally realizing just how
long she’d been outside reading the damned book ‘he’ gave her. No wonder there were
actually people out; it was becoming day once again; the cycle of everyday life once
again beginning. Standing with a sigh, Shuey snapped the book shut and dusted herself
off with one hand before walking up towards the door. Although she didn’t sleep much,
she’d only had that nap in the past two days, and it had barely sustained her for her
shift.

Upon entering the inn, she noticed the blond woman leaning over another book. This
book was blue, the page edges painted so that they looked gold when many were put
together. Observing the girl at work for a moment, she briefly humored the idea of asking
this strange woman she did not know for help with the book, but dismissed it shortly due
to lack of acquaintanceship. How did one ask for help on a problem, anyway? ‘Excuse
me, I have a question about this...’ Shaking her head at the ridiculous idea, she simply
accepted the fact that she did not know, and would have to ask Cordon later.

As if the mere thought of him teleported him into your personal perimeter, said
embodiment of annoyance seemed to materialize at the top of the stairway she was
ascending. “Ah, Shuey,” at the glare he corrected, “Ms. Shuey. I‘ve been looking for you.
Did you get the book I sent?” That eye tick from before miraculously returned as she
lifted the book for his viewing. One of his eyebrows arched elegantly as he stepped to the
side of the staircase to allow her through. “Any questions?”

Already having brushed passed him without thought, she paused as she was about to
unlock her door. Examining him carefully, she pondered silently if he could read minds.
Shortly after coming to the conclusion that if he could read minds, he‘d have booted her
out quickly, she looked for another reason he already always seemed to know everything.
She decided it was not longer irritating or annoying; it was infuriating. “No,” she said
simply, not patient enough to have a sane conversation with the man. Something in his
eyes seemed to harden, as he straightened up from a relaxed pose she hadn’t been aware
of. He began walking towards her, making her go for her dagger, but he stayed just out of
‘slice-him-up’ range.

“Now, I’ve been nothing but pleasant to you, but all you’ve done since we met, which
wasn’t even that long ago, is glare at me and threaten me with that thing. Have I done
anything to merit such actions?” Although she still didn’t like the man, he did have a
valid point. Her face rather dull and expressionless, she merely shook her head. “Then
why make them?”

Shuey looked at him for a bit, then unlocked her door calmly and swung it open. She
paused just before she closed the door behind her, thinking over just how she should
phrase what she was thinking. Feeling no actual need to apologize, even though he’d
done no outright wrong, she just shrugged at him. “Habit,” she said flatly as she let go of
the door and it shut on its own followed by a small click.

Jerrick just stared blankly at the door for a few moments, wondering if this social reject
was honestly slamming the door in his face. “How rude,” he muttered lowly under his
breath before shifting to lean his weight to the right. “I’ll see you in my office around
noon, Ms. Shuey.” Mentally spewing petulant insults, he walked away briskly from that
woman’s door. While she hadn’t actually done something she wasn’t free to do, one
would think she’d have more respect for her employer, of all people. He wouldn’t fire her
simply for her unsociable attitude. He just couldn’t grasp the reason behind her blatant
rejection of anything living.

With a sigh, he could visualize the different scenarios that might have been her life
growing up as a child with eyes like that. Was she truly human, as her looks suggested, or
was she something else, which her aura insinuated? It was rather puzzling.


A/N:
Well, that didn’t go as well as I thought it would. I actually drifted off while writing it at some point in time, but I was rewriting it anyway. I hope it’s not too boring, but I did say it’d go pretty slowly. I’ll go back and edit this in a few days, I’m sure… Mostly because I pick everything I do apart from the seams and then forget how to put it back together again. O.o Okay, that’s it for now.

….Rather boring, though… I’ll probably come back and change it before posting the next chapter.

EDIT= I really don't know why, but I had to delete part of what I wrote so that the rest of the chapter would show up. I'm going to try and post what I deleted again after instead of before to see if it still blocks it or whatever.

Sonyasha: I think you’re right. I should’ve been more descriptive on the old man, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention because he’s not all that important. Even the guy at the front desk gets a better description than the nice old man. *sigh* I’ll work on it next time. *smile*

SilkenPetal: I’ve always kept my stories well hidden from the rest of the world, so I’ve never really been truly insulted about them. Eh… I can see how it would affect the writing, though. Personally, I always write more for myself than others (although I write and never show anyone, I do write with others in mind…sometimes), which is somewhat selfish, but it makes it enjoyable. Eventually, I want to make a fiction made of outside input. I think that would be an interesting project. The first chapter would come from my friends who convinced me to finally post one of my stories, but the rest might come from reviews…. Who knows. Wow.. Random ideas. ^.^ Anyway, as far as your questions go, some of that was in the first chapter, other parts will be in later chapters. I wanted the reader to slowly understand Shuey instead of knowing everything about her right away. Does that make sense? I’m never sure. *chuckle*

Alicat1194: Thanks for being my first review. I’m glad you took the time to read my first chapter. It seems I’m an author who is exceptionally hard to please. Terrible, isn’t it?

Snidne: Thank you! I’m all happy now. It’s very scary because I don’t usually get so excited. I feel like a little kid. I feel loved. *heart* I read a book awhile back about how certain upbringings could alter a child’s personality slightly. When I was thinking up Shuey’s character, I made sure to think about reasons for her super-guardedness. Is that a word? Super-guardedness. It’s a very awkward word. .. I’ll stop wasting space now.

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I figured it out. @.@ I accidentally inserted a character I shouldn't have. I forgot that adultfanfiction did html for texts. That was entirely my fault.