Korri yawned, getting out of bed. Her alarm beeped obnoxiously from its place on her nightstand, the time reading 7:03 am. With a grumble, she pressed a button on her most hated enemy and the beeping stopped at last. Donning her tattered bunny slippers, Korri shuffled from her room, passing the drawing she had made the night before. Upon seeing it, the events that had gone on last night came flooding back.

"...No way," she murmured, her mind finally starting to fully wake up. "No way," She gasped. "Did that really happen?" Korri realised she was talking to herself and shook her head to clear it. I thought they didn't come to places like this. I thought they only stayed in cities, where they can blend in more easily... She thought, heading into her tiny kitchen and making herself some coffee. She contemplated quietly as she sipped it, the sun just beginning to climb its way above the horizon and begin the day.

She began her normal daily routine then, showering, getting dressed and trying (and failing) to tame her wild, curly hair, then having a quick breakfast of a bagel and a cheese stick. She pulled on a pair of shoes and walked through her old, dingy front door and onto the street. Various passerby greeted her (Fairbreeze being such a small town meant most people knew each other), but she paid them little attention. Today, she had one thing on her mind, and that one thing was the mysterious man she had seen appear in the middle of the night. Knowing he would most likely be in the inn's lobby, eating breakfast, she decided to drop in on the excuse that she wanted to talk to her good friend, Ann.

She walked through the door as the clock struck eight and into the restaurant below the rooms of the inn. Ann stood behind a counter taking orders, and waved when she saw Korri. Korri slid into an empty seat at the counter and waited for Ann to finish taking an order. Once the older man, Mr. Simmons, had finished-, Ann walked over to Korri.

"What brings you here, Honey?" She asked in her thick southern accent. Ann knew Korri usually came to the cafe in the mornings , but always liked to ask her what she was doing anyways. "Just wanted to stop by," Korri said, half-truthfully. SHe wanted to see the creature from last night, but wasn't sure how to ask. "Ah, just a question-did anyone come in late last night, around midnight?" She asked, not sure why she didn't mention the green fire and the tail. Ann looked surprised. "Yeah, in fact, someone did. Tom, the guy on the night shift, told me all about it-said he was a young fellow, from up North like you, wearing a fancy suit. He didn't say why he was here, but he looked important." She said thoughtfully, pulling a dishrag from a sink behind her and wiping down the counter. "How'd you know about him? He a friend of yours?" She stopped wiping the counter to look up at Korri with a raised eyebrow, her brown eyes holding a mischievous twinkle.

"No, that darn coyote woke me up again and I saw him walking down the street when I looked out of my window. I don't know him, Ann," Korri said sternly. Ann was always trying to find out if there were any romantic interests in her life, and it drove Korri crazy. Ann rolled her eyes. "Well, honey, I'll just take your word for it." Ann called everyone and anyone Honey, whether they liked it or not.

The quiet murmur of a couple people having conversations filled the room and Korri glanced around while Ann cleaned a table. The cafe was a small, brightly lit place by day, full of good smells and happy faces. By night, it was a dark, loud place full of people celebrating whatever it was they needed to celebrate. There were small, circular tables all around the room, situated as close to the large, open windows as possible. White lace tablecloths covered most of them, usually with a vase of flowers on top. There was a stairway in the back leading to the upper floors where people stayed overnight.

A pair of fancy, old-fashioned shoes appeared on the stairs, followed by trousers and a jacket that was slightly wrinkled as if it had been laying on the floor. The man from the night before walked sleepily down the steps, but without his tail and horns. Korri watched him out of the corner of his eye as he made his way over to the counter and sat in the stool next to her.

"Good morning," He said, turning and smiling somewhat drowsily at Korri. He looked human, with dark, scruffy, blackish-brown hair and startlingly green eyes with tired shadows under them. He seemed totally normal, but upon closer inspection, Korri noticed his ears were slightly pointed, though not enough to be overly out-of-the-ordinary.

"Morning," She replied, trying not to stare. The man turned as Ann asked him what he would like. "Do you have any herbal tea?" He asked, his accent sounding more familiar to Korri's ears than the Southern one she was surrounded by. "Let me see, not many folks ask for it so I'm not sure. Hang on a moment, Honey," Ann left to see if there was any tea in the kitchen.

"You from up North, too?" Korri asked. The man smiled. He couldn't have been much older than she was-most definitely in his twenties, at least "Yeah, I am. Was it the accent, or my obvious dislike of the warm weather?" He said, scratching his neck idly and looking uncomfortable in the sweltering, desert air. Korri smiled back, forgetting for a moment what she'd seen last night. "So where're you from, then? I'm from a small town near the Twin Cities, but came down here to get my own house. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but now I'm missing Minnesota-even the weather." The man laughed, sounding almost like a hyena. "You must be pretty homesick, then. I'm from South Dakota. I came here to get away from my crazy family and get a job, instead of following in their... Unusual footsteps." The two shake hands, her hand warm and his strangely cold.

His tea comes and he thanks Ann. Another customer comes and Ann has to rush off again, leaving the two alone once more. "So, what kind of job are you looking for, then?" Korri asks. The man holds his steaming herbal tea in his hands and gently blows on it to cool it. "I'm a handyman, I guess. I fix whatever needs fixing. Most other towns already have one or two, but this one didn't, so I came. What about you?" He carefully goes to take a sip, but it's too hot and he continues to wait.

"Well, you're right about the lack of a handyman here. I've lived here for over a year, and everything I own seems to be breaking but there's nobody to fix it. I'm a painter and an artist, but I have to do odd jobs for awhile because I'm trying to open up my own store. The name's Korri Normansson, by the way." She says. "Nice to meet you, Korri. I'm Rael Smith" He says sheepishly, as if ashamed or embarrassed of his name.

The two lapsed into silence as Rael drank his tea. Korri watched him from the corner of her eye and ordered a muffin, thinking. He didn't seem too strange, besides his oddly cold hands. In fact, Korri thought he was very nice. She took a bite from her muffin and closed her eyes, mulling it over.

"So, what's going to be in your store when it opens?" Rael asked, startling Korri. "Uh, my artwork," she said, caught by surprise. "I draw, paint, and do a bit of sculpting and custom jewelry."

Rael nodded. "What do you draw and paint?" He asked. "Mostly fantasy creatures and landscapes from other planets. I'm drawing a comic, but it's just a side-project at the moment." Korri mumbled through a mouthful of blueberry muffin.

"Could I read it sometime, maybe?" He asked shyly. Korri looked at him, shocked and excited. Nobody had asked to read her comic before. "... Sure," She said, surprised, "That would be great!" She smiled. "Though, you don't look like the type of guy who would read comics. The dictionary, maybe, but comics? No way," She laughed, and he laughed too. "I'll admit, I don't dress how I act. My parents always taught me to dress nice, and after my teenage years of rebelling, I've found I like these old suits. They have a lot more character than most clothes nowadays. And, people think I'm someone important," He smiled into his cup, taking another sip.

"So, are you moving into this town, then?" Korri asked. Rael nodded. "I'm still looking for a house, but there are a couple that've caught my eye. I especially like that one down the street. I'm almost definitely going to buy it." Korri nodded. "That's a nice one, and I should know-I live next door. What a coincidence, huh?" She finished the last bite of her muffin and pushed her hair from her face, crumpling up the muffin wrapper.

"Well, Korri, I look forward to being your neighbor," He smiled, drinking the last drops of his tea and setting down his mug. He checked his watch and sucked in a breath. "8:32..." He murmured. Rael looked up at Korri, looking somewhat ashamed. "It was very nice talking to you, but I have a grossly busy schedule of boring things ahead of me and had better be going. See you around," He said, standing up. He was extremely tall, around seven feet or more, with long, thin limbs and an air of strangeness around him, like he didn't feel comfortable around people. Korri did a little half wave as he walked away.

"See ya," She said,watching him climb the stairs to get something from his room. She sat silently, thinking, until Ann interrupted her thoughts.

"So," She said, drawing out the word. Mischief and cheerfulness was written all over her plump, freckled face. "I've never seen you look at someone with so much interest before, Honey." She said, giggling. "You like him?" Korri frowned, blushing. "Ann, we've been over this," Korri grumbled. "I don't have a crush on him, or anyone else. Honestly."

Ann just smiled and wiped off the counter again. "He's pretty cute, isn't he? What's his name?" Korri put an exasperated hand over her face and sighed. "His name's Rael," Ann laughed at Korri's discomfort good-naturedly. "Alright Honey, I'll leave you be. Still, you two seem to have gotten along pretty well together, and you've only just met. If I were you, I'd take that as a good sign and get to know him better, you know what I mean?" She winked.

Korri sighed again. "Alright, Ann, that's enough. I didn't come here to be teased, you know." She said half-jokingly. Korri stood up, payed for her muffin, and brushed off her old, paint splattered clothes self-consciously. She said goodbye to ann and left the Cafe, deep in thought.

Could what she had seen last night have been her imagination, or was Rael not what he seemed? Korri was determined to find out, even if it meant finding out her soon-to-be neighbor was a demon.

She wandered back to her house and back through her battered, sad-looking front door, into her kitchen, and through the hallway to her room. She took the picture she had drawn last night and studied it. What she had seen was real, she was sure of it-but weren't there laws against demons disguising themselves as humans and living among them without telling or wearing some sort of pin? She pulled her laptop out from under a pile of drawings and sketches and opened it. Her fingers tapped quietly over the keys as she looked up the Demon Laws and read through what they entailed:

Demons cannot be an official citizen of any country, except the one they were born in.

No Demon is to leave the state, country, or continent without a permit. Doing such is illegal.

No Demon is to use their abilities in a manner intended to harm, harass, or threaten a human. Doing so will result in imprisonment or death.

No Demon is to disguise themselves as human without a Revealance Permit and a pin signifying they are a Demon. Doing so will result in imprisonment.

Romantic relationships between Demons and humans are forbidden, no matter the circumstances. Doing so will result in imprisonment.

Demons must try in court for the right to have children. Any Demon who has children illegally will have the child taken from them and will be imprisoned.

Travelling to and from Homeworld without a permit is illegal. Doing so will result in imprisonment.

The list went on and on, denying Demons the right to do almost anything. The more she read, the more disgusted Korri became. Sure, she had heard the awful stories about crazy Demons who went on rampages and killed innocent people, but she'd also heard plenty of stories about crazy people killing innocent Demons just because they believed Demons were monsters. She was sure Rael was a Demon, but he hadn't been crazy or evil or even unfriendly. Korri began to wonder just how much of what she had been taught was true.

That day, Korri researched news stories about Demons. For every one story about Demons killing people, there were ten more about humans killing Demons. Not only that, but some of the news stories were obviously fake and most were incredibly biased against Demons.

She was sure now that Rael was a demon, and even more sure that she wanted his point of view. As soon a she moved in, she decided, she would confront him and ask him about it-for better or for worse.

Korri closed her computer, determined to know the truth.