'A time would come when all thou shall despise the Angels. Angels and devils shall prevail together.'

I slightly traced the embossed letters. They radiated a dark aura despite being lettered in golden ink.

Light and dark components constitute every terrene. It would be fallacious to postulate that one dominates over the other. Rather they prevail simultaneously.

The same theory applies to the living creatures. One can't be a complete angel. Darkness resides inside the heart of every being. The existence of one without the other is inevitable.

Sometimes angels can be darker than devils. They might appear clean, innocent on the surface but deep down they might be consumed by hatred and agony.

The scriptures tend to portrait them as perfections. Everyone accepts them as perfections despite knowing that perfection doesn't exist in this world.

I would rather be off as a devil than an angel. At least it would be better than living a lie. You can lie to everyone around you but you cannot lie to yourself.

Rather than saying I am a good being I would rather admit my flaws.

"What are you reading?" Consuelo's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I showed her the cover page of the book. It was an old book with yellow pages, torn corners, few loose pages sticking out and cover page almost crumbled up. It looked so fragile that binding might come apart even on the slightest touch.

Moreover it was a prohibited book. Only special members of units like protectors could access them. I've always had this feeling that something has been hidden from us.

The protector squad always take their posts at night around the city borders, protecting us from 'something' they won't disclose.

There haven't been any cases regarding whatever they want to protect us from. Nor were we allowed to ask any thing about it. It was almost like a taboo.

People were afraid. There were too many rumors. But were those rumors just rumors or something more? No one would allow us to even think about it.

And so I stole this book. If people found out about this, it would be end for me. But no one would recognise it since it was in a bad condition.

I couldn't take this back home. If it were to be found in my possession, my whole family would be in danger. I've kept this book hidden in an abandoned place all this time.

Consuelo poked my right cheeks with her pointy nails. "You heard me?"

I blinked.

Consuelo, irritated out of her wits, snatched the book from my hands.

"Hey!" I yelled. It came out louder than I expected. I glanced around to find many heads turned in our direction. We were still at school.

Consuelo waved the book in front of my face, trying to get my attention. I crossed my arms and let out an annoyed huff.

One thing I absolutely hate was to be disturbed while reading. And she
knew that too well. Besides that book was almost torn up. What if pages fell out and I was discovered...? I would probably end up dead.

I gulped.

"What is it?," I asked, trying to sound normal, and extended my arm indicating her to hand it back.

"You're not getting it back unless you listen to me."

"At least don't wave the book! I would be in trouble if it'll come apart!"

"Fine. But listen to me."

I stared at her, waiting for her to continue, my eyes glued to the book.

"You heard about the visitors?" She asked with a low voice.

"The foreign people who crashed here?"

Consuelo nodded, placing the book on table.

"Doesn't it seem a bit odd though?" I questioned.

"It does... They appeared out of nowhere...," Consuelo continued, "Do you think perhaps they are aliens?"

Her eyes were glittering with excitement. She twirled a lock of her hair with her fingers. It was something she used to do when in awe or curious.

"I wonder if they are good looking..." She kept on babbling while I just responded with 'yeah' at the right parts.

It indeed was odd. Something seemed off. It was in the atmosphere, a feeling of suffocation.

Maybe it had something to do with the arrival of those foreigners.

"Really!?" Consuelo squealed out of nowhere. I jumped a little, startled.

"What?" I demanded. She had this habit of getting excited over small things given that her shrill voice didn't help much.

"You're taking part in the festival?"

"Who said I am?" I made a face.
Every year they held stupid activities on the givers festival. The activities were really lame and childish. I had never participated before. There was no way I would participate this time either.

"You said yourself, 'Yeah'," Consuelo deadpanned. "You weren't listening to me. AT. ALL."

I smiled sheepishly. She caught me. Though it wasn't my fault that she talks way too much.

On my cue, the bell rang. It sort of saved me from the situation.

I sneaked away the book from Consuelo's possession while she was busy packing her bag and dashed towards the exit.

I peeked behind to find no trace of her. With a small grin, I continued on my way home.

It would have been troublesome if she'd found out about the book. I didn't want to involve her. After all it was just to curb my curiosity.

My home was at walking distance but I preferred to ride my bicycle since after school hours I would either stop by the cafe or the river side.

The only place I loved spending time was by the river side. The sound of gushing water, the chirrupping of the birds, the rustling of trees, the breeze ruffling my hair, I loved all of it. When troubled or dealing with stress, I would find my way there. Like magic, my mind would be filled with positive thoughts and I would forget about all of my worries.

"Valerie!" I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I turned my gaze in the direction of the voice and slowed down before coming to a stop.

"Are you... free this evening?" Quint asked while catching his breath. He must have ran hard to catch up on me. I gave a litlle nod and handed him my water bottle.

"Is something up?" I asked as I watch him gulping down the water. He quickly handed it back to me with a small thanks.

"Well... Yeah. We are in trouble," he said placing his hands on his hips and continued warily, "The lead singer who was suppose to perform in today's event is sick... So..."

"So..?"

"Please help us!" He pleaded and bowed down. He took a peak when I didn't respond.

"You're not telling me to take his place, are you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Please! Help is this once. It's an important event for our cafe. You just need to sing one song. Only one is enough—"

"Hold on! Hold on!" I cut him off. "I haven't prepared anything. Also... I have stage fear!"

"I know... But you can do this! I know you can pull it off!" He looked at me, his eyes pleading and encouraging me at the same time.

Since he was like my brother and my best friend apart from Consuelo, I had to agree.

He squeezed me into a big hug and thanked me again and again.

"Make sure to be there by 7," he said excitedly. He was just like his sister, getting excited over little things. But at least he didn't squeal like her. Consuelo was really a next level.

"Also... Dress up nicely!" He waved with a smile. He had the cutest smile in the world. Even when someone would be depressed, his smile would make them feel better.

I watched him walk away.

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