Celestia POV

Since I couldn't sleep after my nightmare I started my research. Asher showed me how to use the phone, but I still didn't know what to expect. What does the all-knowing Google know about my family? I was curious, but also trepidatious, I know the people of Earth had wild imaginations, you could see it in their creations. Still, I also know what my Mom told me that imagination is sometimes better than the truth.

After a little exploring online, I was stunned. I was prepared for a lot but didn't expect this to be the first thing I saw. I saw pictures of people with wings... I deleted my search and typed "angels of God" this time and again I saw people with bird wings. I didn't know whether to laugh or not. Was it appropriate to laugh? Humans thought angels had wings? Ancient civilizations believed in and sometimes worshipped hybrid creatures between humans and animals worldwide. Still, somehow I didn't suspect that they believed that about angels too.

I opened a website called Wikipedia and read all the information available. They got some things right and some things wrong. Again pictures of people with wings greeted me. Judaism got things mostly correct, except for the fact that angels didn't have free will. I know they did, they chose to serve their creator. The text represented them as machines only acting on commands, but that wasn't true. Angels have chosen to serve God and humanity since their creation until the end of time. Christianity also gets points because it gets a lot of things right. Especially the fact that angels served God, but there were other "intermediary spirits" as Wikipedia referred to them, which served other deities.

I also read that there were many theories about whether angels had physical bodies or not. They did, but their spiritual auras were different than humans, but they looked like men and women. Most importantly, THEY DIDN'T HAVE WINGS!!! What gave humans that impression I don't know, but it's ridiculous. Angels aren't half-birds...

I gave up reading what Google showed me about angels after a few hours. It was exhausting. Human imagination was something truly amazing, but sometimes it bordered on ridiculous. Designed to believe in something greater than themselves, they took things to a whole new level.

Before I gave up on Google for the night though, I decided to see what they have on demons. My angelic family didn't tell me details about them, but if I were to encounter one again (if that was even real and not my human imagination), I needed all the information I could get. While most of the information I read was new to me, I did read that in the Hebrew Bible, they mention demons are foreign deities. That I know isn't true because many other supernatural beings on this planet weren't humans, but also not demons or angels.

When I was truly exhausted I gave up and decided to get food since it was already morning outside. My stomach actually demanded it with a significant roar that I think could be heard even outside of the room. It was pretty early, so I didn't expect anyone to be up yet. When I got to the kitchen everything was quiet, as I expected. I didn't know how to cook, but the sandwiches that Gia brought us yesterday only had a few ingredients. Maybe I can try and recreate one. I found the bread and since it looked homemade, I cut a few slices and looked for other things I could put in the fridge.

I decided to put ham and sliced Swiss cheese on each of the bread slices. Then I put some of the leftover potato and egg salad from yesterday in the middle and created the sandwich. It wasn't as good as Gia's sandwiches, but it sated my hunger. I made three more sandwiches and ate them in record time. Since there were still a lot of ingredients I thought about making sandwiches for everyone.

I was still pondering that when I heard someone enter the kitchen behind me. I whirled around fast and dropped the knife I was holding. "Shit!" Mateo cursed and quickly kneeled down and checked my bare feet for any injuries from the knife. "I'm sorry I was just startled. I didn't expect anyone this early." He quickly washed the knife and put it away. "It's okay Aurora. You skipped dinner, so it's normal to get hungry."

Behind him came a beautiful woman with golden brown hair. She was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and leggings. My brother saw me looking at her and introduced us "This is Stella, I told you about her yesterday. And my little star this is Aurora, my sister." Stella smiled and extended her hand toward me "It's a pleasure to meet you Aurora, I hope we can be friends." She sounded so genuine and I was curious about her. "It's nice to meet you too Stella. Do you guys want sandwiches? I made my first one and I think it turned out okay... I am no sandwich expert, but it tasted delicious."

Mateo smiled at me and took Stella's hand. "We will sit right here and I will be happy to taste a sandwich you made sister." Stella also agreed and they waited for me to make them a sandwich while discussing something about wine. I wasn't a professional chef or anything, I hope they liked it. I used the same ingredients and made two sandwiches. They didn't even hesitate before trying it. Stella exclaimed first "Oh! This is delicious. It goes great with the eggs and mayo in the salad." After that Mateo said "I love ham sandwiches and this is one of the best out there. You're a natural Aurora!"

I smiled at them and made myself another one. The food just tasted differently here. It was amazing like my taste buds woke up and decided to function once I was down here. "Aurora I have to pick up my cousin from cheer camp later today, and I was wondering if you wanted to meet her. She is your age and in the fall you will probably end up going to the same school." I had no idea what cheer camp was, but talking to someone my age would help me adjust even more to the human way of life, so I agreed. 

Stella stood up and got her phone out of her pocket "Let me give you my number and you can give me yours and I will forward it to my cousin. She will definitely message you first. She hasn't made any friends yet even though it's her second year in the academy." I was surprised and I didn't have my phone with me or know the number even if it was here. Mateo saw my expression and quickly took her phone and typed something. "Here is Aurora's number and I am sure once she receives a text, she can add it to her contact list. That's something Asher should have already explained. If not I will be having words with him about the purpose of phones."

"You know my number already?" I was stunned he knew it without looking at anything. He looked slightly offended. "Of course I do. You're my family I know all of the important numbers by heart in case I don't have my phone on me and I need to call." I felt warmth from his statement. I should learn my Dad and my brothers' numbers. At least start with them and maybe in time I can expand.

They both left to get dressed for the day. Mateo was going to drive Stella home. By the looks he was giving her and his actions toward her, I would assume that they were mates, like my Mom and her soulmate, or Dad and Isabella, but he said they were just friends. I don't know why he was hiding his feelings, but I would find out eventually.

Dad came down for breakfast and took a banana out of the fruit tray. "I'm late for work, I need to go to the office today. Sweetheart, if you want, you can spend the day with any of your siblings. Isabella has some things to take care of too, but you can tag along with her if you want." No later than he said that she came downstairs, too. "I have to pick up some donations we got from one of our foundations and bring them to their new owners. You are welcome to join Aurora." I hesitated, but before I could answer, she said, "Or you can go with Weston to his soccer practice while I pick things up from the storage facility, and at noon I can pick you both up from practice and we can deliver them to the pastor together?" 

I had nothing else to do and I did want to see the sport Weston mentioned he was good at the other day. "Okay, I just need to change." Weston ran into the kitchen, too, and hurriedly looked for something in the refrigerator. "You have time Rory, but not a lot practice starts at eight o'clock sharp. We need to hurry if we want to get there on time." I nodded and ran upstairs to change into something else.

What does one wear to a practice soccer game? I decided to forgo the dress and put on leggings with a T-shirt. Simple, but comfortable. Downstairs I quickly followed Isabella, who was waiting for me. She led me to the garage and I got in the backseat with my brother. "Not a front-seat kind of girl I take it? That's okay, it's comfier in the back anyway!" He playfully winked at me and started looking through his phone. I didn't bring mine with me, it was still in my room.

The quiet car ride lulled me to sleep quickly and the drive passed by quickly. Isabella shook me awake when we arrived. "Are you sure you are up to waiting here? I can drop you off at home if you are tired?" I rubbed my eyes, my muscles felt sore from the uncomfortable sleeping position I had taken. "It's fine." Weston was already out of the car, so I got out and waited for Isabella to show me where to go. We got to the soccer field and the players were already warming up. A middle-aged man stood on the sidelines and marked something on his clipboard.

"Coach!" He turned around and quickly came to us. "Mrs. King! I haven't seen you bring Weston to practice since he was twelve." Isabella laughed at that remark "Yes, well I am just dropping off Aurora. She will wait for her brother to finish practice and we will run some errands."

He looked at me curiously "You can sit on the bleachers." He blew the whistle around his neck and turned around to issue commands to the players. I curiously watched their practice. The coach tried to explain some stuff about the game, but he saw my confusion. "You must be a football fan then." I didn't know if that was different, but it seemed like the appropriate name for this game. They kicked the ball with their feet, I have no idea where soccer came from or why they chose to confuse themselves this way. I learned that Weston was a goalkeeper. He was the last line of defense for his team. I wasn't an expert or anything, but he was good. He didn't let even one ball in the net and all of his teammates tried to score a couple of times throughout the practice.

Before I knew it was already past eleven in the morning. Isabella arrived and the coach finished their practice with a speech. Apparently, they were preparing for a friendly game against another school this summer. Isabella arrived shortly after the speech to pick us up. I thought we were just going to drive home, but apparantly not. "I almost finished my errands, but I still have this last batch of donations to deliver to the church, so we will go home after that. If you guys are hungry, we can even stop for some food after."

"I am starving Mom! We'll help you unload them faster, so we can eat sooner, right Rory?" Weston looked at me hopefully. I smiled and mumbled "Sure!" I had never seen a church berfore, so I was a little excited. I was trying to remember what I knew about them, but it was weird because I couldn't grasp the memory. I'm sure I was told about the houses of God on Earth by... someone. It was like the more time I spent down here, the less I remember my life in Heaven. I remember feelings, but the events themselves seem foggy. The church also seemed to be one of the best places to investigate demons and how they presented themselves on Earth.

We got there and started unloading the trunk. I got the boxes out and handed them to my brother, while other people (I'm guessing volunteers) took them inside. Weston thought we were finished and went to help Isabella, but I saw there were two bags left in the trunk I hadn't seen before, so I took them and decided to take them inside myself. As I walked closer to the steps of the church I felt dizzy. I didn't get very far before everything went black.

I opened my eyes and I was suddenly back in Heaven. It was eerie because I saw myself as a child playing in the waves at the beach. I remember this moment now. Uncle Michael took me there that day. "I get to go to Earth alone?" I recollect feelings of wonder. "Of course Celestia. One day, when you are older, you will get to go without us there. You are little now, but when we send you alone, we will make sure you are ready to face anything." He was always so protective... All that changed on a dime because of my parentage though. "What if I am in danger and need you there Uncle Michael?" 

"You can always pray and I will answer little Celestia. On Earth prayers are strongest inside God's houses. If you don't get through to us, you can always go to a church build in the name of our Father, your Grandfather. From here, we can see and hear most clearly inside churches. Once you step through those doors, we will know and we will come to you, no matter what." I knew I forgot about this, I even wondered who told me about churches before this happened. If I wasn't remembering on my own, was someone helping me? Was my mother helping me?

Suddenly, I woke up in my brother's arms. He was carrying me, when my vision wasn't blurry anymore I recognized the big oak doors to the church. He was bringing me inside. Uncle Michael's words reverberated in my mind "...we will know and come to you, no matter what!" I panicked and started to fight Weston's embrace. I had to GET AWAY! NOW! I started kicking and screaming, pleading with him to let me go. Weston was mostly startled and because of that I fell on my but. I wasn't going to wait for them to catch me, so I got up and ran in the opposite direction.

I didn't even look what I was running to, which is my fault. I didn't hear them calling me, Weston pleading for me to wait... to stop. I didn't hear the car horns or see past my own fears. Next thing I knew something big and hard hit me from the side. Pain exploded all over my body and for the second time today my world turned black.

Who is helping our main character remember?

What do you think hit her?

Question of the day: Do you believe in the paranormal/supernatural?