Next To You

Prologue

Yana Kaur, a girl that has been driven to many hardships and obstacles in her life, was a strong-willed woman and an exceptional fashion designer. Tangled in the pure, white sheets hugging her body, Yana stays asleep under the duvet.

The city of Xi'an was sleepy at the moment. The peaceful atmosphere swirling around in the air as nighttime had already fallen in the city. Yana had, once again, decided to sleep earlier than usual.

Living in Xi'an was complicated for Yana. Just thinking about her past made her tongue go bitter and her memories go rusty.

She was, undoubtedly, proud of the obstacles she was able to surpass. Whether big or small, she survived till now, and Yana had found big confidence and satisfaction in that golden fact. However, life was still not the happiest for her, as Yana had to go through many hardships like a slave.

Before she was in Xi'an, she was part of the huge human trafficking event in Thailand. The details were very gruesome and grotesque, and Yana made it her ambition to forget all about her past. But how could she, when she is almost forced into prostitution?

The way she escaped was history. A great, hidden history itself that she decided to bury in the back of her head. If it wasn't for a heroic fourteen year old boy, she wouldn't have been living the life she is right now. And of course, to Yana, her current life is much more better than her previous one.

Sometimes, just sometimes, she wishes that her family's presence were still beside her, but that, however, is a long forgotten wish.

Putting that aside,

Yana has forgotten that her 18th birthday was happening around 12am.

Tik, tik, tik, crash!

Yana's heavy eyelids force themselves open as she stares at the ceiling in a dazed daydream.

Another crash,

This time, Yana's eyes fully open and she alerts herself to stay awake.

'An intruder?' Yana thought to herself as she abruptly heaves herself up from her own bed. She dangles her feet out of the bed at first, before standing up in her own weight. Yana immediately takes her pillow in her hand, still groggy due to sleep.

Her sleepy mind unabled her to think with common sense as she decided to hit the intruder with her pillow. This is why you don't wake people up too early from their sleep.

Yana holds her pillow up in defense, tip-toeing around her tiny house until she hears a loud voice exclaim,

"Mother of all hell, where am i now!?"

Yana arches her eyebrow at the unfamiliar, masculine voice. She does not remember inviting someone over, whether it was to have some kind of hangover or a friendly visit, and that alone confirmed that this guy - whoever he was - is an intruder that had so rudely barged inside her humble abode.

Yana followed the voice - which seemed to be coming from the living room - but immediately stopped in her footsteps as a man taller than her almost bumped into her on his way out of the living room.

The two froze, staring at each other continously as if having a staring contest. Many questions and theories ran around Yana's head as she examined the man up and down.

The man was wearing black, literally black, from head to toe. His hair was styled in a slicked back undercut hairstyle, and his skin color was brown. His eyes, however, were a charming chocolate color that held no light in them whatsoever. The only thing that threw Yana off was the huge, black wings that adorned his back.

That was when it hit her.

Today might be or might not be her birthday. She couldn't be sure, as she have not checked the time yet. But she swore that if there was anything that made this peculiar man with black wings appear into her house, then it is because of the Guardian Angel Blessing given to her on her 18th birthday.

Then again, why was the color of his wings black? If anything, guardian angels wear white in everything, while this man is.. the opposite.

Could it be?

"Who.. are you..?" Yana croaked out, her voice scratchy. The man blinked at her before rolling his eyes.

"Really, now? I didn't think that humans can be so dumb." The man responded bitterly.

Yana narrowed her eyes at him.

"Answer the question."

The man seemed to glare at her as he opened his mouth to respond,

"I am a demon, mortal. And i have no idea why the hell i am in your house."

Chills ran up Yana's spine as her eyes widened in terror. What?

"Is there a guardian angel around..?" Yana asked, lowering her pillow to her side. The man snickered at her, as if that was the most idiotic question ever asked in the whole world.

"What are you, nuts? Of course not. There are no guardian angels around, only me."

Right at that moment, Yana felt her world crumble as she realized something.

Maybe the heavens made an error.

The man stared at her terror-filled expression smugly as she stumbled backwards a few times. She blinked once, twice, thrice, and many times.

'No.. this can't be happening to me.'

The demon's smirk is wiped away from his face as Yana fell backwards, fainting into a suffering sleep.

   Did the heavens bless me, or did they curse me?