Stefan
Stefan stood in front of the Seeker and Guides, a local Wiccan bookshop and coffee emporium. It was midnight and the town of Abita Springs, LA had long rolled up its sidewalk for the night. And yet he could still sense the restless sleep of the young man, Alexander Kristofer-Rios, who worked there during the day. Alexander was an awakening angel.
Angel. Stefan wasn’t so sure that was an adequate description for what he was. But that was the accepted description. Personally he had never met God. He had awakened long ago and come to accept that it was his lot in life to help mortals end their days in the Light. Whether that was for good or not, it did keep the world from ending itself. But it was an eternal war - the fight against the shadows. Or demons if one preferred to call them that.
Alexander had the benefit of living in a rural town. He had yet to see an actual demon. And most of the residents of a town like Abita Springs didn’t live in shadow. They were mostly hardworking, decent people. But by now Alex had begun to see the spark that all humans possessed. Humans either glowed or were enshrouded in shadow in the presence of an angel or demon.
Coffee. Stefan mused. He hated to admit any addictions, but he had sort of enjoyed being assigned to Alexander when he heard about the young man’s job. Oh he didn’t agree with many of the young angel’s views. But it wasn’t his job to influence the young angel’s views, rather to teach him his purpose and give him his first assignments.
Stefan looked about and spotted the perfect spot among some trees on the property in which to cast his bedroll - which was conveniently camouflaged. The spot he picked was also one where he could be spotted from the kitchen window. Making coffee would be Alex’s chore more than likely. He smiled. He might as well catch a few winks until the smell of coffee woke him up.
Hours streamed by. The sun rose. Stefan slept through. That is he did until two smells woke him up. The first was the smell of coffee. The second was that of one of the neighborhood’s dogs out for a stroll to mark its territory. Stefan awoke cursing...