It's not unusual for a girl to fall in love with a gay man. It really isn't. I suppose with Trevor Haven, it was only inevitable that I would melt for his blue eyes, and his charming grin, and the way he looked when he was gazing off into nothing.

Trevor never loved me the same way I had fallen for him, but hey, who's to argue? I was a tiny, plump curly haired blonde with an ambition to paint and a longing to find my soul mate.

My name is Hanna Stephens, and I'm 25 years old and a graduate from The Art Institute of Boston. I graduated with a major in illustration, and a minor in fashion. I'm not much of a fashion designer, but I do like to sew, so it was only natural that I would at least get a degree in something like that. I grew up in New Hampshire, with my mother, who had divorced my father when I was 8, and was currently living in New York City with my new step dad and little sister. Yes, my father was gay, so it was only natural that when I moved out there to live with him for awhile, and to look for a job, I came across Trevor, who was putting himself through school with a little job as a waiter, and working on getting a Master's degree in education administration. Trevor told me when we first met that he longed to be a Principal, which I thought was a very odd career for someone like Trevor. But he was driven to do just that, so he worked himself to the bone.

It was a few months after we started to be friends that we got an apartment together. He wasn't around much, so I was able to turn the apartment into a studio, as well a place to expand on my portfolio. I had a job at the same restaurant that Trevor worked at, and though I was working twice as much as he was, and putting in so much time trying to find a place that would hire me as a designer or even just a painter, I felt lonely and unhappy. Trevor noticed, and started slowing down a little so he could spend more time with me.

Trevor, I was convinced, was my true love. He may have preferred boys over me, but he was always there for me, and had similar tastes. We both loved epic action thrillers, regardless of the language, and he adored horror movies while I loved romantic comedies. We always ate at the same restaurants (never the one we worked at), and occasionally slept in the same bed.

I think the only thing wrong was this bitter sadness that came over Trevor from time to time. When we met, I asked him if he had anyone in his life. Any boyfriends? His response had been yes, but never has he mentioned him. I assumed after while that the boyfriend he referred to when we met was either gone from this world, or just moved on from Trevor. I didn't push the subject because it always brought a terrible depression onto Trevor. He worked so much because he was obviously terrified of stopping and thinking. I didn't stop him.

But after being together for almost a year, I began to yearn for something else. Though I didn't want to have Trevor as my boyfriend, I wanted something else to him, and when I brought him up to him one day while watching a movie, he was a little concerned, though bemused.

"You want to have my what?" He asked, his arms slung back behind the couch, his big blue eyes boring holes into the side of my head, which I turned to hide the huge blush coming across my face.

"Sperm…oh come on Trevor! Don't look at me like that! You know I want children!" I whined.

"Yes, but not from ME! Why don't you find a gorgeous brown eyed boy to make a baby with? A happy little one-night stand?" Trevor returned. His expression was cut between horror and contemplation.

"I don't want some creepy big Joe guy to make a baby with me then disappear! At least you'll be around to help!" I returned. I wiggled up onto my knees and pressed against his side, making a praying motion with my hands. He tilted his head back and laughed while I clung to him.

"No. Hell no! Hannah that's creepy!"

"It's not creepy! I went to their office today and asked them about it! You just have to jerk into a cup and you're done! PLEASE TREVOR, PLEASE!"

"Oh my god. That's just…no! NO!" Trevor made the mistake of looking into my big green eyes, and naturally he melted. He chewed on his lip as he paused the movie and pushed me away.

"Alright. Fine. We can have baby," He muttered, and I ran around the apartment cheering for the rest of the night, until he caught me before bed and dragged me off to snuggle. From the look of delight on his face, I knew that Trevor was almost as excited as I was.

I won't go into the nasty details, or bore you on about the nine grueling months of morning sickness, ridiculous food cravings, and the enormity of my belly that was our baby girl. We named her Margaret Julie Haven, or Maggie, after my mom and his mom. She had a full head of ridiculous blonde curls, and Trevor's huge blue eyes. She a menace, and a delight, and of course Trevor and I adored her to pieces. Around the time of her arrival, Trevor finally got a job as Principal, and while I wasn't working much due to the need to watch Maggie, I was still looking for a job as a fashion artist.

A big break came for me a few months after Maggie was born, when one of my portfolios turned up on the desk of Sirissa Slade, who was a very popular fashion designer here in the city. I was kind of surprised when I got a call back saying Ms. Sirissa had been interested in my work. I had been to two interviews previously, and both I had assumed I bombed since I was so nervous just being there. But both times I had been given a seal of approval and shipped off to the next step of my journey.

Looking around the lobby, I saw that I wasn't the only one meeting with Ms. Sirissa today. There were four others, all gorgeous and as made up as the rest of the office. They had gorgeous black portfolio binders in their laps, their legs long and thin, and made up with probably expensive clothes and designer shoes.

I shuffled a little in my chair. I was wearing a light blue dress shirt, unbuttoned a little to show off the cheap fake pearl necklace I was wearing, and the black pants I wore with matching black flats. My hair was blond like many of them, but it wasn't sharp and straight like theirs. It was unbearable curly and a mess and took me hours to fix. Plus it was natural, which I assumed many of theirs wasn't. And my portfolio wasn't the fancy black leather. It was just a very old scrapbook I had found in the attic when I was younger and carefully placed my favorite pieces. There were several drawings of models in different styles as well, though I hadn't come up with the concept. I had merely copied them from pictures I had seen in a magazine. I couldn't recall if they were Sirissa's work, but I knew it they were she would chew me up and spit me out.

Sirissa was a designer that did everything from evening wear to pajamas at Victoria's secret. She had her own line, but she contributed to other franchises' as well. From what I understood she was young too, only a few years older than me, and already was gaining on the fortunes of Donald Trump.

While I had only minored in Fashion design, Sirissa Slade was a goddess at it. She had the ability to dream up these gorgeous clothes with colors you'd never think to put together, but just no way of putting them onto paper. Her last artist had quit, though the reason was unknown.

I wonder if I was going to be strong enough for this job. If I had to put up with some angry French stylist with enough arrogance to fill the state of Kansas then I would just drop out now.

I didn't have a chance to get up and clear out, because from the clear glass steps going up to the next floor, a woman appeared, with straight black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a black dress that was so tight I could make out the angry lines of her hipbones, and wondered if she tipped her hips in either direction, would rip through the dress like a plastic bag at the super market.

"Ms. Sirissa is ready to meet with the potentials," she called, and the four other girls and me got to our feet and hurriedly went up the stairs after the woman.

Ms. Sirissa had an elevator in the damn building, she just chose to make us all heave ourselves up the stairs to her office, all ten flights of stairs. When I had gotten to the ledge that lead to her office, my chest was on fire, and I wanted to collapse and take a breather before I met my potential boss. The other girls seemed a little winded, but not as badly as me. That was probably because they could afford ridiculous spin classes at the gym. They looked at me with disdain as I huffed and puffed, wheezing a little and leaning forward to get my breathing under control.

The girls didn't wait for me as they marched on after the assistant, but I couldn't go. I wasn't going to humiliate myself by going into the office sweating and heaving like I had just had sex. Which was something I could never admit to. So I had a kid but was yet still a virgin. So sue me.

Leaning against the wall, I prepared to succumb myself to my fate and just go back down the stairs and rush past the girl at the front desk before she properly saw me, when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"You alright?" A female voice asked. I looked up into a soft face. She looked Korean, with thick brown hair that was cut in a short stacked look, with a cute headband. She was dressed in jeans and cute hot pink flats, and a tank top with a grey cardigan over that, and a necklace that hung low on her flat chest. Her eyes were surprisingly blue and bright, which made me wonder if she was only partly so.

"Yeah…just those stairs," I wheezed, holding my chest and trying to control my huffing. She grinned.

"You must be one of the new artists. It's Sirissa's game to see who can make it up all those stairs," She said.

"Eh, well I failed," I murmured, "I'll just go back down…"

"Not to worry! Here have a minute. I'll just say I stopped you. I'm Hae-sook, Sirissa's right hand man," She said with a wink. I knew I liked Hae-sook immediately. I nodded and she suddenly produced a glass of water.

"Here, have a sip, " She said. I nodded and didn't question the origin of the water before sucking it down.

"I'm Hanna," I said after I had finally reduced my wheezing to just heavy pants.

"Ah! I saw your portfolio! Beautiful work, Sirissa loved it," Hae-sook said. I perked up a little.

"Really? She already saw them?"

"Yes. She saw them after everyone finished their second interviews. She said your work with color was fantastic," Hae-sook said. I flushed with pleasure.

"So what's the purpose of this interview?" I asked.

"She's sizing up who looks like they'll be the best for the job," Hae-sook said. She was tilting her head, looking at my face, "you have gorgeous eyes, Hannah," She added. I flushed and busied myself by taking my portfolio back.

"Oh…well thanks. Nobody else in the family has them," I said. Hae-sook's eyebrows rose. My eyes were infamous in my family. While everyone had brown or blue eyes, I was the only one, even in my extended family, to have green eyes. But what was most impressive was the flecks of blue, that made them an almost aqua.

"How funny. Share that with Sirissa if she asks, yes?" Hae-sook asked. I realized my chest had stopped burning, and I was feeling better. My pants had stopped. I didn't even feel sweaty anymore. I nodded.

Hae-sook smiled, "shall we go?" She asked, and I nodded and she led me down the hall toward the office of the woman who would seal my fate.

--

Sirissa's office was enormous, and as white as the lobby downstairs. There were paintings all over the walls, and a big heavy oak desk overlooking the city below. It was a gorgeous view, with central park seemingly only a few yards away.

Hae-sook stepped inside with me, her arm around my shoulder, and a grin on her face. She put me at the end of the line of girls, and stepped away to address the woman who was leaning against the desk in front of us.

"Sorry, Sir. I ran into one of girls in the hallway! Knocked all her things out of her hands, right Ms. Stephens?" Hae-sook asked, looking at me and raising an eyebrow. I mutely nodded.

Sirissa Slade was a gorgeous woman. I had seen pictures of her, and a few posters (like the ones in the lobby) but never had I imagined they did no justice. She was tall, thin, with gorgeous curves and long legs. Her hair was thick and black, hanging in straight lines like the other girls next to me. Her face expression was hard, with no real emotion in her eyes, as she over looked the girls. When I had come in, she had looked at me only for a moment before glancing at the other girls. But when Hae-sook had said my name, her eyes moved back to me.

I tried not to squirm with my folder in front of me, and looked at the wall behind her head to try and calm myself. I knew she was regretting thinking my work was superb, now that she saw the face behind the art.

"Where are you from, Ms. Stephens?" She spoke for the first time and I was surprised to feel I melted. Her voice was soft, a little deeper than most women's, but sensual like a woman who knew how to goad anyone to do what she wanted.

"D-downtown," I squeaked out. I heard one of the girls snicker down the row. My face flamed.

"Downtown? Well you must have friends in high places if you can afford an apartment around here," Sirissa said. I nodded mutely. While Trevor may have been working really hard to get a career in Education, his mother had a large sum of money she had given him to pay for the rent of our apartment. We didn't have trouble with rent at all, but it wasn't something I liked to brag about. I was looking at her throat now. She was wearing a necklace with a topaz gem that settled just above the point where her top closed. Her collarbone was visible, and I could make out a very thin, darker tinted mark that symbolized a scar.

"Tell me girls, how many of you are willing to put your heart and soul into this job?" Sirissa asked. We all raised our hands.

"Not only will you put your heart and soul into your art, but you will put your heart and soul into me. You will be my assistant as well as my artist. You will do what I say, when I say it, and play my errand girl when I ask of it. That means round the clock service. Are you willing?" She asked. Again we all raised our hands.

"How many of you are currently in relationships?" She asked. I was the only one who did not raise my hand. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment before they snapped to the other four.

"How many of you four, are willing to lose your boyfriend for the sake of this job?" She asked. The three did not raise their hand. I stayed quiet while Sirissa continued.

"Very good girls. You all know where your priorities lie. Now, who do you see not working as my assistant, with your own opinions?" She asked. I stiffened. I didn't know these girls. I couldn't just say someone and watch them forced out of the room. She looked at the girl at the far end of our line.

"Who do you think should leave?"

"Ms. Stephens," She said. I felt a prickle of anger and fear behind my ears. Hae-sook was looking at me. I knew what was coming now.

"And you?" She asked the next girl, "who do you think would not be able to fulfill my every wish? My every whim?"

"Ms. Stephens," She said. How could they all say that? They didn't know me!

"Who has the most potential for being a failure in this room?"

"Ms. Stephens."

"Who has been an embarrassing herself since she walked through this door?"

"Ms. Stephens," The last girl purred. Sirissa stood up and moved toward me. Her heels clicked with every step, and I looked away, knowing what was coming.

"Ms. Stephens. It isn't looking too good for you," she murmured. I felt shame in my face as I tried not to cry. I knew it would be harsh. I knew this.

"Ms. Stephens," She said, and slowly I looked up into her face. Sirissa's eyes were the deepest color. They were so black, but hinted with purple. I was amazed. They were beautiful. I wondered if they were contacts. The dark pupils in the center dilated as she looked at me, and for a moment I forgot that she was about to tell me to get the hell out of her office, because I was a failure as a human being.

I had horrible de ja vu as she looked at me. The purple was familiar. She swallowed and took a step back, looking at Hae-sook as she returned to her desk. Hae-sook nodded and smiled at me softly.

"Ms. Stephens. You are excused," Sirissa said. The reality of the situation hit me like a rock in my stomach, and I remembered that I had just been on the chopping block to a group of skinny little girls who cared nothing about their jobs, but their boyfriends instead. They had admitted that, and yet she wanted them? What would she say if she found out that I had no boyfriend, but a daughter instead?

I bowed my head and turned to leave. My chest felt heavy as I moved down the hallway. There were many people here, some whom moved past me, others who were inside glass surrounded offices while they worked. I would have liked this job, I think. So many glamorous people to work beside, like Hae-sook, or even Ms. Sirissa, who would have been a beautiful person to draw for.

"Hanna, wait!" I heard Hae-sook call for me. I glanced back and saw her close the door to Sirissa's office just as the shades closed. I gave her a half smile and waited for her to trot up to me.

"I can go home now, I guess," I said, "you guys are welcome to keep my work…"

"No no, Hanna. Sweetie you got the job!" Hae-sook said, grinning. I stared at her.

"What?! I did!? But…she told me I was excused!" I cried. Hae-sook shook her head.

"She merely meant to excuse you while she told the other girls off," Hae-sook said with a smile, "Sirissa hates rotten people. She weeds out the good from the bad by seeing if they turn on each other. She chose you because you chose nobody," Hae-sook explained. I nodded.

"I..I really got the job though?"

"Yeah! Here…" Hae-sook pulled something out of her jeans pocket. It was a little silver key.

"It's a key to your office. It's just a little one right now, but we'll move you up as you run out of room. Plus it's on this floor," Hae-sook explained. She smiled at my dumbfounded expression.

Standing in the hallway I heard the sounds of someone screaming. I lifted my head to peer down the hallway, and realized it sounded like it was coming from Sirissa Slade's office. Before I could properly ask what was going on, Hae-sook hooked her arm with mine.

"Let's go get a coffee while Sirissa tells the other girls the bad news," she said with a mysterious smile. I could make out more screaming joining the first scream. Hae-sook started to walk, but I tugged my arm free and turned and walked briskly back down toward her office. I heard Hae-sook scream for me as I opened the office door.

What I thought I would see was a bunch of girls sobbing because they had lost the opportunity of a lifetime. What I saw instead was chilling.

There was blood all over the floor. Blood spilled off the desk, and across the floor. Sirissa had her head tilted back, and her mouth open. She was holding a snobby, screaming blond girl, the one that had called out my name first, above her head, and as I watched, enormous fangs, like something you'd see in Predator movie, appeared from her mouth, and her tongue unraveled as she sucked the girl down whole, and swallowed.

She seemed to sense my presence then. She turned her head and smiled sweetly at me.

"Demons taste better with a little hope mixed in," She said. My jaw hit the floor. I felt Hae-sook appear behind me as Sirissa coughed, and coughed up a little pearl necklace.

"You ATE them?!" Hae-sook shouted. Sirissa shrugged. I felt my head begin to swoon.

"Oh wonderful, you just did that with her watching?!" Hae-sook cried.

"I'll just eat her too," Sirissa reasoned. That was the last straw. My vision blurred, and then everything went black.

--

I woke up on a hard surface a few hours later, with Hae-sook peering down at me with concern.

"She's up! She's up!"

"Wonderful," I heard another voice groan. Slowly I sat up and held my head. I was in a totally different room than Sirissa's office. The walls were grey, and I was on a stainless steel table. There were other tables around me, as well as pictures of Sirissa's former works and patches of fabric hanging on the walls. I assumed I was in her private work studio.

Sirissa herself was sitting in a chair near me, leaning back with her legs crossed, looking bored. Hae-sook was sitting on the table beside me, looking concerned.

"How's your head?" She asked, making a face of pure sadness.

"Fine…fine. Uhh..where am I? Why am I here?" I asked.

"My studio," Sirissa said, "you fainted because you saw me inhale a couple of Vanity de-"

"SIRISSA!"

"Oh come on. It'll come back in a moment," Sirissa said. She looked at me expectantly, and sure enough, I remembered why the hell I had passed out in the first place.

I had just witness Sirissa, a tall but petite woman inhale four other girls. Whole. Opened her jaws like an alien and ate them. Ate them. ATE THEM.

"Oh my god you ate them," I breathed. Sirissa grinned.

"Ah, quick one she is," She said, getting up. Hae-sook looked frustrated.

"Knock it off Sirissa! Look…Hanna…we need to share some things with you, you may not understand…but…I suppose you deserve to know," Hae-sook said.

"Before I eat you, anyways."

"SHUT UP!" Hae-sook bellowed. Sirissa raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Hae-sook then looked back at me.

"Hanna…if you plan to be Sirissa's assistant still, then…you need to know our true nature," Hae-sook murmured. I stared at her.

"You mean to tell me you're a freaky alien too?!" I cried. This was just too much. Here I was hoping Hae-sook would be on my side, and she might be a monster too!

"No…not aliens. Sirissa is…well…er…" Hae-sook looked at Sirissa. She sighed.

"I'm a God," Sirissa said. I stared for a long time at Sirissa. Then, I burst into laughter.

"Oh, okay. And I'm Abe Lincoln," I said, and started to slide off the table.

"I told you she would not believe us," Sirissa said.

"She IS a God though, Hanna! And I'm an angel!" Hae-sook argued. I landed on my feet and dusted off my hands.

"Sure sure. I believe you. Let me just go hail a Pegasus and maybe we can go have tea with Zeus! Whatever drugs you two are smoking, I don't want any more part of it-" I reached the door then stopped, because I couldn't grab at the handle. I was floating up toward the ceiling, flailing and wiggling while Sirissa looked up at me, bored.

"Oh look, chubby is weightless," She said, with no humor. Hae-sook hopped up onto the table and dragged me down by my foot. I felt like a balloon.

"Put her down, Sirissa!" Hae-sook cried. Sirissa shrugged and I fell with a thump onto the ceiling like gravity had been turned on. I scrambled back away from Hae-sook and stared at them again, looking from one to the other, trying to wrap my mind around the information I was now processing.

"This…this is too much," I whimpered.

"I'm sure it is," Sirissa said. She had the usual un-sympathetic look on her face. But behind the eyes I felt like she was waiting. Waiting for me to accept this. Hae-sook as well. They both looked like they were longing. I took a deep breath. What did this mean? My boss would be a god, and my coworker was an angel. Would I be able to tell Trevor? Did Sirissa like children? What kind of god was she?

"I…I think I'd like to keep my job, Ms. Slade," I breathed. Sirissa's eyebrows rose, and Hae-sook looked breathless.

"But…but I'd like to have some rules," I said, "I want…to have a garuntee that I won't be eaten…"

"Naturally. Those girls were merely after my money anyways. They weren't girls either. Demons, I'm afraid," Sirissa explained.

"Oh…kay…so I'm not a demon, so I'm off the menu?" I asked.

"I don't like sweets," She said, actually grinning a little.

"Alright…I…I want to be able to tell my roommate," I said.

"I already know your roommate," Sirissa said. I balked.

"You do?!"

"Everybody does," Sirissa said, "he single-handedly took on Her Wickedness and tacked on another thousand years to her sentence in Hades," she added.

"He never told me that!"

"It's not something one really wants to publicize to mortals," She said. I was stunned. Trevor…fought…who was her wickedness? Satan? I thought Satan was some cloven hoofed man with horns coming out of his head and a goatee! Trevor wasn't a defender of the world…he was a Principal for a school, for god sakes!

Oh, Trevor Haven, you are DEAD when I get home!

"Anything else?" Sirissa drew me from my thought process. I nodded.

"If you know Trevor…do you know why he's always so sad?" I asked. Hae-sook and Sirissa both exchanged looks.

"It's a difficult thing to say…" Hae-sook began to murmur.

"His lover at the time was one of the Grim Seven. Lust. Dionysus. From what I understand he was dragged down to Hades when Satan disappeared as well. Saved Trevor's life," Sirissa explained. Hae-sook groaned.

"Do you just have to spill EVERYTHING?" Hae-sook cried.

"You were the one desperate to tell her everything," Sirissa returned.

"Cheese and Crackers…thousands of years old and you STILL have no tact!"

"Why doesn't he come back?" I asked.

"Satan has a hold on him," Sirissa said. She was starting to look uneasy. For the life of me, I couldn't place why. Then it clicked.

"I'll do whatever you want, Ms. Slade, if you do one thing for me," I said, grinning with triumph. If it was one thing that would make Trevor happy, I would do anything to do it. Even if it meant being the slave to this Goddess and her strange little Angel pet. And if this goddess had the power, all I had to do was ask, right? A life for a life, and I was going to give it.

"I knew you would ask me this."

"I want you to bring Trevor's boyfriend back!"

--

In a cemetery miles away, a little white owl settled atop a collection of little tombstones to rest. It tucked it's wings in against its chest as it looked out across the park, big black eyes with reflections of purple gazing into nothing. Opening her wings once more, she sailed across the ground and settled on a little patch not too far from the exit. She shifted her feet around on the ground for a moment, her wings expanded and used for balance. She hooted once, then rose up and stopped on a tombstone just as the ground gave a terrific roar from beneath.

The ground split apart, and a dirt clad hand dragged up and clutched at the edge of the little fissure formed from the roar. Another hand followed, then, still clutching edges of the fissure, pulled itself up to reveal arms, then shoulders, then a heady shaggy with black hair and dirt. The rest of the body followed, settling onto the grass beside the hole in which he had come up.

He patted down the chest pockets of his jacket. Parts of his body still burned with black smoke as he finished reforming. Dion shook the dirt out of his hair and cast a look at the bird.

"Got any cigarettes?"