Chapter 3 HAVEN ON EARTH

"Wait, can you see me?" My mouth was bleeding.

"You effin' idiot. Of course, we can see you. We saw you steal this bag filled with millions!" one of the two said while holding a black bag in his hand. The other one was pointing something at me. I reached out to touch it curiously which made them look at each other and scoff.

"You nuts, Amber? You must have hit your head or something when we knocked you down, huh!" the other man said.

"Yeah, you're acting sh**! Come on, buddy. Let's go," he said, still pointing the black thing at me.

The two ran away and left me trying to get on my feet. Struggling, I walked towards a door with a sign saying Haven's Café and went in. A woman in her forties showed up, holding a tray and said. "Are you sure you need food and not a doctor?"

"You can see me too?" I asked.

"No I don't. I shouldn't be talking to you because I don't see you, right?" she said while taking me to a table. "Have a seat. I'll give you something for your bleeding mouth and bruised pretty face, young lady," she added before leaving.

I looked around and saw others looking at me. I smiled at them as I stood up.

"Have you seen Human?" I asked.

Everyone seemed puzzled and looked at each other. Nobody uttered a single word and continued sipping a . . .

"You want a cup of coffee too?" The woman appeared. "I can see you looking at them sipping their cups. Seriously, do you want some?"

"No. I don't know what coffee is, Angel," I replied.

"Well, coffee is-oh, you called me an angel! That's so sweet of you. Here, let me put some ice on your face. You must have been into a fight, young lady. A girl like you should stay away from trouble," she said. I flinched as an ice cube touched my face.

"Ouch!" I screamed.

Everybody looked at me again but immediately returned to their business-the cup of coffee as the woman said it was called.

"This city is filled with gangsters, you've gotta be careful. With a costume and make up like that . . ." she paused. "You could be mistaken as a notorious juvenile."

She looked at me and clucked her tongue repeatedly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are a gangster," she said while I remained confused, trying to digest her foreign words and the things around me.

"Haven, can I ask for cheese, please? And creamer too." A girl raised her hand.

"Yeah sure, honey. In a minute," the woman responded, still holding the piece of cloth with the ice cube in it.

"Why are they calling you Heaven?" I asked.

Haven stood up. "Because I am your angel." She laughed but received no reaction from me. "I guess it's not funny, huh? Yeah, I suck at jokes. Here, take this."

"Yeah, thank you," I said, looking at the bowl of ice.

"That's yours," she said. "You can stay here if you like, but I need to go back to work. The door is open for you anytime," she said with a smile.

I got up, holding the bowl of ice. "I have to go and find Human. Thank you for this."

Haven gave me a confused look and the air was clothed with silence. "Don't I look human, young lady? Well, if the name of this person you're looking for is Human, sounds unique by the way, you can start looking for her at the birth registry office just in case her name was considered as a legal name. If you need anything, I'm just right here." She smiled while I stayed silent, processing her words.

"Still confused? Never mind," she said before turning away.

I walked out the door with the bowl in my hands. Without knowing where to go, I continued to walk on the sidewalk like a lost prey in the world of predators. It was the first time that I saw the sunset with the mesmerizing bright lights around me. The noise on the streets . . . Well, they were deafening that I had to cover my ears, letting go of the bowl in the process. The ice cubes scattered everywhere that some were already stepped on by countless people passing by. Everything was too strange to take. I knelt down and picked up the ice cubes to put them back in the bowl, but someone picked them up hurriedly-a young boy dressed in dirty clothes. Seeing his pitiful situation, I smiled and let him take all the ice cubes. He looked funny munching on them like there was no tomorrow and ran away.

Seriously? Why does everybody run away from me? I huffed. I never thought that this mission would feel like a punishment. Am I being punished?

My thoughts were distracted when I felt my stomach rumbling. I wondered what it was until the boy who took my ice cubes handed me something.

"Do vampires eat burgers?" the boy asked. Ugh, his high-pitched voice was hurting my ears.

"Vampires . . . what?" I asked, looking at the piece of bread with some grass on it.

"You must be hungry. Take if before I change my mind-"

"And run away?" I cut him off before grabbing the soft object he was offering me. "What's this?"

The boy laughed. "Giddy. My name is Giddy," he said, extending his hand to which I didn't respond.

"Listen, Giddy. Your name sounds strange just like my stomach. I felt like I needed to shove something into my mouth. What do I do with this piece of sh*t you're giving me anyway-" I gasped. "Did I just say profanity?"

The boy shrugged. "You've just said it. Shove it into your mouth. And yes, you've just said the dirty word 'sh*t'," he said. "Hunger is a human thing. Once you possess a human body, your mind and soul will immediately mix up in no time. You will start to feel human emotions-pain, hunger, confusion, hatred; everything human. And the most disgusting of all, love. Everything that your vessel has: language, mindset, feelings, desires, lust, name it. You and your vessel will become one. And the worst? You will lose your 'angelic identity'. Never ever fall in love with a human." I froze at his words for a moment.

"Holy cow!" I exclaimed. "You're an angel? I didn't know any angel named Giddy in heaven."

"It's not my real name, of course!" The boy laughed which made my jaw dropped. "It's Gideon. I think your vessel is starting to eat you up now, Micca. You've gotta be careful. Your language is the purest that I've ever heard from the most powerful angel the heaven has created."

"But why are you here? Let me guess, Gideon. A mission?" I asked.

"Yes, I was tasked to be your guide, your majesty," he said sarcastically.

"My guide? Ha ha ha! You even suck at choosing vessels, man. Seriously? You're using a 10-year-old boy's body?"

"Uh uh. This boy has a pure and untainted soul, Micca. Unlike yours . . . a female drug syndicate? Seriously? I bet your soul will burn in hell sooner than you could ever complete your mission. And you're right, this vessel is ten years old."

"I did not choose this body! I am a man! Why am I in a female's body?!"

"Ha ha ha! It sounds like this red-haired gangster of a human body possessed your angel being then, huh?" Gideon laughed boisterously. "You're supposed to possess, not to be possessed!"

"Yeah, I think so." I sighed while he continued laughing.

My stomach suddenly rumbled loudly for the second time, making Gideon glare at me.

"Well, well. I think the only thing that remains masculine in you is your stomach," he said before handing me another soft object to shove into my mouth. "That's called 'burger'."

"Are burgers for angels?" I asked, but he vanished into thin air.