I remember it all. I remember how the whole feud started, how it grew worse. It's never been easy. It was for a few months... but then the outbreaks began.

I'm Darian. I'm one of the last surviving angels in the world. My friends are my coven, and they're also some of the few who are left. We used to hide our wings wherever we would go. But that all changed just a year ago.

We were free to do whatever we please. We were a part of the people, a part of the public. We came out of the shadows for the first time. Our ancestors would protect humans at the cost of their lives, and we followed in their footsteps. We protected the humans from the safety of the shadows. If they did not see us, then they would have no reason to fear us. We remained secrets from the world that lay at our feet.

I was tired of not being able to be who I was at school. I was selfish and arrogant and I only wanted to please myself. So I took the chance. I went into the mayor's office and demanded a meeting with the government. He agreed and we set up a date for the meeting. My coven was astonished that I was able to come back and face them. I told them of what we could accomplish when we didn't have to hide who we were. They took me for my word and followed me to Washington DC. We met with the house of representatives and showed them our wings and demonstrated our powers for them. We promised them we would not betray them or use our powers to harm them in any way. They trusted us, and we made the biggest mistakes of our lives. We trusted them, too.

The government presented us to the public, and they were accepting of us. We were finally able to go out in public without people being frightened or violent. When we came out, other angels came out from hiding. We became allies with our government instead of secrets from them.

And in the process, I found him. The only human besides my mother who I've grown feelings for. He was everything I could have dreamed of for the guy I would fall in love with. His name was Adam, and he was perfect. He encouraged me to be myself and to share with the world who I was, not what I am. He became a part of my coven and came to be accepted by them.

Everything was absolutely what we've thought the world would be like if we didn't have to hide. Those months were the best I've ever known, and I got to spend them with the man of my dreams. My life was perfect, like one of those 'rags to riches' programs, accept I was one of the specials, one of the 'secret to sensation' stories.

But then everything went downhill from there. It always does, doesn't it?

It was just a few small outbreaks at first, but then it grew and grew.

Preachers began to poison their congregations with lies about us. They told them we were the devil's creatures, that all we wanted was do bring chaos and discord to their realm as punishment for their sins. The congregations trusted them and brought up new uprisings and began the riots. We were being betrayed by the people who took us in and made us a part of their society.

The riots started to get closer to our homes. We escaped while we still could and hid in a motel under my mom's name. The nightly news grew horrifying with the reported slayings of our brothers and sisters in their own homes by the people who accepted them. We cried as the slayings happened more often and the number of the angels dwindled. All we could do was hope to wait it out.

Months passed by and the humans had not yet found us. Our hope began to slowly rebuild itself piece by piece. The revolts lessened and the humans drew back their forces. We almost thought that they thought that they had killed us all. We would now have to live in secret like we did before. The revolution had benefited all and there was a time of peace.

We carried on with our lives like normal humans would, all the while keeping our heritage secret. Adam seemed like the only human we could trust along side my mother. But even with a peaceful existence, fear and hate come to all who are different.

My mother suffered the first attack. She was hit by a bat in the first riot to come at us. The humans betrayed one of their own saying she betrayed them for birthing me. My coven and I grieved for her loss and I promised the humans they would not celebrate their victory the next time they crossed us. It was only weeks later that they came again and took my reason to stay in the mortal world. They took him as he lay bleeding in my arms. I fought to keep him, thrashing and clawing my way through the hands that tried to keep me at bay. But they got away. They took him from me. My Adam was captured from right in front of me. And I let them get away.

The coven went into hiding the next day. We traveled by car and air, avoiding the security who publicized their warning to all countries: "Any unnatural creature born from anything other than man and woman of human species shall be terminated."

Ange comforted me as we left the human settlements that we had once thought of as our loving, welcoming home. I didn't listen to her. How could humans attack and betray their friends. They didn't understand us, they never really gave us a chance.

"Humans are fragile and die. They don't trust what they don't understand, and they'll never understand what they don't control. They're selfish beings who kill each other for fun. They'll never be anything else."