Touched By Sin: A Dark Paranormal Romance (Sins of The Fallen Book 1)
Touched By Sin: Prologue

The tall, golden gates shimmer in the afternoon sun. Beyond lies the unknown, a world of misery and pain. Or so I’ve been told. Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve been curious about what lies on the other side.

Eden is perfection; it’s Heaven, and the elders tell me I’m one of the lucky few born in paradise. They’re right. Everything here is beautiful. The tall trees sway in the wind, and the sweet fragrance from the colorful flowers drifts on the warm summer breeze.

Eden has never known pain and misery. Us angels live a sheltered life here, which makes me curious to replace out what’s on the other side. Back when I was younger, I used to climb the trees near the gates to peek at the landscape beyond the tall walls. The Garden of Eden is surrounded by a dense, dark forest with tall, spindly trees and a penetrating silence you can sense beyond these walls. Even now, I can hear it calling me, urging me to scale them.

“Aurelia, what are you doing?” Freya, my best friend, asks, causing me to startle and snap my white wings shut behind me.

She laughs. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

My heart is still in my throat as I drag my gaze away from the tall gates. “I thought I heard something.”

Freya follows my line of sight, and her throat jumps before she circles her fingers around my arm, steering me back to the path that leads to the village. “You know we shouldn’t be out here.”

“I know.”

“You can’t tell anyone I let you talk me into coming along. The elders won’t be happy.”

“No one will replace out,” I reassure her. She hates it when I sneak out to the gates, but she’s too kind to stop me.

“We shouldn’t lie,” she says, her white wings fluttering with unease behind her. “The elders have banished angels for lying.”

“We’re not lying to anyone.”

“You’re trouble,” she tells me, but then she smiles, and we giggle nervously.

“Why do you always come out here?” she asks as I tuck my blonde hair behind my ear. Freya doesn’t understand why I feel so drawn to the gates. I don’t, either. It’s a deep-rooted curiosity. Ever since I was a little girl, the elders have told us stories about a place called Hell, where the fires never stop burning and cast out angels like us, with dark wings and sharp fangs, torture human souls. Their lands lie beyond the dark, sinister woods. It’s a place of misery, sin, and depravity. I’m curious, and it makes no sense why Freya is not.

“I want to see for myself what’s beyond the gates.”

Freya stumbles to a halt, and her wide eyes land on me. “Are you crazy? Why? You have everything you need here. Why would you wish for such a thing? It’s dangerous, not to mention foolish. You’re an angel, Aurelia. You live in heaven, the highest ascension. Why would you want to jeopardize it?”

We’re close to the village now, and a group of angels, sparkling with light, walk past us. I wait until they’re out of earshot before replying, “Aren’t you curious about what’s beyond these walls?”

“No!” she exclaims like my question is absurd. “The thought has never crossed my mind. I’m happy here. How can I not be when I live in a place of eternal happiness and unconditional love.”

I step closer and lower my voice. “You speak of such things, but how can you know happiness and love when you’ve never experienced pain?”

The look on Freya’s face is comical. She walks away, calling out over her shoulder, “I worry about you sometimes. You know that?”

My bare feet pad on the soft grass as we step off the trodden path and cut between two houses. “There’s no need to be concerned. I’m not going to do anything stupid. Sometimes I just like to come out here and listen to the silence in the woods. Can you not hear it?”

“How can you hear the silence?” she asks, her soft, bare skin glowing in the sun. “Silence has no sound.”

We reach the village square and hurry over to the spot on the nearby field where classes are in full swing. The teacher rolls her eyes when we plop down on the grass. It’s not the first time we’ve been late because of my burning curiosity. I lean in, whispering in Freya’s ear, “Silence screams sometimes.”

Freya is only half listening. Her eyes are on Oliver, a couple of rows in front. “I want to marry him,” she says dreamily.

Oliver, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, looks like any other angel here.

“His wings are so big,” she swoons.

I giggle when she rests her head on my shoulder. His white wings are impressive, and he knows it. No other angel boy comes close to his wingspan.

“Last week, we looked at Corinthians. Can anyone tell me what unconditional love is?” the teacher asks, looking expectantly around the group of students. Freya has her hand up in the air, eager as always to shine.

The teacher smiles at her. “Go on, Freya.”

“Love is patient and kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

“Very good.”

“You’re a teacher’s pet,” I tease, leaning in.

“I don’t deny it.”

“Aurelia,” the teacher says, and I snap to attention. “How does fear relate to love?”

“There is no fear in love. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

“Very good.”

I preen, too. How can I not when my teacher looks at me like an exemplary student? I’m not. I’m too restless and curious-minded to be a teacher’s pet like Freya. I’m always pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable here in Eden with my endless questions and wandering feet. It will get me into a lot of trouble one day.