ZION"Mine next, mine next," Kendra gleefully chirped, clapping her hands in excitement once Alina was done unwrapping Sophia's gift.Sophia had gotten Alina a set of best friend necklaces. One for Alina, one for Sophia herself, and one for Kendra. It was cute and by the sparkle, in Alina's eyes, I knew she liked it. Alina picked up the small box that was wrapped in a candy cane gift wrap. She wasted no time in ripping the wrapping apart to reveal a tiny black box. Her grey orbs held curiosity as they shifted to where Kendra sat.Alina gasped when she finally opened the box, fear flashing in her eyes. In a split second the box had fallen to the floor, a blood-red crystal heart sliding out of it and spinning at Kendra's feet. I looked at everyone stuffed in the small sitting room. Max and Sophia were more worried about Alina, Kendra gnawed at her lip in anticipation, my parents stared at each other like fis

ZIONTen...The countdown had begun and we were just about to enter the hall when Alina tugged my arm. I turned to her, an eyebrow raised in question when she just shook her head. I could hear everyone shouting on the inside; most of them drunk out of their minds.Nine..."Wait, can't we just stay out here?" She asked with pursed lips.Eight...I deliberated her request for a quick second before coming to a conclusion, "It's way too cold. You're going to get sick Angel face."Seven..."I'll be fine. If we continue arguing like this we are going to start the New Year on a bad note so can you just listen to me and stay out here," she said those words so fast that I was surprised I even heard them.Six..."But I'm not arguing with you," I defended,

ZION"So, strange question especially since we all know I'm into girls, but if someone like us wanted to...I don't know...have children in the future, would that be possible?" Kendra asked in a hushed tone. We were knelt against my car, watching the student body scurry inside the school building to save them from the biting cold.I shrugged, "I'm not sure but say you do, your offspring would be a one-quarter dark angel and three-quarter mortal. If you look at it properly, the child really wouldn't be able to wield any sort of magic because of that. There's still the risk of it turning out to be some mutated breed. I think it's just safer not to take the chance.""So you don't want kids later in life?" Kendra quizzed incredulously. White smoke expelled from her mouth as she spoke. I had asked her to get inside but she refused. She managed to convince that her layers of clothing were more than enough to keep

ALINAThere was nothing I could do. Nothing! The only thing left for everyone, including myself to do was watch her die in front of our eyes and wish that things turned out differently. Max was going out of his mind, beating himself up with the guilt he felt. He kept going over the what if's. What if he drove slower? What if they never went out that night in the first place?They had to sedate him for the night so he could get some rest. He refused to eat or drink anything either so they had to put him on drips. Sof's parents were calm. Too calm. It was the calm you felt just before a storm was about to erupt and that scared everyone. They were still in intense shock from whatever happened but they held onto the hope that Sof would pull through. Ciana, Kendra, and I were the only people in the hospital that knew differently.None of the doctors allowed us to see Sof. Ciana attempted to get at least her parents in but they refused, scared for Sof's health. If they only knew her time was

ZIONI knew what I had to do. I knew I had to keep my family, Alina, and the people Alina loved out of danger. No one else would be harmed. No one else would have to lose their life because of Alina or me. I wouldn't allow Alina to carry any more guilt around. It burdened her, stealing away that radiant smile I wanted to remain on her face always.I stared at her sleeping form in my hold. Today was both mentally, physically, and emotionally draining for her. I couldn't imagine what it felt like to watch someone you loved dying, knowing that you would never see them again; I couldn't imagine it until today. Today I felt the full influx of those emotions. Today I finally understood it.  Thanks to Alina's uncanny ability to project her feelings onto me, I understood how utterly fucked up and heartbreaking it felt.It didn't take her too long to fall asleep. One minute she was laughing at some stupid show