It was the night of the concert. I was nervous but what the heck! I came here for a battle, and I had every intention to win. I was tired of people at Leighton High thinking they were better than me. They were not! So they shouldn’t really look or think down on me.When I told Denise and Chaise that I agreed to play a song with the band, they were over the moon. They went out of their way to support me.Denise lent me a checkered skirt that ended a few inches above my knees and a pair of black boots that she’d never worn. She also got me a black long-sleeved cropped top that teased a peek of my flat tummy.Dominic brought his girlfriend Kaia, who happened to be a body painter. She took time to paint flowers and swirls on the side of my cheek where my scars were. She also braided my hair to reveal her handiwork on my face. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was surprised. I couldn’t even tell that I had a scar on the skin she painted on.

Zadkiel – The Archangel of Mercy Chaise picked me up at nine in the morning. When I hopped into his car, I noticed that the white SUV was gone.I almost backed out of coming to this weekend getaway. I felt uncertain about how Denise’s cousins would react to me. One of his cousins already didn’t like me that much, he was trying his best to forget he even knew me at all.When we got to Denise’s house, she was already in the front garden waiting. She almost cursed at Chaise for being late. She went inside a black SUV and I could see there were people with her.Just then, a beautiful white Escalade went out of the garage and went ahead of us. It looked a lot like the car that was parked in front of my house last night.As soon as the Escalade was in motion, Denise drove behind it, signaling Chaise to start his engine and follow.“How long is this drive?” I asked Chaise.“Not

Uriel – The archangel who takes you out of the darkness and into the divine truth. As soon as Hunter’s smirk faded from his face, we saw bright lights streak the skies, followed by the loud, booming sounds of thunder. A few seconds later, heaven let out its wrath and large drops of water soaked our skin.I turned on my heel and headed back to the house. I tried to run. Unfortunately, the rain made the dock floor slippery and my slippers were not slip-proof. I took one step too quick and lost my balance. I shrieked, knowing well enough that I would fall flat on my ass in three, two…But I felt arms wrap around me immediately, breaking my fall, catching me. I looked up above me and saw Hunter looking down at me with an amused expression on his face, his arms wrapped all around me.He pulled me up and before I could settle both my feet on the ground to secure my balance, I felt his arms under my legs and the

All this time, Hunter was shielding the pain he hid inside. When I thought he was being a prick, he was actually heartbroken.I lay on the bed, motionless, listening to the uneven beats of the rain on the rooftop, feeling the rhythmic thumping of my heart inside my chest.I was sure my eyes would be swollen in the morning. But I knew that no matter how many more tears I shed tonight, it wasn’t going to make things better. Hunter and I lost a lot of time being apart. And until now, I couldn’t see a hope for our future.Maybe we were never meant to be together in the first place. Or maybe we were meant to be torn apart by bad timing and a series of unfortunate misunderstandings.Fatigue and heartache got the better of me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, hoping that the nightmares would not come chasing me again, hoping that when I wake up, Hunter wouldn’t be hurting because of me. And I wouldn’t be hurting because of him.I

Denise gave me a slight shrug, as if she read my mind.“We’ll be there in a sec,” Denise replied.Chaise nodded and then he left quietly.“Do you think he heard us?” I asked Denise.“I don’t know. But if he did, then maybe your problem is solved. You wanted to find a way to tell him to bugger off. There you go!”“Denise!”She laughed. “Sorry, hun. Force of habit. You know there will be no love lost between Chaise and me.”All of us, with the exception of Hunter, had breakfast in the dining room. Mica was all sobered up and I hoped Denise would tell her parents about the incident. She needed to see somebody about handling her emotions properly. I know suicidal instincts when I see the signs. I was the girl whose mother killed herself when things got too much for her to handle.Hunter locked himself in the master’s bedroom, which made me feel both worri