"Angels descending bring from above,
Echoes of mercy and whispers of love."
-Fanny J. Crosby

He accelerated in speed up the mountain and automatically locked all the doors.

My back was pressed against the window, trying to spread myself away from him as much as possible.

"Of course this isn't the way to the drive-in, Idiot." He said, "Ha, but you won't hurt me. You're a weak little goody-two-shoes."

'I can try to run, but he can catch me.' The doors won't unlock on my side, I tried. 'He's also stronger than me. And in the mountains, my screams are useless.'

He went on, "You even had the nerve to treat me with fake respect after I told everyone you hated jelly beans. When I was little, I thought you were so weird because you were the only girl that didn't admit her love to me. Do you know what happens to girls that don't like me?"

That's not it. I didn't know what love was at that age. Please, let me speak. If only I had the courage to tell you but I'm too scared to even try.

"You were so nice but you never told me you liked me, even though the other girls told me they liked me everyday. I hated you so much because of that. I even spread rumors about you, starting with jelly beans in kindergarten and ending with the one I told about a month ago, that you're a Satanist. I laughed at what a pathetic thing you turned out to be, Aud. You know what kind of rumors I spread about you at school? Well, everyone thinks you have voodoo dolls of all the guys at school, for one. Oh, and you're a little mentally handicapped. You know, your little outcast problems would've never happened if you just told me that you liked me. But you had to be so complicated, not like most of the other girls. Well, I'll just have to teach you a lesson. One that I've taught a couple girls before you."

He's done this before. I can feel his thoughts grow stronger as he briefly glances at my body. He's going to find some way to kill what little hope and innocence is left inside of me.

"Audrey, if you're not going to like me, you're going to respect me."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and rolled down the window. He laughed at my idea of escape.

"You're going to jump out now?" he said, like I was an idiot. "I've done this enough times to know there's no escape for you."

I peeked out the window and noticed why he was laughing. He was on a steep road, the vertical drop of the mountain right outside of my side of the car. If I jumped out, I would fall from so high that once I hit the ground I'd die. Right now, dying didn't seem so bad.

But I couldn't go through with it. I just.. couldn't. Something in me told me to hold on for just a bit longer. I'm trapped with this greasy haired monster in the driver's seat that'll have the pleasure of taking away what I'm saving for that special soulmate when I'm older and ready. More rumors will spread of me, ones like how the scarecrow is now a prostitute. Or how she used her voodoo dolls to make him do it with her.

The tears, I haven't noticed before, covered my cheeks. I pulled out the convenient box of tissues from the floor and cleaned my face and nose. When I did, I cried even more. I couldn't control it. I couldn't control my body. It was shaking everytime I tried to inhale, only for the air to come out just as shaky as it went in. Judging from the napkins, I rubbed off all my make-up except for a few stubborn bits of glitter. It didn't matter, though. Nothing mattered. I had no one. I am no one.

I'm nothing.

Fabio parked the car and leaned into me, "Don't scream." I was too scared to scream. He was unzipping his pants. No, I couldn't look at what was in those jeans. Disgusting. I can't take in all of this! He can't get away with it. I have to escape. I have to escape. I may be a freak, I may also be a disgrace, but I don't deserve this.

I wrapped the remaining tissues around my right hand in time to punch the window on my side. I punched with all the force in my body, completely shattering the window and just leaving a few jagged edges, maybe even shattering a few bones in my hand. The glass pinned to my skin.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted, while I was slipping half of my body out of the car window, the glass felt like being slowly scraped by thousands of little knives. He grabbed my hips and tried to pull me back in. He'stoo strong! I'm about to lose grip! I kicked as many times as I could and as fast as I could until his grip slipped and I slid out of the car. It didn't help that glass shards were on the floor. I quickly regained posture and ran, hearing him calling me a rainbow of words as he easily caught up with me. I wasn't far from the car, seeing as how there was a narrow road only going down, the same road we took to get up here. I ran so fast down the mountain that I started to jump a little. Apparently he did too because he was able to grab me by my forearms and slam me to the ground with such great intensity, I lost focus for a few seconds.

"Witch!" he called, his voice booming with anger but as I slipped in and out of reality, it was more of a distant shout, "Don't try to run from me again!"

When I regained focus, he was already taking off my pants.

"Nis.. roc.." I called, even though my voice was still shrouded by total fear. "Nisroc..."

Fabio pulled something out of his pants.

That's when my voice boomed with loud, shakeless power, "NISROC!"

As fast as his name was called, a body of white light punched Fabio so hard, Fabio slammed against the mountain wall and left a dent. I pulled up my pants with my fidgetting hands and crawled backwards by two feet, avoiding any area Fabio took over. He should be dead, after that hit, but something so strong and dark in Fabio made him get up and fight back. The tall body of light, in the silouette of a young man with huge equally bright wings, stood right in front of me, facing Fabio, as if daring Fabio to come any closer to me. When Fabio took in who he was up against, his hands slapped the ground, palms down. He bowed his head and went to his knees.

"Lord, I'm sorry!" Fabio's words cried, "Please, don't hurt me! That freak is the problem. She's to blaim, I swear, man!"

The angel of light lifted his hand and casually swung it to his left. When he did, a great invisible force pushed Fabio to the left so hard, he flew about five feet then rolled, screaming, the rest of the way down the hill, as if being repeatedly punched. The angel stared at the direction Fabio went. The being of light.. I knew who it was from the beginning.

"I almost killed him." Nisroc said, turning to me. He was still so bright, all he was was a white light, like the sun. His eyes, face, hair, everything. His body was like a flashlight. He kneeled down next to me.

"After this, I will never be your guardian angel." his skin slowly pulsed color, his eyes growing bluer, his hair becoming blonder...

"Nisroc, no! I'm sorry. I'll never call you again, I promise." Tears were about to stream down but I had to stop them. I had to be strong.

"It's okay to cry, Audrey." Nisroc said, "But it's not your fault. I was the one that broke the rules, so now I must go back to Heaven."

I shook my head but cried anyway. How can he leave me? Who will protect me? Who will help me at school? Who will care for me when I'm about to break down? "Please, don't go."

"I have to," he said, " I will get the punishment I deserve. Not only did I break the rules, but I broke them so suddenly. Except for the last rule; that, I broke a very long time ago."

He gazed at me so sincerely, like he was dreaming; his eyes glazed over with a deep longing.

'The last rule?'

He gently cupped my cheeks..

'Was it the most important?'

He leaned into me..

'What was the last rule?'

He kissed me.

He kissed me.

His lips touched mine. His lips touched mine. And stayed there. Flowers, chocolate, being accepted couldn't amount to how amazing that kiss was. It was long and full of all the happiness in the world. It was.. unbelievable. But it happened. He kissed me with so much passion. Warm, soft, delicious lips.. can lips be delicious? His can. My heart felt like it stopped beating, my blood was super-pumped with adrenaline.. I savoured that kiss with all of my power. God knows how much I kissed back.

...

...I opened my eyes. I was in my bed, again. I turned to the beeming of my alarm clock. It was four in the morning. My whole body was so stiff, I could barely move.

"UGH." I loudly exhaled. It was an exhale full of so much love and disappointment. He may be real. But he may be fake. I don't know how this schizophrenia thing works, but I hope it's not schizophrenia. The sensation still on my lips tells a different story.

Monday came, as much as I didn't want it to. I never heard from Nisroc since that day. I dressed as myself, because I am who I am. The kids didn't treat me any different but with a new-found confidence, I was able to tell it as it is. I told them that if they're going to believe such menial rumors then it's a pity to think they're in the same human race as me. When I said that, the girls applauded and the guys respected me more. I am not a disgrace. I am not a freak. One day, I will be somebody important. Today, I am me.

I heard news about Fabio, who was in a car accident Friday night, when he was speeding with broken brakes. My hopes rised that Nisroc was with me, but then I remembered he was gone. However, I'm beginning to believe more and more that he's real and that I'm not a schizophrenic. By lunch, news spread about a new kid at school. Guys are talking about how he's a super bad boy and that Fabio wasn't a car accident, that this new kid beat him up then crashed his car becuase Fabio looked at him wrong. The girls sighed and went on and on about how handsome he is. My heart started racing again. Is Nisroc... here?

"His eyes are so blue, I can look into them all day!" a girl in class told me.

This new kid definitely sounds like Nisroc! "Did you see him?" I asked

"Yeah, I was lucky. He's hard to find. It's like he takes a different..." here she sighed, "more dangerous route..."

"What does he look like? Is he a blonde?" I asked, inching towards her.

"No," she smiled, "but he'd be a hot blonde. He has brown hair. Bad boy brown hair. Meow!"

It's not Nisroc. My heart tore like crippled paper between freshly sharpened scissors.

I think the girl noticed, "Don't worry, he's the kind of guy to fall for innocent girls, like you. He wouldn't want an ex-smoker."

I smiled at her and thanked her. She smiled back and told me her name was Corey. Short for Coraline.

Corey and I had a lot of things in common. We both love the same childhood shows and listen to the same music and love the same foods. She's a ex-smoker slash neopagan. I'm an ex-outcast slash daydreamer. The day went by quickly and before I knew it, it was almost last period. Between classes on the way to my last period, Fabio's friends circled me. They took my books and my bagpack.

"Give it back, those books are expensive." I said, with a new authority in my voice. They laughed at me. I wasn't going to let them take advantage, I just wanted my books to be safe.

"Oh, these books?" Like he read my mind, Fabio's best friend threw my book on the floor and rubbed his foot into it, the book scratching against the the rough concrete.

"Stop!" I said, only to be ignored.

"Rumor has it you're really a very good little girl and that Fabio was wrong." His other friend said, "that's what your childhood friend said. The whole school is eating up his words."

My childhood friend? Who? "Fabio?"

They laughed even more, "No, Retard, Nestle Rebel. Well, Rebel isn't his last name but that's what all the kids are calling him. And no one dares to call him Nestle."

The guy holding my bagpack grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him, "but he doesn't know anything about the real you, Scarecrow."

I cringed at that name, it'd take time to heal the wound that word left on me. If only I had my guardian-

-a strong hand unlike any other grabbed the guy's wrist and twisted it in such a fashion that he let go of my arm in an instant and let out a shrill yelp.

The hand extended from a brick arm, which was part of a muscled body in a black T and jeans. At the head, was a brunette Nisroc.

"Don't you ever touch her again." He said, his powerful blue eyes burning away all the sick thoughts inside the guy's head.

When he let go of the guy's arm, the guy bowed his head slightly, not daring to meet Nisroc's eyes again. "Sorry. ...Nestl- Ness Roc.. er.. Ness Rebel."

With that, Nisroc -or Ness- shot a quick beem at all the other guys and said, "You disrespect her, you direspect me. Got it?"

"Got it." said the guy still holding my bagpack.

"And respect her stuff, too," He aimed his piercing glare at Fabio's best friend who still had my book under his foot, "or you'll end up like Fabio.. who's now a practicing Christian."

Without a word, Fabio's best friend grabbed my book from the floor and thursted it back to me. Nisroc took my bagpack and slung it around his shoulders.

"Get out of my way." he told the former bagpack snatcher. The kid did as he said.

Nisroc turned to me and smiled, all the cold power in his piercing stare slipped away and left a warm fuzz, "Let's go, Audrey."

Speechless, I followed him. Everyone can see him, I'm not crazy! He's real. He's been real the whole time.

"I gave up my halo for you." he joking smiled again at me, it seemed that we were walking to the same class. The one class I just so happened to have an empty seat next to. It's like all of this was perfectly planned. "Now I can protect you all the time. I'm sure your father will love me, since my adoptaive human family is also made up of ex-angels. Rich ones. I'm Nestle Rock now, if you haven't heard. And if anyone asks, we were childhood best friends before I moved to Paris and now I'm back. Oh yeah, another ex-angel tip: we're bilingual."

Somehow picturing Nisroc speaking French doesn't seem so bad. It's, you know, s-e-x-y. 'Mademoiselle, we have a minute to get to class.' I imagined. I think I'm going to blush.

"I'm sorry you gave up your halo for me." I said, my cheeks turning red.

He stopped, in the busy hallway, and turned to me. "Audrey."

I stared at the floor, still painfully shy.

"Audrey." He whispered.

He may not be able to read my mind, I bet, because he's human now, but he understands me. He knows me. He cares for me. He senses me. He feels me.

His voice was so close, "I love you."

He loves me. "Nisroc!" I exclaimed, "I love you too!-"

I looked up. When I did, he kissed me. Powerful, lovely, moving. Instead of waking in my room, he was still there, still kissing me even when I kissed him back. He didn't dissapear, in fact the longer he kissed me, the more the kiss became real, strong.

One of his hands cupped my face, the other circled my waist and pulled me closer to him. His body almost like concrete; so strong, protective.

Everything around us faded. He kissed me even though the hallway went silent. He kissed me even when the people started to disappear. He kissed me until the bell rang.

I let go of his lips and he smiled his straight white teeth at me, grabbing my hand. His hands felt like petals. He ran with me to class.

"Pray to God we aren't late!" I shouted.

He shouted back, "Don't worry, He's on our side."

The end,

Finally.