Nora's POV:
I stretched my arms and yawned as I opened my eyes. The sun was out and it hit me right in the face. I groaned as I grabbed my pillow and covered my face with it. "Something wrong, Angel?" A familiar voice spoke.
"Patch?" I said. Who else? He spoke to my mind. I smiled and ran into his arms. "I missed you!" I said. Missed you too. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I kissed him back and lead my hands to his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist; pulling my body closer to his. I pulled away and said "We don't wanna be late." I untangled myself from him and he pouted. 5 more minutes? He asked. I shook my head. "Not a chance. But don't worry, there will be more later." I said huskily. He smirked and gave me one last peck on the lips.
I came out of a quick but thorough shower with a towel around my body. I picked out a dark blue, ruffled strap top with black skinny jeans and silver flats. I accessorised with a silver scarf, a ring on both hand and a charm bracelet on the right. I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw. Those 'fashion' lessons from Vee had really paid off. I grabbed my bag and descended down the stairs. "You ready?" Patch called out from the kitchen.
"Yep." I answered back. I heard the drumming of his shoes make its way out of the kitchen.
"Here, you go." He said handing me a half-burnt slice of toast with blotches of jam on top.
I'm not a very good cook. I laughed and said, "Thanks." He took my hand and we walked out the door into his Black Jeep. Patch reached to put his key in the ignition. His eyes flickered to the floor and stopped. He creased his eyebrows. "What is it?" I asked. No reply.. He leaned down and picked up something. A crinkled, white paper? Patch stared at it in shock an surprisingly a hint of fear. Now, that was something you didn't expect from Patch.
"Patch?" I tried again. This time he looked. "What is it, Patch? What does it say?" I asked eagerly. He handed me the paper. I read it and felt confused. In the most legible and neat handwriting that I had ever seen, the note read:
I know what you are, Patch. Thanks to Nora.
-EC
"Patch, I-" He cut me off.
"You promised, Nora." He said in a stiff voice.
"Patch, I didn't say anything to anyone."
"Thanks to Nora." He quoted from the note.
"Patch, I swore to you I wouldn't tell anyone. I've kept this from my best friend, what makes you think I'll tell some random guy?" He sighed. I'm sorry for accusing you, Angel. It's just a lot to take in. "It's okay." I said, "Who could EC be?"
"No idea." Patch replied.
"Maybe he's Nephilim?" I suggested. I could sense that Patch didn't want to talk about it. But he was being very open about it and I decided to get as much information as I could before he started to become all secretive.
"Angel, why would Nephilim give me a note telling me he knew what I was? It's a human. I know it is. " He started the car and drove off. The journey was silent. Too silent.
I entered my English class. Just as I was about to sit next to Vee, Mr Carter began to speak.
"Class, we have a new seating plan from today onwards." He told us were to sit and I was to be seated by the new girl. I put my books on the desk and took my seat. "Hi, I'm Nora Grey." The girl stiffened. "Erm, please excuse me." She said. The girl rushed to the teacher. They discussed something for a few minutes and then she left the class. That was weird. I shrugged it off and then joined Kathy McDonald who was also partner-less.
Bella's POV:
A girl came towards me. She sat next to me and put her books on the desk. "Hi, I'm Nora Grey." She said. I froze. This was the girlfriend of the guy Edward had been talking about. He'd told me to stay clear of them. "Erm, please excuse me." I said. I hurried to Mr Carter.
"Yes, Miss Swan?" He asked.
"Erm, I'm not feeling so well. Is it okay if I go to medical?" I tried to lie as convincingly as I could. I've always been told that I was a bad liar. Surprisingly, I had Mr Carter convinced. "Alright." He said. He wrote on a yellow piece of card. "Here's your excuse card."
"Thanks." I said and I rushed out of class. I rummaged through my bag and took my phone out. I dialled Edwards number. "What's wrong, Bella. Shouldn't you be in class?" Edward asked.
"Yeah, I was. Until I found out who my partner was. It's Nora. Nora Grey." I spoke back through the phone.
"Alright Bella, meet me in the parking lot." I could hear the anxiety in his voice.
"Okay. I love you." I said.
"Love you too." I hung up and made my way to meet Edward. Just as I was about to turn the corner, someone grabbed me. Someone with a hard grip. I opened my mouth to scream but before anything could come out the guy's hand covered my mouth. He dragged me into an empty classroom and dumped me on a chair. "I will remove my hand. So long as you don't scream. Don't make me regret this." He slowly removed his hand. I thought about screaming. Edward would hear it and come to save me. After all, Edward was a vampire. He could take this guy anymore. I decided not to. I wanted to hear him out. "What do you want from me?" I asked. He chuckled. "It's more like what do you want from Nora."
"Excuse me?" I tried to play innocent.
"I heard your phone call. Now, tell me. Are you EC?" The guy asked. EC? Those were Edward's initials. That's when it hit me. "Patch?" I asked.
"So you are EC, huh." I shook my head. Liar! I jumped. "How did you do that?"
"Like you don't know." Patch said.
"I don't. All I know is that my boyfriend told me to stay away from you and Nora. He told me that you were.. different."
"Let me guess. Your boyfriend is EC?"
"Those are his initials." I said. "So what are you. A vampire? A werewolf?"
"I'm an Angel." he said.
"Angel's exist?" I asked.
"Vampires and werewolves exist?" He seemed just as shocked as I was. I avoided his question. "Is Nora human?" I asked.
"Yes." He replied.
I smiled. It felt good knowing that there was another couple out there like me and Edward. A forbidden couple. "What's so funny?" He asked.
"Edward – my boyfriend – is a vampire. Its just nice knowing I'm not the only one who fell in love with an immortal." I explained. He smiled back. He didn't seem bad. I wonder why Edward had told me to stay away from him. "Speaking of Edward, he's waiting for me in the parking lot." I said.
"Mind if I come? I want to know how he knows I'm an Angel and what he wants."
"What he wants, I'm not sure. But he knows what you are because he can read minds. He told me that he find out about you by reading Nora's mind." I explained.
"Why not just read mine?" Patch asked.
"That's what I wanted to know at the time. But now I know you're an Angel. I think it's because of that. Either that or you have a weird mind." He raised his eyebrows. "Edward can't read my mind. He thinks it's because my mind is different."
"That's interesting." Patch said, "Well, we better get going then. By the way, I never got your name."
"Bella." I said.
Patch's POV:
Bella and I walked out the main entrance. I could see a guy in the distance. In a matter of seconds, the guy stood in front of me. I assumed this was Edward. He glared at me. "Ease down, Edward." Bella said.
"What did I tell you, Bella?" Edward spoke.
"It's okay. He's a good guy." Bella replied. I interrupted their conversation. "What do you want, Edward?"
"You're an angel, am I correct?" He asked.
"Yes, and you're a vampire. Am I correct?" I spoke back icily.
"Can you two try being nice?" Bella asked.
"No." Edward and I said at the same time. Bella rolled her eyes. "We've got a lot to talk about, but not now." Edward said.
"Why not now?" I asked.
"We need Nora here, too." Edward answered.
"I can go get her if you want?" Bella suggested. She seemed just as impatient and curious as I was. After all, Edward hadn't even told her that I was an Angel. I wonder if this is how it feels with Nora when I get all secretive. "Okay. I want to get this over and done with." I said. Bella walked back into the building.
Nora's POV:
Kathy was beginning to irritate me. You call that a poem? No, it needs to be like this. It doesn't even rhyme! Have you ever thought about using alliteration? I still don't know how I had the patience in me to not have slapped her hard in the face yet. My eyes flickered to the girl who had just walked in. It was the new girl. Where had she gone? She looked at me and smiled. She spoke to Mr Carter once again. "Miss Grey, you have been excused out of class. Please go with Miss Swan." Mr Carter said. I thought about it for a bit. Did I really want to go with her? In the end I decided to go. I wanted to know why she acted so strange before. I stuffed my books into my bag and followed the girl. Once we were out the class she turned to face me. "Nora, I'm Bella." she said as she stuck her hand out towards me. I shook it. "Nice to meet you." I replied.
"Sorry about my behaviour before." She apologised.
"It's okay. What was that all about anyway?"
"It's complicated." Bella said.
"I'm all ears."
"Well, for starters I know Patch is an Angel."
"What? How?" I asked.
"Well actually here's the one who told me."
"You've met Patch?" I asked; raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah, he kidnapped me. Sort of. Like I said, it's complicated. But we're gonna sort things out right now. Patch and my boyfriend Edward are waiting outside." We walked until we reached Patch and Edward. Hey there, Angel. You must be as confused as hell. "Hell, yeah." I said, "But Bella explained a few things on the way." Edward looked at me in confusion. "Who are you talking to?" He asked me. Bella laughed. "Patch can speak to people's mind. It's so cool." She said. Patch laughed. "So," I said, "What's this all about."
"Edward's EC." Patch told me.
"What? Edward, why did you write thanks to Nora? Because as far as I'm concerned I didn't tell you anything." I said.
"Nora, I'm a vampire. I have a special ability. I can read minds." He said.
"Oh." was all I could say. Patch was an Angel, and there was also Nephilim. But it hadn't crossed my mind that there would be other creatures out there. "You're not scared?" Bella asked.
"Should I be? I mean I already know about Angels. This time around it's not so shocking." I spoke back. She considered it. "I guess that's true. When Patch told me he was an Angel I didn't really react." Bella said. Patch and Edward looked at us. "Sorry." Bella and I said at the same time. This was no time for unnecessary things. "Right. So, my sister Alice also has an ability. She's a psychic. She saw a vision of you and Bella making friends wi-" Patch cut him off. "I don't see the bad part in this?" Patch said impatiently.
"Am I finished?" Edward asked.
"Edward, just continue." Bella said.
"Right. She saw you two making friends. That would eventually lead to me and Patch meeting. It is forbidden for Vampires to socialise with Angels. That's why we need to stay away from you, and you need to stay away from us."
"Patch and I being together is forbidden. I'm pretty sure you and Bella have the same issues. That doesn't stop you, does it?"
"This could lead to bad things. I've searched about Angels. It says that the Arch Angels strongly forbid it and if they catch Angels doing that they'll be sent to hell automatically. I'm pretty sure they're already at you two for being in love. The Volturi forbid it too. Were already on a rough path with them. They're at us too, for the whole forbidden love thing. If they find out, I will be killed for going against them twice."
"I'm sorry, the Volturi?" Patch asked.
"The oldest, most strongest coven in the vampire world." Bella responded.
"What was with the note?" I asked.
"I thought it would scare you off. That it would distance Patch from interacting with anyone. Guess I was wrong, it drew you guys in." Edward explained.
"That's why I ran off earlier. I wasn't supposed to be talking to you." Bella told me.
"Oh. That makes sense, now." I said.
"One thing I don't get. Why is Angel Vampire interaction banned?" Patch asked.
Edward replied, "I still need to figure that out. Wait.."
"What is it, Edward?" Bella said whilst taking his hand.
"Alice. She's having a vision. Patch. He's going to hell." Edward said. Patch stiffened.
"Wait." I said, "Her visions aren't always right, are they?" I asked.
"Not always. It depends on our actions." Bella replied.
"So I'm not going to hell?" Patch asked.
"It depends. Are we going to stay away from each other or not?" Edward asked.
"Definitely. Not to sound rude or anything. Bella, you're a really nice girl, and I would've loved for us to be friends. But we can't risk Patch going to hell. Not only that, we can't risk Edward getting killed either." I said.
"Of course not, I completely understand." We all said goodbye to each other after that.
Edward's POV:
I started the car. The school day was finally over. I looked at Bella who was looking out the window. She was staring at Patch and Nora. "Bella?" I said. She turned her head around. "Yes?" She asked.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She lied.
"I know something's up. Now, what is it? You know you can tell me anything." I said.
"It just.. It felt good to know that someone else knew how I felt. Nora. Her life is exactly like mine. Going through near-death experiences for the one you love. Don't get me wrong Edward, it's worth all the trouble. I love you and you know that. But it would be easier to be able to talk to someone who knew." I understood what she had to say. She had gone through life-threatening problems and I'm pretty sure Nora had gone through the same. Bella thought she was abnormal. It hurt to see her think of herself like that. Someone like Nora would help her. I read Nora's mind in the morning. She's been having trouble keeping secrets from her best friend, Vee. Maybe it would help her too, if she could talk to Bella about it. It was a risk. Patch could die. I could die. But I loved Bella enough to take that risk. I was selfish. Too selfish. Bella could be living a normal life if I wasn't what I was. If I wasn't a monster. But I am what I am. I can't change that now. Bella has already given up too much of her life. It's decided, I'm going to this for Bella. I will find a way for all this to work out. All I need now was Patch's help...