I can't believe Grace fell for Daniel's act. Hounds of Heaven? Yeah right. At least she understands that he is bad now. But, at the same time she doesn't get it. She doesn't see him as the monster. She sees him as the misunderstood guy. As if. He scarred, hurt, and bit me. I can only remember vague details of that night, but Grace has to believe me. I am her brother. She can't choose him over me. He's already won my dad over; he can't be Gracie's favorite, too.

I punched my bed trying to get some steam off. Daniel can't get out of my head, but he has to. He is the past. Daniel does not matter to me anymore. I tried to punch the bed again to let out more anger towards Daniel. I need to let my anger down before I can do anything today. I am the pastor's eldest child. I am St. Jude. I was named after him for his devotion to help others. I need to start acting like him. But, Daniel is a loss case. He is completely destroyed and tainted. He can never love anyone and only hurt. He can go rot in a hole for all I care.

My conscience stared buzzing after those words. I can't see why I have to try and be nice to Daniel. After all, God damned Daniel to hell. Why do I have to be nice to someone whose soul is sold to the devil? It's pointless.

And then there is Grace. My sweet, innocent little sister Gracie. She has such a pure heart, and that demon is ruining it. He hurts her indirectly every day. She has missed school now for two days because of that monster. She has stayed locked up in her room crying. Crying. Grace never cries. Even when Maryanne died, not a single tear streamed down Grace's face. Daniel messed Grace up bad. What Grace needs is a new guy who can treat her right. Then, she will see that Daniel isn't the only guy in the world and that there are better fish in the sea.

What Grace needs is to go to the Christmas Dance with Pete Bradshaw. I have seen Grace give Pete looks in the hall, and they have been on a date before. Pete likes her, so it wouldn't take much convincing on his part. Even if Grace didn't want to go to the dance, she would still say yes because she would feel bad if she said no. The dance would be enough to break her out of her trance and see that Daniel is bad for her, and then we can double date with April. It's a win/win situation.

I lay on my bed and started breathing deeply to calm myself down. I tried to think of thoughts about the dance and how Grace will feel so much better. After a while, I looked at the clock and it read 7:15. I threw on my clothes swiftly, so I wouldn't be late. I grabbed my books and ran down to greet my mother with pancakes.

"Jude," Mom said. "You are going to be late for school if you don't hurry up. Traffic has been bad lately."

I grabbed two pancakes and wrapped them in a napkin to go. "Alright, I am going. Love you."

I didn't wait for my mom's response as I grabbed the keys and backed out the drive way. I drove cautiously, yet quickly so I could talk to Pete before first period. I could always wait to tell him my plan during lunch, but I am just too concerned to wait that long. I have to ask Pete now so I can get this heavy weight off my chest. I zoomed down the street until I soon reached the student parking lot. I parked in the closest spot possible, and climbed up the steps that led to the main building. I ran up to the lockers searching for Pete. It's 7:35. The bell won't be ringing for a while, so I have time to ask him if he can bring Grace to the dance. I spotted Pete laughing with some of his hockey buddies, and I sped over in his direction.

"Hey, Jude," some of the guys said. The other guys were talking about the big hockey game coming up soon.

"Hey guys," I said looking at every one. I looked at Pete last and left my gaze on him. "Hey man, can I talk to you? It's about Grace."

"Ooh, Grace," one of the players said. Every one's attention changed swiftly and seemed to land on me and Pete now. Pete blushed slightly and walked away from his teammates with me.

"What's going on with her? This is her second day missing school," Pete asked, concerned. He started looking at me expectantly for an answer. Right now Grace's health talk didn't matter—I have to get Pete to ask her to the dance.

"Look, you know how Grace has been hanging around with Kalbi. Well, I don't like it," I started. Pete nodded his head in agreement to my dislike against Daniel. "So, it got me thinking. The only way to get her away from Daniel is if we show her a better option for a guy. And, this is where you come in. I know you liked her. And, as far as I know, you still may like her now. She wouldn't say no if you did this. So, can you ask Grace to the Christmas Dance to get her out of her depression?" I stopped at the water fountain and looked at Pete with hope. This is the only way I could fix Grace's heart and become her brother again.

"Sure thing, Jude," Pete said. "I was actually planning on asking her when she came back from school." I sighed inward with relief. Grace will finally be away from that imp. "Just, when will she be back at school so I can ask her?"

I smiled at Pete and answered, "Tomorrow. I will make sure of it." The bell soon rang, and Pete and I parted ways.

I knew how I could make Grace come back to school and get her life on track. It is the one thing left that I have to do to make Grace feel better. I will have to make her comprehend that Daniel needs to be out of her life completely because it is best for her safety. And the only way to make her realize that Daniel is nothing to her is to show her that Daniel is nothing to me.

A/N: This isn't my best work, but I kind of like it. Please criticize harshly! I need it. (; Thanks for reading!