"I'd shut it, if I were you." Jake hissed.

Fred flicked off the lights, and brushed past Mike's threatened figure, totally ignoring him. She settled in front of a small computer, the monitor glowing to life as she tapped the keyboard. "All right, agent Leonard," she called, pulling the small figure towards her as she indicated the login screen. "Time for you to get to work."

As the piece ended, Hayley slowed, lightly playing a simply rhythm to keep the momentum going. Something felt wrong, something was missing. Without telling her telling them, her fingers started picking up a new rhythm, and broke into the opening of a new song.

Her friends picked up on the familiar tones immediately, and joined in.

"Alchemy?" Jess whispered from beside her, bouncing on her heels in preparation for the lead guitar's major entrance. "Why this early?"

Hayley only smiled. For some reason, all she could think about was that young girl, telling Hayley how much she had affected her life. She wanted to play that girl's song.

The crowd roared, energy intensifying, as they recognized the melody of one of their favorites. People, called out of bed by cell phone calls from friends, or struck by the sounds of the concert while up studying, came streaming through the gym doors to join the throng. On the outskirts of the gym, Julie beamed, barely able to move with joy. When Hayley finally spoke, her fierce words flying out over the guitars, Julie sang along, word for word.

I want to live forever, everyone wants to live forever

But my shackles of life, I just can't sever

When I have life, where is my fear?

Out in the gardens, Angel paused, and listened. She put the trowel aside, and stood up from her work. She had hoped that they wouldn't go through with it, but it appeared that it had occurred regardless. The rules were being flouted without any regard for the school. As she headed towards the school, she hesitated. She could feel something; something was going on in her room. It would have to wait. The disturbance in the Gym would be ended.

Leonard cracked his knuckles with one prim motion. Moving Fred aside gently, he procured a flash drive, and deliberately inserted it into Angel's computer. He sidled closer to the computer, and began to click, tap, and examine, the glowing monitor reflected off his spectacles as he worked. "Hurry it up, man," Fred hissed from beside him. We don't have time.

His noise wrinkled with distaste. "These things can't be rushed," he complained. "And, I told you, call me Christ."

Jake took his blade away from Mike long enough to brandish it at the geek working on the computer. "What kind of useless punk are you," he snarled scornfully.

Mike took the opportunity to draw a gulp of air. "You guys can't do this!" he exclaimed. "This is her personal property, you can't just look through someone's computer-"

He felt a presence behind him. Richie's brick of a hand fell on his shoulder meaningfully.

"Be Quiet, Mike," Richie ordered simply. "We don't want anyone to hear."

Harry scratched his stubbly chin thoughtfully. "He's got a point though. I don't want to think about what would happen if any of you saw what was on my compute-"

Fred took the time to slap him firmly, and then turned back to Leonard. "Well? How's it going?"

Leo drew back, and with one final, overly dramatic flourish, clicked enter. The welcome screen appeared. "It is done," he pronounced proudly. "Now, call me Christ-"

"Excellent!" Fred beamed, neatly elbowing him out of the chair as she swept in, her eyes lighting up as she started in on the computer of the Angel.

"Even though life is precious to me,

I'd waste it, you see

"I'll just wait and have a snack to chow"

With pride, I've quit thinking that I can give up the now"

Hayley took a breath, swallowing a gulp of air down her burning mouth. She felt like she only could feel when she played, on fire, intensely alive. She looked around, pumping her guitar as she did, her friends moved in sync with her, fighting with every ounce of their being. All around them, their audience was part of the music, stamping their feet in time as they sang along.

Isn't that what all rock stars, what any music player wants? To feel their soul resonate with the song, to move to the strength of feeling?

She swallowed again. It was the most pleasurable thing she knew, yeah. When she'd been alive, she'd loved it, and had thought that that was her destiny, to rock for the feeling. But even now, here, it was the same as before. The feeling faded, evaporating in the morning like a forgotten mist, leaving only emptiness and absence. She just, she didn't know-

A cry of alarm rang out, and they noticed a disturbance near the front of the gym.

The crowd of students was being steadily jostled aside. A team of teachers, the gym teacher, the science teacher, and a few others, were heading straight for them, intent. Hayley whirled around, grimacing. There, peeking out at the very back of the gym, she saw the pale glimmer, the white shadow of Angel, watching them.

"They're not taking us down that easily," she roared to her companions. She readied herself for another go, as the bridge of Alchemy approached. "HIT IT!"

Fred groaned with discontent, as she scrolled. "I don't get it… It's a list of all the students! What could she be planning to use this for?"

"Is she going to hunt us all down?" Luke worried.

Fred narrowed her eyes. "Possibly. Maybe-"

Mike broke away from those constraining him, moaning. "Guy's, come on! She's the Student Body President! It's a class roster!"

Fred pushed back from the computer, glaring. "Well, Mike, where is it? We know she has to have some way to communicate with God, somewhere around here. How do we access it?"

Mike came over, and perused the desk. It was very neat, everything was in place, or had been. In the space of the few minutes they'd been there, a cub of pens had fallen over, and papers had been strewn from corner to corner.

Still, something caught his eye. A program case, leaning against the console. It was the only one that had been left out. He picked it up, squinting to read the cover in the dim lighting.

"Angel Player?"

"There's a program called Angel Player near the bottom," Leonard said, pointing at the icon impatiently, still upset at being shunned from the computer.

Winnie stared at it for a moment, and then clicked it. A loading screen appeared, a glistening symbol, slowing rotating on the monitor. They waited.

The symbol disappeared, and a display appeared. As they read, their eyes grew larger and larger with each icon.

"What the heck is this…" Jake muttered.