We have a new point of view! This will probably be a one time thing, but I figured 'why not'.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Present

Ezra's POV

Gasping for air, I looked down at my body. Riddled with bullets, bleeding with a broken knee, but nothing I couldn't handle. One of the few times I was ever glad I couldn't feel anymore. The car had swerved and rolled over, and was catching on fire. Coming to my senses, I crawled out of the flaming vehicle and sensed out for Patch and Nehemiah. I saw Nehemiah on the ground with a shard of the car coming from his back, just barely missing his wing scars. He was struggling to stand.

Patch! He's still in the car! Ezra, get him! He cried in mindspeak. Nodding, I moved as fast as I could towards the car. Groaning in pain and half unconscious, Patch's torso was hanging out of the window.

"I got you, don't worry man!" I said, pulling him out of the car and away from the fire. Shaking, he had blood coming from his mouth, bullets lining his half of his body, and curses were spilling from his mouth.

Nehemiah had crawled over to where we were. Both of them were in bad condition; it might take them time to completely heal. I think it was because they were on the side of the car that was hit the hardest. Sensing out, I felt all but one human presence slip into the distance. I turned towards it.

A man with blond hair and bad facial hair stood there, smugly, with a machine gun in his hand. That would explain the other human presences fading away; there was no way he'd done all that damage with that one gun. It was a hit.

Who the hell is that? I hissed. Patch was coming to, still shaking, and glared at the man.

"Well, if it isn't Chauncey's old crony. Elliot, wasn't it? To what do I have the honor?" he growled. Nehemiah placed Patch's arm around his shoulder, so that he could breathe properly. I stood, standing guard over him. Elliot smiled.

"I needed to make sure that we could speak on even terms." He said, smirking. I must have made a movement forward, because he held the gun up. "Move even once, and I'll shoot you up full of bullets. Even if you can't feel it, it will stop you from moving."

"I ought to strangle you, you arrogant bastard!" Patch hissed, coughing up blood. Elliot laughed.

"Big words coming from someone lying on the ground, bloody. It seems like you even feel it; even better."

"What do you want?" Nehemiah asked, struggling to support Patch's weight and the car shard.

"Chauncey Langeais' diaries."

Patch cackled, a pained bitter sound. "Yes, because I needed souvenirs of Chauncey. What makes you think I have them?" he rasped.

"I don't think you have them. I think you have the money for them."

Patch grinned evilly. "As if I'd give you what you want, you weak coward. Bullets or no, as soon as I can I will make you pay for this."

Elliot's face changed; he seemed deranged. He pulled out a phone, holding it like a grenade.

"I was able to call in a favor from some men, so I have back up. Try fucking anything, and I'll press it."

"And?" I mocked. He laughed insanely.

"And my men will pump a little more of my special mixture into Nora Grey's blood."

Uh oh. I sensed Patch stiffen behind me. What a low blow; I couldn't even attack him now without hurting Patch's girlfriend!

"What does she have to do with any of this?" Nehemiah demanded. Patch's face had gone dark, and his hair covered his face. Elliot's face contorted into an insane rage.

"She robbed me! The conniving, trouble making bitch took the diaries from me and then didn't pay me for them!"

Patch jerked forward at the insult towards Nora, but Elliot quickly shot him in the chest. Nehemiah grabbed him, lifting him up and pulling him back. I stiffened, trying to come up with a way to attack him quickly. It would impossible in the state I was in. Elliot began to ramble quickly, almost to himself, and pacing.

"I need that money! I was able to pay those men to help me but I have bigger issues and people I owe and I need it I need it I need it!" Breathing in heavily, he turned to Patch. "$60,000 per diary. There are three. And $100,000 for…well, if you don't, Nora's suffering will be prolonged."

"How are we supposed to get you this money when we're here, bloody and injured?" I asked him, glaring. He jumped, as if he hadn't thought it all through. He seemed like he was losing his mind; dude had the traits of a suffering drug addict, looking for his next fix.

"What…what did you do to Nora?!" Patch whispered intensely, still bleeding. Elliot laughed maniacally.

"I thought you'd never ask! Potassium Cyanide, right into her veins! As we speak, her blood is reacting, and her all of her veins are slowly dissolving. 'Hot as hellfire', according to survivors. It was more than I could ask for, hearing that her heart was moving slower than normal. A bit of something to immobilize her, and then I injected her. Her death will be nice, slow and agonizing."

Patch's eyes widened, Nehemiah gasped in horror, and Elliot seemed to be fed by it. "Shall I go into more detail? Her skin will deform, she might lose some teeth and hair, and her organs? Pulp." He pulled out the phone. "And unless you want her to suffer even more, 280,000 dollars, quickly! In fact, every minute you wait, I'll increase it by $40,000!" His eyes were wide, and he seemed so buzzed by his evil plan that he couldn't see all of the flaws in it. Like, no bank or access. Suddenly, the other human presences vanished.

The other human presences are vanishing. They see the foolishness in his plan. They're deserting him! I told Nehemiah. He was too distracted by the shard; it was making him uncomfortable. Moving back slowly, I pulled the shard from his back. Gasping in relief, he stood and held Patch up along with.

He's insane! Look at him! How would this plan even work? More importantly, how will we work around it? Nehemiah said, annoyed at the lack of logic. He looked down at Patch, who was glaring at Elliot, surprisingly quiet.

He's trying to think beyond his blindsided-ness. He's too proud to beg, and he wants to kill Elliot, but he doesn't want to risk Nora's pain and needs to get to her quickly. Nehemiah told me.

"Are we not cooperating?" Elliot shouted, growing impatient. He pressed his phone twice, making Patch's face grow darker. "Two more syringes. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you aren't in love with the bitch who went behind your back. I mean, she doesn't even trust you. I even heard her. Shame. She deserves every second of this suffering, if you ask me."

It was a foolish move, mocking Patch like that. Our bodies, past the initial trauma, were rejecting the bullets. We were healing enough to fight back, and in his rush, Elliot couldn't see that. I could see Patch's energy returning, his body straightening, and his rage growing beneath his cold face. Elliot had hurt Nora, hurt and tried to humiliate him, and it he wouldn't take it lightly.

Nehemiah had his hand on Patch's shaking shoulder, the one link to sanity he had left. I looked at Elliot's face, reflecting insanity, lit by the fire. I looked back at Patch. I was an Avenging angel at heart, and my righteous anger grew for him.

I've got your back, I told him. He didn't respond. I turned to Nehemiah.

Nehemiah. Let him go.

Nehemiah's eyes widened. But…Ezra-

Let him go, Nehemiah!

Looking at me warily, Nehemiah listened. I began to move to the side.

He lifted his hand from Patch's shoulder.


Patch's POV

I charged straight for Elliot. Jumping, he tried to fire. He was too late, because Ezra came at him from the side, kicking the gun from his hands. I began to hit Elliot with a barrage of punches, until his face was bloody. Ezra lifted him by the back of his shirt, and I stared into his swollen, beady eyes.

He gurgled a laugh. "Go 'head, kill me," he mumbled. Ezra looked at up me, measuring what I would do.

"No. I have something even better for you." I faced Ezra. "Take him to my studio under Delphic. There's a false wall in my bedroom; take him in there and chain him to the wall. I'll deal with him later."

Nodding, Ezra choke held Elliot until he was unconscious. Throwing him over his body, he sprinted into the night. I turned to Nehemiah, who surprisingly was silent.

"Um…excellent control?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Just…don't." My mind immediately turned towards Nora.

Nora…Angel I'm so sorry he was able to hurt you… Angel I'm coming!

"We'll have to run to the hospital." Nehemiah answered, replying to the look on my face.

Jolted from my reverie, I saw lights approaching from the distance. The car stopped, and someone threw themselves from the car.

Vee stood staring at the carnage in front of her. There was lots of blood on the ground, and my truck was blazing into the sky. Excellent timing though, and I quickly approached her. She backed up, horrified.

"What the hell ha—"

"Vee, something terrible is happening to Nora right now. Elliot did something to her, and we need to get her home quickly." Nehemiah explained. I wasn't even in the mood to deal with Vee; I was already purposefully moving to the front seat. Jumping, she got in front of me. I must have had one hell of a look on my face, because Nehemiah gasped like I was going to punch her.

I grabbed her face, making her eyes widen in shock.

"Nora is in pain right now, and even though Elliot is the one who hurt her, I'm at fault. I know that it's my fault that she was stressed out, that she's in the hospital, and I regret every moment that I put her through that wasn't making her happy. I need to find her, and I need to make her safe. You can both fight me and force me to hurt you, or you can come with me. Either way, I will be seeing Nora tonight. I cannot let her go through any more suffering than she already is. I don't want to hurt you, Vee, but I will before I let her hurt anymore. Please move."

Vee's jaw dropped, and I felt Nehemiah's surprise and relief behind me.

He genuinely looks torn up about this…Vee's thought slipped, and I saw my face reflected in them. Despair and determination, raw on my features.

"Please Vee, trust us. I'll explain everything on the way." Nehemiah said, approaching the car.

"But…but the diaries…"

"I don't care!"

Pushing past her, I got into the car. Nehemiah jumped into the back. Shocked, Vee got into the passenger seat before I could leave her, and I sped towards the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, Vee had been firmly convinced that I was safe, or at least that Elliot was insane. I ran towards Nora's room, ready to fight whoever was in there, but they'd long vanished.

Vee gasped. "Nora!"

Nehemiah flinched, and I kneeled by Nora's body.

She was breathing heavily, and the heart monitor showed her heart beating hard but slowly. Blood was spilling from her mouth, and she was choking on the blood. Stiff, her body seemed to contort on its own, reacting to the agony of the chemical going through her body. Her skin had burn marks on it, almost as if it were being bleached from the inside. The unmarked skin was pale, only making the marks look darker. The worst part was her face. It looked like she was being burned alive.

It all made tears come to my eyes, but I wiped them away and lifted her body from the bed.

I'll erase the hospital workers' memories. I'll meet you back at the studio. Nehemiah said, quickly leaving the room.

I barely heard him. I was too busy trying to get Nora to respond.

I'm here, Angel. Can you hear me?

Angel?

Finally gets to see her, and she's unresponsive. Damn. Read and review!