It was several months later, when I got a chance to see the true face of the evil, the real face of Angelus.

We had been meeting nearly every night, mostly we walked through the countryside hand in hand, talking to each other as we walked, by this time I was sure in my heart that he was the one, he knew everything about me and I about him nothing that went on in my mind had not been shared with his.

I lived for the nights now, because that was when I saw him, I would stand by the window watching the sun go down knowing that the moment it did, then that would be when he would come for me.

We had a pattern which we followed, he would arrive and eat with us then he would help the children with their homework or sometimes talk to Thomas on his own while I cleaned up and changed to go out, I had mentioned to him on one of our journeys that I worried about Thomas not really having any male influence, he had turned to me in the path where we walked and said that I was not to worry, that he would talk to the boy himself, that he would Thomas' influence as long as he had my permission to do so. I had nearly cried out loud when he said that, it meant so much to me, that he was willing to try and help my family and what was more he was asking my permission to do so! He was too much and I loved him for it.

He had arrived late that night saying that Drusilla had finally recovered her illness and was getting ready to go to Venice with William, he had been nervous, I didn't know what was wrong with him, he was on edge it scared me. I did not understand what could make such a man as him nervous for to me he was the embodiment of strength and nobility of courage. He was not a man to be intimidated but here he was looking over his shoulder almost as if he expected the hounds of hell to be rushing at his feet to drag his carcass back through the gates of hell with them and present them at the feet of their lord and master the devil.

He talked as normal to Thomas though when I left to go and change. And when I returned several minutes later in a fresh dress combed hair and clean face they were still talking with their heads bent closer together about what ever it was they had been talking about when I had left the room, they pulled apart when I entered the room though and both smiled.

I told Thomas that he should do his homework while I was out and that I would be back soon. Esther was still at work and Bronnie was out over a friends house she had been invited to dinner to meet her friends parents and I could not see a problem with the arrangement, in truth I was glad that Bronnie finally had a friend who she could confide in and who did not seem to be fazed by her open demeanour.

Thomas did not mind being left on his own for a couple of hours, I had asked him promising that I would stay if he did, but I think that even he had realised the depth of my feeling for Angelus then and so did not want to deny my any time which I could spend with him.

The air was light there was no damp which was pleasant, the moon shone brightly above us and the stars twinkled merrily down on the earth, I turned to him as I walked and told him,

"It's just like the night we met, the stars are shinning so beautifully in the sky."

He turned to me smiling and looked up, throwing his head back so that he would be able to see al that the sky had to offer him in one movement.

"Your right, they do." He turned to me smiling and offered me his arm, which I took and there we walked hand in hand.

After about an hour we came to a tree, the tree was hundreds of years old and the roots of it were spread out through out the ground creating seats where people could sit in it's shade, there was room fro about thirty people to sit there in total, and all would be comfortable.

We often walked to that tree and would sit under its branches talking. We had just sat down and gotten comfortable and he had begun to tell me about the time which he had spent in Prague, when she appeared.

She stood in front of us staring, she had blonde hair which was swept elegantly above her head and held in place with a pearl clip which along with her clothes which were so rich and exquisite looking that you didn't need to here her voice to know that she was well born, but when she opened her mouth, her etiquette training was evident.

"It's a nice evening tonight, I'm sorry to disturb the pair of you but I was told that I might find a man named Angelus here."

Angelus stiffened at my side, my heart broke, this is what he had been nervous about, this woman who I so obviously could not compare to with her antique beauty and it was crushing me, the pain I could feel spreading through me, the air becoming more and more difficult for me to inhale as I watched the scene unfolding before my eyes.

He stood up and walked to her saying,

"I'm Angelus lass, though I don't understand why a lady such as you should be seeking me."

She laughed at him her tiny frame bent almost in double as the tears threatened to devour her the laughter slowing her breathing down to simple hiccups which she managed to inhale in between her giggles.

"You don't know who I am then?"

She asked straitening herself up as she talked and brushing her gown clean of the invisible dust, which had settled there.

Angelus moved forward to her and looked ready to strike taking a fighters stance, she turned and smiled at him pulling at her skirt so that it fell away and revealed a pair of men's trousers underneath.

They turned and began to circle each other. Menacingly leering at each other when ether the chance arouse. The woman making the first move, raising her hand to slap him across the face, his head twisted to the side and when he turned to face her again, his face was distorted it had changed where there had been beauty before, now there was monster, I started to scream out but my voice wouldn't raise all that could be heard was a whisper which neither of them appeared to notice.

The battled for an hour solid before Angelus managed to force her to the ground, her blonde hair had been dislodged from it's clip and was hanging like ribbons around her face, her bodice was torn and her trousers were dusty with the soil from the ground. She laid on the floor a scared expression on her face as if she finally knew what was going to happen to her, it was as if she was standing on a precipice waiting for the fall.

He bent forward and whispered something to her, I was too far away to hear what he said to her all I saw was the look in her eyes as he pulled her upper body off the ground and then twisted her neck, I heard the crack and knew that she was dead.

He turned to face me laughing manically as he offered me his arm turning back only once as we walked home to stare at the broken body of the young woman without a name.