There are Stranger Things in Heaven and Earth.

2: Sister Act?

Author's note: Will contain family issues that may offend some people. It is not my intention to offend anyone with this subject matter and I will try and handle it as sensitively as possible. It will also contain references to suicide. Be warned.

Preface

Aliyah sat in The Basement listening to the band on stage play, as teens milled around her couples, lone people and large groups all moving around. There was the quiet murmur of hushed voices, over which came the music, yawning she got up, maid her excuses, and walked out.

"Mom and Dad are fighting,

As Rosy lies there crying."

A young girl, Rosy, lies curled on her bed, though the open door she can hear the razed voices of her parents, they are fighting again, they always fight, it's no different. It's always the same argument.

"'Cos once again she's overheard regrets of their mistake.

 As Christmas bells are ringing,

Rosy leaves them grieving."

Rosy clambers onto her windowsill, she pauses to feel the cool breeze caress her face, as her mother's hand never did.

Aliyah walks along the same street hands in the pockets of her long black coat.  

"The gift she gives the family will be the pills she takes."

Rosy leaned forward, surprised at how easy it is. It only took a little movement and gravity did the rest. She began to fall.

From down the street Aliyah saw the younger girl falling from her top floor window, she dashed forward, faster than a mere human could, she kicked the gate, causing the lock to splinter, and caught the young girl in her arms. She seemed so light. So small.

Rosy saw the ground rush up to meet her, grateful for the final release, form a life that shouldn't have been. But she felt strong arms catch her, and hold her. She opened her eyes to see a beautiful face looking down at her, she, she being Rosie's savoir, had soft sculpted cheekbones and wonderfully clear blue eyes, the angelic face was framed by a soft wash of mousy light brown hair.

"You must be a garden angel." She whispered into the older girl's chest.

Aliyah wasn't sure what to do, the girl in her arms just looked up at her with total adoration, then she trued her head into Aliyah's chest and whispered something, but her voice was so quiet she couldn't make out the words.

The door of the house opened and a big burly man came out in business suet pipe slippers wielding a baseball bat, which from the size of his waistline he had never used for baseball.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" He yelled from the doorway. "Get off my property." As he stepped forward the little girl clambered out of Aliyah's arms and huddled behind her. "What are you doing with my daughter? Thief! You bring her back now!" He advanced; the little girl cowered further into her legs.

Without thinking Aliyah went into a defensive stance her hands held out in front of her open. "Excuse me, but I wasn't trying to kidnap your daughter, she jumped, I saved her." She let the accusation leak into her voice.

His eyes drifted to the gate. "Yare, you and Muhammad." He was walking toward her now. He swung the bat back. "Now get out of my way, so I can get to my kid!" He began to bring it down onto her.

"Jason! Stop! What the hell do you think your doing?" A female voice floated out of the house. A small blond in business attire shortly followed it.

"Jasmine, this girl was trying to kidnap our daughter." He turned to the girl cowering behind Aliyah. "Rosy come on, come back." He looked up at Aliyah. "If you make any move to stop her…" The threat was left unfinished, although she could probably take more of a beating than he could dish out, she stayed still, as did Rosy.

She turned her back on the big, slightly unstable, man holding the baseball bat; she crouched down so she was on eyelevel with Rosy. "Go on, go back to your dad." She just shook her head. "What's wrong, why don't you want to be with them?" she indicated the couple at the door with a slight nod of the head. "They, they…" Girls voice faltered and her eyes widened, Aliyah turned just in time to see the big man bring the baseball bat down toward her back.

Everything seemed to slow down to a crystalline crawl; Aliyah had all the time in the world to twist upward brining her forearm up into an overhead block, the bat splintered against her forearm, time resumed its normal flow as pain shot up her arm, and splinters of wood flew in all directions. He only paused for a second to stair in aw at the splintered end of the bat he swung at her again, she ducked sideways trying for a punch but her arm gave out and the punch only phased him for a second.  Stepped backward and tripped over a coiled garden hose, she tired to rise but it was tangled around her legs and her right arm had gone numb. He stood over her with the splintered end of the bat held in his hand. He brought it up over his head to handed.

Is this the end? Aliyah thought, trying desperately to get her injured arm to work.

A.N. The song is DC Talk: "What Have we Become."