It's hard for Cassie to remember the chain of events after she was wounded by Ella. All she can recall is everything around her fading into black as she hit the ground. She thought she was dying. Some days she feels like it would have been better if she had. It was two weeks later before she woke up in a hospital about five miles away from the school. She had laid on the church floor for hours before someone finally found her. Ella had fled and Thelma, being a ghost, really couldn't do anything but pray. Cassie managed to evade death but because of the hours of neglect in the church and the deepness of the wound, she developed an infection which led to a fever. Her doctors treated the wound and kept her stable. They just had to wait for Cassie's fever to break and for her to come out of her fog.

It was the first occurrence of the nightmare that finally woke her up in a cold sweat. Her shoulder hurt and was sore and covered with a cloth bandage. Like always, Thelma was watching and waiting on a chair next to her bed. Thelma cried when Cassie opened her eyes. Her first words were asking where Malachi was. Thelma told Cassie of Ella's flight from Mendenham and how Malachi was with Azazeal and he was safe as far as Thelma knew.

"And you know for sure that he's ok?" Cassie asked Thelma for about the dozenth time.

"Yes…well," She stammered. "I can't confirm anything, but like I told you; he's with Azazeal and most likely very well protected wherever they are."

"And you have no idea where Azazeal is?" Cassie inquired firmly.

"Well I didn't exactly go and look for him because I couldn't leave you in the state you were in, feverish and gibbering constantly." Thelma remarked putting her hand next to Cassie's.

"I was talking?" Cassie asked sitting up in her bed, interested. "What was I saying?"

"Just Malachi's name over and over. Sometimes Azazeal's."

"The whole time I was sick I just had the same dream over and over again about the church and Malachi and Ella. It's haunting me." Cassie slid down in her hospital bed and pulled her covers up to her chin.

"I'm so sorry Cassie. I wish I could do something" Thelma remarked. "So I guess that Ella's plan for Malachi is a no go now that she's is gone." Thelma said tentatively.

"He's my child, Thelma. I know it hard for you to understand but I can't harm him and obviously I won't let anything happen to him. Neither will Azazeal. He's safe with him for now."

"And the Nephilim?" Cassie asked.

"I haven't seen any since the…incident." Thelma answered softly.

"I'm sorry that I screwed up everything" Cassie started to say as she began to cry softly.

"It's ok." Thelma told her softly trying to comfort her. "It was unfair of me and Ella to ask you to take part in kill-…well, getting rid of Malachi. He's still your son and it is perfectly normal that you would feel for him, even love him, even with everything about it being so fucked up."

"I don't know what to do about anything anymore" Cassie responded as she continued to cry.

She cried for the better part of the rest of the day. The police had come and gone. She told them that she had heard a noise in the church, looked inside to investigate and was attacked from behind. She told them she didn't see who did it and that they had taken the small amount of money she had on her.

Cassie was let out of the hospital two days later. She tried to attend class as normal. Troy was noticeably absent from school. Cassie heard whisperings that he had been transferred to some sort of high end military academy. Cassie couldn't help but feel guilty that his assumption of being the father to her baby and her attempted abortion might have driven him to leave.

She still wasn't sleeping through the night, her nightmare chasing her all the time. She wouldn't sleep for days at a time, staying awake by drinking coffee or taking caffeine pills. She worried about falling asleep constantly. Stress and the overabundance of caffeine in her system made Cassie temperamental and withdrawn. She no longer tried to talk to Leon or Roxanne. Many days she wouldn't even talk to Thelma. She began to frequently miss class and when she did make an appearance she would be late and most likely fall asleep for the most of the lesson. She was caught crying a few times in the girls bathroom. It was finally suggested by Mr. Tyrell that Cassie visit a psychologist.

There was little the psychologist could do for Cassie. There was only so much Cassie could tell her. She didn't dare tell her the truth, that she was seduced and impregnated by a fallen angel who then botched her abortion and ran off with her baby. It was just too ridiculous for anyone to believe. And Cassie didn't want to end up like her mother, alone and deteriorating in an institution. So not much came from the meetings with Dr. Green but Cassie attended them every week as was ordered by Mr. Tyrell. They didn't really help but things stopped getting worse; that is until Cassie received some unfortunate news that pushed her over the edge.