Ryan breathed out awkwardly, "So…'sup?" He'd originally came to Sophie to just hang out with her, but he'd been so abruptly shoved into her panic room that he hadn't even had the chance to say hello to her. And who were her new friends?

"Umm, not to be rude but who are you?" Manny asked.

"I'm a friend of Sophie." Ryan explained. Manny nodded.

"So, any idea why your friend locked us down here?" Manny asked. Ryan shook his head.

"I was gonna ask the same question." Ryan said back.

Things in the panic room got quiet and awkward to a degree where all Manny and Frida could say to each other was "this is boring…" and an "I know…" in response. And they always had something to say to each other.

"Umm, so…what's the deal with Sophie and her dad?" Manny asked. Ryan snapped out of his thoughts about his friend. He knew he couldn't tell them, or Soppahhatael would kill him—and not to mention her dad would too—so he quickly fudged it.

"Well, uhh…her mom left her dad because he didn't umm, support them financially and he wasn't a good father, and he must have found them here seeking revenge or something…" Ryan knew that that wasn't fudging it, that was a total lie. But it wasn't revealing anything, so he didn't care.

Manny nodded and sat back.

~…~

Nezznus stepped into City Hall and stopped to look around. All there really was was service stations. He'd have to ask for a phone book or something.

"Hello, welcome to Miracle City City hall, how may I help you today?" The lady at the service desk asked, extremely positively. Nezznus despised her optimistic attitude.

"Yes, can I see a phone book?" He asked. She smiled.

"Of course! Hang on just a sec," she crouched down and found a phone book. A moment later, she placed it on the counter and pushed it towards Nezznus.

Nezznus flipped through the pages until he found an Anna Bordenkircher. He moved his eyes and finger across the page where her phone number and address were listed.

Closing the book, he asked, "Where is 22 Park Street?"

"Why, if you go to the end of the street and take a left, it's just two or three blocks from there." She explained with a smile. Nezznus sneered at her joy, thanked her and walked out. He followed the directions given, keeping out a close eye for Soppahhatael or Anna.

~…~

"Okay, umm, I'll go this way and you go that way, and I'll meet you in the middle when we get there, okay?" Sophie explained. Her mother agreed, not liking the idea of leaving her daughter alone when she knew Nezznus was loose in town, but she also knew that it would be better if they searched for him separately.

But just as Anna was turning the corner, she was stopped by a man walking down the street. When she got the chance to see who it was that stopped her, she was not pleased.

He smiled down at her despicably.

"Why, Anna, what a pleasant surprise." Anna felt scared, but swallowed the feeling and put on her best poker face as Nezznus circled her briefly.

"Not exactly," She crossed her arms.

"What, you aren't happy to see me? What happened to the Anna that loved me?" He asked, sounding poisonously sweet.

"That Anna isn't here anymore," She said sourly.

"Ouch," he smirked, "that hurts. You know, Anna, I came back for you. I still love you, Anna," He caressed her cheek with his hand and smiled at her.

But she shoved him away.

"David, you lied to me and I can't forgive you for that." Nezznus grew angry at the mention of his real name, and he grabbed Anna's arms and squeezed them angrily.

"NEVER, EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!" He realized that he was making a scene, and hushed his tone. Anna was frightened by the outburst, but tried to hide her fear.

"You were scared of me the minute you realized who I really am, you can't hide it Anna. You fear me intensely." He said quietly yet fiercely.

"I'm not scared of you. I was never scared of you because I loved you, but you betrayed me and your daughter." He smiled evilly.

"Oh, speaking of Soppahhatael, you may want to inform her that you've gone missing." Before Anna could decipher what she'd heard, she was knocked out cold.

~…~

"Oh, he's got to be here somewhere…I saw him! Where is he?" Sophie worried. Suddenly, she got a call on her cell phone. The caller ID said 'Mom', and by that Sophie assumed her mother had an update on the search.

"Hello?" She answered, glaring at her father angrily.

"Soppahhatael, it's been a while dear." His voice, she could tell, was the voice that was trying to sound innocent, yet in a demonic way; which was his way of saying he's done something wrong.

"What do you want, Nezznus?" Sophie snapped. She didn't have the tolerance for her father anymore.

"What, I'm not daddy anymore?"

"You're certainly no dad of mine." She said sourly.

"No, but maybe mommy would say otherwise." Sophie was then angrier.

"What have you done with my mother?" Sophie asked in a demanding tone.

"Relax, relax she's fine Soppahhatael. She's just tied to a chair in the corner is all." Nezznus said innocently.

"Let her go!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Oh, I'll let her go. You just have to do one teensy favor for me," Nezznus said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Be the heir to my throne, Soppahhatael. Give in to your true bloodline. You were born a dark angel, and you will forever be a bad angel. Give in to yourself, Soppahhatael. Take over the throne." Sophie was contradicting herself now. She didn't know what to do. Risk losing my mother, or my whole life at Miracle City?

"Or what?" She asked.

"Or mommy goes bye-bye." Sophie had had a hunch that that would be the consequences. She knew she had no choice.

"I'll do it." She said remorsefully.

~…~

Sophie raced into her basement and found the panic room. She swung the door open with all the strength she had (it was a heavy door) and saw Ryan, Manny and Frida sitting inside looking very bored but suddenly interested in the person standing in the door.

When they saw a depressed Sophie standing in the door to the panic room, they were concerned and curious.

"Soph, what's wrong?" Ryan asked.

"Manny, Frida, you guys can go home now. It's safe." Sophie said. Manny and Frida shrugged, said goodbye and left as they were told.

"Sophie, is everything okay?" Ryan asked once more. Sophie led Ryan to the couch in the living room and they sat down.

"Ryan, remember that day on the playground in preschool, when that kid stole your lollipop then dumped their pudding on your head?" Sophie asked. Ryan was curious to see where she was going with it.

"Well that was me, not some random kid." Sophie admitted sadly.

"Okay? Sophie, why are you telling me this? That doesn't really matter by now." Ryan asked.

"Because…I'm a dark angel, Ryan, but it's not my fault. It's because of my dad; please please don't be mad," Sophie begged. But she could see Ryan getting mad, and he stood. As did Sophie.

"What? Why didn't you tell me? Sophie, why did you lie to me?" Ryan asked.

"My name isn't Sophie, either. That's just a nickname. My full name is Soppahhatael." Sophie said.

"Sophie, why did you lie to me? I-I can't believe you, I thought you trusted me!"

"But I do trust you, I just didn't have the heart to tell you that my origins are dark!"

"But you lied to me!"

"I didn't want to!"

"But you did anyways, didn't you?"

By this point they were yelling,

"Ryan I had no choice! Please forgive me!"

"'Oh, I'm Sophie and I lie to my best friend and expect an apology!' Life's not that easy, Sophie." Ryan spoke at a normal tone now, and Sophie had tears in her eyes.

"But Ryan, I'm really, really sorry," Sophie cried.

"I thought you trusted me, Sophie, I really did." Before Ryan could turn to leave, Sophie spoke.

"If you're just going to leave and never see me again, then go ahead because Nezznus has my mother captive and the only way she'll be safe is if I take the throne for my father. So I will, because I have no other choice. I hope you're happy with never seeing me again, because you won't." Sophie said. Ryan didn't turn back to face her, and he knew he would regret what he did next but he knew he had to do it anyways.

"When you find yourself again, Soppahhatael, you know where to find me."

"But I love you…" Sophie said as she watched the door to the basement close and the light from the portal to the angel world shine briefly as she peeked down into the basement.

Well that's the end of that chapter. Thoughts? Reviews?