I rolled over in my bed and smacked my hand on the snooze button of my very, very annoying alarm clock. I curled into a ball and raked my hand through my hair that was coming out of the braid that went down my back. I heaved a sigh. I hated Earth.

I hated its people more than anything. It was probably because of the foster parents who couldn't take me and my "weirdness" and would shove me back to the social workers to find me a new home that seemed to last a shorter duration than the pervious.

It shouldn't matter anymore, I was eighteen now and had gotten my own place as fast as possible with the money I got from fast food jobs, assistance jobs, an the job I'm now working at. The Café nearby my apartment who pay pretty well, at least enough for me to live in this one bedroom apartment, and it wasn't too far that I needed to walk for long or buy a car for. My old foster parents were paying for my school tuition and books, but I barely kept in contact. They were unnerved by the things that happened when I got stressed out still.

The alarm went off again. I rolled over, hit the snooze, and then chucked it into the hamper. Even though I was eighteen, I was still in high school. The only way to get a good job in this world is to complete this high school bullcrap and then go to this college crap. I say again, this world sucks. Who makes their child go through about twelve years or more of school and then force them take even more schooling? Sure us angels had more years of school, but we didn't have to do a lot of mathematics, grammar, and chemistry.

I heaved a sigh and I heard my alarm clock blaring from my hamper. A pillow couldn't muffle the sound. I moaned and threw the pillow off my head. I could still hear that darn alarm clock. I rolled out of bed. I didn't realize how close I was to the edge of the bed until I landed flat on my butt on the carpet. It seemed like a bad omen. Maybe I should just skip school today and crawl back in bed.

I got my butt off the floor and dug the alarm clock out of the hamper. I'm amazed it still works since this wasn't the first time it's been thrown across the room. I flicked switch and turned it off before setting it back on the nightstand. I scratched my head before walking into the bathroom. I flicked on the light. A gray-blue eyed teenager girl stared back at me. Her dark sandy-gold hair hung in loose strands around her round face or they were still in the braid down her back. I stuck my tongue out at her. She looked really tired and drained.

"Good morning Latia." I said. "Have another great day being Angela Dawn." I waved at myself with a disgusted look on my face. I took out the rubber band and unbraided my hair before running a brush through the waist long strands. I washed my face in the sink and decided I didn't feel like doing anything with my hair, the same as every day.

I walked into my room and dug a black t-shirt with angel scrawled in silver gems on it and a pair of mid-thigh jean shorts out of my dresser. I threw my tank top and pajama shorts on my bed before sliding on a pair of clean panties and a bra. I slipped on the t-shirt and shorts. I turned the bathroom light off after I found my slip-on black shoes hiding in the corner. I grabbed my school stuff that had been caught in a homework tornado and thrown every which way by the chaos that is my life. I stuffed it in my bag and made my way out of the bedroom.

The kitchen/living room was cleaner than my room, mostly because I lived in my room more. I grabbed a breakfast bar out of the cabinet and a bottle of apple juice. I snatched my cell phone and keys from the shelf by the door and stuffed them in my pockets. I un-locked the deadbolt and stepped out of the apartment into a white walled hallway. I locked my door and began walking toward the stairs.

"Hey Angela, wait up!"

I paused at the voice. Jacob and his younger sister Amelia ran after me. Jacob was a senior like me and Amelia was just a little freshman. Her eyes swept over me and her face twisted into disproval.

Amelia seemed too insecure to me. She always wore a lot of make-up and tight, revealing clothes. Her dirty blonde hair was constantly being dyed to a "platinum" blonde. She was always worrying about her weight and zits. She was always throwing jealous looks at me too. It's not my fault I'm an angel and supposedly look beautiful beyond compare.

Jacob was like most guys in L.A. A surf bum with a deep tan and huge muscles. His red hair hung down to his shoulders and light freckles were sprinkled over his nose and forehead.

"Hey." He said when they caught up. "Did you get the Calculus homework done?"

"Of course. It's due today ya know." I said as I began walking down the stairs.

"Well, yeah, I guess." He said. His brown eyes looked away. Guilt came off in waves. "Do you mind-?"

"You're never going to learn anything if you just copy off of me." I said.

"Oh, stop being so-" Amelia started, but a quick glance from me made her lose her train of thought. "It's not like you'll go to hell or anything."

"So you've become an expert on hell." I said. "I'm not surprised." I narrowed my eyes at her. I knew what she did with her guy "friends." Her thoughts were filled with stuff like that. It made me nauseous.

She glared at me, but didn't say anything.

"You're in a great mood today, Angela." Jacob said.

"Gee, I was beginning to think you couldn't tell." I snapped.

Jacob whistled. He was use to me not being a morning person.

"What's a matter Angela?" Amelia said slyly. "Boyfriend too busy to spend time with you, oh wait, you don't have one." She sneered.

Jacob shot a look at his sister, but didn't say anything. He was probably afraid that if he tried to defend me I would bite his head off again.

"I don't want one." I said. "And I'm not going to lower myself to certain standards that says I should just go out with a guy just to have a boyfriend." I stopped at the corner and waited for traffic to slow.

"Whatever." She muttered.

I glared at her. "I'm not a heartbreaker or a user. I'll go out with someone I truly have feelings for greater than brother or friendship."

She looked away, guilty. "Why do you have to make everyone feel bad?"

"It's the truth, even if it hurts." I said before stepping of the curb onto the street. I saw my school, L.A. Brea High, was close. I wouldn't have to argue with her anymore.

Amelia spotted her friends and she left us with a quick "Later." Jacob took my arm and stopped me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I said, impatience dripped from my words.

He didn't believe me. "Are you sure? Are those punks at that Café overworking you?"

"Jacob." I sighed. "I'm fine. I got my homework done so they didn't overwork me."

"If you need help paying rent-"

"Jacob, please. I swear to you that I will tell you if I need help, so don't worry about me unless I say something." I touched his arm. I willed away his worry into the back of his mind.

He looked me straight in the eye even though most avoid it. "Promise?"

"Promise. Cross my heart and all." I said.

"Good." His attention was drawn away from me. "Nina!"

A tiny young woman with pale skin and dark curly hair skipped up to us.

"Morning Oscar the Grouch." She said to me. A sly smile crossed her face when she saw Jacob. "Hey handsome. Haven't seen you in a while."

Jacob frowned. "But I saw you last night." He shrugged. "Most have been some other short, black haired hot chick." The corners of his mouth twitched up.

She smacked him playfully. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek while she giggled.

I rolled my eyes and stuck my finger in my mouth. Nina stuck out her tongue at me and then turned back to Jacob for a kiss.

I shook my head and walked toward the metal detectors.

"Hey Angela." A girl with dark hair and green eyes said. She had a silver amulet that seemed silver unless it was in the light. It was the symbol of the moon.

"Hey Serena." I said, waving.

She frowned. "You doing okay?"

I sighed. "Yes." I said annoyed.

She grinned. "You don't sound okay."

"How do you sound okay?" I asked handing my bag to the security guard.

"By not sounding like you got two minutes of sleep last night." She answered.

I looked at her. "How did you know?"

She looked startled for a second, but quickly recovered. I could read her mind and I could tell from the aura around her that she had the gift to read minds. I kept my mind blocked at all times so she couldn't read my mind, but she still worried about accidently answering my thoughts. I know she found it suspicious that she couldn't read my thoughts.

I smiled to reassure her. She shook her head at me. When the guard handed me back my bag he also looked at me strangely. "Are you feeling all right?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "If you're on one of those get thin quick diets that make you starve yourself."

I waved the breakfast bar and apple juice in his face. "What does this stuff look like? Personally I thought this food."

He grinned at me and let me pass. I got a little ways before I was stopped by a Hispanic girl who wore the same amulet as Serena.

"Angela, you don't look well." She said with a soft Mexican accent.

"So I'm not the only one who thinks she looks a little sick." Serena appeared beside me. "You've been working too hard." She said disapprovingly, like a mother. Her eyes shone. "You should come with us to Planet Bang tonight."

"I'm not a partying type of girl." I said, opening my juice and sipping it. "And I have to study."

Serena rolled her eyes. "You're worse than Vanessa."

"Who's worse than me?"

Vanessa Cleveland, known as one of the most popular girls in school walked up to us with her boyfriend, Michael Saratoga, holding her hand. Her blue eyes looked at me.

"Angela-"

"Please don't say you don't look too well." I said.

"I guess that means we're not crazy." Jimena said. A smile spread across her face.

I heaved a sigh "I'm not going to say anything." I pushed around them. "See ya guys later." I waved as I walked for my locker. I heard in their thoughts that this wasn't the end of trying to convince me to go out clubbing with them tonight.

I raked my hands through my droopy hair. I felt okay, but evidently I didn't look okay. I darted toward a bathroom. There were girls in there with their faces almost pressed against the mirrors. I glanced at my reflection.

Maybe when I was getting ready I didn't pay attention to my reflection because now I noticed that my skin looked sickly pale and there were bruises under my eyes.

"Hey." I turned and saw a tanned, brown haired girl with a cigarette looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"I think so." I said. "I don't feel bad."

She offered me her cigarette. I shook my head. "It's not that. I don't smoke."

She shrugged and tossed the cigarette down the toilet.

Since I didn't feel bad I decided to continue with the school day. Some of the teachers looked at me with concern, but didn't say anything.

I left my last class before lunch and walked out into the quad. I found a tree and lulled in the shadows as sunlight was dappled on my skin. I pulled out my peanut butter sandwich and bit into it.

I'll give Earth one thing, they had a great variety of food.

"Hey chica." Jimena said.

"Hola." I said, waving

Her dark eyes stared at me. She was an ex-gangster and didn't seem afraid to look me straight in the eye. "You still don't look good." She sat beside. "If you lean back and go limp a bit then I'm sure they won't bug you about going out tonight."

I smiled at her. "Maybe I should go. Shock a bunch of people when I show up wearing a dress."

She smiled wide and began picking at her lunch. I took my amulet in my hand and stared at it. It was a black crescent moon with delicate swirling white pattern. Over the moon was a white five point star with a black swirling pattern like on the moon. Since the day I put on, I've never taken it off. It actually can't come off. I've tried, but I haven't been able to take it off.

Jimena eyes the amulet. "Who gave that to you?"

"My mom." I said curtly, hoping she wouldn't ask anymore questions.

She nodded. I saw the others coming. I stuffed the rest of my lunch in my bag. "I think going to go ahead and go home. I probably just need to lay down for a while."

Serena jogged up to us. "You going home?"

I nodded.

"We're still going to come by your apartment." A brown haired girl with big brown eyes said. She had a carefree and mischievous air about her. I smiled. "If you're not dying, then we're dragging you to Planet Bang."

Vanessa shot her a look of disproval.

"I'll be sure to accidently overdose on cold medicine." I smiled at Catty.

Vanessa shook her head as a dark haired, amazingly beautiful girl joined us. Tianna Moore.

I waved good-bye and walked for the band room where I could sneak out. I could probably get the nurse to let me go, but it was a waste of time. 'Sides, I'm immortal whatever I have won't kill me.

I slid under the fencing and darted out into the crowd. I walked down the sidewalk to my apartment building. I darted up the stairs quickly and unlocked my room. I tossed my bag into the couch in front of the sliding glass door. I raked my hand through my hair as I leaned against the wall.

Why did I feel so bad? It was rare for me to get sick. It usually was food poisoning, but never a real sickness. I walked into the kitchen and dug around for some saltine crackers. I opened a sleeve and nibbled on one as I stared outside at the robin egg sky.

My body ached for night so I could go out flying. I didn't do it every night. I discovered something when I was practicing, I was really playing around not really practicing, that I could teleport from place to place if I held a clear picture of my destination in my mind. It meant that I didn't have to fly over this city every night. I think it has something to do with my powers over light or it could be a darkness power too. Late night flying is probably the reason I feel so bad.

I gave up on the crackers and walked into my bedroom. I tossed the pajamas off the bed and flounced down onto it. I curled up with a pillow and fell asleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"She's hiding something." Tianna said. "And I don't mean about her being sick."

"I can't read her mind." The others stared at Serena. "Not even a thought. Nothing. It's like, she has no mind."

Catty laughed. "Well, she is a blonde."

Vanessa elbowed her best friend. "Be serious Catty. Do you guys thinks she's a Follower?"

Jimena shook her head. "She wears a moon and star amulet around her neck."

"I saw that." Serena said, biting into a tuna sandwich. "But it was a black moon."

"I doubt Followers would wear any type of moon symbol." Tianna said. "Even a dark moon symbol."

"So what is she?" Catty asked. "Or are we just being paranoid?" She stretched.

"I think Serena not being able to read her mind at all means we're not being too paranoid." Vanessa said. "Maybe we should ask Maggie."

"I don't think we know enough to tell Maggie." Jimena said. "How much do we know about this girl?"

They exchanged looks. Angela never really gave anyone a glimpse into her personal life. She was quiet, kept to herself, and pretty much a loner. Even Jacob Stark, her neighbor barely knew anything about her. Serena read his thoughts about her and the only thing he knew was that she was a foster child living on her own. She was hiding something, even if it wasn't too abnormal.

Catty sighed. "So, are we going to convince her to come to Planet Bang tonight?"

Jimena pursed her lips. "We should. We need to find out more about-"

The other Daughters of the Moon stood and watched as Jimena's face froze and a scene played behind her eyes. She blinked.

"What did you see?" Tianna asked.

"Angela." Jimena said. "All I saw was her face, and she looked terrified."

They heard the bell go off. They all jumped.

"Crap." Serena grabbed her stuff. "I can't be late!" She ran off.

The others quickly gathered their stuff.

"We should invite her tonight and try to find out more about her." Vanessa said. "She seems nice, she's just too quiet though."

"You say that about everyone." Catty complained. She wasn't too concerned by the bell. "If you guys want, I can bend time and go check on her."

Jimena shook her head. "It's no that important. We'll ask her later tonight. I'll swing by your house about seven and then we can head to her place."

"K." Catty gave a thumbs-up before running for her next class.

"Michael's going to pick me up tonight." Vanessa said. "I'll see you then."

Jimena waved good-bye before running off to her next class. Intuition was telling her that Angela was hiding something big and it was going to affect the Daughters one way or another.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Mom?" I turned and saw a woman with soft brown hair and silver eyes looking behind her and then turning to me. Her black wings ruffled like she was thinking about taking flight.

"They're coming Keydea."

My body froze at the voice. "Dad?" I turned and saw the blonde man with blue eyes and white wings that was indeed my father.

"Running won't save us. The others have never accepted us and never will, especially concerning our daughter." My father continued.

"So we fight them." She seemed a little eager. "But, Latia."

I suddenly realized I was reliving my last memory of them. No, please no. Not again, never again. I tried to block it, but it seemed like it was trying to come through with ever ounce of power I had. I couldn't stop it.

My father grabbed my arm and pointed toward the woods. "You are to run, run as quickly as you can to the city." He pulled me so he could look me straight in the eye. "Whatever you hear or see, do not turn back. You keep running until you reach the city, understand?"

I nodded. "But why…?"

"Latia." My mother said. She knelt down and hugged me fiercely. "Remember, no matter what someone tells you, you are special, one of a kind. And we will both always love you." She kissed my cheek. She swept my hair from my face and wiped the tears off that I didn't realize I had shed.

My dad hugged us both. I curled against them. Please let the memory stop here, here in their arms. Don't let it continue. Don't let them die!

My dad pushed me away. "Run now! Don't look back!"

I ran into the woods. But a sound in front of me made me stop. I dived into a thick bush and curled into a ball.

The battle happened in fast forward, like my mind wanted me to hurry up and see their deaths. No, stop. Stop!

There were at least a dozen of them. They had a hard time subduing my parents despite the greater numbers. But evidently they had their arms pinned behind their backs and my parents were unable to keep fighting.

One with spiky black hair and cold eyes stepped toward them.

"Where's your pretty little daughter?" His voice sent shivers up my spine.

"Gone." My mother said, spitting out blood.

He sighed. "What a shame. I guess we're just going to have settle for your two's deaths.

No. No! Stop, wake-up! Wake-up now!

I screwed my eyes shut and my mother's screams vibrated around me followed by my father's pained cries.

"NO!" I bolted straight up. I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. I was on Earth, in my bed. My limbs were shaking violently. I put my face in my hands. God, no, no. My breathing was shaky, but I don't think I was crying yet.

I suddenly felt someone's presence. It was more than one, but I was too shaken up to tell how many. I looked up. The sun had set and the room was dim, but I could see three heads and a mass of shadows standing right outside my room. One of them reached toward me. A ringing in my ears blocked their voice, but I had the impression they said my name.

Another memory flashed: the spiked angel reaching for me and dragging me from my hiding place as my parent's took their last breaths.

"No!" I screamed again.