My gift to you: An earlier chapter! My bad news: I probably won't be posting again until Saturday. And after that...well, it may be another week (my first quizzes and exam!) KatCipriano questioned me, and I thought I'd clarify for you all, as a disclaimer: Nephilim do, in fact, "die". They just don't stay dead. Scott told Nora that he could get his head chopped off, and anybody without a head is for all intents and purposes "dead". They'll just suffer dying first, and come back later. Like...like sexy zombies or something (okay probably not sexy zombies!) Anyway, time for a Feel Trip!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Present

I washed Elliot's blood off of my hands. I hadn't even bothered to torture him as badly as I would any other prisoner. One, he was human, and I wanted to prolong his suffering without killing him. Two, I was waiting to kill him until Nora woke up and decided what she wanted to do with him first. I knew that she'd want that choice.

After the blood was gone, I went to check on Nora. Vee was placing yet another ice cold rag on her head. Nora hadn't responded since I'd brought her home. It wasn't because she couldn't hear me, but because her pain was so brutal that she couldn't speak through it. All she could keep up was a consistent moan. Her body was no longer contorting on itself, only shaking fiercely. Blood was coming from her eyes, mouth, nose and ears in a consistent flow. I knelt by her, taking the bloodied rag and wiping her down, begging her forgiveness once again.

"Nora…I don't know how you can forgive me. I wish I could be the one here, suffering for you. I love you, and you know I can't wait to see you." I murmured, exhaling hard. It would probably be another empty sentence.

"P…pa…tch…" My eyes widened as I saw her lips trying to speak my name. I got closer to her.

"Nora? What is it, Angel? What do you need?" I said quickly. Vee stared hard at her face, squeezing her hand, and Nehemiah's eyes rose. Nora's eyes opened only slightly, and the whites of them were a complete blood red.

She switched to mindspeak.

Do…do I deserve this…I do…don't I…for what I've done…

"No, Angel, you don't deserve this. Nothing you've ever done, nor ever do, will ever make you deserve to suffer."

Vee began to cry angrily. "She thinks this crap is okay? Nora, Elliot's psycho! None of this is your fault!"

I glared at her tone, signaling she was too loud. Bloody tears fell from Nora's eyes.

It hurts...it hurts! I can't breathe…God…kill me…kill me please! Let me die please don't make me suffer anymore….

A small cry began to issue from her throat. Her blood red eyes popped open for a moment.

"Daddy…Daddy I won't run away again, I promise….please, take me with you, don't leave me!"

It must have been painful coming from her burned throat, because she began to choke up blood and tissue, and her mind closed off to me. I knew what memory she was having, and I knew why she was calling her father.

Silently, I began to cry. It shocked Vee, who'd never seen me spill tears before. She leaned down to hug Nora's struggling body.

"She's going to die, but she will return. She is Nephilim. Her suffering will not last much longer. Stay strong; just stay by her side." Nehemiah said. As a fallen angel of Death, he was immune to this sort of scene and remained calm, albeit tired. I glared at him through red eyes.

"I'm aware of that, Nehemiah! Do you want to know why I'm crying? I'm crying because the love of my life and reason for my happiness is suffering! I swore, I swore that I'd make sure she was always happy. I swore that no one would ever hurt her again. I'm failing, Nehemiah! It's my fault; if I'd just been honest with her, she'd have never felt the need to find a way around me, and Elliot would have never had something that she wanted. Why can't I seem to protect those I love?"

I was in full tears by this point, and Nehemiah only turned away. I'd feel bad for yelling later, but at the moment I could care less. I'd sworn that my misery and regret would be my endless punishment if I ever failed her, and I would rot in it until Nora was better and had forgiven me. Maybe reacting to my loud volume, her hand flailed out to grab mine. I turned to her, instantly contrite.

"Angel I'm here, you didn't need to hear that…I promise it'll be over soon, and you'll be okay. It'll be okay…"

She squeezed my hand hard.

Past- 1996

It was a week later, late at night, and I sat in the same spot that the little girl had yelled at me. I wasn't sure why I was wandering the streets so late at night; it was a habit I'd developed back in New York. It helped me clear my mind, taking walks. I was a bit of an insomniac, so I needed to do something when I wasn't gambling or fighting.

I was pondering my latest lead on the Book of Enoch when I heard something peculiar. I turned myself invisible so that I could observe. Someone was crying, someone little. When I looked closer, it was the little girl. She was still in her school clothes, with a backpack on. She hid underneath the little castle in the jungle gym set. It was wrong; she was too little to be out this late on her own. I supposed I could take her to the police station, but it'd be hard to convince her I wasn't a threat. As soon as I stood to walk over, a car pulled up. It was a man. Her father?

"Where are you, little one? I hear you crying. Don't worry, I'll take you home as soon as we're finished."

Not her father then, but a creep who liked toddlers. How disgusting.

She panicked. "Leave me alone! I want to go home!"

The man laughed. "Just earlier you were saying you didn't want to go home because your mommy yelled at you. I'm doing what we both want!"

"No! Stop following me!"

When he got closer to the castle, she shot like a dart from underneath it. He jumped for her, grabbing her foot, but she was able to wriggle away. She ran towards the trees where I was. Suddenly, I appeared to her. Strangely, without missing a beat, she hid behind my legs. It was strange that she trusted me, when just a few days ago she wanted to peg me with her toy.

I faced the man, who quailed at the dark expression on my face.

"Hey man, thanks. She's my daughter; I've been looking for her everywhere. I'll take her home now." He lied. As soon as he reached to pick her up, I uppercut him. He fell to the ground, shocked.

"Don't lie to me. I've dealt with darker men than you. As for the ones like you, they tend to end up dead with a certain part of their anatomy missing."

Frozen from both fear and my power, he could do nothing as I knocked him unconscious. I checked him for a wallet. When I found it, I took it out and turned towards the little girl. She stared at me. I sighed; this was not the way I needed my night to go.

"Okay, look. I'm going to take you to the police station. I'm certain your parents are looking for you. Do you want to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" I asked. In tears, she ran towards me, and I lifted her up. She placed her arm around my neck, looking from all around.

"You'll take me straight to the police station. I'll hurt you if try anything else!" She commanded. I chuckled and began to walk.

"Sure. I won't hurt you. But you know, I'm a stranger too. Why would you come to me?" I asked.

"We're not strangers. I met you last week." She answered honestly. I barked out a laugh.

"I'm not quite sure that's how it works, sweetheart. Be lucky that I helped you. Trust no one else like this. From now on, you go straight home from school, okay?"

She nodded fiercely. She was only four; I suppose she didn't really understand it completely. As I walked, I thought about her temperament. She seemed like a good child, very smart and very independent. Stubborn, literal to a point of distraction, but it'd hopefully fade with age and growing sensibility.

"So why didn't you go home?" I asked, trying to make her feel comfortable. Her eyes lowered.

"Mommy yelled at me this morning. She said that I was being a pain, and that she didn't know why she and Daddy bothered with me at all. She didn't want me anymore, so I didn't go home." She answered softly.

"I don't think she meant it. In fact, I'm sure that she misses you more than anything right now."

"I think so too."

I heard small snoring, and I looked over oddly. She'd fallen asleep, exhausted from what must have been quite the escape. I shook my head, shaking away my feelings of being a protector. This kid wasn't Ella; she had a family, and it happened to be of my mortal enemy. I couldn't keep her; there was no point in forming a connection.

Finally, I reached an alley next to the police station. I heard her mother inside sobbing, and her father trying to console her.

"I'm such a terrible mother! I…I should have never yelled at her this morning, she probably thought I hated her!"

"Blythe, Nora would never think that—"

Waking Nora up, I placed her on the ground.

"Now, what have we learned today?" I asked her softly.

"Not to talk to strangers, to go straight home, and not to yell at Mommy." She recited.

"Now go." I said, pointing towards the sign. She turned to go, but then turned back around and pulled something off of her arm. Grabbing my hand, she placed something in it.

"Thank you…I'm so sorry I was mean to you. I'll tell Mommy and Daddy you helped me!"

I smiled, but inside I realized I could never let her remember who I was. It was a threat to my safety with Chauncey.

"Just don't get into any more trouble. Listen to your mother, and be sensible. Give the police that wallet." I touched my hand to her head, and erased myself from the memory. She'd think she ran away from a monster. Poor thing; she'd probably have trust issues for the rest of her life now. Placing the wallet of the rapist in her hand, I pushed her towards the station. Hearing her parents walk out, she ran towards them.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Her parents turned, and her mother collapsed to the ground arms wide. Her eyes filled with deliverance.

"Baby!" When Nora landed in her arms, they began to squeeze each other. "I was so worried! Where have you been?"

"Mommy! Daddy, I won't run away anymore, I promise!"

As they took her inside, I began to walk the other direction. I opened my hand to see what was there. It was a charm. Angel wings. Ha! For saving her, she'd given me a pair of wings. If only the Archangels were this technical. I looked to the sky, waiting sarcastically for something to happen.

"Well?"

Nope. Well, damn. Laughing at myself, I glanced back at the charm.

"Go home, little angel. I appreciate your gift. It's a shame I'll never say thanks."

I clutched the charm.

Present

The room was still.

I was curled around Nora, clutching her dead body to my own.

The...feels... Don't hate me, I promise the story will get happier from here! Read and review!