We're zooming through a vortex of time. Moments and snippets of time periods crash past me, moulding together into infinity. My hair whips behind me, powered by a strong hail of wind that has me stumbling at every step.

Then we're standing still. We're in a huge stone hall. It's empty apart from a huge red curtain at the back of the hall extending up into the foggy mist that hangs over thirty storeys high. Bare and simplistic, yet majestic in it's own way. Elijah walks forward and bows to the curtain, "Master, we've arrived. The human is here, just as you asked."

"Good work. I will ensure you are rewarded for your efforts." The voice sounds like a whole orchestra merged into one melodious tone. I gulp, sidling closer to Rhys. He grips my hand tightly and I feel a little more relaxed just by his touch. "I can sense your fear, human. No need to fear your maker. I won't hurt you. I just have a little request from you."

"What is it?" My voice is more of a breath than a sound.

"I want you to hand your soul over to Riré. So that when you die, your soul will be reincarnated once more into an angel. So you can be like Rhys." The voice reasons.

I look up at Rhys, who looks terrified and outraged all at once, "Master, you know I will never let that happen! You can't take her away from me! She's mine."

"She can make the decision for herself, child." It's almost as if the voice is laughing.

"With all due respect, Master, you handed her over to me. She doesn't have any knowledge of this world, what you expect from an angel. I'm not going to let her sign her own doom."

"Being an angel is a blessing, Rhys, a blessing which you abused and lost when you chose to stay on Earth. I am giving your lover a chance to redeem you. She will be doing it for you."

"I don't want her to do it for me. I don't need to be redeemed. I made a choice and I am still happy about it. I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not going to allow it to happen." Rhys stands his ground, looking at the curtain intently.

"I'm afraid you never had a choice in this, Rhys... Elijah." I feel something strike my head and cry out in pain, clutching it. Rhys turns and as I fall, catches me and lowers me to the ground.

"Rhys..." I mumble, gripping the edges of the cliff of consciousness, "Don't let them take me." Then I go under.

When I wake up, I'm in an empty cell. There's a small slit of a window. The cell is bare apart from the mattress I'm laying on. I sit up, trying to look for any means of escape. There is none. I go towards the door, looking out of the barred gap, like the doors they have in old prisons. The room is in a corridor and it is deserted. No-one to hear my screams, my shouts, my pleading for help.

My heart throbs against my ribcage as I pace the room, frantically trying to think of a way to get out of here. I remember someone. Rhys. "Rhys!" I call out, diving for the window in the door. I grip the bars, "Rhys!" I look as far down the corridor as I can, but there's no sign on him. "Rhys!" I repeat, my eyes scanning the corridor. There's a bang, like a door opening and shutting and then Elijah's cronies walk over to my door, holding somebody -- a male -- up. He groans and I immediately recognise him.

"Rhys!" I cry. One of the men holding Rhys up grunts at me.

"Move back!" He roars. I do and the door slams open. They haul Rhys in and dump him on the floor.

"Rhys!" I cry again, slumping to the ground beside him, cradling his head in my lap, tears spilling down my face. What have they done to him? Rhys groans and his eyes open.

He looks up at me, "Donna."

"Rhys. What happened to you?" I ask, my vision blurry from the constant flow of the tears.

"Shush." Rhys reaches up to wipe my tears away, "I'm fine, they couldn't do anything to me."

"Look at you. You're..." I trail off, a plan forming in my head, "I can't let them do this to you, Rhys. I'm not letting this happen because of me." Realisation dawns on Rhys' face.

"No! No, Donna, you can't do this. You don't understand what it means..."

"I understand it means that they won't hurt you! That I won't see you in so much pain!" I cry indignantly.

Rhys shakes his head, grabbing my hand as I try to get up, "I said no, Donna! Don't this to me!"

"I'm not doing this to you, I'm doing it for you. So I don't have to see you hurt. They can't do this." I wrench my hand free and go over to the barred prison window thing in the door, "Hey! I've made my decision! Please! I know what I want to do!"

"No, Donna!" Rhys cries. I look back at him, his bruised face, the lack of energy in him. "Please! I'm ready!" The door slams open and the two guards stride in, eyeing me suspiciously.

"What did you say?"

I stand up straight, "I've made my decision. I'm ready."

"No, Donna! She's not, she doesn't know what she's doing!" Rhys cries, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. I crouch down, helping him up.

I support his head, "Rhys, trust me. I do know what I'm doing. Please?"

"I can't let you do this. You don't know anything about what happens if you're an angel..."

"You can tell me. I can learn." I say, "But this is the choice I'm making. I won't let anyone hurt you. I can't let them hurt you because of a choice I have to make."

"Please, Donna. Please don't..." He says, clutching my hand. I will the tears back and stand up, my fingers slipping through his.

"I want to see your boss. I'm ready to tell them my decision."

"Donna..." Rhys buries his face in his hands. I steel myself against the pain and sorrow inside and look at the guards stonily.

"Good." The bigger guard nods, "You can't go looking like that, though. I'll have the prep team over." The guards leave without another word.

I bend down in front of Rhys, attempting to pull his hands away from his face, but it doesn't work. He's too strong for me. "Rhys, it's for the best. Trust me." I urge him, clasping his wrists.

"No, it's not." Rhys says, "You don't understand what you're getting yourself into."

"If you survived through it, it can't be that bad." I tell him, "Rhys, please don't stop me."

"I can't do that."

"I'm going to do it anyway." Tears gather up in my eyelids.

"I know. What can I do to stop you?"

"Nothing. You can't do anything. I'm not backing down." I declare, wiping tears away as the 'prep team' enters the room. My hair is tweaked, my lips are soaked in gloss and some other substance and I'm given a long floaty dress to wear. Finally 'presentable' to appear in front of the Master, I bend down to say one final goodbye to Rhys. "Rhys, I'm going now."

Rhys looks at me, his eyes bloodshot, "Don't -- Can you promise me one thing?" I nod silently. "Please don't die. Not yet, not ever."

I lean my forehead against his, "I'll try, I can promise that much to you. I will get us out of here." Rhys closes his eyes.

"I can't see you go. Promise me you'll come back."

"Promise." And then, I let the guards lead me back to the stone hall. In the hall, I'm expected to talk to the curtain. Or really, whatever is behind it. "I made my decision." I say, "I... I will become an angel when I die. I'm ready to be one of your little groupies. I just want to go back to Earth for now. My parents, my family, my friends... I want to spend time with them."

"Of course we can compromise. You turned out to be very smart, Donna. Much more smarter than your lover." The voice tells me.

I stand still, "So we can go back? Back to Earth? And none of your groupies will pay a visit?"

"Yes, yes. You may leave."

I sit upright, gasping for breath. I feel like I've just surfaced after being submerged fully in water. Rhys is immediately holding me, his lips crushing mine, his hands carressing my face, holding it in place. "You're so stupid." Rhys tells me between kisses, "You don't know what you've done." I wind my fingers through his hair.

"Shut up." I pull his lips back to mine, the passion running between us like electricity...

Later On...

"You should get going." Rhys strokes my arm, "Your mom and dad will be worried. It's been three hours."

"It doesn't matter. I'll text them in a minute." I say, tracing the veins that are popping out on Rhys' free arm.

"That's not fair on them. You haven't been spending enough time with Avril either. You don't want her to think you've dumped her for me."

"I don't want to go yet." I don't tell him why, though.

"You can't stay here forever, I don't want your parents getting a bad impression of me." Rhys tells me.

"But I'm scared. I don't want to be alone." I say, or rather whine, clutching his hand.

"Hey." Rhys sits upright and cups my face in his hands, "You don't need to be scared. I'm with you. When you go to bed tonight, I'll be there. You won't be alone."

"Promise me?" I ask pathetically. Rhys nods.

At home, Dad's getting ready for a night shoot, his hair gelled into his usual style, his shades propped on his nose despite the ridiculous time. "Bye, Dad. Have a good shoot." I try to smile. Mom walks in, wearing her new Louis Vuitton outfit. She sits down beside me, "See you later, honey. Have a good shoot."

"Bye, Donna. Bye, darling. Love you loads." Dad calls as he leaves. I sigh. Why can't I just be normal? Why can't Rhys and I have a relationship like Mom and Dad? Why does everything have to be so complicated? Before I realise, Mom and I are getting ready to retire for the night. I thunder up the stairs, bumbling a quick goodnight to Mom. I shut the door behind me with a soft click, smiling at the figure sitting on my bed. He smiles back and beckons me over. I sit down beside him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Come on, you should get to sleep." Rhys pulls the duvet up over me.

"No." I push it down, wondering how I'm suddenly laying down in bed, "I'm not sleepy yet."

"Does it really matter?" Rhys says, "You're going to sleep anyhow. You're not getting your way on this one."

"Rhys, I am honestly not sleepy. I... I want you to tell me about the life of an angel. What you do specifically, so I am ready for what's going to come when I die."

"Don't say that." Rhys chides me softly, "You know I'll never let that happen to you, Donna, never. You'll live for as long as I live, longer if I can make that happen. You won't die and you won't suffer through the same fate as me."

"We can't stop it, Rhys." I say, "Death is inevitable. It comes to everyone, including century old souls who age at the same rate as angels. It's going to come someday."

"No. Master's powers are on a limited boundary. If I take far enough away, he can't reach you. Neither can his ranks. No." Rhys shakes his head, cupping my face in his hands.

"Rhys, I can't run away. He'll prove us cowards!"

"I'd rather be proved a coward than to lose you, Donna. Why do we care what people think? Especially when... they're not even real people, Donna. Not like us. They haven't experienced love the way we have."

"Is that what this is?"

"You tell me." Rhys takes my hand and places it over his chest. I can feel his heart beating under his skin, a steady thrumming, like a drum.

Sorry for the late upload, I've been suffering from writer's block. But I'm back on track now and the next few chapters will be exciting, I promise!!

Lightness xxx