"It's a scary movie! Since when don't you like being scared, Em? And we've been dying to see Night of the Zombies all summer," Katey says happily.

She saw how depressed I have been the past couple of days. She and another friend of ours, Marcus, decide to take me to see a movie.

"I want to see a romance. Next time we come I definitely will let you pick the movie." I smile at both of them as we wait for our popcorn.

"I definitely don't watch chick flicks but I'll make an exception today," Marcus shrugs.

"That's exactly why Emery never gave you a chance, dork! Every time Em says jump, you ask how high," she says as she leans on the counter while she texts.

"Katey!" I yell at her. She can be so embarrassing at times. I flash her an annoyed look but drop the matter altogether when I see the uneasy look Marcus has.

Marcus Bishop is of average height and build. He was always popular in school and grew up in Ackley, like Katey and I. He also has dark brown hair and gray eyes. Marcus is what all the girls in Ackley dream about. Even Katey at one point.

When we were in middle school I developed a huge crush on him. That faded away in high school and he began to have a crush on me. I told him it would never happen. I'm glad it never came up again.

After that horrendous movie, we decided to get some pizza. It's only 8 pm and I have no desire to go home. Ever since I drove home crying a couple days ago, Daddy and Alice were watching me closely. I didn't tell them my source of my episode. I think they chalked it up to losing Mom and my brothers and I cried on Levi's shoulder.

So much has happened this past week that I completely forgot the anniversary of my family's death. In a way I am relieved. I've been so on edge lately, thinking of them would've made me lose it for sure.

Why am I so emotional lately?

"Here." I hand Katey a twenty dollar bill. "I'll pay. Get a large, cheese pie and I want an orange soda." Katey nods and walks away. Marcus and I look for a clean table.

I find a chair and sit when my phone buzzes. I shake my head knowing full well it's either a text from Daddy or my aunt. With all the weirdness going on, I have to check in every hour. It's Alice.

Alice:
Hey kid! Checking in!

Me:
I'm at Louie's Pizza with Katey and Marcus. The movie just finished.

Alice:
Great! See you later. I love you!

Me:
Ok. Love you too!

I put my phone away and sigh. I look up to see Marcus staring at me.

"Can I help you, Bishop?" I say smiling at him.

"Are you alright? You seem different?" He asks scanning my face.

"Besides the fact that I now own a cell phone even though I swore I'd never own one?"

He chuckles. "Well, that is surprising but I'm not talking about that. You're usually mean, in a bossy way, but we are all used to it. Lately, you've been nice, but sad almost."

"Mean? You think I'm mean but still want to be around me?" I ask surprised. Am I really such a terrible person? My heart sinks.

"Yeah." Marcus shrugs his shoulders. "I guess we all don't question it because of your family's loss. I have to say, being nice suits you, Summers. It really does!"

I smile and look down, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Well, I've been told, a couple of times lately, that I'm a bully. Guess it was time for a makeover."

"Don't change, for anyone. I like you as a bully or a sweetheart."

Marcus puts his hand on top of mine which makes me blush.

In a way I have Leviathan to thank for that. He is the reason I have been less of a headache lately and been less mean. The way he's been treating me is more than likely the way I've been treating everyone around me for years. I will never admit that to anyone though.

"Oh, Emery!" I look up at the familiar voice. It's Sandy. I smile and it soon vanishes as I see Levi standing next to her. His eyes staring blankly at Marcus's hand over mine. I quickly move my hand under the table. Marcus notices my response and looks up at Levi.

"Hi, Sandy! Getting a bite?" I ask smiling at her as I notice Levi flash a look of anger at me.

"Yes! Levi wanted pizza and I needed to get away from the bakery," she says as she laughs. Marcus clears his throat.

I suddenly remember I didn't introduce Marcus. "Oh, sorry! Marcus this is Mrs. Castor. Sandy, this is Marcus." They shake hands.

"Oh, I don't think I've met you, hun," Sandy says tilting her head. "Aren't you tall drink of water!"

I turn and notice all the girls at the restaurant are giggling and whispering to one another. They clearly find Levi interesting.

"I've been out of the state with my mom. We were visiting family. But you've met my dad. Carl Bishop. He's helping with your bakery," Marcus tells her as he reaches over the table and flicks a piece of popcorn from my shirt. It was lodged above my chest. I thank him and glance over at Levi, who shifts uncomfortably.

Sandy jumps excitedly. "Yes! Oh my goodness! He's the electrician. What a great, kind man! Please tell him I said hello!" She begs.

Marcus nods and Sandy turns to Levi, who was staring at me. "Levi, sweetheart. This is Marcus. Marcus this is my son, Leviathan."

Marcus nods at Levi. Levi cuts his eyes. "Shall we, Mom. It's getting late."

"Oh, of course! Marcus, nice to meet you." She shakes his hand again. "Em, see you around! And I love that pink dress of yours. The cleavage is amazing." She winks at me and walks away. Levi follows, his eyes never leaving mine.

Marcus laughs as I look down at my chest. I shake my head and smile shyly as I look away from Levi. Can an angel actually feel things, like jealousy? I shake my head. I must be imagining things.

"Is she always that bubbly?" Marcus asks me as his eyes follow the Castors to the register.

I shrug. "Yeah but she's amazing. She's really nice."

"And her extremely tall son? What's his deal? He looks like he can crush me in one blow."

I turn peek over Marcus's shoulder and see the Castors taking their seats towards the front of the restaurant.

"I don't know or care," I say unbothered, folding my arms in front of me. That is one can of worms I don't want to open.

Marcus is going to ask me to reiterate when Katey reappears with our drinks.

She sits next to Marcus. "Oh my gosh! Is that Levi?" She hands us our cups. "He's so dreamy!" Katie swoons as she turns to get any look.

Marcus rolls his eyes.

Our pizza arrives at our table ten minutes later. For some unknown reason, Katey has chosen Hawaiian style pizza. She loves it while Marcus and I hate it. It is my first and last time trying it.

"Pineapple is good for you anyways. Stop crying," she says trying to breathe after her third slice. Marcus gets up to buy us both a slice of pepperoni.

"Speak for yourself! Fruit doesn't need to be layered on tomato sauce and cheese, Katey," I say as I look at the pizza in disgust. I sit back in my seat and take a sip of my drink.

I sigh happily as I look around this pizzeria. It's been here since before I was even born. There are so many memories here. Pictures hang all over the walls of this. Pictures of my family, my friends and all of Ackley. Even people who pass our town. You always leave feeling full, satisfied, and knowing you want to come back.

"Speaking of layered. I think Levi wants to be on top of you." Katey smirks at me as she points over her shoulder. "He keeps glancing over here."

"Good for him! I don't care!" I spit back at her.

Her eyes open wide as she grabs another slice of pizza. "Ouch! I'm guessing he turned out to be an ass?"

I cut my eyes. "You can say that."

Once we are done, I decide I want to go home. It's only 9 pm but I am starting to get tired. Katey and Marcus want to go bowling but I insist I need to go home and rest.

It has been a long day anyway and I'm so grateful Alice lent me her car.

If not I'd never hear the end of how I bailed on them as they drove me home.

I finish taking a shower and I'm about to lay in bed when I see one of the barn lights on. I suck my teeth and decide I should go turn it off.

Grabbing a flashlight from the foyer shelf I head outside. As I open the front a welcoming cool breeze surrounds me. Odd for summertime, I think to myself.

Once I reach the barn I pull the door open. I look around and see nothing out of place. Horses are asleep and everything is nice and tidy. I guess someone left and forgot to turn the light. No biggie!

I am reaching to turn off the light when the walls of the barn begins to shake! Grabbing on the wall, I cower over in fright! Is this what a earthquake feels like?! The horses starts to cry and I hear them trying to keep their balance!

Suddenly a flash of light appears and disappears behind the barn walls.

I slowly stand. What is that?!

Carefully stepping out of the barn, I flash the light around.

Nothing.

I walk around the entire barn and don't see anything. Weird, I think to myself. I almost positive I saw a flash of light. I just chalked it up to being tired or maybe lights from the main road.

I sigh as I make my way back into the barn. Quickly glancing at the horses I notice they are all calm now. When I turn the lights off a sudden glow of light shines behind me through the darkness. I turn quickly as I see Levi standing there, about ten feet away from me.

My hands shoot up to my face. The familiar blinding golden light that Levi's body produces.

He has blonde hair, no shirt, tight leather, black pants on. His eyes are so golden that it looks like his eyes are shooting light out od them. He blinks one time and they turn to their normal shade of blue.

It's like a beautiful painting is standing in front of me. Like in a dream. So real, but so fake at the same time. It's like there isn't darkness. He, alone, provides enough light for the entire barn. Blinding, beautiful light. There is another thing different about him.

No wings.

I look around cautiously looking around. Why is he here? No doubt to intimidate me again. I turn off the flashlight, turn the barn light on and slowly take a step away from him.

"Is he your boyfriend?" He ask with a pained look on his face. Or maybe he looks unsure of himself.

I look from side to side confused. "Who?"

Levi glares at me. "Are you an owl now? I'm talking about the pizza boy. Earlier tonight."

I scoff. "You come over trying to scare me and now you are trying to get information that has nothing to do with you?" I quickly walk up to him, closing the space between us in seconds. How dare he try to pull this stunt with me? "Are you serious?! Why do you care about anything that does on in my life?"

"I don't!" He yells!

"Good! So go away!" I yell back! "Why are you here? You've made it clear how much I disgust you."

He takes a couple steps back and chuckles causing me to walk back even further. "Because you humans are so off-putting."

I shake my head in disgust. I am so tired of Levi acting like he's so superior!

Without thinking, I throw the flashlight at him. He catches it like nothing, crumbling it in his hand. The crushing of the metal makes my eyes open wide. He holds his hand out at eye level and sprinkles all the pieces to the floor.

I squint my eyes and shake my head, realizing I've never loathed anyone in my life until tody. "You don't need to be here. Stay away from me. I'll stay away from you." I turn and walk back into the barn.

"Why? So you can spend more time with Marcus?"

I chuckle wryly as I turn back to him. I can't believe he's jealous! Levi is suddenly right behind me. I take a step back in surprise. "Y-yes! He is my boyfriend." I smile at him knowing full well what I said is a lie. "Us, nauseating creatures need to stick together."

"You are a terrible liar. You know that?" Levi asks as he sniffs the air around me. "I can smell the deceit."

I close my eyes in shame. Can angels smell lies? "Again, what do you want?"

"Nothing. It just brings me satisfaction to terrorize you." He turns around and starts pacing slowly.

I watch as his biceps and triceps begin to contract as he touches tools we have hanging on the walls. I look away and immediately feel the need to watch perfection strut around half naked in my barn. I clear my throat as I shift uncomfortably.

"Do you mind putting on a shirt, please? There is literally no one in this barn to impress; immortal or animal."

Levi stops and looks down at his chest. "Does my provocative appearance bring you lust, Emery?"

I scoff as I look away from him. "Absolutely not! You may have looks, but that's all. Your heart is as black as your boots. Nothing about you makes me salivate." I look right at him. Another lie! God, I hope he doesn't sniff that out. "You may have all these women in town under your little spell, but I've seen the real you. Literally and figuratively. It's nothing to be proud of, trust me."

Levi squints as he starts to walk around me. "Is that so, little fish?"

I glare back at him. "It is."

Levi makes one final lap around me and stops in front of me. "I will pick you up tomorrow at 7 pm. Be ready."

What?!

I scoff and cross my arms, pretending what he just said didn't phase at all. "As if I'd ever go out with you," I say in disgust.

"You will," he whispers in my face. I close my eyes and his breathe smells of pure strawberries.

"And if you decide to skip out on me, I'll just kidnap you."

I open my eyes immediately!

Levi starts to walk away. I start to feel hot as I examine every muscle in his back.

I close my eyes and look the other way. "Fine, then I'll disappear."

Levi stops and turns around. The amusement on his face completely disappears. "Try it. I know where you are every second of the day. I'll just find you and drag you back."

My heart falls sort of my stomach. Is that true?

Levi turns back around and walks out of the barn. A flash of golden light illuminates outside the barn and a small tremors rocks the barn again.

I run towards the door and look up. Even though it is a cool, summer night I suddenly feel hot.

Levi is ascending toward the clouds, a trail of golden light streaking behind him.

Did he really mean what he had just said?

"Damnit, I hate him!"