(Hello all! Guess what. Its my 16th birthday! Happy birthday to me!! I thought I would update for you guys today. The picture this time wasn't going to be a cover, I just really liked it.)

Third Person POV:

As Alex held the unconscious Selena tightly in his arms, he listened in on Sebastian and Maria's conversation.

"I'm surprised you never figured it out, Sebastian. It's been pretty obvious. I merely took some books from the library about the history of the half angel, half demon species. That's how I knew how to help her so far."

"Can we not talk about this now?" Sebastian was almost begging. "Selena more than likely won't remember any of this when she wakes up."

"Good," Maria said. "The less she knows, the better."

Alex interrupted. "Umm... is Peter...?"

"No. He's not going to be a reaper. He is going to stay human, although he does know that there are other beings out there. He did help me find Selena, after all."

Sebastian turned to Alex. "Take her upstairs," was all he said.

Alex only nodded, then ascended the stairs.

"And what will you do if Selena does remember?" Sebastian asked, returning to the original topic.

"Then she remembers. There's nothing I can do. At least she'll know that I know what I'm doing."

Sebastian was quiet, then he said, "I'm going to the manor. I'll come back tomorrow."

"See you then," she said. Once Sebastian was out the door, she thought to herself, dirty demon.

***

Alex brought Selena up the stairs, Sebastian and Maria's conversation faintly playing in the background. Once he rounded the corner, he saw someone standing outside Selena's room.

It was Peter. He stared at Alex, and Alex stared right back. Eventually, Peter dropped his gaze, and opened the door to let Alex inside.

Alex walked through the doorway and lay Selena on her bed. Her wings were bloody from torn stitches, her face was pale, and she squirmed slightly.

Alex knew there was nothing he could do, so he pulled the covers over her and sat in a chair by her bed.

Peter was still there. "Is she okay?" he asked softly.

Alex turned to the young boy, who looked maybe ten. He didn't want to lie to him, so he gave the blunt truth. "I don't know, kid. I wish I could tell you she was going to pull through easily, but this is one fight that hasn't been decided yet."

Peter nodded, then returned to his room.

While Selena slept, Alex went downstairs to find Maria. He found her in the dining room alone.

"Where are the others?" He asked her.

"Gone back to the manor. They'll be back in the morning."

Alex nodded. "Maria, why didn't you tell everyone from the beginning?"

Maria sighed. "Because demons and reapers aren't the best of friends. If I didn't lie to them, then they never would have let me help them."

"Why were you hunting Selena to begin with?"

"Because my husband was, and I wasn't going to go against him. He's probably the only human out there that still scares me."

"Why did you marry a human?"

"Because I was young, bold, and stupid."

"Why have you given up on Selena? She can pull through this. I know she can!"

Maria smiled sympathetically. "I really am sorry, Alex. But I don't know of anything else to try."

Alex blinked back tears. He wasn't going to let Selena die. Not like this. He had promised her.

Maria saw the look on his face, and walked toward him. "Look, I'll do some more research later, alright? But right now I need to go bandage her wings again. I'll do my best to help her survive, Alex, but I make no promises."

Nodding, Alex returned upstairs and to his seat next to Selena's bed, watching her sleep, and praying she would wake up.

***

Maria carefully bandaged Selena's wings again, wiping away blood. While she was finishing up, Selena awoke, bolting upright.

"Selena, are you-" Maria started, but was cut off when she saw the girl's blood red eyes.

Alex jumped in front of Maria and pushed her out of the room. "Go find Sebastian. I'll keep her in here."

"But, Alex-"

"Just go!" Alex shouted, letting his own eyes turn red for a moment.

Maria sighed, then nodded, and quickly ran down the hall.

Alex closed the door and turned back to Selena. He let his eyes glow bright red, and stared into hers.

"Hi, Alex. Why are you protecting the reaper? She's given up on me, remember?" The tone of her voice was fake innocence.

"Selena, she promised me she would keep looking, and I believe her. I know you aren't really against her. Try to get back in control!"

"I am in control, I am against Maria, and she isn't going to save me. This is the new me, Alex. You don't like it?" She put on a pout, then smirked. "I wish you could see your face. You look so serious. Why not calm down? Just let me out, we'll finish off the reaper, and I'll live the rest of the time I have happily with you and my dad. Sounds good to me."

"But Selena, it doesn't to me. I promised I wouldn't let you die, and I will come through with it. Maria is going to save you, whether you like it or not."

***

Selena's POV:

I couldn't control my body. It was like I shared my body with a monster that wanted me dead. I was awake for all of it, and it didn't go down well.

"You can't keep me locked up in here," I said, but it wasn't me. I was trying to claw my way to the surface, trying to take control again.

"I can try."

"It'll be a wasted effort." I could see Alex, staring at me with intense red eyes. I had never seen his true eyes before. It was almost frightening.

Alex! I screamed, but it never came out my mouth. I screamed many times.

Alex seemed to sense me screaming for help. That or he has really good timing. "Selena, I'm going to help you. I promise."

"Making another promise you can't keep?" I asked.

"Shut up."

"Alex, that hurt. Why would you tell me such a thing." I felt the smirk on my lips. I wanted to smack it off my face.

Then I felt my arm move slightly.

My head turned toward my arm, then I said, "Oh no you don't, little miss white feathers. This is my body now!"

I felt myself gaining control. "We share this body!" I heard myself say. "We're supposed to be the same person!"

"Selena! Hang on!" Alex shouted.

"No! Selena, you're dead. Stop fighting me and deal with it!"

"Alex! Help me!"

Alex pounced and pinned me to the floor.

"Alex, we were gonna be friends. Why do you hate me so much? I'm as much of Selena as white feathers is!"

"Why did you separate? That's impossible!"

"It's not impossible, pretty boy. It's how our race came to its end. It'll happen to you someday too."

Just then the door to the room opened, and I could barely see my father. "Dad, help." I said. Not the demon, but me.

Dad got Alex off of me and helped me stand, then it wasn't me anymore. "Why do you care about white feathers so much? Why can't you love me?"

Dad was about to answer, but "I" interrupted. "You know what? I don't care, cause soon it'll be all me and no more White Feathers! Then you'll have to either love or disown me."

"It's like both sides separated." Alex said. "I didn't know what to do."

"How did you separate?" Maria asked.

"Like I'd tell you, Reaper."

"She said it was the way our race was wiped out. The halves would separate and then die."

"Wow..." Maria said.

"Selena, if you tell Maria what's on your mind, will you return to normal for now, please?" Dad was pleading.

"Fine. I still don't get why you love White Feathers so much, but fine. Reaper, White Feathers may trust you, but I don't. So if you try anything and I get suspicious, I'll be back."

"I promise I won't hurt you, Selena. I haven't yet and I won't. If I did, your father would kill me, and I don't want to die yet. Now that I know what happened all those years ago, and what's happening to you, I should be able to find a way to save you, but you have to cooperate or it won't work. Are you on board?"

I felt myself nod, then smile at my father. "I love you, Dad," I said, then felt myself break the surface. My eyes returned to their normal hazel color, and then I fell to the floor, gasping for air.