On Monday, I had myself convinced that Hell itself had risen up and relocated itself in my school. Firstly, Cam was only in the building long enough to unpack her bag before she was sent back home. It had been a really weird experience. We'd met each other at lockers like we did every other day of the week. She'd been looking absolutely normal until she gave me her customary 'Yay you managed to drag yourself to school again. Three Cheers!' hug. As she touched me I heard a little gasp escape from her lips and she quickly pulled away before ever completing the gesture. I caught sight of her face as she backed off a little; pale and tense.

    "Are you okay, Cam?" I asked. A shaky smile plastered itself on and she shook her head as if laughing at herself.

    "Yeah," her voice cracked a little, "Just a sudden headache." I took her in in a long hard stare.

    "You don't look so good," I commented expecting an immediate rebuttal, "You should go home." I was met with a few moments before my friend answered.

    "Okay," she agreed taking me by surprise as she turned back to her locker and spun the dial to unlock it. This would have had to have been the only day in the history of the world that my strange little friend had missed even five minutes of school. To add to that I had a Methods test which I hadn't known about or studied for so I was sure I had failed. How was I going to explain that to my parents? And then there was the thirdly. Oh, yes. As if I hadn't been fantasising about him enough, he was here. In the flesh. And no, I don't mean Santa. The angel wiping memory guy was at my school. Yep. This was Hell incarnate. If he had of been waiting at my house; not so creepy. I get a whole variety of weirdos turning up at home, mostly because of my parents. But my school? That was just plain stalkerish. School was meant to be safe! I caught sight of him at the lockers, just standing around looking all casual and as if he fitted in. Immediately, I decided it was best to avoid him by any means possible. I thought I had done a very efficient job of it. That was until lunch came around.

I was walking to the library when I felt a presence behind me before someone rested their hand on my shoulder. I could feel his muscled stomach and chest leaning against my back. The hairs rose on my neck and my arms.

    "You have been avoiding me," he whispered softly in my ear, "Why?" He sounded genuinely hurt. I froze. I swear my eyes were bulging out of my head. Heck, I was screwed. So. Totally. Screwed. Slowly he turned me around to face him. I gazed up at his melted chocolate eyes and sandy blonde hair. The cute dimple his mouth made when he smiled . . . Wait! Why was he smiling? And why was I thinking about this? I could almost hear Cam screaming at me, 'YOU SAID NO BOYS!'

    "Do you not like me?" he was definitely grinning now. My heart was racing so fast I was sure I was only seconds away from a serious heart attack.

    "What do you want with me?" I squeaked. My mind flashed back to the curious scene this morning with my friend.

    "Have you done something Cameron?" I accused. A look of momentary confusion passed over his strong features and then he made the connection.

    "Cameron? The friend of yours with the red hair?" he informed me, "I have not done anything other than what you already know. She is fine. I took the liberty of checking on her this morning. She is confused but stable and wholly intact." He cleared his throat, "As for what I want from you, you will have to use your imagination." Amusement stirred in his eyes and I was drowned in the chocolate. I couldn't fight the blush that had flooded my face. Was he joking? Oh God. I hoped he was joking.

    "What . . . who are you?" I managed to choke.

    "Alec," he grinned, seeming quite satisfied with the effect his words had had on me, "I am Alec. And I am neither angel nor human."

. . .

    "Everything okay, Rose?" Griffin questioned for what seemed like the hundredth time this week when I arrived back at his place. I was so ready to call Cam up and then go to sleep. Exhausted didn't even cover the half of it, "Aren't you meant to be training with Dean?" I face palmed. It was Monday! How could I forget?

    "Damn it," I muttered, "I better grab my stuff." I made for my room where my training bag would be seeing as I had forgotten it this morning. Griffin caught my hand before I could make my get away. Once he had my attention, he shook his head and for a second I thought he was going to cancel training.

    "Rose," he sighed, taking in my blurry eyes and frizzed out hair, "I'll drive you."

On the way I told Griffin all about meeting Alec. Like always, he listened without a word until I finished.

    "So he said he was neither human nor angel?" Griff clarified. I nodded fervently, more to keep my drooping eyelids open than that I needed to emphasise my point.

    "Did he look like an exile?" he questioned. I ran through everything I knew about the fallen angels. Nothing seemed to fit in with what I had gathered from Alec.

    "No," I replied, "He seemed so human. So sane. He isn't an exile." Griffin frowned as he parked the car.

    "That's what Violet though about Phoenix," he commented, killing the engine. I felt my stomach plummet to the floor of the car. My. God.

    "Rose?" he called urgently, "Rose, what's wrong?" His eyes.

    "Nothing," I mumbled and clambered out of the car. Griffin followed suit and trailed me to the entrance of my dad's warehouse.

    "Rose," he demanded catching my hand, "Tell me what's wrong." I ignored the Grigori and opened the door.

    "Rosie!" greeted Dean from inside, "I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me." As he came towards me his gaze caught on Griffin. The Canadian's face split. He'd been wanting to show Griffin how I had been progressing in training for a while now.

    "Griff," he smiled leaning against the door frame, "You coming to see how we professionals teach the growing grasshoppers?" We made our way inside.

    "I don't know about professional but I have come to watch," Griffin lied earning a glare from me, "I want to make sure you're teaching her properly." Dean's eyes lit up with the challenge and he dragged up a seat.

    "Be my guest," Dean laughed gesturing to the chair but Griffin only stood next to it. I didn't miss the subtle gesture of defiance and neither did the outsider Grigori. Nor did we miss the 'you're going to need it more than me' look Griff shot me. And then hell followed me to the warehouse. Sorry, I mean, training began.

After I got changed, we launched straight into sparing so Dean could see where I needed to improve. A routine sort of thing to do. Today it was absolutely everywhere.

    "Holy Lord on High," Dean spat, "Are you okay?" This was after he smacked me halfway across the room. He crossed over to my side and offered me a hand. Even with his leg still giving him a little trouble, my opponent was beating me easily. It didn't exactly help that I was distracted by my sudden realisation at Alec's lineage or that the world kept listing irregularly like I was on a boat. Also I was so tired that my arms felt like lead and every step was like pushing through thick mud.

    "I'm okay," I replied using Dean's wrist to pick myself up from the ground, a feat I deemed miraculous given how I was feeling.

    "Didn't you see that coming?" he asked raising an eyebrow. The world seemed to flip a three-sixty just for me before stabilising.

    "I did," I answered. Dean glared at me annoyed at my lack of competence in front of the Grigori Head. I knew my poor performance was reflecting badly on him and he'd had to pull a lot of strings to land this job in the first place. Why he had bothered was beyond me.

    "And you did nothing because?" I stared at a spot on the floor suddenly short of breath. I knew what was coming. My eyelids succumbed to the immense weight of my lashes as the world teetered to the left and I was enveloped in darkness. Darkness, sleep and a welcome absence of conscious thought.

    "Why does this keep happening?" Dean's voice asked miles above me.

...

I woke in a sweat. My heart was hammering and my head thudding with a dull pain. I struggled to a sitting position. I moaned. This was exactly where I was this time last week. I noticed Griffin and Nyla sitting on the other side of the room with Dean a little removed from them.

    "Care to tell us what's going on?" Griffin asked his voice cutting me like a whip. He was annoyed at me and I guessed it had something to do with our conversation in the car too. It wasn't like I wanted him to think I was weak.

    "I don't have a clue," I replied in monotone. I slid my legs off the bed.

    "I don't think that is a good idea right now, Rose," Nyla warned as I stood. I crossed my arms and sent her a frustrated look.

    "I don't care," I retorted. I just really wanted to go home. I had already diagnosed the reason for this fainting fit. Everything was happening so fast. I was tired. I was stressed. I was totally out of control of my life. I was...

    "...slurring," Griffin chimed in, eyeing me.

    "Shut. Up," I growled, making a considerable effort not to join my words. Understanding the question in his glance I fired, "No, Griffin! There was no dream! I passed out, okay? End of story!" I spun around and headed out the door, staggering slightly. None of them made a move to catch me. I ran off a tirade of curse words damning the three of them to various versions of hell and the like. Mum would have killed me if she'd heard but once again she wasn't there.

I stormed down the stairs and out into the main part of the warehouse still inventing new ways to express my frustration. Staring at the painting my mother had done for Dad a long time ago, I attempted to take deep calming breaths and stop my head from spinning. Every time I thought I was right again his melted chocolate eyes would swim to the forefront of my mind.

    "Damn it!" I gasped trying to calm down, "Damn it, damn it, damn it. Where is Phoenix the one time in my entire life I need him?" I hadn't noticed someone coming down the stairs.

    "Why would you need Phoenix?" Dean questioned from behind me. A pause ensued. "Is there any way I can help you Rose or would it be better if I just left?" I turned around and tackled him in a hug.

    "It would be really great," I whispered, "if you could go home right now. I just need to calm down. I'm a mess sorry. See you next week?" I looked up and his eyes met mine in silent agreement.

    "Okay," Dean replied, "Same time next week. But only if you promise to stay conscious the whole of the lesson, okay? Coz you're fraying my nerves right now. And not to mention cool, composed Griffin who was almost in hysterics when you passed out. He really cares about you. And I'm pretty sure he didn't come here to watch us practice. Be good, kid."

    "I promise." And he walked out the door. Just like that. Well, it was more of a limp.

. . .

Griffin didn't talk to me at all that night. He ordered pizza and we ate in silence. He didn't even say good-night; we just went our own ways; which was good. I don't think I could have handled his interrogatory stares for very long. I was in desperate need of proper sleep. All the anxiety of the last few weeks had hit me hard. My fainting today only cemented the fact in my head. After a long, hot shower I slipped on my warmest pyjamas and slipped into bed with the electric blanket turned on high. It was long before ten o'clock when I drifted into the soft, warm oblivion of sleep, grateful for a break from sick parents, questioning friends, look-a-like stalkers and disappointed Griffins. I wondered far away from school or anything else I knew until the next morning.

...

AAAAAAAAND that's part two of three. So, our stalker has a name and seems to look a lot like everyone's favourite exile-turned-human. (Other than Onyx of course) Who's been a naughty boy? Hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to add those little comments. :) It really means a lot to know what you think of my story.

~SpanishFox