-Beckham-

I peeked around the corner and into the alleyway. Why are you here? I yelled in my head. Laelyn was not supposed to be here! I had done everything I possibly could to warn her against mixing with Daeva! This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. I had to take care of her by myself, without the possibility of Laelyn dying, too.

Daeva pointed her finger at Laelyn. Now was the time- I had to step in, or she would get hurt. But then I would give away my position to her! I had to choose- saving Laelyn or defeating Daeva. Come on, Beck, just make a decision! I reprimanded myself. Laelyn's well being is much more important. I can hunt Daeva down later.

I yelled out as loudly as I could as I ran out to cover Laelyn. Daeva shrieked, taken aback by this sudden twist in her plans. Good, let's make things difficult. Pushing Laelyn out of the way, I turned to face Daeva head on.

"Stop this Daeva!" I shouted, rehearsed. I needed to make this as close to Laelyn's dream as possible- then maybe I could cover up the whole ordeal. I glanced behind me slightly, to make sure she was alright. She was crying, and terrified, but she looked okay. Not okay enough.

"You can't stop me!" Daeva cackled. "You do not have the power. No one can stop me now." A downpour of rain began.

"You're wrong!" I yelled desperately. I wasn't sure if I was telling her so much as reassuring myself.

"I will continue my father's legacy! And I will not let a human as weak as you stand in my way." She declared, waving her hand in the air. A strong gust of wind knocked me flat to the ground beside Laelyn, powerless as I watched Daeva disappear through the portal.

As soon as the wind died down, I tried to stand up. I was completely focused on chasing after her into the portal- but then I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Laelyn, I thought, she has no idea what's going on. I spun around and locked eyes with her.

"What just happened?" She asked, mouth agape and eyes wild.

"I... I can't explain." I stuttered. Well, I couldn't explain this away as a dream, I thought. She doesn't talk in her dreams, and I'm sure this is all too real.

She shivered in the cold rain, and wrapped her arms around herself. I should give her my jacket, I thought. I couldn't move. Give her your jacket, you idiot. I shakily pulled my brown leather jacket off and handed it to her. She stared at it, but didn't take it. After awhile, I simply draped it over her shoulders. Her mouth stretched slightly into a smile, then fell back into a frown. She was confused, and, even worse, terrified.

"Please just tell me who she is," Laelyn begged, "I have to at least know that." I took a deep breath and looked at the ground. How could I even begin to explain Daeva?

"Well, that's difficult..." I trailed off. I had to tell her something. "She's not human. And she's... dangerous."

Laelyn laughed, although none of this was funny. "I figured that much."

"Well, alright. What exactly do you want to know then?" I asked. Let's just hope she asks easy questions.

"Why did she want to hurt me?" She asked.

"Because you were in her way. She would hurt anyone in her way." I replied, keeping as far away from the real explanation as I could.

"No, I mean why did you tell me I was in trouble? I'm pretty sure that by now, I know you were talking about..." She shuddered, "Her." I gave her a blank look, pretending I had no clue what she was talking about. That couldn't be further than the truth- it was constantly on my mind. "You said it was because I was like you?"

"Oh, right," I said, 'remembering' what she was referring to, "I was a little messed up in sixth hour, I'm not really sure what I was saying." I was lying to her so much lately, and I hated the hell out of it.

"You're lying to me." She said flatly. Well crap, there goes that. "What were you actually saying?" She stared me straight in the eyes, and I gave in.

"I can't really fully explain but... Well, I mean, it's sort of like.... Okay I guess it's just..." I rambled on and on. Idiot.

"Just tell me!" She was exasperated, and I could hear it in her voice.

"You're like me because..." I began. How could I say this? "You're immune." That sounded good enough.

"I'm... Immune?" She repeated, questioningly.

"Listen, I can't really explain it right now, Laelyn." I said, ignoring her confusion.

"Excuse me?" She said, raising her voice slightly. "You're going to ignore the fact that I just lived through whatever the hell that was with whoever the hell that was, and tell me you 'can't explain it right now'?" Towards the end of the sentence, she had began yelling. I held my hands up to show that I meant no offense, and she glared at me.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I said over and over, scared that she would yell again. I didn't want her angry with me- it just didn't feel right.

"I need to know what just happened, Beckham," She demanded, "My life was on the line, and that means I'm involved. I deserve to know, and I want to know now."
"Alright! Alright." I said, and she fell quiet, satisfied. "But I can't right this second." I closed my eyes, not wanting to see her reaction.

"Beck!"

"I'm sorry, Laelyn. I really am. I just can't explain this." And besides that, I needed to find Daeva! She hesitated before answering.

"...Okay." She sighed, giving up. I smirked, glad that she had finally given it a rest.

"Good. Now listen to me, this is important," I warned, "You need to get away. Don't ever come back here again, do you hear me? Daeva is dangerous, and you need to stay away. Please." I needed to keep her safe. She nodded, eyes wide again. She got up and walked slowly out of the alleyway and around the corner. Finally. Now I just had to keep Daeva away from her. I stared at the end of the alley, realizing that the magic glow was fading. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, composed myself, and ran head first through the portal.

The world around me turned to a bright, unnatural white light. My head hurt, and I was spinning through the glowing void. After a few seconds, my feet slammed on the ground and I couldn't see anything but black spots. As my eyes adjusted, I found myself standing in an open grassy field, with Soryx's version of Simon J. Bernard High School in the distance. Perfect, that's probably where she's headed. I broke into a run in the direction of the school building. I hope I didn't lose too much time helping Laelyn. I glanced at the sky. I still had a few hours.

I stopped short when I heard the loud crunch of someone running on grass behind me. Who could that possibly be? I whipped around, expecting to see Daeva. She must have planned on me following- Laelyn?! WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE? 

Author's Note!

Oh my goodness- I have over 80 reads now! That might sound like a small number to you guys but it means the WORLD to me! Seriously, I think I'm freaking out. XD AND GUYS, WE'RE #399 IN SCIENCE FICTION! OUT OF 203K STORIES!!! That's crazy! I think I'm dying. Am I actually dying? I  think I'm actually dying. Thank you all so so sooo much for reading this! This book just started out as something that I just let my best friend read but I'm so happy to share this with all of you. I usually won't update for a week, but I decided to update early because so many of you are reading this right now! Don't forget to comment and vote to let me know what you think! Lots of love!

Savy Pearson