Deep in the woods on the northwestern border of Alabama hidden under a canopy of trees set a rusted brown trailer. Inside lying on a bed—the only thing in the trailer—was a blonde-haired woman. She was in a deep sleep, dreaming about the life she could have had if her ex-boyfriend hadn't been immortal. She had planned for her human life; cheerleading at a big university, falling in love and having a family of her own. The stab to Mason's heart was her reality check. There was no bloodshed. To him, it felt like nothing more than a smack on his chest. That was the moment she knew her life would never be more than peculiar. All of her hopes and dreams were shattered.
Shelly opened her eyes and cried. "Why had I chosen you? Why hadn't I attached myself to a different angel?"
Outside, thunder from an invisible storm rumbled in the sky, sending strikes of lightning in multiple directions. One streak hit a tree and caused a branch to snap. It landed with a loud BOOM! on the ground beside the trailer and the ground shook.
Shelly stood and went to the window. Over the past few weeks she had expected company from her former boyfriend and his brothers, knowing that when they came she would die soon afterwards. She peeked behind the curtain and saw the limb that had been the cause of her fear. She chuckled at her mistake and turned around then gasped at the sight in front of her.
"Hi-ya, Shell," Mason said.
"What are you doing here?" Shelly asked.
"We're going to save Avril," Michel said from behind her. She spun and saw him standing just a few feet away.
"And Dawn," Chase said from beside her.
She glanced around. Her breathing sped up as she noticed that escape was impossible. She was surrounded. Chase and Michel grabbed Shelly's arms and prevented any chance she had of escape.
Shelly laughed. "Do you honestly think that capturing me will do any good? When the time comes Dawn won't be able to control herself. She won't listen to you. The only thing she will care about is becoming human." She snickered. "I'll tell you a secret. If I hadn't tricked her, she wouldn't be an outcast. If I hadn't lied to her, she would already be human."
Mason snarled. "You little—'
She cut him off. "What? I'm an outcast. It's my job to make people miserable."
"But your life will end tonight."
***
"What the heck is taking so long?" I asked.
I had paced Dawn's living room for more than half an hour. The others should have been back a long time ago. I hoped things hadn't gone awry. Shelly knew of our plan. There was no telling what she could have done to them. They couldn't be killed, obviously, but she could have ceased them and terminated their mission.
"Calm down, Avril," Scott tried to reason with me. "We're human, too. There are some things even we can't do."
Scott and Shane were sitting on the couch. They were trying to calm me down, but their attempts were futile. The only way I could be calm was if Mason came through the door with Shelly in tow, and if Dawn miraculously killed her instead of me. Our time was almost up. The hands on the grandfather clock moved closer and closer to the designated time, and the minutes were quickly flying by.
"Avril?"
Dawn appeared in the hallway, rubbing her eyes. She was asleep when we got here, and that was an hour ago. We didn't want to get here too early but would have come sooner if we knew it was going to take so long to fetch Shelly. They could have captured her this morning after we made our plan, but we were afraid she'd escape and ruin everything.
