Ezra left the Chapel deep in thought. All he could think about after his meeting with his brother were the past challenges he had faced. It was terrible; they tasked Ezra to protect someone, and he failed to do so. Because of that, they kicked him out of Empyrean until he could fix the mistake he made.

"Ezra!" exclaimed his older brother.

Eighteen-year-old Ezra entered a large meeting room that looked like the temple of his brother, Michael. Murals of Ezra's siblings were painted on the walls. Ezra's sandals echoed on the marble floor with every step he made until he saw his brother standing on the steps inside. A chandelier hung gloriously from the ceiling. The light hit the chandelier, sparkling in the celestial light.

"Y-yes brother?" Ezra said as he approached Michael. "Y-you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Michael said the Archangel turned to speak with Ezra, pulling his attention away from the murals. "Tell me, why are you not with Margaret?"

"I... w... well." Ezra stammered.

"You what?"

"I went in search of her, but I could not find where she disappeared to," Ezra answered. "I did not give up my search, but when I found her... brother, words cannot describe what I witnessed."

"Ezra, this is the second time someone died on your watch."

"Brother, I swear I am trying to get better!" Ezra exclaimed, but that fell to deaf ears. "Please, you need to give me another chance!"

"Ezra, we have order! You know this, that is how things run smoothly!" Michael's voice boomed throughout the temple. "You have one more chance. If you mess up again, then you know the punishment."

"Yes brother, I do." Ezra looked down. He knew he was in trouble, and he didn't want to lose his wings.

"Search for a girl named Althea. She is important. I will meet up with you later." Michael explained. "And Ezra, do not fail us."

Ezra paused at a tree and leaned against it. When he looked over, he saw Peter and Jennifer meeting with their friends.

"You think you're so smart?" Ezra said to no one in particular. "You may have this campus fooled, but not me."

Peter and Adam were talking with each other before looking directly at Ezra. Ezra stood straighter as the group walked over to him. "Great, looks like the doom squad is on their way here."

"Well, look who it is," said Adam. "Ezra, the Guardian Angel who failed to protect his charge."

"What do you want?" Ezra asked. Adam laughed, seeing that Ezra was still acting high and mighty. "I know you are planning something. Did you think I was going to sit around and let you get away with this?"

"That's strange, considering you did that at the last school, when we practically cut up your little charge," Adam responded. "Did you feel powerless?"

Ezra glared daggers at Adam. Anger started going through his entire body and he desperately wanted to yell at Adam and say what really happened, but he contained it. A reaction as just what the Servants of Evil wanted from him.

"That is not what happened," Ezra said through clenched teeth.

"Really? Then tell me Ezra. What really happened?" Adam said as an evil smirk appeared, daring Ezra to say something.

Before Ezra could risk blowing his cover and reacting to Adam and his friends, he saw Althea come out of the library and walk toward them. She arrived not a moment too soon: one minute longer, and Ezra would have lost it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Althea asked, glaring at Peter and his friends. "I come out of the library after studying for a test, and stumble across you four ganging up on Ezra."

"Stay out of this," Peter said. "It's none of your business."

Althea reached over and grabbed Ezra's wrist, pulling him behind her.

"You should leave. Get a life instead of trying to attack people who you barely know," Althea responded to the others.

"Oh, I'm sure you know a little about him," Jennifer said. "Have you told her yet, Ezra?"

Ezra remained still and silent; Althea was paying attention to the group, so she did not see Ezra pulling out a blade. Sharp and silver, the blade cut through anything given the chance.

Jennifer seemed to notice and chuckled. "I see. She doesn't know. Should we jump in and tell her the truth?"

"What are you going on about?" Althea asked. "I will not ask again. Get lost!"

"Fine," Adam said. "Come on you guys, Let's leave Ezra alone with his new friend. I'm sure she'll find out who he is."

Peter and his friends walked away from the situation. Ezra placed his blade back in the sheath as Althea turned toward him with concern.

"Are you okay?" Althea asked.

"I'm fine, they irk me sometimes," Ezra answered.

"What were they talking about?"

"Nothing," Ezra said. "What were you really doing in that library? Were you following them?"

"Peter threatened me, so I wanted to find out what he was up to," Althea said.

"Althea, I need you to stay out of this," Ezra warned. "They aren't the kinds of people you can trust."

"I will not stand around and let them get away with whatever they're planning to do," Althea said stubbornly.

Ezra sighed since he knew she was going to get herself killed, or worse. At first, it tempted him to tell her about her powers, but he paused.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Ezra asked.

"It'll have to wait. I've got to get to work," Althea said and walked away from Ezra. But Ezra raced to catch up to her.

*~*~*

Peter and his friends got back to their room. He was annoyed. Peter already told that girl to stay out of the way, but it turned out she was stubborn enough to get herself involved with their business. If she continued to get in the way, they'd have to do something about it.

"That little girl is getting annoying," Jennifer complained. "I thought you told her not to get involved with their business. If she continued to get in the way, they'd have to do something about it.

"That little girl is getting annoying," Jennifer complained. "I thought you told her not to get involved?"

"I did," Peter said, rolling his eyes. "As you can see, she doesn't exactly want to listen."

"Tell me, did you know she was in the library?" Alex asked. Peter huffed and sat down at the island counter, running his hands through his hair. "Well?"

"No, I was certain she wasn't there, plus Jennifer would have told me," Peter responded.

"It's not my job to tell you if someone is watching us!" Jennifer exclaimed. "I think we need to keep a close watch on this girl. She already knows that you and Adam are against her. And let's not forget that if we want to do this right, we need someone who can remain calm under pressure and be subtle enough to follow her."

As if an idea had occurred to him, Peter smirked at Jennifer, who raised an eyebrow.

"What are you smirking at?"

"Oh, you know," Peter said. "She might not expect that you're following her."

"Excuse me?!" Jennifer exclaimed. "Since when do I have to do this?!"

"Since you volunteered yourself," Adam said, as Jennifer frowned. "Well, hop to it. We don't need anyone getting in our way. The rest of us will search for the ingredients."

Jennifer grumbled to herself before walking out of the dormitory. Althea walked back to her dorm when Ezra caught up with her.

"What now?" she asked.

"Look, I know everything is happening so fast and that we just met, but after you get off work, I need you to meet me at the chapel," Ezra said.

"What? Why?"

"Because it's important. I can't tell you right now," Ezra continued. "IF you want answers, meet me there."

Althea hesitated for a little before sighing and agreeing to meet him there. Althea walked away from Ezra, leaving him on the main campus. However, as she made her way downstairs, she heard the rustling of feathers, which soon faded into complete silence. Althea paused and turned around, noticing that Ezra had disappeared. Confused, she tried not to think about what she heard. She was lost in thought about all that happened, but her mind always traveled to the students and their reason for targeting Ezra. She got into her car and drove to work, Althea snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a car following her in her rearview mirror. The windows were tinted, so she thought little about it. But to be on the safe side, Althea made a few turns, only to find out the car did the same thing.

Okay, this is weird, Althea thought to herself. She tried her best to ignore it and to avoid even speculating who might be in the car. She focused on her driving until she finally made it to her job. She parked the car and saw that the vehicle wasn't there. A huge sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she turned off her car and grabbed her belongings. She walked inside to clock in.

Most of her evening was smooth sailing, helping customers out when they needed it, and even cutting fabric. A few hours into her shift, out of her peripheral vision, she saw someone standing by a feature. Thinking it was only a customer, she ignored the person and helped another. She looked up and the person suddenly stood in front of her. Althea stumbled, unsure of how the customer could walk over to her so fast.

"Can I help you?" Althea said once she got her balance.

"Probably," The woman said. Althea easily recognized who was talking to her: the short black and purple hair gave it away. "Let me guess, you already know who I am?"

"You're the girl who hangs out with Peter and his friends," Althea said matter-of-factly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we haven't exactly met. I'm Jennifer," Jennifer said, holding out her hand. Althea pushed Jennifer's hand away from her, not willing to take any chances. "I know your name is Althea."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I'm glad we touched that," Althea stated, and walked over to some fabrics that were falling from the shelf. "What are you here for? I know you're not going shopping."

"Do I really need to get permission to come here? That seems rather harsh, don't you think?" Jennifer asked. "I'm here to tell you we don't experiment with people like you. You're nothing but a curse on this planet that needs to be extinguished."

"I don't know what you're—" Althea turned to face Jennifer, only to find that she disappeared. "Seriously?"

After a few hours of working, Althea finally got off and arrived back on campus within twenty minutes. Remembering that she'd told Ezra she'd meet him at the chapel, she turned into a parking lot and climbed out of her car. Althea stood in front of the long flight of stairs leading to the atrium. She walked up the stairs and entered the chapel through large glass doors. A large statue of Jesus on a cross stood in the center of the stage, shining the lights.

"Hello?" Althea called out. "Ezra? You told me to meet you in the chapel. Where are you?"

"I was worried that you wouldn't show up," Ezra said, coming down from the stairs to the right of the chapel. "I'm glad you made it."

"Why did you want me to meet you here?" Althea asked.

"Because there are things that need to be addressed," another voice said. Althea turned to find another man standing on the opposite side of the chapel.

"Who are you?" Althea asked.

"I think you know," the man said. Althea looked at the two men as she saw an outline of angel wings burning bright blue.