Chapter 1

Rose awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. She wearily opened her eyes to look at the date shown on the corner of the clocks screen. 'Monday, September fourteenth, of the year twenty fifteen. Five thirty in the friggen morning. Great, science report presentations are today.' Rose got out of bed, and got dressed. She put on her favorite crucifix and put on the denim jacket she received from her mom the last Christmas before she died. She then looked in her backpack to make sure that all of her required belongings were there. After double checking to make sure she didn't forget her report, she left her room. Slowly she shut her bedroom door behind her in order to let her father to continue sleeping. She tip-toed toward the fridge to grab herself a pizza pop for lunch, and a granola bar for breakfast. Rose walked up to her sleeping father, who was sleeping on the couch with a beer bottle in hand, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. His body gave off a strong smell of alcohol and drugs leading Rose to guess that he was on the couch the whole night. She put the thought of her dad drinking and inhaling powdered drugs out of her mind, and replaced the thought with her science presentation, and looked over her speech to make sure she memorized it correctly. With this in mind she exited her house.

Gabriel heard a familiar voice in his head loudly call his name. 'Gabriel!' Hearing the voice surprised him making him loose control of his skateboard forcing him to make a sharp turn narrowly avoiding an inappropriately placed garbage can. Gabriel responded to the voice in his head to make their conversation private. 'You shouldn't call me while I'm driving something fast and potentially dangerous!' Ignoring that last statement, the voice continued 'What's the status on our target?' Gabriel responded 'Fortunately, and unfortunately, he hasn't been active. He's probably laying low now because I killed some of his goons. Other than that night three years ago, concerning Rose, he has remained hidden. How are things at your end? Do we have a name yet?' The voice responded 'Nothing. Thankfully no more bodies, or should I say pieces of bodies, have come in the hospital. It's a relief that no more humans are dying by his hand. But because of this, we have no more leads on him. We have don't have a name either. This means that he has either returned back to hell, or is still in this city.' 'Oh he's here all right. I can feel it.' The voice continued 'Now, apparently there are some new students coming to the school today. One of them might be the target or one of his subordinates. Either way, it would be a good opportunity to finally get a lead on him, and send him back to hell. Report back to me once you have confirmed the identities of the students.' Gabriel responded 'Understood.' Gabriel stopped and put his skateboard in his backpack in front of Roses house. 'Be careful Gabriel. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of this. You need to focus on getting the mission done without being noticed. ' 'I know.' 'And you can't tell Rose about this either. We don't want her to get more involved in the situation than she already is.' Gabriel paused. 'I understand.' 'Good. I'll contact you if I receive any more information.' 'Ok. Thanks Raphael.' The voice fell silent leaving Gabriel to believe that he left his head.

At that moment Rose came out of her house, and waved at Gabriel. "Hey Gabriel!" "Hey Rose!" Rose ran up to Gabriel, and they started walking toward the bus stop. "So, did you finish the report Rose?" "Yep, I stayed up all night working on it." "I can tell. You seem to be falling asleep as we walk." "Shut up!" "I'm just kidding relax." "It's not my fault!" Gabriel began to laugh "So seem to be a little grouchy as well!" "You done teasing me?" Gabriel laughed a little bit longer. "Now I'm done." "Good! Anyway, when I eventually went to sleep, I kept having nightmares." Gabriel looked at her "What kind of nightmares?" The tone in Gabriel's voice changed as soon as Rose mentioned her nightmares again. "What kind of nightmares? Same one as before?" "Yes. The day we first met. I keep hearing those sounds. That strange screaming, and at the end of it I always see this guy at the end of the alleyway." Gabriel remembered that day well. But when Rose mentioned a man at the end of the hallway he suddenly became very curious "What guy?"

Roses face turned pale at the thought of the man in her dreams "He wasn't one of the thugs. He dressed like them but he was defiantly different. He wore a large black trench coat with chains all around it. He had long, black, messy hair like as if he just came from a rock concert or something. Anyway, he had a tone of piercings on his face-. That face." Rose began to tremble "His eyes were….were…I don't know how to explain it. It's almost like he was a demon or something." Rose didn't notice, but Gabriel gave a sharp look of fear, shock, and realization. Could it be? He thought. Rose continued "They were dark and…and fiery, and he wouldn't stop staring at me, and his teeth! He had large hideous sharp teeth! Almost like shark teeth, and….and…and" Rose began to tremble even more, and Gabriel grew more fearful at the thought that she saw 'him'. Rose went on "He suddenly grew these huge dragon wings. He smiled at me, and then opened his mouth, and licked his lips with this long and disgusting tongue. And then he" Gabriel looked ahead and noticed that they were nearing the bus stop. He then hid his expression, and said "Let's stop talking about this. You're trembling." Rose looked at her hand to see that she was in fact trembling profusely. "Ok. I'll stop." Gabriel let out a small smile "Good." But Gabriel was lying. Things were far from good. They walked closer to the bus stop, and saw someone sitting on the bench.

"Hi Grim!" said Rose, once she got to the bench. The name 'Grim' suited the person sitting on the bench. It wasn't his name though. That's just what everyone calls him, because he never says his actual name. He wore mainly black on is body. He wore big leather boots with black jeans and two belts with black and white strips (one strait, the other coming down at an angle), with a chain coming down and around his left hip. He had leather gloves on with the fingers cut off, and a leather jacket with a hood on it, and the collar up. He always wore the hood up which covered his face. The only fraction of his head that you can see is an outline of his face, his large skull headphones, and some of his white albino hair poking out from under the hood. He was sitting on the bench hunched over, reading a book with no title on it. Rose was always curious about him. He was always shy around everybody, and only spoke when he was asked a question.

Rose has always tried to be friends with him, but he would avoid her like he was scared of her or something. Nobody really pays attention to him because he is a loner, and people pick on him because of that. He always takes it to without saying a word. He always keeps his head low and reads that book every single minute of the day. This made Rose even more curious. She loves to read, and the fact that someone reads one particular book all the time for two years strait makes her wonder what it is and what's makes it such a good book to read. He never tells her what it is though. She always asks him repeatedly with the same response every time. "You wouldn't like it." or "it's not much of a read." After that he will walk away in silence with his head down again.

'Maybe he will tell me today' Rose thought. "So, what's ya reading there Grim?" Grim continued to read as if he never heard the question. Rose gave a look of irritation and Gabriel noticed. "Why do you keep asking him? It's not like he's ever going to tell you." Rose gave Gabriel a sharp look of even more irritation and annoyance which made Gabriel immediately shut his mouth. She looked back at Grim and yelled. "I asked you a question Grim! What is the name of that book?" Grim immediately closed the book with one hand, placed it inside of his coat, and stood up. The bus had just come to the stop. The doors opened and Grim walked up to the door only to step to the side to allow Rose to go first. He did this every morning. As Rose walked into the bus she said "I still want to know the title, and no amount of chivalry can make me stop asking!" Grim gave a sigh of annoyance and got onto the bus after Gabriel.

Gabriel and Rose sat together on the middle seat, on the left side of the bus, while Grim walked to his usual lonely seat at the back. This was Rose's every day morning routine. Wake up, get dressed, walk with Gabriel to the bus stop, ask Grim about the book, go on the bus before Grim, and go to school. What Rose doesn't know is that her average school day is going to take a turn for the worst.

Throughout the entire bus ride, Gabriel thought about Roses dream. 'If what she said is true, then I'm going to have to report to Raphael immediately on the identity of the target.' Then another thought came across Gabriel's mind which scared him. 'Could he be one of the new students? If so, than things just a lot more complicated, and dangerous too. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the new students and their actions. He will most likely be disguised so I'm going to have to pay more attention to the mannerisms and behaviors of the students. He may be disguised as a human, but he won't be able to fake human very well. Acting is not one of his strong points which will benefit me in finding him.'

Rose looked over at Gabriel who was staring out the window deep in thought. "I wonder who the new students are going to be." Gabriel looked at her as if he had just woken up from a nap. "Huh? Sorry I was thinking about the presentation. What were you talking about?" "The new students. Didn't you hear? There are going to be new students coming to our school today. Don't you want to know who they are?" Gabriel grinned a little. "Yes. I would like to meet them. How many of them are there do you think? " 'this will help me narrow them down.' thought Gabriel. "I was told there is going to be five, but I don't know for sure." Gabriel was comforted by Roses answer 'Good. That makes it easier for me to ID all of them in a short period of time.' Rose kept talking "I was also told that they were all part of this biker gang or something." Gabriel's heart sank 'Crap! A Biker gang! They're all probably going to be rude and self-centered! Who needs acting skills when all of your friends have the same behavior as you! This isn't going to be as easy as I thought it was!' "A biker gang you say?" Gabriel said in a curious and calm tone as if he wasn't freaking out. "Yep. That's what they say anyway. I also heard a rumor that they were involved in the serial killings that have been going on." Gabriel began to freak out even more 'Crap! Now what am I supposed to do! Any one of those guys could be the target! It's going to be like finding hay in a hay stack! There all the same!' Rose began to talk again "You ok Gabriel? You look a little sick." Realizing that he was starting to show his emotions, Gabriel pulled himself together and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired is all." Rose gave a sigh of relief. "Good. For a minute there I thought you were freaking out because the new students are gang members." Gabriel laughed sarcastically. "What? I'm not freaked out I'm perfectly fine, just fine." While laughing Gabriel thought to himself 'Wow. Either that was the luckiest guess in the world, or I'm starting to blow my cover.'

The bus suddenly stopped. The bus driver then opened the bus doors and yelled "Here we are. Saint Michael's University!" Everyone then rose from their seats and ran out of the two exits on the right side of the bus. Upon exiting the bus, Gabriel and Rose stopped and stared in awe as five motor cycles entered into the parking lot one at a time. Each of the five gang members wore similar clothing. They all wore leather on their bodies. Some of them had regular jackets, while others wore leather trench coats. They all wore black sun glasses, aviators, and gloves on their hands.

They all parked their shiny chrome motor cycles, and walked past them toward the entrance. Rose noticed three of them in particular. The first one was very handsome. He had black spiked-up hair, a slightly large nose, a slight goatee, and kind brown eyes. As he walked past her the two of them locked eyes. To Rose, time stopped and her heart began to race. She felt intoxicated by his glance and the smile that he gave her. Rose blushed and turned her head to look away, only to find herself looking at another handsome man. He had long black hair, which he had fashioned into a pony tail. His bangs however were bright blonde. It was strange because only half of his bangs were blonde, while the other half remained black. It was a strange look but it suited him quite well. Rose could not see his full face however, because he was staring at the large statue of Saint Michael in front of the school.

The other three bikers looked rather familiar. They all had green and blue hair. One of them had a large Trench coat and a ton of piercings on his face. Then Rose suddenly remembered. 'That night three years ago in the alley! It's him! The gang leader!' Rose felt very frightened. 'The guy that tried to kill me three years ago is going to my school! I`ll be seeing him every day for six hours!' Rose turned around and grabbed Gabriel. She was starting to sob.

"What's wrong Rose?" Gabriel asked Rose; who was crying into his hoodie. He hugged her to provide comfort for her sudden outburst of sadness and tears. That's what he always did when she was upset. For all the years she was depressed or sad about something he would always be there to help her with problems she might be encountering. He would always be there to put a smile back on her face.

He looked up and felt the very same blow of fear that made Rose tremble before him. 'Him! How is that possible? It can't possibly be him! What's he doing here?' The man, whom Gabriel and Rose were referring to, looked Gabriel in the eye and sneered at him. They held eye contact for a long while. During this period Gabriel had a flash back from that night three years ago in the alley way with Rose. He remembered looking back at the torn limbs of the man and his subordinates dissolving into a large toxic fog of sulfur and then dissipating in the wind. Now that very same person was standing before him, staring at him with an intimidating and evil glance.

A voice came into Gabriel's mind. This voice was not Raphael's however. This new voice is much deeper and more menacing than Raphael's. 'A pleasure to see you again Gabriel.' Gabriel at once was struck with a sensation that he was very unfamiliar with. His body began to tremble and his heart rate increased traumatically. 'Fear' thought Gabriel. 'This must be what fear feels like. A human quality I thought I would never experience. Such a terrible feeling. I can truly understand now how Rose must have felt on that night three years ago and right at this very moment.' He looked at Rose who was still crying in his hoodie. He looked back up and saw that the man had walked into the school. He snapped out of his entanglement with the concept of fear and focused on Rose.

Rose was still crying when he heard Gabriel calmly say "Hey. Please don't cry anymore. There's no need to be afraid." Rose stopped crying and looked at Gabriel. Gabriel smiled softly and said "You'll always have God watching over you. He's always her to look out for you and protect you. He's always here for Rose. And so will I." Rose began to lose her sense of dread and fear and was filled with a feeling of warmth and comfort from what Gabriel had said to her. She smiled at Gabriel and gave him a hug to show her thanks. Gabriel hugged her back and said "Always." Gabriel and Rose heard the bell go off, and walked into the school.

Everyone was sitting in their seats in the science room, anxiously waiting for the teacher to come in and see their presentations. Rose looked around and noticed five new empty seats in the classroom. She assumed that they were for the new students. One of the empty seats was beside her own as well as Gabriel's, who was sitting beside Rose. Rose began to feel nervous. Not just about the new students, and her reunion from her attacker, but from how she was going to do on her presentation. These presentations were critical to everyone because the marks from the presentations are worth twenty percent of their entire school mark.

Gabriel notice how tense she is. He is tense too. Science is not one of his strong points. This made Gabriel extremely nervous. 'I can't afford to fail. If I do then I won't be able to obtain any leads on the target, Rose would be in danger, and the blame will fall on me! I can't let that happen. This is way too much stress for someone like me! I don't think I can handle this much longer! I'm here to help not learn! ' Rose leaned over toward Gabriel. "Hey. How do you feel about your presentation?" Gabriel placed his head on his desk in despair. "I don't want to talk about it." Rose giggled a little. "Don't be silly. You'll do fine. I'm sure of it." Gabriel let out a long sigh "Maybe. If he even gets here. Where the heck is he?" At that moment a man opened the classroom door. The room fell silent. "Good afternoon students" The man said. Gabriel immediately looked at the man in complete shock and terror. 'What the heck is HE doing here? He's not supposed to be here! Oh crap! Of all people why did it have to be him?' The man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "My name is Raphael."

"I will repeat that. My name is Raphael. Not Raph or Ralph or any other ridiculous nick name that you can come up with! It is just simply Raphael. My last name is not one I give out lightly! As to why I do not give out such information to individuals such as yourselves is completely out of the question! You will address me as professor, Doctor or just plainly Raphael. Not both title and name at the same time! It would sound completely ridiculous when it is said with my first name and not my last." Rose recognized the man immediately. He was the doctor who treated her concussion three years ago. He hasn't changed a bit. He always talks technical, and he is completely obsessed with etiquette. He is a young man. Actually, he is youngest doctor that Rose has ever seen. He looked only about Gabriel's and her age, with perfect posture. He had long neat red hair and a sophisticated yet kind face. He wears glasses and a long white doctor's lab coat with a pocket protector and pens. Underneath his coat he wore a black turtle neck shirt and jeans, with brown shoes. He also has a long navy blue scarf wrapped loosely around his neck.

Raphael continued "Now due to the fact that your original teacher for this class, Mr. Evans, is unable to attend to this class at this time, I will be your new teacher for the time being." 'I'd rather have Mr. Evans.' Thought Gabriel. Raphael looked at Gabriel in annoyance. 'Oh, crap I think he heard me!' Raphael continued. "As most of you have heard, you will be receiving five new students in your class today. So the school board, myself included, would appreciate your help in making them feel more welcome here at Saint Michaels. Now as the teacher I am obligated to introduce our new students." As the door opened both Rose and Gabriel began to feel nervous. As each person walked into the room Raphael said their name, and which seat they will be sitting in. Both Rose and Gabriel were relieved to hear that the guy in the trench coat (apparently his name is Frank) has been seated in the back of the room. Than it came down to the last two. The man that Rose had seen earlier, with the black spikey hair, was called up next. "This is Bill, everyone. He will be seated right over there." Raphael then pointed to the empty desk beside Rose. Rose felt a little nervous to meet him. She liked him a lot, but the fact that he hangs around with a dangerous biker gang still concerns her. Bill walked over to his seat, placed down his books, and then seated himself. Without realizing it Rose was staring at him for a long time. Bill looked over at her. Realizing what she was doing, Rose quickly turned her head, and blushed. Confused, bill turned his attention back to the teacher.

Gabriel noticed what Rose had done. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what happened. 'It almost looks as if Rose is very fond of Bill.' Thought Gabriel 'I can only hope, for her sake that he is not one of the targets.'

"And now for our final new student…." The door opened and the last of the bikers had appeared into the room. Rose recognized him as the man with long black hair and bangs that were half blonde. Now that Rose could see his face, she saw that he was wearing sunglasses and couldn't see his eyes.

Gabriel felt a shockwave of power when the final biker walked into the room. 'Who could THIS be now?' The man then removed his sunglasses revealing his bright, powerful, blue eyes. Gabriel recognized him immediately and was blown away in shock and awe.

The man than spoke these words, which confirmed what Gabriel was thinking. "My name is Michael."