I would really like to know what is going on here. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Hoon’s powers, but obviously not, considering I just took a bunch of pictures with my eyes and I could hear him in my mind. If I wasn’t on his good side, none of my personal thoughts would be safe.

I still didn’t see Eli so that jerk must’ve dropped me off and left me here. Well, I’m just going to stay put like Hoon told me to so I walked back into the safety of the cave. I had just sat down near the fire to warm up when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was standing at the mouth of the cave. I was a bit frightened because I didn’t know what kind of creatures lurked in these woods. All I know is that its skin or whatever gleamed white in the moonlight. It was completely breathtaking. My curiosity got the better of me as I quietly approached the creature. It had its back turned toward me. When I got only a few feet away from it did I then realize it was Eli. I could see the long lines from his shoulder blades to his middle back where his wings came out of; the muscles in his back tense with some underlining frustration. In all words, he looked y and perfect. I had to be careful what I thought because at any moment, Hoon could read what I was thinking and then yet another war would break loose.

Eli turned around and looked straight into my eyes. His eyes were glowing--like literally glowing. Okay, is he like a freaking vampire or something?! He walked towards me and suddenly I felt scared. I started backing away from him until I had backed myself into the nearby rock wall. He stood so close to me, leaving no space in between our bodies. What really freaked me out was the fact that he didn’t say anything; he just stood and stared at me with his now normal brown eyes. And just like that, he turned around and went back out to staring into the starry sky.

I let out the breath that I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. As I approached him again, he started talking. “Sometimes I wish I would’ve been able to stay in the mortal world.” I was a little confused by his statement and judging by my prolonged silence he caught on. “I wasn’t always like this you know, a fallen angel. No, I was just like you at one point, a human. I had a family and a normal teenage life, but that all changed one day. I was at a party drinking, underage of course and me and my friends decided it would be fun to sneak into the carnival that was in town. Of course at that time of the night, it was closed, but hey, we were young and wasted at that point so we could’ve cared less. We snuck into the fortune teller’s tent and basically trashed the place. We were even too drunk to realize that the old fortune teller was asleep in the back and he caught us. My friends were able to escape, I however wasn’t as lucky. He cursed me and that’s how I ended up a fallen angel in Neverland.”

“Eli--I don’t know what to say.” And that was the truth, I was utterly speechless. “I’ve never told anyone that story before. Everyone thinks I’m just a fallen angel from another dimension that wound up here. If they knew I was once a mortal, they’d probably shun or try to kill me.”

A random question just popped into my mind. “So is that what‘ll happen to me?” Eli turned to face me again. “I don’t understand what you mean.” “Alexander said I had to go through some kinds of trials to determine which side I belong to; your side or the angels. Whichever side accepts me, will I turn into one of them?” “Honestly, I have no clue Autumn. I wish I could give you an answer, but I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Then another question came to my mind. “Why did you drag me out of the castle?” “I didn’t want to see you get hurt. I don’t know why, but I feel close to you, like we have this strange universal connection. Maybe it’s because deep down, we’re both mortals or another reason, but I feel like I need to do everything in my power to get you out of here while you still have a chance. It might be too late for me, but if I can save you, then I will have no regrets. I want you to be able to see your family; to watch your parents grow old together. I want you to be able to get married and start a family. To this day, my parents believe I’m dead. For awhile I was able to monitor what was going on with them on Earth and they thought I was murdered or kidnapped. They even had a memorial service for me, but they couldn’t find a body and they never will. Each and every day, they never give up hope that one day I’ll return back to them and we can be a family once again. It pains me to see them like this, but I know even if I could return to them, I don’t want them to see what I’ve become.”

“Eli, you’re not a monster.” “You haven’t seen what I’m capable of.” “I don’t care, you’re still human deep inside somewhere and I will do everything in my power to let you see your family again. You have to trust me Eli. We need to stick together because we’re the only people who can figure out a way to get us back to our families.”

He walked up to me and wrapped his strong arms around my waist. By the way, did I mention he didn’t have a shirt on?! Yeah, I guess now would be a good time to mention that, considering I’m now face to face with his glorified toned abdomen and chest. Let’s get back to the story before I start drooling.

He brought his lips to my ear, sending shivers down my spine. He whispered, “I do trust you Autumn, but we both know you’re better off without me.”

He must’ve sensed something because he looked out towards the cave opening and his eyes started glowing again. If I was quiet enough, I could actually hear a low growl coming from deep within him. He whipped his head back in my direction and planted a small kiss on my forehead before taking off into the nearby forest.

A few seconds later and I could now see what Eli had heard; a glowing pair of white wings descending their way towards me.