Hey Guys! So this is my first attempt at fan fiction. This story takes place a few months after the events of Hush Hush. I will try to update as fast as I possibly can. Constructive criticisms and suggestions are always welcome. Please Review!

PROLOGUE

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed. Cold shivers flooded through my body. Patch's face came into view as he bobbed back to the surface.

"It's not that cold Nora. It's got a heater for Christ's sake," he said through a smile.

"Maybe it's heated when the people are home. When they're on vacation, not so much," I whispered through chattering teeth. We were swimming in the Morson family's pool, unbeknownst to them. They had taken off on their R.V trip around the country about a week ago and weren't due back for a month. I let out a sigh and shook my head with my eyes closed, "I can't believe you talked me into this."

Patch tried to look offended, "So now I talked you into this? You were the one who suggested we go swimming."

That was true. I had suggested swimming this afternoon when Patch had come over. "I meant at the public pool, preferably during opening hours."

"Well sorry angel, but I don't do public pools. Isn't this better though? No little annoying kids. No fifty year olds in speedos. We have the whole place to ourselves." He said, moving ever so gracefully though the midnight water as he spoke. "Or would you prefer to have the fifty year olds in speedos?" he joked.

"Well, they are my type," I answered through a laugh.

"But seriously, isn't it better having the whole place to ourselves?" he smiled.

I shot him a reproachful look, "yeah, until the next teen couple shows up with the same idea as we had-"

"And exactly what idea is that?" Patch asked, moving closer.

I floated over to him, closing the distance between us with a few strokes. "To be alone…no parents," I leant in and brushed over his lips with mine, "no friends," I brushed over his lips again, "no housekeepers." He laughed as I gave up the tease and pressed my mouth to his. The taste of his lips was sweet yet salty, as if the chlorine has seeped into them.

"Mmmm, I like that idea," Patch said through kisses. Almost six months had past since the (rather long) night in which Patch had told me he was happy to give up his chance at a human body. Happy to just be with me, as my guardian angel. In the last six months there'd been a lot less damsel moments and the only thing Patch had really saved me from was boredom. We were content, we were happy. Everything was good.

CHAPTER 1

I hadn't seen Patch in a few days. Okay, so it had only been four days. But he hadn't called, left a voicemail…nothing. On the inside I was going crazy but I refused to let it show on the outside. I was not going to be one of 'those' girls. The girls who panicked if their boyfriend didn't call, then it turns out there was actually a perfectly reasonable excuse for the not calling. No, I would not allow myself to become that girl. Neither would Vee for that matter.

I was driving home from her place after spending the day with her. We'd shopped, pigged out on fast food, mocked Marcie Millar mercilessly and even had time to squeeze in an utterly awkward conversation about how far Patch and I had gone. Of course the 'awkward' label only applied to me because Vee certainly didn't have any qualms about asking. And believed me, she asked and asked and asked. I managed to get her off my back by telling her about eighty times that we hadn't done it and that when we did she would be the first to know.

The last part was true in a way; of course she would be the first to know. I mean, I wasn't going to tell anyone else and I didn't envision Patch bragging to the other guardian angels. But I didn't know if I would tell her straight away. It was just that if Patch and I did finally 'do it', I didn't want to jinx the relationship by running to Vee with all the sordid details. Maybe that logic didn't make sense to others but in my head it sounded right.

I turned onto my street and the Neon groaned as I pushed it forward down the long dark stretch of road. It was storming outside and I could practically feel the car frame vibrating as thunder roared in the night. Lightning lit up the night sky momentarily and I saw the house coming closer. I forced the car just that bit further until the familiar sound of the driveway gravel crunching beneath the wheels reached my ears.

I organised myself, picking up all the shopping bags I physically could with one hand and got the house keys ready in the other. I wrenched open the car door and slammed it back, ready to dash for the door. But the door didn't close. I slammed it again, raindrops now dripping from my nose. But it just wouldn't close. I opened it to again to see if the seatbelt was in the doorframe but there was absolutely nothing blocking the door. Frustrated, I slammed the door with as much power as is possible for a drenched teenage girl holding seven shopping bags. It closed perfectly showing no sign that there'd ever been anything stopping it. Not wanting to stand in the rain and question it, I sprinted for the porch and shoved the keys in the door, silently praying that the lock wasn't jammed. It wasn't, and I swung the door open as soon as the key clicked.

Finally, was all I could think as I shut the door behind me and let the bags fall from my cold hands. The house was empty as it was Dorothea's day off and my mum was away on business. I flipped the light switch but nothing happened. I flipped it again and nothing happened. Dang, power was out. Looking down to the pool of water I was creating, I slipped off my shoes with a squelch and headed for my room. There was a flashlight at the back of my closet from when Vee and I were little and used to tell each other ghost stories. I just hoped the batteries still worked.

I climbed the stairs two at a time and trudged down the dark landing to my bedroom door. I pushed it open to find my window fully open and rain flooding into the room. I ran to it and reached out into the night air, trying to grab hold of the flinging glass shutters. The wind blew them in opposite directions making it hard to get a grip, but finally I felt the wooden frames of the shutters in my hands and yanked them shut. I let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion and hung my head in relief.

"Hello Nora…" spoke a voice from just over my shoulder. I spun around hoping to put a body to the voice but I couldn't see anything in the dark. It was pitch black. I could have sworn the person was right behind me but when I reached out all I could feel was empty air. Thunder rumbled from outside the window, causing me to jump. "Why so unsettled Nora?" The voice was so familiar. I could almost tell who was beyond the shadow yet the voice seemed to be clouded, veiled. "Don't frown Nora, you'll get wrinkles."

The veil lifted and I immediately knew who it was. "Patch, what are you doing here?"

I could just see his cold still eyes staring out into the darkness, two white specs staring from the depths. They seemed to be travelling up and down my body. Assessing me. Sizing me up. "I'm just a little bored Nora. You see, there's nothing to do in this damn town. So I thought that I'd venture on over to yours for some fun. What'd you say Nora, you up for some fun?" The way he said 'fun' sent a shiver down my spine.

This wasn't Patch, it couldn't have been. Maybe the old Patch, but not the Patch who'd given up his chance at a human body for me. Not the Patch who was now my guardian angel.

Still startled by his tone I stuttered out, "P-Patch, I think you need to leave. You can come back tomorrow, when you're less….creepy."

"Creepy?" He half snorted, half laughed at the idea. He slinked closer towards me, a ray of moonlight running over his left eye. "You think I'm creepy do you? Am I creeping you out now?" he smirked, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

I was so creeped it was not funny but something told me not to let him hear it, just like when I'd first met him. I mustered up all the courage I could and managed to utter a completely non-convincing, "no."

"Of course not," he said sarcastically.

I decided the best option was to take the offensive; I didn't feel like talking at the moment. I felt like hearing him talk. "Where have you been? I haven't heard from you in four days."

He let out an overdramatic sigh. "Well, Nora," he started to explain as if he were talking to a five year old, "I'm a busy guy. I've had places to go and people to see. I can't be chained to you all the time, can I?" He raised his eyebrows at me as if he expected by to stutter out a 'but please…' just like a kid.

I just stared at him in disbelief. Didn't he remember that he had given up his chance at a body so he could be around me? Had he forgotten his promise to stay near, to be with me.

'I haven't forgotten. I'm just overlooking it.' His voice rang clear through my mind.

I couldn't help but ask 'why?', only I didn't say it out loud. He still heard of course.

"It's just that I've been a little lost over these last few months, but I can see clearly now. I can see you clearly. See you for what you've always been to me. A vessel. A very hot vessel." I couldn't help but wince as he spoke these words.

In a few sentences he had managed to change his character completely, break my heart and imply that he was going to kill me. This couldn't be him. It's just a silly game, in a minute he would slip back into himself and tease me about the look I had on my face. He just needed to hear, out loud, that he'd won.

"Patch, do you want me to say it? Fine. I'm freaked. I'm beyond freaked. Okay?" I hadn't wanted to admit it but I'd had to. If this were a game to him, then those words would end it. But if not, if this was serious, and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach told me it was, the fact was no matter what I admitted, he was inches away from attacking me. All he would have to do was reach out. His fingertips would be able to curl around me easily, be able to dig into my flesh, to pierce my cold skin without an ounce of effort on his part. Admitting my fear had been my only option. My dignity could suffer a little blow, better it than me.

A crooked grin spread across his face. "I don't think that really needed to be said, Nora." I followed his eye line as it lowered to my hands, hands that were shaking uncontrollably. He laughed a quick, sinister laugh. So it wasn't a game.

"Patch," I said firmly, trying to control my shaking speech. "You need to leave. Right now," I told him, pointing to the door with as steady a hand as I could manage. Yet he stood there, unmoving. "I mean it. I want you out of my house. Now." I would've been on the verge of screaming if not for the fear that kept my voice at a strained whisper. "Or I'm calling the police."

"On what?" He said slyly as he produced my cell phone from his jean pocket. Damn, how'd he get that? I was positive it had been in my back pocket the entire ride home. My thoughts flickered over to the cordless house phone, sitting on my bedside table two steps away.

'Sorry Nora, phones are out.'

I turned and stared at him. He simply motioned to the window and mouthed "storm" as if to answer my confusion.

I had nothing to threaten him with. I knew it. He knew it. So here we were, at a standstill. I had no idea what to say or how to make him leave and he showed no sign of what he was thinking.

"Don't worry Nora, I'm not going to hurt you…much," he added as an afterthought. "You might even enjoy it." He gave a sinister smile that turned into a sharp laugh.

Without thinking I lunged for my window. I knew that there was no way I could climb down from it and I knew I'd just end up hurting myself if I flung myself from it, but nonetheless my survival instinct had told me to lunge.

Yet my survival instinct must have been seriously out of shape because less than a second after I'd lunged, Patch had caught me. It was so quick I almost didn't know it had happened. All I could feel were his arms pressing in on my torso, an iron circle I couldn't break. My arms couldn't move and in that second all I wanted to do was move them. My prayers were answered before I knew it, they were free but I barely had time to comprehend that fact before I collided with the wall. Patch had slammed me into the wall. Air gushed from my lungs, leaving me breathless. The wall before me was all I could see yet I could feel Patch's presence. A floorboard creaked as he took a step closer. He was now so close that I could feel every one of his tensed muscles through my soaked clothes.

I tried to get out from his trap but I just couldn't. I writhed and screamed under his grip. Patch remained still, letting me continue to struggle for about a minute. Allowing me to find out for myself just how pointless struggling was.

"All out of your system?" he asked waiting for my response. I let out a huff. "No, really Nora, you sure you don't want to kick or scream for a little while longer? It's actually quite hot."

"You're disgusting!" I spat at the wall.

"I recall a certain moan that makes me believe you think otherwise," he purred in my ear. That moan was going to haunt me till the day died, which might not have been to far into the future if I didn't escape the cave of Patch that I was locked into.

"You were Patch then, now you're not." That was all I could keep telling myself. Something had happened in the last four days. Something had changed Patch. Made him evil.

"Sorry Nora, but only I can decide when I'm Patch and when I'm not, and I choose to be Patch 24/7." At least the wit remained the same.

"Good for you," I said for lack of a better response.

"No, It's good for both of us." I felt myself being spun around. Within mere milliseconds Patch's lips were on mine. Kissing me with a scary intensity. I could almost feel the desire pouring out of him. He could probably feel my desire too, because all I wanted at this moment was him. The monster who had been scaring me seconds before was gone, in its place was my Patch. His stiff fingers ran through my hair before wrapping around the ends. His other hand travelled upwards under the soaked fabric that was clinging to my body. I knew how easy it would be to just let go, to give in. It would have been the simplest thing in the world. But I couldn't ignore what had just happened.

I pushed him off with all my strength and then some. His guard was down and he stumbled back a few paces. It was enough for me to be able to push past him and slip through the open bedroom door. I ran to the stairs and practically hurled myself down them. The speed caused me to loose my footing and I tumbled down the last four. Pain pulsed through my entire body but all I could think, all I could do, was run. I hoisted myself up and flew out the front door, grabbing the keys I'd left in the lock. Sprinting from the door of the house to the door of the Neon, I thanked God that I'd left the car unlocked. Wrenching open the door with a swiftness I'd never known I possessed, I got in and had the car on the road before I'd even closed the door.

Panting and clueless as to where I should be going, I drove. My driving went onto autopilot as I regathered my thoughts. Where to go? What was wrong with Patch? And the most immediate question of all, why hadn't he stopped me? My push had only sent him two or three steps back at the most. Even though I'd probably managed to get from my bedroom to the neon in about thirty seconds, with Patch's reflexes it would have been nothing to stop me from just reaching the stairs.

Maybe I'd pushed him onto something. Maybe a knick-knack blown onto the floor? Or a shard of glass from something that'd been damaged while the window was opened? I didn't know whether to be hopeful that this may have happened, or worried that Patch could be hurt.

I didn't know where to go either. I couldn't go to Vee's or anywhere else obvious. Yet remembering when I'd tried to hide in the cinema, I realised just how fast he'd find me no matter where I went. Maybe the key was to just keep driving, keep moving. Once I was on the tangle of back roads that surrounded the edges of Coldwater anyone would have a hard time finding me, and in this weather it would be nearly impossible.

I took a sudden left, trying to escape the main roads I had been travelling on. Lights flashed behind me and I couldn't help but scream. I checked my rear view mirror and saw it wasn't Patch. My breathing slowed to an almost normal rhythm and my eyes returned to the road.

About a minute later I saw the lights disappear and quickly turned my head around to see what had happed. I screamed again as I looked straight into Patch's eyes.

"Nora," he spoke with the same coldness he'd had at the house. The steering wheel slipped from my fingers as I was overcome with shock. Patch smiled at me and I felt the car spin out of control. The last thing I saw was Patch reaching over me to grab the steering wheel. Then the darkness came.