Earlier that year

A thick haze of smoke swept into Angels vision, making her eyes tear up and her mouth go dry. She could feel the intense heat against her skin as she crawled her way into Helens makeshift cubby of a room, where the fireseemed to be comng from. She screamed as she saw her older sister, crying and naked, but Angel was too young to understand. Reaching out she took Helen's hand, ignoring her fathers raging screams of pain as he bathed in the fire. Angel smiled at Helen reassuringly, grabbing the emergancy kit in one hand, she let the older girl take the lead.

Then they left, the ashes covering thier cothes and bodies, thier faces streaked black an hair filled wih white ash, as if it had been snowing, the girls scurried away before the ambulance coud come. They ran off into the night, and even though Angel was too young to realize it, she had escaped what would son have been something bad for her as well as Helen. Both girls had bright smiles on thier faces, despite the hardships they would face in the future.


A year after the fire.



Clutching her bear with whitening knuckles little Angel Laurelis screamed as she fought the need to cry, she was nely seven now, and had been living on the streets most her life, she and Helen had found a permanant home withen a church, where they promised no to call child services, if in turn they did work for them. But now, that was over, Helen was no where to be seen, and Angel was in a mess, her clothes scrapped in a heap around her feet, her eyes watering and screams erupting from her swollen lips. Three men holding her down onto the cold cement ground.

Not once did they stop, or regret what they had done to the street bound seven year old,and she found herself crying with fear. She clutched her only possesion close to her, the ittle white and raggidy bear that Sister Davis had given her. Angel knew that death was right around the corner, she could feel it in her bones. Wth one las hopefull burst she screamed at the top of her lungs, and she was sure the busy people on the streets must have heard her.

Like the brilliant shining sun a real Angel swept from the street, a girl, older than Angel with ash blonde hair and ivory eyes. It was Helen. Angel cried in delight, kicking the nearest man as she cried out for Helen. Hope soared on a doves wing as she gained enough energy to help Helen fight the men, who were by now to afraid that the older girl would call the cops. They all scattered, each going differt directions, leaving the seven year old and sixteen year old to pant heavily.

Angel said not a word as she slipped on her dress and clutched her bear tighter, but it was good for her not to talk. To talk would make her weak, and she wouldnt be a weak girl.


Helen left?

"Dear child, do come down from there right this instant!" Sister Davis cursed at Angel, who swung precariously on the edge of a book ledge that was only reached by the use of latter. She smiled wickidly, grabbing the ladder with two hands and nearly sliding all the way down it. Once she came to halt infront of Sister Davis she knew something was off. Way off to be exact. She examined the way Sister Davis mouth twitched down into a grim frown, and the glassy, almost dead look in her eyes as she handed the little girl a scrap of paper that seemed to be tearing at the edges, she held the paper, a letter adressed to her, and read it aloud.

"Dear Angel baby,
Please dont think bad of me, I dont want you to be living on the streets, I dont want you to
Live this life while I sit back and watch from the side lines. Your eight years old now, and it saddens
me to see you like this. So ive left, please dont cry baby, ill always be by your side, forever and always.
Ive made arrangments for Sister Davis to adopt you. Im never coming back baby, but dont fret, ill
never be far, just look in the sky and youll see me. I love you Angel, I always have.
Your Loving Sister/Mother,
Helen D. Laurelis."

Angel couldnt even muster up a look of greif as she felt the hot and sticky tears slide down her pale face, she looked towards Sister Davis, a look of mixed emoion and shock in her eyes as she formed the words with her lips, but no sund came. "Helens gone?" She whispered, tears choking her. Suddenly, she fully understood the meaning of gone, she read and re-read the letter, and finnaly looked up, this was not Helens handwriting, it was someone elses."but what about Helen?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



That night Angel lie awake in the familiar church room, unable to close her heavy eyes. Without realization she looked up into the sunroof, through the glass and to the bright moon. A shape seemed to suddeny be floating down from the heavens itself, and a whisper wrapped itself inside the young girl mind. "Angel....Angel baby, come on darling, wake up" She hadnt realized she had truly been asleep, so ith sleepy eyes she opened them up, t see nothing, but hear a whisper float around her. "When you wake just whisper you want to be in runaway town, then you will be there, I love you baby" With the whisper was gone.


Angel woke to th sun on her eyes, without hesitation she whispered the words that needed to be spoken, and found herself whisked away by a man, to town hall she went, and there she saw anoter girl, older, but who reminded her so much of Helen, then again, everything reminded her of Helen. "So your Helen's little sister" the man said it not as a question, but as a statement. He motioned to a chair, "sit" and she obeyed, getting cozy in besides te girl.