Silent Angel Crashes Through the Sky

"Ryan." Brendon's soft, melodic voice called in the darkness. Ryan froze and so did his friend next to him. They both turned to face him, faces hard. The partner glanced at Ryan, and Ryan slowly gave him the nod to keep walking. He left hesitantly but was out of sight soon enough.

"Can I help you?" Brendon rolled his eyes. Ryan's face remained unreadable.

"I just came to talk, Ry." It was Ryan's turn to roll his eyes.

"You didn't come to just talk. I know you better than that. What do you want?" Brendon sighed and walked closer to him.

"I guess I'll just get straight to it, then, huh? Why'd you become an Independent? Why didn't you and Jon come with me and Spencer?" Ryan shook his head.

"I'm not a follower, Brendon. You might be happy taking orders and killing innocent people, but not me. I know you're happy with all your power, but.... It's just not for me, Bren. Why didn't you become an independent or... anything else?"

"I... I was pretty lost and William was just kind of... there. He had so much power to offer me. He was there to guide me." Ryan scoffed.

"He turned us, Brendon. He caused this. He brought this curse on us in the first place." Brendon looked away in embarrassment.

"Well, yeah, but, that's not the point." Ryan threw his hands up frustrated.

"Of course it's the point! He killed us... and my brother...." He sighed and looked down at the asphalt. "And Clark...." Brendon's eyes grew dark.

"Hm, Clark." Ryan's head snapped up to meet Brendon's eyes.

"You leave her alone, Brendon." He rushed up to him, pointing a finger up to his face. "You and Beckett leave her the hell alone. She's suffered enough. First James then Pete. Her whole family, Brendon." He let his hand fall and turned around abruptly. "And, tell Beckett to lift that curse on her."

Brendon watched Ryan run off into the dark, his eyes still dark and tired.

It was never about Clark. It had nothing to do with her.

Until William realized what a strong hunter she was, like her brother. And how beautiful she was, like Lucy.

-*-

I was sitting on the porch again staring off into the dawn, the sun barely peaking out above the horizon. I heard the door open but I didn't bother to turn around. I flinched when he touched my shoulder.

"Why don't you come inside?" It was Patrick's soft voice asking me. I sighed.

"Just a little while longer. I haven't watched the sun rise in a while."

"Can I join you?" I smiled lightly, glancing up quickly then looking away just as quick.

"If you want." He sat down next to me.

"So does all of this mean you've made up with Pete?" I bit my lip but didn't look at him.

"I... I'm not sure. Yes... no." I shook my head. "It's so confusing. I've been thinking that there's nothing to forgive. He didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't his fault. None of this is his fault." I finally looked to my left to find Patrick staring at me intently, sympathetically. "I just don't feel ready to... I don't know. What do you think?" He licked his lips and thought for a second.

"I think you've been through a lot. You were angry at Pete because he became something that you couldn't control and because everything was happening so quickly. Vampires have done a lot of bad things to you and your family." I looked back to the sun. "You were scared-"

"I wasn't... well, maybe I was a little bit." I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye.

"It's okay to be scared. You tried to ignore those feelings, though, and instead you became angry and closed-off. You didn't want to deal with us because dealing with us meant bringing back all the memories you tried to push away. Seeing Pete would mean that he's not just dead, he's a vampire." He put a hand on my shoulder again and I looked at him. "But, you have to deal with it, Clark. You can't keep running from it. Being angry isn't going to solve anything." I frowned and my vision became blurry. I shook my head as I felt a choking sensation take over my throat.

"But I don't want to." He frowned too, and pulled me into a hug. "I miss my life. I miss Jimmy and how Pete used to be. I miss the sun so bad." Tears fell down my face when I shut my eyes tightly. I buried my face into Patrick's T-shirt and he stroked my hair soothingly.

"You're not stuck here. You don't have to be alone anymore, Clark. And you don't have to live this life. You're not stuck. You have a choice. We can't bring back the past but you can control your future. You can start over. You can live in the sun again." He hugged me tighter. "I'm so sorry, Clark." I sniffled and tried to stop my tears.

"I can't leave the state, Patrick." I pulled away and he stared at me confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I am stuck here. I can't get out of Illinois." He frowned and shook his head.

"You can't leave the state.... How long ago did you-"

"Three years. Since..."

"That's not good." I nodded.

"I know." I glanced back at the sun and wiped away some of the stray tears on my cheeks, sniffling again.

"I'll look into it. Someone's put a curse on you, Clark." He put his hand on my shoulder again, trying to get into my vision again. "Do you think it was Beckett?" I paused.

"Yeah. I think so."

"You should tell Pete."

"Yeah. I know." The sun was up and the sky was a dark turquoise. The trees were still black against the sky and the air was thin and chilly.

"Tonight."