So, yeah. I've decided to start posting a story even though I should know better than to publish something a don't even have halfway finished. But oh, well. Whatever.

Most of the story is told by Jade's POV, aside of a couple chapters later on that are not just a jump in space but in time. And, although I think it will be kinda obvious, I'll let you know when we reach those.

There's a lot of OoC, but the story kind of explains itself why they are that way. In any case, I hope you don't feel offended by the blatant change of personality that one particular character will suffer compared to canon. It's made to be that way, and later on if you still don't get it I'll explain why this character is so changed.

Just so you know, this new fanfic is not related, in any form, to my previous one-shot Keep Watching.

Disclaimer: I wonder why do we have to keep on doing this. Is not as if you didn't already know that I don't own Victorious...

Chapter 1 – Hunting and Rescue

I'm running, barely not tripping with my own feet. There's nothing but woods around me, or so I think... Truth is I can't see a thing more than a couple feet ahead, but considering as it's a new moon night, I'm kinda glad I am capable of seeing even that.

Whoever is following me through the woods laughs evily and I feel goosebumps in all my skin. I almost fall and that thing laughs again, making fun of me.

Aside from his laugh, my harsh breathing and my almost clumsy steps, everything's dead silent. My heart pounds in my ears, terrified tears cloud my eyes, and I can't hear him running but know he's close behind.

I don't know how long I've been running, but my limbs hurt and my lungs burn. And it can't be good to run with the stomach dripping blood like mine is doing...

"Why do not you surrend already?" I hear him ask from right behind me. "You know it is pointless to try and run away from me."

Now his voice comes as a low whisper in my ear and I can't help but jump to get away from his sickening coldblood-smelling breath. "I won't give up" I swear, sounding way more confident than I actually am feeling.

"What a pleasure. I love to hunt little scared girls such as you."

He laughs again and I resume the frenetic pace my race against death had before he talked. I can't die. Not here, not now. There's still things I want to do, things I need to do.

I can't be killed right now by this psycopathic nutjob who keeps swearing is a demon sent from Hell by Lucifer himself to get me. Demons do not exist, nor does the Devil, nor does Hell.

Where am I? Why I'm not hanging out with the gang? I should be with them. Not here... wherever here is.

"Keep on running, little Jadelyn. You certainly are fun to play with" he laughs.

I'm not having fun and he knows it. But, to him, my fear and desperation are hilarious. He's completely insane and I try not to think of what else could he have done.

But I keep running, because I don't want to die.

I'm near to collapse when I crash against something small, kinda warm and somewhat known. I look up from my place in the ground and someone identical to Cat but with light blue eyes full of concern looks me back. "You okay?"

I stare at her, eyes wide open. "You have to run!" I yell, standing up and stumbling. She holds me and smiles.

"We'll be fine, Jade. No need to worry."

"H-how do you know my name?" I ask, terrified. What if she's friends with the psycho? What if she's hunting me too?

She smiles as if I asked something really stupid. "It's me, Jade. Cat" I blink, but shrug it off and open my mouth to tell her again that we have to run.

"Well, well" his voice comes out of nowhere and I turn my back to her to look at my haunter for the first time. He's tall, dark hair, tanned, tatooed with weird black lines, cocky smirk and haughty stance. He walks calmly towards us, his hands in his black pants' pockets, and looks at me with mocking bright red eyes before looking at the girl behind me. "If it is not our very own Caterine Valentine. What it is that has this pretty lady out in the woods this late?"

A hand touches my shoulder and I look at my right to look at a not-weird-looking-Robbie-alike staring at me with soft light blue eyes. 'Cat' has her hand in my other shoulder and looks ahead, her eyes hardening. "What do you want with her?"

"Oh, why are you so harsh at me?" he asks pretending to be hurt. I look back at him and he smirks. "I just came here to do my job, Caterine. You and Robert ought to stay out of this."

"You won't touch her" 'Robbie' replies, his voice sounding completely different to the Robbie I know.

"Says who? Will you stop me, Robert? You know you are not strong enough to defeat me even if I was fighting... fair."

"They are not alone, Idvke" another voice chimes in, and suddenly two more figures appear to our sides and step ahead, standing before us. A third one stops in front of me, half covering me with his body.

I'm almost not surprised to see that these three new guys look like the rest of the gang, being the Andre-alike the one covering me and Tori-alike and Beck-alike the ones in the front.

"Oh, come on" he sighs. "Honestly, Ri? Why are you working with these kind of idiots to protect a mere human? Maybe we did not get along, but this is ridiculous. Come back already, will you?"

"I will never go back to that. I do not work on your side anymore" 'Tori' answers, her voice somewhat harsh.

"As you wish, then."

I have no idea of what happens next, but after a blur of bodies and crashing sounds there's a small meadow in front of us. 'Tori' and 'Beck' are in the middle, kneeling above something that looks like my haunter, and a couple seconds later they start a fire and burn him. But he doesn't move.

"Alright, let's go back" says 'Andre'. He looks at me, his light blue eyes sparkling, and in one fluid motion I'm in his arms and we're flying somewhere. Yeah, seriously, flying. Like, above the clouds.

"Where are we?" I ask in a quiet voice. I almost think that he didn't hear me.

"Still in Florida" he answers, not looking at me. "Apparently he knew you wouldn't be with us tonight."

"But... how? I didn't even tell... wait, what?"

He smiles at me. "It's us, Jade. Andre, Cat, Robbie, Beck and Tori. We've been protecting you for more than ten years... kinda" he frowns for a second before smiling again. "Anyway, how in hell did he get you into the woods?"

"Yeah, I can't understand that" Cat chimes in, appearing to Andre's right. My eyes open wide when I notice the pure white feather wings joined at her back. "I mean, you were staying in a hotel, right? Did you go out?"

"...No" I blink, trying not to look at her wings. I realize that the rest of them might have, too, but try to focus. "I'm not sure of what happened. I went to sleep and then I woke up in the middle of nowhere."

They look at each other. Robbie speaks from behind me. "I think that we have to concentrate in taking her to a Sanctuary. No offense, guys, but I'm not sure you could handle a big group alone."

"None taken" answers Beck from above us. "We're not confident enough, either, so we also are looking forward to arrive to a Sanctuary."

"We are too vulnerable here" Tori comments from under us. "This is not a safe place to begin with."

"We're going to your place, Tori?" asks Robbie. "It's the closest, right?"

"I think so. But I do not care as long as we arrive there shortly."

The silence lasts for five minutes before I speak again. "We're going back to LA?" Cat nods, not looking at me. "And what about my dad?"

"We already took care of that" she answers. "He thinks Tori and I were there too by coincidence and met you in the lobby, and she convinced him to let you go back with us – that's why she arrived after me. He thinks you'll stay in Tori's with me until he comes back."

"Hurry up" Beck speaks, shutting me up even before I can open my mouth to ask what the hell is going on. "We're entering California."

"So soon?" I ask, surprised.

Neither of them make it seem like I was heard, so I decide to better shut up and keep looking at Cat instead of ahead of us or down to earth – usually I'm not afraid of highs, but we're so fuckin' high that even I feel a little shaken up.

I hope they explain me what is going on.

A while later, we land at the back of the Vegas' house. The glass door yanks open and Trina runs outside. "Thank goodness you're okay" she sighs as Andre sets me back in my feet.

"Okay?" I ask, half shrieking. "That dude sliced my guts open!"

"We healed you" Robbie comments, walking past me, his eyes back to brown. "Did you seriously think we'd bring you all the way here with you bleeding your guts out?"

I look down at my stomach, touch it and realize it doesn't hurt anymore. "What the...?"

"Come inside, quick" Trina cuts, waving me.

I do as told, and watch as the rest of the gang follows me. All of them have their eyes normal, and no wings. Tori motions me to follow her upstairs and once in her room she gives me a change of clothes. "Go get a shower and then come back down" she says.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask before she gets out. She stops in her doorstep.

"You will get your answers soon. First, you need to have a shower. No offense, but you look horrible."

I frown and enter her bathroom. I look myself in the mirror and nearly scream when I can finally see how messy I look. I'm all dirty and my shirt is ripped right in the middle – where I was wounded. I even have little cuts in my face, hands and legs, but nothing hurts more than the stomach wound had.

After the hot water cleans away all the blood, mud and leaves, I can see that my stomach, once smooth and later torn by a rusty knife, now has a large scar in quick healing. While I watch it half amazed and half freaked out, it evolves to a thin line just a shade paler than my skin.

Well, this is certainly interesting.

Fifteen minutes later, I walk down the stairs to find the gang and Trina sitting on the couchs watching some random movie. They all turn their heads to me and smile encouraging me. I end up in the spare couch facing them all, while the Vega sisters and Beck sit in the farthest one and the rest in the nearest one.

I breathe deeply. "Okay. What the hell is going on? Who the hell was that psycho?"

"Idvke Groumnhold" Tori answers. "One of the best assassins in all Hell."

"A what?"

"He was a Demon" now it's Andre's turn to speak. The six of them look as if they think I'm going to run away at any moment. "A powerful one, at that. But I'm curious. Didn't he tell you?"

"He did" I frown, confused. "I assumed he was a nutjob."

"Well, he was a Demon" Robbie rolls his eyes. "You can't really blame him."

"So, huh, how are you related to him?" I ask slowly, kinda afraid of hearing the answer.

"We" Andre points to Cat, Robbie and himself "are angels. Your Guardian Angels, more specificaly. We're supposed to protect you from Demons."

"And what about them?" I look at the other three.

"Fallen Demons" Beck answers, half smiling. "I was kicked out of Hell when I was five. By the way, I'm Tori and Trina's cousin."

"You're kid... wait, how can you be kicked out of Hell? What did you do? Be nice to an old lady?"

"Kinda" he smiles at me, amused. "I refused to kill one. She was the only family his little grandson had, so I flatly refused to touch her and Lucifer kicked me out. I landed in Egypt, my parents found me a little while later and took me to Canada."

"You're adopted?" I ask, feeling as if I don't know a thing about none of my friends.

"No. They're my real parents. They were kicked out, too, way before I was born."

"And what about you?" I ask the Vega sisters.

Trina shrugs. "Kicked out at five years old, too, after I refused to kill a baby. Landed in some random South American island. Daughter of Fallen Demons kicked out when kids."

Tori's the only one who doesn't seem willing to speak, but does anyway. "Kicked out a month and a half before I got into Hollywood Arts. Landed in Russia."

I look at her, surprised. "I thought you'd be the first one kicked out" I confess, receiving a weak smile. "Not them."

"Well, we didn't even complete our first missions so there's no way she could have, even more so seeing as she's younger than us and the first missions are given at five" Beck shrugs. "She's the strongest Fallen Demon in all world, I swear. You should be glad that she's protecting you."

"Most Fallen Demons are kicked out with less than seven years old" explains Trina. "I don't think there are more than half a dozen expelled from Hell when older."

"There are not" Tori agrees. "The older you are, the more dark your soul turns. It is almost impossible to be kicked out once you turn fifteen years old."

"Yet you did" I comment, and she smiles happily.

"Well, of course. My sin was the worst a Demon can commit."

"What did you do? Pray to God?"

She lets out a mocking smile as Beck and Trina start laughing their guts out. The angels follow and I have to suppress a smile. The tension is finally relieved, although I'm still nervous and a little scared and I know they know that. I hope they realize I'm not exactly scared of them.

We keep watching the lame comedy someone decided was worth our time. But soon I reach a point when I can't take it anymore and explode. "Okay, what the hell is going on? Why did that nutjob hunt me?"

They look at each other, the movie once again forgotten. Andre shifts nervously and looks at me, scratching the back of his head. "Well, it's kind of complicated. You see, Lucifer has wanted you dead even before you were born because, well, you weren't supposed to exist."

"Excuse me?"

"Your dad's a Lost Demon" Cat explains. "Same with your mother, a Lost Angel."

"What the hell are those?" I ask, confused.

"An Angel or Demon whithout memories, fallen out of Heaven or Hell by mistake" she shrugs. "As it is, your parents weren't even supposed to meet each other, and you weren't supposed to exist. You're a one-of-a-kind half-blood, see, so no one has a clue about how your powers will turn out... that is, if they do appear at some point, and not even God nor Lucifer are sure if they will."

I frown, trying to understand. "So, the Devil wants me dead because I'm a half-blood, probably the only one in all damn history? And he keeps sending Demons to kill me?"

"Angel-Demon half-blood" Beck corrects. "There are quite a lot of Human half-bloods. You're special because you're the result of the mix between two immortal races and that hasn't happened before."

"We're protecting you 'cause God wants you alive. We're just doing our job" Robbie looks at the Demons. "Though I can't speak by us all."

Trina shrugs. "I was bored."

Beck laughs at his cousin's antics and smiles at me. "Turns out I really liked you. And I just love to piss off the Demons that come to kill you."

"Well, thank you" I snap, and the gang laughs. Then I yawn, suddenly realizing how tired that chase left me.

"Come on, you need to sleep" Tori tells me, standing up. I nod and follow, waving the others goodnight without looking at them.

I know they're kinda worried, maybe thinking I'll be nervous being alone with her 'cause she's supposed to be the mean one, but I'm not. Even though I should be, I honestly don't care what she is.

The truth is we've been together for a while now, and I mean as a couple. None of them know, 'cause we wanted to keep it a secret until we were ready... but now I wonder if they are that clueless about us.

Tori opens the door and lets me in before entering herself and closing the door behind her. "They do not know for sure" she says, almost as if she was reading my mind. "But I think they are suspicious. Although I cannot blame them for it."

"Why you keep talking like that?" I ask, sitting in her bed. "It's not like you've been doing it all along in front of everyone, so... I'm curious."

She blinks, like if she hadn't taken notice of that. "Oh. Sorry. I am... I mean, I'm used to it. Angels usually use the human manners, but we Demons are closer to the old antics. We don't speak exactly like old British high-class people anymore, but we don't talk like American teenagers either. More like in between – very formal."

"But Beck, Trina and..."

"They were knocked out more than ten years ago, and in my parents' and Beck's parents' case way more than that. I've been here for roughly two years."

Carefully, she sits backwards on her desk chair and stares at me as if I was going to get up and run downstairs with the rest of the gang.

After a couple of minutes, I sigh and face her. "Look, I'm not gonna run, okay? It's just... It's too much to take in all of a sudden" she smiles, almost completely relieved. "By the way, what did you do that was so terrible to be expelled at fifteen?"

Now her smile is wider, and more sincere. Nearly Miss Sunshine again... I have to remember asking her for that, too. "I fell for you."

I blink. "You don't mean..."

She shakes her head. "No, I had been kicked out already when I got into HA, remember? I was one of the many Demons commanded to kill you, but when the right moment came... I couldn't do it. Next thing I know, Lucifer is judging me and kicking me out of Hell. Of course, I didn't realize why exactly I got paralyzed in the spot until a year or so ago. Downsides of being raised in Hell, you know? Emotional jerks."

I smile, catching the happy playful tone I'm more used to. But I'm still too tired, so I lay in her bed and then I don't know anything more.

So, what do you say? Keep on going or save my crazy stuff for myself?

It'll take a while before I post the next. And now don't get me wrong, because I have a lot already written, but I'm actually supposed to be preparing a monologue on Ibsen's A Doll's House for my Spanish class – due to next week, and I'm still reading the book. So I'll be kind of vanished for a while.

In any case, thank you for taking your time in reading this.

Kyle K.