by G. K. DeRosa
Chapter 4
Celeste ran as trickles of sweat dripped from her forehead and her muscles ached with fatigue. She found herself in a dark forest and something was chasing her. She could hear the rush of footsteps and from the ever-constant crunching of leaves she knew that whatever was following her was gaining ground. She paused to scan the scene around her, but in every direction she was encircled by the lush green forest. She could barely see the sky overhead above the thick canopy of trees. As she stopped to take a breath, she realized she could no longer hear the stomping footsteps. In fact, it had grown eerily silent around her. She took a few cautious steps to the right toward a massive oak tree with thick, low-lying branches.
Celeste threw her sword over her shoulder and began to climb, hoping to get a more expansive view. She grabbed hold of a branch and pulled herself up, carefully finding footholds to continue. The old oak was covered in slippery moss and the higher she climbed, the harder it was to get a good grip. Finally she saw a branch just a few feet above her that looked like a good spot. She stretched for it, but it was just beyond her reach. Splaying her fingers, she could almost reach a nub on the tree to get a grip, but just then, she heard a flutter of wings above and a huge black vulture flew toward her. She lost her grip and started falling backward toward the ground. A moment of panic overtook her as she plummeted through the air. She prepared herself for the bone-crushing feel of the earth against her body and closed her eyes, but it never came. Instead she felt the embrace of warm arms around her, and the solid mass of a body suspending her in the air.
Celeste opened her eyes in disbelief. “Daddy?”
“Hello, my darling,” he said, his hazel eyes filled with warmth.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” Celeste asked as he helped her back on to her feet.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he said sadly.
Right before Celeste had become the Guardian, she had had a few dreams about her father. Then after she was chosen, he frequently appeared to her and helped her train. She had been so happy then. But lately he hadn’t revealed himself to her, and she missed him more than anything.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice shaky. “It’s not safe. There’s something in the forest with us. It was chasing me.” She was still a bit frazzled from the fall and her near death experience.
“Don’t worry about that darling. I’ve come to bring you to the Council. Dante needs to speak to you.” Her father took her hand and she felt a surge of heat running through her body; then, a moment later the forest was gone, and she was in the Council’s chambers.
Celeste looked around the empty white circular room and suddenly Dante and Sierra appeared before her.
“Celeste, welcome,” said Sierra with a smile as she adjusted her fuchsia-framed glasses. Dante seemed perturbed and barely glanced at her before getting down to business.
“Sit, please,” he said.
A table appeared with three chairs, right where he had pointed. Celeste pulled a chair out and sat down. Dante and Sierra did the same and looked expectantly at her. Celeste noticed her father had vanished, and she wished he would return as the awkward silence ensued.
Finally Dante began. “I’ve summoned you here today because we have been notified of a highly urgent matter. The levels of supernatural activity have been steadily rising in the past couple of weeks. I do not know the cause of this yet, but it is of the utmost importance that you are prepared.”
Celeste thought about the Bacillus demon and the thing at the arcade, not to mention her strange dream. It was true that she had been rather busy lately with all the supernatural commotion. She nodded and let him continue.
“As you know, we are inducting a new member to the Council this week. It’s imperative that everything goes smoothly. Stellan has informed us that you will be attending, as will a select few of our best guardians around the world. I am confident that we will have nothing to worry about, but we are taking extra precautions in any event,” he finished.
“I thought that supernatural creatures couldn’t get into Astor,” said Celeste, folding her hands in front of her to keep from squirming.
“Typically they cannot,” answered Sierra. “However, the induction ceremony is one that requires a high concentration of power on the part of the existing Council members. During that time, our guard will be weakened and the barriers of Astor will be easier to penetrate.” Her lavender eyes showed concern through her thick glasses.
Now Celeste understood why she had been chosen to attend. And she realized Stellan was correct: this was quite an honor. The Council regarded her as one of their best guardians. A wave of anxiety hit her like a ton of a bricks. She steadied her nerves so to answer as confidently as possible, “Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control in my region. There won’t be any unexpected surprises.”
Dante and Sierra looked pleased. “Very well then,” he said. “We will see you in Astor in a few days.”
Stellan’s hologram materialized in front of the gigantic flat screen television just as Nico had settled down to enjoy his favorite movie, Casablanca. He grudgingly pressed pause on the remote and bellowed for Roman to join them.
“I’ve made some significant strides regarding Celeste and the Bacillus demon – or should I say Dani has. She compiled a list of the top ten most likely culprits, and I have narrowed it down to the final five,” said Stellan, his gray eyes alive with excitement. “Do you two realize that since Celeste became the Guardian she has rid the world of almost one hundred evil supernatural creatures?”
Both Roman and Nico’s mouths dropped open as they murmured in surprise.
“She has done exceptionally well in such a short amount of time, and I honestly believe that it is in large part thanks to the two of you.”
“We do make a pretty good team, if I do say so myself,” said Nico with a grin as he sat down on the couch.
“In any event, that is beside the point, but I thought it was worth mentioning that your efforts have not gone unnoticed,” Stellan said. He paused to adjust his glasses as he flipped to a specific page in the notebook, which he had pulled out of his robe. “Ah, yes here it is. The top five persons of interest in no particular order: Alek, the Black Devils Werewolf pack, the vampire Augustin, Elsbetta Queen of the Fey, and finally Cyrus, the upper level demon from the third realm.”
“That’s quite a list of heavy hitters you have there,” said Roman, exhaling deeply. “And why is it, pray tell, that these five in specific would want my girlfriend killed?”
“I believe we all know Alek’s motives, so I will skip him for now. The Black Devils are a pack of rogue werewolves who have recently given into lawlessness, drunken revelry, and even hunting humans on the full moon. The leader of the Werewolf Alliance has banished them and will not be held accountable for their actions. Celeste has had to kill a few of them in the past month for a variety of indiscretions.”
“Right, I think I remember that. The head of the pack, Brazen, he did threaten Celeste after our last encounter. One of his pack had wolfed out on the full moon and nearly killed a human family out camping. By the time Celeste and I arrived he had mauled their pet dog and was chasing the kids around the campfire. She had no choice but to run him through with her sword,” explained Roman.
“Well, apparently Brazen believes she did have another choice, and he is now waging a personal vendetta against Celeste as well as on you two,” finished Stellan.
“I wasn’t even there!” interrupted Nico.
“What happened to Batman, Robin and Alfred? You turncoat!” chided Roman.
“May I continue?” asked Stellan sternly.
The brothers quickly grew silent and urged him to resume.
“I do not believe that the vampire Augustin or Cyrus the demon either hold enough power or influence to summon a Bacillus demon to kill Celeste. Augustin has been turning a few humans, which he knows is strictly forbidden, and Cyrus has been hunting outside of his realm, in clear vi
olation of the underworld treaty. So although I have included them on the list, we can move past them for now.”
Roman and Nico both nodded in agreement.
“Now the Queen of the Fey has piqued my curiosity. Typically I would never think that Elsbetta would be involved in anything like this, however, I would be remiss to exclude her given the sudden appearance of this young fairy Marie. The fact that she caught Celeste’s attention is of particular note.”
“I wouldn’t look too closely there,” interjected Roman. “I believe most of Celeste’s concern is stemming from Brian becoming too close to the pretty fairy and less from some other evil ulterior motive.”
“I see,” Stellan murmured disapprovingly.
“I think you’re way off base, Roman. Give Celeste some credit. She’s the Guardian, not some jealous teenager,” said Nico in a huff.
Roman shook his head and looked back up at Stellan. “Anything else?”
“That brings us back around to Alek. He does have the strongest motive of the lot of them, considering we killed his mentor Fabian, but no one has seen him for months.” Stellan closed the notebook and tucked it into the folds of his robe as a grim look crossed his face.
Roman stood up and walked around the coffee table to the mahogany liquor cabinet in the corner of the room. “Well, I could use one of these, anyone else?”
The following day, Celeste felt giddy with excitement as she ran up the walkway of her friend’s house. She knocked on the door and was greeted by open arms and a huge smile.
“I really missed you Nat!” she said as she squeezed her friend eagerly.
“I missed you too! But, um, have you been working out or something? You’re squeezing me a little too tight!”
“Sorry!” said Celeste as she loosened her arms around her friend and stepped back. Sometimes she had a hard time remembering how much stronger she had become.
The girls chatted for hours as Natalie unpacked her suitcase and organized her old room. She had three whole weeks off from school, and she planned to make the most of it catching up with her old friends.
“So are you done with finals?” Natalie asked.
“I just have one more this week, but I’m not too worried about it. It’s an introductory Geology class; everyone calls it “Rocks for Jocks”. All the guys on the basketball team are in the class, including Brian.”
“Of course he is. And I bet he still copies all of your homework, right?” she asked with a laugh.
Celeste smiled. “Some things never change.”
“How’s he doing?” Natalie asked. “We text every once in a while, but I mostly just get one word answers from him.”
“He’s doing good. He’s actually really happy and kind of dating someone,” said Celeste with a slight hint of wistfulness. “You remember that girl we met at Ralph’s the night before you left for college?”
“Yeah, sure. She was really cute and seemed super nice.” Celeste gave her an unconvinced look. “What, you don’t like her?”
Celeste couldn’t tell Nat that Marie was a fairy. It would certainly make things easier if her friend knew about the supernatural world, but Celeste had already made the mistake of telling Brian, and she knew she couldn’t do it again. If anyone needed to tell Natalie, it was her vampire boyfriend, Nico. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know her that well, but there’s just something about her I haven’t quite figured out yet,” said Celeste.
“Celeste, tell me you don’t still have unresolved feelings for Brian?”
“Of course I don’t,” she said turning away, feeling embarrassed. “You know that Brian is like a brother to me. I’m just looking out for him.”
“Brian’s a big boy who can take care of himself. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll give the girl the third degree and make sure she’s okay.”
Celeste giggled. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
The two girls piled into Natalie’s new sporty Lexus, a graduation present from her parents, then sped over to Roman and Nico’s apartment. Celeste could see the excitement in Natalie’s eyes as they pulled into the complex. A small part of her wanted to keep Natalie all to herself today, but she knew how much her friend wanted to see Nico. Still, Celeste hadn’t realized how much she had missed her friend until stepping into her house earlier today.
Before they had even reached the walkway, the door swung open and Nico came running out. Natalie sprinted toward him and in no time they were in each other’s arms. Behind the happy couple, Celeste saw Roman peeking through the doorway. He motioned for Celeste to come to him, so she walked around Nico and Natalie, who were oblivious to everything around them, and met Roman at the door.
“Hi,” he said. And so as not to be outdone by his brother, he wrapped his hands around Celeste’s waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss.
“Wow,” she said as she gasped for air when their lips finally unlocked.
Roman looked pleased with himself and said, “Come on, leave them out there. I think it’s going to be a while.”
No matter how many times Celeste was in Roman’s apartment, the view from the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the pond never ceased to amaze her. She walked straight toward it, pausing to admire a family of ducklings who had just emerged from the pond. Roman approached with a glass of water, and handing it to her, led her to the couch.
“We need to talk,” he said as they sat.
“So that’s what the water is for,” she said with a smirk.
“I know you hate it when I don’t tell you things, so this time I’m just going to come straight out with it.”
“Okay…”
“Stellan and Dani finished the list. He’s fairly certain that it’s one of three people that he’s narrowed it down to,” he said.
“That was fast.” Celeste smiled inwardly. She and Roman really had come a long way. In the past he would have kept this from her to protect her. She was beginning to think that Roman finally saw her as an equal and not just a fragile human girlfriend he had to safeguard. “So who are they?” she asked, steeling herself for his reply.
Roman recounted the details that Stellan had shared earlier, leaving out his opinion about the fairies. When Roman was finished, Celeste looked thoughtfully at him.
“Do you really think Alek could be behind this?” she asked. She could hear the quiver in her own voice when she spoke his name, and it infuriated her that he still held that much power over her.
“Look Celeste, we really don’t know anything yet for sure. It could be the Queen of the Fey for all we know, or it could be no one at all,” he said taking her hand and rubbing it reassuringly.
“I just thought we were finally done with Fabian and Alek,” she said as she looked into his troubled eyes.
“We are done with them. And if I’m wrong, at least we can be sure of the fact that Alek is nothing like Fabian. He was his apprentice and doesn’t have anywhere near the power that Fabian had – and look how well that turned out.”
“Right,” she said, seeking solace in his warm embrace.
Roman lifted Celeste’s chin up to look directly in her eyes. “I promise you, nothing will ever happen to you as long as I’m with you.”
And that’s when it happened. A searing pain ripped through Celeste’s skull, and she cried out. A carousel of images flashed through her mind and she clenched her teeth down to keep from screaming. Though her eyes were closed, she could feel Roman’s presence all around her, and it gave her the strength to endure the terrible pain. Once the last of the visions raced through her conscience, she opened her eyes, saw Roman’s worried face, and passed out.
Opening her eyes cautiously, Celeste took in her surroundings and let out a breath of relief. She recognized the scent of Tide mixed with Roman’s natural musky scent in the sheets, and the bare navy walls of his bedroom. She was safe. No sooner had she opened her eyes than Roman’s anxious face appeared hovering over her. She flinched. As she looked past him, she saw Nico and Na
talie sitting at the edge of the bed, their faces equally filled with concern.
“Are you all right?” Roman asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, sitting up. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long, just about twenty minutes,” he answered.
Natalie got up from the corner of the bed and rushed over to her. “Nico told me not to worry and that you had only fainted, but I heard you scream and you looked so pale.”
“It’s okay Natalie, I’m fine really. I barely ate anything today, so maybe it’s low blood sugar.” She tried to sit up straighter and gave her friend a convincing smile.
The color had begun to flood back into Celeste’s cheeks, and the deathly pallor encircling her moments ago had all but vanished. She looked at the others and smiled. “I’m fine, really guys.”
“Nico, why don’t you and Natalie give us a second? We’ll be right out. You can order pizza – that will certainly get her blood sugar back to normal,” said Roman as he ushered them out of his room.
“Thanks,” she said with a half-hearted smile as she slumped back down on the bed.
Roman laid down next to her and propped his head up on his hand to face her. “What did you see?”
“It was bad Roman, really bad,” she responded, not wanting to look at him.
He clenched his fist in anger. He hated not being able to protect her from this. He wished he could take away the fear he knew she felt everyday but was too strong to admit. “Tell me everything. We’ll get through it.”
For once Celeste didn’t think Roman was right. The things she had seen were frightening and terrible—and worst of all, the vision was about him.
Chapter 5
Celeste hurried up the stairs to her bedroom, pausing only momentarily to wave at her aunt who was practicing yoga in the living room. She shut her bedroom door and turned the lock. She needed to talk to Stellan right away. Moments later he appeared in front of her, his translucent image hovering a few feet over the floor. Rocky snarled at the strange apparition, sniffing the air suspiciously. Once her dog was convinced the ghostly image posed no threat, he retreated to his favorite spot beside Celeste’s bed and kept one wary eye on the odd visitor.