Of Sun & Moon (Midnight Guardian Series, Book 1)

by Bryna Butler

  Chapter 19: The Guardian & The Charge

  “Quiet, people,” Mrs. Bethany instructed her study hall students.

  As soon as her back was turned, Brooke took advantage. She reached up to massage Colby’s shoulders. Without turning around, he patted her hand. She leaned up so that he could feel her cool breath on the back of his neck. He felt chills run to every inch of his body as she spoke.

  “I would love to see you tonight. Can you come over to my house?”

  Colby tensed. He knew perfectly well of the implications of Brooke’s invitation. He had been there earlier this week, the night that Brooke’s parents packed for their two-week trip to Europe. They left yesterday. He and Brooke would be alone. He was a good guy, but he was also a teenage boy. It didn’t help that her voice washed over him like a sun-warmed ocean wave.

  “I…uh…I,” Colby struggled for the right words, or at the very least, any words.

  “You’re such a smooth operator. Be there at six, Coco Bear.”

  Colby must have dropped his pencil fifty times during class, then twenty more times in his next class. He couldn’t stop fidgeting and it was only enhancing his already clumsy nature. When the final bell rang, he bolted for home. He couldn’t walk with Keira today. She would know that something was up. What would he say? He didn’t want to think about facing her now. He probably wouldn’t have had to. It was a beautiful early summer day, so he supposed that she probably ditched her final few classes.

  As a matter of fact, she had. As the last bell rang at school, Keira tiptoed barefoot across the creaky boardwalk at The Landing. She just wanted some time away. She needed time to forget and she always found it helpful to reconnect with nature. She hopped on top of the picnic table in the center of the shelterhouse and sprawled out on her back. She closed her eyes and concentrated on nothing but the sound of the river lapping against the bank. A tugboat and barge had passed moments before, leaving behind a wake that came crashing to shore. As the waves began to wane, she felt her tension wane too. It was quiet. Luckily, it was the middle of the afternoon. Since the local fishermen preferred early morning and late evening, The Landing was deserted, just the way she liked it. Well, almost the way she liked it. It would be better if Colby were there. She pulled her knees up and just sat there, savoring the quiet.

  Colby arrived home, showered, and put on the expensive pair of jeans that Brooke had given him on his birthday. He changed his shirt a hundred times, but finally settled on a blue polo, remembering that she said she liked it because it brought out his eyes. It was the perfect medium, not too dressy or too casual. He would look good, but not seem like he was trying too hard. Just as he was putting the final touches on his hair, he heard the incessant honking from a car outside. It was his ride. He knew that tutoring the varsity basketball team would come in handy some day.

  The guys dropped him off in front of Brooke’s house at about ten after six. As he stepped from the car, the sky opened up and rain blew at him from all sides. The car pulled away from the curb with screeching tires and much whooping and hollering. Colby’s face flushed as he realized that Brooke would probably hear it, even from inside the house. The rain’s intensity pushed him up the steps to the front door. To his surprise, she was not there to greet him, but the arched double doors were wide open, swaying in the fierce wind. He stepped inside cautiously, closing them behind. He slipped off his wet jacket and hung it on the foyer’s coat tree.

  “Brooke, sorry I’m late. Where are you?”

  “Help! Colby, help!”

  He knew in an instant that it was Brooke. Without a moment’s hesitation, he took the stairs three at a time to the second floor.

  “Noooo!” she screamed.

  He burst through her bedroom door.

  Brooke was bent backwards toward an open window. The pure white window sheers were blowing wildly around her, forced by the winds of the oncoming storm. Her eyes were large with terror and her feet and hands bound. Perched on the window sash was a hideous mogdoc. One emaciated, clawed hand held a dagger to Brooke’s throat; the other hand pinned her shoulder. Four other mogdocs stood at the ready in a line in front of Brooke.

  The one holding Brooke spoke while the rest anxiously writhed and hissed, flicking their snakelike tongues. The tiny creature’s voice was unexpectedly low and booming. “You sicken me, you filthy rodent. All that power and you bow to the humans, it is disgusting. You reek with the stench of humanity almost as much as you reek of guardian.” He turned up his nose in revulsion. “Listen to me, guardian, you will bring your dark-haired charge to Emperor Gammen and he may let your pet live. You have until midnight.”

  The mogdoc on the left end broke flank and sprang into the air, catching the curtain rod with one hand and then dangling from it. His pulled back his free hand, claws extended. Then, he brought it down with force, slashing through reality itself, creating some sort of magical portal. The mogdoc holding Brooke captive went first, the others grabbed her legs as she was dragged through. The tear sealed itself after the last one managed its way through. All that remained was a thin, silver streak hanging in the air in front of the window.

  “Gammen,” Colby gasped. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the only person that he knew could help.

  Keira sat up with a start. She had fallen asleep on top of the picnic table in the shelterhouse at The Landing. She pulled her phone from her pocket.

  “Hey-oh.”

  “I need your help.”

  “Colby, what’s wrong?”

  “Your bad guy…Gammen…he’s kidnapped Brooke. I think that he thinks you’re me. I mean, I’m you.”

  “What? Where are you?”

  “Brooke’s house, please hurry. I don’t know what to do. Keira, you’re the only one…”

  “Don’t worry, I’m coming with help.”