by G. K. DeRosa
“As long as he doesn’t do anything that would warrant killing, no. Your mother explained to me how he fights demons with you, and that he’s saved your life more than once,” she said, her voice laced in disbelief.
“It’s true. I don’t think I would have survived my first few weeks as a Guardian without him,” she said thoughtfully. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I have a ton of questions for you. Where have you been for the past eight years?”
Maddie smiled wistfully and added, “Lots of places.”
“What have you been doing?”
“A little of this, a little of that.”
Celeste was quickly losing patience with her aunt’s vague replies. “So what happened? You were chosen to be the Guardian and you just left?”
“You say that as if I had a choice in the matter. I was placed in Warsaw, Poland. Believe me, it was the last place I wanted to go. But it wasn’t up to me, and they needed a guardian to cover Eastern Europe. Your dad was handling this region just fine, and he didn’t need me. He didn’t even try to stick up for me when the Council decided to ship me off to that frozen tundra.”
Celeste suddenly felt bad for her. She couldn’t imagine being eighteen and finding out she was a guardian, only to be sent away to a foreign country without any friends or family. “So what did you do?” she asked.
“The Council appointed a guardian from Russia to spend a few months with me to show me the ropes. So I learned everything I know from him,” Maddie said and with a sigh took a gulp of her water.
“I’m so happy to see you two talking again,” said Celeste’s mom as she walked into the kitchen wearing her favorite pink scrubs. She patted Celeste affectionately on the shoulder, which Celeste rewarded with a scowl.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me we had another guardian in the family,” Celeste said. Her mother shot Maddie a quick glance and then turned back.
“It wasn’t her secret to share,” interrupted Maddie, “and it was my fault. I wasn’t the greatest at keeping in touch. It would have been pointless for your mom to tell you when you would never have been able to find me anyway.”
Celeste was about to object when her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Double date’s all set. Meet out front at 7pm.
Celeste glanced at her watch and turned to her aunt. “I gotta run, but we are not done with this talk. I have so many more questions for you. Are you going to stick around for a while?”
“Sure. That’s what I’m here for. We can catch up later,” she said with a smile.
Celeste returned the warm smile and hurried up the stairs to her room.
“Matilda, you need to tell her the whole story,” said Mrs. Wilder once she heard Celeste’s door slam shut. “She needs to know the truth.”
“I will. Eventually.”
***
Brian pulled open the tinted glass door, and the group was blasted by an onslaught of arcade sounds and neon lights. The constant bing bing of games came from every direction. As they walked through the maze of noisy video games and billiards, the smell of greasy fried food assaulted them, permeating the stale air. Celeste’s eyes lit up when they passed by Dance Revolution, but she was quickly shot down by glares from both Brian and Roman. She thrust her lower lip out in a pout to no avail. After a few more paces, Brian stopped in front of the Whack & Win. He looked at Marie and asked, “Why don’t we start here?”
She nodded and they each took a foam-covered mallet and began whacking away at the disappearing and reappearing moles.
Roman whispered in Celeste’s ear, “You have to admit my guess was pretty spot on. It might not be pizza and bowling, but it’s pretty close.” She stifled a giggle and elbowed him in the stomach.
“Come on, let’s go see what else they have in here,” she said to him with a wave at the others.
Celeste and Roman navigated the labyrinth of games, hand in hand, not finding anything of particular interest. Shooting monsters in a video game just didn’t seem that exciting when a person battled real monsters on a daily basis. Though the arcade was loud, Celeste noticed that there weren’t that many people in it. Most of the games must have been set on autopilot, she reasoned. They finally came across a neon sign with an arrow pointing down a dark corridor for laser tag.
“Now that could be fun,” said Roman with a smirk.
“Let’s go back and get them!”
When they found Brian and Marie, the pair was playing one of those shooting games where the pistol shoots water and you have to blow up the balloon to win. Brian’s balloon was almost fully inflated, and he looked triumphantly over to Celeste. As he turned away, Celeste saw Marie twitch her nose and suddenly his water gun jumped out of his hands. The wayward gun sprayed water everywhere as the attendant scrambled to get it under control. Celeste couldn’t believe it. Did Marie just use magic to cheat? But if she had used magic, she would have felt it. She looked over at Roman, but his face was expressionless. He didn’t seem to have noticed anything.
“I guess you won that one,” said Brian with a grimace. He was one of the most competitive people Celeste knew, and she could hear the displeasure in his tone.
“It was about time. You beat me at all the other games,” Marie said with a casual brush against his arm. His grimace quickly turned into a shy smile as she leaned in closer to him as they walked side by side.
“We found laser tag up on the second floor. You guys up for a challenge?” asked Roman.
“Definitely,” answered Brian.
“Why don’t we do boys against girls to make it more interesting?” Marie asked with a mischievous grin.
Celeste didn’t like the sound of that. She didn’t trust this girl one bit, and now she had to be partnered with her in laser tag? Celeste was about to object when Roman and Brian both agreed.
The four of them met the attendant at the laser tag arena who brought them their gear. As each was fitted with a silver laser gun and matching vest, Celeste surveyed the area, and noticed they were the only ones in the enormous dark room. As she adjusted the strap on her vest, she watched Marie. She was tall and thin with luminous, flowing red hair and the fluorescent green neon lights from the lasers gave her bright green eyes an unearthly glow. Marie turned and caught Celeste staring at her, but she just smiled. “You ready to beat those boys?”
“Sure,” said Celeste in a tone that indicated quite the opposite.
Each team was told the rules of the game and then moved to opposite sides of the giant ring. The room was pitch black, with various obstacles scattered throughout and only a few neon lights illuminating the walls. Celeste could barely see Roman and Brian on the other side of the arena. She could just make out their vests, which emitted a soft red glow. Suddenly, a clock overhead lit up and began to count down – three, two, one – and then a buzzer rang through the darkness.
“You go for Roman and I’ll take Brian,” said Marie as she snuck around one of the tall crates and disappeared.
Geez, it seems like she’s played before…
Celeste took a few steps opposite of Marie’s direction and strained her eyes to find Roman. She couldn’t see anything. After stumbling around in the darkness for a few minutes, she was beginning to get annoyed. She decided to let down the mental wall she usually maintained around Roman so that she could open up her powers to feel his presence. This was hard to do since she barely felt anything around him anymore. Part of Celeste’s Guardian powers included a sort of “evil radar” as Nico had once jokingly nicknamed it. Being around supernatural creatures caused an ominous sensation to arise inside of her. It had taken her awhile to control her ability, but now she was easily able to put up or take down the mental block as needed. Lowering the wall, she finally felt a slight twinge and hurried in that direction, careful to avoid tripping over the obstacles placed in her path. As she zigzagged along the course, she heard some scuffling to her right. She glanced over but didn’t see the green glow of Marie’s vest o
r the red from Brian or Roman’s. I must be hearing things. Suddenly she was hit with a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach, a feeling she knew all too well. She immediately stopped and scanned the area – nothing. It was too dark!
Celeste ducked behind a tall crate and pulled out the dagger tucked inside her boot. Still, there was nothing but silence and darkness all around her. Where is everyone? She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and spun around. “Roman! You almost gave me a heart attack,” she whispered harshly. “Why don’t you have your vest on?”
“I took it off when I realized we weren’t alone in here. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where are Brian and Marie?”
“I’m not sure. Brian and I split up right after the buzzer went off,” he said.
“We have to find them before it does,” she said. “Any idea what it might be?”
“No, I couldn’t tell. I just know it’s not friendly,” he said with a frown.
Celeste took Roman’s hand and led him through the darkness using her powers to guide them. They walked quickly, crouching behind crates as they moved. As they rounded a corner, Celeste’s attention was drawn to the opposite side of the room, where she could just make out a faint red glow. They turned toward it, and a scream broke the eerie silence. They bolted toward the sound of Marie’s panicked voice. Crouched in a corner they found her holding Brian’s still body. Celeste threw herself to the ground next to them and began frantically searching for a pulse.
“Is he okay?” cried Marie, her ivory skin twice as pale as normal.
“Yes, he’s breathing and his pulse seems normal,” said Celeste, letting out a sigh of relief. “Brian, wake up!” She shook him and when that didn’t work she slapped his cheeks lightly. At that, his eyes began to flutter.
“Let him have some air,” said Roman, pushing the girls back.
Marie nodded and twitched her nose. Suddenly a gentle breeze flowed through the room. It was as if a fan had been turned on right above their heads. Celeste looked at Marie in amazement.
“What? Roman said he needed some air,” she said as she gently fanned Brian with her hand. Finally, Brian began to come to. As he opened his eyes, they saw a bright light shine a few feet away from them, heard a door slam – and then it was dark again.
“What’s going on?” murmured Brian groggily.
“You two stay here with Brian. I’ll be right back,” said Roman.
Brian sat up as the girls hovered worriedly over him. “I’m fine, I think I just got knocked out or something,” he said, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head.
“What happened?” asked Celeste.
“After the buzzer went off I started running in your direction. I could see the green lights in the distance, and I was moving toward them, but then it’s all a blank.”
Again they saw the bright light and heard the door slam. Two seconds later, Roman was back at Celeste’s side. “Whatever it was, it’s gone,” confirmed Roman.
“Come on let’s get out of here,” said Celeste as she helped Brian back onto his feet.
Celeste’s mind was racing as she stared out the car window watching other cars speed by. She absentmindedly twisted the antique sapphire ring around her finger. It was a new habit, recently acquired, for whenever she was nervous. Roman had given Celeste the ring, which had belonged to his mother, for her eighteenth birthday. His mother claimed it had always given her strength; looking at it now, the way it sparkled in the sunlight, Celeste understood why.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find whatever was in the arcade and kill it,” he said reaching out his hand to squeeze hers.
She turned and looked distractedly at him. “Hmm? Oh right,” she said turning back toward the window.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Did you see what Marie did in there?”
“What?” he asked looking surprised.
“I’m pretty sure she cheated when she was playing that water gun game with Brian. I saw her wiggle her nose, and then the gun went out of control. And then that wind that came out of nowhere when we were in the laser tag room? What was that?”
Roman chuckled. “Didn’t you read the books Stellan gave you?”
“No, I didn’t have a chance yet,” she responded peevishly. “And why are you laughing?”
“Celeste, fairies are earth magic users. They can control the elements – water, wind, fire, and air. For someone so intent on finding out more about the Fey, you missed out on a fairly basic point.”
She gave him a sidelong glance. “But I didn’t feel anything when she used her magic.”
“That’s because it’s not the type of magic that you are familiar with. It’s tied to the earth, and it’s all natural.”
“So you knew all along?”
“Of course. It’s a known thing among the supernatural.”
“Well, I don’t think she should be using magic to cheat at a game,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Really, Celeste? I think you’re just trying to come up with excuses to not like this girl. Don’t tell me you’ve never used your powers for your own personal gain,” he said with a reprimanding tone.
Celeste thought back to earlier that day when they were playing laser tag. Sure, she had tried to find Roman with her powers, but that was an emergency. She thought they might be in danger. Am I really being too hard on Marie?
“I’m just saying maybe you should give her a chance,” he said. “She doesn’t seem so bad.”
“I guess.”
“Or is it just the fact that Brian likes her?” he asked, his tone taking a serious edge.
“No, I told you that’s not it at all. I just don’t trust her, that’s it,” Celeste said, turning away to stare out the window once more.
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.