by Megan Perry
We both shake our heads a bit and wait.
Slowly I can feel walls like steel rise up around my mind. I can’t hear the humming form down below us, but I can focus on Gavin and hear his thoughts. As my walls rise, his molten core is doused with ice and he briefly shivers from head to toe. I guess Natasha feels we are too unstable or maybe she is more cautious since Dominic came onto the scene. Either way it’s off to work we go! “Ok, you two behave and let’s get this show on the road!” Gavin grins at me and I stand up to adjust my outfit and little waitress apron and stare at Dominic and Natasha. “Why do you scold me?” Natasha really doesn’t understand that it’s more than obvious who Dominic is to her. She hasn’t told me herself, but I remember feeling what she feels and how brilliant our marks became. It’s like we are moths drawn to a light and that light is the other half of our soul, our being, our reason for existence.
As frustrated as one may be, the other completes them and they have no choice in the matter. I remember a bit of relief once I understood it, but at the same time a type of rage for having no control. “Come with me,” I say and take her hand. I lead her out of the small apartment and down the stairs. “Tash, I know who Dominic is to you. It’s not an easy thing to hide; besides I know things I don’t what to know sometimes.” I tap my temple for effect.
Natasha’s eyes widen and her emerald green eyes flash red for a moment. “I’m obvious?” I sigh a bit and realize I have but a few moments to explain and calm her before we reach the bar and the doors open for business. “Tash, to me, a guardian, a telepath and friend of Dominic’s yes, to others maybe not so much. Let’s get through the night and then maybe you should talk to Dominic.” Her golden curls are pulled up into a messy bun she ran two bright pink sticks with stars on the end through. Natasha’s brow furrows and I know she is thinking, turning things over and over in her head. “Gavin loves you, he trusts you so I trust you about this Dominic boy. I will speak tonight with him. You must be near or the deal is off!” With that she nods once to me and turns towards the main part of the bar.
I have to move fast too keep up. I follow Natasha to a spot near the end of the actual bar and there is a group of girls standing in a circle yammering on about trivial things their auras flashing and dancing with their excitement.
They don’t know we’re approaching.
“I heard she is gorgeous, but stupid! She can’t even keep it together. She electrocutes people and,” “and I can fry your brain from the inside out with merely a thought.” Clearing my throat I interrupt the brunette who is regaling my struggles. “Oh shit, sorry ZZ! I didn’t realize you were here.” Her features look small and she shrinks back standing behind a few other girls and Jeanie whom I met earlier pushes her out in front of me. “My name is Zoe, only my friends call me ZZ and you are not even worth my breath. Learn to shut your mouth and maybe you wouldn’t be single. A gossip is unattractive.” The girl gasped and covered her mouth. “How did you know?” I just laughed I could feel Gavin and Dominic behind us enjoying the show. All heads in the bar had turned towards us. “Mindy, I just do.” I am sure to tap my temple just to mess with her and add effect. The brunette runs off to the bathroom and one of her lackeys darts after her. I am so nervous I swear my knees are knocking together but I guess to everyone else I look collected and slightly dangerous. Most of the girls take a step or two back from Natasha and I. I really have no idea what to say next, but lucky for me Natasha was born for this sort of thing.
“You heard Zoe, now listen chicks. You do your job, do it right and Dean won’t hear about nothing. You cross Zoe or try to be cute you deal with me.” Natasha’s aura was flashing like a strobe and her features looked terrifying all twisted up in her anger. “You may only tell our patron’s her name is Zoe and any other questions…let’s say the answers slip your pretty little minds unless, you’d like us to silence you for good?” Natasha cracks her knuckles and that’s when I notice how much leather she is wearing. She would fit in nicely to any biker bar or s and m club in the city. Tash has even picked out some thigh high leather heels. Every movement seems natural to her like she is in a movie. I can only see myself falling on my ass every twenty seconds. Where does all her confidence come from? It’s like by being born Russian it is part of her genes! I forget all about what is going on around me as I mentally drool all over Natasha. It isn’t until I feel a pinch on my arm that I snap out of it.
“That is right Zoe is it not?” I have no idea what I am agreeing to but with the roll Natasha is on I better agree to it. I hope me popping back into my own brain appeared like I was tough and not the jolt of surprise I actually felt when I snapped back like a rubber band. Based on the faces of the girls surrounding me none of them noticed I had checked out. “You couldn’t be more right Natasha.” I flash my eyes for effect. I figure that sort of response is tough enough and yet covers all my bases since I have no idea what she had just said.
“Alright now, line up, give your name, and then off you go. The patrons are looking for you.” The girls stumble about and form a cockeyed line and Natasha has me follow along down it with her. Each girl mumbles out a name like Mindy, Candy, Rosie, Jules, and so forth. I don’t remember anyone but Adara, Jeanie and Mimi. All are honest enough I could tell and each was half a soul belonging to one of the bouncers.
Adara is with Jaron and well the other two, I don’t know. I hadn’t met everyone so it’s hard to tell really. Anyhow the five of us took the back end of the bar and started making our rounds. I caught a glimpse of Gavin out of the corner of my eye and he was watching me with a protective stare. Dominic’s eyes were in our direction too, though he didn’t have the claim to Natasha that Gavin and I had to each other, it was easy to tell he was keeping an eye out. Our first table of patrons was older, mid forties and a couple of them had women with them. All of them were guardians and knew enough not to ask anything after Natasha introduced me as the new waitress for LEDGE and I winked at the men.
Sometimes the older women would comment on my pendant and others might admire my jet black hair, all ways of telling me they knew who I was and oddly thanking me for being alive without saying it.
I decided after the first few tables I hated who I was to these people! I mean wasn’t it enough to find out I’m a guardian and I am not an orphan? But to be fated as some sort of guardian warrior or savior of some sort and have everyone know me was just too much. I go to Gavin’s end of the bar to get my drink orders filled. When the girls see me coming, they all move to another bar tender. Gavin grins and places a hand on top of mine. He doesn’t have to touch me to know I am about to fall apart inside. “You don’t need to feel so pressured. You know that you were born everything you need to be this foretold guardian. Zoe, I feel it too, only people here can’t believe I’m your other half. They think I’m some scrawny little punk that serves them booze. I’m supposed to be your protector. Let me buy us both a shot and we can focus on appearing as bad-ass as we are supposed to be huh?” I nod and Gavin motions to Will another bar tender and slides him and five, “two shots of something strong.”
Gavin gins again and starts filling my order. I’m glad I wore my chucks, because when he’s done my tray is so full I’m afraid to pick it up. The two shots appear in front of us and we instinctively raise them, give them a clank and slam them down. The whiskey burns and before I can think Gavin leans over the bar and kisses me without restraint. He’s placing his claim to the whole bar as his hands slip into my hair. When he pulls back he’s grinning from ear to ear and the whole bar is cheering. If I wasn’t supposed to be so rough and tough I’d be blushing.
Instead I push it down and I can feel a wicked grin spread across my face before I can push my mask back in place. I take up my tray thinking to myself that it’s light as a feather and I’m a graceful as a fairy all the way back to my patrons. Dominic winks as I go by and I just about lose my footing even in my flat chucks. Natasha has made herself available to assist, but makes her way around the section cha
tting up customers and occasionally taking a drink order.
I smile at the last of the men I hand their drinks to and turn to head back to the bar to settle some tabs and it hits me.
The Letter
I feel a brick wall smash up against my mental defenses and it burns like acid around the edges. My body is right where I left it, but I am racing across the room the Gavin and Dominic. Both of their heads snap up at the same time and see me running through tables and patrons. The sensation is odd; I’ll have to ask about it later. A second or so later I fly right through the bar and find myself out of breath if that’s possible. Dominic signals to Natasha who attends to my actual body and takes me to a break area for the employees. “Guys they’re here!” I can suddenly hear them both inside my head, “who is here?” Both guys keep serving patrons at the bar and scan the crowd. “Dark guardians,” is all I’m able to muster before I am snapped back into my body as another wave of acid and darkness slams into my mental barriers. As I snap back into my body it feels as though the air is being sucked out of my lungs. I start gasping and Natasha grabs my arm with one hand and smacks me with the other for a brief moment. The slight pain wrenches me back to reality and the look on Natasha’s face tells me my fears are correct. “Dark guardians, they have come looking for you. They shouldn’t be able to enter this place, but they just came in the front door. Are they hurting you? Did they get through?”
Natasha’s face looks worried and she scans my every feature to be sure I’m not lying to her. “I’m fine. Tash, when they try to break down the walls it burns a little, but whatever you made me drink earlier seems to be keeping them out.
Thank you.” Natasha shakes her head like it’s not a big deal; her aide had nothing to do with it. “I give you something makes you confident so you take care of yourself.” She grins a bit before Gavin and Dominic slip in the door.
Dominic closes it quickly and Gavin starts pushing everything heavy in front of it he can think of. When he and Dominic finish they both look a bit panicked.
Gavin runs to me and throws his arms around me. I can hear tables being flipped over and glass smashing.
His heart is pounding and his body is starting to warm. I guess his drink was for self control, but if I had to pick a time for him to start shoot flames from his hands now would be it. “They are looking for you. They are demanding we give you up or they’ll tear this place down. The building is surrounded. The guys are trying to get them out of the bar, but they can’t keep them out as soon as one falls another takes its place. Dean has contacted the counsel and the warriors have been sent. They are fast but I’m not sure if they are fast enough. Every other staff member is jammed down this hallway to block the way and defend, but it may not be enough.” I caught Natasha in Dominic’s arms out of the corner of my eye as Gavin pulled back from me. “We may have to save ourselves; do you think you are up for it?” Gavin turns to Natasha and Dominic both nod in unison and when he turns back to me my evil grin slips out. “Baby I’m all about some chaos. We got a sink in this place?” All three of them start laughing.
We rig the door so if it opens a large tub of water will douse those who enter and a tiny line of water leads to my feet. Together we move the heavy items around the room and make it so they benefit our abilities best. When we are done we look at one another and realize it is now a waiting game. We continue to hear tables turning over and glass shattering. I can hear Dean’s voice and see flashing coming from under the doorway. The screams get louder and I can feel the rage welling inside of me. Looking to my left I can see Gavin’s skin pulsing red and his eyes flashing colors. Dominic and Natasha are holding hands to amplify their strength on my right and here I stood alone in the center. I am the foretold and I am hiding in a back room letting others defend me, letting them die for me! Lost in my own mind I almost don’t notice the silence. But, there it is silence. The flashes of light have stopped and blood runs under the door slowly as it coagulates and mixes with the line of water it flowing straight to my feet.
The door knob twists from side to side and boots stomp in the bloody puddles outside it. I reach out and slide the lock on the door and quickly snap myself back into my head. My eyes begin to flash and the room fills with the color of only my aura stronger than all the others. I feel Natasha and Gavin take a step closer to me as the door knob turns one more time with a click. The door swings open and slams back against the wall hard enough that it embeds the knob in the dry wall keeping the door wide open. A large man fills the doorway. He is covered in a rubber like armor practically from head to toe. The man grins with three rows of pointed teeth from ear to ear. Natasha and Gavin both grab my hands as the dark guardian steps in the room. The tub of water has already splashed all over him and he begins to laugh. It is a deep dark throated laugh that has a sinister undertone. His voice is gravelly and something in it is so familiar, so soothing it makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. “You think I am not prepared for the foretold? You think I do not know what you are capable of? Do you not remember the time we have spent together in your head? I know you better than you know yourself!” It was the voice from my head. All of my nightmares, all of the hallucinations, it was him! The tiny room flashes with my light and my vision begins to blur. Before it goes completely I notice the dark guardian’s face is not covered and green oozing blood runs from the gashes all over it.
Just as my vision goes white and I lose all sight I kick the bloody water in front of me and send currents of electricity through the stream. His laughter turns to screaming as the water splashes his face and the electrical outlet near his feet is also splashed allowing me to increase the voltage and make the rest of the water jump from the floor. In all of my rage I am able to shield the other three from the electrocution. The dark guardian’s skin begins to sizzle and melt off exposing the decaying flesh beneath it. The stench is foul and I have to hold back the bile rising from my stomach. His body flops around on the ground in front of us and as his head smashes against the cement floor more of the green oozing blood seeps from the corners of his mouth and his nose. His screams eventually cease and I am able to stop the flow of electricity. He is barely breathing and despite the other’s pleas to not go to him I do. I drop to my knees and grab him by the torn rubbery armor he wears. His eyes barely hold any awareness in them but he is still alive. “Tell me your name.” Surprisingly my own voice sounds like a hiss and every syllable is laced with rage and revulsion.
He groans and his muscles twitch with residual effects of the electrocution.
“You didn’t think it’d be that simple did you?” With his words I hear footsteps coming down the hallway, boots lots of boots.
Gavin and Dominic flash into the hallway and Natasha starts chanting something in the corner. The guardian’s eyes show a bit of surprise at the other’s responses. I am all but straddling him now pulling him up off the floor and dropping him back down. I can see the jolts of pain from my actions and the rage continues to well up inside of me. I feel the heat from Gavin and he lets his control go and he bursts into flames.
Dominic is behind him and is flinging dead bodies and debris down the hallway at the approaching dark guardians. I can feel the words from Natasha surround me and then Gavin and Dominic in the hallway. She is creating a shield allowing our abilities to pass through but none to enter back in. Feeling this I concentrate on Gavin’s blazing inferno and lift my right hand up to the bleeding and mangled face of the guardian below me. I can feel his anger and fear as my hand begins to warm and his flesh begins to burn under my touch. He begins to thrash and scream again. I pull my hand away and let him begin to catch his breath before I slam my hand back against his left temple. The body beneath me begins to flail and I remove my hand one more time. I have to be careful he is strong, but I am stronger and I need information.
“One more chance, your name is…” I hiss again and wait. I can see where this type of anger and power can be addicting. I begin to understand those who choose as he has,
but something would have to be very broken inside for one to choose all the other things that go with this sort of life. I slam his head back against the floor for effect and wait another moment. “Koen Brackenwater. I am first in command of the eastern forces. You were my first and only assignment. I meant you no harm.”
With his last gurgled words his head fell to the side and his eyes rolled back in his head. My right hand was pressed against his left breast where his heart would be. I felt a violent thrumming under my hand and then his chest exploded.
I flew backwards a few feet and a veil black worm creature slithered out of his body cavity and right before my eyes shriveled into a pile of dust. In my astonishment I barely hear the call for retreat in the hallway. I crawl back to his body and yank off his gloves and rip the rest of his armor from his torso.
As I stare at Koen the green blood turns to red and the twisted appearance of the guardian disappears. His features smooth out and in a few moments the body beneath me no longer resembles a monster, but a young man only a few years older than myself. I can feel the other’s eyes on me but I keep studying his body. His hands have turned from mangled messes to pale skinned long fingered hands just like any other male his size. The only thing that remains the same is a mark on both wrists. It doesn’t resemble anything I have ever seen. It looks like a serpent swallowing a child. The serpent mark is black and looks as though it is a wisp of smoke that will disappear at any moment.