by Allison, J
“So what happens now?”
“I’m not sure,” his expression was torn, “Allison will report back to them and I guess I will find out soon enough. I imagine I’ll be hearing from the elders before my twenty first birthday.” his voice was scathing.
I took a long breath, phrasing my question carefully,
“That first night on the porch you said that Guardians protect humans from the ‘Unseen’. Unseen what?”
Robert tensed, turning suddenly to stone.
“What don’t we see.” I pressed.
“Evil.” His voice was a whisper, and I felt the tiny hairs of my arms rise at his tone.
“I sound crazy.” He sighed, his dark eyes taking in my shocked expression.
“Evil spirits?” I whispered. “Devils, Demons, what in hell do you mean? Excuse the pun, but dammit, Evil?” He was right it did sound crazy.
“Yes.” He spoke matter of factly. “Shit I can’t get in any more trouble than I probably already am. There is good and evil. Magic and power that exists outside of the human population.”
“So you’re saying you fight the devil?” I frowned trying to make this sound sane in my head.
“Yes. In a way, we fight his influence here amongst humans.”
“So you are what… angels.”
I chewed my bottom lip, cringing when I bit too hard.
Guardians, Angels, Guardian Angels who fight demons and devils?
“No.” He sighed, his expression sad. “Like I said I don’t know a lot about what we are or what we learn until I learn it. But yes, whatever good there is, I know that is what we are here for, or at least that’s all I’ve been told.”
“You must know what you are.” I challenged. He had already provided more tonight than I even realized he knew.
“We are a hybrid, I guess.” His tone cautious, “we are a mix of the divine and the mortal. We have the attributes of both.”
“Shit.” I breathed, feeling chilled, I tore my eyes from his and then my hands. I felt light headed as I made my way to the window where I gazed out into the night beyond.
“Ava.” His voice was pleading, afraid he had given to much.
Staring at the stars I felt very small. Everything that I thought existed, that I thought I knew was wrong. There was more, more that we didn’t even see.
“Is there a heaven?” I whispered, my fingers digging into the window sill.
His voice tickled my ear, “I may not know what I really am or my purpose but yes, I believe there is a heaven.”
I turned into his arms, my face only inches from his.
“You don’t seem very interested in this whole training, harnessing power thing?”
“I’m not.” his voice matter-a-fact, “All I want is to be normal, to fit in, to be what you are, to be with you. I don’t want to be different, I don’t want to leave.”
I circled him with my arms, resting my cheek against his chest.
“The problem is,” my voice broke and he hugged me hard, “This is what you are meant for, you can’t escape it, they will find you, Allison made that clear.” I closed my eyes keeping the tears at bay.
“I will escape it,” he vowed, “They can’t take me against my will, not now I’ve found you.” his lips pressed hard into my hair, sealing his statement.
“I told you I’ll be here whenever you need me Ava and I won’t break that promise, I’m not going anywhere.”
I couldn’t speak, all I could do was cling to him and hope it was the truth.
23.
I woke slowly the next morning, feeling every step from sleep to consciousness, remembering snippets of our conversation from the night before as I climbed towards the point of opening my eyes.
“Bad dream?” his silky voice hid a smile, I opened one eye and then the other making sure he was really there.
He was on his knees next to my bed, his face only inches from my own. I couldn’t help but smile, he leaned forward closing the gap between us and kissing me gently on the forehead. Behind him my bedroom door hung wide open, I shot up like a startled horse.
“Where’s Nan and Pop?” I hissed, I couldn’t have them catching Robert in my room. His loud laugh made me jump.
“Huntington for groceries.”
“Oh.” my blood pressure started returning to normal and I leant back against my pillow propping myself up on one elbow.
He cocked his head to one side, looking intently to the distance, I knew this expression well enough by now to know he was listening to someone.
“I just wanted to say good morning,” He said, standing quickly, “and now I better get going before Shawn realizes I’m not getting the horses in like he thinks I am.” he flashed his heart stopping smile at me and before I could speak he disappeared from my room in a flash of color, too fast for my eyes to follow, especially when I had just woken up. I sunk back into my pillow thankful I had nothing to rush out of bed for; I still had a few things to ponder about last night.
Robert didn’t know exactly what he was, he had made that clear, but there was something else he was meant for, and that something included others like him, others like Allison. Thinking of her glares made me huddle further under the quilts, it was clear she didn’t want me anywhere near Robert and who knew what information she would take back to the mysterious ‘elders’.
The thought of him leaving made me feel hollow, the thought of him being meant for someone else, for anything else, hurt so much I could barely think of it.
He told me that he wouldn’t go and I believed he meant it. Yet I also believed there were forces much bigger than him at play. He wouldn’t have a choice.
Like every other day since I had arrived I didn’t really have a lot to do and the morning passed quickly in a lazy haze of reading and chatting to Joel on the phone, all the while focusing on not thinking about Roberts future or the evil ‘Unseen’.
It was a typical sweltering day in Huntington, the sun streamed onto the porch warming me where I sat flicking through a magazine, unable to focus on the pages.
There was nothing quite like the silence that comes with a farm, putting it down I stretched my arms out, enjoying the feeling as my muscles pulled and stretched. I was feeling a little wiped out from my late night, both physically and emotionally.
I wondered briefly where Nan and Pop had got too, my grumbling stomach told me it must be past the normal lunching hour and Pop wasn’t one that liked to eat late, he was a creature of habit, having his meals served up at the same time every day. Leaning back in my chair I admired the deep blue cloudless sky, it was the most amazing color, my favorite color, I smirked with an idea.
“What’s my favorite color?” I spoke so quietly I could barely hear myself, and felt more than a little stupid.
I didn’t have to wait long, within five seconds my mobile began to vibrate against the table.
I answered without a greeting,
“I have no idea,” his voice was soft and smooth today, “but now that you ask what is it?”
“Blue,” I couldn’t hide the smile from my voice, “What’s yours?”
“Yellow,” I detected a grin in his answer,
“That’s not the manliest color?” I teased,
“Well it was green before yesterday, until I saw you in that dress.” he laughed and the line went dead.
As I put my phone down I heard a vehicle in the distance, shortly after Pops black pickup appeared between the shed and the stables building site, marking my Grandparents return.
I rushed down the steps to help pull the grocery bags from the bed of the truck, trudging inside after Nan. I began unpacking things, placing items in their allotted cupboards.
“We’re heading into Denver next week,” Nan spoke as she began making sandwiches on the bench.
“Really?”
“It’s the farming field days, they’re held every year.” she smiled grimly,
“Your Pop never misses it, loves seeing all the new seasons machinery
and feed plans.”
As if summoned by this conversation the offending farmer strode into the small kitchen.
“Need to keep up with the times Norma, can’t have us still farming like it’s the depression.” he swept two sandwiches off the chopping block and made his way into the lounge to eat.
“What do you do there, don’t you find it a bit boring?” I couldn’t imagine Nan putting up with two days of intense conversations about the internal workings of tractors.
“Oh not at all dear, well I do find it boring but all the wives get together and spend the whole time doing different activities in Denver so I look forward to it nearly as much as he does. Sandwich?”
I stepped forward taking one of the sandwiches on offer,
“Thanks, ahhh when exactly is it?”
“We’ll be gone early Saturday afternoon and be back Monday night.”
I felt instantly lonely at the thought of them being away for the entire weekend. I replaced this with the light that came at the prospect of spending those two days alone, but not alone, Robert would be here.
I mused for a minute, perhaps it would be a good idea to tell my Grandparents we were ‘dating’, although dating seemed like the wrong word, I felt as though we were more than that.
Perhaps I would tell them after their trip to Denver. Otherwise they may decide not to leave me alone without suitable supervision.
I grabbed my mobile, and headed towards the river, perhaps a swim would fill in time before Robert finished work and I could see him again.
The swimming hole was its normal sun filled self. Light streamed in, glinting from the water like thousands of tiny diamonds and shining through the hanging branches of the willows that lined either side, dappling the small shore line.
Stripping off quickly, I dove from the bank into the clear cool depths of the slow moving current. I swam slowly to the other side, enjoying the slight pull of the water as I kicked gently towards the opposite bank, the river wasn’t very wide and before long I was under the willows on the other side, the slender braches hanging like a curtain, closing behind me. I held myself against a rock beneath their shade, looking back out through the canopy of hanging leaves to where I had come from.
My breath caught in my throat.
Instinctively I ducked beneath the water, keeping only my nose and eyes above the surface, even though I would have been almost completely obscured by the willows hanging to the water in front of me.
My blood ran instantly cold and I felt goose bumps rise all over my body, I thought of whispering to Robert but stamped that idea out just as fast, if she was like him, as he said she was, then she would hear me too.
Allisons red hair fell thickly over her shoulder, glimmering in fiery sparks of copper and gold as the sun reflected from it.
She gently shifted my clothes with her foot, a thoughtful look on her face. She spun around in a movement so fast it left no doubt in my mind that she and Robert were one in the same. Her green eyes scanned the river bank, her expression more of curiosity then menacing. As her gaze moved slowly towards my hiding place I took a deep breath and sunk below the surface, dropping pin style with my arms and legs pointed towards the depths. My feet eventually hit the stony ground and I began counting slowly trying to keep my thoughts clear, trying to stay under as long as I could. I waited, letting my breath out a little at a time. If her eyesight was as good as Roberts could she see me beneath the water?
I prayed she couldn’t.
My throat was burning but I made myself count out another ten seconds before pushing off from the stony river bed.
Kicking gently towards the surface, my lungs screamed for air, I tried not to break the water with a splash, gulping back a deep breath, oxygen flowed in, making my head spin momentarily. Allison was gone, my things still lay where I had left them. I scanned left to right slowly taking in every detail of the river bank on either side to see if her bright hair was visible. I couldn’t see her, I couldn’t hear anything other than the gentle sound of the river and the birds that rested in its tree lined banks.
I waited a while longer, not sure how many minutes ticked by, hidden behind the veil of willows until I felt my hands and feet go numb. Eventually when I was satisfied she wasn’t coming back and I was too numb to stay any longer I pushed off, emerging from the shadows of the trees back into the sun. Stiff and slow from the cold the going was far more difficult than when I had crossed earlier. Eventually I made it and hauled myself out, grabbing my towel I wrapped it tightly around myself sarong style, I didn’t muck around, sweeping up my clothes and mobile, I kicked on my flip flops and ran awkwardly up the narrow bank to the car. My feet squelched noisily as I ran and I had to be careful not to slip on my rubber thongs. Leaping into the old red hatch I locked the door behind me, I was dripping onto the seat but didn’t care.
It took me a moment to get my breath back and my hands shook from a combination of cold and fear as I tried to put the key in the ignition.
The car roared into life and I pulled a U-Turn, speeding back up the farm track towards the house.
I couldn’t believe she had followed me, what did she want from me? Shouldn’t she be looking for Robert? I tried to gather my thoughts, to think clearly despite being almost paralyzed with fear.
The selfish part of my mind kicked in, I didn’t want Robert to know she was here, I couldn’t stand the possibility of him going away any sooner than he had to. The rational side of my brain told me that perhaps that was what was supposed to happen, Robert was different to everyone else, well almost everyone. A new bout of shivering came on as I thought of Allison. Perhaps his destiny had already been set. He was not meant to be mine, this much was becoming obvious.
The thought of Robert leaving hurt more then I imagined possible, I was vaguely aware of my tears as they began to run down my cheeks, dripping warmly onto my knees. Robert had become such a big part of my life since I had come here, actually the biggest part, just the thought of walking away from him made me feel as if my heart was being ripped from my chest.
Realization hit home like a jack hammer, Robert would leave me, there was no choice, they would have him, he was destined for that, whatever that was, not for me. It didn’t matter that he was my soul mate, he would be gone and neither of us would be able to do anything about it.
My vision blurred with tears that I didn’t want to cry, not yet.
I came up the track to the house a little too fast, the car fishtailed sideways on the gravel as I turned sharply in front of the garage, coming to a halt with the tires sending up a spray of dirt. Dust flew around me as I leapt from the car, still dripping wet and wrapped in my towel. I ran, barefoot now, up the porch stairs and through the back door to my bedroom, slamming the door quickly behind me. I fell back against it, shrinking slowly until I was sitting on the ground. Tears rolled silently from my eyes and into the hair that was still plastered against my cheeks.
I took a deep breath.
“Ava!” his voice broke through my tears, full of worry and alarm, I jumped in fright, huddling back against the door before the rational side of my brain told me it was okay. I brushed my arm across my eyes, wiping away the tears, I didn’t want him to see me crying.
I heard his feet land gently near my window and a split second later I was lifted off the floor, as though I weighed nothing, he held me tight in his lap oblivious to the fact I was soaking wet.
“What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” I sniffed,
“Nothing doesn’t do this to people, nothing doesn’t cause a bout of Nascar driving,” worry etched his voice, “Did someone hurt you?” he growled, his entire body tensed.
“No,” I spoke quickly, trying to compose myself, I looked at him through my tangled hair, his head was cocked towards the window, a look of frustration on his face.
“Dammit,” he spoke so quietly I could hardly hear him, “Shawn’s looking for me.” he was torn,
“I’m okay,” I said peeling
myself from him, his shirt wet from where he held me, he didn’t seem to notice.
“You’re not okay,” I could hear his frustration, “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m fine, really.” he didn’t believe me, his eyes narrowed as he took in my appearance.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” he half stood, looking unsure as to whether he should stay or go.
“Ava, are you inside?” Pops voice rung down the hallway, I tensed and so did Robert.
I turned on the best smile I could muster.
“Really I’m okay, I’ll talk to you tonight. Now go before we are both in more trouble then we’re worth.”
“Ava,” Pop called again, I looked back towards my closed door,
“I’ll be out in a minute Pop,”
When I turned back he was gone.
I sighed deeply, my thoughts in a jumble that matched the knots in my stomach, toweling my hair dry and throwing on my clothes I trudged out to speak to Pop.
After I had finished with Pop I went back to my room, my mind was still turning in circles, I had more questions than answers at the moment, something I should probably have been used to by now. Flinging my door shut behind me, my heart stopped and my breath died in my throat.
Allison turned from where she had been admiring herself in my mirror, her smile grew as she took in my disheveled damp appearance.
“Hello Ava.”
Prancing over to my bed she perched elegantly on the end of it, the silence dragged, I didn’t answer, I couldn’t, I could barely breathe let alone speak. I swept my tangled hair behind my ears, finally managing to take a deep breath, I tried to look relaxed but I was afraid the shake in my hands would give me away.
She looked at me with interest.
“I see your weren’t expecting me,” she paused, “trying to drown yourself at the river rather than speak with me was a little bit of an overreaction though wouldn’t you say? And might I add a little insulting, I always considered myself to be excellent company.” She looked thoughtful for a moment then shook her head and carried on,