Guardian

Your Way Wednesday Prompt:

I would’ve lived longer if it weren’t for Cindy.

I would’ve lived longer if it weren’t for Cindy. Cindy and karaoke night. 

I still get glimpses of Cindy’s wet eyes as she watched me struggle to breathe. It was a car crash that did me in. Cindy and I had been walking home one night from a stupid karaoke night that she loved when a car came whipping around the corner. I don’t even know how I’d managed to throw Cindy out of the way before the hit. By the time Cindy had scrambled to her feet, I was pinned against a brick wall, my body barely functioning as I realized I had been legitimately cut in half and was dying. The driver was slumped over the dash – unconscious or dead – I didn’t care at that point. 

“I’m sorry,” she’d sobbed as blood was seeped from my fatal wound. “We should’ve never gone to karaoke night,” she’d said in the middle of sobs. 

“Yeah – this is totally all your fault,” I’d said sarcastically. We both laughed hysterically at the absurdity, but then I cried out in pain and we sobered. “I’m not ready to die,” I’d choked out, terrified over the knowledge that my body was shutting down, my heart pumping blood uselessly. Cindy swore and then screamed like she was trying to steel herself for something. She swiped at her tears and then her eyes met mine. 

“Holden, I can give you another chance, but it’s going to be different than here.” Her unusual grey eyes held my plain brown ones as my vision got fuzzy. 

“Whatdoyamean?” I tried to ask, but it slurred together. Pain was all I could comprehend. 

“You’ll be able to continue on,” Cindy said, determination lighting her expression. “Just… without me.” 

“I donnnn want thaaa…” I slurred. I’d never said it, but I had loved her. She was my best friend. 

“I can’t let you go like this. It’s not your time.” She carefully came as close as she could to me and began murmuring words I couldn’t understand. Her mouth stopped moving, but I could still hear the echo, like her chant was on repeat. “You’ll make someone a great Guardian, Holden. I’m going to miss you terribly -” her words broke into a sob, but she pushed them down and finished. “I’m going to miss you so much. But at least this way, you’ll get to live all those adventures you’ve been planning. Those and so much more.” I felt the pain ease and the last thing I heard was her telling me she loved me too. 

That was almost fifty years ago. 

It’s hard to believe I’ve been a Shadow for Vic all this time. Vic is a good mentor. I know all the rules and regulations for being a Guardian because of him, but I cannot wait to be promoted to Guardian and shrug off the Shadow job.

“Remember, you are just an observer. Nothing more. You only step in if she is in mortal danger.” Vic says. 

I’m staring intently at my Assignment, one leg dangling off the edge of the roof we’re pearched on. I did not expect my Assignment to look so… small. The students around her are loud and in a constant state of motion. She stands in the midst of them, oblivious to the chaos erupting in the fresh snow surrounding her, her eyes darting across the length of each page in the book she holds. 

“She’s going to be really important one day, Holden. It’s kind of a big deal that you, a first-time Guardian just free of Shadowing, get’s Assigned to someone like her.” Vic nodded towards the girl, the sharp angles of the suit he prefers catching the light. 

“What is she suppose to become?” Vic shrugged. 

“We never know that for certain, but it is already set in stone that she’s going to lead others, change the world for the better -” I wave my hand to end the oncoming speech about her importance and my role in it all.” 

“I get it, Vic. I can keep an eye on some seventeen-year-old girl.” I may look like the nineteen year old me that was thrown into a transition spell fifty-years ago, but I was definitely not nineteen any more. My eyebrows knit together as I leaned forward to prop my head and forearm on my bent knee. 

“What’s wrong?” Vic asked, taking a closer look at the girl. “You seem displeased.” 

TO BE CONTINUED…

“She’s just so… small. And no leader. Look at her. She’s oblivious to the world around her.” The girl’s nose was still in the book. I scratch my neck and sigh. “I guess I just expected someone bolder. Not an ostrich with her head in the ground.” 

“Don’t be so quick to judge a book by it’s cover,” Vic said solemnly. I turn and look up at him, my eyebrows knit together in surprise. 

“Cliche much?” Vic chuckles and shakes his head. 

“You have a lot to learn, Holden. Just take your assignment seriously and keep her safe. There’s rumor you may have to defend her from dangers in her world,” he paused then locked eyes for me. “And ours.” 

I feel my brows knit. What did that mean for me? Vic turns to leave and I hop up from my lax position and glide through the air to land in front of him. 

“Wait. If she’s that important, why me? Why her for my first assignment?” 

“All I’ve been told is that if it’s not you, she doesn’t become who she’s meant to be.” My face contorts in confusion again. Vic laughs. 

“What does that even mean?”

Vic and places his hand on my shoulder in a fatherly gesture and shrugs.

“Guess we’ll find out, right?” Vic winks and is gone. 

That’s the thing about being a Guardian. You can glide around and zap yourself to where ever you want without worrying about the limitations of gravity or any other natural laws. We were apart of the world, but definitely no longer in it. 

 “Here goes nothing, I guess,” I say to myself quietly. I turn back to the scene below and sure enough, my charge is still buried in her book. 

I flip off the roof and land on a wall, balancing my way along it toward the brick wall behind the kids and the bus stop. I grin. This is hands down the best part of being a guardian – being all floaty and junk. 

The girl is bundled in a black pea coat and a chunky-knit ivory scarf. She wears simple black boots. She has straight brown hair that is cut at the shoulders. I drop down to the ground and make my way to her. 

Guardians are not ghosts. We can bleed through walls, but not people. Despite that, people always seem to walk just around us instinctively, so my path to her isn’t blocked. 

I stop in front of her about two feet away to get a better look of her face. Her eyes are sharp, intelligent and a stunning pool of light, honey brown. 

“So you’re Elizabeth – or should I call you Liz like your friends do?” I say. 

Liz looks right at me. 

I take a stunned step backward in shock. Did she hear me? No one can see us. The only ones who can sense our presence are White Witches – people like Cindy – but that’s just a sixth sense they’re gifted with. They can’t see or hear us.

Liz’s head swivels, her eyes searching. 

“Stop the press! Liz actually emerges from the world of books to join us mere mortals?” A tall, lanky blonde girl gasps dramatically as she comes down the street to the bus stop. Liz’s eyes meet the blonde’s and she smiles, rolling her eyes. 

“Was that you who called me just now? I swear I heard my name.”  

Liz – 

Monte shakes her head. 

“Wasn’t me. So what’s today’s story?” She shoves past a couple making out and sticks her tongue out in disgust. I squeeze my eyes closed and shake my head. I swear someone said my name – first Elizabeth, then Liz. “So what’s this one about?” Monte asks as she makes it next to me. 

“This one is about a proper lady who gets kidnapped by pirates. It’s kind of cool because she’s starting to become one herself.” 

“Any love interests? Maybe one of the swash-buckling pirates?” I laugh. Monte hates reading, but loves the stories. Why should I read when you do all the reading for me? she always asks. I shrug. 

“Not my type. She knew him when she was a proper lady and now that she’s a little rough around the edges, he’s kind of a pansy compared to her.” Monte’s nose scrunches. 

“Ew. Loser alert. Why would someone write that to be a love interest?” 

“I don’t know,” I agree. “But I dig this main character. She going to end up being a pirate queen. It makes me want to yell, ‘Girl power!’” With a finger marking my page, I throw my hand holding my book in the air as I yell it. I get a few sidelong glances from the other kids at the bus stop, but Monte and I cackle loudly because we’re hilarious. 

The bus pulls up and everyone swarms to get in first. Monte and I hang back, not really caring where we sit. I shuffle on my feet and turn to look behind me. It feels like someone is standing there, but when I look, the space is empty. I shiver, feeling cold for the first time as I scan the area, certain someone is watching me. 

“You coming, Liz?” Monte stands on the bottom step of the bus entrance and the driver looks peeved behind her. I look at the bus stop one last time before I rush to bound up the steps behind Monte. 

We sit in one of the bus’ front seats. It’s never by choice, but Monte and I just don’t care enough to fight for the ones in the back. I sit and dog-ear the page I was on, shoving my book into my backpack, then swivel my head looking for who ever is watching me. I can feel it like a low breath on the back of my neck. 

“You look like you’re imitating an owl,” says Monte, an eyebrow raised. “Are you looking for someone?” I pause in my search and look at her, confusion painted on my face. 

“Sorry. I just…” My eyes sweep the bus again. “I keep getting a weird feeling that someone is watching me.” I shrug and brush it off. “It’s probably nothing.” 

But the feeling didn’t go away. I felt it for the next four weeks.

I’m pacing the tall brick wall bordering the park just behind Liz’s house. The jungle gym casts skeleton shadows under the moonlight. I glance up to see her light still on, spilling through her white curtains. I laugh to myself knowing she’s currently sporting the world’s ugliest socks like she does every night. Her feet are constantly cold. For reasons I can’t fathom, she favors chunky, obnoxiously colored, grandma socks. Then she reads her books in the most awkward positions, appearing to intentionally call attention to her horrible taste in footwear as her feet dangle off the bed. 

“Is that her bedroom window?” I turn to find Vic standing casually in a slim fitting Italian suit, his hands relaxed in his pockets. Our preferred clothing is comically different. He looks like he just walked off the red carpet while I look like a hoodlum in a blue hoodie and tattered but fitted jeans. My hood is on and my hands are shoved in the large, front pocket. 

“Yeah. You can sense her too?” I always know where Liz is, regardless of how far away I am from her. It’s like a constant pull. I feel as though I’m linked to her emotions as well. Whenever she’s anxious, angry or upset, I know. And it wasn’t just because her feelings were all over her face, even though they always were. 

Vic laughs, his shoulders shaking. 

“No, Holden. That’s just you.  I can only tell it’s her room because you keep glancing at it. You’re bond with her is already so strong… it’s remarkable.” His eyes sweep me, and I feel self-conscious. People haven’t been able to see me for weeks. Well… at least I think so. That’s why I called this meeting with Vic in the first place. 

“Bonds don’t form that quickly, do they?” I pause, then shake my head, getting back to the task I actually wanted to discuss. “Forget that for now. I really wanted to bring up some other concerns I have.” I look up at him for encouragement. I find nothing more than a blank stare, so I take a deep breath and continue. “I think she senses me. I think she knows I’m around.”

“She couldn’t.” Vic’s response is immediate. 

“That’s what I thought. But she does.”

“How could you know that? Your bond isn’t that strong.” Vic teases. What is this bond thing about? I’d only heard about it briefly in my fifty years as a Shadow. I only happens with one assignment in your Guardian lifetime, but when it does, you are bound to that soul, whatever that means. I shrug it off, doubting this mystical Bond has happened already, with my first Assignment. Despite that, I press on. 

“I don’t know, Vic. I’ve heard her talk about it with her best friend. She’s sensed me since day one.” Vic’s gaze looks thoughtful and he turns to watch Liz’s window as her light winks out. She’s finally found a good stopping place in her book. She always waits till things get a little slow or boring before she can actually peel herself away to go to bed. I won’t lie – I sometimes read over her shoulder. She likes fantasy and action mostly, but I’ve noticed she’ll read anything that has a decent love story thrown into the tale. 

“Since day one and you’re only just now reporting it?” He raises an eyebrow, looking at me through the corner of his eye.

“You said it was normal for the first few weeks.”

“So you waited for a month?” The old man’s eyes became smaller.

“You said few, which means more than one, but not many. You left it up for interpretation. I interpreted.” Liz’s spunk was rubbing off on me. She’d seem so quiet and mild when I first showed up a month ago, but I quickly learned that there was another side to her that was quick witted, sassy and bold. Vic’s eyebrows rose in surprise at my retort. If he expected an apology, it wasn’t happening. “There’s more.” 

“What do you mean more?”

“I think she can hear me.” Vic became still and his brows knit with concern. I continued, confident I finally had his attention. “She use to only react to her name, looking in my direction whenever I said it. Now I think she’s starting to hearing more.”

“Has she spoken about this to her friends?” 

“She has.” Vic looks down at his feet, the jungle gym, or the moon above. Pretty much anything that’s not me. I fidget, my right hand finding it’s way to scratch at the back of my neck. “So…?” I finally say, waiting. 

“I need to bring this information back to the Lead Guard. They might have more insight. To my knowledge, this has never happened before.” He finally looks me in the eye and gives me a quick nod. “Keep me informed, Holden. I’ll meet you here next week. Same day, time, and place?” 

“Thank you.” I sigh in relief and nod. 

“In the meantime, just keep doing what you’re doing.” As I nod, I jerk back towards Liz’s window as her emotions spike with fear. The concern I feel must show on my face because Vic chuckles and says, “Go ahead. Make sure she’s safe. I’ll see you next week with news.” I nod, not looking his way and quickly tight rope across the wooden fence that makes up one wall of the yard. 

Vic – 

I watch as the boy races to Liz’s side. It’s incredible how fast they’d been Bound. Four weeks and she had already started reacting to him? That normally didn’t happen until the end of the Assignment’s life, when they were old and the veil was thin. 

I pray her trial isn’t so near to cause the veil thinning. That look in Holden’s eyes when he sensed her… It was almost like he was in pain knowing she wasn’t right. 

I turn to go, despair gripping me by the lapels of my coat as I worry for Holden’s sake. If he fails, her loss will be the end of him. 

I bleed through the wall into Liz’s room and scan it immediately. Her fear is thick, almost immobilizing. She’s fast asleep in her room. I worry someone is in the house and do a quick scan thought out the entire home, but everything is in it’s proper place. Her parents are sleeping peacefully and Liv’s younger brother, even though he’s in a messy heap amongst pillows and blankets, is snoring. Everything is fine. Why is she still frightened?

I hit my head with the heel of my hand. Duh. It’s a nightmare. Kate is having a nightmare. I rush back to her. 

The only outward sign that she’s in distress is her knit eyebrows and clenched fists. I try to wake her, brushing my hand against her shoulder softly. I’m not exactly solid, but I can manage a slight “nudge” every now and then. Vic had told me that our touch to humans often felt like a sharp chill. 

“Come on, Liz. Wake up. It’s just a bad dream.” While my touch does nothing to change her tight expression or ease her fear, my hand isn’t just fuzzy against her shoulder. I’m legitimately touching her. It’s a human touch. I gasp in shock, overwhelmed with the sensation and fly back, retreating to the top corner of her bedroom by the ceiling.  I stare at my hand. After no sensation since my death, the touch hums through me and it almost hurts. 

Liz groans and I’m jerked back to the present, her fear almost unbearable, making my own head scream. I plow through the ache and land back beside her bedside, this time ready for the bizarre sensation real touch brings. Liz needs to wake up now. I don’t know how long I can manage her paralyzing fear much longer. 

I reach out gingerly to her shoulder and am overwhelmed with the onslaught of details I get through it. Cotton t-shirt fabric; soft skin; warmth. I don’t remember touch being this overwhelming in life. I shake her slightly. 

“Liz, wake up.” I choke out through gritted teeth. My head is reeling from the feedback shooting through my arm. 

Liz rustles and turns from her side to lie on her back breaking our touch. I take a step back, looking at the ceiling as I gasp in air. This can’t be normal. I shouldn’t be able to feel her, and she shouldn’t feel me. 

A part of me hopes she didn’t feel me just now. 

Another part hopes she did.

Liz moans groggily. I can feel the fear ebb as she begins to stretch awake. Good, I think to myself. I can finally function again and I don’t have to touch her again. I close my eyes, taking deep breaths trying to recover from the nearly overwhelming sensation of touch. Liz remains quiet and while her emotions are muddled and hard to read. I think she fell asleep again. 

My eyes pop open and I turn to see her. 

Liz is not asleep. Not even close. Her honey-brown eyes are wide and terrified. 

And she’s staring right at me.  

Liz – 

The nightmare was a frequent visitor during the past few months, but I think it’s been almost four weeks since I last had the dream. I always wake up from it without ever being able to recall what the dream is even about. 

But the boy. I see a boy in the dream. 

I sit up to shrug off the dream and reach for my glass of water, but freeze when the figure standing three feet away from me in my bed turns my way. My mouth drops open and I forget to be afraid. 

“It’s you.” I say. “You’re the boy from my nightmares.”