The Castle: Prequel to the Guardian Angel Series

by Melissa Johnson

  ***

  It was almost dawn when Eric finished reading the last volume.

  The final volume had been a draft with notes scribbled in the margins. It appeared to be an odd collection of rules. Some had been crossed out and some underlined for emphasis, but he could find no rhyme or reason for the order of importance. He thumbed through the pages.

  Rule Number One-hundred-and-sixteen. A case cannot be reassigned except by the Guardian in charge. Rule Number One. Outsiders are not allowed at the Castle. Rule Number Eight. The Order of Guardians is not an animal rescue service.

  He grunted. Rule number eight was underlined three times. His brother hated animals. Apparently this rule took precedence over the more reasonable rules down the line.

  The section on banishment was especially worrisome. It wasn’t really a rule, but more like a policy if the rules were broken.

  The erratic nature of this volume was in sharp contrast to the earlier volumes of meticulous lab notebooks. Careful drawings accompanied the notes. The science was complicated, most of it beyond his comprehension. But Thaddeus carefully documented the sequence of his experiments. In the end, it wasn’t the successes that convinced him, but the failures. The failures had taken time.

  Years. Thaddeus had been planning this evil deed for years.

  Eric slammed the volume closed. The sudden gust of air sent a loose piece of paper on the table floating to the floor. When it landed, he saw it wasn’t a sketch of Thaddeus’ lab apparatus. It was one of the many sketches of Heather.