To Light and Guard

by Piper Hannah

  That was when I heard Paige scream. Even at this distance, I still heard her. I quickly turned, preparing to drop, my wings tucked in. Two demons jumped on top of me; each demon grabbed one of my arms, keeping me in the air. Joshua pulled the wing of one of the demons holding on to me, and I elbowed the other one. Both demons let go, but two more demons replaced them.

  Paige screamed again, and I became more desperate. A demon was in the house with her, and she needed me. I quickly shifted to my left slamming my body towards one of the demons. It threw him off balance, and I almost got my left arm free. A demon jumped on my back, and my wings became useless; only the demons were holding me up now.

  I saw a demon kick Joshua in the face. Joshua fell a few feet away from all of us. Before he had a chance to right himself, I yelled, “JOSHUA!” I didn’t because I thought he was in trouble. I knew he would heal. I wanted to remind him what was important here. He must have heard Paige’s screams. “Save the girl.”

  Joshua looked at me as he fell from the sky. He heard my plea.

  “Yes. Save the girl,” he whispered back.

  It had been our motto for the last thousand years… because we had both failed to protect two precious girls. Joshua had to get to Paige in time. Instead of returning back to fight with the demons, Joshua let himself continue to drop towards the Harper’s house.

  Then, I heard Emma scream. I threw my head back, hitting the demon behind me in the head. He immediately let go, but two demons still held each of my arms. I continued to struggle. If I could have pulled out my own arms to get free, I would have done that, too.

  From the Harper’s kitchen wall, Adra materialized. Joshua tucked in his wings to fall faster, and he flew inside the house in one smooth swoop. I listened intently. There was something very wrong. I could hear Emma’s screams, but I could no longer hear Paige.

  With madness in my eyes, I watched Adra as she flew towards me, but there was something very wrong. She was transparent. I stared at Adra in misery. I quickly forgot the urge to fight despite the demons that still held me. As she approached, Adra became more and more transparent. If I tried to touch her right now, my hand will only feel air. I knew what that meant. It was what I had always feared. Adra was dying; she was disappearing into nothing, which meant only one thing.

  Paige was already dead.

  CHAPTER 40

  I always thought that demons feared death too much to ever kill a human. I failed to consider Adra’s hate, and I believe that her hate was stronger than her fear. Since she couldn’t kill me, she killed the only person I would have willingly died for.

  I continued to watch Adra in silence, stunned by the realization that Paige was dead. The fight in me was gone, and the demons holding me back didn’t have to use much effort. Adra said something, but I could no longer hear her. She was vanishing right in front of me. She smiled one last time, and then, she was gone. Vanished. Turned into nothing. Gone.

  Joshua was too late. He couldn’t save Paige, and we didn’t have the power to raise the dead.

  Something inside of me cracked, and I felt a pain coming from within my chest. It felt as if I was burning from the inside. The silver-haired demon with the sword flew towards me. I didn’t struggle to get free. He pulled his arm back, plunged the sword into my heart, and let go.

  I felt the pain, and I looked down at the sword protruding from my chest. The pain – it felt peculiar. My heart was tingling… and burning… and I fear that it might explode. It was a very strange sensation – something I have never felt before.

  The demons let my arms go. Still flying in the air, I held the blade and pulled it out, cutting both of my hands. Instead of healing, blood poured out of my chest, dripping down my body.

  I waited for my flesh to close up - to heal - but only the pain remained. The demons stared at me in shock. My brain was screaming the same question that must be going through their minds. What was happening to me?

  Then, I fell backwards, facing the sky. Instinctively, my wings flapped in the air. I tried to right myself, but it was an impossible task. I descended to the earth slowly. My wings flared, trying to defy gravity. I held my breath, and I prayed. For what, I wasn’t quite sure, but I certainly wasn’t praying to stay alive. I didn’t want that. Not this time. After waiting for Gwen for a thousand years, I didn’t think I could do it again a second time.

  Gwendolyn… Paige… I love you.

  It was unfortunate that I never told her, but surely, she had to know.

  My chest contracted from the pain. I was dying, and I was glad, because I knew where my soul was bound to go. It only had one place to go, and I hope it finds her soon.

  But please… let me remember her.

  I tucked my arms across my chest and pulled my wings closer to my body. Immediately, I fell faster towards the earth. I closed my eyes thinking of her face, her light, her name. Please let me remember her. I have to remember her. Paige Harper. Paige… Harper. Paige…

  She was my very last thought.

  Then, I surrendered my soul.

  PART IV: FATE

  “People make mistakes, but I am never wrong.”

  -Fate

  CHAPTER 41

  Los Angeles, California

  Luke heard two female voices calling his name, and he recognized both of them. They were two separate voices, but they were the same soul. Gwen... Paige... They were one and the same… but it was very dark, and he couldn’t see her. He was trapped in darkness, and he couldn’t see anything.

  “Please come back to me,” they said over and over again. “I need you to come back to me. Please come back to me.”

  “I’m trying,” Luke whispered, clawing his way through the darkness, trying desperately to follow the voices. He tried to picture a face. Her face - her long brown hair, dark brown eyes, her lips… He concentrated on her scent, the scent of strawberries, but only darkness remained.

  “Follow the light,” they said in unison. Her light… Yes. Her light was the way to finding her. Luke closed his eyes, imagining her light; it was a very bright, white light that had the power to chase his darkness away. It was the only thing that can bring him back to her.

  In front of him, a sliver of light appeared. It was small, but he knew that it was hers. He followed the light as it flitted away from him like a butterfly. Luke caught it and pulled it towards him. The light expanded, and Luke waited patiently. He wasn’t sure how long he waited; it could have been hours or it could have been days. Through it all, Luke held on. He was never going to let her go. When it became large enough for him to pass through, Luke entered the light without hesitation. This was the way back to Gwen… to Paige… to a place where light and happiness were abundant.

  “Please come back to me. I need you to come back to me,” the voices said.

  As he passed through the light, he felt a shooting pain in his chest. The pain moved slowly from his heart to the left side of his head, chasing the voices away.

  “Wait. Don’t leave me,” he murmured, but the voices were already gone.

  When the pain became unbearable, Luke screamed, and his eyes popped open.

  Looking around, the first thing he realized was that he was lying down on a narrow bed and was covered in a white sheet from the chest down. He was breathing heavily, and he could feel something – a tube – down his throat and a plastic mask covering his mouth. He looked to the side of the bed and saw the machines that were connected to him with wires. Without thinking, he pulled the mask away from his face; the tube soon followed it. He almost gagged when the tube scratched the inside of his throat. Then, he yanked all of the wires from his body, wincing in pain.

  Where was he? A hospital? Luke almost laughed. Then, he wondered why he would be in a hospital. He never gets sick, and certainly, he never gets broken.

  The last thing he remembered was falling from the sky. He remembered a face – a beautiful girl with long brown hair - and she meant more to him than life itself. Where was she? Why wasn’t s
he here? Did something happen to her?

  Like the voices, the memory was chased away by the dizzying pain in his head. Luke clutched his head in agony. There was only one thought on his mind. He needed to find the girl, and he will not allow himself to forget her.

  “PAIGE!” he screamed with all of the desperation he felt.

  “PAIGE!”

  CHAPTER 42

  Dr. Donald Baker rushed out of his office as soon as he got off the phone. His patient, who had been in a coma for the last two days, just woke up. It was a good thing that he decided to go to work today and that the hospital was adjacent to the medical building.

  While running down the hallway, he saw a teen-aged girl enter the elevator. “Wait. Hold it open,” Dr. Baker said in a loud voice. If he had to wait for the next elevator, it may take him another five minutes before the elevator made it back to the tenth floor.

  As he ran, he saw a hand stick out from between the elevator doors, holding it open. Dr. Baker slipped inside and pressed the button to the lobby even though the button was already lit.

  “Thank you,” he said to the girl as the elevator doors closed.

  The girl smiled, “No problem.” Then, the girl opened her army green messenger bag and pulled out her phone; she started fiddling with it.

  Inside the elevator, Dr. Baker tried to catch his breath. He still cannot believe that his coma patient, Wyatt Mason, just woke up. He was supposed to be brain dead, which had been confirmed by two independent doctors. The last time he saw the boy was just yesterday morning, and he was still brain dead, just like he had been two days ago after he failed to recover from his brain surgery. After more than twenty-five years as a brain surgeon, Dr. Donald Baker thought he had seen it all.

  Remembering something, Dr. Baker slapped his hand on his forehead. He had just advised Mrs. Grace Mason this morning to consider other options, such as withdrawing Wyatt’s life support because her son was legally dead.

  “Your son’s a donor,” he had reminded Wyatt’s mother, “and you have to make your decision soon.” He regretted the words now.

  Dr. Baker wondered what legal ramifications there were for a situation like this, and he made a note to consult with the hospital’s in-house attorney to find out. He looked at his watch. It was only two in the afternoon. The hospital’s attorney should still be in his office.

  When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, he looked at the girl standing next to him again. She really was quite beautiful. The girl smiled at him and raised a hand in goodbye - but it wasn’t really a goodbye; her middle finger and her ring finger were split in the middle forming the letter V.

  “Goodbye,” Dr. Baker said to the girl. He thought that her goodbye was a bit odd, but he didn’t have the time or the luxury to analyze the idiosyncrasies of teenagers. Dr. Baker ran out of the elevators and made his way to the hospital building next door.

  Dr. Donald Baker rushed towards room two-twelve as fast as he can. He was not a young man and running up and down the long corridors of the hospital was not as easy as it used to be. He was sixty four years-old and very close to retirement. He certainly did not need this. As he ran towards room two-twelve, he didn’t know if he truly believed that Wyatt Mason was really awake.

  Closer to room two twelve, he heard screams.

  “Paige! Paige! Paige!” Wyatt Mason was screaming as if his life depended on it.

  Dr. Baker opened the door and saw three men in green scrubs trying to hold down a very confused nineteen year-old boy on the hospital bed. The white bandage wrapped around Wyatt’s head was stained with blood.

  Dr. Baker pulled out a syringe and a bottle from his pocket. He poked the bottle as quickly as he can with the needle. He tapped it three times and walked towards Wyatt. The sedative in the injection would surely knock him out. As someone held the boy’s arm, Dr. Baker pushed the needle into his skin. Wyatt looked at him, his deep blue eyes widened in confusion. After several seconds, Wyatt stopped struggling. Dr. Baker leaned him back, guiding his head gently towards the pillow. Dr. Baker watched as Wyatt’s breathing became normal and even. Finally, he closed his eyes.

  “Paige Harper,” the boy mumbled groggily. “I need to find Paige Harper.” Then, he fell asleep in a sedated slumber.

  CHAPTER 43

  When Wyatt Mason opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an older woman who was sitting in a chair next to his bed. The woman appeared to be in her fifties, and she was clutching a cardboard cup to her chest. Her light brown hair was pulled away from her face in a tight bun. She was smiling, but he could tell that she must have been crying earlier because her eyes were still puffy and red. She got up quickly and kissed Wyatt on one cheek.

  “Who are you?” Wyatt asked warily.

  The woman looked confused, hurt even, and she looked at the gray-haired man standing behind her. The man was older, and he was wearing a white doctor’s coat over blue scrubs; his nametag read - Dr. Donald Baker.

  “You were in an accident,” Dr. Baker said with a frown, “and you may be suffering from some memory loss.” He looked at the woman uncomfortably as she slowly sat back down on the chair.

  Tears fell from the woman’s face, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of one hand. “I’m Grace,” she said, “I’m your mother.”

  Wyatt flinched. There was something definitely wrong here. He cannot, for the life of him, remember ever having a mother. Somehow, the idea of having a mother was preposterous. Wyatt looked at the woman again and tried to search his brain for a memory. Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t remember,” he said with a frown. “I’m sorry.”

  The woman looked devastated, and Wyatt immediately felt bad. He didn’t want to cause her any more pain. Somehow, he knew that she had been through enough, and it was very obvious that the woman cared deeply about him. “You look familiar, though,” Wyatt lied, hoping that his words will give her comfort.

  “Memory loss is normal in a head injury,” Dr. Baker said. The doctor looked very distressed as if something was definitely wrong, and he kept looking at his watch.

  “Who am I?” Wyatt asked. “What’s my name?” The woman on the chair started trembling, and she continued to cry.

  “Please don’t cry,” Wyatt said. He didn’t want to upset anyone, especially her. He just wanted some answers.

  “Your name is Wyatt Mason,” Dr. Baker said.

  Wyatt touched his head, wincing. His head was wrapped with some sort of cloth, and he could feel his head throbbing.

  “You fell off a three-story balcony and hit your head,” the woman said.

  “Do you have a mirror?” he asked.

  Nodding, the woman reached for the purse that was hanging in the back of her chair. With one hand, she pulled out a compact, opened it, and handed it to Wyatt.

  Wyatt took the mirror and stared at his reflection. Beyond the large bruise on the entire left side of his face, he saw deep blue eyes framed by light brown eyelashes and eyebrows. There were stubbles on his chin. Wyatt touched his face and wondered at its rough texture. The face was unfamiliar, just like the woman sitting beside him, but he saw the resemblance between them; it was the same nose, and maybe the mouth… and he looked young.

  “How old am I?” Wyatt asked.

  “Nineteen,” his mother replied.

  Wyatt chuckled. His age was perfect; perfect for what, he wasn’t quite sure, but it made him happy to be this young. He tilted the mirror up, and he saw a white bandage completely covering his head.

  “You were in surgery for eight hours two days ago,” Dr. Baker explained.

  Wyatt handed the compact back to the woman and took a good look at her. She was still clutching the cardboard cup to her chest, and her hands were still shaking. Some of the liquid spilled on her hand, but the woman didn’t even notice. Somehow, he knew that he was everything to this woman, and he was glad that he was here.

  “Here you go, Mom,” Wyatt said, smiling at the woman. He didn’t know if that was what he was supposed
to call her, but that was what Paige called her mother. That much he remembered.

  “Oh, Wyatt,” the woman said as she got up and hugged him tight. She kissed both of his cheeks while being very careful not to touch his head. “Welcome back.”

  Dr. Baker coughed and mumbled something about another patient. “Well, if you need me, please call me. Otherwise, I’ll be examining Wyatt’s head in an hour.”

  Mrs. Mason let go of her son. She pulled out a tissue from her purse and wiped the tears from her face.

  Looking around, Wyatt saw a basket of cookies, three vases filled with flowers, and a silver balloon tied to a plant that said ‘Get Well Soon.”

  “Mom, who are those from?” he asked. The word ‘mom’ was getting easier to say. A few more tries and it should come out naturally from his mouth.

  “I brought your favorite cookies, the flowers are from your friends, and the plant is from our neighbor,” Mrs. Mason said.

  “Are any of them from Paige? Did she visit?”

  Mrs. Mason looked at her son uncomfortably. “I’m sorry… I don’t know who Paige is.” She hesitated. “Who’s Paige?”

  “Paige Harper,” Wyatt said, touching his bandaged head. “Did she call?”

  Mrs. Mason didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to disappoint her son who just miraculously came back to her. He was still so weak. When Wyatt continued to stare at her, waiting for a response, Mrs. Mason reluctantly shook her head.

  Wyatt was disappointed, she could tell. It was in the slump of his shoulders. Earlier, she was informed that he was screaming a girl’s name when he woke up. Paige Harper. Whoever this Paige Harper turns out to be, it doesn’t matter. She was determined to find her soon.