Guardian's Hope

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  Four pairs of blankly staring eyes met them when they entered the fourth room. Three young women sat huddled together on the bed. Behind them lay a fourth who looked close to death. All were emaciated and clothed in ragged scraps of lingerie. They showed no relief or fear, just sat and stared.

  “Oh, my poor darlings,” Manon spoke for the first time since entering the house, “What has that beast done to you?” She held their faces in her hands, one by one, and kissed them, stroked their dry and brittle hair and murmured words of comfort. “Manon and Grace are here and Hope is downstairs. We are here to take you to safety and see to the demon’s destruction.”

  Grace had never seen Manon cry. She knew she was compassionate and fiercely protective of those she loved, but Manon was always the one who was clear headed and in control. Now she looked like an avenging angel ready to war with the devils below. She wiped the tears from her own cheeks and looked at each woman carefully.

  “Faith’s not here,” she placed her hand on Manon’s shoulder. “We need to keep searching.”

  “No.” That one word was filled with determination. “We cannot leave these poor babies here. Search for a way to get them out and then we will search for Faith. I cannot leave them here. I will not leave them here for the beasts. They will suffer no more. Help me find a way.”

  They poked at the walls, searching for a window, but when they finally found it, there was nothing but a sheer three story drop to the ground below. The women hadn’t moved, hadn’t shown any reaction to what these two strangers were doing. Manon and Grace left them there to search the other rooms.

  In the third room they checked, they found their only hope, a fire escape fastened just below the window sill. They struggled with the small window and when it finally opened, they froze at the noise. When they heard no response from below, Grace leaned out to inspect the route.

  “It doesn’t look good, Manon. It’s rickety and rusted and the platform at the second floor has holes eaten through it. There’s stairs, but it looks like they end over the windows up front. We can’t do this.”

  “We can and we will. Let’s get the girls.”

  Chapter 42

  Moncore didn’t sound happy to hear from him at first, almost hung up until he mentioned Manon’s name and then the guy sounded okay. His name wasn’t Moncore, but Otto, go figure, and once Joseph explained who he was and why he was calling, the guy asked him for directions, said thank you and hung up. He hoped that meant someone was on the way.

  Just as Otto hung up, Joseph saw a guy at the front of the house giving him the eye, so he kept walking and pretended to be talking to his wife. He did some bitching about always having to stop and pick up bread and milk, which came pretty naturally, he hated to admit, and the guy moved around to the side of the house. Joseph ducked behind an overgrown forsythia bush at the end of the next driveway and kept an eye on the house. Two more guys came out the front door and went around the opposite side. The first guy was almost to the back of the house when Joseph happened to look up.

  The woman named Grace was coming down that rusty old fire escape and it looked like she had some half naked girl with her. Joseph stepped out onto the sidewalk.

  “For Pete’s sake,” he yelled into the phone, “You’re not being watched at the back of the house!” He saw Grace’s head snap up and she froze. “Just wait a minute!” The guy at the back of the house stared at him for a minute, shrugged and continued around the corner. “Okay then,” he yelled into the phone. Grace got the message and continued on down.

  There was no way the two of them were going to make that drop. Joseph hurried back and stood beneath the broken ladder.

  Grace smiled and blew him a kiss. She lowered the woman to him, she was only a bag of bones, and then held up three fingers before she began the climb back up. Three more? The woman on the ground said nothing. She didn’t look like she had the strength. He took her to the forsythia and sat her on the ground.

  “Don’t move,” he said and ran back to catch the next. He did the same, again and again. The fourth was tied to Grace’s back and it took some maneuvering to get her to the ground. He’d just gotten her settled by the bush when two more men rounded the corner of the house. He froze and Grace did, too. The men idly checked the bushes next to the house, but never looked up.

  When the two men turned the corner, Grace signaled with her hand and Manon began the ascent. She was no more than four or five rungs down when the rung broke or her foot slipped. It didn’t matter. The older woman hung there, suspended and even from this distance, Joseph heard her frightened gasp.

  Grace skimmed up the ladder once more, helped Manon find her footing and the two descended together. The younger woman signaled to Joseph to stay where he was, dropped unaided and helped Manon gain the ground. They ran to his hiding place.

  Manon grasped his hand. “Joseph, mon ami, you have indeed become dear to me,” she said breathlessly. “You must take these poor creatures to hospital. Say that you found them huddled on a street corner somewhere far away from here. They will not protest.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You must. One is on the point of death and we must save her if we can. I will call for help. My phone? I’ve lost my phone!”

  “Here,” he held it out to her, “You left it in the car. I dialed three and got someone named Otto. I think he’s on the way.”

  “You are truly the hero of this night. Go. I will shield you from sight. Take these women to hospital.”

  She sounded so worn, so tired, but she insisted that he go and Grace helped him get the women to their feet. They still didn’t react or speak but when he told them to move, they did. He herded them like ducklings and carried the weakest in his arms. He got them into the car and sped off.

  Manon collapsed on the ground. “I must call Otto and then we must go back to help Hope.” She smiled weakly. “I am getting too old for this.”

  Four motorcycles roared up the street, followed closely by an Escalade that took the corner on two wheels. The Guardians had arrived.

  *****

  Hope didn’t believe he was taking her to Faith and when he first escorted her into the bedroom, she was sure of it. Her finger wove the pattern madly, building power. She wouldn’t go without a fight. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for possible weapons. The room was neat and tidy except for the disheveled bed and she swallowed a shudder as she thought about what went on in it.

  “You say you’ve wanted this reunion so badly, yet you haven’t even bothered to say hello.”

  She turned to look at Damon and then to where he pointed. Hope couldn’t hold back her gasp of distress. Faith sat huddled against the wall between a tall dresser and the door. She’d been hidden by the open door. Her knees were pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around them. She didn’t look up and her hair fell in a web of tangles to her chin. She was naked, with welts and bruises of varying age and color everywhere.

  “You monster.” Hope knelt in front of her sister and brushed the hair from her vacant, staring eyes.

  “You don’t know how right you are, but you will,” Tyn sniggered.

  Hope wove the pattern faster and faster. She now understood the Guardian’s rage. She felt her own building and building. She wanted to destroy this monster and she would gladly take its head.

  A disturbance from downstairs took Tyn’s attention. He smiled, all teeth. “You two get reacquainted. I’ll settle this and be back.” He slammed and locked the door on the way out.

  Hope leapt to her feet, throwing open drawers and ransacking them, looking for something to throw over her sister. She found a sweater and tossed it to her, followed by a pair of sweats that would probably fall off that poor emaciated body.

  “Faith, come on, we have to get out of here.”

  She went to the window and when it wouldn’t open, she blew it out with a flick of her hands. Below was a rooftop, a porch of some sort off the room at the back of the house
that she’d been unable to identify.

  She ran to the bed and grabbed the sheet. Starting the tear with her teeth, she ripped a wide swath, tied it to the bedframe and tore another.

  “This’ll get us to the roof. We’ll figure something out from there.” She pushed the bed over to the window, tied the two strips of sheeting together and threw the free end out. It ended short, but was close enough. She turned to Faith.

  Her sister hadn’t moved, hadn’t noticed that Hope was tearing the room apart, had made no effort to dress.

  “Oh, sweetheart, I know this is hard, but you have to move. He’ll be back any moment.”

  She ran to Faith and dressed her without resistance. She pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the window. The sweats were already around Faith’s knees. Hope wasted precious seconds tearing another strip of sheet to belt them to Faith’s waist. Tearing another wide strip, she tied a wide loop and brought it up between her sister’s legs. She could hear the yelling downstairs, but who knew how long it would last. Finally she hauled her makeshift rope back into the bedroom and tied the end to the one attached to Faith. She heard footsteps pounding up the stairs.

  Hope threw both hands out and used all her stored power to move the dresser the few feet needed to block the door. It wasn’t much, but it would buy them a few minutes of time. The effort exhausted her. She tried to call Grace with her mind, but she had no energy left to do it and calling Nico had been fruitless. She was on her own.

  She pushed Faith to the window and wrapped her sister’s hands around the sheet. “Hang on,” she ordered and remarkably, Faith did. Hoped lifted her, shocked anew at how frail she’d become, and hoisted her through the window, lowering her as slowly as she dared. When Faith was sitting on the roof, Hope climbed out and followed.

  *****

  Canaan almost lost the Ducati when Grace stepped out into the road. It was Nardo’s foot that saved them. Grace was pointing to the house and screaming that Hope was still in there. Dov and Col skidded to a stop a few feet away, waiting for orders and a plan of attack.

  Nico tossed off his helmet as he sped by. It skidded past the bikes and cracked against the curb. He spun, gunned the engine and opened the throttle. He took the bike over the curb, up the sidewalk and stairs and crashed through the front door.

  “Free for all!” Dov yelled as he ran to attack a demon who’d been thrown over Nico’s bike and out the door.

  “Duck!” Broadbent screamed and Nardo ducked without thinking. A shining silver disc flew over his head, spinning across the yard and into the neck of a demon rounding the corner. “I remembered!” the professor called as he ran past Nardo, “And this time I’ll take the heart.”

  “Otto! Take clean up.” Canaan ordered. Neighbors were peeking out and Otto could still make them forget. He pointed to Grace and Manon. “You two, get in the car and don’t move.”

  Col saw a shadow move at the back of the house. The demon was looking the other way at something toward the back of the yard. This was way too easy. No fun in that. He roared to get the beast’s attention and charged head on.

  Nardo and Canaan ran into the house together. One demon was already turning to dust in the hallway. They could hear the pounding of footsteps and a roar overhead. That had to be Nico. A head poked out and disappeared behind the stairs. The two Guardians followed. There was nothing in the kitchen. They checked the rear entry, but the yard was silent and they returned to the house. As they re-entered the kitchen, Canaan touched Nardo’s arm in a signal to stop. He pointed to the floor and cocked his head to listen. There it was. Someone was in the cellar, trying to quietly open the hatchway to the outside. Nardo nodded. He’d heard it, too.

  Canaan motioned for Nardo to go back outside while he searched for the cellar door. It only took a moment to find the door leading down underneath the stairs going up.

  Nardo saw the hatch open a few inches and he stepped back against the house, out of sight. It opened again, a little more and then was thrown open so fast, Nardo had to jump to get out of the way. He leapt across the wooden door now almost flat against the ground and tackled the demon before it had a chance to turn fully around. Its neck snapped with a satisfying crunch as Nardo grabbed its head with crossed arms and twisted. He tossed the demon onto its back and plunged his fist into its chest. His roar echoed through the neighborhood as he held the heart high. That roar was repeated again and again as the others defeated their opponents.

  Canaan’s quarry heard the fight at the hatchway, changed its mind about using that exit and made for the stairs leading up into the house where it ran headlong into the Liege Lord’s blade. Canaan’s upward blow sent the demon over the rail and onto the floor below. The Liege Lord followed over the rail to land beside the creature. Showing no mercy, the Guardian plunged his fist into the wound of the still breathing demon and tore out the heart. His scream of victory matched the others.

  Nico followed the one he knew to be the leader up the stairs. It shimmered and changed on its way to the landing. He threw himself forward and caught a foot before it reached the top, but the clawed appendage lashed out, catching Nico’s face. It scrambled away on all fours, bellowing at another for help. Nico roared and followed, stumbling in his haste.

  He was met by the second demon with both arms and talons extended. Nico was running, crouched low to regain his balance and he used the position to ram the demon’s midsection. He felt the claws anchor in his back but he continued forward until the wall stopped them both.

  Tyn ran to his bedroom door, letting the minion fend off the Guardian alone. This battle was lost, but the way to victory lay beyond this door. He’d heard the warrior scream her name as he rode through the door. He’d heard him shout it again as he slaughtered the first minion. All he had to do was get to those two women. With them at his side, he could buy his way to freedom.

  He tried to force the key into the lock, but the claws of his demon made maneuvering difficult. He willed his hand into human form. The lock clicked and he turned the knob and pushed. The latch released, but the door wouldn’t budge. He screamed in frustration, kicked at the door and put his shoulder to it, pushing with all the force of his muscular legs. The door opened a few inches. Surely the two puny bitches didn’t have the strength to hold it closed. He renewed his efforts and the door opened another inch. Now he could see the highboy shoved against it. His scream of rage mingled with his minion’s scream of pain. Tyn turned and ran, across the hall and into the waiting room, up the stairs to the minionettes. They weren’t worth the two sisters, but they had to be worth something. He could bargain. These Guardians had honor. They wouldn’t risk human lives. He’d use that to his advantage.

  He charged from room to room. Where were they? He flipped a bed on its side. They were hiding. They had to be.

  “Come out here!” he ordered, but there was no one there to obey. He heard the Guardian on the stairs.

  The window! There shouldn’t be a window. That had to be the route they’d taken. He ran for the room where he’d seen it and met Nico in the short hall. The warrior carried two blades which he spun with mesmerizing agility and he walked without hurry. The bastard knew he’d already won. Tyn did what he’d always done. He ran.

  Nico followed him into the room, eyes blazing gold and fangs bared. For the first time in his life he wanted to rip the throat from his victim as those sharpened incisors were designed to do.

  “Where is she?” he growled.

  Tyn glanced at the window. He’d never make it out in his current form. He needed to buy time to transform back to human.

  “Where’s who?” he asked insolently and began the transformation. He circled the warrior, watching the blades.

  “You know who. Hope.” Nico circled back and blocked the door.

  He pretended to think about it as he completed the change and gave the Guardian his most leering grin. “Ah, the red head,” he sneered, “She wasn’t as tasty as her sister, but I’m afraid I spoiled her for anyone e
lse, unless you’re into fucking the dead.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a mistake. The Guardian’s features turned to white marble, the veins in his forehead and neck like feathered streaks in the stone. His eyes blazed and the blades stopped spinning. Tyn dove for the window.

  He felt one of the blades slice into his back and he was falling. His arms pinwheeled and one hooked on a rung. He made no sound until his body slammed against the metal ladder and his shoulder wrenched from the socket. He screamed in agony.

  Nico roared when the demon leapt. His rage was beyond the control or thought. He dove out the window after the creature, catching the third rung with his left hand and twisting to slam into the beast. The thing, whose right hand had returned to three taloned claws, wrapped around Nico, digging into his back and its injured arm released, no longer able to support his weight.

  The combined weight of warrior and beast pulled the fire escape from its rotted moorings. The ladder leaned out, the two hanging from it precariously, and the rusted metal gave way with a shriek of its own. Through the rage, Nico saw it in a kind of slow motion. He felt the demon’s claws in his back, felt the ladder sway out from the house in a graceful arc, heard the crack and screech as the deteriorated iron succumbed to too much weight. At the moment the section of ladder broke free, he had only one thought. His beloved Hope would not die unavenged. He screamed her name as they fell, pouring all his love into his last breath as a Guardian.

  The others saw the fall, watched it knowing they could do nothing to prevent the outcome. They saw the two, entangled with the rusty ladder and each other, crash to the ground. They ran to where Nico lay face down, covering the body of the demon, the twisted ladder shrouding both. Manon and Grace had disobeyed Canaan’s orders and ran with the men and watched, hands covering their mouths to hold back their grief as Canaan hurled the ladder away and turned the Guardian over.