The Guardian (The Gifted Book 1)

by C. L. McCourt

  ~~~

  Bestian and Gauvin kept their distance from the group, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

  Gauvin looked up the path. "I assume you think he's in the group ahead of us."

  Bestian nodded. "We'll follow, see where he goes."

  Gauvin nodded and watched the group in front of him, trying to determine which of the four men was their mark, but had no success. When they reached the gap between the buildings that led to the open space they had watched the night before, four of the six turned towards the dining hall, while the other two followed the walkway to their dorm. That narrowed down the list to the three men who followed the woman through the glass doors.

  "Now all we have to do is wait. He has to come out eventually," Bestian said.

  ~~~

  Rhea climbed the stairs to the second floor of the dining hall while she pulled off her hat and gloves and shoved them into her backpack. She grabbed a tray and picked out the healthiest of the choices, ready-made salad, a grilled chicken breast, an apple for later, and a glass for some juice.

  She sat at a table next to the window and watched the people on the walk below as they came and went from the dining hall. As she watched, a chill came over her, as if someone was watching her. It was just like the creepy feeling she'd had at the student center.

  She continued watching the people outside going about their business and noticed two men sitting on one of the benches. They didn't carry the typical student gear, backpack, computer bag, or the like. They looked familiar, though; she was sure she'd seen them before.

  Rhea scanned her memory. Where had she seen two men who didn't look like students? Locals. They must be locals from one of the rural areas outside of town. And then it came to her. She'd seen them hanging around the student center recently.

  "Hey." Beth slid into the chair across from Rhea carrying a tray with cola and pizza.

  "Hey." Rhea continued to watch the two out-of-place men.

  Beth followed her eyes. "What? Now you have an interest in the rough and scruffy?"

  Rhea couldn't refrain from laughing. "No! I just think it's strange that they're sitting there in the cold. They don't look like students. And I think I saw them hanging around the center the day of the RA meeting."

  Beth watched the men as they scanned the windows above them, watching the students eat. "They look like they're looking for someone."

  Rhea nodded as she took a bite of salad.

  Beth was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Do you think we should report them?"

  Before Rhea could respond, two campus police officers cautiously approached the two men. "It looks like someone already did."

  Beth's body language became noticeably more relaxed. "Good. So, tell me how your day went."

  Rhea shrugged. "Same old same old. Nothing exciting. Yours?"

  "Boring. I'm so ready for spring."

  Rhea said, "Three more months and I'm done."

  Beth gave her the evil eye but couldn't keep a straight face. "Don't rub it in. I have one more year after this semester."

  The small talk continued as they ate their dinner. The two men were escorted away. Where? Did the police arrest them or just take them off campus? Trying not to make too big a deal about the men, Rhea put it to the back of her mind as she and Beth bundled up to walk the twenty-five yards to their dorm.

  22

  Spring

  The warm breezes of spring were a welcome relief from the icy winds and freezing temperatures of winter. Over three months had passed since Daen had been forced awake in the middle of night. He should have felt better after two months of only mildly interrupted nights, but he didn't. He couldn't avoid the feeling of being trapped.

  He felt trapped in the apartment, surrounded by buildings and people. He felt trapped by his limited abilities to find the woman he was supposed to help. He felt trapped in his feelings of frustration as his world moved ahead without him. He was trapped in this world and reminded of this fact each time he glimpsed his own world in the moon's shadows. He missed everything about his world.

  His self-pity party was dispelled when he remembered he and Randell were going to spend the weekend with Randell's parents. He would be able to shed the confines of his space and get some practice in as well.

  Randell continued to watch for any sign of a woman with a blue aura but wasn't having any luck. They'd taken to roaming the campus and town in the evenings to increase their chances of spying the woman or the two men Randell had seen.

  As Daen waited for Randell to come home, he sat on the balcony, enjoying the sun and reading Raisal's journal once again. Each time he read the journal he was struck by the last entry. A key, he'd initially thought, to the way home.

  When the moon is out

  And is bright,

  Will you be able to see it.

  When the moon is out

  And Luxatra is dark,

  Will you be able to touch it.

  When the moon is out

  And you are true,

  Will you be able to feel it.

  When the moon is out

  And your desires are pure,

  Will you be able to cross it.

  It seemed to say if four conditions were met, he could pass into the shadows and be home. He'd often felt that he had met those conditions, but it didn't work. He’d asked himself many times over the years, "Why would she write such a thing, in English, if it wasn't a message for her family, telling them how to join her one day?"

  Daen thought back to when she had disappeared from Luxatra. He had been just a boy, but he had known the family. They had been distraught, and over the years they had started to lose hope that she would ever come home. She should be there, he thought. Based on what Caille had told him. He couldn't help wonder what had happened to her. At least now he had something he could share with her family. He felt they would be pleased that she had found love and had a family of her own.

  Daen stepped into the apartment from the balcony to get ready for his walk around campus. He was starting to think it was a waste of time, but what else did he have to do? He had to try.

  ~~~

  Rhea lay on a beach towel, soaking up the long-awaited sun and spring weather. The grassy area at the backside of her dorm was covered in towels and blankets hosting many of her dorm's occupants. The placement of the dorm's wings created a cozy U-shaped space where the sun worshipers were protected from the cool winds that seemed to blow year-round.

  She'd been in her room, trying to study, but couldn't help wanting to join the sea of bodies outside her window; all enjoying a spring day in the sun. The more she resisted, the more futile it became. Rhea had finally grabbed her towel and book and headed outside.

  Now she was trying to read the last chapter she would need to know for one of her finals. The other courses would be over in the first week of May when she turned in her projects.

  The past few months had been quiet, her dreams less volatile, more under control ... or at least she wasn't throwing things around her room anymore. As far as she knew, the two creepy men watching the dining hall hadn't been seen again on campus. And Grennal hadn't returned to visit, either.

  Grennal's absence preyed on her mind more than it ever had before, distracting Rhea from her studies. She kept reminding herself that the next bright moon sequence would start right before finals. If Grennal didn't show then, she would see her at home. She just had to be patient.

  Two feet appeared at the edge of her book, forcing her to acknowledge their owner. "Hey."

  "Hey." Beth sat down on the edge of Rhea's towel. "Don't you just love this weather?"

  Rhea rolled onto her back. "Yep."

  Beth asked, "Did you hear about the laundry thief?"

  "Laundry thief?"

  Beth kept her eyes closed and her face in the sun as she explained. "Yeah, a couple days ago, someone stole the clothes from two dryers at the Laundromat in town."

  Rhea scrunched her brows. "Where were the o
wners of the clothes?"

  "Apparently they were next door at the music store, shopping for CD's."

  "There are signs posted not to leave stuff unattended. It's a shame but ...." Rhea shrugged.

  Beth shivered and chill bumps covered her body. She was sitting too high above the ground. She needed to lay flat to avoid the cool breezes that crept around the building. "Witnesses saw two men come in and take the stuff. One college aged and the other a little older." Beth glanced at Rhea to see if she had a reaction. "Since it had been two male students who had been doing laundry, no one stopped them." Beth scanned the sunbathers briefly, "It's getting chilly out here. I'm going in."

  Rhea's pulse quickened slightly as she grabbed her things to follow Beth into the dorm. "So you think it was the same two guys we saw hanging around the dining hall a few months ago, the ones the cops carted off?"

  "That was my first thought. It's warmer now and they probably want to ditch their winter clothes for something lighter. Do you suppose they're homeless?"

  "I guess it's possible." Although possible, she didn't think it was probable. There had been something about the two men that bothered her, but how could she explain? She imagined her conversation with Beth or the police: "Well ... I have a bad feeling ... No, they haven't done anything but mill about ... It's just a feeling." Rhea knew that wouldn't go over well, and besides, if she was wrong, then she would be making trouble for two innocent men.

  They said their good-byes when they reached the lobby, Beth turning towards the right wing and Rhea towards the left.

  ~~~

  "Can you feel him?" Gauvin whispered as they passed through the bodies stretched out in the sun.

  "No. You?"

  "No." Gauvin was more grumpy than usual. They'd been forced to steal new clothes in an effort to fit in better. It wasn't the stealing he objected to. It was the getting caught part ... and that is what had almost happened. And now they walked the walkways around the residence buildings where anyone could see them.

  The three men they had seen enter the dining hall over two months before had been covered head to foot. They hadn't gotten a good look at their faces. Now that the weather was nicer, more of the students were outside. Bestian had decided it was worth the risk if they could just find the Luxatran who'd been evading them.

  As they rounded the corner to the far side of the dorm, Bestian stopped.

  "What? Do you feel something?" Gauvin was looking frantically from side to side.

  "Just for an instant, but now it's gone. I almost missed it. Come on, he has to be around here someplace.

  "Maybe we'll recognize him." Gauvin tried to sound confident, hoping to put Bestian in a better mood. Living in the woods for two months had driven Gauvin inches from abandoning his partner, or worse.

  They continued walking through the crowd of bodies, but didn't see or feel anything. Bestian was not going to be easy to live with tonight.

  ~~~

  Daen heard the front door of their apartment close and he yelled, "I'll be ready in a few minutes." He finished pulling on a clean shirt as he stepped into the hall and saw Randell carrying a large stack of papers. "Giving out extra homework, are we?"

  "Ha ha. Professor Campbell had a family emergency and can't finish his classes this semester. The junior faculty is dividing up his courses. I got creative writing." Daen dropped them on the coffee table and waved his hand over the stack. "Care for a little light reading?"

  Daen laughed. "Maybe if I have trouble sleeping. Does this mean you don't want to make our rounds?"

  "Nah! The papers will wait. Let's go."

  23

  Found

  Rhea arrived at her creative writing class early. She turned off the overhead lights and headed straight for her favorite window seat. One by one her classmates showed up. Normally she would have ignored their conversations but today's topic was something she couldn't ignore. The rumor was Professor Campbell had had to take an emergency leave.

  The conversations around the room jumped from speculating about why he had had to leave to guessing who would be his replacement. The qualities and qualifications of each member of the faculty were assessed, as the students tried to ascertain who would walk into the room. Rhea chose not to participate in the gossiping but did choose to take a regular seat next to the windows, just in case the next professor would have an issue with her sitting on the window sill.

  Five minutes before the class was to start, a young man entered the room and sat on the edge of the old wooden desk. He didn't look like an English professor. He looked like an athlete who had just stepped off the playing field, taken a towel to his hair, and thrown on some clothes. Her first thought was he must be a teaching assistant.

  "So, if you haven't heard already, Professor Campbell had a family emergency and won't be able to finish his courses this semester. Don't worry; I understand all will be okay. I just can't say what it is." Randell gave the group one of his goofy grins and a shrug. "My name is Professor Randell Young, but I prefer you call me Randell. And if you haven't guessed, I will be helping Professor Campbell finish out the semester. Now that you know who I am, I would like to know who you are, starting with you." Randell pointed to the first student by the door.

  Introductions were brief. The students each said their name and their program of study. Rhea watched Randell as he acknowledged each student with a smile. His focus was undivided, if not intense, on each student as each said his or her name. When it was Rhea's turn, she watched him turn his gaze to her.

  A feeling of familiarity hit her, but not your typical I've-seen-you-before feeling. Something deep inside her recognized something about him. A nervous ripple pulsed through her, causing chill bumps to cover her arms.

  Randell's body tensed and his smile faltered ever so slightly. His heart started to race. Had he seen what he thought? Was this her?

  Rhea hesitated, glancing around the room, at everything but at him. She could feel everyone looking at her. What would they think if she wouldn't look him in the eye? She reprimanded herself, get a grip, Rhea. She took a deep breath and proceeded: "Rhea Canton, graduating senior, poli-sci major." Rhea locked eyes with Randell for a second and then turned her head towards the window.

  Randell saw her discomfort and quickly turned back to the class. "Okay, let's get started." He proceeded to discuss the topic Professor Campbell had assigned, glancing around the room at the students but seldom looking at Rhea.

  His thoughts were divided between the young lady by the window and the talking points he was to cover. Her initial reaction preyed on his mind. She'd been guarded, almost reluctant to say her name or look at him.

  Questions distracted him. Was this her? What had caused her aura to flare? How did she make the blue in her aura disappear?

  The more he thought about her reaction, the more he felt he understood. She must have sensed something from him. Was she gifted? Was she a tracker? Why would a tracker be in hiding? Was Rhea Canton her real name?

  All this time, he and Daen had been focused on finding her, and not once had they considered the idea she might not want to be found. All these years, she could have been right in front of them and they would not have known, simply because she didn't want them to know. If that was the case, she was doing a good job. Her aura looked like any other aura from this world, except when her emotions flared. And today they had.

  ~~~

  Rhea missed a lot of the class discussion, her mind wandering to that funny feeling she'd gotten every time she looked at Randell, as if she knew him. And to make matters worse, he seemed to know her. She'd wracked her brain for most of the class, trying to remember having met him before, but nothing came of it. Now she was behind in the discussion and couldn't participate.

  Something someone said caused Rhea to think of her parents. Her parents, that's it. He must know her parents. Maybe he'd seen a picture of her taken with them at one of many faculty events she'd attended over the years. Yes. That was it. Rhea felt a litt
le relief knowing that she could fake a yeah-I-remember-you exchange if he were to bring it up.

  Relief was short-lived when she tried to reconcile the strange connection she felt. Maybe they had met and she simply didn't remember. She supposed that was possible. Yes. That's what it was. They must have met briefly at one of her parents' academic events. Relief kicked back in.

  Her mind returned to the class discussion, and she was even more lost now than she had been before. She was in a quandary; she couldn't participate because she didn't know what had already been said. She just wanted to leave.

  Rhea glanced at the entrance to the classroom. An unfortunate aspect of sitting next to the windows in this particular classroom was not being able to leave the room quickly. She would have to wait behind the other students as they filed out before she could make her escape.

  Her mind ran with questions. Would he stop her and ask her about her parents? Would he ask her why she was a poli-sci major versus physics or math? Was she making way too much of this? Yes.

  She mumbled under her breath. "Chill, Rhea."

  ~~~

  Randell called a break about fifty minutes into the class. As the students left the room, he pulled the stack of papers Professor Campbell had given him from his courier bag. Trying to appear casual, he flipped through the ungraded papers to find Rhea's. What could she have written about? Would she say anything that would give her away? Unlikely. The assignment had been to take an excerpt from a popular story and rewrite it from a different point of view.

  He quickly scanned her paper. She'd chosen an excerpt from The Lord of the Rings, the scene where Frodo volunteered to be the ring bearer. He wondered why she chose that book or that scene. Was it a random selection, or did she connect with it personally? Had she once volunteered for something important and therefore now had to hide in another world?

  The sounds of the students returning after the break brought him into the present. Randell mentally berated himself for letting his imagination get the best of him. He couldn't let himself jump to conclusions.