Dominion

by Melody Manful

  I didn’t know what to say. “Abigail, you can’t love me,” I repeated.

  “I love you…and you don’t have to love me back.”

  Who wouldn’t love her back? I cupped her face and said, “Hey, I do. I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.” I hoped she’d believe my words. I loved her, although I didn’t know exactly how to express that feeling.

  “What if I tell you that you can’t love me?” she asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

  “Don’t ask me to do the impossible, Abigail.” When I said this, a weak smile appeared on her lips. I found myself smiling, too, and I slid my arms around her in a hug.

  “I think there’s something wrong with me,” Abigail pulled away from the hug. “I mean, you killed my father and all those people, and I still fell in love with you.”

  I had no response to that. Frankly, I thought she was crazy as well. How could she love me of all people?

  “Tristan?” Abigail called, and a second later Tristan appeared beside her. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

  Tristan laughed. “You lost me.”

  “I must be crazy because I’m in love with Gideon, and he’s…well, you know who he is.”

  I should have felt angry that the girl I was in love with thought she was crazy for loving me back, but I wasn’t. I would have been more bothered if she wasn’t reacting the way she was.

  “You’re not crazy, and loving someone isn’t a crime,” Tristan said.

  “What if that someone murdered your father?” she asked, turning her gaze to me. “Don’t get me wrong. I love you, and frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop loving you, even if my life depended on it, and that’s why I’m scared. I mean, I must be crazy, right?”

  I couldn’t answer. I knew she was being hard on herself because I told her that I was the one who killed her father. I wanted to tell her I didn’t, that I tried to save him, but what was the use? It wouldn’t bring her father back.

  “Gideon didn’t kill your father,” Tristan said, and both Abigail and I turned to him.

  “What? He didn’t?” Abigail looked confused now.

  “After he saved you, he dived back into the water to save your father, but it was too late…he was already gone. And it wasn’t intentional that you saw him and he scared you. He didn’t mean to reveal himself.” I had almost forgotten that Tristan was there at the scene, and he could read my thoughts.

  “You didn’t?” Abigail turned to me. “So I was the one who distracted my father because I screamed. And all the while I’ve been blaming you.”

  “Hey.” I took her hands. “This wasn’t your fault. If you want to blame anyone, please blame me.”

  “No, I can’t blame you. You tried to save him. You saved me, and I didn’t even thank you.”

  “I didn’t tell you this so you could be sad, Abigail. I told you so you’d know Gideon didn’t take your father from you,” Tristan said.

  Abigail walked over to him and said, “Thanks for telling me.” She hugged him. Afterwards she turned to me. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

  I shook my head. “I have a rep to protect.”

  “That’s a stupid reason,” she said through what seemed like a happy voice. “I want to see it. I want to see your world.”

  “Grands?” I asked surprisingly.

  “I want to see where you’re from.”

  Tristan asked, “Are you sure?”

  Abigail nodded. “I am, so call the…” She paused. “How do you guys go back and forth? Is there a portal or an invisible bus or something?”

  “We’re angels, Abigail,” I laughed. “We fly, or we simply think of the place and we’re there. We fly most of the time though because we all love to fly.”

  “Flying?” she asked. She didn’t sound very excited, “I’m not a fan of heights.” I found myself laughing again.

  “And you’re in love with an angel?” Tristan asked. “I think you have a problem.”

  I laughed together with Tristan. The irony! I knew heights weren’t the only problem Abigail had gotten herself into. For one, she was in love with me, the evilest angel alive.

  CARPE DIEM

  “Of all the worst things I could do,

  why, oh why, did I choose to be happy?”

  Melody Manful

  

  Abigail sat beside me on the floor of my room. Tristan had snapped his fingers and brought us all to my house. Abigail and I had been talking about places and things, and for once, I was happy, even though she wanted answers to a waterfall of questions.

  “So you understand and speak every language, and you don’t sleep?” Abigail asked.

  I nodded, “Angels are only able to sleep when they’re little, after you turn six, you are no longer able to sleep.”

  “How is that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never asked.” And I wasn’t going to.

  “You should,” Abigail said with a teasing smile. “So Tristan is a prince. I didn’t see that one coming.”

  “That’s not a question, Abby. It’s a fact.” An annoying one.

  “All right, how about your sister, Valoel? Can she read minds?”

  I laughed. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because she answers my every thought, and she seems to know exactly what I’m about to do. I am pretty sure she can foresee the future and read minds.”

  “I think she’s just a lucky guesser.”

  “Okay, I’ve covered the basics. How about your parents—would they like me?” Abigail’s voice sounded timid when she asked this.

  “My parents…” I had no idea what my parents would think, given the fact that I never really talked to them, and I did whatever I wanted. “They will love you.”

  Abigail laughed. “You’re just saying that. Maybe they won’t like me.”

  I found Abigail more and more adorable as I watched her struggle to keep a straight face. “Trust me. They would like you. I think.” This made both of us laugh, “Now, my turn for questions.”

  “Fire away,” she said.

  “How many ex-boyfriends are there?” I asked in a serious tone. “I’d like to pay them a visit.”

  Abigail started laughing again. “A lot. There are at least fifteen, eighteen…” She stopped when she saw that my expression didn’t lighten up. “I was only joking. I…I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

  This made me really happy, because I was thinking of killing her exes, if she had any. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “How about you—how many?”

  “Thousands. I lost count.” Abigail’s mouth fell open. “Kidding, none before you.” And then suddenly her face lit up, and we stared at each other in silence.

  After awhile of musing about the times I had spent with her, I remembered something and asked, “How were you able to save your friends that night during the accident?”

  “I panicked, and the next thing I knew, we were safe.”

  She panicked? Didn’t humans usually get married when they panicked? “You are unbelievable,” I whispered to myself.

  “Did you think I was weird? That first day at school?” Abigail asked. “You know, when I bumped into you.”

  “Mom says if I can’t say something nice, I shouldn’t say anything at all,” I said, and both Abigail and I laughed.

  “Well, I thought you were rude, annoying, and…” she looked away. “Really hot, and Sarah wouldn’t stop texting me about how hot you were, so it was kind of hard for me to forget about it.”

  “I didn’t know you thought I was hot. I always thought you wanted to scream at me to go away because you looked like you didn’t like me.”

  “Well I didn’t,” she answered, almost too quickly.

  “Ouch.” I put one hand on my heart, keeping the other firmly clasped to hers.

  “The day before I met you, I had a nightmare that someone named Gideon killed me, and then your name turned out to be Gideon. Forgive me if I didn’t welcome you with open arms
like my friends did.”

  “That’s what’s-his-face’s fault. He gave you that nightmare,” I said, “Though I did have fun annoying you.”

  “What’s-his-face’s name is Tristan, and I want to ask why you don’t like him, but I’m afraid I won’t like the answer.”

  “I hate him,” I said honestly. “Frankly, I wish he would disappear.” Or maybe die a horrible death, preferably by my hands.

  “That’s mean. If you hate him that much, why haven’t you told him to leave your house?”

  The obvious answer to that was simple. “He’s your guardian angel, and he goes wherever you go.” My answer wasn’t as simple. “And if he’s around, I can be sure that nothing will happen to you. If I decide to—” I cut myself off and looked away.

  “You’re scared you might hurt me?” Abigail asked.

  I didn’t want to tell her why I was upset, but when I turned and saw her sad face, I knew I had to tell her my reason. I nodded. “Sometimes, I do things without thinking. It’s like this darkness takes over me, and I hurt everything around me. I’m afraid that without meaning to, I’ll hurt you, but if Tristan is around, then I can be sure he’d save you from me.” I didn’t like admitting that I needed Tristan around, but Abigail was more important to me than my pride.

  Abigail sounded hopeful. “We can get through this though.”

  “At the moment, it’s taking every part of my body not to feed off you because I’m feeling weak and hungry. I want to leave and feed, but I’m sure you’d protest.”

  When Abigail spoke, her voice was filled with sadness. “You can’t go out there and hurt people because you refuse to hurt me. Those people are innocent,” she said, squeezing my hand. “I’m the one who is supposed to be hurt. Isn’t that how it works? If you want to hurt anyone, hurt me because—”

  I cut her off. “Abigail, stop saying that. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of you hurting innocent people. If you need to satisfy whatever darkness possesses you or feed, just feed off me,” Abigail said. “Please, it’s better than hurting someone else.”

  “I’m not feeding off you!” I stood and moved away from her.

  She stood, too. “Then how are you going to gain your strength?” she asked. “Are you going to kill more innocent angels or half my species?” She sounded disgusted. “You can’t just hurt them because you feel like it. There has to be another way for you to gain strength without killing everything in your sight.”

  “Abigail, I’m trying to… Hurting creatures and feeding off them is all I know how to do,” I didn’t know of another way to feed. All my life, I’d only known how to hurt people.

  “Then find another way,” she walked over to me, taking my hands. “We can find another way, I’m sure of it.” She was full of hope, but I lost all my hope long ago because I knew there was no other way.

  I couldn’t bear to see how optimistic she was, looking at me as if there was more to me than being a monster. I couldn’t tell her that I was always going to be the evil Gideon. I didn’t want to take her hope away.

  But, there was one thing I could do: leave now and make her decide, knowing what she now knew, if she still wanted to be with me.

  I pulled my hand away from hers. “I have to go,” I whispered, and with a snap of my fingers, I made myself disappear.

  GALAXY DISTANT

  *Abigail*

  “I look at you, standing close to me.

  I know what I want and it’s hard to believe

  that when you look at me, it’s like I touch the sky.

  Suddenly you’re cold on your way to fly.

  But I’m here you see, it’s so clear to me

  Our faith is written in your hands

  Cuz every time you’re near

  there’s nothing I can fear

  I just know we have a chance.

  You’re my guardian angel,

  even though you bring danger and look

  like a stranger, you’re my guardian angel.”

  Melody Manful & Angelika Vee.

  ‘Guardian Angels’ series theme Song.

  

  Yesterday, after Gideon disappeared, I started screaming and praying for whomever he was going to kill. One of the angels, who I later found out was Valoel, put me into a deep sleep. She told me that I needed to rest so that my mind would have time to process everything that was going on.

  I had woken in the morning, not knowing where I was, only to have everything that happened yesterday come rushing in.

  I went to Gideon’s room to check if he was there, but, unfortunately, he never came back home. Tristan didn’t look like he wanted to tell me where he was, and Valoel told me to stop asking questions.

  When I came home and found out that my mother and bodyguards hadn’t been looking for me, I learned that Valoel had created a clone of me, so to everyone else, I was home and never left for Grands.

  “He’s not coming back is he?” I asked Tristan, who sat with me on the sofa in my bedroom. It took Valoel a simple snap of her fingers to bring me back home to Earth.

  Tristan looked at me, unsure of how to respond. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to believe that Gideon is evil. Naïve, I know. I love him, but how can I be with someone whose primary mission is to kill?” Tristan didn’t answer me, because I knew he had no answer to my question. “Why didn’t you tell me before that Gideon tried to save my father?” I asked.

  “I had a lot of reasons. One of them was wanting you to admit you loved him. If I’d told you right away, you’d forever wonder if you loved him because you knew he didn’t kill your father.”

  I wanted to be angry at Tristan, but I couldn’t. He was right. I wouldn’t have told him to go away if I’d known, but I’d also wonder if I allowed him to stay because he tried to save my father. I needed time to accept everything, and if he had been around, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten the time that I needed.

  “Tristan, you look weak,” I said, noticing his blue eyes slowly turning grey. He looked like someone who hadn’t slept for days. He looked exhausted. I didn’t like seeing him like that.

  “I’m all right,” he said.

  I knew Tristan well enough to know that he wasn’t being honest. “No, you’re not,” I said, remembering what he said to me when he was telling me about Gideon.

  “You said Gideon feeds on pain and you feed on happiness.” And then it hit me. “Oh, I’m making you weak. You’re hungry, and here I am sad.” I quickly put a smile on my face. “I promise I won’t cry or be sad.” He laughed, and for a second, the Tristan I loved appeared, but I watched his smile fade after a few seconds.

  “Good,” Valoel said, appearing out of nowhere. Then, with a snap of her fingers, a sandwich appeared. “You need to eat something.”

  I shot her a look to say I wasn’t hungry, but she was already shaking her head in protest. Now I was positive she could read my mind.

  “Eat up, and don’t move. I’m borrowing Tristan for a second.”

  “I can’t leave her,” Tristan said.

  “Let him guard her for a second, and come with me. You need to feed.” Valoel took Tristan’s hand. “Eat your food,” she ordered. A second later, she disappeared with Tristan.

  When they left, I felt lonely, as if everyone had abandoned me. I tried to take a bite of the sandwich, but I choked on the dryness in my mouth, so I tossed it away.

  “Stop throwing things.”

  I recognized the voice immediately.

  “Gideon?” He appeared right in front of me.

  “Come here,” he said gently. He helped me up, pulling me to him and throwing his arms around me in a hug.

  I stepped back after awhile, remembering yesterday’s conversation. “Where did you go yesterday?” I asked, daring myself not to get distracted by how closed we stood.

  “I went out to hunt, but I didn’t.”

  “You didn’t?” I was surprised and happy.

/>   “I wanted to, badly.” Hearing the need in his voice, I believed him.

  I was so happy that he didn’t hurt anyone. I pulled my hands around him in a hug once more. “Have you been here the whole time?” I asked.

  “Yes.” He pulled my face to his. “I never left. I am always with you.”

  “I thought you were gone and—” I stopped. His finger pressed against my lips.

  He gently put his hands in mine. “I have something for you.” When I looked into my hand, I saw a very beautiful golden medallion.

  I smiled, as I looked up at him, breathless. I lifted the medallion. What caught my attention first were the letters G and A intricately engraved in the middle. The initials made my heart flutter in happiness. It was so beautiful.

  “It’s…beyond words.” I ran my fingers across the surface. “Does it stand for Guardian Angel?”

  He brushed my hair away from my neck and stepped behind me to clasp it closed. A second later, it adorned my neck. “G stands for Gideon, and A stands for Abigail.” I was speechless.

  “That’s so nice.” Why couldn’t he be this sweet all the time?

  “Whenever you feel lonely, just look at this and remember that I am always close. The G also represents me as the guardian, and the A represents you as my angel. So, as long as you wear this, you will know that I am never far away. I hope you like it.”

  “I love it,” I said happily, my eyes locking on his. Gideon leaned toward me. I leaned closer, too, and I felt lightheaded as our lips moved closer toward each other’s. Our lips were inches away from touching when my phone started ringing.

  Gideon pulled away, and I cursed whoever was calling before I took my phone out of my pocket. “Hello. Abigail speaking,” I said the moment I brought the phone to my ear.

  “Don’t hello me!” It was Sarah. “How are you feeling? I’ve been calling you since yesterday,” she said. I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could, she added, “Don’t answer that, I knew you weren’t sick.”