Chloe's Guardian

by Cheri Gillard

  He had to act fast. Horatius approached the Chronos Band, but didn’t quite cross into the corporeal world. He glazed through a non-substantial tropical forest, past trees in the Corridor that were lush green blurs. As he left the transparent jungle, one of Satarel’s henchmen was waiting for him.

  Horatius swerved away and transferred to a new dimension. The demons coordinated their moves to follow and converge on his new location. I must close my thoughts. Reflex and intuition must determine my movements. He couldn’t let them read his thoughts. So he just reacted.

  He transferred to the Chronos Band. He needed to land and transfigure before they determined where he was.

  But Satarel was right behind him, following him into time.

  Horatius left the Chronos Band again. Without thinking, he charged back in, skipping across the surface of time like a flat stone on a pond. Doubling back the way he had come, he exited again, weaving in and out, absent of any pattern. The demons’ thoughts were confused. They were having trouble tracking him. His impulsive behavior was working.

  He swept back to Dunnottar, which now existed in a different time. His acquaintances were long dead. The empty castle sat cold and quiet on the headland. Entire walls lay scattered about the courtyard. The Celestials no longer grappled in the sky, leaving the space above the fortress empty.

  He left the Band to keep the trail convoluted. He re-entered. This time the castle was dilapidated, the whole hill carpeted in green grass. The skeletal walls of the buildings stood like bombed-out shells. Their floors were turf now. He soared near the old bailey by the keep where he’d nearly lost his head. He couldn’t hear Satarel now. If they were in different eras, they wouldn’t hear each other. It was time to transfigure.

  He flew around the south ledge to find a place to land.

  By Hades, what is that? A girl was falling through the air, plummeting toward the rocks hundreds of feet below. A chance to work toward his redemption. They spoke to me. There must be hope. He swooped down beneath her. Hmm, a lovely girl. He pushed her back up through the air and placed her on the ground inside one of the roofless stone buildings. Tears streaked down her shapely cheeks. Beautiful eyes. Full of wonder.

  Her legs didn’t hold her. She sat hard on the broken cobbled floor. He hovered for a mere second above her, tempted to stay, but quickly took off to transfigure back to his human form before Satarel read his location.

  CHAPTER 3

  Chloe couldn’t move. She found herself inside the ruins of the roofless ancient building. I was just falling through the air. The pressure still burned on her waist where whatever that was had lifted her back through the sky and set her inside.

  Oh. My. God. That was awesome! It glowed. A bright yellow light. Light oozed out of its skin. If it can even be called skin. It hovered in midair. With wings. An indescribable face. It almost smiled. It was terrifying. Fabulous. Sublime.

  And it was gone. As fast as it was there, it vanished.

  She shook off her shock and scrambled to her feet. Racing to the crumbled window opening, she yelled, “Wait, come back!” She leaned out the hole in the wall as far as she could but saw no trace of the glowing being.

  Chloe dashed through a gaping doorway in what was left of the stone wall, but her sandals kept her from running fast.

  “Kaitlyn! Tricia, Jessie! Did you see that? You won’t believe what happened,” she said as she hopped, plucking off her sandals. She sprinted across the grass barefooted. “Kaitlyn, where are you?”

  Her friends spilled from a building’s doorway on the other side of the plateau. They each looked in different directions, trying to find her.

  “Here. I’m here. Over here,” she shrieked. “Did you see that? Was that incredible?”

  Tricia came first, leading the others in a nervous scamper toward Chloe.

  “What happened? What’s wrong?” Tricia asked.

  “Your scream like scared us to death!” Jessie said.

  “What’d you do to your hair?” Kaitlyn said. “It’s everywhere.”

  “That thing,” Chloe stammered. She waved her arms. “It flew or floated or something. You couldn’t have missed it. It went up over there. It was huge. And it glowed yellow like a…a…a mini sun or something.”

  “You saw a UFO?” Kaitlyn said. She shielded her eyes and scanned the sky.

  “I jumped off the cliff and it—”

  “You what?” Tricia screamed and grabbed Chloe’s shoulders. “Look at me!”

  “I jumped off. Doesn’t matter. I—”

  “Are you crazy? What do you mean you jumped off the cliff?” Tricia said. “No guy is worth that, Chloe. Look. At. Me.”

  Chloe stopped searching the sky and looked at her. “Forget it. I’m fine. But listen. Suddenly, this thing, this bright thing flew up, grabbed me and threw me back up here on the ground. What was it? What does it mean?”

  “It means like you’re crazy.” Jessie combed through Chloe’s hair for a wound. “Did you hit your head? Where does it hurt? I don’t see like blood or anything.”

  Chloe shook them off. “Stop it. I’m fine.”

  “It was a ghost from the castle. Somebody died and their spirit isn’t at rest,” Kaitlyn said. “Maybe they had some unrequited love and they can’t move on.”

  “You didn’t see it?” Chloe said. “You couldn’t have missed it.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ve got to tell Todd. This is incredible. It’s a sign.”

  “Like it’s a sign that you’re nuts,” Jessie said.

  Tricia said, “Chloe, listen to me. If you have suicidal thoughts, I’m going to have to tell Mr. Pozorski.”

  “I think she’s got like a fever. She’s hallucinating.” Jessie had her hand on Chloe’s forehead. “Tricia, do you have some Motrin?” Jessie asked.

  “That has to be it. Unrequited love. Always is that way, you know,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Do you have a plan? Are you thinking of hurting yourself? Are you thinking about death?” Tricia asked.

  “I’ve only got one bar out here,” Chloe said, ducking away from Jessie’s hand and tilting her phone. “Do you have any bars up here?”

  “Tricia, she already said she jumped. Like it can’t get more planned than that,” Jessie said.

  “The unsettled hearts are always doomed to linger until their spurned love is reciprocated,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Maybe we should just take her to a hospital,” Tricia said.

  “Like a mental hospital. Do you think they have those here? Would she even go?” Jessie said.

  “Quit talking about me like I’m not here. I’m not crazy.” Chloe lifted her phone high in the air and turned slowly, willing more bars to appear. “Would you check? Are your phones working?”

  Kaitlyn looked at her phone and shook her head. “Was it a man ghost or woman ghost? Probably a woman. They get their hearts broken so much easier.”

  “Kaitlyn, stop it,” Tricia said. “Chloe is suicidal. There wasn’t a ghost.”

  “You think it was a UFO?” Kaitlyn put her phone back in her purse.

  “No! I think we should go back. We thought coming here would help.”

  “She’s seeing things,” Jessie said. “She needs glucose. Have you got like a candy bar or something?”

  Kaitlyn pulled out an amber straw and held it up. “I have a blackberry honey stick. I didn’t think you liked these, Cello.”

  “Would you guys stop it? It wasn’t a hallucination. I felt it. I tried to jump but it wouldn’t let me. How would a hallucination grab me from the air and put me back on the ground?” Chloe gave up on the phone and put it back in her pocket.

  “You wanted to jump off the cliff? Because of Todd?” Tricia screeched.

  “Of course because of Todd. But she didn’t jump or she wouldn’t be here. She isn’t thinking straight. Eat that honey thing,” Jessie said. “When we get back I’m finding Todd and like throwing him off a cliff.”

  “See, unrequited love. He’ll die and his ghost will forever wa
lk—”

  “Quit with the unrequited love crap, Kaitlyn,” Tricia said.

  “Yeah, it’s not going to help anything,” Jessie said. “Todd cheated on her with Rebecca. He like totally betrayed her. He’s been cheating for who knows how long, sneaking time with that piccolo playing slut, kissing her all night when we thought he was alone, lying to Chloe, maybe like even giving her some horrible disease—”

  “No, this means it’s going to be okay,” Chloe said. “We need to go back. I need to talk to him. We’re going back to the car. Maybe my phone will work there.” Chloe hightailed it across the grassy plateau to the steps off the cliff top.

  “Uh-oh. Now she’s delusional.”

  Chloe didn’t care what Jessie thought.

  “It was your idea to bring her here, Jessie,” Tricia said.

  “Don’t worry, Cello,” Kaitlyn said in her lilting voice chasing after her. “Everything happens for a reason. It will work out.”

  Jessie rolled her eyes. “No, some things just happen because you’re like dating a lowlife jerk who deserves to have like every single hair on his body plucked out. One at a time. Slowly. While like every single person we know watches.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Tricia hurtled the Volvo around a bend on A90 motorway while Jessie sat shotgun. The rental car was from Tricia’s mom, Mrs. Tao—one of the chaperones who’d come on the trip. Jessie gripped her phone in front of her like a compass and watched it track their route.

  Kaitlyn and Chloe sat in the back. Kaitlyn hummed softly, twirling her white blond ponytail while looking out the windows.

  Chloe held her cell, lifting and tilting it, moving it around the backseat, hoping some bars would pop up. Come on. Why won’t you work? Stupid service.

  “I can’t believe you’ve got service. I can’t get a thing,” Chloe said.

  “That’s what happens when you have like a dumb phone with a dumb provider,” Jessie said. “You ought to forget about that idiot anyway.”

  “Mine isn’t working either,” Kaitlyn said.

  Chloe ignored Jessie and tilted her phone another way while picturing the scene when she and Todd would reconcile, when he would take her back into his arms and they would realize it was all just a terrible misunderstanding. Chloe couldn’t help but smile and relax into the seat. The relief was so strong now, knowing it was all going to be okay. She stretched out her legs and pointed her toes. The polish on a couple of toes was chipped. And her feet were bare.

  “Oh! I forgot my sandals,” Chloe said. “We have to go back.”

  “Like how do you forget your sandals? You shouldn’t go barefoot so much. You’re like going to catch a disease.”

  “If you saw a ghost, you’d forget your shoes, too,” Kaitlyn said and took Chloe’s hand and pulled it in close.

  “No way. We’re almost to Aberdeen and we only have a half hour before rehearsal,” Tricia said.

  “I’ll share with you,” Kaitlyn said. “Do you want a left or right one?” She held one of her flip-flops in the air.

  Chloe squeezed Kaitlyn’s hand back. “You keep both. Thanks though.”

  Kaitlyn put the flip-flop back on. “If you change your mind…”

  While the tires hummed against the highway, inspiration hit Chloe.

  “I’m not going to play tonight,” she announced. “I need to spend time with Todd. Today. The day I was touched by something magical. We’ll need to talk.”

  Jessie turned and glared at her. Tricia stared into the rearview mirror at Chloe with opened-mouth horror. Kaitlyn squeezed her hand tighter.

  “You have to play,” Tricia said.

  “Are you like crazy?”

  “Watch the road!” Chloe yelled. “You're on the wrong side again.” Tricia jerked the car back over. Jessie jumped back into co-pilot position with her phone app pointing at the road.

  “Chloe,” Tricia said after a second to take a breath, “we know you’re hurt. Devastated even. Not thinking clearly. But we didn’t come all this way for you to skip the final round.”

  “We’ll have to change our name if we have only three players,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Skip the orchestra performance this afternoon if you need to—”

  “Like that will fly with Mr. Pozorski,” Jessie said without taking her eyes from her phone screen.

  “—but don’t bail on us. Not now. This means too much. Don’t let Todd steal this from us. From you.”

  Jessie abandoned her navigation long enough to twist in her seat to see Chloe. “What does a trumpet player know anyway? You should have never settled for brass. Stupid button pusher. If you want a cool dude, go for a bassist. Carl—now there’s a tall, dark, and handsome guy.” She’d had a crush on him since the first day of orchestra in ninth grade.

  “I’m not looking for another guy, Jessie. And I’m not going to skip orchestra. Todd will be playing.”

  “You are playing with the quartet. That’s all there is to it,” Tricia said. She focused back at the road like it was The End of Discussion.

  “But I have to be available if that’s our only chance to talk. I can’t miss it.”

  “If he’s willing to talk, he’ll like work around the schedule. But really, you found him with that—”

  “Jessie,” Tricia snapped. “Don’t. You’ll only make it bad again.”

  “Like you don’t call this bad?”

  “I can play your part, too, if you want me to,” Kaitlyn offered.

  “You can’t play her part, Kaitlyn. You have your own part,” Jessie said.

  “I can play some of it—the essence of it, if Cello needs me to.” Kaitlyn had called her Cello since the first day of summer orchestra camp three years before. Kaitlyn had a moment of dyslexia when she’d read Chloe’s nametag. She saw “Hello—My Name is Chelo.” She’d said, “Hello, Cello. It rhymes. Your parents knew you’d play cello when you were born.”

  At that moment, Mr. Pozorski gave the downbeat and Beethoven began. Chloe didn’t correct her until two days later. By then, it had stuck.

  “No way. A string quartet competition means we play a string quartet,” Tricia said with finality.

  Chloe tilted her phone near the window again and leaned her head against the glass. One way or another, she’d make time to talk to Todd. That was all that mattered.

  ***

  The girls had the length of the Allegro con brio from a Schubert quartet another group was playing before they were on. The four of them waited in the wings behind a velour leg curtain, each holding her instrument and bow.

  They wore tight sequined dresses that Tricia assured them would make an impression on the judges. Chloe and Tricia had argued for three days about them. Chloe didn’t want to wear a miniskirt while playing the cello. But in the end, she gave in and let Tricia win. She only did because Kaitlyn begged her to. She couldn’t say no when Kaitlyn turned those hopeful eyes to her, saying how all the sparkles made her think of stars and she would feel like a golden fairy twinkling like that. It turned out they all actually looked pretty hot in the dresses. Tricia looked great in her sapphire dress, her long Chinese hair swaying past her tiny waist. And Jessie had a figure to die for. The clingy scarlet dress showed off how curvaceous she was. Chloe would never have the nerve to wear the dress at home where her dad might see her and blow his you’re-not-leaving-the-house-in-that fuse. But she had to admit the emerald dress made her feel special once it was on.

  She hoped Todd would like it. That’s what mattered. But she hadn’t seen him since their orchestra performance that afternoon. Todd didn't play on their last piece. Chloe searched backstage after the final bow, but he wasn’t anywhere. Jessie and Tricia lost patience with her and demanded they all go eat. They went to a vegan place so Kaitlyn could find some food. When they passed the burger restaurant everyone else went to, Chloe couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Chloe adjusted the strap on one of her stilettos. Barefoot would have been so much better. I better not trip and fall on my face. What wou
ld Todd think?

  “They’re almost done. Ready?” Tricia whispered.

  They all nodded.

  Maybe we’ll be able to go out for coffee after and finally talk.

  Kaitlyn rubbed Chloe’s arm and smiled. Kaitlyn’s understanding and support were great. It almost seemed like the other two weren’t happy she was with Todd. They always complained about him, saying he took advantage of her. They just so don’t understand him.

  “Chloe,” Tricia said. “Chloe? Are you ready? The stage is clear. They’re waiting.”

  Chloe nodded, took a deep breath, and followed the other three onto the stage.

  ***

  When they returned to the wings, Jessie was huffing and Tricia’s glare could have melted her rosin.

  “What’d you do that for?” Tricia said.

  “I don’t think it was noticeable,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Like do you think Todd had anything to do with that?” Jessie asked Tricia. “Pozorski is so like going to kill you,” she told Chloe.

  “What’d I do?”

  The next quartet, a Korean group dressed in concert black with their noses in the air, squeezed past them to go out onto the stage. The crowd applauded, died down, and muffled Mozart floated backstage.

  Chloe tried to remember her performance. She might have missed an entrance, but she was too busy trying to balance her cello between her half-bent knees. You try playing a cello in a mini-skirt. Maybe it wasn’t her absolute best, but it didn’t feel that bad.

  “You so blew that for us, Chloe,” Tricia snarled.

  “Did you like count even one measure?” Jessie said.

  “You shouldn’t have made me wear that skirt,” Chloe snapped. Their attack was so unjustified. Maybe they were nervous. They were over-thinking, being too harsh. It wasn’t really so awful. They still could win. Todd will think it was good. He will be proud of me.

  Chloe followed the others to the dressing room. They packed up their instruments in a friable silence and stowed them in lockers. Chloe trailed behind them out the door again, with Kaitlyn right behind her. They filed through the echoing stage tunnels to the hallway that took them to the auditorium. Tricia and Jessie slipped into the first two seats of the back row while the last quartet finished. Chloe and Kaitlyn had to step over them to sit down. Tricia and Jessie wouldn’t even look at Chloe.