Your Guardian Angel Uncut (The Guardian Angel Series Book 1.5)

by Skyla Madi

  Usually when you cry, you’re overwhelmed with emotion, whether it’s sadness or anger. When I cry, I felt empty and numb.

  I lay down on my stomach on the soft, purple rug and closed my eyes. I focused on all the accomplishments I’d made since my birthday. I was no longer a vampire and I was attending Sage Sanctum like my mother always wanted—eventually. Those milestones made me feel better, but not enough to pull myself out of the dark hole I’d managed to dig for myself. When depression hit me I tried hard to fight back with positive thoughts, but when I felt like this, those thoughts weren't so positive.

  Beep, Beep. I lifted my head towards the alarm clock—it was time for dinner.

  I walked into my bathroom to check my hair and clothes. Sure enough, my eyes were red and blood shot, my hair was tangled and my clothes were a little dirty from being at the pond.

  Even though it was compulsory to attend every meal, I wasn’t in a rush to get to dinner. I heard the dorm lady a few doors down telling the other girls to get to dinner. When my door opened, I hid in the bathroom quietly. Thankfully, she shut the door without inspecting my room.

  I decided to shower and change clothes before I went down. I didn’t want people to know I’d been crying all afternoon and I was hoping a hot shower would clear my head. I walked across the tiled floor, being sure to lay a towel down on the ground so that I didn’t slip when I got out. I stripped down quickly, just wanting my head to switch focus to find happier thoughts. The entire situation was ridiculous, of course—like a shower would really help me block out the same sad feelings that had been plaguing me on and off for a while now. I turned on the hot water in the shower at the same time I climbed in and the water scalded my back, making me jump. I pressed my body against the cool glass while I cranked up the cold and continued to adjust the two knobs until I’d reached a nice temperature. As I let the water run across my skin, steam began to fill my lungs and my thoughts began to fade away.

  ***

  Dinner was supposed to be ‘classier’ than the other meals, so the student body had to dress nicely. I wasn’t in the mood for being classy so I threw on a stylish white and black tracksuit and a pair of runners before heading over to the dining hall.

  The fresh air hit my face when I left the girls dorms and I instantly felt a little better. I even felt happier...or at least I did until I saw Raina and her crew. I rolled my eyes and sighed as they stood in their ugly patterned fifties style dresses, snickering at me.

  “Are you going to chase and kill the food yourself?” Raina sneered, placing her hands on her slim hips.

  I kept walking, ignoring her ridiculous comment.

  “It’s dinner time, not track time,” called one of her friends.

  I cringed at the horribly thought out insults, was I really supposed to be offended by that?

  “Just make sure Mr Farley gets his curtains back when you’re finished with them,” I called without a glance over my shoulder.

  Mr Farley, our Botany teacher, had these ugly curtains in his classroom. Everyone groaned in pain every time they entered his room and saw them. I smiled when I heard them start comforting each other, saying, “They look nothing like his curtains, don’t worry, she’s just jealous.”

  I rolled my eyes. Self-obsessed Barbie dolls. I entered the hall and scanned the room for Mila. I found Eli sitting at the teachers’ table chatting casually to Mr Aleksandrov, and I spotted Hunter smiling and talking to a beautiful red haired girl. I guess I was having dinner alone. I found an empty section at the end of a table and the kitchen steward placed grilled fish and vegetables in front of me. Nausea radiated from my stomach. I certainly didn’t feel like dinner, at all.

  “Ruby!” called Rylan, before sliding into the seat next to me.

  I gave him a small smile, hoping he would get the hint and leave. He didn’t.

  “Look, Rylan, I’m not in the mood to chat right now.”

  He shrugged. “That’s okay. We can just sit in silence.”

  “I don’t need company to do that.” I replied leaning back into my chair. Man, I was exhausted.

  My gaze swept over to Eli, who was watching me with a worried expression—the tattoos—he could feel how...off I was feeling. He turned back to the conversation with Aleksandrov, but his face was troubled, his mind still clearly on me.

  “I know you’re upset about Cloud, but nobody likes to be alone,” said Rylan after a little while.

  I flinched. Right, Cloud died today and I’d been wallowing in my own issues. How selfish could I be?

  “Well, I do.” I told him, feeling even worse about myself.

  It was a lie. I hated being alone and I felt bad for snapping at him, but I just wasn’t in the mood to handle his smart comments and subtle flirting right now. Rylan put his hand on mine and I was having a hard time trying to work out if it was friendly or not.

  “I’m here if you need me.”

  Slowly, I took my hand back, hoping I didn’t offend him. The corners of his lips turned up into a sympathetic smile as the chair scraped against the floor. He rose to his feet and trotted away from me. I groaned, dropping my head onto my arms.

  Today sucked.

  ***

  I sighed and exhaled dramatically for what felt like hours. It had really only been forty minutes since I arrived. I just wanted it to be over so I could go to bed early.

  When the kitchen staff began to clean up after dinner, I prepared to leave the dining hall but was stopped by a deep, loud voice before I could move an inch out of my chair. Agitatedly, I snapped my head toward the voice, it was Mr Aleksandrov.

  “Good evening, students and faculty members,” he began. “Most of you are probably wondering why the school was in lock down today. A student was found dead.”

  The dining room lit up with gasps and lively chatter.

  “Quiet!” boomed Mr Aleksandrov, alarming everyone.

  The room fell quiet.

  “Miss Cloud Banks fell and hit her head on a rather large stone. We’ve concluded the investigation and have come to the conclusion that her death was accidental.”

  I glanced around the room and a large handful of students began to cry—others looked on in horror. Involuntarily, my eyes rested on Raina’s face. She was looking at me and shaking her head, of course she’d think I killed Cloud.

  “A memorial service will be held on Monday, on the oval at nine in the morning. Thank you.”

  Mr Aleksandrov lowered himself back into his chair and the hall filled with lively talk and sobs. I didn’t think it was possible, but being here made me even more depressed. Not wanting to wait around, I strolled out of the hall, walking as fast as I could to get away from the cries and pleads to God.

  ***

  When I finally made it back to my dorm room, I shut the door and leant up against it, sighing with relief. The day turned out completely different than I imagined. It started off good—it was a normal day—but quickly deteriorated. That was the story of my life, I guess. When I had something good going for myself it was always ruined.

  I changed into black silk boxer shorts and a white singlet, wanting maximum comfort for sleep. I approached my bed and paused when my eyes fell onto a letter perched upon my pillow. Slowly, I reached down and picked it up. I don't know why, but I glanced around my room, expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows.

  Nothing.

  I dragged my sights back to the letter and opened it. Inside the bright white envelope was a little red piece of paper and sprawled across the paper in black ink read:

  You are mine, Ruby.

  Coffee and Punching

  Sleep didn’t come easy, in fact, sleep hardly came at all. I was relieved when the sun came up and I heard students buzzing around the dorm. Last night was horrible. After reading the letter, I couldn't sleep. Sure, I dozed off every now and then, but I awoke at every bat squeal and cricket chirp. My main fear was not that someone wanted to kill me—I was used to that, I was on the top of a few people’s l
ist—my main fear was that there was someone who wanted me dead who lived at this school and had been inside my room. I shivered at the thought of being watched.

  Even though it was in my best interest to tell Eli about the note, I didn’t want him to have to deal with anymore 'Ruby Drama.' After the whole capture me, turn me back into a goddess, fight Hank, help me through a panic attack and everything in between, I just didn’t want to bother him anymore. Besides, what if it’s a prank? I couldn’t waste his time. With a hard swallow, I pushed all of my fears and paranoia to the back of my mind. Today, I wanted to see Mila and help her with whatever she needed. I had to forget about me. It was about time I forget about my own issues and helped someone else with theirs—be selfless for a change.

  I quickly jumped out of bed and rummaged through my wardrobe. I decided on a pair of jeans and a black hoodie then, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and left my dorm room. As soon as I felt warmth engulf me and the steady sound of a beating heart, I saw him. Just my luck—Eli De Luca. What did he have planned for me today? Whatever it was, it’d have to wait. Mila was my top priority. I smiled. Actually, this was perfect. Students weren’t allowed in the teachers’ residential area without an actual reason and I could use Eli to take me to Mr Aleksandrov's house.

  “Good morning,” I said, trying to sound cheerful and failing miserably.

  He frowned, coming to a stop in front of me. “Sure, if that’s how you see it.”

  I shifted my weight. “What do you mean?”

  Eli ran his hands over his face, lingering a few seconds to rub his eyes. “C’mon, we both know you didn’t sleep last night.”

  He dropped his hands to his side and I bit my lip. Shit. I forgot about the tattoo. I looked closer at Eli and although he was still incredibly handsome, he looked tired.

  “I slept fine, actually,” I lied.

  I felt bad for him. I wasn’t able to keep my emotions in check at all yesterday.

  “I must have had a nightmare…” I lied again.

  “Must have,” he replied, almost rolling his eyes.

  Changing the subject, I said. “Hey, do you have a moment? I need to see Mila but can’t get into the teacher residential area without clearance.”

  “Sure. And we can talk on the way.”

  I cringed. I knew he wanted to talk about my feelings, but I didn’t. I’d already let under my skin—hell—I let him kiss me. If I let him in any deeper, how could I possibly stay away?

  “You can talk to me, Ruby,” Eli said as we exited the girls’ dorms.

  Students turned their heads to look at us, but only I noticed.

  “I know.” I muttered, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pockets and dropping my eyes to look at my shoes.

  “Then why don’t you? I’m not stupid. I know something is happening within you. I was up all god damn night and it wasn’t because you had a nightmare.”

  I glanced sideways at Eli and seeing his expression fill with pain made my heart pound.

  “I’m still getting over things.” I shrugged. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  Eli opened his mouth to say something but he bit his tongue. I wondered what he would have said, that he wants to worry about me? Maybe or maybe not... now I’d never know.

  ***

  We walked into the teachers’ campus and Eli and I had to sign a few papers before we could enter. As we walked along a path hidden by trees he grabbed my wrist and energy frissons through me as he pulled me around to face him. His warm hands made my skin tingle and set butterflies loose in my stomach.

  “You think no one cares about you or how you’re feeling, but you’re wrong. You think I can’t see through this ‘tough girl’ facade you put on, but I can.” He dropped my wrist and leaned in closer to me. “It hurts me to see such a beautiful girl go through so much pain and it hurts me even more to see that she doesn’t want to share it.”

  His voice was hard and fierce. I looked into his eyes, trying not cry and pour all my thoughts out or tell him about the letter. I couldn’t, not yet. Not until I figured it out for myself first.

  “Do you share your pain?” I asked him. “How many people know your dad was murdered by vampires when you were still a boy?”

  Eli drew himself to full height.

  “Don’t make this about me.” He growled defensively.

  I stepped closer to him, raising myself on my tippy toes just to get closer to his face.

  “See, you and I are no different. You shield your emotions better than anyone, even me. You want me, but I wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t kissed me.” He flinched slightly and I fought the urge to smile triumphantly. “We both have issues, we both have felt the pain of losing a loved one and we both keep it to ourselves because we’re scared. We’re scared of how we look to other people.” I protested, lowering myself to stand flat on my feet.

  “I’ll share with you, when you’re ready to share with me. Relationships—of any kind—is a two way street, Eli.”

  I pushed past him and marched down the path, hoping that somehow I could pick out Mila’s house on the other side. Lucky for me, there was only one house. Mila’s house was huge, at least two stories. Her front yard was beautiful. There was a huge fountain in the middle of a driveway that wound around from the back of the house. I didn’t know what was more tiring, the walk from the school to the front yard or from the front yard to the front door. There was too much land for two people and no animals. Soon, Eli fell into step with me as I reached the front steps and he pressed the intercom button as Mr Aleksandrov’s voice projected through it.

  “Eli, I wasn't expecting you today.”

  I glanced around looking for cameras and managed to spot at least seven hidden in weird places.

  “I have a visitor for Mila. Ruby insisted that she keep her company today.”

  Eli took his finger off the button and a horrible buzzing noise sounded as the huge doors opened. We stepped inside and my mouth dropped open. I felt like I stepped inside a palace. Everything seemed to be gold edged and expensive. I glanced up the large staircase that sprawled out in front of us.

  “Do we go up?” I asked, nudging Eli.

  Without looking at me, he shook his head.

  “Ruby, how nice to see you,” said Mr Aleksandrov as he entered the main foyer and I flashed him a fake smile.

  “Mila is showering at the moment. Please, come to the tea room and wait.”

  Eli and I followed Mr Aleksandrov into a side room. I assumed it would be a small to average sized room—it was only a tea room—but boy was I wrong. I could fit my dorm room into this room at least nine times. Eli cleared his throat, pulling me from my patent staring.

  I slid into the seat next to Eli at a beautiful gold edged table.

  “Ruby,” Mr Aleksandrov said, making himself comfortable in his chair. “I hear you’re unhappy with Tay and I.”

  “Yes, sir,” I replied sharply, leaning my elbows on the table. There was no point beating around the bush. Mr Aleksandrov’s gave fell to my elbows and Eli reached up and softly pulled them off. I frowned. What’s the point on having a table you couldn’t touch? And in a tea room none the less.

  “And why is that?” He asked, adjusting the sleeves on his cream colored robe.

  “Have you even stopped by to see how I was after Hank attacked me? You went through so much trouble to get me here...”

  His eyebrows rose. “Were you injured?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Then there’s no reason for your anger towards anyone.”

  Frowning, I scoffed. “I could have been killed.”

  “But you weren’t.”

  I pushed out of my chair and forcing Eli out of his.

  “Ruby,” He warned, stepping closer to me.

  I wasn’t going to hurt Mr Aleksandrov. He was old. I’d never hurt and old—wait—I did slap Gwydion.

  I crossed my arms. “Don’t you care that a psychotic vampire was so close to your school?
To your niece?”

  He simpered. “I have enough guardian angels, both certified and in training, to take care of a few pesky vampires.”

  My blood boiled. Why Mr Aleksandrov was being so indifferent about the whole situation?

  “Ruby?” I heard Mila calling from the staircase.

  I pivoted on my heel and stormed off towards the door of the tea room.

  “Oh, Ruby,” he called, forcing me back around to face him. “Don’t be selfish. It’s a bad look for you,”

  I glowered at him and he returned it with a blank stare. I was really starting to dislike him. When we first met he was so kind and understanding, now he was a total asshole. I glanced at Eli who shrugged sympathetically. Once again, I whirled around my heel and stomped up the stairs one by one, meeting Mila at the top. She led me to her bedroom. Again, I could fit my dorm room twelve times over in here—minimum.

  I gasped. “Wow, maybe I should sleep here instead of having you over in my dorm.”

  “At least your dorm is cosy. Being in here can get quite lonely,” she admitted.

  I could see that, even being in a room the size of my dorm gets quiet depressing and lonely.

  “So, how are you feeling? I didn’t see you at dinner last night.”

  “I’ve come to terms with it, I suppose. Last night I was with Sam, she’s a real mess. I thought I was upset... her grief blew mine straight out of the water.”

  “Is she going to continue with classes tomorrow?” I asked.

  Mila shook her head, a flash of sadness flaring through her eyes “She went home to her parents. Uncle gave her clearance to return whenever she wanted.”