The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon

by Matthew Burkey

  “Are you done bothering us now?” Ryan asked.

  “I was never bothering,” Ethan smiled. “But you two are done with this boring old outing that’s for sure. Come on, let’s go someplace more entertaining. Tony’s downtown now hitting on chicks. I’m sure we could find a guy for Mr. Vibrant eyes here.”

  That was the first time that Ethan mentioned his eyes; probably his one very distinct feature. He hoped that it was a compliment but he was beginning to understand that with Ethan there was probably a double meaning to everything he said.

  “He needs to get through this stuff…”

  “You guys can help him get caught up on all this stuff later,” Ethan said, with a wave of his hand. “Besides, you were the one complaining that you hadn’t had any fun, if you get my drift, for a while.”

  Ryan looked like he was going to leap over the fire and strangle Ethan.

  “Look, I bet he already knows way more than he needs to,” Ethan shrugged. He took the tablet out of Gabriel’s hands and set it down.

  “Ethan…”

  “Come on,” Ethan snorted. “It’s Saturday night, we are not going to spend it sitting around a fire playing around on tablets unless you guys wanted to look up some more entertaining.”

  “I don’t think I want to know what he means by that,” Gabriel said.

  “Trust me, you don’t,” Ryan sighed. “Alright fine.”

  “I’ll meet you out front.”

  “Does he always get his way?” Gabriel asked, as Ethan walked off.

  “Generally, yeah,” Ryan grunted. “It’s really annoying sometimes.”

  “I can see why,” Gabriel admitted, standing up. His legs still felt like jelly and he actually swayed a little before he started walking again.

  “He was right about one thing though,” Ryan said, as they started toward the house. “You do have really vibrant blue eyes; you should be scoring guys like Tony or Ethan scores girls with eyes like that.”

  Gabriel didn’t know what to say; it was weird enough that he was getting complimented even weirder still that it had come from another guy about his looks. Gabriel shook his head, and followed Ryan out to his truck.

  Gabriel was aware that there was a thriving downtown scene, even for teenagers, in Omaha. What he wasn’t aware of was just how packed the places that teens frequented could be. After having to park several blocks away, he and Ryan met up with Ethan and Tony near Club Luna, a venue designed specifically for teens. No alcohol was served, although he was pretty sure that it got snuck in on more than one occasion.

  “Come on inside,” Ethan gestured.

  Gabriel had never been to the club, although he knew that Sean and Tim frequented the club. They always spoke about how much fun it was and had tried several times to convince Gabriel that he should join them. Gabriel turned them down all the time, even after Sean pointed out that he probably would have had a good time considering the fact that he was one of the few guys that could actually dance.

  The club was loud and fairly busy on the inside. The main floor had a huge dance area, a juice bar, and several other small seating sections. Dance music flooded through the air and Gabriel caught site of several kids from his school and other his age out on the dance floor…with very little, if any space between them. Gabriel turned away, he had never danced with anyone like that and wasn’t about to start.

  “Glad you guys could make it,” Everett smiled, standing. He was at a booth surrounded by several girls, all of whom were gorgeous. Gabriel was starting to think that it was a Guardian thing; maybe they all gave off some pheromone that subtly attested to their James Bond like status.

  “Had to pry these two away from Guardian 101,” Ethan said, jerking his thumb toward Ryan and Gabriel.

  Ryan responded to Ethan with by giving him the bird. Ethan appeared not to notice; no doubt that particular gesture lost its sting long ago. Gabriel noticed that Cody, Marissa, and Elise were sitting at the next booth. He was relieved when Ryan steered him toward that booth instead of the one with the gaggle of girls. It was close enough that they could converse with the other booth if they wanted, which was probably why Ryan took it.

  “So you survived?” Elise asked, as they sat down.

  Gabriel nodded, although he could already feel his muscles starting to get more than a little annoyed with him and the fact that he was moving around and not soaking in hot tub somewhere. He tried to push that thought out of his mind and focus on the conversation and not the pain that was starting to creep into every fiber of his being.

  “I guess so.”

  “Oh I am not that bad,” Ryan grumbled, rolling his eyes.

  “No but Tony is,” Cody pointed out. “Where is he anyways?”

  “Where do you think?” Ryan responded, gesturing toward the dance floor.

  All eyes turned toward the mass of people on the dance floor. Gabriel had known that Tony was popular with the ladies and by the way that he was grinding up against one particular blonde on the dance floor, he could understand why. She didn’t appear to really mind either.

  “When will he stop thinking with his pants?” Elise muttered.

  “He’s a guy, all guys think with their pants,” Gabriel shrugged, not realizing that he had said it until it was too late.

  “Even you?” Elise asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “No,” Gabriel blushed.

  “You haven’t told us much about yourself,” Marissa said. “Aside from the fact that Ethan let you get attacked by a demon…”

  “We didn’t let him get attacked by anyone,” Ethan snapped, from the other table. How he could have heard that with all the noise in the club, Gabriel had no idea. “If you had all listened to me and let me bring Everett and some RPGs the situation would have been handled.”

  “And by handled, you mean blown sky high,” Marissa prodded.

  “What a surprise, Ethan not taking responsibility for something,” Elise grumbled. She shot Ethan a look of annoyance; Ethan didn’t respond but instead went back to conversing with those at his table.

  “So, spill it, what’s the deal with you?” Marissa asked.

  “Not much to tell really,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “He stood up to David and his goons for me,” Cody tossed in. “Pretty ballsy move considering the fact that David could have beat his face in.”

  “I doubt that you would have let him,” Gabriel admitted. “I mean you being a highly skilled commando and all.”

  “Maintaining my cover is essential,” Cody smiled. “So, who knows what I would have done.”

  “Ok so you like rescuing the damsel in distress…”

  “Hey!” Cody snapped. “I’m no damsel!”

  “Oh shut up,” Elise said, with a wave of her hand. “What do you like to do for fun?”

  “Fun?” Gabriel asked.

  “Fun, wait you do know how to have fun right?” Elise asked. “Ryan did you recruit a stick in the mud?”

  “I like to read,” Gabriel blurted out. “And I dunno…go to movies.”

  “What do you like to read?”

  Gabriel thought for a moment, he wasn’t sure how honest he should be in this particular sense, mainly because he was trying to make a good impression on these people. He had already admitted to reading for pleasure so he was pretty sure that he couldn’t really cause any more harm to his image.

  “Stephen King, Hemmingway, Shakespeare…I actually just finished the Art Of War,” Gabriel admitted. “Wow, that seems really ironic now that I think about it.”

  “He’s going to be more cultured than you,” Elise said with a grin. “Oh, I love this song come on.”

  Ryan didn’t budge. “You know that I don’t dance.”

  “Right,” Elise snorted. “You’re ok with killing demons and putting on some interesting public displays of affection but you won’t dance. What is it with you guys anyways? Look, there are plenty of people out on dance floor…including Tony.”

  Gabriel turned to look at where
Elise was pointing, taking note that Tony had started dancing with a different girl, although just as cute as the first one that he was with. Gabriel shook his head; he had a feeling that Tony enjoyed the company of girls no matter where he went or what he was doing. Gabriel also took note that Everett and Ethan had appeared on the dance floor as well, Gabriel had to make sure that his eyes stayed away from lingering on Ethan’s seductively moving frame.

  “That’s his business,” Ryan spoke.

  “Come on,” Cody said, sliding out of the booth and offering his hand. “Let’s go have some fun.”

  “That only works because he has an accent,” Ryan called after Cody. Cody turned around and winked as he, Marissa, and Elise made it onto the dance floor.

  “Interesting public display of affection?” Gabriel asked.

  “So not worth talking about.”

  Had Gabriel known Ryan better he would have pressed him for more information. As it was he decided not to, he wanted to keep on Ryan’s good side. Gabriel took note of how Ryan seemed to look at Elise; his eyes seemed to linger on her much like Gabriel did with Ethan. A thought started forming in the back of his mind regarding Ryan and Elise, one that he shoved away. Clearly, there was something going on there but Gabriel didn’t feel like he knew Ryan well enough to ask about it.

  “So…um…Elise seemed pretty short with Ethan,” Gabriel said, in an attempt to start a conversation. He was curious to see what direction Ryan would take the conversation or if he would simply shut him down right away.

  “They have a complicated past,” Ryan shrugged. “They dated a while ago. Ethan won’t really talk much about why they broke up though.”

  “She seems really nice,” Gabriel went on.

  “She is really nice,” Ryan smiled. The way that he looked at her after he said it made it even clearer that she was something more to him than a friend, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it. Gabriel wondered if she felt the same way.

  “I was sort of torn when they broke up,” Ryan said, quickly taking his eyes off the dance floor. “I mean I’ve known Ethan pretty much all my life and Elise a long time too. Everyone was thrilled when they got together, mainly because we never thought that Ethan could be reined in by anyone.”

  “Seems like they would be a good match,” Gabriel smiled. “Somehow I don’t see her taking anything from anyone.”

  “She doesn’t,” Ryan responded, shaking his head. “And then they broke up and everything got miserable for a while. Neither one of them are the type that likes to lose.”

  “And breaking up counts as losing?” Gabriel asked. True, he had never really had a relationship but he was pretty sure that wasn’t exactly the healthy way to look at it.

  “I have no idea,” Ryan shrugged. “I think that they are both to prideful to admit that they actually got hurt by someone.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Come on,” Ryan said, sliding out of the booth. “Let’s get something to drink.”

  Gabriel nodded and followed after him.

  CHAPTER 6

  Gabriel groaned as soon as the alarm went off. All he wanted was one Saturday to sleep past seven in the morning. Of course given recent changes to his life, he found it hard to believe that was ever going to happen again. He rolled over and not so gently slapped the alarm off. Grumbling to himself he threw off the covers and got out of bed, stretching as he stood.

  There had been certain advantages to joining the Guardians; most evident was the physical change that he had been through the past few months. His frame was now packed with muscle, giving him an athletic and defined physique.

  He knew that everyone else would be sleeping in; no doubt he would be out the door and on his way to Aegis before anyone else actually got out of bed.

  That wouldn’t be a surprise to his parents, both of whom had vastly approved of his early morning workouts. He took a look at himself in the mirror, still surprised by what he saw. He had also changed his hair style, mostly due to the prodding of Elise and Marissa. Although he was surprised to find that Ryan agreed with them both; then again Ryan did a lot of agreeing with Elise, no matter what she said.

  Now, his longish hair had been cut short and he wore it spiked up, something that had brought him more than a few looks from the ladies at school. In fact, he was noticing that he months of hard training had gotten him a lot of attention from people at school, although that might have to do with the fact that he was hanging out with Ryan and Tony.

  The constant training was having other effects a well. Most notably his confidence, which had gone through the roof and it wasn’t just because he had spent all that time working out. He knew he looked better but more importantly, he felt better. He walked taller, spoke his mind more and felt more confident in everything that he did.

  He finished showering and headed out the door. His, car a 1998 red mustang sat in the driveway. He managed to save up enough money and with the help of his parents, purchase the vehicle a few weeks ago. It wasn’t as new or as flashy as Ryan’s truck, Tony’s motorcycle, or Ethan’s Charger but it did the job of getting him from point A to point B just fine. He unlocked it and tossed his bag into the passenger seat. Seconds later, he pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street.

  Ever since getting the car he had been driving to school early, mostly so that he could get a run in with Ryan and Cody before classes started. He actually looked forward to all the physical activity that he now partook in on a daily bases. He slid the Mustang into a parking space near the track and got out greeting Ryan and Cody as he did so.

  “Ready?” Cody asked.

  “Yup,” Gabriel nodded.

  The trio took off around the track. Most days Ryan and Cody would quiz him on all things relating to the Guardians, other days they used the time to just talk amongst themselves. Gabriel enjoyed those days most because he got to know his teammates on a more personal level.

  “Aside from the guns and whatnot, are there any other advantages to being a Guardian?”

  “Girls,” Ryan shrugged. “Or in your case, boys.”

  “You get girls?” Gabriel asked, arching an eyebrow. “I can’t fathom why anyone at all would want to kiss you.”

  Well that wasn’t entirely untrue, Ryan was good looking and had he not become a close friend, Gabriel could easily see him finding him pretty damn hot. But again, the thought of even looking at Ryan in that light made him gag slightly.

  “Shut up you git,” Ryan snapped.

  “Good word usage,” Cody smiled.

  “I’ve been looking at all the Guardian lore,” Gabriel said. “Or actually, Cody has been making me look at all the Guardian lore and I have a question. Where did we come from?”

  “Well when a mommy Guardian and a daddy Guardian love each other very much,” Ryan started to say.

  “Oh shut up,” Cody interrupted. “Depends on what myth you read up on. There are two pretty popular ones; most say that we were gifted with the rituals that we use by the fallen ones.”

  “Demons?” Gabriel asked.

  “No,” Cody shook his head. “Fallen angels, ones that were cast out of heaven with Lucifer when he rebelled; they didn’t want to spend eternity in hell so they came back to earth as mortals and helped devise ways of fighting against evil and in the process they created the first Guardians.”

  “And the other one?”

  “Michael the Archangel offered a group of warriors the chance to serve a higher purpose, to protect the world around them. He gave them an artifact, something called the Seraphim’s Heart and they used that to create the first Guardians.”

  “Which one is true?”

  “Depends on who you ask,” Ryan shrugged. “The Rite creates a sort of amnesia around what happens so no one is for sure what goes on. Why all the questions?”

  “Just curious, that’s all.”

  They finished their run fifteen minutes later and headed inside to the locker room to change. Again, he was happy that his school had popped
for the individual shower stalls as well, making changing for PE a much less horrifying experience. He changed and headed out of the locker-room toward his first class, which happened to be history.

  “Where you going in such a hurry?”

  Gabriel sighed heavily; he knew who it was as soon as he opened his mouth. David had been ignoring him the past few months, apparently not taking notice of the changes that had taken place with Gabriel.

  “Class,” Gabriel grunted. “You should try going sometime.”

  David stalked toward him and instantly Gabriel’s mind calculated about two dozen ways to stun him before he could even lay a hand on him.

  “Well, look who got a backbone.”

  Gabriel crossed his arms, staring David down. “Do you have a problem with something?”

  “I got a problem with you Gay-breil.”

  David hooted and hollered, clearly impressed with himself for the witty pun involving Gabriel’s name and sexual orientation.

  “Want me to get him out of here?” Ryan asked. He had taken a few steps forward, ready to intercede between the two of them.

  “I got this.”

  “Are you sure...”

  Gabriel looked at Ryan and gave him a smile. As much as Ryan wanted to protect him, there were certain things the he had to do on his own.

  By now a small crowd had gathered. Gabriel took note that Cody had once again slipped back into his incognito persona. Truthfully, looking at him it was almost impossible to burst out in laughter considering what Gabriel knew that he was capable of. David had a wild look in his eye, a sign that he was about to something rather rash.

  “I’m not afraid of you anymore,” Gabriel said. He let a tone of boredom creep into his voice. This prompted an intake of breath from pretty much everyone that had gathered around them. Even Ryan and Tony were playing their parts. “So let’s just get this over with, go ahead and try and hit me.”

  “Oh there’s no trying about it.”