Broken (Book 3 of The Guardian Interviews)

by Michael Clary

“I’m in pain, you daffy bitch!” Georgie screamed. “Get out of the way.”

  I jumped in immediately.

  “The water will heal them,” I said. “You need to let him go to the shower.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” the nurse said.

  “I know what it sounds like, but there are forces that can’t always be explained,” I continued. “Just look at Javie. How bad was he when he arrived?”

  “He could die if he leaves the bed,” the nurse said.

  “He won’t,” I said. “He’ll start to heal as soon as he gets into the water.”

  “I’m going to call security,” the nurse said when Javie and I went to Georgie and began to lift him from the bed.

  “I’m a Regulator,” Javie said angrily. “Your security team will be the least impressive thing I ever beat the shit out of.”

  “Relax, Javie,” I said. “She doesn’t understand. She’s just trying to protect him.”

  “Well, he could die with all this protection,” Javie said. “Those sons-a-bitches operated on us, did you know that? Why didn’t they just leave us in the grass?”

  “It was a cluster fuck,” I answered. “Everything went bad.”

  We pulled Georgie from his bed to the shower stall. We positioned him so that the water would pour directly upon his stitched up wound.

  “How is Skie?” Georgie asked.

  My heart went out to him. He was barely conscious but I could still see the worry in his face.

  “We’ll talk later,” I answered.

  “Answer me now!” Georgie shouted with a strength that shocked me.

  I hesitated.

  “How is she?” Javie asked.

  “Not good,” I cried. “I think we lost her.”

  “Aww no,” Georgie groaned. “No. No. No. No. No. I had one job. One fucking job and I screwed it up. No. No. No. No. No. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. I should have protected her.”

  He began to cry. His sobs shook his entire body. I knew it caused him pain. I saw it in his face. Still, he sobbed harder and harder. Javie, confronted with his own grief backed away from the shower, and dropped on top of the toilet with his face in his hands.

  Georgie began to thrash in the stall. His stitches popped and his wound opened up. The blood began to flow once again. I tried to talk to him. I tried to calm him down. I turned on the water in an effort to heal up the damage he was causing himself. It didn’t work.

  In order to calm him down, I ended up jumping on top of Georgie. The water poured onto my clothes as I held him close.

  “You did your best,” I said. “It’s not your fault. Georgie, it’s not your fault. No one blames you.”

  “I blame me,” Georgie said. “I blame me. Poor Skie, what are we going to do? What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I wish I knew, but I don’t. I wish I could do something but I can’t. I lost my friend, and I don’t know what to do!”

  “Where is he?” Georgie asked in abrupt subject change.

  “Out there somewhere,” I answered. “He’s looking for the people responsible.”

  “Dear God,” Georgie whispered before he passed out. “He’ll scorch the entire planet to find them.”

  I agreed with him. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of Jaxon’s anger. I pitied anyone that got in his way. There was something scary in my friend’s eyes when he left the hospital. Many people were going to die before the rage in his heart would subside: if it ever subsided.

  I left Georgie in Javie’s care. I wanted to see what Miriam was up to. I wanted to see something that would make me feel the world hadn’t stopped spinning. On the way back to the room, my cell phone rang. I answered it immediately in the hopes that it was Jaxon.

  It wasn’t. It was Mr. Hardin. Apparently Miriam wasn’t answering her phone, so Mr. Hardin gave me a message. He said two words. I had no idea what they meant, but I was supposed to repeat them to Miriam.

  Getting back to the room proved rather difficult for me: my vision began to blur the moment I entered the correct hallway, and I couldn’t quite find the right door. My memory also began to fail me, and for a brief moment, I actually forgot why I was in the hospital in the first place.

  Finally, my hand found the latch to the door, and I entered the room. Miriam was quietly sleeping in a chair next to Skie’s bed. I touched her arm gently, and her eyes snapped open.

  “Mr. Hardin just called me,” I said.

  “He’s probably worried about Skie,” Miriam answered. “I bet the magic drained my phone battery. Did you tell him all would be well when Jaxon returns?”

  “He didn’t ask about Skie,” I said. “He told me to tell you “Black Dawn.” What does that mean?”

  Miriam was suddenly on her feet.

  “Oh dear,” Miriam said. “Has it gotten so bad so soon?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” I said.

  I was becoming frightened.

  “The government has turned against us,” Miriam said. “Mr. Hardin has had to abandon his post, and he’s advising us to vanish.”

  “What the Hell?” I asked. “Why would we need to go into hiding?”

  “Because our lives are in danger,” Miriam said. “Go to the window and keep an eye out. I need to think. I need to make sure they don’t remove Skie’s body. If they take her away, it will all be lost.”

  I was panicking. There’s no other way to say it. I took a post at the window, and I kept a look out while Miriam paced up and down the small room.

  An hour later, the black SUVs pulled up in front of the hospital. There were four of them, and they were filled with men in black suits. I didn’t recognize any of them until the final man put his feet upon the pavement.

  “Oh my God,” I said. “Miriam, I think they’re here.”

  Miriam stopped dead in her tracks.

  “What did you see?” She asked.

  “Four black SUVs just pulled into the parking lot,” I said.

  “Did you see a bunch of men in black suits?” Miriam asked.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Those are the Men in Black,” Miriam said.

  “Like the movie?” I asked.

  “Hardly,” Miriam answered. “The Men in Black are assassins. Their job is to eliminate anyone that might reveal certain secrets that the government would rather keep quiet. Mr. Hardin never uses them. He doesn’t approve of their methods.”

  “Major Crass was with them,” I blurted out.

  “We have very little time,” Miriam said. “Listen to me very carefully. I can keep you safe. I can get us both out of this, but I need you to follow my every command. Can you do that?”

  I shook my head up and down.

  Miriam jumped into action. She reached into her purse and came out with a thick piece of chalk.

  “No matter what happens,” Miriam said as she began to draw a circle around me. “Do not leave this circle until I tell you that it’s safe.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “We need to flee,” Miriam continued. “We need to vanish until Mr. Hardin can sort things out, but before we do so, I need to make sure that Skie will remain safe in my absence. In order to provide her with that sort of protection, I must summon something powerful enough to protect her.”

  Miriam then threw the contents of her bowl onto the floor and began adding new ingredients. When she was finished, she drew a silver dagger from her purse and opened up her wrist. She allowed her blood to flow into the bowl.

  “Miriam!” I shouted when I saw the amount of blood she was losing.

  I was about to leave the circle. I was that worried about her.

  “KEEP YOUR WORD,” Miriam shouted in a voice that wasn’t quite normal.

  “Your wrist,” I said.

  “Dark magic requires an offering,” Miriam said. “The one I call requires even more.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I won’t leave the circle.”

  Miriam nodded in my dir
ection.

  “Paper dolls with jagged edges,” Miriam shouted in the air. “Screaming girls and bleeding boys. I call you forth, Sally. I call you from the darkness. I call you from the mist of your land. Paper dolls with jagged edges. Screaming girls and bleeding boys. Send forth the one that cuts. Send forth the lover of blood and pain. I am Miriam. I am worthy of your attention.”

  The room grew instantly cold. Dampness filled the air, and it chilled me to the bone. Miriam’s voice grew louder and louder.

  “Paper dolls with jagged edges,” Miriam said. “Screaming girls and bleeding boys. A cut, a slash, it’s all the same. I call you forth. I call by name. Sally Scissorcut, heed my call. I need you now. I am Miriam. I am worthy of your attention.”

  I heard pounding but I couldn’t tell you from where it was coming. I even heard scratching from inside the walls. Both of these sounds became louder and louder. Miriam’s bowl erupted in a black flame. I jumped. Goosebumps spread across my arms, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

  The noises got louder and louder. I then began to hear moaning and screaming as well. The sounds were horrible, and they were coming from all around me. I put my hands over my ears in an attempt to keep them out of my head. It proved to be a futile attempt, and I collapsed upon my knees.

  The horrible sounds stopped abruptly.

  “Prepare yourself,” Miriam said.

  The room was deathly quiet. I couldn’t even hear the normal sounds of a busy hospital in the background. The cold, however, remained.

  Minutes ticked upon the clock. Still, I heard nothing. It was as if the world beyond the hospital room ceased to exist.

  Finally, I heard the clicking sound of heels upon a tile floor.

  It was coming from somewhere beyond the door to Skie’s room, and it was getting closer and closer.

  “She’s coming,” Miriam whispered. “Do not leave the circle; she’ll kill you if you do.”

  No problem there. I had no intentions of leaving the damn circle.

  The clicking heels came to an abrupt stop outside the room. I can’t tell you how frightened I was when I heard a knock upon our door.

  “Don’t answer it,” I said.

  Miriam ignored me and went to the door. She gently placed her hand upon the handle, and she slowly opened the door. The hallway was empty.

  I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Then I noticed that we were no longer alone in the room.

  “Hello, Miriam,” a young woman said.

  “Hello, Sally,” Miriam replied. “I need your help.”

  Sally was drop dead gorgeous. I have no other words to describe her. She was that freakin’ hot. Her chestnut brown hair was long with a slight curl, and it fell out of her red leather bandanna past her shoulders. He eyes were a sultry dark color I couldn’t place. Her skin had a slight tan. She dressed in red leather heels and slashed up red leather pants. Her red top revealed her soft arms and the tops of her perfect breasts.

  I was in love, but I wasn’t stupid enough to leave the circle. There was something cold about her, something dangerous. She radiated sexuality but she also radiated something else: something dark.

  “Do you now?” Sally asked. “The last time you asked for my help, you cursed me afterwards. I’m very angry with you, Miriam. I thought we were friends.”

  “I have done wrong by you,” Miriam said. “I come to make amends. What would you have from me?”

  Sally ignored her. Instead, she cast her gaze upon me.

  “You have a friend with you,” Sally said as she walked towards me.

  “Yes,” Miriam said. “She’s under my protection.”

  “That doesn’t impress me, Miriam,” Sally said. “Come out of the circle, pretty girl. Let’s show Miriam a few new tricks.”

  “Miriam,” I said. “What do I do?”

  “Stay where you are,” Miriam answered. “She can’t hurt you.”

  “Oh, but I could,” Sally said. “I could scratch right through that circle given enough time. Don’t you worry about that.”

  “This isn’t what I want,” Miriam said. “I need your help.”

  Sally finally turned and looked at her.

  “Really?” Sally asked. “You come to me for help once again?”

  “It isn’t for me,” Miriam said. “The girl on the bed needs your protection.”

  Sally cast her hungry gaze immediately towards Skie as if she was just now noticing her for the first time.

  “A sleeping beauty,” Sally said, and walked towards her.

  I took a slight protective step forward inside the circle.

  Sally’s head snapped immediately towards me.

  “Do it,” Sally said. “Cross the circle.”

  “Ivana!” Miriam shouted. “Control yourself.”

  “You’re no fun, Miriam,” Sally pouted.

  “I ask you to not harm the three of us,” Miriam said. “I beg for your protection.”

  Sally approached the bed, and examined Skie.

  “This one is dead,” Sally said. “Wait a minute. Did you anchor her soul to this room?”

  “I did,” Miriam said. “I beg you to protect her body. Let no one take it away. Force them to care for her in my absence. Forbid them from ending her life.”

  “You cast a very powerful spell,” Sally said. “I can sense it working all around me. What happened to her?”

  “She was shot,” I answered.

  “Was she?” Sally asked. “Let me see.”

  She ran her hand down Skie’s face. She gently touched the tube going down her throat, and she slowly pulled the covers away from the bandage over her heart.

  “Miriam,” I said. “Do something.”

  “Quiet,” Miriam said.

  Sally looked at me and smiled sensually. Then she ripped the bandage away from Skie’s wound.

  “Oh,” Sally said, “how ugly: a blemish on the skin of a sleeping beauty. Can I have her Miriam?”

  “You may not,” Miriam said. “You can help her, though.”

  “I don’t like the wound,” Sally said. “It’s way too ugly. A beautiful girl should be free of such ugliness.”

  Suddenly, Sally dug her hands into Skie’s skin around the bullet wound and ripped free a chunk of wet and bleeding flesh. She then threw the wet mess upon the floor, where it bubbled and steamed, and eventually turned to ash.

  I screamed but both Miriam and Sally ignored me.

  “That’s so much better,” Sally said as she looked at the flawless skin where the injury used to be.

  “Will you help me?” Miriam asked.

  “The cost will be high,” Sally purred as she stroked Skie’s hair.

  “You can’t have the girl in the circle,” Miriam said.

  “I don’t really want her,” Sally said. “She’s been had by too many.”

  I wanted to argue. I really did. I mean, this creature was essentially calling me a whore but on the flip side, her lack of interest was probably a good thing.

  “Name your price then,” Miriam said.

  “Two sacrifices a month,” Sally said. “For as long as my protection lasts.”

  “Every full moon?” Miriam asked.

  “I like the sound of that,” Sally said. “If you fail, I’ll leave her.”

  “I understand,” Miriam said. “Ivana, you can now leave the circle.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  Sally looked at me and smiled.

  “I’m sure,” Miriam said. “Our deal has been struck. Sally wants her offerings.”

  I stepped away from the circle. Sally’s smile became a sneer. I was terrified of her. I knew what she could do to me. Don’t ask me how, but I knew she could rip me apart with very little effort. Sally knew what I was thinking. She enjoyed my fear.

  “What are we going to do now?” I asked.

  Sally evidently found our conversation boring. She turned her back to us and began softly stroking Skie’s hair.

  “We need to leave,” Miriam answered. “Major
Crass and the Men in Black are coming for us.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, motioning with my eyes towards Skie and Sally.

  “She’s safe,” Miriam said. “Sally will protect her as long as I feed her sacrifices every month.”

  “Oh, Miriam,” Sally interrupted. “Make sure those sacrifices are human.”

  “I understand,” Miriam said.

  “We’ll see,” Sally said with a wink in my direction.

  There was a commotion coming from down the hallway. I heard a nurse scream out, and then I heard the sounds of rustling bodies.

  “I’m going to pay in advance,” Miriam told a grinning Sally. “Ivana, you are under my protection. Despite what you see, you will have nothing to fear from me.”

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked. “Why are they coming for us?”

  I was worried about Georgie and Javie. I never expected I would be in danger.

  “They are tying up all the loose ends,” Miriam said. “Now be strong and brave.”

  Miriam stepped into the hallway.

  I was alone with Sally.

  I looked back towards her. I was hoping that she’d offer some sort of help but she was gone. I was alone in the room with Skie’s body.

  I went to the door. At the end of the hallway were four of the Men in Black. Miriam walked right towards them.

  “This hallway is off limits to the likes of you,” Miriam said when she was about four feet away. “Turn back now and keep your lives.”

  One of the men pulled a silenced pistol and shot her four times in the chest. Steam poured out of the wounds, and Miriam crumpled to the ground.

  I screamed.

  The men all looked in my direction.

  “How could you?” I shouted. “She’s a harmless old lady!”

  They didn’t seem to care. The four of them stepped over her corpse and made their way towards me. I was alone. I had just lost another friend. I wasn’t a fighter. I wasn’t a warrior. I wasn’t much of anything. Yet, I was going to fight. I was going to protect Skie’s body.

  I was going to die.

  I stepped out into the hallway.

  I scowled at the Men in Black. Miriam rose to her feet behind them. Well, it wasn’t quite Miriam, but it used to be Miriam. The figure that rose from the ground was different. The softness had left her. The warmth had vanished. The plumpness of her body was gone. She was dangerously thin. Her face had sharpened. Her nose had grown. Her grey hair had turned as black as coal, and more importantly, her skin had taken on a greenish hue.