The Guardians

by Katie Ashley

  The minute the service was over he bolted outside, not waiting around to talk to David or any of the Thomas’s. I slipped out behind him. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, dialing a familiar number. “Hey babe, it’s me.” Someone on the other end said something, and he forced a laugh. “No, that’s not why I’m calling.” When the person said something else, he sighed. “Yeah and then he threw me out. Could I crash at your house tonight?” I saw him smile. “Thanks baby, I owe you.”

  I followed him down a street which seemed very familiar to him. At the fifth house on the right, he walked determinedly up the walkway and then around the back of the house. Standing on the deck was the dark haired girl from school. He bounded up the steps two at time to meet her. She put her fingers to her lips, and then they snuck into the house.

  Knowing he was safe, at least for the night, I used the last of my energy to transport home.

  Chapter Four: CASSIE

  Zach strolled into my Astronomy class a few seconds after the bell rang. I kept my eyes on him as he walked by my desk. He threw me a quick glance before he looked away. At lunch, I caught him looking in my direction several times. The same incredulous look etched across his face. I was relieved his mood seemed a little elevated. He was still hurting, but it wasn’t the same desperate feeling that drove him to the bridge. I had a feeling it was a combination of the fact of what he had experienced on the bridge with his father, what he felt at the church service, and the fact his mom had called and told him Bruce said he could come back home.

  Later that afternoon, I decided it best to trail him seen rather than unseen. For one, I didn’t want to waste unnecessary energy when Zach wasn’t in pain. I’d been so emotionally wasted after last night, that it took me forever to get up for school.

  After borrowing the car from Rafe and Elijah, I tailed him into town. I eased in beside his car. I had no idea what kind of establishment he was headed into. Relief filled me when the smell of coffee beans invaded my nostrils. A Cup of Joe’s was a quaint coffee house filled not only with tables and chairs but with over-sized plush velvet furniture in plums, deep reds, and hunter greens. Lit by thousands upon thousands of twinkle lights and candles, it felt cozy.

  I sat down on one of the couches while Zach headed over to the counter. Although I pulled a novel out of my bag, I kept my eyes focused on Zach.

  “Hey, AJ,” he called.

  A twenty something guy at an Espresso machine looked up and grinned. “You’re late.”

  Zach returned his smile. “Yeah, yeah. Take it up with the boss why don’t ya?”

  “I’ll have to do that!” AJ laughed. “Give me a sec, and I’ll be right out.”

  “Okay.”

  Zach waited for AJ to finish up before they headed over to a table next to me. I quickly thrust the book in front of my face and sighed with relief to see Zach’s back was to me.

  I watched AJ stare intently at Zach. “I’d ask how things are at home, but by the look of Bruce’s handiwork on your face, I think I have my answer.” When Zach didn’t answer, AJ shook his head in disgust. “Man, I’d love to have somebody take care of him!”

  Zach laughed at the murderous expression on AJ’s face. “Dad owned this coffee shop. He wasn’t a mobster like Tony Soprano you know.”

  “Yeah, I know,” AJ murmured. It appeared as if his mind was occupied by distant memories. He shook himself out of his thoughts and stared pointedly. “You don’t have to stay there. I meant it when I said you could live with me.”

  “Could you imagine what would happen to Taylor if I left?”

  “I see what you mean,” AJ said.

  “Besides, I couldn’t leave Mom,” Zach protested.

  AJ snorted. “Yeah, Mommie Dearest would be desolate without you to take the punches for her.”

  “Don’t talk about her like that,” Zach growled.

  “Wake up, man. She’s brought this on herself. She could walk out anytime, but she stays with him. She stays and lets him beat her and beat up on you and Taylor!” AJ shouted before bringing his fist down on the table, causing me to jump and a salt shaker to clatter to the floor.

  The sound of his raised voice caused a pretty, auburn girl at the counter to stare in their direction. Leaving her place behind the register, she came over to the table. “Are you two all right?” she asked, her hazel eyes filled with concern.

  When AJ didn’t reply, Zach responded to her instead. “We’re fine, Sarah.”

  Sarah stared at AJ until he finally gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine, babe.” When she cocked her head at him, he replied, “Just the usual domestic issues.”

  Sarah surveyed the bruise on Zach’s face and then lowered her eyes. “I can cover that up for you before you go on stage,” she said softly.

  “Okay.”

  “Come back to the office, and I’ll fix you up.”

  “Thanks,” Zach said.

  Sarah grabbed her purse and headed to the back of the coffee shop. I peered over the top of my book to see Zach turn to AJ with a smile. “As for living with you, I do appreciate the offer, but you’re a newlywed. It would cramp your style having me crash on the couch every night.”

  “Whatever man, but you just remember you’ve always got a place to come to.” AJ eyed Zach suspiciously. “There’s something different about you today.”

  I could feel Zach’s hesitation. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you usually always shut down after one of Bruce’s episodes. I can barely get two words out of you. I’m not saying you’re Mary Sunshine or anything, but it’s different.”

  Zach shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  AJ raised his eyebrows. “Did you take out your frustrations with some girl or something?”

  I knew Zach wasn’t ready to tell the entire truth about the previous night. He wouldn’t want to admit to AJ he had contemplated suicide, nor would be want to acknowledge he’d tried finding divine answers. “Well, there’s this new girl at school.”

  My heart skidded to stop. That most certainly was not the response I had expected.

  “And?” AJ prompted.

  “And she’s…different.”

  “Different how?”

  Zach sighed. “I don’t know really know how to explain it. She’s just different than any of the girls I’ve seen lately.”

  “Uh-huh,” AJ mused. “But what about Lauren?”

  “Yeah, um, about her….I crashed at her house last night.”

  AJ laughed. “Ah, my brother the player!”

  “Whatever.” He then rose up from his chair. “I better go get ready.” He turned and surveyed AJ. “How about keeping what I just said to yourself?”

  AJ crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you honestly think I’d want to stir up a hornet’s nest here by telling Lauren that you’re pining for some new chick?” He shook his head. “Nuh-uh, I happen to like the peaceful work environment I’ve got going on now.”

  Zach rolled his eyes and muttered, “Yeah, yeah.”

  I put my book away as he headed to the back of the shop. I was surprised to see quite a crowd gathering in the tables around the stage. I drew in a deep breath of anticipation as Zach returned with his guitar in his hand.

  He strode confidently across the stage and situated himself on the stool in front of the microphone. The room erupted into applause. Zach’s face broke into a crooked grin. “Thank you, thank you. I appreciate my legion of fans coming out tonight to support me.”

  “We love you, Zach!” someone shouted behind me.

  Zach stared out over the hot lights of the stage toward the origin of the voice. When his eyes met mine, recognition flooded his face.

  “For my first song tonight, I wanna do a cover from one of my favorite bands, Bon Jovi. Yeah, it’s a song from way back in the day, but it’s one my dad raised me on. Of course, I can’t do a good Bon Jovi cover without my own Richie Sambora. So AJ, come on up here!”

  AJ’s smile widened. In his hesitation, Sarah
nudged him. “Go on, honey.”

  He trotted up on stage and sat down on a stool next to Zach. “What are we singing?” he asked, pulling a guitar into his lap.

  “Bed of Roses.”

  “Good choice.” He looked back at the counter. “This one is for you, babe.”

  Sarah smiled back at him. “I love you!” she called.

  As Zach strummed the first few chords, he and the guitar became one. It was with the music he seemed most confident. All the pain, frustration, and anxiety seemed to flow out his fingertips. I knew it must be his saving grace in the dark times.

  When he began singing, his velvety voice echoed through the room. I had been around enough music to know good when I heard it, and Zach was definitely good. He finished the song as applause and whistling erupted around coffeehouse. While several people in front of me stood up to give him a standing ovation, I quietly snuck out and headed home. He was safe again. Even more than that, he was happy. But my instincts told me it wouldn’t be long before trouble—bad trouble—loomed on the horizon again.

  Chapter Five: ELIJAH

  There was something about Abby’s mood on Thursday that made me uneasy. I’d been a guardian angel long enough to trust my instincts. Usually, whenever I experienced uneasy feelings, it meant something troubling loomed on the horizon. Because of that factor and sensing immense sadness threatened to overtake Abby, I decided to follow her home from cheerleading practice.

  Even though I knew it would zap me of my physical strength, I appeared unseen and invisible in the corner of the garage next to a heap of sports equipment and camping gear as Abby pulled her car into its usual spot. She hopped out of the champagne colored Honda Accord, grabbing up her book bag and purse. She unlocked the garage door, and then punched in some numbers on the alarm code. I felt her chest tighten with apprehension when she realized the house was empty.

  Something dark and enormous lunged at her, knocking her to the kitchen floor. Her scream echoed through the silence. I threw myself forward ready to transform in seen form and defend her. As soon as I saw the black Labrador Retriever’s red tongue lapping across her face, I felt foolish.

  Abby laughed. “Atticus, you bad boy! You know you’re not supposed to jump up on people. What am I gonna do with you?” Atticus responded to her light hearted admonishment by continuing to lick her face. She wrapped her arms around the dog and kissed along the ridge of his nose. As she rubbed his ears, she peered into his face. “You better not tell Hannah about this. She’ll get jealous you were showing me all this attention. You’re supposed to be her baby, remember?”

  Atticus wagged his tail and barked.

  Abby gave him one last rub down and then stood up. “All right, enough,” she said as she stood up from the hardwood floor.

  I slipped inside just as Abby closed the garage door. Atticus’s ears perked up, and I knew the dog could sense the second presence entering the kitchen.

  Abby glanced over at Atticus. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s time to roll the shorts down before dad comes home with Hannah and freaks at all my excess skin,” she said, as she quickly unrolled the waist of her shorts. As they came further down her thighs, she laughed to herself. “Abigail Thomas, nice young ladies shouldn’t show so much skin,” she said, deepening her voice to mock her father’s condescension.

  I stood rooted to the kitchen floor, mesmerized. I’d never been alone with a teenage girl before. In fact, I’d rarely, if ever, interacted with them. Everything she did was strange but interesting. It was like the weaving of a spell, and my mind felt cloudy. For a moment, I forgot all about my purpose for being in the kitchen. Instead, I hung on to her every word and action.

  “I guess I better be a good girl and start dinner before Daddy comes in. Whatcha think?”

  Atticus wagged his tail in response.

  I watched Abby while she buzzed through the inconsequential details of preparing dinner. Sadness washed over me as she began talking to herself to fill the emptiness of the house, and I knew this was probably something she and her mother used to do.

  “What should I cook for dinner, Atticus?” she wondered, as she noisily got pots and pans out of the cabinets and put them on the granite counter. Abby threw open the refrigerator door and peered inside. “Chicken, pork chops, hamburgers,” she rattled off absentmindedly. Once she settled on chicken, she grabbed a large package and tossed it on the countertop.

  “Ugh, it’s just too quiet in here!” she cried, as she dug her pink iPod out of her purse. She put it in the docking station on the counter, and a song I’d heard many years before, Aerosmith’s “Angel”, blared out of the speakers. The music’s upbeat tempo prompted Abby to nod her head in time. When Steven Tyler’s voice emanated out of the speakers, Abby raised hers in song as well.

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Abby wasn’t the greatest singer in the world, but she certainly made up for it with enthusiasm. She shimmied her shoulders as she sung into the spoon in her hands. The music rolled easily through her as she danced around the kitchen. Atticus wagged his tail appreciatively at her exertions. Finally, I gave in, and let a smile twitch at the corners of my mouth.

  Suddenly, she stopped singing. Her carefree expression vanished like a vapor, replaced by one of grief. Two tears slid over her cheeks as she sunk slowly down on the kitchen floor.

  I watched helplessly as Abby’s body shook from violent sobs. I knelt down beside her, desperate to understand what caused the raging storm of emotion. When she raised her head, I locked my eyes with her grief-stricken eyes. She could not see me, but the strength of her pain allowed me a clear look into her mind, which was wrapped around a vivid memory.

  She and her mother were driving down a highway somewhere. Rain beat against the roof of the car, and the windshield wipers were working double time to keep the visibility clear.

  Victoria fumbled with the buttons on the radio. When she flipped past an Aerosmith song, she quickly flipped back.

  Abby raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Since when do you listen to Aerosmith?”

  “Ha, they’re more my generation than yours. I was a fan long before you were born.”

  “Seriously?” Abby asked.

  “For our first wedding anniversary, your father took me to their concert in Atlanta,” Victoria said.

  “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! Daddy at an Aerosmith concert? You’ve got to be kidding!” Abby sounded incredulous.

  “Yes ma’am, he certainly was. He rocked out with the best of them that night.”

  Abby laughed. “I can’t believe there was a time Daddy ever rocked out to anything.”

  “Well there was.” Victoria sighed at the memory. Then she looked over at Abby and grinned. “In fact, Chaz was conceived that night.”

  “Ew gross! I could have lived a lifetime without knowing that!”

  Victoria laughed at her daughter’s mortification. “I’m sorry to have scarred you.”

  “Just don’t do it again,” Abby replied, with a laugh.

  “I’ll try hard not to, kiddo!”

  Then my vision faded. The weight of it sent me falling back onto the floor. When I came back to myself, I looked up at Abby who was still shaken on the kitchen floor. She drew her knees to her chest, and her breath came in ragged sighs from her fitful sobs. When the song went off, she absentmindedly put her hand to the button to replay it, desperately clinging to the vivid memory it induced.

  Crouching on my knees, I tentatively leaned towards her. My hand reached out to wipe the tears from her face. Part of me ached to do more—to wrap my arms around her and rock her until the pain subsided. I had done that countless times with children, but I didn’t think I could with her. It frustrated me that I was bound from comforting her the way she should be comforted because of my silly, prideful feelings.

  I bowed my head so I could whisper in her ear. “Don’t cry, Abby. Your mother loved you, and she’s at peace. She wouldn’t want you to cry and be sad like this.”

  Abby gasped a
nd gazed wildly around the kitchen. “W-Who’s there? Who said that?”

  Her fear overwhelmed me. Somehow I’d managed to do the wrong thing, and instead of feeling comforted, she felt scared. I had to do something to remedy it. Gently, I placed my hands on the top of her head to send serenity through her. She sighed with the peace that filled her. Momentarily, she could forget all about the sadness over the memory or the mysterious voice.

  She didn’t hear Chaz come in the backdoor. The blaring music caught him off guard. “Abby?” he called. The only response was the sound of sizzling water overflowing from the pot onto the floor. Chaz threw his books down and ran over to the stove. He quickly turned off the gas and shifted the pot to the opposite burner. When he did, boiling water cascaded over one of his hands. “Shit!” he whirled over to the sink, plunging his hand under the cold water. He then noticed Abby curled in the floor.

  “Abby, what are you doing?” Her gaze snapped to Chaz’s. “Didn’t you know the water was boiling over?” When she didn’t respond, Chaz rolled his eyes at her. “Oh that’s just what I need, another crazy sister!”

  She bolted up from the floor. “Don’t say that, Chaz! Hannah isn’t crazy!”

  “Oh really? So, what do you call a fourteen year old who hasn’t spoken in three months, not even to her father? Or one who wasn’t even able to start high school with the rest of her friends? I call it crazy!”

  “She’s just in shock. She’ll come around,” Abby protested.

  “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

  I felt the conflict in Chaz as he surveyed the tears streaming down Abby’s cheeks. He stared down at the floor and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I shouldn’t have said that about Hannah. It’s just I don’t know how to deal with her right now.” He sighed. “I don’t know how to deal with anything right now.”