Authors: Tiffany King
"Well, just put it this way. Their thoughts are a little muddled as to what happened."
"I didn't think Archangels did things like that?" I asked, still confused.
"I cannot directly intervene in matters that involve The Dark One, but in a circumstance like this, my gifts can be used to help
smooth things out
you might say. Mark, I will see you about your injury in an hour, after I take care of some pressing matters first," he said, closing the glass door silently behind him.
"Wow, that dude is one cool hombre," Shawn said, sinking back onto the couch. "I can't tell if he has a sense of humor or not, but man he's a badass."
"Are you okay?" Lynn asked me, perching on the arm of the other couch.
"I'm fine," I said, flashing
her a
watery smile. I was relieved I hadn't hurt them, but it still didn't change the fact that I had let evil rule me, no matter how brief the moment was. "You guys aren't mad at me?" I finally asked.
"Krista, are you kidding me? Do you know how many times I've wanted to put the Lush Trio in their place?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, but you didn't act on it like I did. It's one thing to think about doing something, but it's a whole other thing to actually do it. You guys don’t think I'm like, twisted now."
"Don't be a dork Sis. What did you
think,
that we believed you had crossed over to the dark side or something?" He teased, ruffling my hair. "You're not that cool," he added, making all of us laugh and breaking the last of the tension I felt.
"Come on," Mark said, tugging me into a standing position. "Let's go walk on our beach."
We left the others behind, joking easily, the night's drama firmly forgotten in their minds as we headed out the patio doors. The patio was empty, and once again I wondered where Haniel went when he wasn't babysitting us. Mark led me to the stairs and helped me remove my strappy sandals before we descended. The coolness felt like heaven as my feet sunk into nighttime sand.
"Are you really okay?" Mark asked after we had walked a couple hundred yards.
"I'm fine." I was lying, of course, since my heart still ached from what I had done. I had been blocking my thoughts since we left the party, so Mark was unaware of just how empty I felt.
"I know you're worried, but I trust Haniel that the snobs are okay," he said, wondering why I had been blocking my thoughts. He pulled me into his arms and stroked my back, giving me the comfort my body craved. "I still owe you another dance," he said, gently swaying us back and forth. I raised my arms, locking them firmly around his neck. This time, though, I looked into his eyes as we danced on the cool sand with only the moon looking down on us. He lowered his head and laid his lips on mine. All else was forgotten as I sighed and let him kiss my worries away. My void began to dissipate as his touch and kisses filled me as only they could. I laced my fingers through his hair linking us more firmly together as I deepened the kiss. He moaned against my tingling lips as we slowly lowered ourselves to the ground. Our formal clothing was forgotten as we lost ourselves in the kiss. I could feel his hand caressing my ribcage, lightly touching me as he settled more firmly against me. I could feel every lean muscle pressed against me as I threatened to erupt from the heat he ignited inside me. I wished that clothing didn't separate us, and for a brief moment I fought the urge to giggle when I remembered the Trio's words about my dress getting in the way.
Mark chuckled on top of me, reading my thoughts. "I guess that’s our sign to stop."
"Talk about Divine intervention," I quipped as he helped me to my feet brushing the sand off my backside, spending a few extra moments to brush my bottom off. Laughing, I swatted his hand away.
"What?" he asked feigning innocence.
Giggling, I reached for his hand. It was surreal to be laughing and carrying on when just an hour ago I thought my world was ending. I felt a surge of gratitude that Haniel had been there to smooth everything over.
"I'm sorry we had to leave the dance early," I said as we continued our stroll along the tide line.
"Oh right, I'm sure you are. I wouldn't put it past you to have done it all on purpose," he said mockingly. "Sheesh, the extremes you go to avoid dancing at your own prom," he added teasingly.
"You got me. It was either dance or
channel
my evil side. You see how well that worked out," I said, now able to joke about it.
"Well next time, we'll skip the dance to spare you from going to such extremes. I couldn't really care less about the 'Lust Trio' or 'Lush Trio,' whatever you and Sam call them. I just don't want you to lose yourself in this whole craziness," he said in a more serious voice. "I don't ever want to lose you, and you heard Haniel, Guides are given a dangerous job as it is. You have to be more careful and realize just how important you are, not only me, but to our entire group. You're like the nucleus that holds us together. We all knew it even before Haniel mentioned it."
"How am I the one that holds us all together?" I asked, confused that Mark seemed to be in agreement with Haniel. "Why am I more special than Sam or Lynn?"
"I'm not sure how to explain it to you. It's just the way you execute yourself. Ever since we were held captive, you have evolved into a stronger person that seems to exude knowledge and poise. What happened tonight was an example of that. Sure, you're not supposed to use your power that way unless you're in danger, but the fact that you did, shows that you are learning at a more accelerated rate than the others."
"All it shows is that I can be mean-spirited," I mumbled as we headed back to the house.
Haniel was waiting for Mark on the deck, so I headed off to find Sam and Lynn. Sam had received permission to crash with us tonight since we were supposed to be at prom until the wee hours.
Thanks to me, that plan was shot.
I was excited, though, that Sam was staying over. I loved it when we were all together like a family. I loved my mom and missed her while she was in the hospital, but in her absence our motley crew had forged an unbreakable bond that bridged the gap that I had experienced my entire life. It was nice to be able to feel normal and not crazy all the time.
I found Sam and Lynn in the guestroom that Lynn and I shared. They had been busy while I was out walking on the beach. They shoved the two full-size beds in the room together, creating a massive bed with each of our sleeping bags thrown on top. This was my kind of camping out, no hard ground or pesky bugs aggravating you. They had added a mountain of at least twenty pillows to the head of the bed creating a comfy nest for all of us. In the middle of the bed was a collection of every chocolate snack imaginable.
"It's about time you got back. I thought your ice cream was going to melt," Lynn said, handing me an ice cream sundae that could rival anything you would find on my favorite show, "Extreme Eats." It was topped with hot fudge, cookie crumbs, whipped cream and not one, but five, cherries.
"Holy crow bear this looks delicious, but when did you guys do all this?" I asked, indicating my ultimate chocolate fantasy.
"We sent the boys out as soon as you left," Sam said, entering the room clad in her PJ's and slippers, carrying several Blue-rays. "We're having the ultimate girl's night in. So…go change into some comfy clothes. I had Shawn rent us movies that are guaranteed to make us laugh, cry and scream in horror in that order. We have a comedy, drama, and a slasher film that will be sure to keep us up all night," she added mischievously.
My eyes blurred with sudden tears as I thought of all the hard work they had gone to just to cheer me up. "Thanks guys," I said in a somewhat choked voice, grabbing a fresh pair of sweats and long sleeved thermal shirt out of the dresser I was using.
"Hey, no tears yet.
That's not until the second feature," Sam gently chided me, shooing me out the door. "Hurry up! I'm ready for a chocolate coma and some serious estrogen."
Several hours later, I smiled, glancing at my two lightly snoring friends. True to form, we had laughed, cried, and screamed, much to the dismay of the guys that had raced in to save their damsels in distress, only to discover we were screaming at a melted Freddy Krueger. Grumbling about crying wolf, the boys headed back for more quality time on the Xbox, leaving us to our horror flick. The remains of our chocolate frenzy were heaped on the dresser. My friends had proved to be lightweights when it came to chocolate-worshipping and had finally succumbed, as Sam had predicted, to 'chocolate comas.' I, on the other hand, felt restless. Taking care not to wake my two friends that had both chosen to sleep on either side of me, I had felt their emotions working to fill the rest of my emotional void the entire night. I was touched at their gesture, and felt an overwhelming surge of love for both of them for caring so much. Using my sleeping bag to my advantage, I let the nylon material do the work as I slid down to the foot of the bed. Once I made it out from between my two friends, I dragged my legs from my warm sleeping bag and stood up then quietly left the room with Feline at my heels.
After hitting the bathroom, I headed through the living room laughing silently at the guys that were crashed on the floor. The TV was still on, with the game beeping annoyingly to be restarted. I used the throw blankets Mark had added to the living room to cover all of them up and pried one of the game controllers out of Shawn's hand and laid it on the coffee table. Still smiling, Feline and I headed out onto the patio. I knew I was tempting fate by letting him come with me, but I didn't feel like being alone. I snagged the last blanket off the back of the wing chair in the corner and quietly shut the door behind me.
"Little late to be up isn't it?" asked a quiet voice behind me.
Muffling a scream with my hand, I turned to see that Haniel was stretched out on one of the cushioned lounge chairs. "Ugh, you scared me," I complained in a shaky voice. "Sam forced me to watch a scary movie and having you sneak up on me doesn't help my frame of mind."
"I am not sure how I could sneak up on you if I was already here," he said lightly as I slid into the chair beside him, wrapping the blanket around me first. Feline being as impatient as ever, jumped on my legs the instant the blanket slid into place.
"So, do you sleep out here?" I asked curiously, wondering why he didn't just sleep in the house.
"No, there is no need for me to sleep. I have no need to rest. My sole responsibility is to watch and train those appointed to me," he said somewhat formally as if he was reciting his resume to me.
"Sooooo, there are others you are training right now?" I asked, trying to glean more information from him.
"Yes. Guides and Protectors come in ten year gaps. I have three bands right now, other than
yourselves, that
are in active duty."
"Are they here in Santa Cruz too?" I asked slightly bewildered.
"No, they were drawn to other locations around the world. Every band has a predestined location that compels them."
"Where are they now?" I
asked,
hungry to hear more about others like me.
"The other Guides and Protectors are off on various assignments. The skills of Guides are needed more now than ever before. Humanity does not make our jobs easy. Freewill, however wonderful a concept, is a privilege not handled by all of humanity equally. Some simply want more out of your world than they are entitled to. This is why you were created. Humanity has many times threatened itself to near extinction through conflict and war."
"So, if God created us to help humanity, where was he when things like 9/11 happened?" I asked.
"Oh, he is here, but not every disaster can be avoided. He does hope each time that humanity will learn from their mistakes and ratify them. Evil is always present and for every evil person stopped, there is another more than willing to take over," he said, sounding frustrated or as close to it as he was capable of.
"Like Mark's dad?" I asked.
"Yes, like Victor."
Victor.
I ran the name through my head. For so long, I had thought of him only as a monster. To have him referred to by name threw me off.
"You were created to be celestial beings, but this does not mean The Light wanted to strip you of your own freewill. Your gifts, however blessed you are to have them, are still yours to do with as you choose. You are here to serve mankind and keep them from ruination, but as has always been the case, as a human, you have your own freewill. Unfortunately, that also makes you as susceptible to the temptations of evil as anyone else. It is rare, but Victor is not the first Protector we have lost. We are grieved with the outcome of his deeds and the actions he took for his own personal gain. Unfortunately, he had already gained the protection of the Dark One before we realized how far gone he was. Freewill is one thing, but destroying something so precious to The Light will not go without retribution. We are just biding our time for the right opportunity."