Guardian - Prologue - Part 1

I awoke with a start, jerking upright and panting heavily. A sharp, searing pain shot through my abdomen that made me feel like I’d been shish-kebabed. I clutched at the left lower part of my stomach, wondering why I wasn’t dead yet. Biting my lip and holding my breath, I tenderly pulled my jacket up and peeled back my blood–soaked shirt. I cried out in agony as I strained to pull my undershirt off of the crusty wound so I could get a better look at it.
I gently propped myself onto my elbows and looked down at the gash in my stomach. It was about two inches across and who knew how deep. Burly Man must have dug the blade around in there quite a bit after I’d lost consciousness. I lay back down on the floor, exhausted.
I should be dead.
I closed my eyes and rested for a minute. With every heart beat, my stab wound sent a tidal wave of unbearable pain throbbing throughout my body. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t possibly yell for one of the kids…adrenaline suddenly burst into my veins. The kids!
Gathering every bit of will I had, I struggled to my feet and clutched at my injury. Had the kids gotten away? Or had they been captured by Burly’s men because I failed to keep them distracted while the kids made their escape? I took a step and faltered slightly. There wasn’t much I could do. That fact by itself made me want to scream.
About to pass out again, I limped slowly toward the door. My legs felt like Jell-O in 90 degree weather. I grimaced with every step, but gritted my teeth and kept on. I had to help them.
I finally reached the door and pushed it open, only to have my legs buckle under me. I crashed through the doors and to the floor in a heap, flopping onto my right side in order to avoid jarring my injury too much. A small squeak escaped my lips.
My heart dropped. The fatigue totally wiped out my will to keep on. Who knew where my friends were by now? They could’ve been captured by those men, or they could’ve gotten away. Either way, they were still in danger. I was the only one to help them, and there I was writhing on the ground with no hope like a dying snake.
Great friend I am.
With a deeply exhaled breath and a surge of pain following it, I closed my eyes and relaxed my whole body. My wound was still bleeding, though I didn’t really notice as I rested; I was too busy imagining my overexerted muscles melting into the floor.
A sound came from the main doors; I cracked an eye open slightly to see what it was. Most likely Burly Man coming to make sure that I was dead.
I squinted at the blinding light. A figure emerged from the glow, paused for a moment, and then started slowly toward me. I opened my other eye and blinked, wanting to confidently meet Burly Man’s evil glare as he ended my existence. The figure grew taller as it got closer, taller than Burly was.
I wrinkled my nose. Burly Man sent one of his men to kill me instead? The person stopped suddenly, and I heard a small gasp. “Aria?”
I tilted my head a little, straining for a better view. Was that someone I knew? Evidently he knew me. I sorted through the people I was acquainted with in my head.
The guy rushed to my side and knelt down next to me. I looked into his face, struggling to identify him. He had brown hair that was slightly spiked at the front. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in two days… I blinked several times. My thoughts were so foggy, I couldn’t get anything straight. Did I know this person? He looked so familiar.
I stared at him hard, not even recognizing that he had lifted me off of the ground and held me in his arms. His lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. The realization that I wasn’t going to last much longer came like a punch in the gut. I watched him as he flicked his gaze from me to something before him. His eyes transformed from a blue tint to a vivid green as light spilled onto his face. My heart jumped in recollection.
Jayeden.
For some reason, relief flowed over me like healing water. If there was going to be anyone at my side when I died, I wanted it to be him. I closed my eyes with a small smile. It was nice to have a friend there for you. I was vaguely aware of the sweet numbness enveloping my body. I nestled into the growing darkness.
“No; no, Aria, don’t do this! Don’t die on me...”
Something pulled me back. I wanted to shake off the command. The darkness was so comforting, so…safe. I drifted back into the nothingness.
“Oh no. No. Hold on, Aria...”
I wrenched myself from the plea. Leave me alone! Why can’t you just leave me alone? I felt like curling up in a ball and crying. Go away… I felt a hesitation. “Aria?”
I wanted so desperately to fade into the darkness. No…I’m so tired. Leave me alone.
“No. I refuse to leave you alone.” Something yanked me back into the blinding light and excruciating pain.
I screamed in anguish. I didn’t want to hurt anymore, didn’t want to face the pain. I was too exhausted.
Yet something kept pulling me out into the open; out where I wasn’t safe. It was so cold. “Okay…okay, we’re doing well. Hold on.”
I groaned as shivers wracked my entire body. Why were they doing this to me? Why? Let me go! I kicked and fought and struggled against the force that reeled me back into the torture.
An impression of happiness that wasn’t mine touched my thoughts. “Good. Keep fighting, Aria. We’re almost there.”
Fighting? I quit thrashing around and relaxed. Maybe if I stopped struggling… I let myself drift away in the river of black. Just let me go… Overwhelming fear tackled my mind as I descended, almost out of the force’s constant grasp. I wasn’t the one who was afraid, though.
“No! Aria, don’t you dare! I will not let you die!” Heart-driven power exploded all around me as I was grabbed and jerked upward, out of the darkness. All of my senses were overloaded at once. My body automatically gasped for air, something that felt extremely foreign and almost painful.
I suddenly became aware that it was very cold. I coughed violently as my lungs grew accustomed to the oxygen that it had been deprived of. I couldn’t open my eyes for fear that I would be blinded.
“Where am I?” I choked, asking no one in particular. I grimaced at the volume of my voice.
“You’re at the school.” An exhausted voice sounded beside me. I forced my eyes open and tilted my head toward the person. Jayeden Storm sat on the floor below me, looking like he had just fought a battle. His weary eyes searched mine.
I blinked and realized that I was lying on a couch. My head was pounding with the amount of information my senses were sending it all at once. I unconsciously placed my hand on my stomach, my fingers brushing the sticky hole in my shirt. With a start, I jerked up, thinking that my wound had disappeared; I couldn’t find it. An agonizing pulsation caught me by surprise. I gave a loud groan. Never mind. I found it.
Jayeden jumped up as quickly as I did. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I eased myself back down to the soft couch, a small bit of air escaping sharply from my mouth. Throbbing rivers of pain coursed through my abdomen and dissipated among my muscles. Ouch.
I turned my head and looked at Jayeden, who was hovering over me with a freaked-out expression on his face.
I gave a small, lop-sided grin, trying to be brave. I had been through worse before; I could handle this now. “What’s up?”
Jayeden’s freaked-out look turned into one of incredulity. “Uh, you just got stabbed. That’s what’s up.”
Wiping the silly grin off of my face, I sighed and grimaced. “Yeah, I know. The pain won’t let me forget.” I looked at the carpet, replaying what happened earlier as images in my mind. Without warning, fear struck my innermost heart. I jerked up again, this time ignoring the throbbing that screamed at me angrily for straining myself. I clumsily stumbled to my feet. “The kids!”
I wobbled and almost threw up as my world suddenly started tossing and turning before my eyes. Thankfully, Jayeden leapt to his feet just in time to catch me before I hit the floor.
The guy kept a hold of my shoulders to steady me as the never-ending dizziness struck me as if I’d just downed enough alcohol to intoxicate an elephant. The unstableness eventually subsided, and the room was returned to its original place. I blinked to focus my vision and testing my endurance, took a hesitant step away from Jayeden.
Jayeden caught my arm and whirled me around so I was facing him. “Where do you think you’re going? You’ve just been stabbed! You should be in the hospital right now!”
I tilted my chin up stubbornly and met his gaze. “The kids are in trouble! I’ve got to do something to help them. I’m not going to sit around while they’re probably getting tortured or something!”
“You’re in no shape for any rescue missions right now.” Jayeden narrowed his eyes. “We’ll call the police and let them find the other kids. But right now, I need to get you to the emergency room.”
I did my best to keep my eyes from tripling in size and my face from turning a deep shade of red. The last thing I needed was some poor doctor or nurse doing a routine check stumbling across a little secret that I liked to call my wings. There was no way that I would let myself be placed in that position. Who knows what they would do to me - a freak?
Ducking my head down a slight bit, I scratched my neck nervously. “No, I refuse to go.” My voice quivered as I tried to sound strong and commanding. Looking down, I shook my head and bit my lip; tears were starting to pool in my eyes.
Jayeden placed a finger under my chin and pushed upward, catching my wavering gaze. “You’re hurt, Aria. You can’t go on with a big gaping hole in your stomach. You need someone to fix it up.”
I clenched my fists tightly for one last defiant stand. “I don’t need anyone to fix me up. I can go on just fine on my own.” My confidence quickly faded as I felt a warm, wet sensation on my skin under my shirt. My wound was bleeding again. Defeated, I looked back up at Jayeden. “Please…don’t do this to me.”
Jayeden stared at me for several moments longer, trying to understand what I had just said. He dropped his voice down to a calmer tone. “Aria, I can’t just leave you here to bleed to death. What do you expect me to do?”
My vision becoming edged with black fuzzies once again, I blinked and strained to see Jayeden’s expression. “I…I don’t know. But they need my help…I can’t leave them to die, I just can’t.”