Chapter 2

The second chapter

I am sorry about last time. I admit it was a bit rushed, trying to explain everything to you.  Maybe you'll enjoy it more this time, though this isn't really the time of story for you to enjoy. 

When we last left off, I had told you about Echo's curse.  About the healing that was making her sicker and sicker.  I am suffering as well, with anxiety. How am I supposed to protect this girl when she will not be alive for much longer?  How am I supposed to save her life?  How?  How?

I don't have an answer. My mind is a blank, which is strange for me. I must have had a great mind in my life.  You see, us guardians, we were gifted in our time on the earth. We were special, just like Echo. 

Maybe Echo will become like us when she dies. I get the feeling that she will be good, a true protector in the sense of the word.  even though this thought fills me up like a swell of water, I cannot help but feel as if I have failed. Failed Echo, failed all of the gifted, failed myself.

One night, I go to see her. I cannot think of answer to this myself, so maybe she can... I cloak myself in shadow until I I slip in through a crack in her window, as easily as a cool breeze of air.  I suppose Echo should see me while I speak to her. I watch the surroundings, noticing the run-down houses, the cracked pavement, and the sense of hopelessness, of loneliness.  It hangs in the air like a tangible thing, suffocating the fragile lives trapped beneath it.

The suffocating presence intensifies as I set my foot in Echo's room.  The walls are peeling paint, and bits of plaster are hanging out of the ceiling... it feels like a ruin of some old civilization. 

And then I see her:

Sitting on the bed, her red hair tucked beneath her ear, sobbing quietly onto the book she clutches in her hands as if it is a life preserver, is Echo. 

And then she sees me.

Her eyes filled with pain, she sees me.  The first person to for what seems like forever.  Her eyes fill with tears, and she stares at me.

"Are you from heaven, come to take me away?"  Her voice is gentle, but brave, and full of that sadness that I spoke of before.

Unable to contain myself, I laugh.

"No."

The simple word feels heavy on my tongue.  I am so used to speaking the language that does not involve words.  It feels good, though. Powerful. Meaningful.

And I speak again, determined now to explain everything.

"Have you ever heard of a guardian angel?"