Chapter One

Matthias

Looking in the mirror, I sighed at my hideous failure to correctly tie a tie. I had wanted to just wear a clip on, but Mother had insisted that for such a unique occasion as this--“Your first assigning, Matthias, this only happens once!"--that just wouldn't do, I would want to look my best for the photos. Which is why I was wearing an ironed white button-up shirt, pinstripe black pants, shiny black nice shoes, and my mom had even combed my hair. I had gritted my teeth over that last one, but it was so important to her, and...well, you know how it is: you think no way are you going to do it, then your mom gives you that look, the one that you can't say no to, and before you even know what's happening, you're putty in her manipulative hands.

"Are you ready yet, Matthias?" Mother called up the stairs, sounding anxious. "We should have left by now. We're going to be late!"

I sighed again and opened the door. "Mom, I can't tie this stupid tie!"

"Oh, Matthias." She sighed. "Come here, I'll fix that messy knot. But we really do have to hurry." She somehow undid the clump of knots that had been my attempt at trying to tie it, then tied it correctly. "There now--all fixed up and ready for your first assigning. Oh, you look so handsome." She smiled fondly, and then suddenly--no warning at all--she’s crying.

Mildly alarmed, I hugged her and patted her back until she calmed down. After a minute she pulled away, wiping her eyes and smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Matty, it's just...I remember your first day of combat training. You were so excited, and now... now you're all grown up, and you're going to be leaving, and...and...oh, Matty!" she wailed, pulling me into a smothering hug, crying again.

I hugged her back and tried to choke out, "Mom...ceremony...late....need to...go..."

"Oh, oh you're right, come on, let's go!" And without further weepiness--thank God--she dragged me out to the car and drove me to the assigning ceremony.

In our society, the Guardian society, at the age of seven you enter the academy; for nine years, you train in various combat scenarios and survival skills. At the end of said nine years, you and your class go to the assigning ceremony and receive the name and information of the civilian you will be Guarding. You guard that person either until you die, you are taken off the assignment, or your charge no longer needs protection. It's the purpose of our society, and the biggest milestone in our lives. It takes precedence over everything else, above any of your own wants or needs, above even your own life. To fail an assignment is the ultimate shame. Our mission is to find our charge, to watch and protect from a distance, except in rare circumstances where revealing ourselves to them allows us to more fully protect them.

I admit without shame that I was daydreaming about my assignment--would it be a boy or a girl? Athletic? Intellectual? Rebellious? What type of protecting would they need--physical or psychological?--when my mom pulled up outside the City Hall, where the rest of the class was chattering, their expressions ranging from "I'm gonna hurl" to "Get me out of this now" to "Finally, come on hurry up!" I imagined I was in that last category--I’d been waiting for this day as long as I could remember, ever since my sister, Jane, had left on her assignment.

I got out of the car and hugged my mom, promising to meet her once I had the file for my charge. Then I jogged up to Rose and Mason, who were whispering excitedly in the middle of the crowd. I elbowed my way up to them and Rose glanced at me, her blue eyes shining with happiness, before throwing her arms around me and launching into her typical drivel.

"Oh, Matt, can you believe it? It's finally here--we’re really going to do it! We're going to go out and protect people from the Dark races, just like we've been training to do all our lives! It's so...so....I can't even think of a word to describe what it's like!! Help me out, Mas?" She pulled back to look at Mason, who was watching us with amusement.

"Well, one could say it's 'Stupendous', or 'Marvelous'. 'Extravagant.' And so forth." I laughed with Rose.

"Our wordsmith. I'm going to miss having a walking, talking dictionary," I teased, and then I realized that today might be the last time I ever saw them--none of us knew how dangerous our missions would be, or whether we would come back alive or not. I sobered as reality slapped me in the face. "Seriously, guys. These last nine years together have been.... amazing. You are the best friends a guy could ask for. I'll miss you guys."

"Oh, Matty!" wailed Rose, hugging me again. I patted her back and grimaced at Mason, wondering if girls always cried this much. Would my charge, if it was a girl? I cringed at the thought. Mason shrugged and mouthed, Hey man, you got all mushy on her first. I made a face and he laughed. Then, to my immense relief, Rose let go of me to go hug Mason. He looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack when she cried on him, and I smirked at him, to which he responded by giving me the finger.

I laughed, realizing with a small pang that I really was going to miss this: having friends, two people you know you can trust to watch your back, always. I was leaving that behind, going out into a place where you couldn't be sure of anyone. I would be alone, in constant danger, with nobody to take care of me but myself.

Oh, God...was I really ready for this? Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure...going out in the real world wouldn’t be like training, would it? If you screwed up, you couldn’t shrug, say, “Oh well!”, and try again the next day. If you screwed up in the real world, it was all over.

Before I could go into a full-blown panic attack as this reality check hit me, Melanie Griffin, the Head Senior Guardian, came and started giving the same speech he gave every year: Blah blah, worked hard for years; blah blah, shown much dedication and responsibility; blah blah, finally getting your reward, guard it with all your might, mind, and strength; and so on and so forth. It was soothing, though, something familiar to help me calm down. After the first few sentences, I unashamedly admit to spacing out and day-dreaming about my charge again.

Then she started calling names. Cheers from the parents' section came every time someone called, and kids would either grin and strut or smile shyly as they went to go collect their files. When my name was called, I waved the cheers away and jogged up, taking my file and shaking hands with Griffin. She handed me a file, offering her congratulations. I nodded and thanked her, but I wasn’t really listening--I just wanted to go back to my seat and read up on my assignment.

She must have read my expression, because she smiled ruefully and dismissed me, calling the next name on her list. I hurried back to my seat, scanning my file eagerly.

My civilian's name was Annalise (Anna) Belle, age seventeen. She needed physical protection from both herself and the Dark witches, who had been whispering to her since her parents divorced when she was ten, telling her she was worthless and unloved, a waste of space and a burden to her family, and that the only way to fix this was by committing suicide. According to our sources, she was dangerously close to the edge, but it was suspected that if she didn't kill herself soon, the Warriors--he Dark servants of Queen Mallory, an evil version of the Guardians--would come and kill her themselves as a sacrifice to Queen Mallory.

I frowned. What did Queen Mallory need a sacrifice for? What could she possibly want--? I shook my head, telling myself to focus: That didn't matter. It wasn’t my business to think about the “Why?”s or the “How come?”s. What did matter was doing my job, keeping the Dark races away from my charge and preventing Queen Mallory from getting Annalise as her sacrifice. My business was strictly protection, nothing more or less.

I skipped to the bottom of my file, which told me my departure date and the story I was to be acting out.

I had one week to get my affairs in order, pack a small bag of essentials, and then next Friday I would be sent away to begin my assignment. For the duration of this assignment I would be acting under the false identity of Jake Sanders, living next door to Annalise as her neighbor's nephew. The story was to be that my parents had died in a drunk-driving accident, so I was sent to them as the next of kin. I would be attending school with Annalise and would have all the same classes as her. I nodded to myself: I could pull this off easily.

I couldn't wait to get started on my assignment. As long as I breathed, nothing would harm Annalise.

Author's Note

I SUCK AT CHAPTER TITLES UGH. Just so you know, the name in italics at the top of each chapter is the view point the story is currently being told from. Just an FYI. Any questions, let me know. I'd be happy to answer.