Chapter 6

Dawn was helping me pack my suitcase for the weekend. It wasn’t very often that I got to go to Hollywood, but Eric and Jasper have been plenty of times. Austin’s sister agreed to go with us, which meant Austin was coming too. I didn’t mind it. It meant that Austin and I had more time to spend together. Dawn couldn’t help but worry about us. I did my best to comfort her and promised to call when I got the chance. It was just a weekend, but she was acting as if we were leaving for a week. When she finally let me leave, I met my friends down in the parking lot. I almost dropped my suitcase when I saw my dad standing with Austin’s sister by her car. It was a simple black SUV, and my dad was leaning against it with his arms crossed. When he saw me, he walked over and took my suitcase, putting it into the trunk. I glanced at Eric who just shrugged.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Clarissa informed me about your weekend in Los Angeles.” He said. I wasn’t sure if I should be upset about that or not. “Just be careful. I’ll be staying at a local hotel with some other guardians, so if you need me here’s the information.” My dad handed me a card. It had the name of the hotel, the room number, an address and his cellphone number (as if I had forgotten it).

“Alright, I will. You be careful too, dad.” I said. He gave me a smile and hugged me as he kissed my forehead.

My father was the only family I had left. I couldn’t imagine losing him. I had already lost my mother to Dark Angels. She was a healer and Dark Angels got to her in an ambush on the building she was working at. I was only ten, and I haven’t seen her since she left for work that day. My father was the one to tell me what happened. My heart was crushed. Only Jasper and my close friends knew about my mother. The rest of my family had simply been killed off by Dark Angels or natural disasters. Some even died of old age. Besides my father, there was no one else I could go to if something happened to him. That’s why he decided to settle down for a while, and not get himself into dangerous missions like this. But once in awhile he would get a call such as this, and have to go. That’s when I worried about him. He wasn’t just my father. He was my best friend. With one last hug, we all climbed into Clarissa’s SUV. Austin, Eric and Wyatt sat in the back with me, while Jasper took the front seat. We were all thankful for that. I started worrying that we may not have been able to get past the gates, but once we were on the road, I lightened up a bit.

“You guys will love my family’s beach house.” said Jasper. Clarissa gave him a sideways glance.

“Are your parents even okay with us staying there?” She asked. Well, someone had to.

“Yeah. I called them to get the keys. I told them I would be with an adult guardian and you guys.” He said. Clarissa nodded. I heard Austin mumble something, and I had a feeling it wasn’t good, so I didn’t bother to ask. This was going to be a long thirty minute drive.

I was eternally grateful that the rest of the drive was fairly quiet. It was simple conversation and no arguing. We arrived at Jasper’s beach house - which I had been to once before - in Manhattan Beach. Jasper and I were spending a weekend at the beach. It had been a great weekend. The beach house looked the same with it’s geometrical shape and lot of windows. You could hear the ocean and feel the heat of the sun’s rays on your skin. When you walked inside, it was like stepping into a mansion. There were two living rooms, an upstairs, a kitchen and various other rooms such as: a library, a screen room and an indoor pool (not that they needed one). If I lived by the ocean, I wouldn’t see the need for an indoor pool, but that’s just me. The upstairs were where all of the rooms were. Jasper led us each to our guest rooms. Eric asked for the room across from Wyatt (of course), and mine was next to Eric’s. Austin took the room across from mine, and his sister took the one at the end. We were lucky that Wyatt was the only human we brought along, because the arrangement worked out nicely in our favor. We all decided that once we were unpacked, we would get some dinner at a local Pizza Hut.

“Don’t tell me you two honestly brought that game with you. To a Pizza Hut.” said Austin as he sat down in the booth. Eric and Wyatt sat at a separate table nearby with Eric’s chess board.

“It’s something to do while we wait.” said Wyatt. I sat down next to Austin. Jasper and Clarissa sat across from us.

“You couldn’t have, oh I don’t know, played War or something?” Eric rolled his eyes. I looked around and noticed that the Pizza Hut we found was surprisingly empty, and not very busy. The waitress walked over and took our drink orders. Once she walked away, Jasper lowered his voice.

“This place is so empty.” He said. “Isn’t that a bit odd?”

“Well, yes, but I highly doubt it’s due to any Dark Angel activity. Still, we should always be on the lookout.” said Austin. Clarissa nodded. She smiled which showed she was proud of Austin for that statement. She didn’t seem to talk a whole lot unless she was bickering with her ex.

“Hey Clarissa,” I started. She looked at me. “Do you think that we could stop by and see my father sometime tomorrow or Sunday? Before we leave.” She smiled.

“I’m sure we could get in a visit sometime before we leave. You’re worried about him, aren’t you?” She asked. I nodded. “I’m sure he’s alright, but if you want to see him we can. We just have to be extra careful in the Hollywood area.” She didn’t have to tell us why.

The waitress came back with our drinks, and then took our food orders. Eric and Wyatt were still focusing on their chess game, and it looked like Eric was in the lead. Most of us were pretty quiet, especially when our food arrived. We ordered a huge cheese pizza with half meat lovers, and enough cheese sticks for all of us. I was in love with Pizza Hut’s pizza. My dad and I would go every chance we got. It was our favorite pizza place. The more I thought about my father being in Hollywood, the more worried I got. I knew that they had healers in case anything happened, and there were a lot of Guardian Angels there, but I still couldn’t help but worry. I played with the cross on my neck a few times. It always seemed to calm me down. Austin put his arm around my shoulder, which helped to calm me down more. He knew something was wrong, and he knew how worried I was. I smiled a bit and went back to enjoying my pizza.

When dinner was over and Clarissa paid the bill, we set off back to Jasper’s beach house. Eric managed to beat Wyatt at chess again, and Wyatt was okay that he beat Eric at least once. Wyatt brought up the idea to have a bonfire. To his enjoyment, we all loved the idea. I haven’t been to a bonfire since I was last in Michigan one summer years ago. I had been twelve. A bonfire with my friends sounded wonderful. I was hoping that it would help get my mind off of my father for a little while. Jasper brought out the beach chairs, while Eric, Wyatt and Austin helped to set up the bonfire. Jasper managed to find some marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey’s chocolate bars to make s’mores. Clarissa stood nearby, keeping a close eye out for any Dark Angels that might be around. The rest of us were sure to keep a close eye as well. I stuck a marshmallow onto a stick and hovered it over the fire, twirling it around so the fire would get all sides of the marshmallow. As I twirled the marshmallow around, I stared into the fire at it’s orange, yellow and red colors. The crackle of the fire brought memories back to me.

I had been spending a majority of the summer in Michigan with my dad and his family. There was a huge family reunion and a bonfire by a lake. I don’t remember half of the family I met, but I do remember having the best time of my life. Eric had come with us - since he had no plans. His parents were on duty helping to heal a bunch of Guardian Angels after a Dark Angel ambush. It had been the second summer without my mother, and I still hadn’t been used to her not being there. Everyone was doing the best that they could to cheer me up. Eric didn’t stop trying until I smiled or laughed. I was thankful to have him as a friend. We were two peas in a pod. In our 8th grade yearbook we were voted “Best Friends” for our class mosts. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. I looked at my marshmallow. I had almost burned it. It was still good though, so I grabbed what I needed and made a s’more. It was delicious.

“Eric, I hear they sent over some of the Lord’s personal healers to help out the guardians in Hollywood. Maybe your parents will be there.” said Austin. I saw Eric’s face light up. It had been a few years since he last saw his parents. He talked to them on the phone everyday and video chatted with them, sure. But none of that compared to being able to see them in person again. Eric’s smile faded and he sighed.

“That would be great but, we can’t be for sure. I mean, they’re the Lord’s closest healers. They’ve been with him - and the ones before him - for years. I doubt he would send them.” He said. I never knew Eric as the type of guy to doubt everything, so watching him doubt the chances of being able to see his parents frustrated me.

“Eric Tyler Matthews,” I said. He gave me wide-eyed look. I didn’t use his full name much, so it wasn’t surprising that is surprised him. But he definitely knew I was serious. “The one time you start doubting things in your life, and it has to be the fact that your parents might not be only less than an hour away from you?” I had rendered him speechless. That was rare.

“She’s right, Eric. If it were my parents, I wouldn’t doubt it for a second.” said Jasper. In fact, Jasper’s parents were in Hollywood with my father - and probably Austin’s father - but he saw them a lot more than Eric got to see his.

“I guess you guys are right. I should be more optimistic about this sort of thing. I mean, I finally have the chance to see my parents. Last time I saw them I was thirteen.” said Eric. Okay so, maybe it had been longer than I thought. Eric smiled. “I’ll finally get to see my parents.”

“That’s great, Eric! And don’t worry, we’ll be right there with you.” said Wyatt.

“Wyatt, he’s only seeing his parents, not meeting the Pope.” said Austin. The five of us laughed, and I thought I could hear Clarissa let out a little chuckle herself.

Austin brought me along for a walk on the beach after the bonfire. Everyone else had gone inside. We held hands and shared some laughs. Hanging out with Austin seemed to make all my worries go away. Not that I didn’t still worry about my dad a little bit, because I did. Austin stopped to look at me. I could see concern on his face.

“I know you’re worried about your dad, but everything will be okay.” He said as he put a side of my hair behind my ear. I smiled. He brushed his fingers along my cheek gently. “He’s a tough guy. He can take care of himself.” Austin smiled. He brought my lips to his and kissed me. His lips were soft and warm, and the kiss was gentle with a hint of passion. It lasted a few minutes before someone cleared their throat. Clarissa stood there with her arms crossed, and a slight smile on her face. Austin groaned.

“Come you two, it’s time to get some sleep. We have an early day tomorrow.” She said.

“Early as in we can sleep in until noon, right?” He asked. She giggled. Austin kissed my cheek and took my hand again. The two of us walked back to the beach house with Clarissa. I know I couldn’t stop smiling, and I was probably blushing red, but it was worth it.

Sleep didn’t come easily. I found myself waking up because of the nightmare again. It had been a few weeks since I last had the nightmare. To my surprise, I was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly, but I ended up having another dream. I was in a church all by myself. Well, there were one or two other people there, but they were paying no attention to me. I was wearing a black dress with matching heels, holding onto my cross necklace like I always did (mostly when I was upset or nervous). I noticed the two people around me. They were crying. Something else caught my eye in the corner of the church. A guy who looked to be in his twenties stood there with his arms crossed.

He had short brown hair and light blue eyes. He looked to be in pretty good shape, and I wondered if he was a Guardian Angel of sorts. He didn’t seem threatening except for how he stood in the corner like that. I noticed he wore black dress pants with a black dress shirt and matching tie, and a silver Rolex watch on his left wrist. It was then that I realized I was at a funeral. But whose? And why? The dream wouldn’t give me any of that information. I was beginning to question whether or not this was really a dream, or if it was the beginning of another nightmare. The man in the corner made eye contact with me. Who was this guy? There was a sense of recognition in his eyes, but there was something else in his eyes too. Surprise. Shock. Sadness. I felt as if he was about to say something, but I was jolted out of the dream. Eric was shaking me gently, saying my name over and over. I sat up quickly and looked at him.

“What do you want?” I asked. I hated being woken up, even if it was for good reason. Eric always handled my irritability gently.

“It’s eleven o’clock in the morning. We have to start getting ready to leave for Hollywood. Clarissa called your dad and he agreed to have lunch. Are you okay?” He asked. I rubbed my forehead.

“I’m fine.” I said. Eric knew me better than that. I sighed. “Well, for starters, I had that nightmare again. But I also had a dream right after I fell back asleep...” He gave me a look.

“What was it about?”

“I think it was about a funeral. I think it had just ended, because there were only a few people left in the church. Everyone was in black. It didn’t tell me who or why, but I was definitely upset because I was holding my cross. And there was this guy...” I said.

“A guy? What guy?”

I described the guy and then said, “I don’t know his name, but all he did was stand in the corner with his arms crossed.” I got out of bed.

“Well, it was just a dream. I’m sure it was nothing.” He said. Something in Eric’s voice said his mind didn’t agree with what came out of his mouth. “Well, I’ll leave you to get ready. Hope you’re hungry.” Eric chuckled as he walked out of my room.

I wanted to believe that it was just a dream, but something about it felt almost real. The guy looked at me as if he recognized me from somewhere, and was shocked to see me. Sadness for whoever died, and surprise that I was there. If this guy was real, then I had to try and find him. If he appeared in another one of my dreams, I would go up to him and ask him his name. I would find out about him, and about what was going on. But if Eric was right, and it was just a dream, then he probably wasn’t even real. I would be searching for no one and just wasting my time. A bunch of thoughts pondered through my mind as I got ready. I was happy to be seeing my dad though, and happy that Eric might get to see his parents. I met everyone downstairs once I was ready.

It was a thirty minute drive from Manhattan beach to Hollywood. Clarissa told us that we would be meeting my father at a local restaurant called Italiano’s Pizzeria. More pizza. The drive there was just as quiet as the drive to Jasper’s beach house. We walked into the small, quiet restaurant where we greeted my father. He gave me a big hug before the waitress seated us. It was great to see that he was doing okay. I looked around the restaurant to take in the scenery, when I caught something in the corner of my eyes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was him. The guy from my dream, sitting at a table.

Reviews

[Shay]

haha and of course you included pizza and not just pizza but pizza hut pizza xD NICE Scoobs i loving this

[Tanya Lynn Bendily]

Haha Pizza Hut is amazing XD Glad you're loving it :3