Chapter 11

The week passed with no disturbances. I went through all my classes with no problems. I was starting to get the hang of meditating, but Devitri insisted that I needed some work. I always wanted to ask him questions about who he was or where he came from, but I wasn’t sure how he would feel about that. What if it was too personal and that’s why wasn’t saying anything about it? I never had any more of the dreamover the week, and I had no nightmares either. I sat with my friends during dinner on Friday night. We decided to sit out in the courtyard tonight. Eric and Wyatt were back to their game of chess at one of the stone tables, and I sat against Austin who was sitting under an apple tree nearby. Dawn sat next to Wyatt and watched him play chess. I hadn’t seen any sign of Devitri until he sat down on the grass by me and Austin. Austin was warming up to him a bit - or so I thought - but he still worried no matter how many times I assured him. Everything was going smoothly until Jasper walked over with Ariane and Matt.

“I heard you got your a*s kicked the other day, Skylar.” said Ariane. I looked up at her. I wanted to smack the smile off of her face. “It’s hard to believe you’re a Donovan. Then again, you’re wanted by Dark Angels, so maybe you’re not entirely too far off from living up to the family name.” That did it. I stood up quickly and grabbed her by her shirt.

“Ohh, girl fight. Anyone have some popcorn?” asked Devitri. His commentary wasn’t necessary right now. I thought he was the one who was supposed to be making sure this kind of thing didn’t happen.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked. “And who the hell told you about what happened in Manhattan?” I could see guilty written all over Jasper’s face. I would have to deal with him later.

“Oh, nothing. Just that they wanted your mother, and well, we all know where she is now. It was only a matter of time before they came after you and your father. Soon there won’t be any of you left.” She said. “It’s just as well though. The world is better off without a bunch of people like you running around. Soon there will be no Donovan’s left. It would almost be like a miracle.” That’s when Devitri stood up.

“Miss Pearson, I don’t know what you think entitles you to say such things, but if I were you I would refrain from using them.” He said. A minute ago he was excited over a girl fight. What suddenly got into him? Well, he was one of my dad’s closest friends. Maybe that was it. Without thinking, I punched Ariane in the face before she could say anything else.

"You’re a b***h!” I shouted. I had everyone’s attention now. Not what I wanted, but at this point I didn’t care. Things could have gotten really ugly if Devitri hadn’t pulled me away from her. I tried to break free of his grip, but he had my arms locked with his, and he was stronger than I was. Ariane held her nose as Matt and Jasper tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry, you’re a healer. I’m sure you can fix it no problem.” Devitri put his hand over my mouth.

“You three leave.” said Devitri. Jasper and Matt led Ariane away, and Devitri finally let go of me. I turned around and put my hands on my hips.

“Why did you do that!” I yelled. “Did you not hear what she said?” Devitri put his hands into his pockets.

“Yes, I did hear what she said, and believe me I didn’t like it one bit. But what have we been working so hard on this past week? I thought we were getting somewhere little sora, but as it turns out, we still have a lot of work to do. Honestly, I must say I’m very disappointed. I thought you would have handled this in a more mature manner like I did.” He said. Devitri shook his head and sighed. “Training is cancelled tomorrow for homecoming, but we’ll spend most of Sunday working on your issues.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he was already walking away. It wasn’t worth it. I had to admit that it upset me that he was disappointed at me.

“Didn’t we tell him it would be difficult?” asked Austin. I looked at him. He was obviously talking to Eric and Wyatt. They nodded. I crossed my arms.

“Glad to know my best friends and my boyfriend have such faith in me.” I said. I gave them a glare before walking off.

Dawn joined me in our room a few hours later. I was on my computer, emailing my father. She changed into her pajamas, and sat on her bed. I sent an email to my dad letting him know that I was going to hang out with Dawn, and I closed my computer and turned my chair around. I sighed. I still played Devitri’s words in my head. He was disappointed in me. He was barely my friend, so why did it hurt so much that he said that? I put all of those thoughts in the back of my mind. Dawn looked like she had something on her mind.

“Okay, spit it out.” I said.

“I was thinking about what Ariane said.” She said. I groaned. Last thing I wanted to talk about. “No, just listen to me. She said the Dark Angels wanted your mom. If that’s the case, then why did they kill her?”

“They probably changed their minds and got bored of her. It’s what they do, Dawnie.” I said.

“I thought you might say that. So then if that’s the case, why didn’t that Dark Angel kill you?” She asked. I got up and put my chair back the way it was.

“I’m sure they were going to kill me as soon as I went with them.” I said as I plopped down onto my bed. “Dawnie, Dark Angels are complex beings for you humans. I wouldn’t try to put much thought into it. But while we’re on the subject, you need a Guardian Angel.” She looked down at the pillow she was hugging.

“I know but,” She started. “It’s still too soon.”

"Austin isn’t guarding anyone right now, or have anyone in mind for that matter. I’m sure he would be glad to do it.” I said. She shook her head.

“He’s your boyfriend, Sky. I would feel like he’d be paying more attention to me than you. I would feel bad.” Dawn said. That was Dawn’s problem. She was too sweet and innocent. I sat up and looked at her.

“Dawnie, that’s his job. You need a Guardian Angel. Besides, it probably won’t be permanent. But you need one and you can’t deny that. I’m sure Lucas wouldn’t mind either. He understands what’s going on here. Please talk to Austin about it before the homecoming dance tomorrow night. For me?” I said. She hesitated a moment before agreeing to it. With that settled, we laid down and spent the rest of the night in a deep sleep.

Homecoming was usually spent in the school’s gym, but after popular protest they decided to have it at a local Holiday Inn. Dawn and I were getting ready in our dorm. I wore a short, mint green dress with one shoulder strap, and matching heels and jewellery. Dawn curled my hair and did my makeup for me. I didn’t normally get to dress up a whole lot. We got mani-pedis earlier in the day, and I had mine done in mint green to match my dress. Dawn had hers painted black to go with her red dress. It was a short, strapless red dress with black heels. Dawn straightened her hair and I helped to put some glitter in it. There was a knock at our door. I walked over and opened it. Austin stood there with Dawn’s boyfriend. Austin wore a nice pair of black pants and a light blue dress shirt, with a matching tie. It looked amazing on him. His blonde hair was done up all nice, and I wanted to run my fingers through it. Dawn ran over and practically tackled Lucas to the ground. She seemed to do that a lot.

Lucas Manning was the same age as Austin, with short black hair and brown eyes. Dawn always said his eyes were like circles of chocolate. That always made me giggle. He was in pretty good shape, and on his school’s track team. We always joked about he should be a Guardian Angel. He wore a nice pair of khaki pants and a black dress shirt, with a matching tie and his hair spiked up a bit in the front. Dawn kissed him and before they could have a makeout session in the hallway, I led Dawn down the hallway. We met our friends down in the parking lot. Austin’s sister agreed to let us borrow her SUV, so long as Austin promised not to crash it. I don’t know why she was so paranoid. He was actually a great driver. We all piled into the SUV and Austin drove to the Holiday Inn. A lot of guardians thought it would be dangerous, since it wasn’t guarded by any light magic spells, but they sent over a few more to watch over it. The problem with most Dark Angels, was that they looked like humans. There was no distinct way to tell if someone was a Dark Angel or not. That’s what made this job difficult.

We pulled up to the Holiday Inn and got out. People were already arriving. We walked inside and to the ballroom. It was decked out in the night’s homecoming theme. It was a masquerade theme. My friends and I put on our masks before walking in. I wore a white one with a feather, and Dawn wore a red one with black marks on it. I managed to make note that Austin and Eric both had on black masks with feathers, except Eric’s had a green feather to match his shirt. Wyatt had on a blue on, while Lucas had a white one like mine except with no feathers. Once we remembered everyone’s mask, we were able to split up and go our own ways. Austin led me onto the dancefloor where we danced to a semi-slow song. I think he could tell that something was on my mind.

“What’s wrong, Sky?” He asked. I looked at him.

“Huh? Oh, umm... Did Dawn talk to you at all today?” I asked.

“She did. She mentioned something about me being her Guardian Angel.”

“Oh, good. So she did as she promised. What did you say?” Austin chuckled.

“Of course I said yes. She’s as much of my friend as she is yours, and she needs a guardian.” He said. He spun me around gently. Austin was a pretty good dancer. I smiled. Knowing that Dawn had a Guardian Angel now was relieving, and I was thankful to Austin for doing this for her. I looked around the room.

Guardian Angels were standing against the walls in white apparel. Men had to wear white pants with a dress shirt, tie and jacket - jacket optional - and girls had to wear white pants with a matching white blouse - tie and jacket optional. Since we weren’t yet Guardian Angels officially, we could wear whatever we wanted. My eyes rested on Devitri standing in one of the corners. If anyone could wear white and make it stand out in a crowd of other white clothes, it was Devitri. He wore his dress shirt with the top few buttons undone, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie worn loosely. Something told me he didn’t care about how he wore his Guardian Angel attire, as long as he could still kick a*s in it. He stood in the corner with his arms crossed, his eyes observing the entire room. So far things were going pretty well. I glanced over at Ariane and Jasper. Ariane had a bandage over her nose, and I had to keep myself from laughing at how silly it looked. Matt was dancing with some girl I didn’t know, but he seemed happy. Eric and Wyatt were sitting at a table and I was thankful that they didn’t bring their chess game with them. Instead they were just talking about who knows what.

Austin and I danced some more until Devitri tapped his shoulder. He held out his hand and asked, “May I have this dance?” Austin hesitated a bit before agreeing. He decided to join Eric and Wyatt. I took Devitri’s hand and we started dancing.

“What are you doing? You should be standing in the corner, not dancing with me.” I said. “They don’t allow other Guardian Angels to leave their spots. It’s your job.”

“Technically, I’m above all of them. When you work for the Lord himself, no one can tell you what to do except for him or your superior. I’m free to do whatever I want. I can dance and still be aware of my surroundings.” He said as he spun me around slowly. “Are you having fun, little sora?”

“Yes actually, I am. What does that even mean, and what language is it?” Devitri chuckled.

“I’m not going to tell you.” I stopped dancing with him and put my hands on my hips.

“What do you mean you’re not going to te-” I was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I turned around. Dawn stood there. “What is it, Dawn?”

All she wanted me to do was go to the bathroom with her, and to talk but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what she wanted to talk about. I leaned against the sink with my arms crossed. Dawn washed her hands, and as she dried them off with a paper towel, she looked at me. Something was definitely on her mind.

“Dawn, what is it? What’s going on? Did Lucas break up with you?” I asked. I had a feeling that wasn’t it though, because she would have been in tears by now. Thank God she wasn’t. She shook her head. “Then what is it? Spit it out.”

“Remember that Roland guy you mentioned a few days ago?” She asked. I nodded. “I think he’s here.” I shot up from the sink. My guardian mode suddenly kicked in. “I saw a guy in white roaming around with sunglasses on.” He must have been blending in with the others...

“We have to go warn the others.” I said as I took her hand. “Quickly.” I hurried towards the door and opened it. I stopped suddenly and gasped. Roland stood in the doorway with his arms out, blocking our way. He had his usual smirk on his face.

“Why hello ladies.” He said. I put Dawn behind me and got into a fighting stance. “Do we really have to do this again? It would be so much easier if you just came with me willingly. But I can see we’re going to have to do it the hard way again.” He managed to make his way inside and closed the door. I wanted to slap myself for not bringing my purse with me. The revelation make his smirk grow wider. “Looks like the newling doesn’t have her holy water with her.”

“Look, I’m not going with you and that’s final.” I said. He chuckled.

“Very well then.” said Roland. It was as if he barely moved. I couldn’t even see him. He was suddenly behind me with his arm around Dawn’s neck, and his hand over her mouth. “I guess she’ll come with me instead. I’m sure the Queen would love a human, even if it is you that she really wants.” Again I wanted to slap myself for forgetting my purse. My cellphone was in there. Boy would Devitri be pissed...

I looked in the corner of my eye and saw that Dawn’s purse was on the sinks. I had no choice. He was held up with Dawn, so it was either her or the purse. He had to make a choice. I ran over to the sinks, but before I could grab the purse, it flew off towards the other end of the bathroom. I stopped dead in my tracks. How in the world...? The door flew open and I spun around to look at it. Another guy in white stood in front of me with his arms crossed. He also wore sunglasses. He was taller than Roland, and probably around the same age too. He had short brown hair, and of course I couldn’t see what color his eyes were. I could hear Roland laughing behind me, and Dawn struggling to break free.

“You didn’t think I came alone this time, did you?” He said. “Meet Ben Anderson, or Benji as I like to call him.”

“I hate that name...” said Ben.

“Exactly.” said Roland. This was it. I was doomed. I couldn’t fight these guys off. They had power that I’d never witnessed before, except for maybe in horror movies. “So, what’s it going to be little newling? Going to try and fight us off?” The two of them laughed. So that’s exactly what I did.

I landed a few quick punches to Ben’s face before taking a few punches myself. I suddenly felt a bash in the back of my head before blacking out.