Going Around in Circles

 

F   i   v   e

Going Around In Circles

 

Avery

           

            I saw her beautiful complexion turn a rosy shade of pink and then flush totally white. She looked ill and needed to lie down. I was thinking I should probably send the thought into her mind, but before I could, I saw her legs buckle beneath her in slow motion as she tumbled toward the ground in unconsciousness. I flew underneath her and caught her just inches before she was about to hit the floor and then quickly laid her down gently. I hovered above her for a second staring at her lovely face. A lock of her silky hair had fallen out of place and was sprawled casually over her closed eyes. I so desperately wish I could have pushed it aside, but Bobby, who was now approaching after realizing what had occurred, would have been concerned by the sudden movement made by an invisible source.

            Backing away slowly allowing there to be more room for her to move when she woke, I continued to stare at her angelic features. I had seen this face constantly for the past week and still I couldn’t get enough of it. She was my refreshing lake of shimmering water in a hot, dry, and scorching desert. An unexpected sensation ran through me as I saw Bobby slide the lock of hair back behind her ear, caress her cheek, and whisper into her ear trying to wake her. The emotion was jealousy, but was that something I was supposed to be feeling or even allowed to be feeling under my strict circumstances? My job entitlement was to never leave her side; she was my world and my life now. I was supposed to keep her alive and away from harm almost like a guardian angel, but it felt more than that. I didn’t have to keep her alive; I wanted to keep her alive. Maybe if I could find a time I could handle parting with Claire briefly I would ask Irena about these strange emotions.   

            By now there was a small crowd gathering and a teacher was being clued in on the situation. I couldn’t help but wonder why she had passed out as unexpectedly as she had. My eyes searched around for a possible answer when finally they rested on her clenched hand that had a piece of paper sticking out of it. The note I had written her! That’s what she and Bobby had been talking about right before all this happened. Did it have to do with that?

            I felt an unseen presence appear behind me and I turned around. There stood Irena staring down at Claire with a disappointed expression.

            “What?” I asked.

            “Oh, Avery. I wish you would have understood how important these fragile creatures are to our Creator.  She was your first assignment and now maybe even your last.” Irena looked down and shook her head.

            “My dear sister, I did nothing to provoke this lovely child’s fall it must have been an internal problem that triggered it or something of the sorts.”

            “It’s possible, but I have yet to believe that when you’re around her she is actually immune to danger. You might be causing her more harm than good to be frank.” My anger grew with the continuous thoughts of hearing this come from my own sister.

            “How dare you accuse me of desiring her to be placed in the way of things with hostile intentions? None of us even have the ability to think such things towards our protection let alone actually desiring it as in lusting for such actions.”         

            “I do not accuse you of anything, my brother, I am simple pointing out a specific point that you should stay aware of. I never wish you to have evil desires and intentions, but maybe it is possible that something just isn’t right with this situation. None of us have ever directly had such things occur before; so the thought has occurred in my mind that maybe it is not her, but you that the problem is emitting from.” The idea was something that took time to consider and I was having trouble letting myself do so. I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening to Claire especially if it were to be done by my own hands. Something unusual was definitely happening, but I had no idea what the source or the reason behind it was.

            “Irena?” I asked thinking about bringing up my previous emotions.

            “I’m sorry, Avery, but I have to go; she is waking up now.” Then she walked away; which to a human, she would have been gone in less than a blink of an eye. Fortunately humans couldn’t see us in this state. I turned my attention to Claire as her eyes fluttered open revealing a blue crystalline iris. I smiled.

            “Oh my gosh, Clair. Thank goodness you’re alright. I thought I lost you for a minute there. What happened?” Bobby said bombarding her with a stream words. A puzzled look came across Claire’s face as she looked around frantically. For a brief second I thought our eyes locked on each other, but there was no way to know.

            “Oh, I’m not so sure. I just became really light headed and the next thing I knew I was on the ground.” She said slowly as she sat up. Bad move it would be too sudden for her to take in. Her eyes closed and I knew what would happen next. I hustled over and gently put my hand at the back of her head so she wouldn’t topple backwards. Shortly there after, she opened her eyes again and began to rub her temples. With no warning or expectations Claire turned to Bobby.

            “Bobby, have you by chance seen Avery today?” Big blow! That was out of no where! Where did that come from? She knew my name? She knew who I was! Why did this suddenly seem so surprising? Had I ever doubted the thought that she didn’t know who I was?

            “No, I uh haven’t. Why?” I already knew Bobby was worrying that I’d show up to claim the title of Romeo today at the auditions, but I hadn’t been “present” at school for nearly a week now for fear of screwing my chances to protect Claire. So until I had everything reasonably under control I would continue to be absent from the student body’s vision. By now the crowd that had gathered around us had dispersed and went on their way, only a few were left watching to make sure everything went alright.

            “No reason in particular, just curiosity.” She said smiling mischievously. I so desperately wish I could know what she was thinking, but we’re not allowed to get involved with our protection’s thoughts or play any mind games with them. We can only use our abilities when it has a positive effect towards our protection.

            “Oh. Alright .Well, we better get you up and to class.” I backed up and let Bobby pull Claire to her feet.

            “Hold on a second. I have to do something.” She said reaching into her bag and pulling out a pen.

            “What are you doing?” Bobby asked. She scrawled something briefly onto the paper with my note on it and then tucked the pen back into her bag. I watched them walk away before remembering I had to follow. I put a foot forward and heard something crunch. It was the paper with the note. I hadn’t noticed her drop it. I picked it up and unfolded it quickly.

I know it’s you. I’ll be there – if you are.

            A joyous leap abounded inside of me and sudden happiness rushed through. I couldn’t believe it, she really did know. I hurried after her, but then a sharp blow to the chest knocked me back as a dark red smoke formed into hands and then a body in front of me.

            “Hey, pretty boy where do you think you’re going?” My enemy said in a sneering voice. Long time acquaintances, but the occasional visits were never friendly or cordial. 

            “Titus, long time no see. I should have known you would get involved.” I scowled.

            “Tsk. Tsk. Me get involved? I’ve been involved so there’s no need to be claiming this and taking that.” The self centered, egotistical, patience deprived outcast stated.

            “What are you talking about?”

            “What am I talking about? I’ll tell you. I was assigned Claire about six months ago. You’re too late.”

            “First of all I would appreciate it if you would stop repeating everything I say and second you couldn’t have possibly been assigned Claire six months ago because outcasts don’t get their assignments until after the protectors imprint and I just imprinted!”

            “Gosh, touchy aren’t we? With your mood swings I would think you were a female. I bet it runs in the family, you must get it from your sister.” I gave him a look to back off. “Well, anyway back to the conversation. I got a tip that Claire would be imprinted on soon so I took my stand and claimed her as my assignment. I’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on her since, but then you came along and unintentionally ruined my plans.” Titus said pouting.

            “Oh, really? How do you know that I ruined your plans unintentionally?”

            “Simple. You have your ‘deep in thought’ expression on your face which means you’re trying to figure out my plans. If you knew my plans then obviously it could have been intentional, but you see it’s not.”

            “Ok, so you got me on that. Are you going to tell me what your plans are or were I should say?” I asked. Titus ran his fingers through his hair making a few of the top layers stick up.

            “You must really want to know. I suppose it’ll make it all the more fun when I tell you that you will never find out what my plans are, but if you’re smart enough and use your brain I’m sure within time you’ll be able to figure out what they were. Just stay away from the girl if you can and there won’t be any problems.” Titus faded back into nothingness leaving me standing there alone and somewhat confused.

            How did he get the tip about Claire? I didn’t know, but I would find out. I used my last bit of strength to form a shield around Claire to protect her from any potential danger till I got back. It was never good news to hear that Titus was lurking around. Who knows what he would think of doing? It was almost physically painful to leave Claire, but I tried to ignore the feeling. The next time I would see her it would be face to face. That was the only thing that cheered me up enough to let me move my body into the base dimension. There were so many unexplained questions that I needed answers too. The Creator would be able to help me and if by some means he couldn’t I knew that no one could.

            I watched in boredom as the bright stars flew by me until I finally reached familiar ground where truth behind fiction lied in wait to be discovered.    

© By Amanda Gloth