Guardian Angel (A Sample)

Her mother came rushing into the room and Daimhin had to step aside quickly before she moved through him.

Daimhin stood in the corner of the room as he watched the mother lift Taylor out of the crib carefully. He saw the radiant smile pass between them as their eyes met. He could actually feel the love in the room. He stood there, watching them puzzled until it was time for him to return to the meeting room to receive his list for the day.

When Violet saw him, as he walked into the meeting room, she smiled sympathetically, but she did not ask him outright if he collected Taylor's soul. It was not negotiable. Every name on the list must be collected on the specified day, otherwise it confused the whole system.

>i<

Two years later, the name Taylor Fergusson appeared on his list again as the system tried to correct itself.

Again he left her soul until last. That afternoon when he stood next to her, he smiled when he looked into her eyes and saw recognition in them. She smiled widely up at him and pointed at him with her chubby fingers. Absentmindedly her mom looked in his direction, but of course she could not see him. It shocked Daimhin that Taylor was able to see him.

They were sitting at a bus stop, she and her mother. Her mother kept looking down at her wristwatch, and Daimhin assumed the bus was running behind schedule.

There was no backrest on the seat they were sitting on, and then as fate would have it, she fell backwards. This was all in the plan. When she fell it would be the reason why she died, all Daimhin had to do was touch her.

Her mom grabbed her up from the floor before Daimhin reached her. Daimhin saw the panic in the mother's eyes as blood gushed and ran in between Taylor's light blonde hair in little rivulets.

Daimhin reached for her, smiling reassuringly at Taylor. Usually the souls he collected never saw him until he touched them, but Taylor seemed to be different. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. Maybe little kids were just more susceptible to seeing ghosts or entities. After all Taylor was his first kid, and thanks to the system, still his only kid.

Taylor started crying, shaking her head and little beads of blood sprayed in an arch from the gash at the back of her head. She pleaded as she held onto her mother tightly, "No. No, take me. I scared."

Daimhin stepped back, shocked. Her voice sent shivers down his spine. He felt an uncomprehending emotion clutch at his heart, his own soul.