The sudden hollow echo of knuckles rapping on the door demanded our attention. Eli rose from his chair as Gwydion opened the door, a deep mumble echoed throughout the room. The wizard stepped aside and in came a really tall, really tattooed man.
“Your Shar is here,” Gwydion announced.
Eli sat back down as the Shar walked straight over to Eli and unpacked a tattooing kit from his bag. Without a word he plugged it in, switched it on, and started tattooing Eli's left wrist.
According to Eli, a Shar is an angel who bonds Guardian Angels to their charges. This tall, fat, tattooed guy is a Shar? I pictured them… well, a girl, for one, and heavenly. The Shar cleared his throat disgustingly.
How charming. Eli smiled at me occasionally, probably because he saw the horrified look on my face. The tattoo gun was loud and shaky, making me change my mind about getting it done.
After an hour of watching Eli — he didn’t flinch once — it was my turn. The man covered Eli's wrist in a bandage and called me over. Uneasily, I got out of my chair and took Eli's place by the Shar. Eli eyes settled on me as Gwydion cut him, collecting his blood in a vial. I tried hard to focus on the bare room around me as the Shar prepared a new needle. Gwydion brought Eli’s blood over and the guy started the tattoo machine. Once the machine started, I no longer cared about looking ‘tough’ in front of Eli. I squeezed my eyes shut as the needle came closer to my skin and my body began to shake in fear. Why did these machines have to sound so scary?
I opened my eyes slowly and Eli was chuckling at me. My body ceased shaking, the pain from the tattoo gun wasn't nearly as bad as being sliced with a scalpel, but it still wasn't pleasant.
Within an hour it was done; a little black feather that tinged red in the light adorned my wrist. I loved it.
“Now to bond you,” said the Shar. He gestured for me to stand up and for Eli to come over. “Grab her hand.”
Eli extended his left hand and I took it with my right. His touch was electrifying; we locked eyes. He felt it, too.
The Shar chanted and hummed for a few minutes but I didn’t feel any different.
“We’re done.” The tattooed man packed up all his things and left in a hurry.
“Well he wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“Let me guess, more stereotypes?” Eli chuckled.
The beginning of a laugh escaped my lips but I supressed the rest. Gwydion seemed uncomfortable with our personal jokes.
When I had first arrived at SS, I was still a vampire and prior to that, I lived among humans, therefore, I’d had no encounters with guardian angels and Shars. I only went off what brief stories mum had told me. The rest I had to imagine for myself. Apparently going off angel cartoons and movies was inaccurate.
We thanked Gwydion and headed outside. Eli was walking me towards a car park.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I promised you food, hop in.” He pointed to a black SUV.
“Nice car.”
Eli’s eyes lit up. “It’s an Audi Q5.”
Oh, Boys and their toys. I didn't ask any more questions, car talk was difficult for me. It wasn’t the fact that it was boring, I just have a hard time following. I jumped into the passenger seat. The car was very nice; it had cream leather seats and a small seven inch screen that was built into the centre console.
“We’re going to a small bakery in Sage town down the road from here.”
I was happy that Eli and I were going to be spending a little time alone together. There were a few things I wanted to talk to him about.
We pulled up at the bakery. Eli wasn't exaggerating when he said the bakery was small. I chose a blueberry muffin and strawberry milk. Eli had a sausage roll and caramel latte.
“So you teach them how to fight?” I asked, eating the last bite of my blueberry muffin. We were discussing student guardian angels and his teaching skills.
“Yes.”
“Are they any good?”
“They are exceptionally good.”
“Meanwhile, I'm stuck studying leaves and moving bodies of water.” I sighed.
“That’s just as important, if not more.”
“I just feel like I'm useless.”
“Useless? You saved our lives last night. There was no way we would have survived without you. There were too many of them; we would have been slaughtered.”
That was true. Tying up the vampires’ feet had immobilized them so Tay could stake them but I still felt useless.
“About last night…” I started.
Eli's eyes darkened and narrowed in on me.
“Your dad was murdered by vampires?”
He glanced down at his coffee.
“Yes… Michelangelo was my father. He was guarding your mother the night her cabin was attacked. He helped her escape but he was taken by them.”
Guilt struck my chest and I suddenly felt bad for bringing it up.
“And that's why I had to help you and guard you. It’s what my father would have wanted.”
“What do you want?”
“That doesn't matter in my world.”
“Let’s pretend for a second that it does matter. What do you want?”
Eli paused in thought and took the last sip of his coffee. "Let's go."
I sighed loudly. For a moment Eli looked like he was going to tell me everything but he didn't.
The car drive back to the school was quiet. As much as I wanted to talk, we didn't.
“You're late for your angelology class.”
I was relieved, it was the first thing he’d said to me since the bakery and I was worried he was upset with my prying.
Angelology was a class that studies guardian angels, what they are and what they do. I shot Eli a pained expression and strolled back to the girl’s dorm, hoping that Lillian had forgotten to drop my books off so I could take a nap. No such luck. When I arrived there was a stack of books outside my door with a note attached:
Ruby,
Here are your books. I look forward to teaching you.
Regards,
Lillian.
I unlocked my door and kicked them inside; I still wasn't going to class. I stopped dead in my tracks as I closed the door behind me. Someone had been in my room. The bed was made up and the sheets were a light purple silk; there was a huge deep purple rug on the floor, and a computer desk by the window. I noticed on the desk there was another note. I opened it:
Ruby,
I hope you like your room and I hope it makes you feel
more at home.Love Mila.
Wow, Mila did this. Damn, I forgot to thank her for the clothes. I made yet another mental note to thank her when I saw her next, this time I hoped my memory didn’t fail me. I threw myself onto the bed and closed my eyes. I couldn't help but think back to how lucky I was with my second encounter with Hank and how that night panned out.
“Ruby,” Mila called through the door.
My eyes snapped open, I must have fallen asleep. I stumbled over myself to get to the door.
“You weren’t at Angelology, Eli was extremely worried. I told him you decided to skip it because you were worn out and I was right!” She strolled into my room. Her eyes dropped down to the bandage that was wrapped around my wrist.
“Did you get it?”
“Yeah, this morning after breakfast.”
“What is it?"
"A feather.”
“Can I see it?” she begged.
“I'm not supposed to undo the bandage until tomorrow. Gwydion said it should be fully healed by then,” I explained “Also, thank you for all the clothes. I hope I’m not putting you out; if you see something you want to wear, please, take it.”
“Don’t be silly!” She giggled. “I bought them specifically for you.”
I couldn’t help but feel like I was a charity case. Her clothes were nice, but I wish I had my own to wear.
“Well, thank you.”
“C'mon, we have a Fluviology class now,” she said, whilst picking the appropriate books off the floor.
“I don't want to.” I sighed dramatically.
“Lillian is teaching, so it's not like you don't know anyone.”
After a little more persuading and a lot of protest on my part, Mila was dragging me to class. Lillian's classroom was on the other side of the common room. As we got closer and closer, my nerves grew stronger and my palms started sweating. Noticing my uneasiness, Mila slowed her pace.
“Once your first class is over it will be easier,” she said, trying to comfort me.
“Anything I should know going in?”
“Raina and her crew are total bitches.”
“Great, bitchy high school girls, exactly what I need right now.”
“Just ignore them; they’ll leave you alone after a while. Then they’ll come back and bully me like they always do.”
“They bully you? But you’re so pretty; I just assumed you were…”
“Popular? Cool? No, Sam and Cloud are my only friends.”
I was gobsmacked; I thought Mila would be quite popular. She was so beautiful and caring. I was a stranger and someone that hunted her kind, but she had given me her blood in order to get my life back. She gave me a second chance at life and I owed her everything.
When we reached the classroom, the loud chatter made me realize the teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Mila and I sat in the very back row, taking the last two seats. I spotted Raina and two of her friends at the front. They were the only ones giving Mila an evil scowl. They rose from their seats and walked down the back, stopping in front of our desk.
“Mila, who’s your new friend?”
“This is Ruby,” Mila replied.
“Hi Ruby, would you like to sit with us at dinner?” she offered.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mila look down at her paper. I assumed that Raina did this to all the new girls that Mila befriended.
“No, thank you.”
Raina facial expression was priceless; a few students sitting nearby snickered at her rejection. Her face grew stormy and dark. She turned violently on her heels, as if to leave, but instead she turned back to me.
“You’re going to regret that, vampire,” she snarled.
Her friends giggled, no doubt at the horror reflected in our faces. Satisfied, Raina and her posse turned and walked back to their desk. Vampire? How did she know?
Forbidden Touch
Fluviology was a blur; my mind was running a million miles an hour. Who could have possibly told Raina that I was a vampire? The only culprits were Tay, Eli, Gwydion, Lillian, Ivan Aleksandrov, and Mila. The only person that was there and spoke more to the students was Mila, but surely she wouldn't tell people, would she? There was too much on my mind to think about moving bodies of water. After what felt like hours, class was finally over and the next class was a five minute walk, so I took the opportunity to talk to Mila.
“Did you tell anyone?” I demanded in a quiet tone.
“Ruby, you have to…”
“Did you tell anyone?” I interrupted. She looked down at her feet, confirming that she did tell someone. I turned around and stormed off towards the girls’ dorms.
“Ruby!” she called behind me. “It was an accident. Where are you going? We have Botany class now!”
I didn't turn back to acknowledge her. I was too angry and too emotional to deal with her or a stupid plant class. I walked around the school until I found a little nook tucked away near the student medical block. I sat down and brought my knees up to my head. It was stupid of me to think that my past would be behind me and that I’d never have to think of it again. I hadn’t even made it a day and my secret was already out. That had to be some kind of record.
“There you are, goddess,” called Eli, appearing from behind the corner.
“Mila told you?” I asked, not lifting my head up from my knees. I didn't want him to see my red-rimmed eyes. He didn't say anything.
“Is there anything she doesn't tell people?” I snapped. I felt Eli sit down next to me, his warm body heat exuded off him.
“You can't blame her.”
“She has ruined everything here. I wanted to start fresh and to forget what I was.”
“Mila has to battle fitting in as well. It isn't easy being the headmaster’s niece. She can be easily peer-pressured, you don't know what happened. You didn't stick around to find out,” he explained.
“Find out what? She told Raina what I went through and where I’m from. That’s everything.”
“C’mon, Ruby. It isn’t the end of the world. So what? A bit of gossip gets around, what damage is that really going to do?”
“You clearly don’t remember what high school is like.”
“I believe you’re late for your Botany class.” I lifted my head; Eli was now standing with his hand extended out. I took it and he helped me up.
“You didn't have to come find me. You’re my Guardian Angel, not my councillor.”
He smiled that make-the-world-stop-and-women-faint smile.
“You’ve been through a lot. I just want to be there as a helping hand, for as long as you need me to be.”
Along with his smile, his words were another thing that took my breath away. He just knew what to say and when to say it. Eli was the perfect man; rock hard body, tall, amazing green eyes, olive skin, and a total badass. He was someone you could feel safe with no matter what the circumstance was.
We approached a building where I assumed my Botany class would be.
“The teacher's name is Mr Leo Farley, but address him by his last name. He’s a bit of an old timer and takes it to heart.”