Page 16 of The Angel's Kiss
I didn’t like what he said, but I decided to think about it. To reflect on the situation where I could have taken a different approach. I finished bathing the sweat and grime off and returned to my dorm room to get dressed. As I was tying my sneakers, I decided that Darius may have had a point. I was stronger than them, could have taken them all on, and that was why I didn’t fear them. But, as a Guardian—a leader—perhaps I should have tried to de-escalate. But those assholes always picked on me... a good ass-whooping may be what they need. I came to that conclusion too. There was a knock on my door; I opened it and smiled to see my only friend grinning back at me, his blue eyes alight with mischief.
Marcel and I became friends a few months after I’d first come here and have been thick as thieves ever since. He was the second person I told about my dreams that I was still having. Darius had said those visions faded after the first year, but not for me. The only thing that did change was the visions featured the strange, but gorgeous demon. He was a busy one, too, wreaking havoc throughout time. But lately, he wasn’t. The visions I had of him seemed like he was lonely and a bit lost. It made me more curious about him, and it also made me want to comfort him as in the visions, I could feel his pain. But I had to remind myself when my eyes opened, that he was a demon, and any pain he felt paled in comparison to what he deserved.
As for Marcel, he was my confidant for everything. I could talk about things with him that I didn’t feel comfortable discussing with Darius. And it was the same way for Marcel where I was concerned. He didn’t like the Trio either.
Marcel shoved past me into my dorm. “Close the door,rapide,” he said in a rush of French-accented words. He always spoke with a mixture of English and French.
I did. “What’s up?”
His smile was wicked as he held up two necklaces with black jewel pendants. “I got them.”
“What are they?”
He gasped. “Quoi! Mon ami, remember, I said that I could get us out of here for your birthday?”
My eyes widened at that, because I thought he had been talking shit. I walked over to him and took one of the necklaces, studying it. “So, what? We wear these and we’re able to get past the barrier?”
Marcel nodded. “Oui.”
I laughed and slapped his hand in our celebration. I’d been wanting to get the hell out of here for the longest time. Years, to be exact. “So, when do we go?” I asked him.
“Ce soir, thirty minutes after lights out.”
So, nine-thirty. Gotcha. Marcel Monroe was being trained to be a Guard. His training wasn’t as extensive as mine and I was the only Guardian who was being trained as all of the others were seasoned warriors. I’d also met the other five Guardians. The only one besides Darius Morris who seemed all right with me was Terri Uche. The others barely spoke to me, and when they did, I could hear the venom in their tone. At first, the attitudes of the majority of the people here toward me really bothered me. I cried a lot because I felt my environment was so damn hostile. But then, I just started ignoring them, not caring about what any of these uppity assholes thought of me.
Sometimes, all you needed was one person to make you happy. Marcel was that person for me.
***
It was my birthday, but there wasn’t any celebration. No parties or anything like that. What I did get to do was pick a movie I wanted to see and anyone who wanted to attend could join me in the theater that we had on-site. It was one of the amenities of this place that had attracted me. That had me begging my mom to let me enroll. Stupid school.
I sat in my seat, feet up, nachos in my lap and Marcel sitting next to me. Only about twenty other Guards and staff had joined us for the action movie I’d selected. I did get a slice of cake for my birthday with one candle to blow out. My only wish? To be able to see my family one day. Even if I couldn’t talk to them... I kind of just wanted to see how they were doing. I missed them every day.
I pushed the memory of my family from my mind because it only made me depressed when I thought about them and the life I had to abandon. It didn’t help to know that I’d outlive them all because I was to one day become immortal. Instead, I focused on enjoying the movie, but more importantly, I fantasized about how much fun Marcel and I were about to have once we broke out of this hellhole.
The movie was a short one, only ninety minutes, and then we all had to turn in for the night. I only pretended to go to bed and thirty minutes after lights out, I jumped out of my window and met Marcel behind the bushes by the back wall.
“Took you long enough,” he fussed and brushed his blond hair from his eyes, then placed a black cap over his head.
I gave him the middle finger. “I had to run a farther distance. Nice of you to pick a location closest to your dorm, asswipe,” I taunted and he chuckled.
“Mon ami, I already did the hard part and you’re welcome, ingrate,” he placed his pendant on and I did the same.
“Thank you. Okay, let’s go.” I leaped up on top of the stone wall, then extended my hand to Marcel to help him out. My enhanced physical abilities were one thing Guardians had. I could run faster, was stronger, and jumped higher than normal humans and even Guards. They had their own abilities, but not on the level of a Guardian. I thought some of them might have been jealous of me since a lot of us were around the same age, yet, I wasn’t like them.
Marcel didn’t have such petty feelings. He took my hand and I hoisted him up and then we were off, running like two thieves in the night toward our freedom. And no alarms sounded off. No one was chasing after us, nothing. This was the best birthday present I had in years and I was going to enjoy every second of it.
***
I was huffing and puffing by the time we came to the first car. “When we do this again, we need to figure out a way to get a ride.”
Marcel was bent over, breathing hard as he nodded. “Oui.”
We’d run over ten miles from the Guild to a small town. I had no idea the Guild was that isolated—damn it. Still, I refused to go back before I could get to the city to see what the nightlife was like.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Marcel said, then walked over to the car and pulled something from his backpack.
I watched with keen interest as he managed to get into the car and disable the alarm. I climbed in beside him and he did some other stuff to get the car going and we were off, cheering and giving each other high-fives as he headed down the road.
