The Secret Guardian

“Cat,” Madeline gasped as he pulled the athame from her flesh, silent tears streaming down both Madeline and Porters’ face. The men held her until she was too weak to struggle, then they joined the laughing crowd of black figures around her. Porter pushed through the crowd away from the dying woman with the dagger clutched in his right hand. Catherine kneeled next to Madeline, watching her lips, almost positive she hadn’t just heard her name.

“Catherine,” they dying woman gasped again, only this time it sounded much clearer- as though it was moving closer. As a matter of fact, now it didn’t sound like Madeline’s voice at all.

“Catherine!” Cat bolted upright in bed, hair plastered to her face and neck by cold sweat. She was disoriented and dizzy, and it took a few seconds for her to get a grip on reality. Every time she had that dream it took longer to wake up- or it seemed that way. Now Cat was focusing on the creaking hallway floorboards outside her room. The light from the streetlamps crept into her room, making the white sheets on the bed across the room seem light and airy-much more comfortable than the couch she was currently on. The clock next to the bed glowed a little past eight. When the footsteps stopped and there was a knock on the door Catherine jumped out of bed and took off to her bathroom.

“Hey, Cat, you in there? I got home from work early and I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a bit of an early birthday celebration…” Without waiting for a reply, the door opened and a tall woman with long bottle-red hair leaned against the frame of the doorway in a business suit. Cat peaked out from the side of the wall with a toothbrush in her mouth and her hair now thrown back into a messy ponytail. “Suuurrrre Beth,” Cat spat into the sink and rinsed her mouth. “Just let me move the laundry to the dryer. I fell asleep after getting in from work and forgot.” Sensing there was more coming to this conversation, she squeezed past her aunt and rushed down the stairs before the first word could come out.

The laundry room was basically out on the patio, with just a screen separating the yard from the machines. She turned on the porch light and leaned forward on the washing machine, back to the screen so that she didn’t realize the figure waiting by the back door until they cleared their throat. Cat didn’t turn around right away, trying to think of who it could be. Josh, Aunt Beth’s current boyfriend? If he was going to celebrate with them he would come through the back door…but he could just let himself in…

“My name’s Michael. I’m actually looking for a girl name Catherine?” Well- definitely not Josh. Cat swung around and tried to get a glimpse of the man through the dim porch light. He was tall…and that’s all she got.

“And what do you want with Catherine?” Cat took on her protective motherly tone as not to give herself away. She wanted to go over to the door and at least turn on the light on the stairs, but a screen wouldn’t be much protection if this guy was a murderer…or just a creep.

“I’m new to Porter Hills and I was given her phone number and address as a sort of mentor program. My phone’s not set up yet so I decided drop by.” The mentor program. They had mentioned something earlier that day about some new kid, but most of the kids that said they were going to transfer had never followed through. Something about parents and jobs…

“Oh, sure. Let me move these clothes and I’ll let you in.” She couldn’t see how letting him in could hurt with her aunt around the corner. She turned away from the screen door and opened the door to the dryer. Loading her arms with wet clothes Cat continued on, “My aunt and I were supposed to go out, I don’t supposed you would like to-” He was next to her now, picking up clothes she had just dropped and quickly throwing them in the dryer. “I didn’t mean to scare you. The door was opened and I thought I could help.”

Cat’s heart was racing and it seemed to take a while before she could right herself. She looked at the door- the latch was undone and it was opened a crack. “Sorry, I just thought it was locked.” She managed to whisper loudly as he stood next to her. He was striking- tall, toned, dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes to boot. They stood there staring at each other for what felt like forever until…

“CAT! How long does it take to move a load of laundry? I already made reservations and we’re going to be late!” Beth burst through the back door to the patio in a knee-length dress, waving around a clutch. She almost tripped over her heels when she saw the two of them so close together. Her eyes fell on Michael and a mixture of emotions shone on her face, all unreadable- at least by Cat.

“Aunt Beth, this is Michael…er…” “Kenton. My family and I just moved to town yesterday actually, and I figured I’d come out and meet my mentor before I went to school tomorrow.” The smile he gave her was dazzling, but Beth seemed unphased. In fact, she seemed a bit taken aback. She couldn’t see what Beth saw in him. “Anyways, I was just telling Michael we were planning to go out for dinner and I thought maybe…” “No.” Now it was Cat’s turn to be surprised. Beth never acted like this. Catherine was about to refute when Michael stepped away from her and nodded. “It’s all right, I’ll just be going. It was very nice meeting both of you, and I’ll see you in school tomorrow Cat.” He left quickly, before anyone could say anything else and Beth was right behind him locking the screen door. Cat stood there in awe until her Aunt sighed.

In her room Cat changed into a decent dress half heartedly. She was thinking about this boy, Michael, and when he was standing next to her. It was almost as though she could sense him, like they were connected, and that she had met him before. It was a crazy thought however, he was new to town and she had never lived anywhere else.

“Cat?” Catherine jumped as her aunt walked into the room and smiled. “Sorry about earlier, that friend of yours just scared me. It was dark and unexpected…and I’m sorry.” Cat waved her hand, wanting to spare her aunt from having to apologize- as a lawyer she was bad at it. “He had just been planning on dropping by and introducing himself anyways. I’d never met him before.” Beth cocked her head to the side, looking at Catherine curiously, but when Cat opened her mouth to ask what was up her aunt was faster.

“So, how about that dinner reservation?”