Your Guardian Angel

Natasha’s mouth had gone dry at those words. Silently she nodded and turned around to the front door, unlocking it. She stepped aside, gesturing for Caleb to come into the house. He stepped in and turned around to look at her.

“Do you want me to explain here or in your room?” he asked quietly.

“It doesn’t matter. My parents are gone for the weekend.”

“You’re in the house by yourself?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together.
“Yeah…” she started and watched as he immediately went throughout the house almost as if he knew where he was going.

He walked throughout the main level, the kitchen, living room and dining room, checking the doors and windows. He started up the wide staircase in the center of the foyer and stopped mid-way.

“Stay right there; don’t move,” he said and jogged the rest of the way up them. He was gone for a few minutes before he appeared back at the landing and motioned for her to come up. She glanced around the house before she started up.

Walking into her room, she saw him checking the windows. She set her purse and keys down on her desk and sat down in her chair.

“You want to explain now?” she asked cautiously.

He ran a hand through his hair and then down over his face, searching for the words. He knew it would be hard for her to digest everything at once, so he was only going to give her bits and pieces. She didn’t need to know everything. He was still baffled at how she was able to see him the past couple of times and was contributing it to turning twenty-one. He may know her on the outside, but he didn’t know her on the inside. He needed to figure out how she was able to see him. He thought for a minute and sighed.

“A really long time ago there was a prophecy that came to light. Normally, prophecies went through a series of people and didn’t go to higher authorities. This was one was different.”

“Okay. What was the prophecy?” she urged.

He struggled for a minute, opening and closing his mouth several times. He sat down on the bed and looked at her again but abruptly stood up and started pacing. He was just going to have to tell her everything. There was no way around. Gabriel hadn’t prepared him for this; he doubted the Council would approve but he didn’t care.

“Do you remember what you said in Religion class yesterday?” he asked instead.

Her eyebrows drew in together. “I said a lot of things in class.”

“Do you remember what you said about guardian angels?”

“I said…that if they existed, they were doing their job by keeping an eye out for us.”

“Yes. That. If they existed,” he said, pausing in his pacing to face her.

“There’s no way guardian angels exist, though. I was only talking in ‘ifs’. I don’t believe they’re real.”

“Well, maybe you should,” he said, not looking at her. He was prepared for the denial that was coming, but he was not prepared for her laughing.

“You’re joking, right? Wow. I get that you don’t want to tell me who you are, but that’s too much,” she said, chuckling again.

Suddenly, she was pinned to the back of her chair as he placed his hands on the arms of the chair, trapping her in place. His face was centimeters from her and looked angry.

“This is not the time for laughing. You wanted answers? I’m giving them to you.”

As he moved away, Natasha didn’t say a word. She watched him pace a few minutes more, still silent. She wasn’t scared, really, she was shocked. The only person that yelled at her was her dad.

“A long time ago, a group of angels called the Seekers had the job of taking every prophecy and storing it. They came across one that couldn’t be ignored: A dark-haired, violet eyed baby would be borne to a family of normalcy. The child would be anything but normal; the child would control the balance of good and evil. If the balance shifted towards evil, it would be hell on Earth. If the balance was shifted to good, the Devil would be driven away back to hell, to wait until another child was born.”

Natasha sat, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as Caleb explained everything. She was trying, really trying, to keep an open mind about what he had to say but it was hard.

“Given to the Council, the prophecy was treated with the utmost importance. For millennia, we’ve been waiting for the child to be born. You’re her. That’s why the Council sent me to be your guardian. I had dozens of charges before, but once we realized your eyes had changed, they were all reassigned and I was to focus on keeping you safe. It’s my job to follow you, make sure you aren’t influenced by evil, to keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe from what?” Natasha finally found her voice.

“Dante. The devil. Satan. Whatever you want to call him.”

“You’re telling me that the devil wants me?” Natasha asked, almost shocked.

“You’re going to laugh again, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not. I’m just trying to get everything straight in my head,” Natasha said, rubbing her forehead.

“Then yes, the devil wants you.”

“Oh, balls. I think I need a cigarette,” Natasha said, standing up.

Caleb didn’t say anything as she walked downstairs but he followed closely behind her. Almost at the door, she stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked.

“I don’t have any cigarettes,” she said, turning to go back upstairs.

“Here,” Caleb said, pulling a green pack out of his back pocket. Natasha saw this and looked at him cautiously before she took them. She lead him towards the back of the house and out of the back doors.

Caleb had seen the backyard and pool area from the sky but it was more picturesque from the ground. He watched as she walked barefooted to the section of the yard no one went to. She moved a plant and pulled out the ashtray she kept there. She sat cross-legged in the grass and he joined her. He watched as she kept the cigarette in her mouth while she pulled her hair up and secured it with a hair tie and the ribbon.

“So what exactly happens if the Devil gets me?” she asked after a period of time.

“If he can control your mind, he controls you. If he can control you, the balance is done for.”

“Why me?”

“A long time ago, Dante was an angel himself. He was sent to Earth as a punishment and sent letters back describing what the Creator had made. As his letters went on, one name showed up more and more often. Her name was Amelia. When it was discovered that Satan was trying to corrupt the humans using Amelia, he banished Satan to hell.”

“What happened to Amelia? What does this have to do with me?” Natasha asked, interested now.

“I’m getting to you. When the Creator found out Amelia was helping him, being his influence, he banished her from existence. Before it could happen, though, she managed to curse herself, claiming she would be re-incarnated in a child with violet eyes and hair as dark as midnight. If Dante can get his hands on you, he’ll try to resurrect her through you.”

“What about those guys? The clowns and that guy from the alley, who are they?"

“Demons disguised as humans.”

“How did they know I was afraid of clowns, though?” Natasha asked, putting out her cigarette in the ashtray.

“That I don’t know. We know he’s got pieces of land all over the United States and some in Europe. We can’t get close; if we do get close, all of our power drains and our wings cramp up. We’ve never been able to get close enough. We do, however, have a couple of people on the inside. Each demon has a mark which is how you can tell if someone is a demon or not. They’ve got a tree tattooed on their neck, marking them. We were able to find Guardians, which are different from Guardian Angels, and give them the tattoos and get them inside. We haven’t heard from them in years so we have no knowledge of their allegiance to us anymore.”

“Tree tattoos?” Natasha asked. She placed her ashtray back in her hiding spot for it and stood up. When Caleb straightened out, she handed the pack of cigarettes back to him.

“Keep them,” he said, waving them away. “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree that Adam and Eve ate the fruit from?”

“Yeah, I know what it is. No offense, but that’s pretty good for him,” Natasha said, walking beside him back into the house. She suddenly thought of earlier that day and what he’d said to her. “What did you mean earlier today when you asked me if I could see you?”
“That is one of the powers a guardian angel possesses. We have the ability to hide ourselves from our charges. See without being seen, the cardinal rule.”

“’The Cardinal rule’?” She asked.

He mentally cursed himself for revealing that. He skirted his way around the question. “You shouldn’t be able to see me unless I reveal myself to you. You should not have been able to see me today.”

“Yet I did. Does that mean you’re not as powerful as you thought?”

“No, it means you’re more special than we thought,” Caleb said, following her up the stairs back to her room.

“What did you want with Ben?”

“I didn’t want anything with Ben; Isabella wanted to speak with him.”

“So is Isabella your mate or something?” Natasha asked, almost blushing. She kept telling herself she was just curious, but she knew better.

“No, she’s not my mate. Her mate is Adam. You shouldn’t have seen either of us today. Isabella is Ben’s guardian angel.”

“So why was he able to see her and speak to her when you said you’re not supposed to reveal yourselves?”

“Because Ben is no ordinary human; Ben is a guardian. He’s able to go places and do things angels can’t do. He’s your day-to-day Guardian when I’m not available.”

“Are you saying Ben isn’t my real brother?” Natasha asked, shocked.

“I didn’t say any such thing. I merely said that he’s a Guardian. Isabella watches over him because he doesn’t have as strong of powers as Angels do, but he’s got some. He’s able to get close to you, be there for you if I’m called away. That’s why I told you to bring him with you tonight, because you can trust him.”

Caleb looked at the clock when he saw Natasha yawn.

“It’s almost two, you should get some sleep. I’m staying here while your parents are gone,” he said, sitting down in her computer chair. When she started to protest, he said only, “You might as well get some sleep, you’re running errands with me tomorrow.”

Natasha grabbed clothes from her drawers and took them to her bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Once she was changed, her teeth brushed and her face washed, she came out of the bathroom. Caleb was still sitting in the chair, only he’d removed his jacket. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was tilted back. Since his eyes were closed, she was able to look at him more. He had a strong jawline, wide neck, and broad shoulders. Along with the Orthodox cross necklace he wore, a set of hemp bracelets and a chain adorned one wrist. One of the hemp bracelets had a small cross on it. It was almost ironic, almost. As if he sensed her looking at him, his eyes opened and he looked her over.

“Get some sleep.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” she asked, confused.

“Yes, I’ll sleep here.”

“Why here?” Natasha said, frowning.

“I want to make sure you’re okay while your parents are gone. I’m a light sleeper and if anything was to happen, I’d hear it.”

“I sleep with music on.”

“I know,” he said, smiling. “Even if your choice in most music does suck.”

“You don’t have to listen. You’re more than welcome to go to a different room, you know.”

“I know, but I prefer to be close just in case.”

Natasha shrugged and pushed play on her iPod, letting the music play through the speakers of the docking station. She climbed into her bed and cut the lights out.

“Goodnight, Caleb.”

“Sweet dreams, princess.”



Natasha was jerked awake by a dream. She sat up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat. She reached up to wipe the sweat away when she realized she was crying. Wiping her face off, she sat in bed calming down. She couldn’t remember anything about the dream but knew she was afraid. Her silence was interrupted by mumbling. Her gaze was jerked towards the chair where Caleb was still sitting. He was completely asleep, his head thrown back and his arms hanging down beside the chair. Incoherent words were coming out of his mouth and every once in a while he would twitch.

Silently, she climbed out of bed and walked towards him. She had barely touched his arm when he was out of the chair and on the other side of her.

“What?! What is it?! What’s wrong?”

He looked all around the room to make sure everything was okay before turning back to face Natasha who had a mixture of shock and amusement on her face. At his confused look, she burst out laughing.

“You should see your face right now,” she said in between laughs. When she got a good look at his angry face, she sobered up. “Sorry.”

“You wake me up because you thought it would be funny?” he said, getting more angry.

“Actually, no. I didn’t think you’d actually fall asleep in the chair and I felt bad. You didn’t look at all comfortable.”

“Are you going to offer me to share your bed?” he asked with a smile, knowing she wouldn’t but he wanted to see her reaction. Immediately the smile left her face.

“N-no, but I thought one of the guest rooms would be better. I mean, you said you were a light sleeper, so wouldn’t you hear if I…screamed or something?” To be honest, she didn’t want to wake up to another bad dream with him there. She knew he’d ask about it and she wasn’t ready to explain them, especially when she didn’t even remember them.

Caleb could tell something was different in the way her eyes shifted back and forth after she was done talking. He didn’t press her, thinking that she just didn’t like having him in her room. He picked up his jacket from the back of the chair and followed her to the room next to hers. Why she was caring was beyond him.

“Well, goodnight again, I guess,” Natasha said by the door.

“Goodnight,” he said and watched her shut the door. He heard her go back into her room and shut her own door. He could even tell when she fell back asleep as her breath evened out.

He looked around the room, thinking it empty even though furniture sat at every corner. As he removed his shirt and jeans, he still couldn’t put his finger on why the room felt lonely.