Protector

Aziel watched the pinks and purples of the sky as it made its journey to the tip of her house. Her eyes blinked as she heard her bedroom door open. "Aziel, breakfast is ready."

She hesitantly answered," I'll be there in a moment." the growing light captivated her. It was similar to the way a deer watches the headlights of an oncoming car. Once the sun had reached the point the sky where it no longer held her interest, she turned away.

Gracefully, she descended the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs waffled through the doorway, hitting her nose and causing her stomach to growl viciously. Her mom chuckled," Sounds like someone's a bit hungry."

Aziel smiled and grabbed the plate her mother extended to her. “Thanks, mom."

Her mother beamed," You're welcome." Then she went on to put the skillet in the sink. Aziel sat down and dug into her food, trying to ward off the thoughts and feelings of the mysterious night before.

It wasn't possible for her to feel rejected when no one had done so to her. She shook her head, wondering what could possibly be wrong with her. Soon the plate full of food didn't keep her interest in the least. She stood up and dumped it in the garbage before throwing some nearby white flip-flops on.

The ocean was a beautiful dark blue that sparkled when the Sun casted her rays on it. It was a calming day for the ocean even though Aziel's mind was in complete chaos.

She sat cross-legged on the gorgeous sandy beach, letting the soft breeze gently blow against her pale bare arms. Her blond hair shined as it caught the light and softly fluttered around her face and shoulders. The Sun sated at her, being completely parallel to her. She shielded her blue eyes away, causing her stare at the ocean again.

She couldn't help but compare how alike she was to it. She could be calm and beautiful one day, while on another she felt destructive and violent? It was like she was modeled after the ocean, her friend and advisor.

Her mind wondered back to the metal breakdown in her art class. How had she so suddenly went violent and then remorseful? Why was she such a contradiction in herself? Why was she so much like the thing she loved most?

"A person is trying to reach you on your cellular device. Beep, beep, beep. A person is trying to..." Aziel quickly stuck her slender hand down into the back of her blue jean shorts, pulling out the defensive cell phone that had shattered her shard of calmness among the storm. A text message lit up her screen: hey.

Aziel glared at the one worded message from Alexander; still not happy with the fact he had kept a secret from her. Her thumbs danced around the keys, trying to respond but not really knowing what to say. Eventually, she gave up and put the phone silent before flinging it onto the sand bar next to her.

She sighed as the water gently nipped at her toes. If only she could stay on the beach all day and not have to worry about the horrible kids at school. Silently, she trudged up the slope and back to her house.

Her mother and father greeted her once she had entered the house again, stopping their routine morning conversations and coffee. "Morning, Aziel."

Aziel felt the smile creep back onto her face as she embraced her dad, happy to know he lived another day. “Morning, Dad." She didn't know what it was but something about her dad always comforted her. He always knew how to handle her weird mood swings that had been happening of lately.

Her dad patted her back before releasing her from his fragile arms. Aziel frowned down at his thinning figure but stopped when he gently smiled at her. Even if her dad wasn't in the best situation, it didn't mean they had to mope.

Aziel took one last glance at her parents before walking back out into the summer weather. She was absolutely dreading school, figuring it had already got around that she cried over nothing. Her familiar car was in the paved driveway, sitting there awaiting her departure. She adored her little green 1998 vintage bug, having received it from her dad for her fifteenth birthday.

She pulled the old door open and climbed in, gently shutting it. She quickly backed out of her driveway, whipping her head back and forth to make sure it was all clear. She shifted into drive and off to school she went, hoping it would explode or something to that degree. She put one hand under her chin as she drove, keeping the other one steadily on the wheel.

Eventually, the school was within her sight. Only, it was in flames with a bunch of students running around like chickens with their heads cut clean off. Aziel watched with wide, careful eyes she pulled into the over-crowded parking lot.

A nearby student shouted," Wow, guess Coach Winfield decided he needed a smoke and accidently dropped it on the carpet." Among the body of students, that was the official story. However, Aziel had a sneaking suspicion that there was something else to this 'story'. She shook her head and grabbed her old, thread baring bag out of the car, following the other students to the front of the school building.

Principal Evans asked for their attention and then began his speech. "Students, I'm sure you are aware that there will be no classes for the next two weeks. We aren't exactly sure who started this fire but until that is determined, we will resume classes at the local church on Fairfield Streets. Buses will be here shortly, have a good rest of the day." Then he walked away like it was natural that our school randomly busted into flames, like it was an everyday a currents.

The other students just laughed and slapped each other's hands as they waited on their rides home. Aziel started her journey back to the car but stopped short when she heard an ominous whisper. "This is just the beginning." She whipped around to find the speaker but was met with a brick wall. Something was wrong and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She looked both ways before gingerly stepping over the yellow tape and ducking into the school building.

The corridors looked normal, except for a single singed spot. It was like something had ripped its way through the wall. Aziel carefully peered into it, fiercely gripping the wall. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about this gaping hole but it was a feeling that Aziel had. This hole was not supposed to be here. So why was it? What was it?A