Guardian

Chapter 24

"Jason..."

I heard a woman's voice softly calling me. I could feel that the woman was brushing a hand through my hair.

"Jason...wake up."

Mom...?

I slowly blinked open my eyes and looked up at the woman. When her face came into focus, I saw that she had black hair instead of my mom's brown. "Wha-...Wh-who are you?" I asked, "Where am I?"

I looked around and saw that we were in what appears to be a limo. The windows were dark, so I couldn't really see outside, or maybe it was just nighttime. I wanted to get up from this strange woman's lap, but I was just so tired for some reason. I can't really remember what happened.

"It's okay, Jason, you're safe." she soothed and continued to brush her hand through my hair.

I let out a long sigh as I try to fight the urge to go back to sleep. The woman must have noticed my conflict and stopped, her hand still holding my head. I looked up at her again through sleepy eyes. Why was she being so nice to me? Who is she?

I sighed again and relaxed. She did remind me of my mom though, if only for a moment.

"Who are you?" I asked again after a long period of silence.

"My name is Holly Chao." she answered, "I was asked to watch over you on the way back to the main headquarters."

"Holly...that's a pretty name."

She giggled and stroked my head again, "Thank you."

I was so tired, I just started rambling. "My cousin's name was Holly. The last time I saw her though was before my parents died. She was really nice, and we got along pretty well even though she was a few years older than me. But...her parents didn't really have a lot of money...and they were struggling to stay afloat since Holly had two younger siblings. At least...that's what they told me...That's why they couldn't take care of me. They had to pay my medical bills and some of the funeral bills...and...and..."

I trailed off, not wanting to continue or even knowing why I started. Hot tears slid down my face and into Ms. Holly's lap. My eyelids were becoming heavy as Ms. Holly held me close, whispering soothing words.

"Dark...I'm scared..." I mumbled as sleep finally took hold of me once again.

"Jason, we're here, wake up."

I blinked open my eyes and looked up at Ms. Holly, "We're...here?"

She giggled at my confused expression, "Yes, at Steros Corp. Time to get up, sleepyhead."

It took a moment for that to process, Steros Corp. I'm at Steros Corp....

STEROS?!?!

I jumped up and scrambled away from Ms. Holly, fully awake now. "No, no, no, no, no! Not here! Any place but here, where that MONSTER is!" I paniced.

Ms. Holly was taken aback at my outburst and tried to calm me down. "Hey, Jason you're safe now! There is no way that shadow monster can get you now. Mr. Steros just-"

"What are you talking about?" I interupted, "Dark isn't the monster, he's my best friend, my family! Steros is the monster!"

"W-what?" Ms. Holly shook her head and tried to smile at me.

"Jason, you're safe here. Like I was trying to say, Mr. Steros just wants to make sure you're okay. He wants to make sure Subject 134 didn't do anything to you."

She reached out her hand to help me back onto the seat, but I pushed her away. "Don't touch me! You're not my mom!" I yelled, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

At that moment, the car stopped and the door swung open. A man bent down to look inside, glancing between the two of us. "Ms. Holly, Steros says that you are to report to his office while I take Mr. Walker to the med wing."

"O-oh, okay." She took the man's extended hand and he helped her out of the limo.

He leaned back in and grabbed my arm before I could get away. He yanked me out of the limo and held onto me tightly.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, "Put me down!"

He slung me over his shoulder and began walking towards the towering white building. As I squirmed in his grasp, I locked eyes with Ms. Holly.

"He's lying, Holly!" I cried, "Please, believe me! Dark isn't bad! Please, please, help me! Help US!"

I could see that Ms. Holly was crying, but for once I wasn't. I kept screaming in protest as I was taken closer to that dreaded man.