Guardians

Phoenix.

Alex felt something very soft and gentle brushing her cheeks gently, making her muscles tense and her eyes formed wrinkles along the corners as she shut them very tight. Finding some courage within her, She raised her hand to investigate the object causing her heart to beat faster, getting a hold of something satiny, something that instantly made her feel comfortable, something that caused her to open her eyes and find the a very alluring and familiar face with the most loyal pair of grey eyes that gave you a sign of trust.

"What do you want?" Alex said as she sat up immediately making room for the mysterious lady that visited her the night before.

"Ah, I’m so glad you're not scared this time. You made me feel extremely guilty for scaring you when I visited you last, I had to put a spell on you so you'd fall asleep" the lady giggled while sitting on the area Alex provided to her on the bed. 

"Who are you?" Alex inquired confused, understanding the fact that she had not dreamt of this woman but had actually encountered her in reality.

"I’m Avery, your guardian of course" said Avery in a very polite manner.

"My guardian? What do you keep talking about? I don’t have a guardian" Alex said in a very annoyed tone. 

"Oh child, you had a guardian all this time, since birth actually. In fact, you're the reason we've chosen to become guardians, to protect our world, to protect you. You just weren't aware of it" Avery replied thinking it would make perfect sense to her. 

"Your world? why would you, and whoever your friends are, want to protect me?" Alex asked baffled by what she had just heard.

"I know exactly how you're feeling at the moment, you'll know what you need to know step by step when the time comes. I can't wait to tell the others that I’ve finally revealed myself to you, they're going to bombard questions at me, I must prepare myself to answer"  replied Avery as she got up, preparing herself to go somewhere.

Alex looked at Avery in a very intense way like she was trying to figure something out but couldn’t realize what it was when a very bright smile appeared on her face like she just found the answer to every question she ever asked in her life.

"Oh haha, I know what's going on. Okay guys, very funny, I found out, show me where the cameras are Avery, or whatever your real name is" Alex laughed and scanned the room for something. 

"I beg your pardon?" Avery looked at Alex with a perplexed expression on her face.

"Look, you can stop acting now, I know this is some show and you guys are trying to prank me. I'm pretty sure the show’s team is probably laughing right now, you can't fool me. But great work I must say, you guys had me for a few days, now, where're are the cameras?"Alex asked walking towards her light switch with a smile so she could turn the lights on. 

"Oh, well, first, I’d love to show you where these cameras that you're talking about are once I find out what they are. And second, I don’t intend to fool you in any way dear, this is real. Here, I’ll show you something" Avery said while walking towards Alex and getting a hold of right her hand, examining her wrist.

"Wow, would you look at that, it's here, this is proof that you're one of us, but, yours has color, and it's also different than what all the others have, well, it should be different. You're unique." Avery said as she showed Alex a very extraordinary mark on her wrist that looked like a bird imitating an eagle made of flames of fire. It was decorated in Alizarin Red, sunrise Orange and a pinch of bright Yellow, with giant wings throwing flames in every direction and a tail that had flames of fire escaping from it in every angle. It had a thin, slightly long neck, a pointy beak, with three small feathers on top of its humble head. 

Alex looked at the mark with horror and ran her fingers across it, in an attempt to rub it off of her wrist but  failed.

"What is this? where did it come from? I don’t remember getting a tattoo. If my mom sees this she'll kill me, get it off right now!" Alex commanded Avery in a harsh tone, feeling terrified and wanting the mark off of her wrist more than ever. 

"Calm down dear, I have one too. We all do, but yours is rather unique I suppose. It's a sign of our species. Our wrists have three horizontal lines with a vertical one running through them, yours appears like the magnificent and rare Phoenix. We've heard stories about a Phoenix but never seen one in our entire life." Avery said with an astounded expression on her face while she showed her wrist to Alex.  

Alex was in a state of shock, and stood there completely still creating silence between herself and Avery.

"Oh and don’t worry about your mother. You're the only one that can see this mark. Nobody else can" Avery said reassuringly but getting no response from Alex.

"Well, I think you should sleep, I guess this is a lot for you to process, I have a feeling you won’t be able to sleep tonight, I guess I’ll have to cast that spell on your again" Avery said as she chuckled.

Alex knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at night so she didn't stop Avery from casting the spell and went straight towards her bed, trying to digest everything she just heard and saw, not having to worry about the lights as she never made it to the switch in the first place. 

"Wait, how will I know if you were actually real when I wake up in the morning?" Alex inquired immediately.

"You'll know when you look at the mark, dear." Avery responded in a very comforting way and kissed Alex on her cheekbone before disappearing. 

Alex close her eyes and indulged herself to think about everything that happened to her this particular night. Avery being her actual guardian, the mark of her wrist, the fact that Avery mentioned something about another world and species, will this one night change her life? Will she have to live like a whole different person now? what does all this mean? and before anyone knew it, Alex was fast asleep. 

***********************************************************************************************************

Hey guys, i hope you like this chapter, i just want to thank all of you for reading, voting and commenting, it really makes me happy to see that you guys like the story soo far, i love you all, whoever's reading this <3