Guardian Angel Service

Chapter Seven

When Coal arrived back at his house, he found Victoria standing in the kitchen cooking breakfast. His stomach began to growl as he sniffed the sweet vanilla and cinnamon aroma escaping the room. He leaned over her shoulder easily to see what she was cooking.

Startled, she lifted her arm up and almost elbowed him in the nose. He narrowly missed it as he stepped to the right. Her eyes grew wide in alarm when she finally saw him.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, dear. I thought you were someone else," she exclaimed.

Who else could it have been? Unless she wanted to elbow Evangeline, which he highly doubted. Besides, supernaturals, other then Guardian Angels, could get through the barrier surrounding the house. Before he could voice his question, something caught his eye. A dark haze stood in the corner of the room. It wasn't moving, speaking or doing anything in particular. It was just... watching, watching Victoria. Its gaze was solely on her head. Coal felt uncomfortable. The dark haze wasn't good or evil, light or dark but it seemed to take the life out of everything around it. The plant by the window slowly started to decay, petals sucked dry of their radiant colours.

Coal glared at it. He wasn't sure why but he didn't want the thing anywhere near this house. He lifted an arm, as if he was trying to shoo it away. The thing didn't have any eyes but Coal knew it was assessing him. He could have sworn it smiled before disappearing into the shadows. Coal was still staring at the place it stood. How did it slip through the barrier? Why did it make him so uncomfortable? And why did it feel like he had saw it somewhere before?

One glance at Victoria and all his questions were answered. The lifeless and dull look in her eyes as she stared into space sent a cold shiver down his spine.

The dark haze was the Spirit Of Death.

Coal didn't take his eyes off of Victoria until some life returned to her eyes. She blinked a couple of times, as if trying to remember what she was doing. When she finally saw him, a sad smile grew on her lips. He sat down on the stool before her and waited patiently for an answer. It was as if after he became a Guardian Angel, he could read people better and tell when they were about to break. He knew if he pushed too hard, Victoria would break. Therefore, he waited a few minutes before talking in a soothing voice.

"When are you going to tell Evangeline? You haven't got much time left."

She turned back to cooking her food, back facing him. "I know. I don't know how to tell her. You see, the brain is a complex and difficult thing. I've had a extremely weak one ever since birth. When I was younger, I couldn't think like others, speak like others or sleep like others. I've only survived this long because of my spells but I'm growing old and weak. I know the only reason I'm alive right now is because of you. Thank you," she said quietly.

After a few minutes of silence, Coal got up to use the bathroom. "One moment," she said to him. This time, she turned to face him and met him with a firm look. "I need you to promise me something." He nodded. "I want you to protect Evangeline after I'm gone. Witches are hunters of Mortem's however, that can quickly change when a witch is emotionally or physically unstable that Evangeline will no doubt be. The barrier around this house will break soon after I die. It won't be safe here anymore. I've got a relative who is strong enough to protect the both of you. Her name is," a series of incomprehensible words escaped her mouth until she said, "although people call her Melisandre."

A small silver compass appeared in her palm. It didn't have a point but other then that it looked normal. "This is a compass she gave to me a very long time ago and it's the only compass that will take you to her. Be careful with her, don't let her appearance deceive you. She will test you - the both of you - to see your worth. She will either welcome you or throw you to the Mortem."

After that, Coal felt light-headed. He never felt so useless. There was a ticking clock on Victoria's life and it was only a matter of hours left until it would stop ticking. What was he going to do? Was he going to tell Evangeline? Was he just going to let Victoria die? Where exactly was this Melisandre? Were they going to even make it to her house? Were they going to even pass her little test?

Pacing back and forth in the attic, Coal's mind was in chaos. Minutes felt like hours - maybe Victoria was already dead. Taking a deap breath, he opened the trapdoor and leaped down the steps. He made his way to the kitchen only to find Evangeline eating breakfast and no Victoria.

"Where is-," Coal froze. He only then noticed the streams of water gushing down her cheeks. She was simply eating her food with trembling hands as Coal sniffed the air. There was still a faint scent of Victoria but she wasn't there.

"A witches body, when dead, turns into ash," Evangeline mumbled, "a witch as old as grandma would have no trace left of her. She always told me to be grateful for food and never leave an inch of it left on the plate."

Coal was never good with these kinds of situations. He didn't know what to say or do to help Evangeline. When his mother died, he pushed everyone out. Fighting was his answer to grief. Besides, he always had Juliet to comfort him. Instead, he pulled up a seat beside her and placed an awkward arm around her shoulders. It was the least he could do. For some reason, he was feeling the exact same emotion as she was and was on the verge of tears himself. Maybe it was a Guardian Angel thing. None the less, they stayed like that for a while until Coal heard something.

The breaking of the barrier.

He leaped up, throwing his arm off of her shoulder. "We need to go. Now."

She saw the urgent look in his eyes and pushed her grief to one side. She ran to the attic, grabbed several books of her grandmas and pulled on the bag her grandmother always told her to take if it was an emergency and Evangeline was leaving the house.

Running back to the front door, Evangeline found Coal standing by the door. In the time she was upstairs, he changed into a blue shirt, jeans and a pair of Adidas trainers.

How he changed into a shirt with wings attached onto his back was beyond her but Evangeline wasn't in the mood to ask.

When he opened the front door, he picked her up effortlessly. He then bended his knees and flexed his large wings to their full size. Without any warning, he sprang into the sky. The wind was scratching at Evangeline's cheeks as they soared through the sky. She took the time to observe the morning sky. A sea of clouds loomed over her, completely different from the day she went cloud watching with her grandmother. The thought of it blurred her vision. The journey was a silent one, the ripping of air being the only sound she heard. Two hours went by when Evangeline started seeing the effects on Coal's wings. They began to slow down considerably as they went on.

"Don't you think we should land soon? Form some sort of plan?" She asked. He simply nodded and descended towards the land of forest beneath them. When they landed on the forest floor, Coal brought a silver compass out from the back pocket of his jeans. One moment there was no point but the next, a golden arrow appeared above the compass.

"We're heading south," he said as they began their long journey on the forest floor.

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