The Crystal Guardians

The Discovery

I kneeled down beside Passie and took her by the hand, squeezing it tight. I watched her slowly turn onto her side through winces to look at me and smile. "Hi Ever." I could tell it took all her effort to squeeze those two words out through her bashed and bruised ribs.

Her hand quivered as she extended it to wipe away a tear which trickled down my cheek. "I'm so sorry Passie." I knew that she wouldn't have been in her bedridden, hospital state if I had only acted smarter, run faster, fought harder. It took all the strength in me to not break down from the guilt I felt, but it took even more to keep silent and conceal the secrets the EGAD kept.

So I said nothing more than being by her side like everyone else. "Don't apologise and you did everything you could. So thank you for that and thank you too guys." She gestured towards Laura who was beside me, Hawk and Kevin who stood behind and Robin and Gregorias, leaning on the wall. Vini, Rose and Diana were huddled together at the end of Passie's bed. Her parents were nowhere to be seen except they could be heard arguing outside.

"In case you were wondering, they're angry because apparently details on my injury sources are "confidential government information". But I don't see why, it's stupid."

"Oh yeah totally," Kevin added to Passie's statement. Laura sniggered and I returned it with a well deserved nudge. Instead, she then flared towards Kevin who quickly said, "But it's okay and it doesn't matter much hey maybe we should get some fresh air?"

"Oh I'd love some of that, but more like explanations," Vini chimed in, starting into my soul. She abruptly stood up and took my arm, dragging me outside the hospital ward. "We'll let you get some rest darling, come on." Laura then got up and hopped away with us as we left the others.

We ended up in a baron courtyard where we were alone. Besides a few worn benches and dead trees, it was empty with only the different shades of grey concrete to admire. Vini sat me down on a bench, Laura on the other side, sandwiching me between the two of them. "Ok what's that look for?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing!" I replied to Vini. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm pretty sure you do. I have absolutely no idea what happened since the dance. You disappeared and didn't even come back home. Were you even at the after party?"

"Yes I was." I squeezed out from in between them and stood up, breathing in the cool air. "I just had to go for a minute."

"You were gone the whole night. Your mum ended up on my front door step because you wouldn't answer her calls." Laura's hand reaches for my shoulder, turning me around to face her, now standing with me. "Look you just have to tell us whether you're okay or not, we don't need to press for details-"

"I found the dagger."

Laura opened her mouth only for nothing to come out. "Why does it always work when you do the talking?" Vini asked, not at all phased by the question.

"It's called empathy, you should try it sometime." Laura then turns back to me. "You need to be more specific."

"The one my father owned. Maybe not the exact one, but come on, who else has a weapon that extravagant. It's honestly kind of weird, it was just sitting in Hawk's closet. I mean who does that?!"

Chuckles escape from Vini this in stiffled snorts as she tried to conceal them. "I'm serious," I told her.

"Maybe he's into cosplay."

"Or maybe he's got something to do with the Crystal Guardians." I fidgeted, twiddling my fingers as the cogs in my brain whirred. Before I could say anything else, Laura flashed me a stern look and Vini slapped me on the arm, bringing her finger to her lip.

Right on cue, there was a rustle from behind. We turned around instantly to only find nothing among the bushes and trees, needing overdue gardening. There was a loud crack when I spotted a shadow speeding past the brambles from the corner of my eye. I tried to pursue it, only to be held back by Vini with an arm slung around my waist, stopping me. "We have to go. Now."

Laura and I began to walk back into the intensive care ward to meet with the others. Vini trails at our feet looking back before taking me by the arm and pulling me close. "Look maybe there's a wild chance you're actually onto something Ever, but we can't talk about it. Not here at least."

We walked together until we passed Passie's room and were standing outside in the parking lot. Vini pulled out her keys and with the click of a button, her car beeped, the doors unlocking. "I'll give you all a lift home, but we have to make a deal."

Laura and I jumped into the back seat, closing the doors as the engine revved to life. "So what's the deal?"

"This stays between us. It's already bad enough and may I emphasise, IF you've caught onto something Ever since I have to admit he seemed pretty suss at first. But let's meet up tonight, at my place."

And so we drove off, far away from the hospital and it's garden and the mysterious person lurking in the shadows. We'd meet up that night to talk of something that none of us were prepared to know.

Something forbidden in the world we lived in.

✨✨✨

I remember waking up to a loud thud and the piercing cries of my mother. Ripping open my backpack, I grabbed a heavy duty flashlight I used for The Trials and headed out into the halls. In my other hand, I had my Adot on speed dial with the police, ready for whatever could be hiding in the shadows.

I flicked the light switch and sighed. The power had gone out, or more like someone had messed with the electric circuits. Cold sweat began to bead on my forehead and I broke into a sprint to reach the master bedroom. It was easy to identify the tracks of the intruder as I followed the broken ornaments, knocked over furniture and the occasional slashes in the wall that my flashlight beamed upon. The intruder appeared to have only reeked terror through it's destructive trail left behind.

Once I arrived to my mother's room, I was out of breath and it felt as if it was too late. My heart contorted in my chest when I laid my eyes on mum, curled up in a ball and crying in bed. "It's okay, everything will be alright," I told her, even thought it really wasn't.

We called the authorities to investigate the scene and have a chat with us. They deducted it would be an ongoing investigation and by the time everyone had left, the sun was peeking over the horizon and I had bailed on the deal made earlier.

But even as the world around us began to wake, I lay down on my mum's bed cradling her just like she used to with me as we tried to recover from a sleepless night.