Guardians of the Watchtower: North

Chapter 20

Suddenly it was like the weight of the world was coming down on Ivy's shoulders, it was mentally and physically exhausting. All the new information was weighing down her heart, and all she wanted was to crawl into a hole and die. If it wasn't bad enough her memories of how her father died weren't real, but that the very man she is sworn to protect the world from is the man that took his life. Her father had trusted him and his clan, they were supposed to save him but they didn't, they killed him. Ivy was sick to her stomach, walking slowly from the door to her bed and crawling in, it was like watching her father die all over again. Pulling her knees to her chest as she laid down on her side and pulling the covers up over her shoulders the first of the tears flowed past her barriers falling silently on the silken pillow below her head.
Ivy found herself walking down a very brightly lit hallway, completely empty its clean lines of floral wallpaper in muted tones delicately placed above the banisters that lined either side. She knew this place, and the double doors at the end with big yellow letters I.C.U. As much as she wanted to run it was like her feet were set at a certain pace taking an eternity to bring her to the doors she dreaded. Both doors opened before she could touch them to push them open and the entire unit was empty, only the curtains blowing in the wind and her heart beat raging war in her chest. Walking to the second curtained room to the right, stopping for a second with her trembling hand on the curtain she threw it back. The sight before her eyes took the very breath from her chest and made her knees give way under her. She watches as her child self, sat down in a chair pulled up to his bed, the gown and gloves they made her wear not fitting right. Being angry that they wouldn't even let her touch his hand but still, she sat there, his little girl with tears in her eyes feeling helpless as to what to do to make him better. Ivy held on to his hand, so tight it was like it was the last thing in the world, her heart was breaking and she could feel it tearing in her chest with each moment that he didn't open his eyes.
"Please daddy, please just wake up, just open your eyes just once please see me, daddy, I'm here, we're here with you."
Ivy listened to herself begging for his life, tears streaming down her angelic face as the nurses walked right through her to either side of him as they began turning off the machines. Ivy watched as they took the tube out of his mouth, seeing him choking and shake as he fought against them in his unconsciousness and held his hand tighter, as the tears came faster and she began screaming watching the monitors begin to slow down her chest hurt so bad her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest. As she laid her head down on his hand trying to hold on to him just a little while longer. She felt like part of her soul was dying in that room along with him.
"Please God take me! please take me! I'll take his place right now! please don't take my daddy! please, daddy fight! fight to stay with me oh God help him please don't leave me daddy just open your eyes!"
But no matter how much that little girl begged and pleaded for his life, pleaded for a second chance for someone she loved more than her own life he still died, and there was nothing she could do to save him, there was nothing she could do to bring him back. The moment his heart beat stopped she was gone, running from the room tears streaming down her face as fast as her little feet could carry her. Ivy watched her go tears streaming down her own face as well, as she went to get up to run after herself, but a hand caught hers. Ivy turned back and there he was kneeling down in front of her.
"Daddy!"
The words barely a whisper, as her heart swelled as she wrapped her arms so tightly around him, burying her face in his chest as she cried knowing this was just a dream, but the Goddess knows she'd give anything for this to be real. he brought his hands down the sides of her face using her chin to lift her face to look at him, using his thumb to wipe away the tears that poured down her face his deep brown hazel eyes looking down into her with all the love a father has for his child.
"Don't cry my little sugar plummie, my baby Ivy."
But that just brought more tears, going so long without hearing his voice had been its own personal torture.
"I love you more than you'll ever know, you make me proud every day my baby, you're so strong and beautiful, no matter where life takes you, I will always be with you because I'm a part of who you are, I know you miss me and the heavens know I would give anything to be there with you right now, to see you graduate, to see you have children of your own, to walk you down the aisle someday, but that's not in the cards for us baby, you must be strong I know you are, you mustn't let my death be your death too. The world needs you, baby, they need your love and your light."
"How do I go on daddy? I miss you so much, my heart hurts every day because I can't see your face, I've wished I could take back so much of the stuff that I did wrong, I wish I could just feel your hug just one more time, to hear you complain about me always having my headphones in and not being able to hear you talking to me, walking with me to the store for treats or having lunch with me or hearing you singing again, I just miss you so much"
"I know you do my baby, and I'm sorry that I'm not there, you'll have to forgive me for that."
Sabian began to stroke Ivy's hair gently as he whispered I love you, his words fading along with him leaving her where she kneeled crying the scream of a broken heart ripping her back awake.
Ivy laid there in the dark gasping for breath as the tears from her dream was a reality on her face. Holding on to her pillow for dear life as she sobbed into its comforting feathers, as she rubbed the tiny necklace in her fingers feeling the soft inscription that had been put there for her on the back.
Feeling restless and in able to fall back asleep Ivy sat up, on the side of her bed, thinking about what to do and what training was going to be like. She notices the clock was barely flipping over to three fifteen and got up, grabbing her hoodie and headphones, tossing her skater shoes on and going for the door, pulling both doors open at once, to find two very large men standing in front of her. They both turned looking at her and then at each other, the ivy on the sides of their faces clearly marked them as part of her Coven, but she was still dumbfounded as to why they were standing like guards in her bedroom door.
"Okay, where's John?" They both looked at each other again not saying a word to her,
"Ummm hmmm hellooooooo, where's John???"
But before they could look at each other again, John came through the sitting room door.
"Why are there guards here?"
"Because you need guarding!"
"No, I don't, you said the person that betrayed the coven was banished...so why do I need a detail?"
"Because the Goddess told us to give you one till you've been able to train properly to take care of yourself."
"How am I going to go to school with the men in black tailing me?"
"The headmaster already knows that it's for your safety and has okayed for one to be in class with you, and the others to be at the doors and exits of the school."
"Others? There's more than two?"
" You have six total."
"If I wasn't already a freak, why don't we add the Smith and Wesson club to my personal entourage to top it off?"
"Why are you up? You should be sleeping. You have a long day ahead of you."
"I'm going for a run around the lake. I can do that right?" but she wasn't really asking more like a sarcastic I'm going with or without your permission kinda way mostly.
"Yeah, but they go with you!" he pointed to the stiffs by the door.
"They won't even talk to me!"
"That's because they're not allowed to unless you give them permission to do so."
"What are their names?"
"The taller one with the waist length hair blonde hair is Samuel, and the one with the shoulder length jet black hair is Markus."
"You both have permission to talk to me, let's go!"
And before they could even blink she was already going to the balcony door, swinging it open wide in her wake and sliding down over the balustrade, using the ivy that crawled up the wall to get down, bending her knees slightly for the impact, landing on the ground in a smooth thud. She looked up to see if the men were following her, but they were both standing on the balcony watching her with John looking down at her in between their shoulders.
"Well, are you coming?"
Before she could complain any further, both men looked at each other and vanished in a smear of earth tones, purples, and blues reappearing in front of her, which instantly made her jump back a bit.
"What the hell?!!"
"It's teleportation, all of the earth Coven can do it!" Sylar smiled a boyish smile that was so white even Hollywood stars would be envious, and it was all natural. The green in his eyes lit up a little, making Ivy's pulse quicken a little like it did when Sylar smiled at her l before, but this time she could let it sink in. She turned and took off towards the path in the labyrinth that cut through the entire thing, spitting her out on the opposite side of it, into a clear open field. The massive lake looked like something you see on the front of the stupid cards they give you at funerals, painted all soft. But because it was four in the morning it was done in deep blues, purples, and blacks. It was beautiful and dark and completely deserted. Ivy didn't wait for the men to come out of the labyrinth. She took off like a bottle rocket, running as fast as she could. The moon was still in the sky, low, but enough light for her to see where she was going as she followed the path to get closer to the black, endless waters. Her heart was racing, her breath was ragged, and her legs ached, but she pushed herself to go faster, farther. The snapping of a branch behind her, made Ivy look and when she did she lost her footing on the path, a scream cut through the cool night's air, Ivy slammed her eyes shut bracing for the impact. But it didn't come two strong arms caught her mid-fall and Ivy opened her eye's to see Sylar's stunning smile looking down at her.
"I told you I wouldn't let you fall and not catch you." Sylar kissed her softly on the lips for a few seconds before putting her back upright, laughing at the look on her face, from fear to shock to mmmm sexy boy, in about three point five seconds.
"Stalking me, What did I tell you about that? Only every other Tuesday and bank holidays! "
"I was sure this was my Tuesday..."
"Nope, it's Sunday!"
"Are you sure?"
Ivy couldn't even help but smile feeling her heart swell a little as she took off in a soft Tinkerbell ,kinda jog, yelling back over her shoulder,
"I like that you play along with my silliness!"
"Well you are kinda crazy, but it's okay, we're all a little crazy here." he winked at her as he jogged alongside her.
"So, I see you've got guards!"
"Yeah, John made me."
"Well, this should be interesting explaining them, when we go back to school to finish the year off!"
"Yeah, I already had a bit of a freak out about it myself, but I can't change it so I just gotta deal with it till school's over."
Ivy stopped jogging and slide down the little embankment that turned from a grassy edge into the large grained sand, that made up the beach on the side of her lake. Walking to the edge of the water, they stood just out of its chilly, early morning reach. Ivy sat down in the sand, crossing her legs as she looked up to the sky that was beginning to change colors. The darkness of the night, fading away to lighter blues, purples, and reds as the first peak of light, shot like a blinding flare, across the skies, signaling the coming of a new day. Sylar sat down behind Ivy putting his legs on either side of her as they watch together, the light brought warmth and the sound of birds chirping in the distance. It was worth the jog and the chill on her skin for that moment, as they stood up together, heading back towards the house hand in hand, the only thing on either of their minds was the trying time that was ahead preparing Ivy to get ready and find the next guardian. Things were going to be different. Ivy had to buckle down and concentrate on the task at hand if she was going to save Addy from Dovarian's clan. Part of her felt sorry for him, knowing that he did all this because he loved his daughter as much as her dad had loved her, but part of her hated him for killing her dad when her dad had nothing to do with his daughter's disappearance.