The Protection

Thirty-One

I pushed through the heavy double doors of the library. I was always in awe of the sloped wooden ceilings and literature that lined these walls. Every time I entered, my appreciation was renewed despite practically living here this semester. Growing up, my mother relentlessly took me to public libraries, and I would sit for hours on the floor pulling out various books. The idea of buying a book to read was, at the time, preposterous to me. I poured over my abnormal psychology flashcards until I felt as though my eyes would burn out of my skull. Needing a break, I climbed the stairs into the stacks, a hidden area that had quickly become one of my favorite quirky spots on campus. I loved to venture onto the musty third floor and join the dust and abandonment to search through LIFE magazines from the 1960s. Some couples would sneak onto the first or second floor to make out, but few made it all the way up here to the third floor.

Once again the section was abandoned, and I fingered the binding one of my favorites from 1965 when I caught wind of hushed voices a few rows in front of me. I dropped my hand from the magazine and inched my way closer, treading softly, begging my Vans to stay silent.

"You don't understand," a familiar voice pleaded. Kyler. "She has no gift. We've been following her for months now, and she's shown us nothing. She's just a normal college student." I shuddered at his harshness. Normal. It was worse than my nightmares. The woman's voice in response made me shiver. It was cool and brisk. His mother.

"Don't try and fool me, Kyler. I know you have been closer to her than any of us would like. Especially since you're promised." I turned the same shade of red as the cover of Farenheit 451. "I thought the months stationed in Vancouver would give you some clarity. Now, I'm second guessing myself for reassigning you to her case at all." Vancouver?! Kyler had been out of the country? That is why he left all those months ago? Not because he had forgotten about me or gotten married, but because he was forced to leave. The elation flipped my stomach, and I tried to suppress it. It was childish and selfish to feel joy he was forced to leave, that it wasn't because he didn't care about me. Kyler's life was a path dictated by someone else. No choice was his own free will. Instead his life occurred in sequences chosen by a large, powerful, dominant organization.

Kyler sounded choked, "You don't understand mother! I felt her-"

"Enough!" she shrieked. "You are promised to a Radulov for God's sake! Let alone the fact that a connection of touch is more rare than any of us can even comprehend." Kyler was silent. "You need to get a grip and continue to monitor her, from a distance. We need to make absolutely sure. Need I remind you who her father is?" More silence. My mind flashed back to the night in the alley. The man with the knife. Tell Daddy I said hello. How had I not remembered until now. Why would my father have anything to do with these people? With The Protection?! He was just some low-life scumbag who ran out on my mother and me. He was hardly anyone noteworthy. I felt something clawing at my mind, begging to fight its way to the surface. I stumbled backwards, my shoe catching on the corner of The Odyssey. I reached my arms out to steady myself, but a heavy World War II memoir crashed to the floor. I caught my breath, hoping beyond hope that neither of these two Protectors with superhuman abilities had heard the loud crash that echoed in the vast room.

"What was that?" his mother hissed. I instinctively backpedalled towards the staircase.

"I don't know," Kyler sighed, seeming unbothered.

"Well, where is she now?" his mother demanded. I could hear them moving closer as I raced down the stairwell, my feet barely touching the concrete steps.

"Last I could tell she was thinking of going home and going for a run," he implied, their heavy footsteps getting closer now. I ran onto the main floor of the library and ducked into the women's bathroom, tucking myself into the corner and closing my eyes, as if doing so would somehow render me invisible. I could still hear them searching for me in the hallway, but soon the voices disappeared. I paused to catch my breath and dissect their conversation. My father? Kyler "feeling me"? His mother thinking I had some weird special powers? I opened my eyes, exited the bathroom, and peeked into the hallway, and when I saw that they were gone, I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the back entrance. Kyler's Seer buddies may not know my every move, but he had presented me with a fantastic idea: a run would definitely clear my muddled mind and give me some space to think. Away from The Protection. Away from him.