I Have an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #1)

Chapter 6

Olivia's POV

With her eyes still on me, Eliza drops the last petal onto the kitchen table and stands up. In three wide strides, she diminishes the distance between us, but instead of stopping a step away from me, she presses the tip of her nail against my forehead.

"Do you feel that?"

"Of course, I feel it." I swat her hand away and rub the throbbing bruise she managed to press her nail into.

"What happened?" She runs her russet eyes along the purple bruises and the red scrapes scattered across my arms and stops at the visible edge of the deepest cut running diagonally across the inside of my left forearm.

"Car accident. Are you a stalker, too?"

"Stalker?" Eliza furrows her eyebrows.

"I mean Guardian." Apparently, Samuel isn't the only one who has never been called a stalker before. "Are you my Guardian just like Samuel is?"

"Aren't we self-centered?" Eliza snorts and makes her way back to the table where she leans against its edge. "What makes you think you're special enough to deserve not only one, but two Guardians?"

"What else am I supposed to think considering you're inside my home?"

"Since when are you the only one living here?"

"So, you're Mom's Guardian?" Now, her comment about being old friends with Mom makes much more sense.

As if on cue, Mom walks back into the kitchen. This time she has her naturally straight hair styled in soft waves. "We need to go, or we'll miss the bus."

"Are you sure you can't see anyone at the table?" I try one more time.

"I'm this close," Mom puts her thumb and index finger a breath's distance from each other and points them at me, "to grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting your hair. Are you willing to let me?"

"Let's go." I move the crutches as far as possible and take a giant hop away from her.

With me leading the way, Mom, Eliza, and I exit the house and make our way down the front-drive. We make it only past our neighbors' hedge when Mom stops. She opens the black bag she's carrying and begins to roam through it.

"Shoot. I forgot my phone. You continue to the bus stop and I'll be right behind you." Without a backward glance, she hurries back to our house as fast as her heels allow her.

I expect Eliza to follow her, but she remains rooted to her spot beside me.

"Aren't you going to follow her?"

"Do I look like I'm in the mood to act like a lost puppy?" Eliza deadpans.

"Aren't you as her Guardian obligated to follow her?"

"Not really." Eliza turns back to the road, and we begin to make our way to the bus stop. "We can't stick to all our charges all the time."

"All of your charges? You mean to tell me you have more than one person you're stalking—I mean guarding?"

"Obviously. Right now there are more humans living on this planet than there are people who have died all throughout human history. Not to mention how lenient the One upstairs is being about who needs to be punished for their sins."

"By the One upstairs do you mean Him?" I point at the clear blue sky. "God?"

"Him." Eliza scoffs. "Another typical example of how gullible humans are. The Higher Power doesn't have a human gender. Deciding to call it a him is nothing but a man-made decision. And you're all dumb enough to believe the words of a few males who decided they were above an entire race of females."