I Have an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #1)

Chapter 9

Samuel's POV

Twice.

Since I discovered that Olivia is able to see me, she has already touched me twice. And again she did it to lift herself up without regard to what I thought of it.

I stare at her hand still wrapped around my forearm, while one sentence keeps spinning inside my mind. Guardians aren't supposed to touch humans.

I look up to her face to find her already staring at me. What I don't expect is the smile she is giving me.

"Eliza wasn't kidding when she said you guys don't change clothes," she says.

I blink at her words and then tear my arm out of her hold. The action causes her to lose her balance, and she begins to lean backward. Before she would fall down onto the sidewalk, she shoots with her hand forward and grabs onto my arm again.

Three times.

Because of her, I have already made contact with human skin on three occasions.

Olivia, however, acts like her action is nothing out of the ordinary when she continues to hold onto me until she regains her balance. "Give a girl some warning next time." She lets go of me and steadies herself with the help of the crutches. "How are you supposed to protect me if you're the one who's going to cause me additional injuries?"

I shake my head at her and focus on our surroundings. We're still standing in the middle of the sidewalk at the edge of a familiar intersection. I know all four streets that are stretching around us, as well as the small park on my right, which hosts a small soccer field. It's nothing out of the ordinary since one of my charges lives not far from here. But what doesn't make sense is Olivia's presence here. In fact, I can't remember her ever coming to this part of town.

"Why are you here?" I turn back to her.

She's now looking at the intersection of the four roads to her right and my left, while her eyes keep switching between three of the roads. I follow her gaze, yet find nothing but everyday streets.

"This is the spot where the paramedics found me." She points first at Southeast Bush Street, then at Southeast 103rd Avenue, and lastly at Southeast 104th Avenue. "I'm not sure on which road exactly, but it's definitely one of those three."

"Why are you back here?" I ask.

"I'm here because I want to remember what happened that night. I need to know who the driver was, so we can force them to cover my hospital fees."

"Did you remember anything?"

"No, I still can't remember a single thing." She shakes her head and glares back at the three streets. "I can't even remember which direction I came from."

"I think a Guardian helped you survive the accident, which is why you're now able to see us," I say. Throughout my time with my other twelve charges, I have been thinking about what could have caused Olivia's ability, and this is the only reasonable explanation I came up with. Nothing else could explain why she was suddenly able to see us.

"You mean like prevented me from dying?"

I nod, but before I can add anything else Olivia shakes her head.

"No. None of the doctors mentioned anything about me being close to death. I mean, I did hurt my head, but just today Dr. Kate told me that everything seems to be okay with me."

"Then why can't you remember the accident?"

"I don't know. The doctor said there's no medical reason for why my memories are missing." She tightens her lips again. "But I'm guessing you already have a theory of your own."