“You call that a kick,” Gabe heartlessly taunted just as my size seven sneaker brutally smashed into his mocking smirk causing him to loose his precious balance easily as his body smacked the surrounding blue mats with a satisfying thump, blood leaking from his busted lip. He spit red liquid onto the cement, his brown eyes stalking my defensive stance for unknown weaknesses, “you hit like a girl.”

I watched cautiously as he flipped artlessly back to his feet before I moved swiftly to sweep my leg out beneath him causing him to plummet harshly to the ground once again, grinning at the disgusted expression on his features I resumed my stance, “then someone should really tell that to your face.”

He beamed in amusement, those gorgeous eyes watching me avidly from his position on the floor, blood coating his teeth before he shifted with speed only rivaled by demons back to his defensive position, his fists effortlessly swinging rapidly towards my face. I held my ground with difficulty, barely blocking every vicious hit, every brutal kick sent towards my diminutive form, his hands a hurried blur around me. My footsteps retreated as his advanced and as quickly as my attention had seized his every movement I found myself wavering for just a second recognizing hastily that he was directing me into a corner. Just as the realization donned on me I knew I was powerlessly doomed as an unexpected fist landed squarely into my stomach forcing the air from my lungs as I doubled over in an explosion of pain. Without the slightest evidence of mercy his arm twisted around me holding my struggling body close to his before he ruthlessly slammed me to the ground, pinning my besieged figure to the mat.

I ceased all movement, my eyes captured by his, my breathing labored, his shape molded to mine as he laughed down at the defeat inside my hazel orbs, “do you see where cocky gets you? Arrogance leaves room for mistakes.”

It was noticeably hard to focus on the words spouted from such full lips; overconfidence fused within his haughty tone, his body lying lazily on top of mine, the smell of his skin comingling with my own, the weight of his muscular form pinning mine onto the mat, and with the awareness that every curve, every bicep we possessed was now melted intimately together. I couldn’t tell if I was breathless from the tumble, or from simply having Gabe this close. He leaned in towards my ear, his soft tresses grazing my cheek, my eyes closed at the feel of his breath brushing softly along my skin, “you’re losing your concentration, Anna. You’re not focusing,” his hands gently stroked down the sides of my tee just before the start of my black yoga pants. “You need a little motivation?”

I whispered feebly, “Yes,” too afraid to move in case he found some ridiculous reason to stop.

His lips brushed the curve of my ear as I struggled not to noticeably quiver at his slight touch, “then picture me as your Stepfather Rick.”

He retreated speedily back to his feet, my body slightly cold from his sudden absence of warmth. My eyes pierced open to gaze up at the total lack of emotion gracing his features, as if my apparent moments of complete girlish fantasies had been utterly fabricated by my warped mind. He held a hand out to me, but my muddled brain clearly straining to understand what had just happened ceased to function and I found myself just gazing upon that extended palm utterly confused.

“What does Rick have to do with this?”

Brows creased as if talking to the obviously dimwitted he replied, “Everything. He will stop at nothing to claim you as his own…,” his eyes traveled down to the spots he had caressed, “in every way possible. Did you really think I didn’t know why they’re so hell bent to capture you?”

“I-.”

“You need to focus, or get used to being in that position. Now take my hand?”

Ruthlessly killing my secret childhood daydreams effectively, I grasped his hand bitterly while allowing his muscles to pull me towards him before I planted my feet firmly against the ground. With a strength I didn’t know I possessed I yanked him forward. His surprise was his weakness as his body was helplessly pitched ahead. I quickly repositioned my feet to push against his abs before swinging my form backwards, watching as his figure was launched over my head. My legs flipped over in a graceful roll, my body easily gliding back onto my feet before Gabe could even register what had happened.

I smirked, my form back into a defensive stance, gazing down upon his crumpled shape, “Confidence is often mistaken for arrogance. Let’s hope you don’t make that oversight again.”

Silence met my mockery, and with cautious footsteps I allowed myself to tiptoe towards my guardian’s motionless form, “Gabe?”

With lids still squeezed shut, a smirk lingering upon those red lips I watched dumbfounded as his tousled form disappeared altogether. I froze unsure on what to do next, my arms fell limp back to my sides, my baffled eyes wandering around the huge white cemented room.

“Gabe?” I whispered just as an unforeseen weight physically rushed me from behind, his form rematerializing as our bodies tumbled onto the awaiting mat, my shape crashing harshly into its surface. I resisted in vain beneath him but the heaviness of his shape on my back felt impossible to remove, a serious case of deja’vu surpassing my restrained figure.

“Don’t you think that’s a little like cheating, using your powers?” I screamed, my voice almost completely muffled, my face smashed into the blue padding. A tiny blur of white fluff toddled its way towards us, pausing to lick my face.

I heard him laugh, felt the rumble of his body against mine as he budged to shoo the puppy away, “I’d call it being … inventive. Do you really think demons play by the rules?”

“You’re an ass!”

His weight pressed me further into the mat uncaring of how much I screamed just as another palm slapped my butt, “I’m an ass who is clearly winning.”

“For now,” I muttered unintelligibly at the same time as I allowed my body to go absolutely lax.

“You giving up already? You know quitting isn’t really an option, right?”

My eyes closed, my mind ignoring his jeering while slipping effortlessly inside Gabe’s. Images of his conversation with Andrea inside his bedroom repeated, visions of us on Glover Dale’s balcony resurfaced. I saw us playing in the backyard as kids, observed him tickling my younger self on my Aunt’s front porch, and then I felt myself slip deeper until a hospital corridor came into sight. I witnessed the scene from what seemed to be the body of a doctor. He stalked down the hall, nurses clearly addressing him with respect before he paused outside what appeared to be a nursery. His vision bypassed so many babies to focus solely in on a chubby pink cheeked infant swathed in mounds of pink cloth. Tiny lids opened as if secretly instructed to do so, eyes not completely focused on anything around her, a cloud of dark curls cascading from atop her tiny head. Her small fist rose, a hospital bracelet fitted snuggly around such soft skin, the words Anna Marie Cortez written along its surface…

Leaving Gabe’s memories with palpable reluctance, ignoring the burning need to see my life through his eyes, I shifted through his brain while slowly beginning to playfully invent my own reality into his psyche.

I felt him roll off me quickly before I rotated onto my back watching him pause clearly in a defensive position, his eyes wildly alert to everything around him, “Someone’s in the house.”

I sat up slowly, an unhurried tilt tugged at the edges of my lips, “how do you know?”

“I heard glass breaking… shhhh!” He signals for me to remain quiet as he crept towards the stairs, “they may be minions.” I watched in amused silence while gradually easing to my feet as he skulked soundlessly up a few steps. He abruptly froze as everything around him unexpectedly disappeared before like puzzle pieces shifting back into place he found himself not on the staircase as he once was led to believe but standing idiotically motionless atop the mat once again. He turned perplexed beautifully coffee tinted eyes back towards my awaiting figure only for me to round kick him callously back into reality.

The look of total detestation for me was almost as comical as his graceless topple as I confronted his aggravated glare. After several minutes of hilarity I had finally managed to contain my laughter before I questioned, “how’s that for inventive?”

“And…

I’m guessing this is what you meant by my sister having a more ‘experienced’ trainer?” Andrea candidly mocked, unpredictably materializing from mere nothingness beside me. She moved elegantly in her four inch heels to stand haughtily superior over Gabe’s irritated expression. “Are you teaching her to face plant?”

He rose while dusting imaginary dirt from the seat of his black jeans, his brown eyes disdainful as he smirked humorlessly back at my sister, “that’s funny, I’ve never seen her do any of that under your coaching.”

His words instantly obliterated the grin from Andrea’s lips. I watched the obvious signs of anger entering my sister’s form, and as those arms crossed over her chest I took an exasperated step closer to intervene. “Could you two please-,” I pleaded only to halt at the slight unanticipated swaying of the room, my arms rose as if to steady myself, my fingers rising to touch the liquid pouring down onto my trembling lips only to see blood gracing my fingertips. My vision began to fade in and out, objects now indistinguishable within my sight.

Noticing my skin color quickly growing fainter, the uncontrollable wobbling of my form Andrea rushed forward immediately only to have Gabe’s inescapable grip holding her back. Turning to glower at her unwanted obstruction, my sister exploded, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Stop Drea. She has to learn to help herself.”

“She needs me,” she insisted while trying to sidestep Gabe’s firm grasp. I watched through blurred lenses as my sister roughly struggled within his clutch similar to my actions the first day of training while instantly knowing there was no way she’d break free. My limbs started to quiver, a band of sweat breaking out along my skin as my strength slowly seeped from within my dwindling form. I collapsed to my knees, my blood covered fingers reaching out towards Andrea.

“Can’t you see that she needs help! What is wrong with you Gabe? Are you working for Rick now!” Andrea screamed, her thrashing becoming more frantic as my breathing slowed and I slumped vulnerably onto my stomach, my head smacking against the coolness of the mat. Her cruel words actually caused a dent in Gabe’s resistance; as if he found it insulting to be in anyway near associated with such evilness before his stance held and white light bound from his fingertips launching Andrea onto the mats on the other side of the room.

His voice unwavering in its decision, “no, what Anna needs is for you to stop coddling; she needs to stop relying on you to save her.”

Andrea rose back to her feet; her disheveled blonde hair surrounding her enraged face, tee shirt crumpled; rising to expose skin, before she disappeared entirely only to reappear mere teasing inches from my side. Nevertheless as usual Gabe was quicker, and the moment she reached out to touch me she found herself flying helplessly back to her former location.

My vision further deteriorated until I could barely make out their shapes as I allowed my eyes to fall from the sight of my fighting guardians to the spider crawling along the basement floor. Every breath became a hardship, a battle almost too strenuous to resume until desperation forced me to focus on the nearest energy around me, my eyes trained in on the eight legged creature leisurely bypassing my dying form. Concentrating with every fiber of energy that remained in my drained figure I felt my lids slowly close, my body wilting to darkness’s pull.

The first thing I noticed was the silence…

The eerie stillness in the surrounding air as I pierced open my eyes bit by bit, baffled by the ease in which my body performed this action. The fatigue had faded… It hadn’t completely deserted me, but it was no longer so all-consuming that I couldn’t rise. My lungs no longer felt compressed; no longer did the act of breathing seem like such an arduous toil on my body as I rose warily to my feet. My balance was no longer unsteady, my eyes traveled my arms seeing the color slowly reenter my skin, and my vision as I glanced around the room no longer faltered. My palm rose to wipe away the evidence of my inner display of weakness; a blood stained streak now lining my skin as a tiny burst of an uplifting sense of dignity filled my heart as I realized at last I had rescued myself.

Oddly enough it wasn’t until the spider I had spent so much wasted time focusing on crawled over the tip of my shoes that I comprehended the stupidity of my misplaced pride. Breathing in deeply while shelving my disappointment I mumbled, “So, obviously I have a lot left to learn. I couldn’t even transfer energy from a spider.”

Quietness greeted my words causing me to finally take in the appearance of my two guardians huddled closely together, their backs to me so that I could only glimpse their faces in profile, their expressions grave. I wondered if one of them would even answer me before Gabe unexpectedly responded; that earlier playfulness clearly eradicated from his tone, “you couldn’t receive energy from the spider because you weren’t connected to it.”

Brows ceased in confusion, “Of course I was. I mean… I tried,” still they remained in their position, their eyes not meeting mine. “Obviously, I needed your assistance.”

“I didn’t help you do this.”

“You had to have. I didn’t have the strength to do it on my own. I wouldn’t be standing here like this if you hadn’t.” Still they ignored my mystified form until unable to bear their cold rebuff any longer I stalked towards their stilled figures. “Oh my god, what is so fascinating over he-.”

Tears slipped from my lashes as I halted beside them gazing at yet another one of my inadvertently careless mistakes. Gabe twisted back towards me, his own eyes bright with emotion watching my reaction guardedly, “you’re standing because you were connected to my little sister’s puppy.”

I collapsed to my knees before its small form; so stationary, so still, it’s little tail no longer wagging ecstatically, its small legs no longer bouncing around animatedly. “I didn’t mean to,” I whispered tragically, my fingers reaching out to rub the soft fur lining its tiny back, “I wasn’t even trying.”

Gabe ran a shaky hand over wary features, “you don’t have total control over your powers yet,” I heard him sigh resignedly as if he blamed himself partly for what happened as he gazed sadly at the motionless dog. “I just don’t know what I’m gonna tell Kay.”

I blocked out Andrea and Gabe’s conversation continuing to pet nature’s innocent life form that thanks to me would no longer be apart of this world. God, when would everyone stop sacrificing themselves for me? Accountability demanded unless tears from my eyes, its liquid hitting the white fur beneath my fingertips as if my omitted sadness could somehow revive its essence. Why did everything close to me eventually die?

The sound of the upstairs door opening froze us into immobility as I wiped away all evidence of my sorrow, our eyes gazing nervously up at the sounding of pounding footsteps coming our way. Abigail’s head popped down, her brown ponytail swinging down before her, her brown eyes mirthful while laughing at our obviously relieved expressions before continuing to bounce down towards the bottom step, “well the basement must be a change from your bedroom, Gabe.”

“Abby, what do you want?” Her big brother quickly inserted, clearly irritated at the interruption.

“Just thought I’d mention that mom called. She said she’s on her way,” she focused her amused glance solely on me before continuing, “and Aunt Maria is with her, so I’d suggest whatever it is you’re doing down here that you stop-.”

“Why run now,” another voice interrupted, its tone laced with obvious anger as the sound of footsteps descending pierced the room, the look of horrified shock on Abby’s face revealed our new guests’ identities long before I actually glimpsed their faces. A mixture of Abigail and Gabe’s features only slightly aged graced the woman who stood enraged at the mere sight of me. A hand rose to rest upon her small hip, her long black hair was pulled away from her pretty features, and her tiny form was still clothed in her blue uniform. And there behind her stood my forever caring nurse clearly incensed at my obvious violation of her orders.

“I believe you’ve been caught red handed,” Gabe’s mom raged as they continued to travel down the staircase, it seemed their comparable family features were not the only thing these sisters shared, the mutual detestation of my existence was unequivocally instantly recognizable.

“Mom, I thought you said you were on your way,” Abby inserted into the tense silence, her body obviously anxious to be anywhere but here.

“Actually, my exact words were that I’d be home soon, but I guess it’s a good thing I arrived earlier than you thought. You and your brother didn’t have time to keep this a secret.”

Gabe stepped forward, “Mom-.”

“Actually, I had nothing to do with this,” Abby quickly interjected clearly noticing the livid red flush filling her mother’s skin.

“Then why don’t you have completely nothing to do with it, and take the puppy outside,” her mother replied, hastily dismissing her daughter’s unnecessary presence.

Abby’s chocolate tinted lenses took in her brother and I still standing tentatively before them, pity filling her eyes as she attempted to plead our case, “Mom-.”

“No Abby, go… now!” her mother instantly scolded sending her daughter sprinting further into the room, stooping to call the puppy towards her.

“Here cuddles, come boy!”

I stood to my feet, my hands leaving the unmoving dog just as Gabe took another step forward, “Mom, there’s something I have to tell you-.”

Her hand rose to silence him, “Gabe, not now!”

“Come Cuddles!” Abby ordered, her brows furrowing over puzzled pretty irises. “What is up with him? He usually always obeys this command. Cuddles come!”

Gabe attempted to explain the unexplainable again, “Mom-.”

His words died as the sound of excited barking filled the room. Turning back towards the puppy Gabe watched in mystified silence as the tiny ball of fur jumped to its feet before running eagerly towards Abby, enthusiastically jumping and licking at her outstretched palm.

Abby’s laughter joined his energetic barking, “Whoa boy, what has gotten into you!” She placed his squirming form into her arms barely able to control his wiggling body, “gosh, you play dead for a second and look at you now. Who taught you that trick anyway?”

I felt Gabe’s eyes resting on me as I watched Abigail ascend the stairs before I allowed my eyes to clash with his, a strangely knowing look lied inside his golden eyes even though shock still filled the depths of his pupils, “Anna, your nose… its bleeding again.”

He handed me a towel, our fingers connected briefly, the tingle of life flowing into me in abundance as the small amount of drowsiness that lingered throughout my body miraculously vanished. Gasping, my eyes rose to find Andrea’s observing me as oddly as Gabe once had.

“Look mom, I know I have a lot to explain, but-,” Gabe started only for his mom to halt his unwanted clarification.

“Gabriel save it! Apparently you two have breaking promises in common.”

His jaw hardened as if he was trying to constrain himself before he simply blurted, “Only when the promise is ridiculous to begin with.”

His Aunt and mother’s expression of pure amazement would have been laughable had not the fury only seem to intensify immensely afterward, “there was nothing ridiculous about my wishes, and no matter how you viewed them as my son you should have followed them-.”

“I also know as your son and your nephew that faith and forgiveness means everything, or does that only apply to things that meet your approval?”

Maria’s gray gaze finally retreated from hostilely glowering at my image before hurriedly rejecting my loathsome figure, choosing instead to turn towards her nephew, “this isn’t about approval Gabe. I told you Anna is dangerous. I better than anyone should know exactly how much.”

Feeling slightly gutted at her heartfelt plea, I took a step closer to my defending guardian retorting with much needed malice, “so I’m guessing that whole privileged secret medical records also means nothing to you?”

Maria’s hateful orbs circled back to mine, her pace slow as she moved nearer to where I stood, her fingers by her side seemingly itching to ring my neck. I could literally see her desperate desires playing out in her mind causing me to take a precautionary step back behind Gabe. “When it concerns my family then no it doesn’t. The only thing I asked of you after everything you put me through was to stay away from him and you couldn’t even do that!”

“I-,” I stuttered, but once started Maria became impossible to halt.

“You brought back memories I never wanted to resurface, you forced people to quit, employees disappeared, not to mention the mental blackout I now have from merely getting too close to you, and now you have the nerve to stand there preaching to me about revealing medical records?”

Gabe forced himself before his Aunt managing to halt her seething stalk towards me, “Aunt Maria, I’ve known Anna for years. She would never intentionally do-.”

Maria’s abruptly hysterical humorless cackle ceased Gabe’s continual justification of me; a sound more similar to the patients she treated than any sane member of society. “No, she never intentionally does anything!” Her trembling hands took hold of Gabe’s face forcing him to meet her pleading eyes, “sweetie, listen to me. I know... trust me, I know that she seems innocent and angelic on the surface, and that she has this way of enticing people to lay down their lives in order to protect her, but I’m telling you Gabe getting too close to her is like damning your own existence!”

Gabe forcibly yanked his face from her grasp, “Maria, Anna’s not like tha-.”

“That’s because right now she has you fooled!” she raged, her fingers yanking through her long golden brown tresses in frustration. “You can’t see it now but I was once you, and while the world eventually goes up in flames around you she will always remain unscathed and unharmed!”

Gabe’s eyes shifted back to mine, “maybe you just don’t know her like I do.”

His mother’s exasperated sigh and his Aunts groan of annoyance killed any sweet sentiment those words would have filled me with. Maria grasped his shoulder tenderly forcing his eyes back to hers, “Or maybe you just don’t see the truth because you’re being deceived by a pretty face.”

His mother’s interruption into the conversation was obviously meant to kill any further argument on my behalf, “this is irreverent because I want Anna no where near this family.”

“But Mom-.”

That hand rose again, her lips pursed in fury, those eyes so identical to Gabes’ incensed, “that’s enough Gabriel! You knew her, what … four … five years ago? A lot can change in a matter of years! Her mother knew her for far longer than that and look how that fucking turned out! I don’t want to end up like her wondering where the hell I went wrong in trusting Anna anywhere near my kids!”

“Mom, there was no real conclusive evidence proofing Anna ever truly-.”

His mother scoffed at the mere notation, “oh, and you’re a lawyer now? Maybe, a judge? All I know… no better yet… all I NEED to know is without a doubt that this girl you seem so intent to protect was proved to be the only one in that house that night! The little girl; her own sister is terrified to be anywhere near her! And the jury found her guilty! That along with your Aunt’s accounts of what went on behind those asylum walls is enough for me to ban her from these premises!”

I watched sadly as Gabe’s shoulders slumped as if in defeat before in a quiet voice he insisted, “you’re not listening-.”

His mother stepped forward until their indistinguishable eyes clashed, “no, you just don’t want to hear the truth.”

Maria joined this warped sense of an intervention, her voice deceivingly soothing, “sweetie, I admire how big your heart is but-.”

Gabriel took a step back, that determination filling his eyes, a strength of mind I hated while practicing fighting drills while secretly I was forced to admit I admired. “And I’m shocked at how small and coldhearted yours has grown.”

I saw the knock that comment made to Maria’s heart as she took a faltering step back whilst allowing her sister to resume her livid rant, “Gabe, you will not talk to your Aunt that way!”

“Mom, you know that I love you, but I’m not a child anymore. Quite frankly, you can’t tell me who I can and can not see.”

The pain claiming his mother’s features was palpable and here I stood once again unintentionally hurting everyone around me.

Living proof to the truth in Maria’s words, with a heavy heart I whispered, “Gabe-.”

“Stay out of this!” his mother screamed, her clear abhorrence of me forcing me back into silence. “I think you’ve done enough damage to this family right now!”

“Mom-.”

“No Gabriel! You listen and listen well. You may have started college and technically you’re right. The world may consider you as an adult, but you will always be my son and your wellbeing and safety will always be important to me, but you need to understand this isn’t only about you. Abigail and Kay live here too and to put it frankly,” she paused to turn directly towards me, her outspokenness clearly indifferent of the emotional wreckage it would cause to my own damaged feelings. “Kaylee is the same age as your little sister used to be, and I don’t trust you anywhere near my little girl. The justice system may view you as newly reformed but to me you’re a walking threat, and I want you out of my house now!”

Never had I faced such revulsion, and yet such candidly abundant showing of love for ones child that despondent tears trickled from my lids, sliding down my trembling cheeks. I couldn’t do this to them, I couldn’t cause a rift between someone who loved their kid so poignantly fierce when all I’d ever dreamed of was receiving that intense form of affection for myself.

“Mom, if you would only try-,” Gabe uselessly beseeched only pausing at the sight touch of my palm on his arm. He turned to meet my tragic gaze, his eyes already pleading for me to stop.

“Gabe, she’s right,” I mumbled over the clogged emotion in my throat.

“Anna-.”

I removed my vision from the sight of his earnest plea twisting to confront his mother once again, “I should leave.”

I moved to pass him only for his hand to grip my forearm in refusal, “no, we can work this out.”

Maria pulled his arm until our touch was severed, “Gabe, you need to let this one go.”

“Maria, I never expected you of all people to turn your pack on someone who needs you,” he accused as I quickly walked towards the back door. My fingers gripped the knob, the sensation of Maria’s saddened gaze resting upon me causing me to look back. There I was confronted with clear relief in his mother’s eyes, with the tragic sight of Abby crying at the top of the stairs; cuddles still resting inside her arms, before my gaze fell back to my former nurse.

“I’ve learned that some people really are beyond help,” Maria cruelly replied, her brutal reminder of her once compassionate platitude slashing callously into my battered heart as with tears blinding my path I swung the door to freedom open before slamming it shut on all their atrocious ridicule.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Darkness beleaguered my days as well as my nights like an unwanted cohort as it shielded my wretched emotions from unwelcome spectators whilst I hurried towards home. The word home I used loosely taking into account that I hadn’t felt truly contented since the small apartment we inhabited before my father’s incarceration. The streets remained deserted at this time of night as the gust of cold air swept leaves onto my path as I held my hoodie closer to my exposed neck, my eyes aimed straight ahead instead of straying backward. My treacherous mind against my wishes wandered despondently back to the past few minutes, to that look of unadulterated hatred in their eyes, finding that just its image displayed in memories managed to push forward a few stray droplets from my downcast gaze as I pressed onwards to Grace’s house. I had been here for a week now and still the neighbors viewed me warily, they spoke not a word unless forced to out of obligation to my Aunt. And yet still oddly enough I preferred their silent revulsion in comparison to what I had been forced to confront tonight.

I never lived under the foolish delusion that I’d wake up free from behind bars and suddenly the world would be graciously forgiving, but never did I realize it would be this bad, this insufferable. The headlights of an oncoming car forced me to squint against its brilliant glare; their tires hit a filthy puddle while managing to splash me inconsiderately in the process. I shivered in the sudden glacial bite capturing my skin before furiously wiping not only the dirty ditch water from my face but my tears as well. How did the world quickly judge others so harshly, how can you damn someone without even trying to understand?

Now I knew what a murderer honestly feels upon release …and while some ex-convicts were admittedly guilty that night everyone had already persecuted me for still remained dreadfully vacant of any real truth for me.

A shrill beeping noise on my wrist sounded loudly causing me to push back the sleeve of my jacket to glance down at the alarm on my watch. Shit, I was late!

Picking up my pace I high-tailed it down the street before cutting through a neighbor’s lawn to the skim off some of the worrying distance. My curls blew out wildly behind me as I slid chaotically to an abrupt halt at the sight of Grace gradually rising absentmindedly from her car. Ducking hastily, I dived hazardly behind the cover of our neighbor’s rose bushes just as Grace mindlessly glanced in my direction. With the sound of my heart pounding penetrating my ears I spied noiselessly through branches as she headed towards the porch while silently praying that the owners of this house had not seen me sulking outside and called the cops. With my Aunt’s concentration on her keys I knew this would be my only chance of escape as I raced pass her car and up the driveway towards the backyard. As my feet pounded against the pavement I knew in the back of my mind that I had only mere seconds to be in my room before all hell broke loose. I saw the house slowly illuminate as I launched myself pass the back porch, leaped over the endless rows of garden gnomes before literally throwing myself onto the old oak tree leading to my room. My fingers were sliced in seconds, cuts poring open as scarlet painted the bark as branches dug into the palms of my hands, but I had no time to be careful, no time to react to the pain. My feet gratefully touched the slant of the roof leading to my window just as the door to my room distressingly began to open.

My mouth fell ajar in horror, dismay widening the shape of my eyes as I watched that dreadful gap that hid the safety of my room from her forever prying gaze slowly expanding.

Oh… my… god! I wasn’t going to make it.

Running towards my only true means of entry and escape I unconsciously allowed white light to burst from my palms until it leaked from every crevice lining my skin, surging from within as if I alone contained the rays of the sun beneath my fingertips. It blinded me into sightlessness for a second causing me to temporarily stumble dangerously until it dimmed before smothering back into darkness completely. I halted atop the roof gazing down at such normal hands in helpless bewilderment while trying to figure out where such an explosion of power came from before slowly allowing my eyes to travel the neighborhood around me to see what I unintentionally caused to happen. The first thing I observed was the complete lack of arctic wind kissing my skin, a leaf remained suspended in mid-air next to my left shoulder seemingly unable to continue its drift in the now nonexistent breeze, the door to my room remained stuck in its mid-open position and as I took unhurried footsteps across the roof back towards the edge of the yard I saw that I had literally immobilized …

Everything.

From this outlook I could see for endless miles; the lights of the neighborhood houses twinkled against the black backdrop, while from far and wide business’s blared luminosity obnoxiously lit up the night sky and yet their surrounding traffic no longer moved. They remained halted on the streets; traffic lights remained stuck at green while a couple taking a leisurely evening stroll below me seemed to be trapped in their fixed positions.

Is this what Gabe meant by my powers growing?

I had frozen people and life around me at Glover Dale but never this widespread I contemplated silently just as a tiny splash of liquid hit my skin; something so small and yet monumental in its ability to drag me back down to reality. My fingers rose wiping away the blood from my nose before the sound of a distant horn gradually hit me. I literally watched time slowly resume itself. It had a certain beauty about it, as if a blanket of normality was unhurriedly covering the world back into its ignorance of the unknown as the edges of my viewpoint slowly regained its mobility. Lights changed with cars still lingering within its intersections while drivers unknowing of their enforced slumber crashed recklessly into others. I watched as the lifeless neighborhood progressively came back to existence, the noise almost deafening in comparison to the former compulsory quiet. It moved like an invisible wave; sweeping over the distant regions before heading this way. Breathing heavily, I turned from the almost hypnotic sight dashing back towards my window.

My fingers gripped the top edge of my window’s frame while quickly sliding my slender form within its confines; my feet hit the floor in an instant panicked jog towards my desk. I plopped down in the seat, swinging towards my open journal, pen in hand as the door at last swung open.

“Hey, thought you might like to go out to eat tonight,” Grace offered, her footsteps entering beyond the doorway as I tried to quietly slow down the racing of my heart.

I didn’t need to look at my Aunt to know that she would glance around my allocated area nervously as if expecting a ghost to pop out from under the bed, before those worried eyes would then shift from cagey to suspicious as if looking for clues to my further wrongdoings before at last finding nothing, until finally she would settle for centering directly in on my stilled figure. I waited patiently while silently listening as she took a seat on my bed, “You’ve been stuck in this room all week.”

Her words were kind, her thoughts were not.

“I’m not hungry,” I replied quietly, unstopping of my pretense of writing in my journal, my back still facing her, something that mere weeks ago I never would have anticipated myself doing.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore,” my Aunt’s thoughts whispered involuntarily into my brain. “I can’t get her enrolled in one school around here. Kids her age in this neighborhood want nothing to do with her. I feel as if I’m failing her all the time.”

I froze, the sadness within her unexpressed thoughts finally hitting me as I twisted towards Grace’s distressed eyes, “you know that I’m okay, right? I’m not in Glover Dale anymore and that’s all that matters.”

She sighed resignedly, “but you’re sixteen. You’re supposed to be out enjoying your youth, partying, football games, school, hanging out with friends.”

Smirking at that mental picture, “I wasn’t exactly a social butterfly even before the ruling. That was always Andrea.”

I watched as the mention of my sister’s name caused her to stiffen uncomfortably, but not with unwanted sadness but with this odd sense of fear I could tell she didn’t want me to see. “You,” she began only to trail off before finally as if gaining the courage her eyes clashed with mine and she continued, “You haven’t seen her lately, have you?”

Shutting down internally, my mask of indifference returned to my features as I realized quickly where this so called friendly conversation was always meant to go. “I don’t recall ever telling you that I did.”

Turning back towards my desk I dismissed her probing eyes while shelving my stupid hopes that Grace was finally reaching out to me as she once had in the past. As she used to before I was sentenced to the hellish conditions of the mental hospital, before this sense of hopelessness became my reality, before my Aunt began to believe everything she was once declared to me as lies.

“You told me-.”

“I told you I spoke with her… like a prayer, and if your next question is am I still taking my meds then the answer is yes,” I gestured towards the row of bottles lined across my dresser. “Count them if you don’t believe me.”

“I never said that I didn’t believe you.” Just that sometimes I have my doubts, her mind whispered.

“Doubts about what?” I inquired, barely registering that I had questioned thoughts and not words until I glanced at the look of shock hastily filling Grace’s features. “I mean,” I backpedaled, “its obvious that you have doubts about something. Why don’t you just save us some time and tell me what it is?”

“I,” she stammered, clearly not knowing how to take in my response. “I’m just not sure I’m doing right by you.”

“Aunt Grace,” I whispered, shifting to at last move pass the formidable distance of unsaid baggage between us and comfort her as I used to naturally, only to pause at her continued words.

“I’m just worried that maybe you need more help than I can give you.”

My heart plummeted as did my tiny glimmer of foolish optimism as I swirled back towards my desk, ignoring the droplet of pent up emotion that hit the page of my paper, my eyes blurred as I studied the shape of my red pen. “You want to send me back?”

“Its clear that you’re not the same Anna that used to spend summers here,” she gently explained as if her only concern was of my welfare all the while her mind revealing the truth of her desires to lift the burdensome load I unwittingly placed upon her shoulders by coming here.

My eyes fell on a framed photo of Andrea and me playing in Grace’s backyard. I couldn’t have been much older than seven or eight and still there inside my eyes lied such freedom, such blatant happiness. “Explain… to me how I’m supposed to be that girl?”

The sight of my younger smiling face blurred until it became unrecognizable as I twisted to confront my Aunt’s guilty expression, my true emotions finally revealed as they trickled down the soft expanse of my skin. “How am I supposed to go back to before that hellish night that I still can’t remember? How do I forget the horrible chants of the crowds pleading for my castigation, the accusing eyes of the court, the uncomplimentary eyes of my own mother? How do I forget the loss and pain of losing not only my sister but my father as well? And then upon release still have to confront persecution everywhere I go? You tell me how, and I will sure as hell give it a try.”

Silence ensued, my Aunt’s eyes not budging from my own despondent gaze before slowly she rose from my bed before walking back towards the doorway as if she could somehow walk away from the truth within my pleas.

She paused before glancing back at me, “I just wanted to give you a second chance. A new start.”

“And you have… given me a second chance,” I gazed up at her, my expression solemn before I finally admitting what we both seemed too afraid to verbalize aloud. “It’s just… I’m never going to be able to forget everything that has happened. I’m never going to be that little girl anymore. The only thing I can hope for is accepting it and moving forward.”

Grace’s shoulders slumped as if in defeat or maybe finally in rueful acceptance before she turned away from me, her hand already closing the door while mumbling, “I’ll look into home school tomorrow.”

“She seems much sadder than I remember.”

I gasped while clutching at my heaving chest, my hands quick to wipe the moisture from my cheeks before glaring at my unwanted protector, “must you do that?”

Gabe’s brow rose in mockery, a slight grin upon those lips, “do what?

I do believe that we should work on your awareness of the unexpected if this is what scares you.”

Rolling my eyes I tossed off my shoes before swiftly rising while managing to unsuspectingly almost topple at the sudden movement. Gabe’s arms surrounding me were the only thing that halted my clumsy collapse towards the ground. His eyes trailed along my pale skin, his fingers grazing among every tiny freckle his sight once stroked as my lids closed loving the sensation the contact of our skin touching always seemed to cause. My breathing returned to normal, the trembling within my limbs came more from my foolish crush than from any lingering fatigue, and finally as light seemed to fill my healed form I became steadier upon my feet. Instantly he released me, moving to plop causally upon my window seat as if he had no involvement in my newly restored body.

“Something you want to tell me, Anna?” he inquired, those eyes piercing into my skull.

Groaning in frustration, I stalked towards my closet still slightly in shock at the ease in which I did this while clearly ignoring his question. Pulling off my clothes and replacing them with a sleeping tank and shorts I emerged only to find those eyes waiting patiently for my answer. “Is there something you want to know?”

“Should I be worried that there are some zombie dogs walking the streets right now?”

Confusion plagued my features as I climbed into my bed, “why would you think that question even made sense?”

“Because we both know Cuddles wasn’t simply playing dead in my basement tonight, don’t we?” At my silence he continued, “And you don’t deplete of energy by doing nothing, and so I repeat is there something you want to tell me?”

“How about you tell me something? There was no flowers, or spiders, or pets in this room, and yet I’m currently healthy as a horse. Why didn’t you tell me guardians had the power to revive? Why didn’t Andrea?”

“Maybe she doesn’t know,” he admitted before raising a hand to halt my predictably angry retort, “and before you go off on some crazy tirade I need to admit I wasn’t quite sure of it myself.”

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning … the day we touched in my bedroom I was as shocked by the feeling our contact induced as you were. I’ve known of members on the higher counsel gifted with powers of healing but never guardians-.”

“So, you’ve never done it before?”

His tired eyes met mine before he declared frankly, “I don’t think I did anything now. We guardians placed back on earth aren’t like regular humans. Yes, we ultimately die if attacked like any living being and yet inside lies an essence that is harder to be extinguished than mere mortals.”

Brows furrowed in confusion I asked, “What exactly does that mean?”

“It means connected I can’t be drained as quickly as a human would. You’ve always had the power of absorption inside you. You’ve proved that by basically extracting the essence of life from the minion that attacked you in the hospital’s basement that night, proved it every time you tap into a life-force’s energy and manage to suck out every ounce of power, of vigor from their defenseless form. The only thing you haven’t mastered is the ability to stop.”

He grinned suddenly at my continued silence before retorting, “And with that knowledge I wasn’t going to volunteer to be your guinea pig.”

“You’d rather I died than you?” I questioned boldly while secretly loving the obvious look of distress the thought of my death caused him.

“Of course not. I just hoped I could teach you to rein it in before we tried it on a more… livelier host.”

I smirked playfully, “meaning you were scared.”

Grinning, he glanced at his watch before returning my stare, “aw, look its pass your bedtime.”

The laughter that fell over us quickly died as I wondered back to that moment in his basement, “Aren’t you supposed to be playing the role of the forever good son and towing the line at home?”

“I came over to make sure you were okay. It’s a good thing to feel your emotions, to know when you’re in danger… but it’s quite an overwhelming occurrence when we’re both facing my screaming family and I have the pleasure of experiencing my own emotions doubled.”

My fingers moved to brush my curls behind my ears, my eyes downcast, “I’m sorry about what happened. I never should have been there, and you…. shouldn’t be here now.”

I heard him move but I didn’t look up until he sat down directly in front of me, his fingers entwining with mine, “you think I would allow her to dictate who I’m permitted to see?”

My eyes fell to the one picture of my mom and me, back when she loved me, back when she cared, “I think… I think she’s your mom and trust me you shouldn’t take her love for granted.”

His fingers grasped my chin turning me back to face irises the color of fudge with tiny droplets of honey dripped along its surface, “and that’s where we differ, Anna. You came to love your mother naturally as a child growing up. I on the other hand, always knew in the back of my mind that this was just one more thing I had to do in order to watch over you. Another part of my job.”

“So you don’t lover her, or your sisters?”

“Of course I do, I’ve loved every earthly family I’ve been assigned to inhabit, but as a guardian my main focus must always be on the bigger picture. You are that picture.”

My eyes fell to our connected hands, “I don’t seem all that important. Just someone constantly causing everyone pain.”

His fingers pushed back a stray curl, our faces mere inches from each other as hazel clashed with brown once again, “that’s because you’re still blind to the truth. Once into full power you’re going to change the world, and I’m going to remain here right by your side.”

His intense trance his eyes seemed to put me under left me oddly winded and I found myself whispering breathlessly, “Gabe, when you say earthly families… just how old are you exactly?”

Laughing abruptly at the unexpectedness of my absurd question Gabe playfully tousled my curls, an action more of that of a big brother than a guy interested in more than friendship to my silent exasperation before moving back towards the window, his body already beginning to fade. “Anna, all you need to know is that training continues bright and early tomorrow. This time we’ll try your basement.”

I sighed in frustration at his avoidance of my question before flopping back against my pillows, my eyes on the white ceiling before I muttered, “you’d think with college he’d have classes every once in a while”

Rolling my hazel eyes I allowed them to slowly flutter close while trying to ignore Gabe’s unwanted laughter filling my room like a mocking bedtime lullaby before at last sleep gradually claimed me…

………………………………………………………………………….

My brows furrowed as lashes the color of coal continued to lazily rest upon tanned skin, raven tendrils spread across my pillows, my body snuggling under mounds of thick blanket as if shielding me from nature’s cruel arctic touch. Visions of that lost ceaselessly torturous night replayed in dreams as quick flashes of continual glimpses of unearthed secrets, but covertly never showing me more than images already disclosed, never revealing what I truly yearned to discover. I saw my past self pleading with my Mother to let me leave then watched helplessly as Andrea walked through those front doors. I saw the paint covered footprints, experienced once again the crumbling library, but after the ruthless strike to my skull as always I saw nothing more… until continuously it all seemed to exasperatingly repeat itself.

I felt myself even in slumber sigh in frustration while forced to remain in dreams just as unknown fingers glided through my curls before slowly trailing along my skin. Mentally I naively stalked Courtney’s movements while unwittingly allowing those same fingers to touch the soft arc of my creased brow before they moved with pleasured ease down the curve of my cheek, lips soon replacing its gentle touch.

Even with my mind trapped within the past I instinctively knew something wasn’t right. I never mistook these new gentle touches as pieces of my fragmented past, never foolishly allowed myself to be deceived into perceiving these hands to be the making of my imagination. No, intuitively I knew I needed to return to reality quickly, but it seemed that endeavor was going to be more arduous a feat than I had ever assumed. I felt unbearably ensnared inside my own memories, but not in the sense of a childhood nightmare. No, this seemed more powerful then mere images coming back to haunt me. It went deeper than that. These visions replaying in my mind remained as if planted by an illusionist himself, revoltingly intent to prevent me from seeking any form of recue.

Yet while captured mentally my arms still struck out to push away my unwanted visitor only to distressingly discover air surrounding my struggling figure. My hazel orbs frantically shifted beneath closed lids trying and yet failing to pierce them apart, my heart hammering inside my heaving chest as those kisses traveled down my neck, this unknown entity going as far as to suck the delicate skin just beneath my ear. Panicked, mentally I watched Andrea join our father inside what would be death’s chariot while outwardly I began to thrash wildly upon the bed, horribly blind to my surroundings. Desperate and yet hopeless, I remained unable to stop the repeated mental loop playing inside my brain, unable to push the tortured scream pass my frozen lips as those fingers boldly caressed beneath my tank alarmingly on towards my bra.

Panic besieged my angst-ridden form as I felt a heavy weight atop my body just as all mobility within me ceased to function. It was as if someone had viciously turned off my ability to move as I remained compulsorily inert forced to endure ever fondle, every kiss given to my now lax body while all I could seem to do was allow the escape of a few useless stray tears from the lashes of my attached lids.

Eager palms removed clothing covering my chest, my upper body now exposed to nameless eyes, and yet my arms were of no use to rise to cover my bareness. With anguish quickly filling my defeated heart I felt a tug at my pajama bottoms, the cool air meeting my skin as they were stripped from my comatose figure. Rough hands slid over my unmoving legs before this unknown fiend unsympathetically parted their deadened weight while still traveling up my forcibly unresisting body, that relentless heavy weight moving to nestle between my thighs before full lips at last disgustingly tasted mine. A ruthless tongue plundered its way inside my lax lips, my tears coating my cheeks, the distinctive smell of Rick’s cologne drifting up towards my nose…

“Anna,” I heard screamed just as a bucket of ice cold water sent me gasping horribly awake. My eyes sprung open, my body bucking wildly off the bed. Crying, I tried to settle down my breathing as Andrea quickly ran to my side covering my shivering form with a dry quilt.

“Anna, what the hell was that! It was like you were stuck in a nightmare. I couldn’t wake you up.”

Continually shaking, my lips quivering I replied, “He was here.”

“Who was here?”

Pulling the covering closer, feeling exposed even now when enveloped in cloth, “Rick… I felt him. He was on top of me.”

Andrea viewed me strangely before calming inserting, “Marie-.”

“Don’t,” I protested already seeing the doubt within her gaze, “I know what I fe- felt.”

“But Marie, no one was in here but you and me. I watched you began to struggle. I tried to call your name, but you wouldn’t wake so then I went to get the water.”

My head shook frantically in denial, “no, that’s not true.”

“Well then …,” her eyes compassionate and yet unbelieving of my words as she placated, “maybe it was all in your head, a nightmare.”

I rose onto shaky feet moving quickly towards my discarded pajama pants, “then how do you explain these?”

She sighed tiredly while rising to her own average height, “you must have kicked them off in your sleep.”

Wanting to scream in frustration I clamped my eyes shut before returning to glare up into her blue tinted lenses, “and my tank too? No he was in here! I felt his disgusting lips on mine, smelled his cologne in this room!”

“Look, Anna I know it’s been a rough couple of days-.”

Unwanted moisture lingered trapped within my gaze, “I am not crazy, Drea! Don’t patronize me!”

“I’m not. I’m just saying you’ve been through a lot-.”

I dismissed my sister’s condescending well meant words of comfort coming her lips as I twisted to confront my tortured features in the mirror. My curls wild and yet damp around my saddened expression, my terrified hazel eyes, the darkened rings of exhaustion surrounding my panicked orbs, my bare form sheathed in the colorful quilt before I turned from the sight. My despondent eyes traveled aimlessly along the wood of the dresser if only to escape Andrea’s calming words easily downplaying my torturous moments to mere mental exhaustion before I froze. Moving slowly I allowed my fingers to grasp the frame lying mockingly against the polished wood.

“I thought you threw this out?” I crazily asked my sister.

I heard her footsteps drawing nearer as she moved to gaze upon the framed photo of me and Rick standing lovingly close, Courtney smiling in front of us.

“I did throw it out. You think I’d want something as hideous as that fucking thing forever staring back at us?” Andrea questioned. “Here, give it to me. I’ll make sure it’s trashed!”

I handed it over numbly to her, “the glass…”

“What about it?”

“It’s not broken.”

Andrea halted finally seeing that the photo was in an entirely different frame, “Well maybe Aunt Grace-.”

“Are you sure no one was in this room?”

At last that calm reassurance began to crack within Andrea’s outward composure even though she still remained grasping at desperate straws, “even if someone had gotten in here that doesn’t mean it happened today. They could have placed this in-.”

Andrea stopped mid-sentence, her eyes staring at me oddly.

“What? What is it?”

Andrea yanked me towards the mirror, pulling back my curls to expose my neck. There along my skin lied big red marks cruelly gracing its surface just below my ear, “Oh god Anna, when did this happen?”

Tears tumbled over my lids as understanding finally donned on me, my eyes moving to clash with her horrified gaze in the mirror, “I told you… he left his fucking mark on me while I was trapped in dreams. He touched and tasted knowing I could do nothing to stop him. Dementedly he deliberately fondled my body while knowing my guardian was in the room. This wasn’t merely for his sick pleasure, it was a message. He knows you went to the council, he knows of your useless pleas to them, he knows about Gabe. And he wanted us to realize just how close he could get to me even with me under added protection.”

…………………………………………………………………………………

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