[Chapter 18]

I sat in the infirmary, watching as Noel’s father checked his son worriedly. Grandma Elvie was also here, but she understood that I wouldn’t answer anything until I was sure that Noel was perfectly fine. Zane had kept close to me, to offer me some support in the crowd of adults, and I was grateful for it. Truly, without Zane holding on to me, keeping me strong, I would cry my helplessness until my eyes were red.

Right now, my shock was toned down to a simple shivering and quaking that couldn’t stop no matter how much I tried.

“Here, dear. Take something hot in your body. You’re freezing.” Someone –a medic –said kindly to me, and I mechanically accepted it; not knowing how cold I was until the burning hot cup came into my hands.

I heard the same medic offer to Zane, but he declined it politely. It seemed like someone was keeping perfectly strong despite everything that had happened. But he was a Guardian… he had known what to do while I was just floundering up on the roof, hoping and praying to God that nothing would happen to me, or Noel, or Zane.

“Is he okay, Mr. Cypher?” I asked after Noel’s dad seemed to calm down a little, motioning over to one of the medics standing by and issuing his orders.

“He’s alright, save a broken head. He may get a little concussion, but he’s otherwise safe. I must thank you and Zane, Ashe. You saved my son.” His voice held immense relief, so I breathed my own sigh of relief too.

“Thank god…”

I could see that Ms. Maxwell was ready to release her barrage of questions on me, but the door to the infirmary burst open, and someone gave a shocked cry.

“No, Noel! Don’t die!” Jacob cried and moaned like he was watching Noel on his deathbed, falling to his knees quickly beside his brother’s bed.

“Noel…… don’t leave me behind… I love you… Noel, please…” Jacob begged in a mournful voice, and in the moment of shock it took most of us to understand that Jacob thought that his brother was dying, I thought he was being awfully hilarious.

“Son…” Mr. Cypher placed a hand on his kneeling son’s shoulder; sounding a little awkward while everyone stared at Jacob making a fool of himself. “Noel’s not dying. He only cracked his head a little.”

Jacob’s tears stopped almost immediately, jumping up so suddenly that Mr. Cypher had to take a quick step back in his shock. “Damn! I thought he was going to die… How was my acting?”

His smile blinded everyone, the twinkle in his eyes making us wonder if he really thought Noel was dying or not.

“Extremely convincing.” I smiled in spite of my initial shock, feeling a little more comfortable. Jacob really knew how to crack someone up, and he sure helped me get over the shock of almost dying effectively.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Ashe. My brother’s not going to die so easily. I’ve been trying; you know?” Jacob replied with a grin, portraying the look of a child who didn’t seem to understand that he was in real trouble.

While everyone else stoned in shock at Jacob’s sudden proclamation, Zane laughed, breaking the expectant silence.

“I should know, huh? What did you try on him this time?” Zane asked as if he found nothing weird in the fact that Jacob usually tried his best to kill his own little brother.

“Hey! Yo, Zane! How has life been treating you? Nah, I didn’t do anything much this time round. Maybe spike his drink a little. A far throw from when I poured red coloring in his bowl of sanitized water. You should really have seen the look on his face when he thought it was blood… Priceless!” Jacob laughed again, not seeing the silent fury his father was about to unleash on him anytime.

Zane laughed along, uncaring of the adults that stared in disbelief that anyone would think that joke funny.

“Jacob Cypher! Out!” Richard yelled suddenly, cutting off the laughter as he did so. Almost instantly, Jacob’s face went dull to embarrassment before he ducked quickly away from his father’s wrath.

“I’ll be going. Jacob needs a good talk about this. If Noel were conscious, he would know what to do with this kid.” Richard said, walking out after his child.

I caught the look of pity and resignation shared between Lance and him before Richard closed the door behind him.

As if closing the door announced the start of interrogation, Ms. Maxwell and Grandma Elvie drew up chairs beside Zane’s and mine, while Lance remained standing.

“Are you okay, Ashe?” Grandma Elvie started, sounding worried as hell despite the fact that she had been asking the same question at least twenty times over.

“I’m fine, Grandma Elvie.” Of course, I didn’t dare to tell her of the million scratches on my back that had been mad when Kenton dragged me across the roof.

“Did that vampire bite you?” She pursued worriedly and I shook my head.

“Elvie,” Ms Maxwell said gently, taking my grandmother’s attention, “Ashe is fine. I know you worry about her, but she’s fine. Now let her tell us exactly what happened.”

Grandma Elvie seemed ready to protest, before she thought the better of it. Understanding that there were no more interruptions, Ms. Maxwell gestured for me to narrate.

I took a deep breath, took warmth and support in the look that Zane gave me, and started spilling everything that I had been keeping away from Grandma Elvie and Ms. Maxwell.

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“…Zane pulled me up to safety, and we came down.” I concluded, feeling my throat a little parched. Since Ms. Maxwell had told me to get right down to even the most minor of details, I had spent lots of time narrating my story, even though it was late into the night and we should all be asleep.

Somehow, the adrenaline from the near-death experience didn’t seem to have worn off its effect after so long, and I was awake as if I had just drunk an entire bottle of energy drink.

The silence that followed was almost too long, so I took my eyes off the people who were staring at me in shock and awe, turning to Noel. Stroking his face gently, I almost couldn’t believe that we had survived this. It had been one crazy night, and I remembered thinking that I could give myself up to keep Noel safe.

I tried my best not to dwell on the fact that the vampires had been aiming me explicitly, and that Kenton had been calling me princess despite everything that I’d said. Kenton firmly believed that I was someone important to the war between Faens and vampires, but I saw –in no way –how special I was supposed to be. Granted, I had two elements. But constellation Faens like Noel and Zane; they had two elements too. They held spirit and their own element. I wasn’t that special.

I did my best to forget the nightmare as I stroked Noel’s smooth cheeks. Once, Noel and I had almost been strangers. Once, Noel and I were just friends. Once, we were just simple boy-girl friends. Now, after this crazy scare, I felt even closer to Noel. I felt like I couldn’t do without him. And I thanked the million stars above that we were both saved from this craziness.

“What about you, Zane? Why were you up there?” Lance broke the silence, directing the question over to Zane, who had kept quiet the entire time I had been narrating my part of the incident.

“I was up at the roof already when they came in. I saw the blackout, and I was going to join the rest downstairs, but I heard footsteps. No one should be up on the roofs, and no one –other than Ashe, and you guys now –knows that I usually hang out on the roofs. I kept in the shadow, not knowing who it could be. Then I heard Ashe and the vampire. She looked like she needed help, so I gave her a hand. It’s simple, really.” Zane answered like he didn’t really care, but I heard something in his voice –some part of him that actually cared.

Lance knew it. “It’s not that simple, Zane. You were holding to Ashe and your power. You used her element. That’s not possible… unless you’re her…”

“But she has a Guardian. Even if I could use her element, it counts for nothing. Noel’s her Guardian. Not me.” Zane replied quickly, as if he wanted to reject the idea. I hadn’t really thought of that incident… until now. How I had used our combined power to call to air, to push me up the roof; it had sure felt like using the combined power of two Faens. But this time, it wasn’t with Noel, but with Zane.

“If she had no Guardian before this, Zane, would you consider yourself hers?” Grandma Elvie cut in before Lance could start another argument with his son.

“If we pass the test; then yes.” Zane replied confidently.

“Lance, go get your son the candle. I think it’s time Zane finally found his Guardian.” Grandma Elvie instructed quickly, but Zane jumped to his feet first.

“It’s no point, Elvie! Can’t you see? Your granddaughter has her Guardian. She can’t have another. Even if we pass the test now, there’s nothing we can act on. Noel is her Guardian. Not me.”

Grandma Elvie gave him a careful, frank look. “The school of Cynus never turns down possibilities. Exceptions can be made for you. Yes, Noel is her Guardian. But you are a Guardian too. Once you have found the one your power combines perfectly well with; you will never find a second. Take the test, Zane. Be sure first before we consider anything.”

“There’s nothing to consider. I am not her Guardian. Noel is. I came to save her today only because she’s my friend. That’s all. What happened on the roof is just an accident. Our desperation helped each other.” Zane said firmly, and before anyone could say anything more, he ran out of the room.

“Still running away? He’s just like you when you were young, Lance. Just the exact replica.”

Lance sighed. “He keeps on running away. I’ve been trying to get him to meet everything head on, but he just runs away. Ashe’s been helping out on clearing up this habit of his, but he doesn’t seem to understand that running away works.”

Grandma Elvie chuckled as Lance walked out to chase after his son.

“If you realized it sooner, Lance, I would have been saved the many days I spent lecturing you.”

Lance laughed and closed the door behind him, returning everything to seriousness.

“Do you really think he is your Guardian, Ashe?” Ms Maxwell didn’t take the time to ask.

Wanting to be all truthful now, to save me from more crazy scare like tonight, I nodded. “When my power connected with his; it feels exactly what I feel with Noel, except with Zane.”

“If he were really your Guardian, would you accept it?”

Would I? I would be weird all over again.

Then I thought of how long Zane had been waiting for his Faen. Zane had been waiting even longer than Noel. Of course, he didn’t seem to care at all, but I knew Zane wanted very much to move on with his life, instead of being just stuck here. Zane wanted to do something with his life.

“It will be kind of weird for one Faen to have two Guardians… but I think I’ll be okay with it. Zane needs someone to stand by him. He’s lonely, Grandma. I want to stand by him. He helped me; now it’s my turn to help him back.”

Grandma Elvie smiled, as if she had predicted that answer from me long ago. I wondered why.

“Would Noel mind, Ashe?”

I gave my unconscious Guardian a look. “He wouldn’t. I will explain everything to him. Zane is my Guardian, but Noel’s my boyfriend. I’ll make it extremely clear to them.”

Grandma Elvie didn’t even seem surprised when I proclaimed that Noel was my boyfriend. She stood up, and beckoned for Ms. Maxwell to go with her.

“We will talk to you about what we plan to do about this Kenton vampire chasing after you, Ashe. For the moment, take a rest. You’ll be free from school tomorrow. I’ll be sending you back to Andy with the rest of the students. It’s best that you hide in a crowd. I will send someone over to set up wards at the house. If vampires are hunting after you, we need more than just your elements and luck. You will take self-defense class after your term-break.”

Grandma Elvie sounded firm and stern, so I didn’t protest. Not that I had anything to protest.

“If we don’t see each other again before term-break starts, Ashe, please keep safe. If trouble stirs, call me immediately. If you need help, call me or Jane. Noel and Zane will still be here in school, so you won’t have your Guardians with you. You have to be doubly careful.”

“Yes, Grandma Elvie. I will.” I promised as I watched my grandmother hobble quickly out of the ward, Ms. Maxwell following close behind. Ms Maxwell, knowing that whatever warnings she wanted to issue to me had already been done by my grandmother, gave me a look that warned to me stay safe, and closed the door behind her.

I sighed, went back to sit on the couch close to the bed.

Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

So much for adrenaline.