I've changed a lot in the past few months, but I'm not giving up on the guardians. I still am going to write their stories, all the way up to the tenth year, and the prologue for the series.
The good news is that it should go a lot faster now that I have my own laptop, and I've been working on my writing technique, so I should sound less horrible ;)
Other than that the original plan for the guardians has not changed. I had the 2nd and 3rd year planned out last November, so until I reach a real writer's block I'm going to keep on scribbling.
My story is during our stay at the Colorado boarding school. We planned to stay there a year but it was cut short during that May... I'll leave that story to Nona. My portion takes place around April of that year, Back right before Christmas we had visited a club in Fort ______, and it was one of the few times Nenona was ever scared of anything. We left early(for our group) and ever since then I've kept tabs on that club.
Turns out, the bunker showed signs of being a vampire hub from the beginning. There were several outstanding missing person's reports, and I visited the town several times to interview some locals. There were several unreported blood deliveries to the club also. I knew the only way to learn more about it would be to visit it again. Luckily Nenona was busy so we didn't have any missions for a while, but not-so-lucky was that everyone else was busy also. Andrew left to go back home, Aimee and Bryan both went to Australia, Bryan to camp on the Gold Coast, Aimee to visit her family. They would return during the summer for some missions, but we weren't sure of our missions from August-on. Bryan and Aimee both had personal missions back in February, which Nona got into hoverboarding about the same time, and Andrew became homesick. As soon as Michael gave them the go-ahead they left, going home or in Bryan's case, to a new home.
So this one I would be alone on. No problem. Marco still appeared at random times, he currently worked in the machine shop at the academy, tinkering with some of our weapons. I've talked to Taos once or twice, mostly for information. He still didn't like me.
I decided on my motorcycle for the transportation. I would wear guardian leathers of course, but nothing would be on the books. This was purely investigation, on my own whims. I made sure to tuck a couple hundred in cash into my pack before I left. Bribe money goes a long way.
What exactly did I hope to accomplish?
#1: Find out if it's the darklighters. They managed to find a poison that nearly killed me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was them behind this. Aside from all the other enemies we've come across, demons, wizards, and whatnot, the darklighters have been the only one to sense us, and attack us openly.
#2: figure out what plans they have, if any. My gut instinct says they want us gone. Both from the fact that I was poisoned and the feeling Nona keeps getting about these �others�
#3: Find out their weaknesses and a possible way to take them down. I know it's presumptous but I'd rather not take any chances.
I had pulled into the motorcycle area of the parking lot, and dismounted swiftly, walking inside without a second glance at anyone. I paid the cover charge and aimed directly for the bar.
�Hey buddy.� I had said to a guy with dreads, hoping that my voice reached over the din. �Where can I talk to someone who can tell me about the guardians?�
He laughed. �Where's your pass, man?�
�My pass? You wanna see my pass?� I hissed at him, something I had only done once before, when I had become a beast gorging itself on a dragon carcass. My fangs were at their full length, my eyes all black. He drew back, a little surprised but nontheless said �Go to the back. Ask for Mary.� He pointed to a back door and went back to his job.
As I walked to the back, I looked up at the balconies Nona had said were VIP booths. One had the laminated glass sliding door open, and a girl looked out over the club floor, like an egyptian queen over her followers. I brushed the thought aside and focused on finding this �Mary�. A bouncer stopped me a few feet in and I informed him who I was looking for.
�To the back.� He grunted. �Take the staircase up. First roomon the left.� I followed his instructions and knocked on the door.
�It's open.� a cracking female voice had replied.
I opened the door to a dark room, lit by lamps covered with dark red scarves. At a round table in the middle of the room, a small figure sat, shaded in the smokey red light of the place. One could clearly see the sliding door behind her, that led out to the small balcony, but it was closed and the room was near silent except for the background thump of the sub-woofers. I closed the door behind me and walked up to the edge of the table.
�What do you want?� She had asked, sounding annoyed.
�Information. I need to know about the darklighters.� What looked to be her arm reached forwards and lit a small gathering of candles in the middle of the table. A small candelabra that I had missed before lit up her old, craggy face, and black hair cropped into a bob.
I gulped down the lump that was in my throat. �Who leads them? Who are they? What are they?�
She chuckled. �They are led by someone known as the �Prince of Lies�. It is their most powerful darklighter at the time, and he orchestrates their moves. Who?� She let out what was left of her first drag and took another. �Anyone who can go through the rites of initiation. What? Humans, who much like you, agree to be possesed by a demon, only they don't have binding stones like yours, Guardian of Air.� She looked at me, her glare unwavering. I noticed that the club behind her had become blackness and from that cover emerged six humans-no, six darklighters. A young woman�the young woman from the balcony earlier, stepped forward a bit more than the others and put her hand on Mary's shoulder. I jumped to my feet and backed up a few steps, bringing my bag with me.
�Hullo, Erik.� The girl said. �Good to finally meet you.� She smiled with an assured smugness, not only of the fact that her team could beat me to a pulp, but that she could also enter my mind with a little force.
�Leader of the Darklighters team, I presume?� I said, trying to decided if I could make it out of the room without using my guardian powers. It would be dangerous to call upon them without one of the others there. If I ran out of energy, then I was toast. I glanced behind me. Damn. The door had disspeared.
�There's no way out, Erik.� She said, lowering her voice.
�Oh noo..., you don't get away that easily from me.� Her soft voice crooned in my ear. �I've got a deal to cut with you.� She dropped my shoulders to the ground. I struggled to get up, and she put a boot on my chest to hold me there. �Listen.� She ordered. �If you help me bring down the guardians I will let you live in my service. I'm sure there's some way to get the powers from a guardians other than killing them. What do you say?�
�Never!� I snarled. She removed her boot.
�Get up!� I slowly stood. As soon as I had my balance, she reared back and punched me in the groin. I doubled over in pain, it only registered a few seconds later that one of her teammates was watching her beat me to a pulp. �Stand up straight!� She ordered. I took a fighting stance. I hated fighting girls, Nenona and Aimee always made fun of how gentle I was with them, but this was self-defense. She went to strike me again, and I caught her wrist. She tried to pull free of my grasp and went to hit me with her other fist, but I caught that one too.
She just grinned maniacally at this, then stared in my eyes. It was a few secons before I realized that her wrists were blazing hot. The heat reached through my gloves, searing my palms. I had to let go. She rotated her free hands, setting them ablaze. My eyes went wide. They had our powers.
�My name is Anikka.� She siezed my collar and shoved me against a car nearby. The alarm went off but she was unfazed. �You. And all of your friends. Are going to die by my hands.� She grabbed a handful of my crotch and squeezed, then giggled as I let out a groan of displeasure. �I let you live tonight because I know you will tell no one. I have made sure of it.� She pressed a finger to my lips, which burned a bit, then let me go and walked away, saying �Come, Heath.� to her cronie.
Just like that, she let me go. Unfortunatly it wasn't until I figured out what she had done to me that I knew why she had let me live. I now had the marks of dark magic on me. I had gone into a club, on my own, in an un-approved mission course. I got my arse kicked by a woman. And she put a spell on me to tell no one of my night out alone.