Guardian of the Sacred Fire

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            Oriel led us farther into the woods after I had changed clothes.  He suddenly stopped nowhere in particular and knocked on a tree four times.  A door appeared and I gasped.  He opened the door and a sunny highway was in the tree.

            “Good luck.  Be happy while you can.” Oriel said.  He laid a kiss on my forehead.

            “Thank you.” I said and went through the door.  Adrian followed behind me.  I turned to tell Oriel something and the door was gone.  Instead there was a sign that said; Altus 3 miles.

            It was pretty close to home.  It was the highway that went from Altus to Lawton.  We were headed away from Lawton, towards my home town called Mangum.

            “I had never asked where you are from around here.”

            “I’m from Altus.” He answered.  “Let’s go get us a car.  I know where we can get a good one fairly cheap, and it’s not that far.”

            “I like good and cheap.” I said.  I lived by those rules.  If it was good and cheap, get it.  My car was good and cheap.  I just hoped my brother took good care of it.  Knowing him, he didn’t.

            The sun overhead beat down on us as we walked.  As much as I hated to admit it, I missed the island weather; it was never too hot or too cold.  No matter how long you lived here, you just can’t get used to 115 degree weather.

            Adrian handed me a water bottle and he opened one for himself.

            “Do you have a bottomless pit in there I don’t know about?” I asked after taking a small sip.

            “My backpack is like a woman’s purse, it can fit anything in it, but I can never find anything unless I really need it.”

            “You got me there.” I said.  I had carried a purse as a teenager, my rule now is, if it can fit in my pocket, I really don’t need it.

            We continued walking in silence.  I caught glimpses of my ring shining on my finger.  I finally got enough balls to outright look at it.  It was a simple thing, as most engagement rings were.  It had a teardrop diamond set in a heart.  To me it was beautiful.

            I caught Adrian stealing glances at me.  I smiled up at him.  He flung both backpacks over one shoulder and took my hand.  I felt like a teenager again with a crush.

            “You know I have a faster way of getting there.” He said.  “How good are you at hiding things?”

            “I can hide a teacup.” I said.  I knew he meant making things vanish.  I had trouble with it from the moment Oriel started teaching me.  It was a matter of pulling your aura around something to make it vanish to others, only you can see it, because well, it was hidden by your aura.

            “Can you do bigger?” He asked.

            “If you can turn into a horse, we won’t have to hide.”

            “I wasn’t thinking of a horse, but I can do it.” He said.

            “What were you thinking of? A cheetah?  A cheetah can only go fast in spurts, not for long distances.”

            “No, something a little larger, and a little slower.  A bear can carry you, but a horse makes more sense.” He said.  I followed him behind a line of trees.  There were many along the highway, planted during the Dust Bowl.

            He took off his clothes when we were hidden behind a tree.  “It’s easier; I don’t have to concentrate as hard to blend in the clothes.”

            I just nodded like I understood.  I watch him change into a horse.  I heard the bones breaking and reforming themselves until he was no longer a man but a chestnut colored horse.  I grabbed the three bags and situated them as good as I was going to get them.  I probably looked like an i***t with one in front of me and two behind me. But hey, it was easier to carry.

            “I’ve never done bareback before, so not so fast. I might fall off.” I said.  Adrian nodded his head and he headed back towards the highway.  I was used to having reigns and stirrups to balance me, this time I had nothing.  I grabbed on to his mane as he started to trot quickly.  The other good thing about a saddle, you can use the stirrups and sort of crouch on the horse so your ass isn’t jumping up and down.  I just leaned forward as far as the backpack would let me and he ran.

            We made it to the small city quicker, but by the time I dismounted my ass was sore and I couldn’t walk right.  To all the horse riders, you know what I mean.

            Adrian chose to change back behind an empty shed.  He put on his clothes before he collapsed on the ground.  “I haven’t done that in years.” He said catching his breath.  I handed him his bottle of water and he gulped it down.

            He went to put his shoes on and I noticed his feet were a little bloody.  Horses wear horseshoes for a reason.

            “Now I feel bad.” I said.

            “Give it a second.” He said.

I watched as they healed.  He poured a little water on them to get the blood off and then put his socks and shoes on.

            “I don’t think I will ever get used to that.” I said.

            “I didn’t think so either.” He told me.  He took two of the bags from me and opened the one with the money.  I hadn’t seen that much except for in movies.  He looked around and then started pulling money out.  There were twenty bundles of a $5,000.  I quietly thanked Oriel over and over.  He put one bundle in his own bag.

            “I don’t want to open up a bag full of cash in front of people.  People get suspicious; probably think we robbed a bank or something.”

            I nodded and I watched as he searched the other pockets.  He pulled out a note and read it. He laughed and handed it to me.

            Anna and Adrian,

                             Think of it as a wedding present.

            “He knew.” I said with a laugh.

            “We can get a small house or rent an apartment for a long while.” Adrian said.

            “I’d prefer a house.” I said.  “If you don’t mind.”

            “I told you, I’m following you.” He said and got up.  He zipped up the bag after putting the note in it and he took my hand.

            After we drove off of the dealership parking lot in our ‘new’ used car, we headed for my home town.  We were headed towards the cemetery.  I was going to see my own grave.  Actually it was probably Uriel’s grave with my name on the headstone.  All they had found were the charred remains of a person, and since I was the only one that lived there, they figured it was me.  Don’t ask me how they figured it, some people in the town can be pretty short minded.  I knew they wouldn’t have done a dental check or an autopsy.  Apparent cause of death was fire.  But Uriel was taller than me and definitely didn’t have my curves. So don’t ask me.  I wondered how many people showed up to my funeral.

            Adrian turned the radio on and the news was covering the hurricane.  Hurricane Allen they were calling it.

            “Hurricane Allen appears to have strengthened to a Category Five in the mid-Atlantic region and as it draws closer to the gulf it seems to be weakening.  It has been downgraded to a Category Three in just a couple of hours.  If it continues on this path it may completely dissipate or it may strengthen again in the warm waters of the gulf.  Meteorologists are saying it’s about a fifty-fifty chance.  I tell you people, this is an odd one.” The radio D.J. said.

            Adrian turned off the radio and concentrated on the road. His thoughts were somewhere else. I watched him as he grinded his teeth.  It was a habit he had when he was nervous or concentrating very hard.  I left him to his thoughts as we drove into town.  You had to go through the town to get to the cemetery.

            The sun was setting on the horizon as we reached the cemetery.  Adrian followed me to where I knew the grave would probably be.  Many of my ancestors were buried here. I grabbed my bag that I had mostly emptied on the way.   I walked along the line and reached where my cousin was buried last year. I walked one further and saw my name.

Here Lies Anastasia Hallow

July 3rd 1989-March 17th 2012

Beloved Daughter and Friend

            An angel was engraved into the tombstone.  Flowers covered the grave.  They were probably from my mother.  In the summer heat they were wilting.  I watched as a truck drove up.  I gasped as my mother came out of it with more flowers.  Daffodils. They were always my favorite.  She wasn’t looking up as she walked towards us.

            “Mama?” I said.

            She finally looked up and dropped the flowers.  “You are alive.  I thought I dreamed it.” She said and hugged me.  “Why are you out here?” She asked.

            “Well, I’m back, hopefully for good.” I said and stepped away from her.  I took Adrian’s hand.  “This is Adrian mama.  He’s my fiancé.” I said with a smile.

            “Fiancé?” she asked.  “You’re getting married?” she said with a smile.

            I nodded and smiled back.  “Why don’t you go home and we’ll follow behind.” I said.

            “Okay.” She said and hugged me again and turned and walked away.

            “Now to make them forget.” I said as the sun completely set.  I got into my bag and grabbed a small knife that I had gotten from the kitchen before we had left.  I put it to the tip of my finger.  I drew blood and put it to the tombstone.

            “Forget.” I said as I drew runes.  “Forget my death.  Believe what I say.”  I pushed power into the blood.  I felt the power wave through the night air.  Adrian stepped back as the power spread through the town.  It covered it like a blanket.  I gasped as I hit my knees.  The power was too much.  I pushed the last of my strength into it and felt the magic recede. We watched as the tombstone vanished.

            “Only way to know if it works.” Adrian said and helped me up.

            We drove to my mom’s house and parked the car.

            “Here we go.” I said and sighed.  We got out and headed toward the door.

            My mom came out with a smile.

            “Wish you would have called before you came. Would have brought the family over.” She said.  “Who is this handsome young man?” She asked.

            “Mom, this is Adrian, Adrian this is Sereda my mom.” I said with a huge smile.

            “Come inside and tell me how college is.”

            We followed her inside and sat down on the couch. Adrian relaxed against me and took my hand. The spell worked as far as we knew.  Most people think that spells have to have rhyming in them. Wicca believes it, but it’s not true.  As long as there is power behind the words there is a spell. At least that was what Oriel taught me.

            “What would you like to drink? We have pop or tea.” Sereda said as my step-dad came into the house.

            “Pop.” We both said.

            “Hey, how ya doin’?” He asked.  Erin was my step-dad’s name. I know I never mentioned it before, but I haven’t mentioned a lot of things.

            “I’m fine. Erin, this is Adrian.” I said.

            “Pretty ring on your finger.” He said.  You couldn’t get anything by my step-dad. If you didn’t want him to find out something, you just better not do it.  Same way with my mother.

            “So since you’re going to be marrying my daughter, I want to know a few things about you.” Erin said and sat down.  Erin was short for a guy, just an inch shorter than me. But where he lacked in height he made up in pure muscle mass.  Age was catching up to him though, his stomach was softening.

            My mother came out and handed us both a pop. We both gulped it down.  I had forgotten how good pop was.  It was the most fattening thing in my diet.  Well that included fast food here and there.

            “What would you like to know?” Adrian asked.

            “What do you do for a living?” Erin asked.

            “I’m a doctor.” Adrian answered.  “I worked for a small hospital that you probably haven’t heard of. I helped those that couldn’t afford it.” He said.  That was mostly true. He helped lycanthropes.  I came to believe Adrian wasn’t a lycanthrope.  Lycanthropes could only change during the full moon and they were mostly predatory animals except for a few that weren’t.  Adrian didn’t have to change during the full moon and he could change at will.  I was thinking he was a shape shifter and not a lycanthrope. I’d ask him later.

            “You seem pretty young to be a doctor.”

            “Graduated early and went to college.  I was lecturing at Cameron when I met her.  We’ve been together ever since.” He squeezed my hand.

            “Are you pregnant?” Sereda asked.

            “Mom!” I said and a blush hit my cheeks.  “No I’m not pregnant.”

            “Well hurry up and give me another grandchild.” She said.  My mother has always told me she wanted grandchildren.  My brother had given her a granddaughter and now she wanted one from me.  And I knew that I wasn’t pregnant. I was about 95 percent sure that I wasn’t.  I was always careful on the island. I tracked my cycle vigorously. So far I had been right about it.

            I looked up at Adrian; his tan cheeks were red as well.  I had never seen the man blush before.

            “So where are you staying tonight?” Sereda asked.

            “Probably the motel. I’m done for this semester and the classes I need won’t start again until January. So I figured why not come home?”

            “So Kaleb told you about your house?” Erin asked.

            “Yeah. Really sucks.” I said.

            “We can rebuild it. You know we can. You worked hard to pay for it and to see it gone just like that.” Sereda said.

            “It’s okay mom. The insurance check went to school so I could afford to actually eat.” I hated lying to her so much.  The truth was the home owner’s insurance check was probably sitting in my bank account. I had everything direct deposited into it. I wondered how much it was.

            “I did save this.” Sereda said and went into my old bedroom.  She came out with a little plastic bag.  She handed it to me.  It was my wallet.  I got it out of the bag and went through it.  Everything in there was charred.  My driver’s license was barely readable. The only thing recognizable was a picture that I had taken with my mom on my 21st birthday.  I pulled it out and smiled.  She had taken me to a bar and we had a blast.  I know, mother taking her daughter to a bar.  Honestly I wouldn’t go without her.  She made it fun.  My mother was a completely different person at a bar.

            “We’re going to go.  We’ll be back after we get things settled.” I said.  We stood up and I hugged both of my parents.

            “I love you.” Sereda said.

            “I love you too.” I told her.

            “And welcome to the family Adrian. Don’t hurt my daughter; she’s been through enough heartache.” Erin said.

            “You’re starting to sound like a woman dad.” I said.

            “Spending too much time with your mother.” He chuckled.

            We walked down the steps of the house and to the car. I got in on the passenger side and sighed.

            “Nice folks.” Adrian said and started the car. “Mine are worse.” He smiled at me and leaned over and gave me a kiss.  His kisses always sent thrills through my body.

            “I want to go to my house.” I said quietly. “I want to see what’s left.”

He nodded and he pulled out of the driveway. Adrian held my hand as he drove.  My heart pounded as I told him the last of the directions. He knew the main streets but not the neighborhoods.

            He stopped in front of the charred remains of what used to be my home. Hot tears came to my eyes as I got out of the car.  I walked up the steps and to what used to be the front door.  It was pretty much just the skeleton now. I wondered why the city didn’t tear it down. Many dead flowers were on the porch. I walked inside carefully, not knowing how well the floor would hold.  It creaked but didn’t give. I walked farther and into my old bedroom.  Adrian had stayed outside.  My metal bed frame was still standing but everything else was black.

            I heard something and stopped breathing for a second to listen closely.  I could hear something else breathing raggedly.  I looked around the charred dresser and my heart nearly stopped.

            “About time you returned.” At first I didn’t understand what it was.  It looked like a corpse. Its eyes were sunken in, I couldn’t see the eyeballs.

            “Uriel.” I said quietly and knelt down in front of him.

            “You come so close to me, are you not afraid of me?” He asked.

            “Not anymore.” I said quietly.

            “Where is Azrael?” He gasped.

            “Dead.” I answered.

            “How?”

            “Ariella killed him.”

            “So you’re Ariella?”

            “No, she’s at peace now.” I answered. “Why haven’t you fed?” I asked.

            “Was waiting for you to return.” He started laughing. “I was going to kill you. Now I don’t think I have the strength.”

            “What do you want me to do Uriel?” I asked.  I felt sorry for him for some reason.  “I will offer you blood, or I can end your suffering.” I said.

            “No one can end my suffering.” He told me.

            I held out my wrist towards him.

            “Why?”

            “Because I’m a different person now. I’m not the scared little girl that’s afraid of the dark. I have better things to fear.” I said.

            His skeletal hand reached out for my wrist and I inched closer.  His grip was still strong enough to hurt.  His fangs plunged into my wrist and I winced.  I still held the scars on my neck.  The memories have yet faded. I still had dreams about that night.

            “Anna?” I heard Adrian call from the living room.  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

            “Yeah.” I answered as Uriel fed.

            Adrian came into the room and gasped. I heard a low growl.

            “It’s okay.” I said.

            “He’s the one that nearly killed you.” Adrian said.

            “I’ve been nearly killed by a lot of things. I’m not afraid of dying. Not anymore. Because I know what awaits after death now.”

            Uriel let go of my wrist and he gasped once again.  I watched as he healed until he was the shining thing I had once feared.

            He stood up and stretched.  He reached his hand down to me and I took it.

            “You have claimed your rights as Vesta. I can feel your power flow through me.” He said.  “What do you want of me?” He asked.  “You renewed my life, how can I pay you back?”

            “Don’t ever try and kill me again and don’t kill anyone in this town.” I said.

He just nodded and then he was gone. It was like he vanished.

            “He’ll be back.” Adrian said.

            “I know.” I told him and held up my arm.  It was still bleeding. The blood started to run down my forearm as we headed out towards the car.

            Adrian got a rag out of his bag and put it against the bite mark.

            “I wouldn’t have done it.” He said after being quiet for a while.  We had reached the motel parking lot.  It had brought back memories of Azrael.

            “Four months ago I wouldn’t have either. I would have run screaming.”

            “What made you change?” Adrian asked.

            I pulled down my shirt and showed him the scars across my chest. “Because there are things out there that want the world. Uriel just wants blood and his own coven. He doesn’t want the world. He’s not a threat.  There are things out there that want to kill us just because they think it would be fun. I grew some metaphysical balls these last few months that I didn’t realize that I had until I faced the Lord of Storms. We were just a bump in the road to him. We weren’t really worth his time.  Do you know how insignificant that makes me feel? After he told me that, I knew that I would protect what is mine. I will do anything to stop Lucifel from coming even if that means my life is forfeit.” I said.

            He didn’t say a word after that. We got a room and went inside.  I went straight for the bathroom.  I put my throbbing wrist under the tap.  I looked up at myself in the mirror.  I was tanner than when I had left.  I had freckles and they stood out more than when I was pale.  I had never been able to get a tan here in Oklahoma no matter how many times I had tried. I even tried tanning beds to no avail.  I looked tired. I had bags under my eyes. My blue hazel eyes seemed dull to me.

            Adrian knocked on the door then came in with some medical supplies. I cursed at him as he put alcohol on the bite. He wrapped in with gauze then looked at me.

            “Why did you say yes?” He asked.

            “Because I love you. Is that not enough?”

            “I thought you also loved Midael.”

            “I also love Permaz and Bernael and Oriel, but with you it’s different. I don’t know if it’s because you are my Sentinel or if it’s real, but I love you Adrian. I want to be your wife.” I told him.

            “Then when do you want to do this?” He asked.

            “The sooner the better. I don’t know how much time we will have together.” I said truthfully.

            “Then let’s get married tomorrow. We’ll go to the courthouse.”

            “Are you sure?” I asked.

            “I am.” He said and kissed me.  I wrapped my arms around him and he lifted me up.

            We made actual love that night.  Not s*x, not f*****g, love. There is a difference, I don’t care who you are. I had s*x with Midael for power. f*****g is just like s*x, but angry s*x. Angry s*x can be fun in its own way. I like s*x, but I’m not a w***e. I’ve never considered any woman to be a w***e. What’s wrong with saying you like s*x? It’s fun and it feels good.