Chapter 1: Take Me Away

You will be the guide through the dark; a beacon for human kind to never see, but to be known by all. You can fight. You can die but you’re immortal to your world. Fighting will be your training after the first kill the crescent will shape, danger will fasten your fate and to connect your points to complete the event. To be one with James and Liam these are your vows. All will fall in the dark world of Earth now you will know Eve and Adam. Always will you watch and war and never will you lie your sword down. Nothing will stand in your way. No attachment will hinder you and the path you chose now is the only one for you. These are our laws and your vows so make your promises now. You are an Aegis in this moment.

Sara’s eyes flung open as her back began to burn. She flipped onto her stomach and screamed into her pillow when it got too much; the pain and burning spread through her entire body as she lay there. She cried into the pillow and punched the other one trying to weasel the pain out of her chest and back. She couldn’t take this much longer. She couldn’t remember most of her dream she’d woken from but it had something to do with the Aegis people. She bit the pillow and hugged it too hard until she threw herself off the bed and onto the floor trying to refocus the pain.

She got all tangled up in the blankets as she spasmed under the influence of the pain. She could feel the tears in her eyes she was hyper aware of every part of her body. Something inside her was changing and it wasn’t working out very well in the painless department. She screamed into her pillow again and begged her God to make it stop. All will fall in the dark world of Earth now you will know Eve and Adam, the voice came back. “Please stop”, she pleaded biting into the pillow.

You can die but you’re immortal to your world, it continued. She was wrenched into a sitting position. Always will you watch and war and never will you lay your sword down, the male voice said, I am James ancestor of the first of your kind you will guard us.

 

I put my notebook down and flopped back against my pillows. All I could do was stare at the ceiling. There was a spider crawling on the ceiling. She was no mythical or even rare creature, but it was all I could see. She had long legs and a red marking on her body in the shape of a heart. I traced the heart and I felt a tingling sensation run down the length of my finger. I brought my hand to my lip so my eyes didn’t have to leave the spider. I felt something wet against my lips, but it wasn’t water. I looked at my hand and there were cuts on my hand. I guess last night was real. I sat up in my hospital bed and spotted my father asleep in the corner. I was amazed he got off work long enough to visit. I was nineteen after all; he did not legally have to come here to lecture me.

 

I guess he couldn’t resist the temptation to shout at me for trying to take my own life. I was at college and I was alone. I did not know what to do with myself so I figured ending everything would be the easiest solution. I always went for the easiest solution in my writing so why not in real life. The story I’d been writing lately was a fan fiction. I couldn’t come up with all of my own ideas so I liked to use the fan fiction scapegoat. I guess I was a pretty boring girl in real life, but in my fan fiction my characters were always brave, some of them were even fearless. I wasn’t like them. I was afraid of the dark and heights. Those were just my top two fears; there were many more.

 

I looked at my wrists. They were as cut up as my hands, but they were covered with bandages. I picked up my notebook again then the door burst open. “I knew you didn’t kick the bucket,” my favourite person came strolling in, “Honestly, Em you’re such a drama queen.”

“Did you or did you not kick open the door?” I pushed myself off the bed.

“Sis,” he came over and embraced me, “Thank god.”

“I thought you were on the tour,” I inquired resting my head against his chest.

“The guys understood why we had to make a pit stop,” he pecked my cheek, “Em, you were supposed to use that knife for self defense.”

“I hate college,” I shook my head.

“But you’re taking good classes; you’re in a great writing program,” he frowned.

“The teacher detests me and I cannot write what I want to there,” I told him, “The people are worse than those jerks at high school; they don’t like the fact that I didn’t pick a sorority.”

 

“Em, why didn’t you call me?” he demanded.

“I didn’t want to distract you from the music,” I explained.

“What do you want to do, Em?” he put his hands on my shoulders and I felt my eyes tear up the way they only did when my brother was around.

“I want to write, Neill it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” I sobbed, “I feel like I am lost in the words, but they aren’t moving anywhere in this damn town.”

“The doctors say you have depression,” he commented.

“Is that what they’re calling it?” I sighed.

 

“It is the technical term for what you did,” my father’s gray eyes opened, “Though what you could be depressed about is beyond me.”

“Dad,” Neill began.

“After all, I am paying for your college education and made sure you had a private room in the college near the library, as I was asked,” dad continued.

“Dad, stop it she was alone and everyone is allowed to make mistakes,” Neill argued.

“You always encouraged this writing; it is destroying her,” my father snapped, “Now, go outside while I talk to your sister alone.”

“No,” Neill said stubbornly.

“Neill, I can do this,” I assured him and he pecked my cheek again.

“I’ll be outside calling the guys,” Neill looked me in the eye, “Call me if you need me.”

“Yep,” I squeezed his hand then he left me alone with my father who was texting on his phone. “I am not in the mood for a lecture,” I sat on the edge of the bed.

 

“Do you have any idea how close to death you were?” he pocketed his phone, “They had to restart your heart, Emmeline.”

“I didn’t ask you to come here,” I argued.

“No, the school and the hospital did,” he snapped, “They called your mother and me both last night.”

“Why would they call her?” I said angrily, “She has nothing to do with my life anymore.”

“She is still your mother,” he countered.

“Screw her, she’s in Germany with her new boy toy; Neill’s mom was always nicer to me, but you scared her off,” I shouted.

“Don’t raise your voice to me, young lady,” he stood up, “Your mother was worried sick about you; you never should have done what you did to yourself.”

“I hate this town and I want to get out of here,” I retorted, “I told you at Christmas dinner that I wanted to drop out and go to a writer’s retreat, but you forced me to stay.”

“Don’t you dare blame this on me,” he warned me, “This is all on you, young lady you’ll be going back to the school this weekend and you’ll be seeing a counsellor-”

 

“Dad, that isn’t going to help,” I ran my hands through my hair.

“And from now on, you’re going to take more business courses in place of those awful writing studies,” he continued.

“No,” I snapped.

“Yes,” he said forcing me to sit down, “You’re not going to waste your life the way your brother has.”

“That’s what you get for marrying a hippie, old man,” Neill appeared and blocked my father’s view of me.

 

“Neill Patrick Foster, step aside,” dad ordered.

“No, Em has been through enough; I cannot just watch her wither away,” Neill looked around at me, “Her writing helps her, but you keep her under lock and key so she has no life experience.”

“I have life experience,” I complained.

“When was the last time you left your dorm room before today for anything other than classes, the mall and the library,” Neill questioned.

“December,” I muttered.

“Exactly,” Neill said proudly.

 

“So what are you suggesting Neill?” he demanded, “Are you going to pay for her to go to this ‘writer’s retreat’?”

“Nope,” Neill sat down next to me, “Em is going to be one of our roadies on the tour starting tomorrow morning.”

“That is absurd,” dad scoffed.

 

“Neill, I don’t know a lot about your band; its name even confuses me and I haven’t seen your bandies in ages,” I sighed, “I didn’t leave things on good terms with Mika and he’s your lead singer.”

“Yes, but without the drummer we wouldn’t have our sound so he is willing to forgive the broken windows of his car and the fire,” Neill winced at the thought, “He can admit that he might deserve a little bit of the blame.”

“A little bit of the blame, he dumped me when he found out I was your sister because ‘he doesn’t date band relatives’.”

“None of that matters because the doctors won’t let this happen and neither will I,” Cliff, my dad crossed his arms.

 

“The doctors thought it was a great idea; they said a neutral environment with love ones and fun would be beneficial to her,” my brother smirked.

“Look at you using big words,” I laughed.

“As for you, Cliff it’s the best thing for Em; she’s suffocated here and this solution won’t cost you a dime,” Neill said playing on my father’s cheapness to get his way. My father hated wasting money even though he had more than most of the people in our neighbourhood combined.

“Well,” Cliff thought about it, “I don’t see how she could act out with you there watching her.”

“Exactly and the band has all been informed of the situation so they’ll be careful,” he put his arm around me, “It’ll be like when mom took us to New York back in grade school, Emmy.”

 

“Would we be going to New York?” I looked up at him.

“It’s on the schedule,” he nodded.

“I really want to go,” I turned to my father. New York was the most amazing place in the world; I still had dreams about when I went there with Felicia and Neill years ago. I wrote short stories for years about that majestic home of the best publishers and literary giants in history.

 

“What about your schooling?” he said uncertainly.

“I’ll switch to online schooling; you can set it up if you wish and send me the information on my email when I take my laptop,” I offered, “I have to do this; I will be safe with Neill.” Neill had always been the ray of light through my darkness and I knew he would make this trip memorable. I couldn’t stay here any longer. I wouldn’t survive another week. I knew the trip might be awkward with Neill’s band-mates seeing so little of me. We might have nothing in common anymore, but I dreaded seeing Mika because he tended to hold grudges.

“I’ll call your mother and tell her what you’ve decided,” Cliff took out his phone.

 

“Why does Suzanne need to know about this?” I spat her name.

“She’s your mother,” Neill rubbed my back.

“What is she going to do if she doesn’t like this idea? Come and stop us; oh wait she’s in the red light district with no money to her name,” I crossed my arms. I always wrote about fantasy because my mother made reality seem more horrific than enjoyable. I didn’t miss her. I just wanted to get out of this town.