Chapter 1

I woke up from a nightmare, feeling groggy and unfocused. Nightmares had become a recent thing over the summer, and usually it was the same one. I slowly got out of bed. I trudged over to my mirror, and looked at myself in the mirror. My long brown hair was a mess, and my blue eyes showed just how tired I really was. I looked over at my alarm clock. It was one o’clock in the morning. With just a couple weeks left of summer, I wanted to get my sleep schedule back to normal. It wasn’t so easy with all the nightmares I’ve been having lately. They started at the beginning of summer, just after my friends and I escaped a group of Dark Angels. To join the Dark Angels was a sin. I go to a school somewhere in Los Angeles, California. It was a school for both angels and humans. Most angels were trained as Guardian Angels, and then given to a human once they graduated. The point was to protect the humans from being influenced into becoming a Dark Angel. Unfortunately, sometimes the Dark Angels resorted to killing. There were two ways to turn into a Dark Angel. One was by influence. They get into your mind, and get you wanting to join them. That’s when they’ll go through the changing process. The second way was by killing. It was a rare occurrence, but it was still a method they used. And it isn’t just humans they try to influence. It’s Light Angels such as myself as well. It’s a bit harder though, because we’re already bound to a higher power, so they go after the more vulnerable humans.

I held the gold cross necklace that I always wore around my neck. All Light Angels wore a cross somewhere. Whether it be a necklace, earrings, tattoos or anything else. I thought about my father and how worried he was about me. I had called him upon leaving our house in Bakersfield. I had told him about the run-in with Dark Angels, and that we would be living at my friend Eric’s house here in Los Angeles. We weren’t sure if they would find us here before we were safely behind the gates of the school, but we had nowhere else to go. We were only seventeen, and although Eric’s family had a lot of money, we didn’t have a whole lot of options. Eric’s house was better protected than mine or Wyatt’s. We could have stayed at the school during the summer, where we were protected behind the gates of Light Magic, but we wanted adventure this summer. Little did we know that we would get more adventure than we had planned. I gripped the cross tighter between my two fingers. Our crosses were our protectors. They helped to make it harder to influence us. I always wore my cross with the necklace my mother gave me. It was my name “Skylar” in gold, cursive letters. I always thought of her when I looked at it. I was proud to have the same middle name as her. We both shared “Rose” with honor. I was proud to be a Donovan too. My father is the most well-respected Light Angel out there. He was once in charge of guarding the current Lord of Light Angels, back when they were just best friends at St. Bishop’s Academy. Needless to say, they’re still best friends.

I rubbed my eyes and put my hair up in a clip. I put on my slippers, and slowly made my way downstairs in my pajamas, careful not to fall down them in my groggy state. The light in the kitchen was still on. I walked into the kitchen. My eyes were still adjusting to the light. When they finally adjusted, I saw Eric and Wyatt playing a game of chess. They were the only two people I knew that could play chess at one in the morning. Eric was a genius, and Wyatt just loved the challenge that chess brought him, especially when playing against Eric. Eric was waiting for Wyatt to make his move, and he looked up at me from the board. His eyes showed he was happy to see me, but worried about me as well. He knew something was up.

Eric Matthews had been my best friend since elementary school, since we were little angels. His short brown hair, and tan skin made his mint green eyes stand out. He wore those nice designer glasses you saw people wearing now these days. I believe his were a pair of Dolce & Gabbana. He made them work. He was pretty fit with all of the Guardian Angel training we’ve had to do in the years. The two of us were both pretty fit, and made a good team in my opinion. Eric was well-respected among our peers. He was always the voice of reason, and was always so calm. Even if he was angry, he would seem calm. And that was usually pretty scary. Eric was always there whenever you needed him. He recently turned seventeen over the summer, so he was the youngest one in our class. People used to always give him a hard time about it, but he got them to start respecting him, rather than bashing him. He always worked hard, no matter what it was. Studying. Training. Guarding. He always put other people before himself. Wyatt was about to move when he saw Eric wasn’t paying attention. He turned around and looked at me with a smile.

Wyatt Grey was our best friend since junior high. He was the human Eric and I both wanted to guard after graduation. He had short blonde hair, and light blue eyes, like the ocean. He wasn’t as fit as Eric and I were, but he did a lot of running in junior high (if that counted for anything). He was able to keep up with us. Humans were usually restricted to one Guardian Angel, and only one, but Wyatt was a special case. Both of his parents were influenced into becoming Dark Angels. It was easy. Even Wyatt’s older brother was influenced. Everyone is worried that the Dark Angels’ main focus was Wyatt. His family was popular in the world of angels. They worked side by side with them. It was unfortunate that they were influenced onto the dark side. It was back in junior high, when Eric and I had been best friends with Wyatt for a year. Ever since then, we vowed to always protect Wyatt, even after graduation. But the sad reality was that his Guardian Angels would be chosen for him. Not that that didn’t stop us. We’ll never stop working hard, or protecting our best friend. Unlike Eric, Wyatt had a bit of a temper. He was a calm person for the most part, but making him angry was easy. And when he’s angry, he sparks up like a firework. Bringing up his parents and his brother usually did the trick. He hasn’t seen any of them ever since. Instead, he lives at the school or with his aunt and uncle in Palm Springs. Sometimes I felt really sorry for him, but for someone who has been through so much, he always found the time to smile.

“Hey Skylar, you know it’s like one in the morning, right?” He asked.

“I bet she missed us so much, she decided to come downstairs and join us.” Eric said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes. He may have been joking, but his eyes still showed he was worried. I opened up the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. I leaned against the counter.

“I had another nightmare.” I said, opening up the bottle of water. I took a sip.

“Again?” asked Wyatt. I nodded. Eric stood up and walked over to me.

“Does your head hurt? Do you want me to calm your mind?” He asked. Angels had healing abilities, and Eric’s were the strongest. His parents were healers for the Lord of Light Angels. Eric studied healing with them a few summers, so his abilities are pretty advanced. Mine however, could use some work. I shook my head.

“I’ll be fine Eric. If that didn’t work the last time you did it, what makes you think it would work this time?” I asked. I was feeling kind of irritable. I wasn’t sure how Eric and Wyatt put up with my moods, and my own bad temper. Without argument, Eric walked back over to the table. He sat down and Wyatt finally made his move. Eric made his without thought.

“Checkmate.” He said. Wyatt groaned. I don’t think he’s ever beat Eric at chess.

“Would you just let me win for once?” asked Wyatt. Eric let out another chuckle.

“It doesn’t work like that. I had you in check, so you should have been prepared.” said Eric. Wyatt just let out another groan. “I think we should all get some sleep. Before my aunt comes downstairs and gives us a life lecture.” Eric lived with his aunt because his parents lived with the Lord in Santa Barbara, so they weren’t around a whole lot.

“Oh come on, Eric. It’s still summer. We have two weeks left before school starts.” said Wyatt. Eric started putting away the chess pieces. “I want a rematch.”

“Perhaps tomorrow, Wyatt. We should try and get our sleep schedules on track.” He put the chess game away, and walked back over to me. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” I put the lid back onto the water bottle.

“Yes, Eric. I’m sure. But thanks for the offer.” I said. I put the bottle back into the fridge. “You guys should get some sleep. You do look really tired.”

“What are you talking about? I’m wide awake.” said Wyatt as he yawned. Wide awake... Yeah right.

There was a noise outside and suddenly Eric and I jumped into guardian-mode. I stood in front of Wyatt, while Eric reached into a drawer for some holy water. When you hear the words “holy water”, you associate it with vampires and demons, but it’s just as effective on Dark Angels. Dark Angels are the demons in our world. I had no idea what one of them would be doing around here, especially at almost two in the morning, but I was pretty sure that they would stop at nothing to get to Wyatt. Eric gave me a look that said, “Stay here”. I gave him a nod and he walked out of the kitchen. If Wyatt wasn’t scared, he didn’t show it. I guess he was used to it by now. He knew what was going on. I had to get Wyatt upstairs where he would be safer. I knew Eric told me to stay here, but I couldn’t let Wyatt stand out in the open kitchen. I grabbed his hand and moved towards the kitchen door, holding onto my cross necklace. I walked out into the living room, and Eric was at the front door. He looked at me and I pointed to the stairs. He gave me a nod. There was a knock at the front door. Eric opened the door and almost threw holy water into someone’s face. The person held out their hands.

“Whoa whoa whoa. Watch it with the holy water, Eric.” He said. It was our friend Austin King.

He was a Light Angel just like us, and the oldest in our class. He was the only one - besides myself - who defended Eric back when people first started giving him a hard time. Austin was going to be eighteen in a few months, and was like an older brother to the both of us - especially Eric. He had short blonde hair and jade green eyes. Both fit well with his light skin. He had a tattoo of a cross on the front of his right wrist, but he always wore a gold cross around his neck just in case. Eric covered the bottle of holy water. I let go of my cross.

“Sorry, Austin. We thought it was a Dark Angel. What are you doing sneaking around outside my house at almost two in the morning?” He asked. 

“Oh, right, I’m sorry about that. It’s dark. I think I got lost somewhere in the rose bushes. You know, for such beautiful flowers, their thorns hurt.” said Austin. I rolled my eyes. “And I know it’s almost two in the morning. I was bored.” Eric crossed his arms.

“Really, Austin? Aunt Lily won’t approve of this.” He said. Now Austin was the one to roll his eyes.

“I didn’t like being at home listening to my sister and her ex-fiance bickering at each other. Can’t I just stay here for tonight? Please?” asked Austin, with a pleading in his eyes. Eric sighed and moved aside so Austin could come in. Eric was lucky he had a big house with plenty of guest rooms.

“But be quiet. Don’t wake Aunt Lily up. I’ll talk to her in the morning as to why you’re here.” said Eric. Austin pat the back of Eric’s shoulder.

“Thanks man. Besides, your aunt loves me. She’ll be fine.” He walked over to me.

“Hello there Skylar. You’re looking... Tired but beautiful as always.” Austin was always complimenting me. I had a feeling he had a thing for me, but I didn’t hate being complimented. I smiled.

“Thanks Austin.” He smiled and walked upstairs. Eric closed the door and set the holy water down on the table nearby. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay like you told me to, Eric. I just thought Wyatt would be safer upstairs.” Eric walked over to me and smiled.

“It’s okay, Sky. You did the right thing. Now let’s try and get some sleep.” He said. He walked upstairs, and Wyatt and I followed.

I laid down on my bed, hoping to get a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night. I was starting to regret not letting Eric calm my mind, but the last few times he did that, it never worked. I closed my eyes, and fell back into a deep sleep.

Reviews

[Shay]

Awesome beginning and very interesting :D

[Tanya Lynn Bendily]

Yay :D thank you!