⚜Guardian⚜

Chapter Thirty

Lacey's eyes snapped open, her chest heaving violently. That had to be the longest, most vivid dream she had had in her entire life. Her throat felt dry and everything just felt wrong. She ran to the bathroom and before falling onto the ground and shaking violently.

"Lacey?" A voice called. There was a crash, and Lacey heard glass shatter.

"Lace!" He screamed. The bathroom door opened and his eyes fell on her broken form. He dashed forwards, taking her into his arms:

"Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. What happened!? How did he get to you!? I can smell him!" After a beat of silence, he grew tense and pulled away.

"Lace?" He asked anxiously.

"I just... Oh God, Asher," she sobbed. He folded her against his chest, rocking her back and forth slowly.

"Thank God you're okay. Thank God," he whispered gratefully.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She asked, pulling back slightly to look at him.

"Agramon, the demon of fear, decided to pay us a visit last night. He put us all through the worst nightmares of our lives, portraying our worst fears." He explained. After a long moment, he cleared his throat.

"Can I ask what dream you had? Maybe talking about it will help," he offered. She looked down at her hands.

"I had a dream I went for a walk, but I fell asleep. I had scribbled you a note but you didn't believe me, because Ari had stolen it. I yelled at you and ran upstairs. The next day, you were whisked away to an archangels meeting. You didn't come back for an entire year. I was crying on the roof and I saw you and Ari, and you were telling her you lived her more than me so I... So I killed myself," Lacey finished, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"That would never happen!" Asher declared.

"You don't know that," Lacey pushed, biting her lip nervously.

"First of all, Ari is flat out annoying. Second, I don't think I could ever love anyone more than you. Third, you would never kill yourself." She mulled over his words for a long minute, her mind spinning.

"Maybe. What was yours about?" She asked, tilting her head back to look at him.

"It replayed your death to me... But instead of you dying because of bloodloss, you died because I kept stabbing you.... Over and over and over. And I... I enjoyed it," Asher said.

"At least we know yours would never happen. I trust you with my life," she assured him.

"I love you, Alessia Alice Schmidt. Don't you ever change," he said in a loving voice. She stated up at him, her world tilting unsteadily. He pressed his lips softly to hers for a second.

"You.... I..." Lacey breathed. Leo stepped in the room then, and Asher and Lacey pulled apart.

"Hey Lacey, Asher. How are you doing?" Leo checked. They both muttered something incoherent in response.

"We're meeting downstairs in the living room, if you're up to joining us." Leo offered. They followed him downstairs. Lacey sat beside Ari on the couch, eyeing her warily. She was wearing a push up bra underneath a camisole, and a black pencil skirt.

"How is everyone?" Aida began.

"Don't answer that. No one cares what you have to say," Ari mused, moving in close to whisper to Lacey. Lacey's eyes flashed to Asher, who was now sitting stick straight.

"Excuse me?" Lacey driveled.

"Bitch, you heard me. Don't make me repeat myself." Ari sneered. Before Lacey could respond, a looming shadow seemed to slide over. Aida's hand whipped across Ari's face so fast Lacey jumped.

"Mom!" Ari screeched in surprise, jumping off the couch in surprise. She clutched her reddening cheek.

"This is the last time I should have to reprimand you for acting like a child!" Aida roared. "First, do not use words like that! Second, do not act so rudely to one of our guests! Third, get over your petty crush on Asher! Frankly, it's childish! And lastly, go to your room and put some clothes on! You're practically half naked and its 40 degrees outside!"

"Well maybe if you let me leave this god forsaken hellhole I wouldn't have a 'petty crush' on Asher, the only guy I've ever met that isn't related to me!" Ari screamed, running up the stairs and stomping on each step. Lacey, feeling out of place in this family argument, slipped tentatively from the room and into the living room. She had a couple minutes of peace, for which she was grateful for.

"Soda?" A voice offered from behind her. She turned to see Leo, holding out a can of Coke.

"Thanks," she said, taking one of the cans from him. They sipped their respective drinks in silence, neither one findin the words for a while.

"Sorry you had to see that. Our family is kind of... Not normal," Leo said. Lacey nodded slowly, tracing the rim of her soda slowly.

"Nah, that's okay. It's perfectly normal. Besides, we need some family drama every here and then to balance out the supernatural drama, you know?" She joked weakly.

"Yeah, I guess so." He agreed.

"Can I talk to you Leo?" A voice called from the doorway. Lacey looked up to see Jeffers.

"Yeah, sure."

"Alone?" Leo sighed and got up to go speak with Jeffers.

Lacey looked down at the table and sighed. This was one of those days where she wished she had her guitar back. She missed it so much it was like a hollow ache inside of her, constantly present and hardening at times.

Lacey looked down suddenly, hearing a deep carving noise. She looked down, and her world slowly stopped. Letters were being carved into the table by some invisible force. Slowly, words began to take shape. It read, "GRANT ME PERMISSION OR THE ATTACKS WILL CONTINUE. NO ONE WILL BE SAFE. ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE."