Guarding Grace

Chapter Twenty

Grace dropped Prim's hand and stumbled backwards. Her father, a demon? She swallowed then stared at the closed door. "My grandmama said that my father was not a very nice man."

Grace began to laugh, "That's an understatement! A demon?" Prim tilted her head slightly, staring at her; then began to laugh along with her.

The girls continued laughing until a loud knock sounded on the door. "Open this door!" Prim jumped and ran through the fireplace, Grace stared at the fire that her sister had just ran through.

Grace turned to look at the door as the knocking continued. The door seemed to quiver in it's frame, quietly she walked to the door and opened it. In the doorway stood her father. He grabbed Grace by the collar, dragging her as he rushed through the hallway. She found herself running, trying to keep up to avoid injury as they rounded a corner.

Stopping in front of a obsidian mirror, her father hauled her up so that they were eye to eye. "You will leave this world and never return. I do not care what you do, stay out of my way." Before Grace had a chance to speak, he threw her towards the obsidian mirror. Grace flung her hands over her face trying to protect it from the shards she knew would come.

But instead of coming in contact with the mirror and breaking it, she found herself floating gently down into a light. She blinked, trying to make out the voices that she began to hear all around her.

"Grace! Grace! You have to wake up!" Grace tilted her head, wake up? She wasn't asleep. She suddenly came to a stop, blackness surrounding her. She winced and tried to sit up, seeing nothing. A calloused hand stroked her cheek, "You have to wake up Dovie. Open your eyes."

Grace's eyes shot open, she found herself lying on a stone floor surrounded by Regan, Ryder, and Hunter. She wildly looked around, trying to find the light that she had fell to. But no light was around. She looked at Hunter, tears in her eyes. Unable to find her voice to tell them what had happened, she just sobbed. Hunter grabbed her and pulled her roughly against his chest. "Damnit Dove, you scared us. One minute you were walking and the next you were crumpled in a heap."

Grace grabbed fistfuls of Hunter's shirt trying as hard as she could to get as close to his warmth as she could. "She lied." It was all she could say over and over. Hunter tried to pry her away from him, but she refused to be moved, sighing he rubbed her back. Unable to form a comforting response to her hysterics.

Regan eyed Grace with a critical eye, knowing deep in his heart that something had been revealed to her. What, he did not know, but whatever had been revealed, broke a part of her.

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Kara watched as the three surrounded and tried to comfort the frail thing, she snorted and looked to Garon. "Pathetic. A nightmare and she's a blubbering mess." Garon simply stared at the four, thoughts hidden behind a mask of passivity. Kara turned her head from the group, spitting on the ground she growled out, "Humans are weak."

She stalked over to the group and looked at Hunter, "If you can get her to shut up, we have to keep moving. This is not a safe place to stop."

Hunter looked at Kara with hatred blazing in his eyes, knowing all too well the feeling of compete brokenness that Grace was feeling. "We will go when she's ready."

Kara snorted, "You will be killed before she's ready to go. If you can't get her to shut up, then knock her out and carry her. I don't care, but we move on now." She swept her eyes from side to side as she continued on, searching for anything that may have had its attention caught by the crying girl.

Nerves on edge, Hunter looked down at Grace, "Dry your eyes, you're safe. But we have to go." Grace let go of his shirt and wiped her eyes, nodding she turned around and followed Kara along the path.

Grace's sniffles were the only sound made during the rest of their trek through the shadow world. Kara looked back periodically to reassure herself that Hunter was following. She didn't care if the others stayed and died. But Hunter- a flood of emotions washed over her. Hatred, love, anger, lust. But strongest of all was grief. Grief for the man he once was, and grief over the man he could've become.

As they neared the tunnel that would lead them back to the real world, Kara stopped and looked back at Garon questioningly. Garon nodded and looked at the group. "Another bridge is coming. Andora and Angus will meet you on the other side of the door."

Hunter placed Grace on her feet and hugged Kara. As he hugged her he whispered in her ear, "Come near her and I will kill you." Shock froze Kara's face as he pulled away from her.

The idea of trying to hurt or kill Grace had been at the forefront of her mind the entire trip through the shadow world, but she had been so careful to not allow it to show. Kara looked defiantly at Hunter as he walked away from her and took Grace's hand. Regan walked up to his sister, looking her in the eyes, "We all will." He said darkly before moving past her to the doorway.

Ryder walked past Kara without a word, eyes downcast watching Regan's feet as he walked. Slowly all four walked through the doorway and out of the shadow world.