Night Guardian

Chapter 1, Part 3

VICTORIA: "Hey girlie, what's up?"

The message showed bright in the dark room. Kayla knocked a couple of things off of the nightstand trying to get to the vibrating phone. A message from her sister, Victoria. She squinted her eyes from the sudden brightness.

KAYLA: Nothing, was sleeping. I have something to tell you though. It has to be over the phone. Call me.

An instantaneous ring from her cell. "Spill it", came her sisters voice over the receiver. "Ok, I have a date. Tomorrow. With one of the most gorgeous lookin' men on the planet!"
"Ooo la la, tell me more," she sang. "We met at the weirdest place ever, Tor. The supermarket.  I was on my phone not paying attention and I just slammed into him and dropped all my stuff!" "Let me guess, y'alls hands touched and you looked deeply into each other's eyes as he helped you pick up your things off of the floor."
"Our hands definitely didn't touch, but he had the most haunting eyes I've ever seen in my life...Chocolate brown doe eyes with thick long lashes, whoo chile!" She fanned herself and sat up in her bed. "Long, thick hair and full lips...basically, he looks like an angel, and he was so sweet!" She was gushing now. "Tomorrow we're going to an Italian restaurant and then for a walk in the park."
"Kayla has a boyfrieeeend... "
"I wouldn't say that yet, but he was such a gentleman. I just hope he isn't some voodoo practitioner or some other mess."
"Girl, you better call me before during and after the date so I can know that you're okay.  I don't want to see your face on Find Our Missing and have to kill somebody." Victoria joked.
"Don't worry, I'll call you. Say hi to Ma for me," she replied.  "Tell her I have a present for her when Y'all come to visit."
"Ok, I'll let her know, don't forget to call me girl! I wanna know everything."
"Ok bye, luv you, sis!"
"I love you too, bye" She heard the beginning of a screaming laugh before the line disconnected. "That crazy girl," she said, shaking her head. A ball of nervousness began to form in her stomach for the upcoming event tonight. She had already gone to the store and bought a form-fitting little black dress with wedged blood red pumps to match the Ruby Woo shade of lipstick for the date with a matching black clutch purse that had a bow on it. Kayla glanced at her phone for the time: 10:30 am. There was a lot of time to kill until 6:30.
She decided to run errands and get her hair and nails done while she waited, maybe work on her project some more. Meanwhile, the Maestro had been lurking about around the city, unnerving the occasional passerby with an intense stare, then he would begin to laugh as their pace quickened to get past him. There was no progress being made with the curse, unfortunately, and so there was time to kill and other things to do while waiting to meet Kayla. He decided to go for a walk and sate his sweet tooth by getting something from the bakery. He decided on a vanilla cupcake with blue icing and left quickly; as other patrons began shooting looks of disapproval his way. He just smiled at them kindly and left.
Maestro teleported to his favorite spot in the forest, a particular tree he had purposefully altered the branches to form a sort of seat to overlook his surroundings. He ate the cupcake up there. Licking the blue icing from his fingers, savoring every bite while sorting through memories in his head of times past. He sighed sadly; a familiar wave of loneliness washed over him. It couldn't be helped with how long he'd been living. Ever since he gained his immortality, everyone he knew died off while he lived on. There was no one in town for him. That changed when he met Kalya. He had a strange feeling whenever he thought of her; as if they had a kind of invisible connection binding them together without them ever officially speaking to one another. Michael pondered this strange connection for a while longer before noticing the sun beginning to dip lower in the sky, a fiery blood orange color. It was time for him to go get cleaned up and dressed for date night. He didn't feel like walking all the way back home so instead he apparated into the ballroom of his mansion.
"You are so lazy", he mumbled to himself.
"If this all works out, I'll have to dance with her here", he thought. He practically skipped up the stairs to get dressed. Tonight he was wearing a white silk long-sleeved dress shirt with a black tie, matching black jacket and black slacks that fit his slender legs perfectly. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a small white ribbon as well. A small silver chain hung from his neck, barely noticeable. His rather nice black 2013 Chevy Camaro was washed and polished to a fine sheen, cleaned from the inside out (not that he ever let it become messy).
Tonight was a night to impress but most importantly have fun. Kayla glanced at her cell phone: 6:20. Ten more minutes. She was feeling nervous, never having done this before. She hoped she didn't make a fool of herself tonight. Her waist length natural hair was done in an elegant up-do with a couple curls framing her face and the black body fitting dress and red wedges accentuated her long honey legs. She added the last touch;  a spritz of honey sweetheart body mist and what she liked to call the "killer" shade of Ruby Woo red MAC lipstick. The doorbell rang just as her lips made a "pop" sound as she applied the matte color. Kayla panicked for a second and checked her hair one last time. "Just a minute! " she called. She took a deep breath and went to open the door...