The Guardians

Chapter 1

The Grand Plaza Hotel stood in the middle of Knightsbridge, tall, elegant and domineering. Its soft ivory pillars guarded the clear glass doors. The hotel consisted of 12 floors, each decorated with beautifully adorned windows and intricate balconies. Although the street outside was bustling with activity, hardly anyone ventured through the magnificent building's doors. Never the less, two doormen waited attentively for anyone rich and important enough to enter the hotel. The building was a beacon of light, it illuminated the street, making it near impossible not to acknowledge its grand presence. People stopped to admire its great beauty and craftsmanship, yet most did not spot the boarded up window near the back, the only spot where the light seemed to diminish, and the feeling of sorrow and despair loomed around the presence of that one tall window.

CRASH. Shane and Angeli went tumbling down the dark stairs after breaking through the boarded up window.

"You ok Ange?" asked Shane, as he got up and dusted himself.

"Yep", Angeli grunted as she rolled over to get up. They looked around the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Plaza Hotel.

The place had been boarded up for 10 years, and rumour said that it was haunted. The Royal Plaza Hotel was one of the grandest hotels in the whole of Britain, maybe even the world, and the Grand Ballroom used to be one of its prized features. Various members of royalty and celebrities had held weddings, parties and galas there, but 10 years ago a mysterious buyer had bought the whole hotel, and closed the Ballroom down. It had not stopped the hotel's popularity though; in fact the whole concept of a closed, and possibly haunted, wing seemed to propel its demand to a whole new level. The Ballroom had been undisturbed... until now that is.

The teens walked down into the large room. The room did not look as though it had been unused for a decade. After 10 long years, someone had it decorated in teal, gold and white, as though ready for a wedding. The long pillars had no cobwebs on them, just flowing silk, draped artistically around them. A hundred round tables, each with ten seats covered the hall. The chairs still had white chair covers, with either teal or gold bows on each of them. In the centre of each table there was a miniature water feature; on closer inspection, Shane saw that they were waterfalls. On the stage a covered structure with pillars stood, causing Shane's face to twist into a confused look.

"It's a mandapam", Angeli whispered in his ear.

"A manda-what?" Shane asked, turning his head to face her.

"You get married under it", she explained, along with a shrug of her shoulders, "My cousin got married 2 weeks ago under one of those."

The friends ran around the tables, making their way to the stage, laughing, touching the pretty silks decorating the hall, playing with the fine cutlery, pretending to be snobby aristocrats.

"Check it out Angie!" Shane called, playing a small tune on with a fork and knife on a set of fancy glass. "You know, we can totally make this place out new hide out. Those toffs from Teddingtons and the Lazy Bones lot won't ever find us here." Laughing, Angeli made her way to a display of white lilies, yet to bloom. Reaching out, she touched a bud with her forefinger. A warm golden glow surrounded the buds, and slowly, they blossomed.

"It's pretty", breathed Shane, as he reached her. She looked back at him, smiling.

"Thanks", she grinned.

"Indeed, they are very beautiful", a deep voice said from the shadows.

The two looked at each other, their eyes wide with fear.

"Who's there?" Shane called out into the darkness, with all the false bravado he could muster.

"Oh, no one you need to concern yourself with", the velvety voice replied, "How about you hurry along about your way, hmm?"

"O-ok Sir", Shane stammered, not quite believing the voice, "Come on Ange, let's go." The children hurriedly made their way to the stairs.

"How odd. I do believe I said you can go, not her."

"Wait, wha-", Shane was stopped short by the sound of light footsteps running down the stairs, heading towards them.

"RUN ANGE, RUN!" he yelled, grabbing on to a bewildered Angeli, and dragging her towards the hole they broke through.

"Who is he?" she asked looking back.

"Don't look back! It'll slow you down! And who cares, he's probably an old paedophile rapist creep! " Shane replied, exasperated, "HELP! RUN ANGE, GODDAMIT, RUN!" He cursed as Angeli struggled to keep up, yet he refused to let go of her hand.

"Nearly there-the sooner we get out of here, the better." Just as he finished his sentence, Angeli's hand escaped his grasp, as she was dragged back into the shadows screaming. The last thing Shane remembered was turning around as quick as lightning, roaring, as he jumped down the stairs into the darkness after her.

Hi Guys!! Ok, so those of you who know me will know that this is my baby. I've been very wary of uploading it up here on Wattpad, and I'd like to thank a bunch of people who have given me the confidence with my other stories. With your help Kitty's Once Upon a Time in 2016 very briefly ranked at 612 under the Short Stories category. I know it was only for about a day, but that was a crazy achievement for someone completely unknown like me. For those of you who don't know how the rankings work, I don't know how they work too, but it's the top 1000 stories in each category from around the world. It's thanks to you guys that I have put this up and I dedicate this chapter to you: 03usheni02, sanjeeve23, Queenofhoen15, kkthecake, hangryskull , JeevaR, oohsneha . I've been working on this for a year and a half alongside Uni work. I've revised it about 6/7 times, and know it still has a long way to go, so please do bear with me. As usual any constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated, and if you like the chapter please do comment and vote. Thanks for taking the time to read this :)

Kitty 

xxx