Guardian (A Guardians Novella) SLOW UPDATE [Modified]

Chapter 4: Can't Stop

Keaira couldn't help but flop down on her bed after the day she had. Coach McMillan was running the girls into the ground in Gym. All because I didn't make time during the mile! She was sure the other girls weren't too happy with her.

With the push of a button, Keaira turned on her laptop. While waiting for her computer to boot up she decided to go to the kitchen and get something to snack on. 

It would be a while before her aunt got off from work. Until then she wouldn't eat anything heavy. However she figured Oreos would hit the spot just right. Without  a moment of hesitation, she opened the package.

"You don't need any of those cookies, fatty."

Keaira rolled her eyes.

 The creatures. They were unnoticed by most people but she could she could see them, hear them and feel them. They had been with her for so long that she knew them all by name. Rathriki wasn't the worst of them--and she had seen much worse--but he knew exactly how to push her buttons. 

She put the cookies down.

Keaira remembered the day that she told her mother about them. She  was ten. Unable to describe what was going on in adequate words, she was dismissed by her mother. 

"Oh, girl, maybe you wouldn't hear mean voices if you weren't so negative!" Her mom would sigh.

After that, Keaira hadn't said anything else about the voices or the things that she saw. She didn't want her mom to get upset. It wasn't until the incident that she was forced to speak up.

Keaira shuddered. A knock on the door broughther back to the present. With hurried strides, she went to answer it.

Standing before her were two boys from school. Two of the Guardians. One was Ricki and the other was named Renaldo, Keaira was sure. "Can I help y'all?" She asked sweetly.

Ricki gave a gentle smile, but his eyes revealed something else. Pity. "Sorry to bother you, but we need you to come with us."

Keaira's eyebrows furrowed. "I would, but I can't leave. My aunt's not home yet."

Ricki sighed. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"Ryan, I thought I told you to stay away from that girl and girls like her a long time ago!" 

Mateo Herrera was a sturdy man of sixty-eight. His face, for the past decade, seemed to be in a permanent scowl. The disappointment radiated off of him in waves. He barely looked at his grandson.

"Abuelo--" Ryan tried to defend himself.

"No", Mateo interjected, "I thought I instilled in you the standards of a man of worth. The person--the woman--you are forever connected to through the bond is a representation of yourself. It is a representation of your family!"

Ryan hung his head. "I know, abuelo, I know what you told me."

The old man threw his hands to the sky. "Then why, Ryan, don't you ever listen to me? Do you think that you are too old to listen to your grandfather? Too old to respect me?"

"No, sir", Ryan spoke in a hushed tone.

Mateo paced back and forth. "I can't believe it. We assigned you such a pretty girl. Someone who wouldn't hold you back! I refuse to have your value brought down because your other half--that's supposed to be your better half, no less--is a.." The man seemed almost digusted by the words.

"A what?" Ryan asked, a hint of chllenge in his voice.

"A Black girl!"

Ryan's jaw clenched. Before that moment, he'd never questioned what his grandfather taught him. Perhaps it was the effect of the bond, but n insult to Keaira was an insult to himself. His cheeks tinged red with his silent displeasure.

Mateo looked Ryan up and down. "You're thinking about her? Even as I speak to you? Control yourself!"

Ryan huffed. "Abuelo, you've been through this before. You know just as well as any other that I can't stop!"

The sound of a gavil could be heard throughout the room. Everyone gathered to be in their seats. 

"Shall we get this thing started? Ricki and Renaldo are here with our guest", Kendrick said.

Not even a moment later, Ricki and Renaldo walked in with none other than Keaira in between them. The put the guardian amulet on her to shield her from the beasts that followed her. Ryan's heart raced. She looked so confused. So scared. His heart pumped hard in his chest at the sight of her, but he couldn't stop.

"Ryan, come before the council and make your case."

A/N: Wow it's been long! I love all of you who have stuck by me! I thank you all so much! I could go on a schpiel but as they say in showbiz "The show must go on!"