His Guardian Demon

Chapter Ten

Storm featured above.

"Asher! There you are!"

I finally managed to wiggle away from the fluffy white thing and looked at the familiar face standing in my doorway.

Domi walked down the porch steps and pulled me up. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, which was awkward since I was much taller than him, and said, "I was wondering when you would be home. You should have called me if you were going to be late! It's not nice to worry your father like that!"

He gave me a look and I nodded slowly, muttering out an apology. Domi sighed and turned around to go back inside when he noticed Winnie standing by the door, unsure of what to make of the situation.

Domi turned to me with a very confused look in his eyes and asked, "Who is this?"

I walked up the steps and stood next to Winnie. "This is my friend Winnie. He's going to hang out here for a little bit," I called over my shoulder as I led Winnie inside. "The bathroom is the first door on the left if you want to go clean up a little better."

"Thanks."

As Winnie went in the direction I pointed out, I turned around and came face-to-face with Domi. Before Domi could open his mouth, I grabbed his hand and led him to the dining room table. I turned to him and said, "We have a problem."

Domi sat down and motioned for me to continue. I didn't know why he was here, but I was glad he was.

"That kid is the candidate Dexter wants―"

Domi stood up abruptly, making the chair fall on the floor with a loud clatter. "What? That's great! Now all you need to do is get a knife or something―"

I put my hand over Domi's mouth and said, panicked, "He's also the kid responsible for my, uh, you know."

Realization dawned on him and he opened his mouth to speak, only to shut it again. He swallowed and tried again. "That is a problem."

I ran my hands through my jet black hair in frustration. "I know! What am I supposed to do?"

Domi grabbed his chin in thought. He threw his hands up as if he had an idea and said, "I have no clue."

"Gee, thanks, that's so helpful."

Domi rolled his eyes and sat the chair back upright. "Well, we should start by establishing what we know and go from there."

"That's...actually not a bad idea," I said. I found a piece of paper and a pen and sat down across from Domi.

"Okay, we know that Winnie is the kid Dexter wants," I stated as I wrote it down on the paper.

"And we know that Dexter said to come back with the kid or don't come back at all," Domi added, "so that gives you all the time you need."

I nodded and wrote that down too. "We also know that Winnie was the kid on the bridge."

"So whatever is going on with you involves him," Domi reasoned. "So since you can take however long you need to get the mission done, you can deal with your problem first and then deliver him."

I smiled and looked up at Domi. "Yeah. That's a great idea!" I tilted my head as I looked at him. "So why are you here? I thought this was a solo mission?"

Domi smiled. "Yes, it was supposed to be. But then Whitney-Rose came back and reported that most kids your age had at least one parent with them and it was extremely unusual if a person didn't. So they asked me to come down here," he said. His voice wavered a bit as he said her name, but I knew better than to comment on it.

"But why you?"

"Because I've done lots of missions before," he said with a raised eyebrow. That was true. Domi, despite his title, often not only went on but led missions. "And because they wanted someone you trusted to help."

The sound of loud pattering made me turn my head towards the doorway to the kitchen. The dog, seeing that as an invitation to come in, bounded over to me and jumped in my lap. When she did, it almost knocked me over.

"Why did you get the dog? Was this really necessary? Why isn't she freaking out?" I asked, slightly irritated at having all my vision blocked by the white animal.

"One, her name is Storm. Please refer to her by her name and not 'the dog'. Two, did you not see the pictures everywhere of you hugging Storm? It would be strange if there were pictures of a dog but no dog."

"I was going to say she died or something."

"And she isn't freaking out," Domi continued, ignoring my comment, "because I got her to trust me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Even though you're a―"

"I fed her my bagel."

I snorted and tried to stand up, but was weighed down by the dog sitting on me. "How heavy is she?" I growled in frustration, still struggling to get up.

"She's a Tibetan Mastiff. She will only get bigger," Domi explained as I finally succeeded in standing up.

I walked out to the living room and noticed Winnie still wasn't out yet. Thank the Devil.

I went back into the kitchen and got a couple of ice packs out of the freezer. "I see you went shopping," I noted as I walked past Domi again.

"What? You forgot a lot of important things!"

I rolled my eyes and knocked on the bathroom door. "Winnie, I have some ice packs if you―"

I stopped short when the door opened to reveal a shirtless Winnie. I sucked in a breath. Purple bruises littered his pale skin. In some places, his skin started to bleed slightly.

Winnie looked down and shifted in place. I swallowed and handed him the ice packs. "You can put these on the spots where the bruising is the worst. I think we have some Band-Aids under the sink," I said as I moved past, careful not to touch him in case I accidentally hurt him again.

I pulled out some gauze and medical tape when I noticed the wounds were bigger than the Band-Aid. "Here, let me help," I said as I noticed Winnie pressing the ice packs against his sides.

He shook his head. "No, it's okay. You've done enough."

"No, really, let me help. You need to hold those in place," I argued as I ripped off some gauze and positioned it over a cut. "Do you want to sit down? It might be more comfortable."

Winnie nodded and sat on the edge of the bathtub. I kneeled down next to him and taped the gauze in place, apologizing when he winced. I was about to get up to leave when Winnie stopped me.

"You were the kid on the bridge that day, weren't you?"

***

Okay, so I was going to make this chapter really long but decided against it and split this one in half.