Stalker: Guardian Angel

Closed Book

Tears drip from my eyes onto the pages of my journal. A hand rests itself on my shoulder. Tears drip on my back.

"I felt it all," says a voice that makes me shiver. "All your love, all your self-loathing, your desperation and your misery. Your life is truly a tragic tale and you've spun your words beautifully for those tragic twelve chapters. Why not stop there? Thirteen is an awful number. You've suffered more than any little girl should ever have to. You must despise being born as a cursed being."

I glare dark pointies at my captor. "Nymph Beasts aren't tragic. It's you whose made all the bad stuff in my life happen."

Flam. I swear, I will end you.

"All of it? You give me far too much credit, my dear. Do you think that if I'm killed, your people will be freed? I'm the one granting them their wildest dreams! I created a mystical wonderland for every one of your sisters."

His smile makes me tremble.

"Y-Y-You're just using them! Now go away! I have to finish my story." I pick up my pen and continue writing.

His scarf seizes it. Dear Main, I love you so so much, like lots and lots, honey. And after my death I want you to kill the bad man who I blame for all my problems. Do it or my ghost will stalk you everywhere you go. Flam tosses the pen aside. "There's your ending. Look, I'd love to stay and hear the rest but you have prior engagements." His scarf twists into a noose and pulls me out of my chair.

I grab the scarf and hoist myself up to keep my neck from snapping. "Please, I don't want to die."

"You already begged me to kill you. I can't go back on my promises and I won't be late. You'll be impressed. I made sure to round up quite the crowd for your execution." His scarf releases me and I fall to the ground.

I grab onto the journal and hold it to my chest. "When a hero dies, their diary goes away too. I wrote this down so that their memories won't be forgotten."

"Guardian Angel, such a sweet title for such a tragic book."

I hate this but I don't have a choice.

I push the journal into Flam's arms. "My last request is that you deliver this to Main. Please, that's all I want."

Flam looks at me with a wounded face. "I'll deliver it to him absolutely. Feel free to struggle and try to escape your demise. Don't think that any rebellion against me will make me break my promise to you." He bent down and kissed my hand.

Wait, does he want me to escape? What's his plan?

"Oh, before you go, you might want to check Main's journal. Your final hero could be dead for all you know."

I shook my head. "He's not dead...and he's coming to rescue me! I won't read his Diary because I have faith in him," I say as I try to keep my voice firm.

"Oh, the loss of that spark of light will truly make the world a darker place." His shoulders drop. His eyes then widen. "How about we play a little game. It isn't quite time for you to die yet. You have exactly seven minutes before you're due. In that time, I nor any of my soldiers, will interfere with whatever you do. Think of these seven minutes as your last moments of freedom. You're free to do whatever you want. But all good games have a penalty. If you're late, the execution will be just as fast but soooo much more painful. Better hurry." He opened the door.

I ran out the door.

He's still playing mind games, but I don't have time to figure out what he's plotting. I'm going to take a gamble. I won't go down easy.