Guardians of the Light (Book 2: Revision)

Chapter 6

“Come on Nicole, you have to stay with me, you have to keep awake” drifted Noah’s voice through her brain. She was pretty sure she had gone into shock her body shaking under the strength of Noah’s arms, wait… was Noah carrying her in his arms. Okay now she was confused about the situation right now, she tried to look up at him but his face kept fading from her view. Was that her brother calling her name over and over again, Nicole was just so tired she wanted nothing more than to sleep. All the colour shifted into a black void of endless sumber until suddenly Nicole’s eyes shot open taking in the landscape around her. 

How in the world did she get here? She was laying on a soft blanket comforting against the hard surface underneath her. Blinking a few times helped Nicole adjust her eyes back to normal scanning her surroundings, the crackle of wood burning drew her attention to a small fire not far from where she lay, the warmth felt good against the coolness she felt throughout her body. Nicole needed to get up and investigate the abandoned building she currently seemed to be in, but when she went to move pain shot throughout her body, biting her lip not to scream out. 

So she sat up, pulling off the jacket that had been used to cover her body, she didn’t realize it was Noah’s until she looked closer and found Phillips sewn into the fabric. Shaking fingers traced the outline of each letter and the New Haeven Police Department patch located on the arms part of the jacket. If this was Noah’s where was he? Had he been the one to bring her here or had something happened to him. Nicole didn’t want to think about it so she focused on anything but that, her eyes caught a faint colour of red splashed across the left part of her pants when she went to look at the right that's when she spotted half of her pant leg was missing and in its place was wrapped in bandages. 

In that moment the events leading up to now came flooding back to her, they had left City Hall  on foot and headed in the direction of their assigned section. They had covered some ground when Nicole noticed smoke rolling across the road, it was took thick to be smoke from a fire, thick black smoke like that only meant one thing. Two huge Smoke Demons manifested in the distance Nicole would not be able to fight them herself and while Noah was strong he was only human. The best thing for them was too run and seek safety somewhere the Smoke Demons wouldn’t find them, it wasn’t the best plan but it was the only plan they had right now. 

Noah dashed into a nearby alleyway Nicole following close behind him as they continued running. “What were those things,” commented Noah as he jumped over a half crumbled stone wall, Nicole doing the same, they stopped a short while later when the cost seemed to be clear. Noah leaned up against a brick wall to catch his breath, Nicole felt some guilt over having to make him run that far and that fast but it was the only option. She took some time before answering his question from earlier, “I am sorry Noah, I still can’t tell you what's going on. Please just trust me that we need to find somewhere to hide out until th-”. 

Even before she could finish her sentence ebony vapor emerged encircling them in the alleyway. There  was no time to react, heavy mist made it hard for Nicole to see Noah she called out to him worried about his safety more than her own, she could faintly hear Noah’s voice but she couldn’t see him. Nicole knew the Smoke Demons were close she could sense them, she drew her blade sliding into the thick ebony vapor making contact with nothing. Nicole tried again only to have the same result as before, cursing under her breath Nicole took one last attempt to strike down any of the Smoke Demons. However, she was too late before Nicole could swing her knife one of the Smoke Demons surfaced beside her piercing it’s sharp jagged teeth through the surface of her leg. 

A high-pitched shout escaped her lips, the Smoke Demon let go of it’s grip enough that Nicole could kick it with her other leg before collapsing to the ground. “Nicole!” she could faintly hear Noah shouting her name, the sound of gunfire and then strong arms picking her up, she tilted her head to study Noah’s face as he carried her, everything was becoming blurred around her until Noah and the world around Nicole became black. The flashback was pulled away and back to the present by the sound of Noah’s voice as he approached her. He smiled, “It’s good to see you awake now, how are you feeling,'' she responded by telling him that she was feeling better but Nicole wanted to know where they were and what happened from Noah’s mouth just in case her memories of the event weren’t true. 

Noah removed his tactical vest and sat down opposite to her rubbing his hands gathering heat from the fire before he dived into the events from his side of it. Noah explained that after she had been attacked he tried his best to fight the things off with his gun but bullets would not harm them, he had to think quickly so he grabbed her knife and used that. Nicole made note to ask The Elders when they returned as she had never heard of a human being able to wield a weapon forged specifically for a Guardian. He continued on to explain that once the things were dead he picked Nicole up and managed to find shelter in a medical building that had fallen apart. 

Between what he had in his trauma kit and medical supplies that hadn’t been raided in the chaos, Noah had cleaned her wound and dressed it. To prevent Nicole from slipping into a state of shock, he had provided her with warmth in the from of the blanket, his police jacket and the fire he had started using scattered materials within the building. “I radioed back to command letting them know what happened but with how unsafe it is their not sure when they will be able to send a rescue party. I am afraid we might need to lay low here” Nicole nodded her head agreeing with him, she knew it was dangerous out there and with limited resources and manpower a rescue was just not in the cards right now. 

She thanked him for saving her, taking care of her and for trusting her. Noah commented that the things they had ran into earlier weren’t human at all, a questioning look across his face as she stared at her for the answer. Nicole wanted nothing more right now to tell him the truth, desperately wanted him to know about The Guardians, The Elders, The Darkness and the world he thought he knew, “Noah… I promise once this is all over I will tell you the whole truth” and Nicole meant it she just hoped Noah believed her. 

As much as she would have loved to stay here with him and the warmth of the fire Nicole needed to get on her feet and move around, see what else this building had to offer, if they were going to be stuck here for some time Nicole wanted to know every square inch of the place. Strong advantage areas and weak spots left by the damage who knows if another threat might arise or when the rescue team might make it here. They were going to need more materials for the fire, medical items for her wound even with Guardian healing it would still take time. Less time than if she was human, they were also going to need water and food to last them at least 48 to 72 hours, a resource Nicole was afraid they might have to search for outside the safety of their current hideout. 

Taking in a deep breath Nicole counted to three in her head before attempting to stand on her feet, she could feel herself stumble a few steps then her legs giving out from underneath her, reaching out to grab something to brace her fall. Just in time Nicole’s body landed in Noah’s arms as he braced her from falling on the ground, she could feel her cheeks flush as she looked up at him, a smile on his face looking back at her. “Easy, let me help you”, while Nicole was fiercely independent she didn’t want to argue with Noah so she used him as support as they went about discovering what else this building had for supplies. 

Most everything had been reduced to rubble or stolen during the evacuation of New Haeven. Up ahead there seemed to be knocked over vending machine, hopeful there still might be food still left inside, right now Nicole could eat just about anything. Noah seemed to agree by the look on his face, he too was hopeful. But before they could even make it there a transparent silhouette came into view, rooting the pair where they stood. Shock and horror spread across Nicole face as her hand shot up to silence her gasp before she whispered in the direction of the transparent silhouette as it drew closer to them. 

“Nico?”, disbelief escaped from her lips, as the transparent figure before them was none other than her since long dead twin brother. 

“How can this be”.