Moonlight Guardian

Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Another Piece of the Puzzle

Pain.

The first thing that jars me awake as Aunt Lisa sits on my bed and studies me. The weight she puts on the bed makes me lean towards my left side, and my arm and ribs haven't healed yet. 

"Honey, are you alright?" She asks worriedly, "I didn't see you come in last night."

Yeah, I thought, me neither.

Doing my best in trying to sit up, and not getting very far before wincing, I give up and look at her.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm fine, just sore from, uh," I cough, "jogging with Sammy yesterday."

It's sad that Aunt Lisa looks a little perplexed at the mention of us exercising. 

Looking at my aunt, and I mean really looking, I notice that she's the best aunt anyone could ask for. By passing her famous floral apron on and a white shirt with jeans, I notice that her forehead is creased with worry, like any guardian would. 

After my parents died when I was eight, she'd given up her young, carefree party life just for me, a small child who was so lost. I could never thank her enough for that, giving up on everything just to raise her sister's child. That must have been tough, but never did she complain or show any frustration. 

I never was the crying type, but my eyes started tearing up.

"Oh honey!" Aunt Lisa exclaims, seeing the tears brimming, "what's wrong, did something happen with Sammy?"

I blamed my tears on the whole near-death experience. Damn. I really hated crying in front of others, and Aunt Lisa knew this which is why she was so worried.

I shake my head, "No, nothing happened with Samm-oh shit!" I exclaim, totally forgetting that I just cussed in front of my aunt.

"Language Kayla!" She scolds, shocked by my outburst.

"Sorry" I mumble, already reaching over with my good arm to grab my cell phone, expecting the worse.

Six missed calls, four text messages, and three voicemails from Sammy.

"Sh-" I mumble, then seeing Aunt Lisa's stern expression, "Shoot." 

Sighing I turn my head into the pillow, giving up. I almost died by a human's hand yesterday, a tiger out of nowhere saved me, and I completely let down Sam. 

Super.

"Sweetie? Are you sure you're okay?" Aunt Lisa asks, putting on her hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. 

"Yeah." I murmur, though I doubt she heard me through the pillow. 

Turning back to face her, I repeat, "Yeah, I'm fine, just PMSing is all, sorry." I use to the back of my hand to clear away the tears.

Placing both hands on either side of my face, Aunt Lisa looks at me. 

"Okay, but you know, if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here, alright?" she says.

"I know." I smile.

After another minute, she finally nods and heads downstairs to finish off breakfast. It was Saturday, which means I could crash all day, hanging out and watching movies with Sammy all day.

Sammy.

I dial his number, laying back as the phones rings in my ear.

"Hello?" Sammy mumbles, still probably half asleep.

Suddenly a bit nervous, I say, "Um, hey Sammy, it's me." 

Silence.

"Oh." Is all he says, though his voice is a little colder.