A Requiem Eternal

Chapter 19 - A Guardian

You're not supposed to be in here."

"What? I can too. I'm helping you move in."

"My guitar and some clothes?"

"Yeah." Tess laughed. A sneaky grin lit her face.

"Mom won't be home for another hour."

Daniel shifted his fake sad eyes to her.

"I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed."

"I thought you said-- Okay, okay. I get it. I'll go downstairs," Tess said, leaving the room with a wistful look to Daniel, reluctantly closing the door to the guest room.

Daniel sat at the end of the bed. He let himself fall back into the middle of it. The goose down formed two soft channels beside him. He thought about the time he had left. At least it would be spent in comfort instead of in hiding and constantly watching his back. Daniel closed his eyes. The astral plane opened to him without any effort to summon it. He stared in awe at how it was more vivid than he remembered. It enticed him so that he didn't realize until it was too late that he was under attack. A stream of conscious blue captured his in one fluid moment. His strength was already so depleted he could not fight when it joined with him. A serene pleasure washed over his mind and body. One so calming, he no longer wanted to find the strength to resist. A beautiful woman appeared to him dressed in a gown from a time past. The dress was a blue as deep as the stream of her consciousness. He gave in to her, allowing her blue glow to entwine with his.

"Your instinct is correct. You cannot survive feeding only on the ambient of the humans much longer. And Tess cannot be yours...unless you wish her to be what we are," she said.

"No...I want to die. I'm not afraid of it anymore," Daniel replied.

"Spoken with the true conviction of a warrior-- I am Lorelle. I come to you now because we have something in common. I also was not a chosen one. By now you know that humans return to life more than once?"

"Yes," Daniel said.

"It is not the same for us. We were given the power of the Psyon by mistake. Our souls are stained. We are no longer accepted into the realm of the human dead. And neither are we favored by the Psyon. In fact, there are two elders very close to you now. You must feed soon from another willing soul or you will enter the frenzy allowing them to find and destroy you."

"I didn't ask for this." Daniel thought, forgetting she would hear.

"Yes, I know-- Daniel. I can help you. There will come a time when you must feed from a willing soul--"

Daniel became unsure of her intentions. He remembered the first and last time he fed. He didn't want it then and he wasn't sure about it now. He gathered up all his remaining strength to break away from Lorelle's grip on his mind. His body slammed back through the membrane of human reality as though he were spat out.

Covered in sweat, he rose from the bed. Daniel could hear Tess's heartbeat ringing in his ears as loud as if she was standing next to him. He felt his hunger as it spread from the core of him to his eyes. He couldn't stop himself as he descended the stairs to stand in front of her. He couldn't hear her as she looked at him with the emerald threads of his eyes almost reaching her.

"Daniel!" he heard Tess scream from a distance.

The vibrations of the terror in her voice to his body were enough to stop the impulse of the frenzy to his mind. He fell to his knees gripping his head in his hands. Tess ran over to him taking his hand and helping him to stand up. He dropped his hand away from hers abruptly.