Look Closer

Gaurdian

I hear the footsteps echoing through the long, dark hallway. Standing to face the door, I stare right at it with my head raised and my fists clenched. I'm ready for the attack, for the beating that will come because of my foolishness. I don't regret the messages that I sent to Alex; I need to see if my parents are truly dead. 

I can almost hear his laugh as I picture him standing over me as he looks down on me and watches as I cry out in pain. 

I start thinking about Micah and all of the pain that he must have suffered at Warren's hands and I feel my heart breaking. He lied to you, he hurt you, he betrayed you. Let him go. The voice of reason in my head rings loud and clear but I can't seem to listen, diving further into the memories that we had shared. 

I remember back to the first time he put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. I imagine his strong embrace gripping me close and suddenly it is hard to breathe. I think of the words that he told me late that night, when every single thing that I had been harboring in my mind was let loose. 

I remember all of the things that he told me and use those words to fix my broken, bleeding heart. I grab his words of support and love that were almost forgotten in my state of grief start to craft bandages to mend my heart back together again. 

Images of his gorgeous blue eyes and breathtaking blonde hair surface from beneath my thoughts and I begin to construct an image of his face in my mind. No detail is left out of the portrait that I craft and I let myself smile as I stare at his face for the first time since he betrayed my trust. 

He may have broken me and made me bleed and cry, but the love that I once had for him will never die. 

It doesn't matter what he does to me, I still care about him and his adorable freckles and the words that can instantly brighten someone's day.

I've fallen for him countless times, and it seems that I will continue to fall for him forever, always dropping off of the cliff of faith and hoping that he will be there at the bottom to catch me. And he always is, he never lets me down, even when I refuse to speak to him and won't look at him, he will always be at the bottom of that cliff. 

I remember the way that I had brushed my lips against his, how right everything had felt for those few seconds, how much love was passed between us in just one simple action. It might not have meant much to him but I remember every detail.

I can feel my heart beating faster as I hear the footsteps getting louder and louder. I hear a hand clink on to the metal handle of the door and close my eyes, wanting to savor what may be the last moments of my life. 

All of the memories from my childhood that have filled my head streak through my mind but the only thing I can focus on is Micah's face. 

I think that I can hear his deep voice calling my name and my eyes snap open. Time seems to move slower as I take in the scene in front of me, seeing everything as if it were the first time that I had opened my eyes.

I see Micah in front of me, a perfect copy of the image that I had created in my mind just minutes earlier. He was standing in front of me, his mouth moving up and down as he stared at Warren, but I couldn't hear anything that he was saying. 

The only thing that I could focus on was Warren starting to moving slightly closer to Micah, his fist rising to hit him. Before I can think, I feel myself jerking in front of Micah. My arms rise, protecting him from Warren's wrath.

I don't feel anything as Warren pushes me back against the wall, his hands wrapped around my throat. I take deep breaths and manage to stay calm even though death is right in front of me. 

I wait for the same suffocating feeling that had plagued me the last time he did this to come back, but it never does. 

I feel no pain, I am only filled with peace while I feel my life ebbing away. I feel nothing but peace as his grip tightens around my throat. I watch as his pupils expand, his anger mulitplying as I appear to be unaffected by his death grip. His lips pull back into a snarl and he looks exactly like a rabid animal as I stare deep into his eyes. There is something hidden in his gaze that I had never noticed before: fear. 

I grab hold of that fear and feel a familar cold sensation rushing through my body. Warren's eyes start to widen as his fear begins to expand while he watches me stay alive. 

I can feel the metal of the building reaching out to me and the metal buries itself into my veins, making me a part of the building. I look down and see that my body has turned into metal. 

I pick up my fist, expecting to feel dragged down by the weight of all the metal but instead I feel weightless. Out of the corner of my vision, I notice a giant metal piller forming below me, pushing me into the air. 

Warren stares at me with the eyes of someone who has just seen their worst nightmare. Before he can react to my new form I raise my fist and drive it right into his head, feeling the bones crushing beneath my hands. They crack underneath all of the pressure of trying to stay together while being under attack. 

I feel myself rising farther and father upward until the building swallows me whole. I look around at the room where I was supposed die at Warren's hands. 

Something grabs my foot and I kick out at them, my body moving against my wishes. I see the blue eyes of a broken man staring up at me and yelling my name. He gazes up at me with the eyes of someone who is seeing everything that could have been and I watch the tears roll down his cheek. 

His face is the last thing I see before the metal swallows me whole. 

The building tells me that I am now the guardian of this place and I feel myself being pressed into the metal. This is where I will stay, it tells me, this is my new home for the rest of time. 

I breathe my final breath and picture Micah's face as I cast out my last thought. I will remember you forever Micah. Finish what I have started, my love.