Guardian Demon

Chapter 8

Grace stood up, her legs shaking slightly. While her dad felt that she should stay in hospital a little longer, Grace felt fine and neither the doctors or nurses could find any reason to keep her. Marie was peacefully sleeping in her room so they didn't get a chance to say goodbye, thinking it would be better not to wake her. 

It was getting dark as they drove home, the setting sun painting the sky a blood red.  Grace hadn't realized it was so late but then again, she had fallen unconscious.  

They arrived home, the sky now a violet shade, and walked inside. Her father went into the kitchen probably to make some dinner for the two of them, Grace only now realizing that she hand't had much to eat that day, yet wasn't that hungry. 

She wandered up to her room and flopped onto the bed. It had undoubtedly been a weird day. First a new girl who had genuinely scared her but had turned out to be a new friend, the accident with Marie and her passing out when her aunt had touched her..locket. The locket! Could that have been what caused Marie to go into such pain and both of them to pass out? She held the jewel up to her face so she could see it clearly.

She had always been fascinated by magic and fantasy but had never really believed in it. She gazed at the stone but nothing  strange stood out to her. Then she remembered the note. She reached down under her bed and brought out her diary. She had stuffed the note in the pages.

It was a little crumpled but she could still read it.    

Dear Grace

Happy Birthday darling I hope you have a wonderful day.
I have had this for many years. I found it when I was very young. I was always fascinated by amulets and the belief that they protected the owner. I know how you have taken after me in your love of magic and the supernatural and so I have decided to give this to you.
Say hello to Marie and Colin for me dear
Love Aunt Diana xxx

It didn't give her much but it was enough to make her curious. Many years? How long had her aunt had it? It still looked brand new, then again Grace hadn't seen many old amulets. 

She would have to ask her about it, but there was one problem. She had no clue where Diana was. Her aunt loved to travel but she hardly ever said where she was going, making it hard to contact her. Grace hit her head in frustration then came to her senses. What was she thinking? A magical amulet? Seriously? Had she hit her head when she passed out? There must be a logical explanation.

"Yeah right, it's magic and you know it!"  a little voice in her head said, "Shut up." Grace said out loud. Great, now she was talking to herself.

Her door opened and her father came in with a plate of toast in his hands, "Sorry, did I disturb you?" he asked, holding the plate out to her. She took the food and took a bite out of one of the slices. "Very funny," she said in a sarcastic tone. He gave her a weak smile and sat down next to her, "Hey, I know you're worried but Marie will be back soon."

Guilt settled in Grace's gut. Marie. How could she not be thinking about her? Yeah, she had seemed fine at the hospital but what if there were long-term affects? She took another bite of toast. "I'll leave you to yourself," her father said, giving her a quick hug and leaving the room.

Grace sat back against the bed frame and checked the time, "9:30?" she said to herself. She grabbed her diary, turned to a new page, took a pen from her bedside table and began to write

Dear Diary

First day back at school today but that's not what I'm writing about. Something terrible happened to Marie today. She had a accident and is in hospital at this moment but she should be alright and home soon.

There was a new girl at school today. Her name is Hecate and she's kinda strange, but in a good way. Does that make sense? At first I didn't think we'd  get along but now I think we could be great friends. 

There's also something else that's been bugging me. It's the amulet Aunt Diana gave me for my birthday. It's beautiful but I can't help but feel like there's something off about it. Though, if I'm being honest, part of me wants there to be something magical about it, I guess that's why I'm not going to take it off :) 

 Grace yawned and put her diary back under her bed. She took her pajamas out from under her pillow and, after quickly getting changed, got into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

****

Grace woke with a start, "Not again," she moaned checking the time on her phone. 1:00am. She fell back against the pillow, "Three hours of sleep huh?" A breeze ran through the room, "What the?" Grace said getting out of bed and walking over to the window. It was pitch black and cloudy outside, another gust of wind blew through the window. 

Grace frowned, "Was this open when I went to sleep?" she asked herself. The window that Grace had thought was closed was now wide open. She leaned on the windowpane and looked up at the night sky. Her hair was loose and blew slightly in the wind but Grace didn't mind.

The clouds had parted and stars now shone down. Grace was glad that they didn't live in the city. She would miss the stars. She remembered how when she was younger her mother would show her the constellations in the night sky. It was one of the only memories she had of her mother 

Grace wasn't in any rush to get back to bed so instead just stood there for a while, looking up at the stars. 

***********

Hecate looked up at the night sky, "So, she thinks I'm strange, huh?" she thought to herself, recalling the page in Grace's diary. She had learnt from her time on earth that humans who kept diaries usually wrote their thoughts, worries and fears in them and for someone with her job, that information was very helpful.

She continued to walk down the deserted street, the cold wind feeling very relaxing on her skin. She let out a sigh. You didn't get nights like these where she came from and you couldn't see the stars. That was probably something she liked about the mortal world, the stars. Small fragments of light in a never ending darkness, it was comforting in some ways.

She heard a footstep behind her and whipped her head around, prepared to fight. She relaxed a little when she saw who was behind her but didn't drop her guard,

"Oh. Hello there angel."