ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.(C)T'AFARI STEEDE 2012
NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE COPIED, STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, PHOTOCOPIED, RE-PRINTED, PRINTED, FORMATTED, STORED, EDITED, REPRODUCED, OR REPLACED BY ANY MEANS ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL WITHOUT PRIOR AND SOLE CONSENT FROM THE AUTHOR.
T'AFARI
Book I of Guardian Angels Trilogy
(revised edition 2016)
*Bajan nation language used slightly. I'm from the Caribbean and in Barbados we speak a variation of English known as Bajan. It will be largely understandable to English speakers but don't worry I will post a glossary of terms at the bottom of each chapter. Thank-you for reading and please comment!
Guardian Angel-wolf
Prologue
Fingers tapping the steering wheel, Peyton stared straight ahead.
Shadows lingered on her exposed thighs, brown against the black leather seat. She eyed the lazy procession of vehicles, gaze wilting like the palm trees lining either side of the busy downtown street. She was still in the blue and white of her school uniform and was eager to get out of it.
The traffic lights had been stuck on red for the past century and a half. Ears perked she anticipated the vibration of her phone. Mum would be calling in one...two...and three....
I wish they would trust me more.
She glanced to the right just in time to see a buildup of clouds.
Frowning she rolled her windows up and turned on the air conditioning. Her shoulders sagged when her phone remained silent in the passenger seat, tension deteriorating. Then-
buzzzzz.
"Fuck," she muttered, swiping across the screen.
She exhaled-it wasn't mum after all.
"Hey Mattew, what's up?"
"You on de road? Lemme call back."
"No-it's okay, what happen?"
She jerked the car forward as the lights flashed green.
This wasn't totally illegal-
"We still going on de summer trip thing from Geo?
Application deadline is like, tomorrow, B."
"You going?" he asked, voice fuzzy.
She wasn't focusing on him, but on avoiding the upcoming vehicles just before Husband's avenue. The glow of mid-evening sun cast halos over the sleek vehicles. Silver sedans sparkled; Toyotas looked like Jaguars. Glancing to her left she watched the steady rising of grey clouds and frowned.
"Going where?" she prompted, attention still on the road.
"The summer camp at Deregu Falls..." he trailed off.
Summer...camp...forest...she stifled a giggle. She vaguely remembered her gaze traversing past that notice in her school email.
"Matt? You serious?? " She asked, barely swerving past a van on the wrong side of the road.
Matt groaned on the other line.
" At least think 'bout it, could be fun...one, no helicopter parents; we going to be alone in a mysterious forest with just, like nature and wild animals-studying rock formations and atmospheric conditions-"
Peyton made a snoring noise.
"Matt stop; I'm scared your weirdness is so contagious it'll pass through Wifi."
"Zero, hoe." She imagined him rolling his eyes as she drove into her neighborhood.
"I going to message you when I get in. Later bitch."
"Promise me you'll think-!" the line went dead.
She smirked as she pulled into the driveway of her home. Her friends called the looming ivory mansion intimidating, and sometimes she saw what they meant in the large black iron gates and shadows. Okay so maybe it was a bit extravagant. Or maybe her parents were trying to build her a prison.
The red Audi sparkled further up in the garage suggesting they were home. She muttered a stream of curse words under her breath. Grabbing her back-pack Peyton exited her car, swinging her keys in the other hand.
As the sun crept behind a bounty of clouds a large shadow fell over her.
She quickened her pace.
Pulling open the front door she became engulfed in darkness.
Okay, that's not weird at all.
"Mum? Dad I'm home." Her voice only echoed in response.
She walked across the burgundy carpet, allowing her bag to fall onto the couch with a thud.
The room was empty save for the goldfish in the aquarium.
Peyton frowned, pulling out her phone to check for new messages. Nada.
She started for the stairway. Narrowing her eyes, her senses were on high alert. All of the blinds were closed, yet she felt a coldness creep along her spine, raising the hairs on her arms.
Her heart-beat thudded in anticipation.
She climbed the stairs tense, fingers traipsing the banister. Maybe her parents were sleeping. it would be unusual at this time. Never in her eighteen years of life have they not been home to interrogate her after school. A part of her was relieved and wanted to go to her room and breathe.
A dark shadow loomed over the mahogany boards. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
It became difficult to walk, her feet felt like they were made of lead. The hairs at the nape of her neck stirred as she reached the the top of the staircase and froze. She wasn't sure why she felt this way.
Her heart beat faster.
Peyton could hear voices. Whispering . She couldn't make out any of the words being said. Scrunching her brows together she drew closer.
Heart-beat pounding through her chest she crept across the hallway, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks. The door was ajar and she came to stand behind it, heart a fist-sized apple in her throat. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure whoever was inside must have heard it.
"I made a deal...my deals are not broken."
Peyton's eyes widened-okay, so a business meeting. At home? Were her parents in trouble? Why did that guy sound so fucking weird? She had to physically restrain herself from entering the room. She clamped her hands over her mouth, heart-beat cascading down through her body.
"I will not allow you to take my daughter away from me-I won't have her around you people . . . you disgusting creatures...if we hadn't taken her from Guyana that day....she would be-she would be-" It was her mother's voice, warped in emotion. She was in tears. If there was something she couldn't stand, it was hearing her mother cry. Where was Dad? She was about to enter, lips pursed in anger when the words ran through her mind.
Take...away...Guyana...wait-what?
Peyton stilled as another voice interrupted her train of thoughts. She stayed glued to the door.
Then, a barrage of images began hitting her and she stumbled away. Eyebrows creasing, her head started to ache.
She couldn't listen anymore.
Peyton wanted to turn on her heels and run; but she couldn't alert her parents...or whoever else was in the room. She found herself zombie-walking down the hallway-into her parents' bedroom. It was like a wave came over her, commanding her to enter. She couldn't shake it.
Shuddering, she opened the door, sinking to her knees. She closed her eyes, heart beating hard. There was a reasonable explanation for this, she told herself. Her parents would explain everything. After taking a few calming breaths, Peyton opened her eyes, vision wavering. If she only knew what they were talking about it.
For some odd reason she felt like crying.
Trying to distract herself she grabbed a brown folder hanging off her parents' bed. She was sure it was just some boring financial statement. Yet her curiosity was peaked-what was this doing here?
Pulling out crisp sheets, yet yellowed with age, Peyton ran her eyes over the heading, mouth hanging open.
Her throat felt dry.
The heading atop the sheet had the words 'Adoption Order' and Peyton shook her head, telling herself she was 'seeing things'.
With shaking fingers she cupped a hand over her mouth.
She had been....adopted as a baby.
She flipped the pages over.
As she did her hands were shaking with the realization that everything she thought she knew
was a lie.
Glossary:
'You on de road' -'Are you on the road?'
'Seeing things'-'She couldn't believe what she was seeing.