Wilder: The Guardian Series (6 page)

After taking one look at Celeste’s pale drawn face, she dropped
everything and rushed over to her. “What’s wrong sweetie? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I just had the most horrifying nightmare,”
she explained as she nestled into her mom’s warm embrace.

“What did you dream? Maybe you’ll feel better if you talk
about it. That always seemed to help when you were younger.” Mrs. Wilder sat
her daughter down at the kitchen table and began preparing her a cup of
soothing chamomile tea.

Celeste had completely forgotten about that, it had been so
long ago. When her father had first passed away, she had been plagued with
horrific dreams for weeks. She was so young, only ten years old back then, and
she must have buried those memories along with everything else around that
traumatic time. She explained the dream to her mother, and found that she was
shaking. She felt like she was reliving the whole thing again.

“This wasn’t the first weird dream I’ve had about birds and
bats. It seems to be a new trend. And I even saw a bat outside the other night,
and
there’s a falcon nesting in the
oak tree outside my window.
 
It’s
all so strange.”

At the mention of the bat, her mom looked slightly
disconcerted. “Everything is going to be okay, sweetie,” she said, hiding the
preoccupied look in her eye.
 

***

Stellan’s house looked exactly as Nico and Roman remembered
it. It was immense, sprawling over five acres of land in a remote wooded area
and seemingly untouched by modern civilization. It was rustic, completely built
of the wood from the towering oaks native to the surrounding forest and exuded
a cozy feeling of home.

As the brothers got out of the car, Stellan appeared, greeting
them wearing his signature tattered blue robe. Sorcerers, unlike vampires, did
age, although at a much slower rate than humans, and if they were great ones
they could spell themselves against aging all together. Stellan chose the
former and though he was several hundreds of years old, he looked to be only in
his late sixties with graying hair past his shoulders and a lengthy beard. His
kind gray eyes brightened at the sight of the boys.

Roman looked at him fondly, and asked, “How are you doing old
man?”

“Now Roman Constantin, I know you have better manners than
that. Your parents taught you to respect your elders,” he scolded. Smiling, he
said, “It has been far too long, my boy,” and he yanked Roman into an awkward
embrace. Nico, just steps behind, happily joined in on the long overdue reunion.

“It’s been much too long since I last laid eyes on the two of
you. I’d like to start with some pleasantries, but from your tone when we spoke
last night I imagine this is a rather urgent matter we need to discuss,” said
Stellan, ushering the brothers into the expansive great room. The fire crackled
and hissed as Stellan threw another log in the fireplace. Though it was late
spring, it was much cooler in the countryside and the fire was a necessity to
keep the dampness from creeping into the stately home.

Stellan situated his horn-rimmed glasses on his long aquiline
nose, settled down in his brown leather club chair and looked at Roman
expectantly. Roman, pacing in front of the fireplace, began by recounting the
story of the new vampire in town and his concerns for Celeste’s safety.

 
“What if this has
something to do with Fabian?” asked Roman nervously. “Do you think it’s
possible that he has found out about her?”

“There’s always a possibility, but the question is why would
he even want to interfere with guardian affairs? Those are matters beyond his
concern, unless of course, he stumbled upon her while tracking the two of you.
But you two haven’t been associating with her, have you?”

Stellan looked questioningly at Roman then Nico. “Humph.” He
didn’t need a response; it was obvious by the looks on their faces. “What did I
warn you two about before you came back to Oak Bluffs?” said Stellan, his voice
rising as he moved to the edge of his seat. “You must not get involved with
her; it is too dangerous for all of you. The only reason I told you about her
was
to protect you both, and now it seems I’ve done quite
the opposite.
 
Not to mention that I
have put her at risk as well.”

All three men sat in silence contemplating their next
move.
 
It was of the utmost
importance for them to protect the secret of the Guardian. For centuries there
has been a balance between good and evil—without guardians the world
would plummet into chaos with all the creatures of the underworld running
rampant. There have always been certain family lineages around the
world which
are burdened with the task of keeping the world
safe for humans. These families have been protected over the ages by
supernatural forces, and the knowledge of their existence has been limited to a
select few who made up part of the Council. It just so happened that Stellan
was one of the select few, and with that knowledge came the responsibility to
protect the guardians and their secret. Roman and Nico’s mother, Lilliana,
having come from a line of great witches had also been tasked with the same
obligation, that is, before Fabian intervened in their lives.

“Is it true about us being somehow drawn to her?” interjected
Nico.

“Yes and no. I have heard of some cases where supernatural
creatures are irresistibly drawn to guardians, but I’ve only ever seen it
happen with a few vampires and werewolves. Since those two species are the
closest to their former human selves, I imagine that is why the attraction is
the greatest. As you know, there must always be a balance between good and bad,
light and dark, and it seems that their light attracts your darkness and
unfortunately the opposite is true as well,” Stellan explained.

“Well, I definitely feel something,” said Nico.

“And you Roman?” asked Stellan.

“Perhaps…” he answered with a guarded expression.

“She must be a very strong candidate if you are both feeling
something so soon.”

“She’s also not bad to look at,” added Nico.

Roman shot him a murderous glance.

“So what are we going to do?” asked Nico.

“We are going to protect her,” answered Roman with a menacing
sparkle in his eye.

Celeste found herself not wanting to spend the day alone
after her mom left for work, so she decided to give Natalie a call. She paused
to think about how quickly she and Natalie had become so close again. It was
like they were back in grade school and no time had passed at all. Spending the
day with cheerful, bubbly Natalie would surely get her mind off of her
disturbing dream.

“Yeah, come on over, I was actually just planning on heading
to the mall to get black gloves and a matching clutch for my prom dress. We can
go together!” said Natalie over the phone.

Celeste loved people watching, and the crowded mall on a
weekend was a perfect place for it. She casually observed the happy couple
walking in front of her hand in hand, whispering and giggling, oblivious to
anyone else around them. She longed for that intimate connection with someone
someday.
 
She turned back to Natalie
who was gushing over the fact that Brian was taking her to prom. Celeste
listened happily as she recounted all the details of their phone conversation.
When the topic changed to her dress, Natalie suddenly looked at Celeste in
dismay.

“You don’t have a dress yet?”

The rest of the afternoon focused on finding Celeste the
perfect dress. “You want something that’s not too ‘
costumey
’
but still clearly 1920’s style,” opined Natalie.

After what seemed to Celeste like hours, she found a
sophisticated black flapper dress, knee-length with a matching bejeweled
headpiece complete with a fancy white feather. She made a mental note to ask
her mother to let her borrow her long pearl necklace, which would perfectly
complete the ensemble.

“Okay, so you have the picture-perfect outfit, now you just
need the perfect date to go along with it,” said Natalie with a smile.
“Decisions, decisions, oh which of the Constantin brothers will you take?” she
teased.

“Ha-ha, Nat, and I
was
planning on
going solo actually.”

“No! We are ladies and should always be escorted by a
handsome gentleman – especially for a Roaring 20’s Casino,” Natalie said affecting
her most sophisticated accent. “Just leave everything up to me. I’ll make sure
you have the appropriate arm candy to immortalize the momentous occasion of our
senior prom picture.”

“That’s what worries me,” said Celeste.

***

After a lengthy discussion, Stellan, Roman and Nico had
decided that the best course of action would be to determine if this new
vampire was indeed a threat.

“We have to find out what brought this guy to Oak Bluffs and
what he knows,” said Roman.

Stellan agreed, “Yes, I believe an interrogation is needed.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” Nico finished.

Roman seriously hoped that this had all been a terrible
coincidence, and that they could convince this intruder to leave Oak Bluffs
without further complications. As they drove back into town, the sun was
setting over the hills in the distance, making it perfect timing for vampire tracking.
The two brothers split up to cover more ground, hoping to find the vampire
before he caused any trouble.

After all the shopping, Celeste and Natalie were starving and
headed to the center of town for a bite. Oak Bluffs had a town square reminiscent
of old Western movies. There was a lush green park in the center surrounding
the Town Hall and a brick paved sidewalk encircling it. The
girls
were greeted by the familiar neon red sign of Ralph’s Diner
and the
jingling bell as the door swung open. Ralph’s was a 50’s themed late night hot
spot with the high school and college crowds alike, but even on a quiet Sunday
evening the place was packed. The girls ordered a couple things to snack on from
the waitress in the poodle skirt and sat back to watch all the action around
them. They were sitting in a booth next to the pinball machine, and the tall red-headed
boy playing the vintage
Star Wars
game seemed completely enthralled by it, so much so that every so often he’d
back right into the booth and cause the whole table to shake.

Natalie looked at Celeste, utter annoyance written on her
face. “Excuse me, you’re spilling my soda all over the place. Can you try to
calm down over there?”

At that the boy stopped playing abruptly, and turned around
with a conciliatory smile. “Sorry girls, I guess I just don’t know my own
strength. Let me make it up to you by buying you drinks.” He flashed his
gleaming white teeth and revealed a charming dimple on his left cheek.

“Well, it is the least you could do especially since you
spilled all of ours,” retorted Natalie, but her teasing tone was back.

Still smiling, he put his tan leather jacket down in the
booth next to Natalie.

As he walked away, Natalie said to Celeste, “What is up with
all of these new boys in town? Has Oak Bluffs CC suddenly moved up in the
college rankings? This is so great!”

Celeste just rolled her eyes and laughed. A few minutes
later, the cute boy was back with three frosty beers in his hands.
 

“Can we please start over?” he asked. “I’m Patrick.” He had a
cocky swagger about him – this was exactly the kind of guy that Celeste
hated. But she put a smile on her face for Natalie’s sake as she could tell her
friend was intrigued.

Natalie smiled and gestured to Celeste, “This is my friend
Celeste, and I’m Natalie. How come I’ve never seen you before?”

Patrick sat down with the girls, and explained that he had
just started at Oak Bluffs CC as Natalie had guessed. He had pale skin with a
few freckles on his nose, coupled with the ginger hair and name; Celeste
guessed he had to be of Irish descent. “I’m from
Woodfield
.
It’s even smaller than Oak Bluffs and this was my closest option for college,”
he finished.

As they sat talking, out of the corner of her eye, Celeste
saw Roman stalk into the restaurant. Without looking around, as if he had
sensed that she was there, his eyes immediately locked onto hers in a tense
gaze. He approached their table determinedly, switching his focus to
Patrick
as he got closer. Roman’s vampire sixth sense was
bristling, and he knew without a doubt that this was the intruder he had been
tracking.

“Celeste, hello, introduce me to your new friend,” he said
brusquely. Celeste could feel the tension emanating from Roman as he stared
threateningly at Patrick. Something about his stance reminded her of a snarling
dog ready to pounce. She wasn’t the only who had noticed, the entire crowd at
Ralph’s had gone silent.

Awkwardly, she managed, “This is Patrick. We just met him
here and Patrick this is Roman, my, uh, friend’s brother. And Roman this is
Natalie; I don’t think you have ever met her either.”

Roman nodded to Natalie without taking his eyes off of
Patrick, who finally broke the uncomfortable silence. “Hello Roman. I think
I’ve heard about you actually. You are Nico’s brother, right?” he asked coolly.

At the mention of Nico, Roman’s face tensed up again. “Yes I
am. And how is it that you know my brother?”

“I don’t really know him, but we were at the same party the
other night, and I overheard some people talking. I guess being new in town, we
all have something in common,” Patrick said grinning, as if it was a private
joke that only he was in on.