Chapter seven

My head was pounding. God was my head pounding. I was having a killer headache. I didn't even know where I was. The last thing I remember was that the demon tried to kiss me, and that there was glass everywhere and that he also…

And that he also pushed me off the balcony.

Oh my God, I was dead. I had to be dead. I mean, who would ever survive a fall like that? And I was pushed from the third floor. In my house, that's about fifty feet away from the ground. I tried moving, but my body was refusing to respond. I opened my eyes, and found out that I was on the grass in my backyard. I my arms and was on my elbows. I touched the back of my head, hoping it didn't break. When I pulled my hand in front of my face, there was no blood. I must have fallen on my feet. How did I know? Well, aside from my Guardian's instinct, I couldn't feel my left leg. When I touched it, a stab of pain shot up to my spine. I groaned in pain as I tried to sit up. I had grass stains all over my body, and the cut where a piece of glass had been in my arm was the color black. Blood was streaming down the cut in my arm and the cut in my neck. And also from my mouth, where I was sure blood was dripping from. I put the back of my hand over my mouth and wiped away the blood. I tried to stand up, but I guess my ankle was twisted.

Worse, I heard the voice of wheel tracks coming closer to my house. My parents were home.

I quickly flapped my wings, and I was flying. I flew all the way up to my balcony. I heard car doors open, then close, and then footsteps climbing to the front porch.

I quickly flipped on the light in my room; it wasn't until then that I realized what a horrible mess it was. Glass was splattered everywhere, nail polish, perfume glasses, magazines and my makeup all over the room.

The front door opened, and I heard my parents and Lillian step into the house.

I quickly closed my eyes, and concentrated at the room. I pictured the glass put back together in its original places. I pictured my makeup and stuff back on my dressing table. I pictured all the blood on the floor to be blown away and be replaced by dust.

I heard footsteps come up the stairs, and my little sister's snoring.

I quickly flew to the bathroom, and wrapped some Band-Aids around my twisted ankle.

Lillian's door squeaked as my parents' opened it to put Lillian to bed.

I flew to my bed, sat in it, and closed my eyes to transform back to human. I opened my eyes, and was in my high-necked pajamas, and my bleeding arm covered by its sleeves.

I heard footsteps come closer to my room.

I tried as hard as I could to clean my hair from all the grass. I lifted part of the cover over my body.

My doorknob twisted.

I lay on my pillow, staring at the ceiling.

My door quietly opened, and my mom peeked her head in.

"Hey mom," I greeted her, acting tired. "How was your night?"

"Fine," my mom replied, sitting on the side of my bed, her red-orange hair lying on her shoulders. "How was your night?"

"Well," I straightened up. This was the hard part. "I had a nice night. But, I sort of tripped on the front steps, and twisted my ankle." I lifted part of the cover and showed mom my twisted ankle.

Mom gasped, laying a hand on her chest. "Oh, Cornelia," She said with sympathy. "I'll call a doctor."

I nodded and let her go out of the room to call a doctor. When I was sure no one was around, I moved my two fingers, and the door closed. I hopped to the bathroom, and wrapped Band-Aids around the cut in my arm and the cut in my neck. When everything was good, I dressed back into my pajama's button-up shirt.

I hopped back to my bed, and lay on it in exhaustion. I sighed as I heard mom call the doctor to come upstairs.

When the doctor was done with my foot, he said that it was a small break, and that I'm going to be able to walk in it tomorrow at school. When the doctor left, my mom was always checking up on me, trying to make sure I was alright. At least that was until sleep got to me.

I was walking in a familiar room in a castle, searching for anyone. I didn't know where I was until I entered a huge hallway in the center of the castle. Portraits were hung all over the walls. There were pictures of former queens, and the recent queen: Elyon.

I was in Elyon's castle in Meridian. But unlike all the times I've been here, there was no one to be found. It was… empty. There were no servants running around. There were no guards guarding the place. There were no friends laughing happily as they went from room to room. And there was no… Caleb. It was completely empty. Like an abandoned home. Or a haunted house.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming closer to me at the end of the hall. A tall figure stepped in from the shadows, and I recognized her.

Narissa was standing right in front of me.

My eyes widened. Narissa's lips twitched and formed an evil grin. Her former Guardian partners – Yan Lin, Kadma, Hellinore, and Cassidy – appeared from behind her. Narissa's husband, Caleb's father, appeared on her right side. And her son appeared on her left.

I gasped in shock. Not because Narissa was standing in front of me. Not because Yan Lin was young and was going to fight me. And also not because the other former Guardians were young and evil again. But because of Narissa's son was on the evil side. He was going to fight me. And I was going to have to fight him. I was going to have to fight Caleb.

Narissa waved her finger at Caleb, and he stepped forward. He got out his big sword, and started walking closer to me. He was getting faster with every step he took. I started backing away. It wasn't that I was afraid – even though Caleb's one of the strongest, bravest most experienced guy in fighting that I ever knew – but because I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't want to hurt Caleb.

He was running towards me now. Before I could even turn around, his hand was on my throat, and he was pinning me the wall. I took hold of his hand on my throat, trying to take it off. I was struggling to breathe, and he was pressing his hand tighter with every breath I took. He lowered his face to me, and pressed his lips against my ear.

"You're dead to me, Cornelia," He said, his breath tingling in my ear. "I don't love you anymore. And for that, you are dead to me."

His grip on my throat was like iron. I couldn't very much take a single breath. I stopped breathing all of a sudden. It was like my throat was closed. I couldn't even inhale one last breath, because my feet had given up underneath me, and I was falling.

I inhaled a ton of air and let it out in a shriek. I buried my face into my arm and screamed on last time. I stop screaming when I realized I was in my room again. Safe and sound from Narissa. I hope nobody heard my scream, because I thought I was going to start crying. I don't think anybody heard me, though. Because my clock alarm had blocked my scream. I started breathing so hard. It was like my dream was coming to reality.

I couldn't very much think since the stupid clock alarm was ringing so hard, I thought it would explode. I quickly slammed the clock alarm's 'Stop' button. I quickly got out of the bed, and hobbled to my bathroom. I brushed my teeth, took a quick shower, and changed my Band-Aids – both on my arm and my neck. When I was done, hobbled to my wardrobe. I dressed in a green top, matched it with my dark gray, long skirt. And wore a beige wool jacket over it. It was freezing outside. I also wore some sandals that I could wear on top of the Band-Aids.

I hopped down stairs, hoping I'll get to school early and not having to run to class. I placed a note on the fridge saying that I already went to school. I went upstairs on more time to check how I looked. I noticed something bright on my desk in the mirror reflection. I turned my head, and went towards it.

The white lily was lying ever so beautifully in the small vase I put it in. It was the last thing Caleb had given to me, made by my own tear. I got the flower out of the vase, and held it between my fingers. It was so beautiful. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I rubbed it before it could mess up my makeup. But at least I remembered to wear waterproof mascara this time.

I placed the lily in my jacket pocket, and hopped down the stairs. I took a bus to school, of course. I didn't think I could walk all those blocks. On my whole ride, I kept on cursing the demon under my breath, for a twisted ankle and a cute arm. Oh, and don't forget being cut with the cursed knife.

When I arrived to school, my friends gave me their 'Get well soons', and I was forced to pay attention to class.

The bell rang, announcing that school was over. I gratefully got up from my seat, and started walking – well, hobbling was the right word – towards the door. I was on my path to the front door to join my friends, when Taranee was catching up with me.

"Hey, Cornelia," she said in a strange tone once she was walking with me. "What happened on your date with Peter yesterday? He said you stood him up."

I gaped at her. "I didn't stand him up. I showed up. We had a nice time, but at the end of the date, I had a family emergency and I had to go."

"Why didn't you at least let him drive you home?" Taranee asked suspiciously.

"My house wasn't far away," I shrugged.

"Cornelia, it was two miles away."

"Really? I was home in like, five minutes of walking."

"You really hurt his feelings, Cornelia," Taranee said, a glimpse of hurt in her face. "Do you know that?"

"No, I didn't." I replied, staring at the ground in front of me. "Tell him, that I'm sorry, that I never meant to hurt his feelings." I finally looked at her. "But I don't think I'm ready to date yet. I'm sorry."

Taranee digested that, her face twisting with understanding.

We reached the others by then. They were waiting for us at the school gate. When they saw us, they came to our direction.

"We're needed in Meridian." Will said once we reached each other. "Elyon says that demon found his way back there."

"So?" Taranee said. "Let's go!"

We quickly went over to the place we had transformed last time. Will got out the Heart, and said, "Guardians unite!"

Once again, shields of energy were swirling around my body, transforming me into a Guardian. I felt my energy grow with every changed place in my body. My hair grew longer, descending until reaching my thighs. My powers were too strong to reject.

Once I opened my eyes, the others – like me – were excited to go to Meridian. Will opened a portal with the Heart, and we went through it. We entered in front of the castle at the end of Meridian. Elyon was waiting for us, as usual.

"Corny!" She yelled when she saw. I hadn't realized how much I really missed Elyon. She reached out for me, and I hugged her fiercely. I made sure her face was at my right side – I was hiding the cut with my hair – so she wouldn't see the Band-Aids. When I let go of her, she started talking about the missing people in Meridian. She kept on talking while we entered the palace. It was when we entered the hallway that I saw him.