"I just need five minutes," Sam begged Chyp. "Five minutes to talk to him, to let him go. I at least deserve to have some closure."
"It's against the rules," Chyp answered Sam. "You're still not understanding that not even I have the power to go against the Superiors. Their word is absolute."
"These are unique circumstances," Sam argued. She threw her hands up in frustration. She was never going to convince Chyp to side with her.
She, the former secret Guardian to the Complete, and Chyp, their current Guardian, had spent the last few hours in Limbo arguing back and forth about Sam's situation. The Superiors had ruled to forbid her from seeing any of the brothers again, especially James, because of the possibility that any union between them might cause a great disruption in the balance between good and evil. She wanted Chyp to understand that their decision was unfair and based on fear, and that there was nothing wrong with two forces of good seeing each other. Chyp was having a hard time seeing things from her point of view; he had been a Guardian for decades and was a very by-the-book person. He always played by the rules, which was the most likely reason the Superiors paired him with the Complete.
"What more can I say to you?" Sam asked. She suddenly felt strange. Her head began to spin and a voice was calling out to her in her mind.
"I honestly don't know what to…" Chyp began before noticing Sam drifting. "Are you okay? The Superiors can't track us here. Is something wrong?"
"I…I don't know," she answered. "I feel like something is…is pulling me, like someone's…calling me."
Bright white lights came out of nowhere and swirled around Sam. She tried to glimmer away, but found that she was trapped inside the dancing lights. Suddenly, they grew larger and claimed her, disappearing with her in a brilliant burst of light. Chyp stood there, confounded. He had no idea where Sam had gone. Had the Superiors figured out some way to spy on them? He shrugged and glimmered out of Limbo.
Matthew had finally removed the athame from Wesley's hand and turned him on his back, bandaging his wound. He had done the same for James, whom he had turned to his side to dress the wound in his back. He was reluctant to call the police; how would he explain the situation to them? He had been calling out for Chyp, his and his brothers' Guardian, but so far no one had answered his calls. He was out of options.
His phone rang. Matthew pulled his cell phone from his pocket. It was Stephanie. In all of the chaos, he needed a moment to clear his head and regain his composure. He took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Hello," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "How are you?"
"Still full," Stephanie replied. "I was just calling to see how everything was with Jimmy. Is he alright?"
"He…" Matthew began, turning and looking at his older brother. "He's still pretty banged up. Not in the best shape."
"Oh, that's awful," Stephanie replied. "How's Wesley handling it? He's a pretty emotional guy, I remember."
"Well," Matthew said as the doorbell rang, "he's not really saying too much right now."
Matthew faked his way through the conversation with Stephanie as he absent-mindedly made his way for the door. He cracked it open, not wanting whoever was on the other side to see the disaster that was the living room. He dropped the phone when he saw Ariana standing on the other side. He felt his eyes widen, but quickly and calmly suppressed his urge to curse his luck.
"Hey!" he said in mock excitement. "What are you doing here this late?"
"I heard that Jimmy was in an accident," Ariana said, her face showing genuine concern. "It was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Anyway, is everything okay? Are you gonna pick up your phone?"
"Oh yeah," Matthew laughed nervously. He fumbled with the cell phone on the floor before picking it up again. He looked at Ariana before talking to the phone. "I gotta go; I'll call you back later. Bye bye."
"Can I come in?" Ariana asked. "You don't seem too…"
"NO!" Matthew yelled, startling her. He was quick to calm down. "I mean, the house is a mess and…you know…I don't wanna show you around an unclean house…"
"I'm sure it's fine," Ariana said, laughing. She pressed against the door, but Matthew pushed harder. She looked at Matthew in bewilderment, keeping her smile. Behind Matthew, she could barely make out something like looked like a bright flash of blue and white light. "What was that light?"
Matthew turned around hesitantly. Standing in his demolished living room was a woman with shoulder length blond hair and icy blue eyes. She was kneeling over James and Wesley. He turned back to Ariana, laughing nervously.
"TV," he answered. Behind him, another flurry of blue and white lights illuminated the area. "Some random show is on. I wasn't really paying attention to it, though."
"There was another flash just now," Ariana pointed out.
Matthew turned back around. Chyp was now in the room, arguing with the first woman, who Matthew did not know. Matthew looked back at Ariana. So many thoughts flew through his head at that moment that he could barely contain them all. He smiled as best as he could as he stepped outside of the house to join her.
"Listen," he said, taking her hands, "I know you're concerned. Your heart is one of the things that attracted me to you. But now's not the time. My mind is just…overwhelmed right now. I think I just need some time to get things together. Can I call you later?"
"Um, take all the time you need," Ariana hesitantly replied, kissing Matthew on the cheek. "Call me when things settle down for you?"
"Thanks babe," Matthew said, waving as he watched one of his girlfriends walk away. When she was in her car he hurried back inside, slamming the door behind him and grabbing everyone's attention.