My Sister's a Guardian

by CaetlynoftheStars

Ranya, struggling with self-hatred, longs to be a Guardian—a beloved hero. When her sister Isabelle is chosen instead, Ranya decides to try to take her place—but because Isabelle's Guardian Angel told her Isabelle would die if she didn't. Yet, Isabelle, ridden with anxiety, may one day be the only person who stands between Ranya and death. Villains of mysterious origins rise.

48. The Ally's Trust

(Content/trigger warnings for this chapter: self-hatred, depression-like thing)

-Ranya-

The poorly-constructed school creaked in the wind. The light above us flickered.

I didn't fall when I teleported into the band room this time because I already lay on the floor. Dakota stumbled into one of the most taped-up chairs, and hunched there panting for a minute. She swallowed repeatedly. After a minute, she stood and approached her mom, who bent over her husband's splayed body. Dakota crouched and blinked back tears, while Mrs. Halbrook's fell no matter how hard she tried to wipe them away.

Then Dakota looked up at me. Her gaze pierced as cold and hard as the winter outside.

We stared at each other until my adrenaline wore off. My weight grew heavier as self-hatred tore at the inside of my chest. It was my fault her dad was paralyzed.

"I'll call Aunt Rose. She'll do what she can to keep him alive," her mom said. That was right. There were no hospitals in Windshallow.

Only muted creaks and groans sounded for a minute. Then, worried Isabelle might be kidnapped at any second, my words bit through the near-silence. "Dakota… the pendant my sister's first Guardian Angel gave me… it said you knew something I need to know. To kill Pitch and take Isabelle's place, probably."

"You don't need it," Dakota said. Her voice, though raspy, was as frigid as her eyes.

"Dakota, I'm sorry I didn't save your dad. I tried as hard as I could, but the Fear Angels—"

"Stop."

"Stop?"

She didn't respond, and didn't relent her glare.

I shook my head. "I noticed that none of the Fear Angels tried to paralyze me. If Pitch sent them after you and your family because you were a threat, wouldn't he let them also attack me, another threat? Do you have any idea why this happened?"

Dakota stood from her crouch. Her footsteps, though bare, echoed in the emptiness as she walked out the door. "Please don't contact me again," she demanded in her whisper of a voice.

I didn't follow her, but shouted, "Why?"

She didn't answer.

The one ally I'd had. Gone.

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