Page 6 of The Hidden Guardian
The sixth sense was always a hum inside of me … and now it is silent. I fall to my knees. It’s the silence that screams at me now, reminding me all that I’ve lost. It’s so final, the undeniable confirmation that my connection to Colton is gone.He is gone. My father, then my Mother, and now my brother … are all gone. I’m irrevocably alone and I don’t know where to go from here.
Pain.
Pain like I’ve never known rips through me and steals my breath. The blinding light comes again, and I stumble against the sink. When my vision clears, the mirror is still blurry, but my amber eyes are … glowing. Stunned, I stumble back, collapsing onto my knees. I grab my heart, the very spot that felt silent a few seconds ago now jumpstarts back to life in an instant. My heart hurts and I desperately reach for it.
Trembling to my feet, I lift my shirt and inspect my chest in the mirror. There is no blood, no wound. The agonizing pain comes again, and my fists clench over my chest until the wave subsides. My insides are being stabbed and somehow put back together over and over again.
Fitting, I would rather feel this literal pain than live with the silence of my broken heart. This, I deserve. I had one job after Mother passed. I failed him.
* * *
It takes several minutes and hundreds of calming breaths, but once I’ve collected myself, and the agonizing pain becomes only a small hum in my chest, I leave the bathroom, wiping my tears. Narrowly avoiding a collision, I almost slam directly into someone.
“I’m sorry, I–” I pause when I realize it’s Matteus. Through all of the commotion at his house, I never even thought about him and his well-being.
“Autumn,” Matteus pauses and then pulls me to a bench between the bathrooms. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
“I don’t know if I can handle anything right now,” I admit, the hum of pain stinging my chest again, I reach for it. Matteus notices.
“I know. I just want you to know that Colton loved you, he would have done everything for you. I told him it was a mistake to keep you in the dark.”
“What?” I look up to his golden eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Colton is … was …” he corrects himself, “not what you think he was. He was trying to protect you, but–”
“Ms. Hemming, are you ready to continue?” The young officer from before comes and stands beside us.
“Just a moment.”
“You really shouldn’t be talking to anyone else before we’ve had time to collect both of your statements.”
“Just a moment, please, he was the last person to see my brother alive. I just–”
“I know, and you can discuss this after we’ve finished taking your statement.” He pulls me to a standing position and directs me toward the room we were just in.
“This is absurd,” I state, but the officer guides me away.
Matteus stands, watching me, his stature so much like my brother lately. Tall, wise, otherworldly. He knows something about my brother, something that I don’t. The pain in my chest rises once more, and I find myself wondering if it even matters. There’s nothing that Matteus—or this officer—could say that will change a thing and bring my brother back to life. Colton is gone, and with him so are all my hopes and dreams.
ChapterFour
AUTUMN
The darkness of my room envelops me. The silence echoing around me feels like it’s drowning me in a numb, emotionless state. From the moment I left work, every second after that was a blur. I don’t remember making it home. I don’t even recall what I’d said to the officers or what they said to me. I only remember the silence when I returned home. It’s funny what you can hear when the world is silent and you’re completely alone. The dripping water from the kitchen faucet, the scratching of branches on the roof. The wind as it whips through the trees. The world around me lives on, but my world as I know it has died. The last words ever spoken to my brother echo on repeat in my head. And when I slammed the bedroom door in his face, the finality of it all. Little did I know that would be our last moment.
A knock comes at the door. I blink slowly, staring at the living room wall where a picture of us from a few summers ago hangs framed.
“Autumn,” Vicky’s voice calls. “I know you’re in there. Please let me in.”
That photo was taken at the lake, it was our first trip together since Mother … Colton had caught a fish and he chased me around the dock with it. The picture is us after he had caught up to me and made us take a selfie with it—back when we could afford a cell phone. Now I have even less than I did then, so much loss.
“Open this door, Autumn, or I’ll break it down,” she yells. “I know you’re in there … you haven’t left that disgusting bed in three days. I swear, I’ll break it down if I have to.”
I’d like to see her try. Colton put a Lockmaster 2.0 on that door a month ago. I didn’t think anything of it then, but I wonder if he somehow knew he was in danger and was trying to protect me in the process.
After a few more seconds I hear a loud thump at the front door before, “Ow, fuck.” A slow smile creeps over my cheeks, not because of happiness, but because I caused someone else pain. A sick thought, I know, but any feeling is better than this overwhelming sadness that has taken hold.
Reluctantly, I rise to get the door. The monotonous knocking is disrupting my silent darkness. As the door swings open, Vicky is standing on the steps with her hands on her hips and her eyes full of anger. “About time,” she huffs, before crushing me in a hug and pushing her way in. “Listen, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. I came to see how you were doing. Apparently, I’m here just in time.”
