Samuel's POV
Twice.
Since I discovered that Olivia is able to see me, she has already touched me twice. And again she did it to lift herself up without regard to what I thought of it.
I stare at her hand still wrapped around my forearm, while one sentence keeps spinning inside my mind. Guardians aren't supposed to touch humans.
I look up to her face to find her already staring at me. What I don't expect is the smile she is giving me.
"Eliza wasn't kidding when she said you guys don't change clothes," she says.
I blink at her words and then tear my arm out of her hold. The action causes her to lose her balance, and she begins to lean backward. Before she would fall down onto the sidewalk, she shoots with her hand forward and grabs onto my arm again.
Three times.
Because of her, I have already made contact with human skin on three occasions.
Olivia, however, acts like her action is nothing out of the ordinary when she continues to hold onto me until she regains her balance. "Give a girl some warning next time." She lets go of me and steadies herself with the help of the crutches. "How are you supposed to protect me if you're the one who's going to cause me additional injuries?"
I shake my head at her and focus on our surroundings. We're still standing in the middle of the sidewalk at the edge of a familiar intersection. I know all four streets that are stretching around us, as well as the small park on my right, which hosts a small soccer field. It's nothing out of the ordinary since one of my charges lives not far from here. But what doesn't make sense is Olivia's presence here. In fact, I can't remember her ever coming to this part of town.
"Why are you here?" I turn back to her.
She's now looking at the intersection of the four roads to her right and my left, while her eyes keep switching between three of the roads. I follow her gaze, yet find nothing but everyday streets.
"This is the spot where the paramedics found me." She points first at Southeast Bush Street, then at Southeast 103rd Avenue, and lastly at Southeast 104th Avenue. "I'm not sure on which road exactly, but it's definitely one of those three."
"Why are you back here?" I ask.
"I'm here because I want to remember what happened that night. I need to know who the driver was, so we can force them to cover my hospital fees."
"Did you remember anything?"
"No, I still can't remember a single thing." She shakes her head and glares back at the three streets. "I can't even remember which direction I came from."
"I think a Guardian helped you survive the accident, which is why you're now able to see us," I say. Throughout my time with my other twelve charges, I have been thinking about what could have caused Olivia's ability, and this is the only reasonable explanation I came up with. Nothing else could explain why she was suddenly able to see us.
"You mean like prevented me from dying?"
I nod, but before I can add anything else Olivia shakes her head.
"No. None of the doctors mentioned anything about me being close to death. I mean, I did hurt my head, but just today Dr. Kate told me that everything seems to be okay with me."
"Then why can't you remember the accident?"
"I don't know. The doctor said there's no medical reason for why my memories are missing." She tightens her lips again. "But I'm guessing you already have a theory of your own."
Just like with the Guardian's involvement, I have also given the whole amnesia thing some consideration.
"I have two theories." I raise my index finger. "One, you're subconsciously refusing to remember the accident because it had been your fault. You stepped onto the road without looking, which is why the car hit you."
"No." Olivia shakes her head and tightens her eyes into small slits. "The accident hadn't been my fault. I'm sure of it."
"How can you be sure? You don't remember anything."
"I just know," she persists. "What's your other theory?"
"Two," I raise my middle finger, "whatever the Guardian did to save you is what caused you to forget about the accident."
"Since I wasn't anywhere close to dying, your second theory falls flat as well. Do you have anything else brewing inside that head of yours?"
"No." I don't need to, though. I'm sure that one of my two theories is the answer to her amnesia.
"What if a Guardian caused the accident and this is why I'm able to see you? Have you thought about that possibility?"
"That's impossible."
"We'll see." She moves the crutches a step forward and then follows them with the rest of her body a second later. "I'm going to come to the bottom of my amnesia, and then we'll see whose right."
For a moment, I watch her as she hops past me and down the rest of the 104th Avenue, along the small park. Then with a sigh, I flex my muscles and begin to follow her.
"How you plan to do that?" I ask.
"I don't know yet." Olivia keeps her eyes focused on the sidewalk in front of her. "But I'll find a way. No matter what."
We continue to make our way down the street in the direction of the nearest bus stop, while I keep my hands clasped behind my back. No matter how exhausting her hopping may seem, I'm not allowed to help her.
"Eliza told me that Guardians are the souls of those who did wrong in their human lives." Olivia glances at me for a second and then turns back to the sidewalk. "She also said that she doesn't remember what she did wrong? Is it the same for you?"
I open my mouth to respond when a clicking sound catches my attention. I snap my eyes away from Olivia to a woman in her early thirties with long copper hair. She is dressed in a tight skirt and a shirt, which emphasize her curves. What is causing the noise, however, are the heels she's wearing as she makes her way right toward us.
"Pretend like I'm not here," I whisper to Olivia while making sure my lips barely move.
The woman is still too far away to hear me, but just to be sure I can't let her see me move my mouth.
Olivia begins to turn her head in my direction, so I hiss through an even tighter mouth, "Don't look at me."
She's at least smart enough to follow my order, so instead, she turns her eyes to the woman still walking closer and closer toward us. "Who cares if she thinks I'm talking to air? I certainly don't."
I barely resist the urge to groan aloud. So much for being smart enough. "She's one of us," I hiss.
Olivia turns back to the woman, but luckily this time she stays silent. Instead, she focuses on the sidewalk in front of her feet and continues to hop down the road.
"Excuse me."
The cold voice sends the hair on my arms up in alert, but I force my expression to remain impassive. Olivia, on the other hand, freezes in the middle of her step. For a moment she continues to look down at the sidewalk, and then she lifts her head to look at the woman now standing a step away from her.
"Do you need help?" The woman motions at Olivia's crutches. "It looks difficult to be walking like this on your own."
"I'm notâ" Olivia begins, but then stops. "I don't need help."
"Are you sure?" The woman's eyes flicker over to me, which causes me to tighten my hands into fists. "Not even the help of a young man?"
"I have only a short distance left to the bus stop, so I don't need anyone's help. Man or woman."
"Well, then be careful. I am sure your family would not want anything else to happen to you. Especially something that they would be unable to explain."
While Olivia nods, the woman turns her eyes directly to me. I give her a quick nod in greeting and then move to the side, so she can walk past us. She returns my nod and then begins making her way further down the sidewalk.
I continue to watch her until she disappears around the corner, and only then turn back to Olivia. She also turns back to me but then narrows her eyes.
"I thought you said she was a Guardian," she hisses. "Why then did she act like speaking to me is perfectly normal?"
"She isn't a Guardian."
"You said she's one of you."
"She is."
Olivia raises the right crutch and hits me with it on my calf. This earns her a glare for me, but she doesn't back down.
"Which is it?" she asks. "Is she one of you or is she not?"
"She's the Head Guardian." I sigh. "But she isn't a real Guardian. She's in charge of all Guardians, but opposite to us she's visible to humans."
"If she's neither a human nor a Guardian, then what is she?"
"You don't need to know." The last thing I need right now is to explain about all the other creatures Olivia has no idea populate this planet.
"You said she's the one in charge of all of you. So, why didn't we let her know that I'm able to see you? Couldn't she help us find out why I'm suddenly able to see you?"
"She could." But not even for a second do I consider telling her about any of this. "She's also the one who decides when our punishment as Guardians ends and when we are allowed to move on."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning." I look straight into Olivia's dark eyes, so she will know that I mean every word I'm about to say. "I know that I have only a little time left to finish my punishment, and I'm not going to allow anything to mess with that. The least of all an abnormality like you."
***
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- E