Olivia's POV
"Killed him?" I glance from Samuel, who is still sitting on the floor in the middle of the café, to Hugo, who is making his way to one of the occupied tables. "Hugo isn't dead."
"Not him." Samuel jabs his fingers into his hair and shakes his head. "His past self. I think I'm the one responsible for his death."
"Responsible for... Your sin!" I finally connect the dots. "So the reason you're a Guardian is because you killed somebody?"
"I'm not sure. When the boy entered the café, I remembered myself saying that I'm the one to blame for his death."
"So you actually killed him?" I stare at Samuel, not believing my ears. I mean, I knew that he must have done something bad in his past human life to now be a Guardian, but a literal skeleton isn't what I expected to find.
"Killed whom?"
I snap my head to the side and find Hugo crouching beside me.
He glances from the overturned chair and then back to me while completely skipping over Samuel. "What are you doing?"
"I'm having a bizarre conversation about past lives and surprising deaths." I rise up to my feet and then lift the chair as well.
Without caring about Hugo's presence, I offer my hand to Samuel. This time he doesn't hesitate before he grabs onto it and allows me to help him up. His hand is invitingly warm, so for a second, I find myself unwilling to let go.
I want to ask him if he feels the same way, but before I can pry my eyes off our entwined hands, the entrance bell goes off. Automatically I turn to greet the customer, but the words die in my throat when I recognize her. Dr. Kate waves at me with a wide smile and makes her way over to us.
"Olivia." She stops right beside me. "Funny seeing you here."
The doctor chooses the exact same chair where the Head Guardian sat not ten minutes ago. I turn from her to Samuel, who still has his hand wrapped around mine, but he is no longer looking at me. He is focused on Hugo, who nods at Dr. Kate and then ambles to one of the other occupied tables.
"What are you doing here?" I turn back to Dr. Kate.
"It's my day off and I heard that the coffee here is delicious. How long have you been working here?"
"About a week."
"So, right after I removed the cast?" Dr. Kate cocks her head to the side. "I'm starting to see that your mother was right when she insisted on the cast."
"She likes to think so, too. What can I get you?"
"I'll have an Americano to go, please."
I pull my hand out of Samuel's hold and leave him staring at Hugo, while I move to prepare Dr. Kate's coffee. When I come back a few moments later, both the doctor and Samuel are still in the same positionsâSamuel watching Hugo's every move and Dr. Kate watching my every move.
"Here you go." I set the coffee on the table.
"Thank you." Dr. Kate doesn't spare the coffee a second of attention and instead focuses her eyes on my left foot. "How's your ankle? And what about your memories? Are they back yet?"
"My ankle's fine," I assure her. "But most of my memories are still missing."
"You really should stop going back to that intersection." Dr. Kate frowns. "I don't want you to get hurt."
I'm about to assure her that I know what I'm doing when something else catches my attention. I stop glancing at Samuel's still frozen figure and focus my full attention on the doctor.
"How do you know about the intersection?"
"What?" Dr. Kate blinks.
I remove my hand from the cup of Americano to go and straighten back up. "How do you know that I've been going back to the intersection? I never told you that."
"You see..." The doctor glances to her left and right while digging her upper teeth into her lower lip. "Your... Your mother called me because she was worried. Yes, that's it."
Without meeting my eyes, she pulls a few dollars out of her purse and sets the money onto the table next to the coffee. "I have to go." She grabs the cup and bolts up, still without looking me in the eyes. "It was nice seeing you again."
Before she can take a single step away from the table, I wrap my hand around her wrist and force her to stop.
"You're lying." I tighten my hold when she tries to pull her hand away. "Let me ask you again. How do you know I've been going back to the intersection?"
"What's going on?" Samuel asks.
His question tells me that he finally snapped out of whatever spell he has been trapped under from the moment Hugo entered the café. I, however, ignore his question and keep my eyes focused on Dr. Kate. She is still refusing to meet my eyes while doing her best to tear her arm out of my hold.
"I'm sorry." Ramona suddenly pops up next to me. "I have no idea what's gotten into her."
With surprising strength for someone her age, Ramona pries my hold off Dr. Kate's wrist. And instead of letting go of me the moment the doctor is free, she pulls my hand to my side and keeps it stuck there.
"Remember what I told you," she whispers underneath her breath while continuing to smile at the doctor. "Count to three."
"It's... It's okay." Dr. Kate caresses her now free wrist and flickers her eyes to the front door. "I'll best be going now. Thank you for the coffee."
"Wait." I reach for her again, but Ramona's persistent hold prevents me from doing more than grasping the coffee-scented air.
Without a backward glance, Dr. Kate hurries first past us and then out of the café, while I'm left staring at her disappearing figure.
"What are you doing?" I turn to glare at Ramona the moment she lets go of her hold on me. "She was obviously lying about my mother having called her."
"You can't be sure." Ramona pushes her glasses up her nose and pierces me with her sharp eyes. "And if I hadn't stopped you, you would have done something you'd later feel guilty about."
"Guilty?" I snort. "I don't feelâ" The words die on my tongue when like a well-aimed slap a realization bangs me onto the back of my head.
Ever since I recovered my second memory of the accident, I have been wondering what the gut-wrenching feeling had been just before the car hit me. And now I have my answer. What I was feeling that night was guilt. Guilt was the dark feeling which had caused me to forget about my surroundings and dive onto the road without checking for any approaching cars.
The café around me disappears and I find myself with my head screaming in pulsing waves of pain. I'm lying on my back, and while the sky above me is colored in starless darkness, a bright light illuminates my left side.
The sound of opening car doors fills my ears and despite the pain, I turn my head to my side. I'm forced to close my eyes because of the blinding set of headlights, but after a few seconds, I manage to pry one eye open again. The car positioned five feet away from me is mingling with the darkness of the night, which means it's most likely a black car. But what is more important, is the rectangular shape of the license plate I catch between the two headlights. It begins with the numbers six, one, and eight, and thenâ
In the blink of an eye, I'm back inside the café, but instead of in a standing position, I'm now sitting on one of the wooden chairs. Hugo's and Ramona's concerned faces fill my vision, as does Samuel's, who is standing a step to their right.
"Olivia?" Samuel calls my name, looking just as worried as the other two, if not even more. "Can you hear me?"
"Olivia?" This time it's Ramona who calls my name, so I focus back on her and Hugo.
"I..." I shake my head to get rid of the lingering pain from the memory and move to stand. "I need to go to the police station."
Before I can lift my butt, Samuel reaches my side, grasps my shoulder, and forces me to remain in the chair. "You're not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what happened."
"I'm fine," I assure all three of them and then swat Samuel's hand off me. "I just remembered the car's color and a part of its license plate. It's why I need to go to the police station. They need the information, so they can use it to find the driver."
"I'll come with you," Hugo volunteers.
"No, you're not. You aren't getting out of your shift this easily." Ramona shakes her head and straightens back up. "Besides, I'm sure Olivia already has someone at her side who can make sure she gets safely to the police station."
"Can sheâ" Samuel and I breathe out at the same time, but Ramona already heads back to the counter.
I stare at the back of her gray head, while a single question plays through my mind. Ramona can't possibly know about Guardians, can she?
***
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-E