Samuel's POV
Mina looks at me, but only for a second before her eyes move to my right and left. And not once do her eyes change from the irritated expression she's wearing.
"What is this?" She turns back to Olivia. "Do you think that just because you're injured, I'm going to be at your back and call?"
"What? No. I called you in here so you can kick him out of the house." Olivia points at me, but once again Mina only briefly glances in my general direction.
"I was kidding about the imaginary boyfriend before, but I guess you weren't. You should get a real boyfriend instead. That is if you can actually get one with that dull hair of yours." Without a backward glance, Mina spins around and closes the door behind her as she leaves.
The moment the door clicks shut, I turn back to Olivia. She is glancing between me and the now-closed door and then lifts her hand to the side of her head to scratch her temple.
"There's your proof." I nod at the door. "I'm not human."
"Then what are you?" She reaches for her crutches and pulls them closer to her. "And why can I see you if Mom can't?"
"I'm a Guardian." I fold my arms in front of my chest. "And I'd like to know the second thing as well. I've been with you since you were born, but you've never been able to see me. Not until today."
"Since I've been born? You want me to believe that you've been following me since we were both babies?"
"You were a baby, not me. I don't age."
"Sure, this makes it so much more believable that you've been around me for my entire life." She lifts one of the crutches into the empty space between the bed and the desk and points it at me. "How gullible do you think I am?"
"Olivia Han. Seventeen. Divorced parents. Lives with mother Mina Han. Only child. No pets." I list the first facts I remember about her.
"That's what you could have read in my hospital file or heard from one of my friends. It proves nothing."
"What about all of those times you use this book," I point at the worn-out Encyclopedia beside me, "to pretend that you were studying, when you were playing video games. Or that you have a stash of money hidden underneath your mattress."
"The money isn't there anymore." She glances at the edge of the bed, where I know she hid the envelope. "And you could have read those things in my journal."
"You don't have a journal. And if you did, it would be lying empty at the bottom of one of the drawers."
She actually tried to write into a journal once when she was thirteen, but that ended with all the pages thorn out and scattered across this very room.
"You're right." She lowers the crutch again. "What does this mean now?"
"It means I need to find the reason why you're able to see me and reverse it." And before anyone figures out that she can see me.
"Why? Why would you need to reverse it? So you can continue to stalk me without my knowledge?"
I pull the pocket watch back out of my jeans and flip it open. The second hand is already on the nine and I watch the time tick by for another ten seconds before I jump off the desk.
"Your time's up." I clasp the watch close and put it back inside my pocket. Then with one last nod at Olivia, I close my eyes.
"Waâ" she begins, but her voice is abruptly cut off.
I open my eyes and find myself in the middle of a busy police station. Phones are ringing, while police officers dressed in dark blue clothes move around the room. I groan at the location and look up to the ceiling to curse my bad luck. First I discover one of my charges in the hospital, covered in bruises and her left foot wrapped in a cast, and now I find another charge sitting in front of a police officer's desk.
Have all of my charges lost their minds?
"Nick, what are you doing here?" A police officer walks up to the desk right in front of me and sits on the worn-out leather chair.
The familiar light hair and scowl remind me that the charge with the tousled bed-hair sitting across the desk is no one other than Nick. Among all of my charges, he's the only one whose presence at the police station shouldn't surprise me.
I take in a deep breath and tell myself that maybe it was all a one-time abnormality. That the next time I'll arrive at Olivia's side, she will no longer be able to see me.
Yes, that's it.
Her ability to see me is nothing but a brief anomaly, and I will never have to interact with her again.
*
Olivia's POV
"What kind of stalker leaves his victim alone for three days?" I scowl at the empty front drive.
Today is already Tuesday, yet ever since Saturday my stalker Samuel hasn't shown his face again. Not even to make sure I'm still breathing.
With a groan in resignation, I detach myself from the cold glass of my window and glance at my body to make sure I didn't forget anything. Everything, from the black T-shirt, the light gray sweats, and the single white sneaker, seems to be in place. I'm ready to go.
I grab my crutches and make my way down the single narrow hallway. The bright morning light from the kitchen is already illuminating part of the hallway, and I greet the soft light with a smile. After yesterday's rain, the sun's morning greeting is more than just welcome.
I enter the kitchen and am about to head to the nearest counter when I realize I'm not alone inside the room. I freeze in the middle of a step and slowly turn in the direction of the table. Can it be?
I don't bother to stiffen the sigh of disappointment when my eyes don't land on Samuel's caramel eyes. Instead, I'm met with a girl in her late teens, who can't be much older than I am. She's sitting in my usual seat while plucking the petals off the bouquet of sunflowers set in the middle of the table. One by one she pulls out the yellow petals, which are almost identical to the mustard shade of the long-sleeved shirt she's wearing. The rest of her is in complete contrast to the brightness of her shirtâfrom her skinny black pants and dark brown ankle boots with a thick heel to her chocolate skin and vicious black curls, which are bound in a loose high bun.
"Who are you?" I ask the moment I realize that I have never seen her before.
"Does it matter?" She keeps her head resting on her free hand and never bothers to look at me.
"Yes, it does. I'm Olivia."
"Eliza."
The silence stretches between us as one by one another three petals drift onto the table.
"What are you doing here?" I glance around the rest of the bright room, but apart from us, there isn't anyone else inside. "Do you know my mother? Did she invite you?"
"Mina and I are old friends."
"Why would someone your age be friends with someone as old as my mother? Or are you one of her clients at the hair salon? No wait, your hair's too messy. Is your mother her client?"
Instead of answering, Eliza plucks out another petal. I'm just about to open my mouth again when Mom stumbles into the kitchen. She stops right beside me, grabs onto my crutch, and uses it to keep her balance while she slips on her pair of black heels.
"Why did you invite Eliza for breakfast? Is she coming with us to the hospital?" I ask.
"What?" Mom lowers her second leg and straightens back up. "Who are you talking about?"
"Eliza." I nod in the direction of the table, where Eliza is still destroying the flowers. "How do you two know each other?"
Mom glances at the table, but instead of stopping at Eliza, her eyes move around the rest of the kitchen until they land back on me. "If you're really seeing things you need to mention it to the doctor today, so we can discuss locking you up into a mental institution. But if you're just searching for attention, then stop. There are better ways to get my attentionâlike allowing me to cut your hair. Those bangs of yours need a trim."
Without a backward glance, she turns around and heads into the bathroom next door. I, on the other hand, turn my attention back to the girl still sitting at our kitchen table.
For the first time since I entered the kitchen, Eliza turns away from the flowers and focuses her russet eyes on me.
"You can see me."
***
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- E