Dominion (Guardian Angels) - By Melody Manful Page 0,44
to find out he wasn’t human? He wouldn’t believe the truth anyway.
One of the weapons on the table caught my eye. I walked over to it and asked, “Logan, is that an AK-47?”
Logan smiled when he picked up the gun. “Yeah, isn’t it a beauty?” He handed the gun to me.
I took it carefully. “Wow, that’s beautiful.” My voice filled with delight. “Hint, hint, my birthday is coming up.”
“Girls ask for dolls, Abby,” Logan teased. He reached for the gun, but I shook my head. I wasn’t yet done admiring it. If only I could show the same interest in all the fancy dresses my mother bought me.
“Screw the dolls. Let’s go blow something up,” I said as Logan handed me earplugs and shooting earmuffs. I put down the gun so I could adjust the ear protection, and then I picked it back up.
“I’m guessing with the mood swings, you must have a guy problem?” Logan ventured. “You looked sad when you came out.”
“What is this, Logan, a therapy session?” I hung the AK-47 around my neck.
“All right, I can take a hint. I’ll butt out,” he said. “Oh, I looked over the footage from your balcony a few nights ago,” he told me as he pulled on his own earmuffs. “Definitely looks like you jumped. Dangerous, but cool.”
“I guess I slipped,” I lied. I knew I hadn’t jumped off the balcony, but I couldn’t have Logan snooping around outside my room in case I wanted to sneak out again someday.
“You should be careful though. It’s a long drop from your balcony.”
“Got it, mom,” I teased, and then I aimed at the target at the middle of the field and fired. Some of the bullets hit the target, but others flew past it.
“So, who is this guy you’re angry at?” Logan asked as he shot his own gun.
I fired again. “I’m a little busy here, Logan!” I shouted over the noise. The bullet missed the target again.
“Where’s your head, Abigail?” Logan asked. “You’re disgracing a very beautiful gun.”
“My head is here,” I lied. My mind really wasn’t. I only came to training because I needed the distraction. I needed to get my mind off Gideon.
“Let’s change guns,” Logan said and traded his gun for the AK-47. “And please, shoot the target and not the ground this time.”
Even though I was trying hard to hit the target, once again, I only managed to hit its edge a couple times. Most of my bullets flew through the empty air and hit the ground. Logan let me get away with this for a few more minutes, and then he stopped me when I shot an arrow from the bow and couldn’t hit the target like he knew I could.
“Abigail, your head isn’t in the game,” Logan said, and he sounded irritated. “I’ve told you again and again, this isn’t a joke. You can’t come here and not take this seriously.”
“I am taking this seriously!” I shouted defensively.
“You can go inside now,” Logan said, and then immediately he reached for the bow in my hand. He turned his back on me, and he started cleaning up, making it obvious that our conversation was over.
I yanked my earmuffs off, put them back on the table, and then walked into the house and didn’t stop until I reached my bedroom. Logan had never sounded so angry with me before. I felt it would be best to just leave him alone.
When I got to my room, I was angrier with myself than I was with Logan. I was angry that I couldn’t stop thinking about Gideon long enough to get my head into training. He was gone, and still he remained a distraction!
Thursday morning when I went to the kitchen for breakfast, my mother was already in there.
“Good morning, Mom.” I gave her a kiss and then hoisted myself onto the kitchen countertop.
My mother liked rooms with an open floor plan, so our black and white, modern kitchen, with its horizontal curved countertop and two huge glass cupboards, was airy and open. On the wall hung an oversize black and white photograph of me when I was little.
I ate breakfast with her, and we talked about her new collection. We also talked about my father coming to visit soon, which made both of us happy. For once, I put my anger and fear aside long enough to feel happy together with her.
Once again, Gideon didn’t come to school. My friends didn’t think it was a big deal.