Dominion (Guardian Angels) - By Melody Manful Page 0,56
I’d feel so haunted. I hadn’t truly believed there would be people like Andrei who would try to kill us.
“Abby,” Gideon whispered my name hours later, and I nodded to let him know I could hear him. “The sun is up, and your parents will be checking on you soon,” he said. “And don’t worry. Your parents won’t notice that you’re healed. When they look at you, they will see the wounds, but you won’t.”
I decided I wouldn’t freak out. I lifted my head and looked out through the windows. Outside, I saw daylight. “Do you have to go?” I asked, sitting up on my bed.
“Yes,” he answered and then got up from my bed. “But I’ll come back.”
That made me a little happier.
“Your parents are coming,” he said, and then he walked toward my balcony.
“Wait.” I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thanks for staying,” I whispered in his ear.
“I’ll be back,” Gideon whispered in return, and he let go of me.
I turned to my door upon hearing my parents’ voices, and when I turned back to the balcony, Gideon was gone.
“Abigail!” my mother shouted when she entered. “What are you doing out of bed? You need to lie down.” It was when my mother rushed over and gingerly took my hands that I realized my body was still covered in bandages.
I felt no pain. I knew my wounds were gone, and the bandages were just there for the illusion.
I played along, though, and let my mother help me back into my bed. My father stood across the room, staring at me. My mother looked from me to him.
“I’ll come back and help you pack,” she said and stood up.
“Pack?” I asked.
My mother had tears in her eyes when she answered. “The CIA has secured quarters in Santa Rosa, and they think it would be safest for us to move there for a couple of days so they can stake this place out.”
“Leave?” I asked. “What about Felix?”
“The police are doing some investigating, and they won’t release his body to his family for a couple more days,” my father answered. “We need to go to a safe place.”
“But…”
“Honey, everything will be fine. We will be safe there. We’ll leave this afternoon, and as soon as the CIA says we can come back, we will,” my mother said. She sounded scared, and at the sound of her voice, I knew there was more that they weren’t telling me.
“There are more of them, aren’t there?”
My parents didn’t answer, but their silence was enough of an answer.
“I’ll go get you some food.” My mother left the room.
I turned my gaze away from my father. I had a lot of questions for him. I also had a lot of answers for him.
“When I was a young boy, I hated my father for not being there for me and my mother. He was always traveling for work,” my father said, and I stared blankly at him. “I swore to myself I’d never go near any job with law enforcement,” he laughed, “and now look at me. I turned out just like him.”
“I think I understand that little boy,” I whispered, and he walked over to me. “I’m sure all he wanted was his father.”
“Abigail, I am so sorry.” My father gently took my hand, and I saw tears slip out of his eyes. “I never wanted to put you through this.”
I snatched my hands away from his and said, “Mom cries herself to sleep at night. Sometimes she never takes her sunglasses off because behind them, she hides her red eyes.” I felt teardrops on my cheeks. “Sometimes she works nonstop. She does that to forget about her pain and worries.”
“Honey, I never meant—”
I cut him off. “But you did, Dad! You did!” I shouted. “I wanted a father—and Mom, she wanted a husband. The night I learned you were alive, I was so happy. I pictured all the things we could do together.” I felt myself grimace at that thought of a little girl so happy to have a dad. “I pictured us playing hide and seek. In my imagination, you bought me a puppy. We went to the beach. You were at all the PTA meetings, and you never missed my birthday.” Suddenly my happy thoughts disappeared. “But, I never did get those dreams, and instead you handed me a gun and a burden. Your burden.”