The Prophecy (The Guardians) - By Wendy Owens Page 0,22

what it was, it was overwhelming. I would just curl into a ball and wait. And then all the frogs, oh God, my doctor had all kinds of ideas about those. It was just crazy stuff.” Rachel trailed off, uncomfortable retelling the haunting dreams.

“Frogs?” Gabe asked softly. As soon as the word slipped from his lips, Gabe’s heart began to race. He knew all too well that Baal often would take form as frogs. Rachel was in fact not crazy, she was being hunted by the scariest demon around, the same demon determined to find Gabe.

“Yeah, crazy huh? There would be hundreds, if not thousands of them. They would just sit there, staring at me. It was so bizarre. After a while I didn’t just have the dreams. Things started happening in my day to day life.” Rachel continued.

“You saw the frogs outside your dreams?” Gabe asked, shocked if she had that she was still alive.

“Oh, no, not like that. I just started feeling like someone was watching me everywhere I went. I would be at the grocery store and see a figure duck behind a display, or a man watching me at the gas station. There was even this one time, I got in my elevator and I was fumbling for my keys; when I looked up, just as the doors were closing, all I saw were two red glowing eyes. They were surrounded by darkness and then they were gone behind the doors. Honestly, lack of sleep was probably messing with my mind. I ended up becoming very paranoid.” Rachel explained.

“Without sleep, that seems reasonable.” Gabe added, though he knew better. He was certain what she was experiencing had been all too real.

“It gets worse. One day I had the feeling that I was being watched, but I couldn’t shake it.” Rachel said remembering. “It’s hard to explain, but I had this distinct feeling that I was in danger. It was dark out; I was on the way to my car when I got a chill that shook me to my core. I started running faster, looking over my shoulder every few feet. At one point when I turned back around to continue running, a hand reached out from the shadows, and in my panic, grabbed me. I was pulled into a nearby building, unable to scream from the hand that was firmly planted over my mouth.”

Gabe held his breath for a moment, now completely captivated by the excitement of her story.

“It was Uri. I thought I was a goner for sure. I mean, can you imagine? Here I am, this terrified, sleep deprived woman, pushed to the edges of her sanity, and a burly man like Uri grabs me. He could tell I was terrified; he assured me he was there to help me. I don’t know why, but I believed him. I think it was easier for me to believe he wanted to rescue me rather than murder me. ” Rachel recalled, furrowing her brow.

“No, it’s not a surprise you believed him. Guardians possess the ability to bring you comfort with their touch. If he had his hand over your mouth, I would guess he charmed you.” Gabe explained.

“Really? Uri never told me that, makes sense though. I’m not exactly a distrusting person, but it never made sense to me that I went along so easily. He did know things that were in my dreams, though. All kinds of details that I never told anyone except my therapist.” Rachel continued. “He even knew about the frogs.”

“Yeah, Baal.” Gabe whispered, remembering his similar dreams.

“That’s what Uri said. He told me about the battle between angels and demons, and that some crazy demon was after me because I was going to give birth to a very important child someday.”

“He told you all that?” Gabe asked, a little hurt he had been told so little when Uri found him.

“Yeah, I wasn’t scared of Uri, but I was convinced he might be a little crazy after he told me that. I made up some excuse and got out of there as fast as I could. I know he didn’t want me to go, but I insisted. Things stayed the same for the next couple days, freaky shadows and sleeplessness. Then it happened.” Rachel said turning away, looking back at the carved trunk again.

“That sounds ominous.” Gabe laughed nervously.

“It was really scary.” Rachel said, deflecting his laughter. “I had gone to this gallery opening for a friend, which, considering I barely