Sacred Bloodlines (The Guardians Book One)

Chapter One

Chapter One

Gabe closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cool subway tiles behind him.  The pungent smell of urine and burnt electrical wires filled his nostrils as the loud roar of a passing train erupted in his ears.  His social worker’s words replayed again and again in his head, “difficulties with home placement,” “past with such tragic incidents,” “more time needed to find the right parental candidates.”  Gabe knew what that meant, after years of being shipped from one foster family to the next it was clear people felt he was cursed.  “And why wouldn’t they,” he thought.  It was even becoming obvious to him.

The bustle of the station began to increase as the train squealed to a halt.  Gabe grabbed his ragged black backpack and headed to the nearest set of open doors.  He twisted and turned trying to make his way through the thick crowd.  A chill came over him, one that was all too familiar and Gabe was suddenly filled with dread.  Coming to a sudden stop he looked around at the sea of people.  Just steps from the train doors he found himself unable to move.  He was simply staring and searching.  His breath was shallow.  All the voices around him were instantly silenced as a pulsing white noise filled his head.

Gabe’s hands had become clammy and he felt his legs weaken.  “Are you getting on or what?” the man behind him shouted.  The man was wearing a plain, tan trench coat and carrying a briefcase.  Gabe looked back at him, not able to hear what he was saying for a moment, still distracted by the deafening white noise in his head.  

“Come on, some of us have places to be.” The man grumbled as he rudely pushed past Gabe and boarded the subway car.  Stumbling to a nearby column, Gabe steadied himself and attempted to regain his composure.  

As sounds came flooding back, he heard the buzzer warning that the doors would soon be closing.  Gabe looked up, prepared to make a dash for the opening.  Before he could make his move he caught site of a young woman standing in front of the subway doors.  She was wearing a long, black leather coat that was cinched at her waist.  There was an odd grey color that surrounded her, creating a halo effect around her entire body.  He had seen this before, actually more times than he cared to recall.  He even saw the same grey aura the night his parents died.

Gabe stared intensely at her back as she stepped into the subway car and she slowly turned around.  Her black hair was short, cut just above the chin.  She wore it slicked back and tucked behind her petite ears.  Gabe thought she looked as though she were trying to remove the femininity from her small frame in any way she could.  Her skin was pale; the color reminded Gabe of milk.  

He watched, frozen where he stood, as the girl lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes.  She flashed him a small, wicked smile and as the doors closed, he saw her eyes flicker a hint of red.  A moment later, the train pulled away.  Gabe slid to the cold floor as the crushing weight of the impending doom filled him.

Gabe had been plagued by these feelings and visions his entire life.  He could remember being sent to at least a dozen different therapists all over the city in recent years.  Their diagnoses were all the same however, ‘hallucinations brought on by depression caused by the tragic loss of his parents.’  Some had him writing his feelings in journals, but most of them found it easier to load him up on medication and send him on his way.  He had learned a long time ago the easiest thing to do was to lie about the visions.

Gabe wondered if the therapists were all right.  Perhaps he was just crazy with grief.  His parents had died when he was only five years old.  He found it hard to believe such grief could plague a person for eleven years but what did he know, he was no...

A loud explosion suddenly interrupted Gabe’s thoughts.  He reached out his hands to try and steady himself as the ground under him shook violently.  Gabe threw up his arms to cover his head.  Plaster began to crumble and rain down from the high ceilings.