Chapter Four
Ronnie felt like she was floating. As she looked down upon her still-sleeping form in her bed, she was too freaked out by everything around her to worry about being out of her body. Shadows slithered all around her and a little green creature with big pointy ears and leathery skin, like a two-foot-tall troll, perched on her pillow next to her head. Other things—was that a centaur?—sat around her bed watching her sleep. Yes, definitely a centaur, its chestnut coat and golden upper body gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the window. A fairy sat nearby, its translucent wings shimmering in shades of turquoise and violet.
“She’s the one,” the fairy whispered and the others nodded in agreement. The one? The one for what? What were they going to do to her? She moaned in her sleep and most of the creatures shied away.
“She’s waking; we mustn’t wake the princess,” the green thing squeaked, its eyes wide as it looked up at the centaur and fairy. Ronnie’s heart pounded. Princess? Did they mean her? She wasn’t a princess; she was a seventeen-year-old girl, a very normal girl. Ronnie turned over in her sleep and she gasped along with the creatures when she saw that the bandage had fallen off her tattoo—and the tattoo was already healed.
“She has the mark of the Defenders,” the centaur exclaimed shaking its tail. Ronnie’s eyes caught sight of a similar tattoo on its right flank, almost like a branding. As she looked at the other creatures, she realized each one of them had the tattoo. Were these all Defenders, whatever those were? Was she one now? She had to wake up. She had to find out what was going on. Wake up, she screamed at herself.
“Sssssshheeeee will dessssstroy us alllllll,” an eerie voice hissed. Ronnie gasped again as the creatures surrounding her turned towards the barely remaining shadows in her room. Something moved there, slithering in the corner where Andi still slept. She had to wake up! Andi needed to be warned!
Ronnie sat up with a jolt and immediately looked towards the corner where Andi started to stir. She blinked several times but whatever had been there was gone now. With shock, she realized all the things she had seen standing around her bed were gone. There was no one in the room except her and Andi. A soft knock sounded on the door, and Ronnie jumped as her mom pushed it open and stuck her head in.
“Oh, you’re awake,” her mom said and smiled. “Are you coming to church?”
Ronnie glanced at her bedside clock and nodded. It was only eight-thirty; she had an hour before they left for church. “Yeah, I just want to shower and change,” she told her mom.
“Are you sure?”
Ronnie sighed. “I said I’m fine, Mom.”
“If you’re sure.” Her mom turned and tried to hide a grimace as she left the room.
Ronnie’s heart pounded as she slid out of bed and tiptoed over to the corner where Andi still lay on the floor. Something had been over there in her dream, something that slithered and hissed when it talked. She reached into the corner with a shaking hand and frowned when she only came up with air. Whatever it had been was gone now. She shuddered and forced the image out of her mind. Thinking about it would do nothing except freak her out. Still frowning, she stepped back over Andi and turned to go to her dresser to pick out what to wear to church.
“What are you doing?” Andi asked as Ronnie turned away from the corner. Ronnie gasped.
“What does it look like?” Ronnie snapped. “I’m checking the corner for monsters.”
Andi would have giggled if it wasn’t for Ronnie’s serious expression. “Did you find any?”
Ronnie shook her head as she opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out undergarments. “No,” she admitted and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just had the weirdest dream before I woke up and I guess it kind of freaked me out.”
“That might be understandable considering you got electrocuted last night.”
Ronnie grimaced at the memory. “You are so not helping right now.”
Andi sat up and pushed her blonde hair out of her face. “Okay, then what can I do to help?”
Ronnie bit her lower lip, nervous about asking about her tattoo. The creatures in her dream said it was the mark of the Defenders and the thing in the shadows said she would destroy everything. She wished she knew what the Defenders were so it all made sense. She looked down at Andi, who still expectantly watched her, and shook her head. She wasn’t going to get any answers from Andi.
“Will you check my tattoo?” she asked. Andi grinned as she jumped to her feet and crossed the room. Ronnie turned her back to Andi and lifted her hair so it was out of the way. A moment later she cringed as the tape and gauze were pulled off. Andi’s gasp made her turn her head, afraid the tattoo had somehow gotten ruined during the lightning strike.
“Oh my god, Ronnie, it’s so awesome,” Andi exclaimed and Ronnie relaxed.
“Thanks. Does it look okay? Gary gave me something to put on it if it looks dried out.”
“Actually, it looks healed. Your skin looks normal around it, like you’ve had it for years instead of twenty-four hours.”
“O-Okay,” she stammered, dread settling in the pit of her stomach. Gary said it could take up to a week or more before it was healed. She filed this away with every other weird thing that happened since waking up yesterday morning. There was no time to think about it now. “Guess that means I better hide it when we go to church.”
Andi nodded as Ronnie turned around. “Your parents would totally freak if they saw it.”
Ronnie grimaced and grabbed her lavender robe from the foot of her bed. “Yeah, I know. I’m going to get a shower in before church.”
“Okay. I’ll pick out something for you to wear while you’re in there.”
“Okay.” Ronnie was only a little nervous as she left the room and headed for the bathroom down the hall. She knew Andi was going to pick out something cute for her to wear because she still thought Billy might flirt with her at church. Ronnie rolled her eyes and locked the bathroom door. Even if Billy did show an interest in her, he was a little too old for her to consider dating him. Andi might be into older guys like that, but Ronnie still had her eye on one guy her own age—and she was going to see him tomorrow!
They got to church forty-five minutes later. Ronnie wasn’t surprised to find Billy waiting to say hello to her. He stood outside the church wearing a light blue button-up shirt and grey slacks, his chestnut hair still damp from a shower. His blue eyes sparkled when he smiled at her.
“Hi, Ronnie, how are you feeling this morning?” he asked. She smiled as she tried not to look at Andi.
“I’m fine; just thankful to be here,” she replied. His grin widened.
“You’re not the only one,” he agreed. Ronnie felt her cheeks grow warm. A moment of awkward silence passed between them before Ronnie said they should go inside.
“Ronnie, wait just a minute,” Billy said, his hand on her forearm. Anticipation made her stomach quiver as she glanced down at his hand on her arm. Oh god, this was it! She didn’t care how old he was – he was going to ask her out!
“Are you doing anything this evening?” he asked. She shook her head, biting her lower lip to keep from grinning because she knew what was coming next. Billy took a deep breath and continued. “Okay, well, there’s a poetry reading down at The Reading Corner tonight at seven. I’m actually going to be reading a couple poems and... and I would really like it if you were there.”
Ronnie grinned. “I would love to be there,” she agreed. She tried not to giggle as relief washed over his face; it was so adorable. “Is it okay if I bring Andi?”
“Yeah, sure, that’s fine. Maybe we can go out for coffee afterwards.”
“Maybe; I don’t know though since school starts tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah, school; I completely forgot you’re still in school. Okay, then I guess we’ll just see what happens tonight.”
“I guess we will.”
“Will you two get in here; Pastor Pat is about to start,” Ronnie’s mom hissed from the open
doorway. Ronnie blushed as Billy laid a hand on the small of her back. They walked into the church and Ronnie went to sit with her family while Billy sat a few pews back. Andi’s face split in a huge grin when she saw Ronnie walk in with Billy.
“I told you,” Andi whispered as Ronnie sat down next to her, her face still flushed from Billy’s invitation.
“Okay, you were right,” Ronnie agreed as Pastor Pat stepped up to the podium and welcomed them all to the morning worship.
“He invited us to a poetry reading tonight,” Ronnie added as they bowed their heads to pray. Ronnie added a quick little prayer of thanks for her good fortune concerning Billy. She never thought she would catch the eye of someone so much older.
“Us or you?”
“Me, but I asked if you can come along.”
“Of course you did, because you know how much I love listening to poetry.”
Andi rolled her eyes and Ronnie stifled a giggle, earning her a reproachful look from her mom. Ronnie whispered an apology and turned back to Andi. “So, will you come with me?”
“Only if you think I might meet someone, too.”
Ronnie shrugged. “Guess you won’t find out unless you come with me.”
“Then I guess I’m going with you.”
Ronnie and Andi grinned at each other and turned their attention to Pastor Pat’s sermon on sticking by your beliefs even in the face of adversity. Ronnie’s tattoo tingled and she looked back over her shoulder to see Billy watching her. He caught her looking and grinned as she blushed and smiled at him. This was turning out to be a pretty perfect day.