Chapter 3- The Capture

Meridian and Relic made it to a hole-in-the-wall establishment. A lot of the guides were regulars of the artistic type and were drawn to humans of the same nature.

It was rare that the place was full. With dim and natural lighting from candles, wood tables, chairs, and stone walls made for a great place for guides to read, visit and play music while away from their duties. The owner, Ridge missed the atmosphere of a place like this on Earth. He decided to build and with establishment while using it as his own personal dwelling away from his duties.

Meridian and Relic walked through the door with quite a welcome.

“Hey! You made it! Awesome!” hollered the latest addition to the group, Kieren, who many of the guides had taken a liking to in a brief time.

He was attractive, sweet, outgoing and, of course, was a rock star in his previous life. He was surrounded by two girls sitting quietly beside him and four other guys who were a short distance from Kieren talking among themselves but close enough it was obvious they were all together.

“Hey! Yes, of course, we were coming. Wouldn’t miss this and a way to get out of the gathering for sure,” said Relic.

As sweet and friendly as she was, Meridian was still shy and a little intimidated by the ‘fem fatales’ hanging on Kieren. While Kieren and Relic were exchanging pleasantries and visiting about their favorite bands and music, the girls stared at Meridian with disdain.

Relic was usually attentive to Meridian, and he soon took notice and walked over to introduce her to the girls who seemed to be unaccepting.

“Meridian, I would like you to meet Janus and Cora. They are friends of mine.”

“Janus, Cora...meet Meridian. She is a very dear friend of mine,” came Relic’s sarcastic voice.

Relic always had some sarcastic way of letting people know where they stood in the scheme of things and did not ever miss a beat. He seemed almost amused at the scene and snickered as they shook hands reluctantly.

“Have we met before?” asked Cora, the taller and more in charge girl of the two.

“No, but I do come in here some. You may have seen me in here,” Meridian said quietly.

“No, I haven’t seen you in here, but you do look familiar,” Cora said.

Meridian seemed uncomfortable as she watched Cora’s eyes survey her mark on her wrist.

“What is this mark?” Cora asked.

“The mark that only guides who are born in the realm of other guides have.” Meridian glared at Cora. The girls did not exchange any more words, but the glares were long enough. The two walked away, but not before leaning over and giving Kieren a friendly pat.

“Oh, wow, it is so fun to watch those hags look like they are smelling onions!” cracked Relic.

“Shut up!” Meridian slapped Relic as he giggled. “Why do you do that?”

“They are a couple of hags; they hate anything that is a threat, and it sure is obvious they hate you!” Relic laughed.

The exchange was interrupted by Kieren who had taken notice of Meridian and the exchange between the guides she just met.

“Hey, man, let us get started. The guys are here, and Ridge said we could take the floor and play for a while.”

Meridian looked around confused as to why the other guides had arrived at Ridge’s place with a gathering taking place where her parents were supposed to be attending.

Slaten and Pramlee had arrived while the guys were gearing up to rock it out.

“Meridian, can you watch over things while we have a session?” Ridge asked.

“Sure!” Meridian replied.

The guys suited up and began playing what sounded like an old Elvis song. Meridian did not know much about the music they played, because it was all tunes from another world to her, but one that they knew at some point in their existence.

As she stood from behind the bar and listened, she thought about how awesome it must have been to have lived the way they did. Meridian’s thoughts drifted back to the last day her parents took her down to the hospital where the baby was born. She thought about how drawn she was to him and wondered how he was and if she would ever see him again.

The nasty glares of the two hags, as Relic called them, did not matter, and Meridian smiled as she thought of the baby and watched in awe of Relic laughing, singing and having an enjoyable time.

Relic’s eyes caught her watching him, and he winked and nodded to the hags while he was grinning. Meridian looked over and, just like she thought, they were still glaring at her. Meridian could not help but smile and giggle to herself and sighed while she shook her head.

Meridian’s attention diverted once more and now it was Kieren that she watched when he grabbed the microphone and said, “Now that we are finished playing an ‘oldie’ for Ridge up here, let’s get to something a little younger!”

A tune from a very well-known band, Metallica took over the room.

Ridge shook his head and shouted, “They aren’t that young!”

“They are way younger than Elvis!” Kieren roared back.

As they played, more of the curious guides came to see the new addition to their realm.

Meridian felt a hand on her shoulder. The familiar hand of her father.

“I need you to come back home. Your mother and I have some things we need to talk to you about,” Caius said sternly over the music.

“Right now? Can’t this wait?”

“No, I need you home now,” Caius insisted.

Meridian and Caius arrived home and walked through the door together to find Chance and her mother.

“What is going on?”

“You need to sit down and listen, Meridian,” Caius instructed. “Chance and I have visited; he came here to talk to your mother, and now it is your turn. This is very important. Your mother and I could be in trouble, but we are unsure how much. You know, Chance and I have been very good friends for a long time, and I trust him with everything. I just want you to be prepared.”

“Prepared for what? You are scaring me!” Meridian said.

“Meridian, you know your parents, like most guides here, take care of and look after humans. They have been watching over a young boy for several years whose parents are going through a very bad divorce. The boy hasn’t taken this all very well,” Chance explained.

“How does this have anything to do with me or about my parents?” Meridian asked.

“It is an unspoken law that guides do not show themselves or make their presence known. The only humans who can notice us are the psychics or the ones who have a sixth sense, like witches. But they cannot see us; they just know we are there. The humans think of us as angels. Your parents - your dad, in particular - were very worried about this teenage boy because he was attempting suicide. Your father could not handle this and decided to move the boy’s journal and left him a gift. It was a piece of jewelry. The boy found it, and he asked his parents about it thinking it was from them. He still does not have a clue, but the council does. They also know that your dad went and made himself known to the boy. He did it the night he made an attempt on his life. The council members are very upset at this,” explained Chance.

Meridian diverted her attention to her father and she asked, “What does this mean? What will happen?”

“The punishments are different. In extreme cases, where guides break the laws, their souls can be taken away, and they are put into the hall of souls. Sometimes, guides are cast out to Earth to live as humans again. Sometimes, they are cast out as demons, called the fallen,” Chance solemnly explained.

Meridian turned white and all that was heard was the quiet cry of her mother.

“What do you think will happen?” Meridian asked trying to remain calm.

“I don’t know; I just don’t know,” Chance said.

“I already went before the council,” Caius explained. “There was nothing done. I figured this would be over, but Chance came to me and let me know that there is more they are planning.”

“Well, then everything should be fine, right? I mean, Mom isn’t in trouble, is she?” Meridian moved to sit close to her mother, who was still crying.

“The council knows that she knew what I did, which makes her an accomplice. She could be punished. The council does not always let these things go. I had hoped, but it does not seem it will. I am just lucky that Chance and I are close enough that he came to warn me before it happens. I did not want anything to happen before I had a chance to explain,” Caius replied.

“What is the hall of souls? What does all this mean?” Meridian shouted.

Before another word was said, four of Warrick’s head guides from the palace showed up. The arresting guides walked straight over to Meridian’s parents.

“Let’s make this easy, Caius. You know we do not want to do this, but we have been ordered,” stated one of the guides. Caius nodded in acceptance and looked to Meridian who had begun to sob in shock.

“Everything is going to be all right. Please do not worry,” Arianna said as she held her.

Caius was quiet and looked defeated. He walked over to his daughter and said, “Listen to your mother. It will be okay. Chance will check in with you and let you know what will happen. I want you to go and stay with Ridge.”

Meridian slowed her crying, and stared at her father, “What do I tell him? I mean, I don’t know how to explain,”

“You do not need to worry about that; He will be expecting you,” Caius sternly replied.

As the guards took her parents away, Meridian ran behind them sobbing and crying. As she stood in the doorway to watch, in a flash they were gone and had vanished from sight. She could only hear her dad in her thoughts urging her to gather what she needed and head to Ridge’s place.

As she turned around to do as her father said, she could no longer hear him nor anything from her mother—just the sounds of her own cries. Before she could take another step, she looked up, and Relic was standing in front of her with a look she was not accustomed to—no sarcastic remarks, no jokes, just quiet. He shook his head, put his arm around her, and gave her a tight and long-needed hug. Not a word was spoken, only cries.