Anita
Chapter 22

Keepers swarmed on the roof of the compound, gazing down upon the cops and Guardians. Dread coursed through her stomach and Anita shuddered. “What’s wrong?” Meriam asked. Anita jerked her head towards the Keepers.

“They’re not going to let us leave.” Anita backed away from the fence, shaking her head in despair. “And even if they do,” she spun around and hissed, “the Herects will swarm us.”

Meriam furrowed her eyebrows. She hadn’t thought of that. She glanced towards the group of Herects and frowned. There were so many of them. “Can the Guardians take that many?” she asked.

Anita shook her head. “No. I don’t even want to think about what they’ve been through this past month, they may not be able to fight at all.”

“We can fight.” A new voice spoke up. The lithe green Guardian wrapped her arms around Anita’s neck. “We can all fight.”

“Layette.” Anita grinned. “You’re okay.”

“Of course. I’d never let you down.“Layette was looking surprisingly well considering the circumstances, looking like she’d even gained some weight since Anita last saw her.

Meriam glanced between the two Guardians and frowned. “And you are?”

Layette gazed over Meriam, eyes wary but at Anita’s encouraging nod she introduced herself. “Layette.” She stepped back from Anita, “Is this the lawyer you mentioned?”

“Meriam.” Meriam offered a hand to shake and Layette stared at it blankly. “Okay then,” she murmured, withdrawing her hand awkwardly after a few moments.

“You really think we can take them all?” Anita asked, scratching at her arms nervously.

“We can do whatever we have to. Hell, we could incinerate them where they stand if the protection spell wasn’t there.”

“Magic can’t go through the protection spell,” Anita explained at Meriam’s blank look. “We have to wait for it to be down to mount any kind of assault.”

“So we’ll make them drop it and you guys fry ’em. Why didn’t any of you just flamethrower them before?”

Anita and Layette shot each other a look. “The Keepers forbade us from burning them all up at once. Ruined their experiments and they said it would make us soft if all we did was stand back and throw magic.”

“Well, we’re not concerned with that so tell everyone to just burn them up,” Meriam ordered. “One way or another, we’re all leaving today.”

Layette nodded and passed the message along to a few Guardians near the front, leaving it to them to spread it around before coming back. “What about the Keepers? We can’t do anything to them. Our magic is useless.”

“We’ll take care of the Keepers, you guys focus on the Herects.” Meriam summoned Powell and relayed the plan to him. “The Keepers need to be taken out soon. I don’t like the way they’re staring at us.”

Powell glanced between the two groups and sighed. “Of course they wouldn’t just go along with this,” he growled. “They like their power.”

As if on cue, magic flowed throughout the courtyard. “They’re dropping it!” Anita growled. “The humans need to get out of here. Out of the way.”

“You need to get out of here as well,” Layette intoned. “You’re not fit to fight.”

Anita scoffed. “If you think I’m leaving you here alon-”

“I won’t be alone,” she interrupted. “I have the other Guardians.” The snarls of the Herects rose in volume as they started their attack. “Go now!” Layette pushed her towards Meriam and turned to the fight. “Get her out of here!” she shouted when Anita refused to move.

“Come on, Anita.” Meriam tugged on her wrist.

“I’m not leaving them,” she hissed. Flames exploded to their left, creating billowing waves of smoke and Anita moved protectively in front of her.

Meriam waved her hand at the dark clouds. “I think they can manage. Come on, you’ll just be in their way.” The Guardians swarmed towards the remaining Herects, working perfectly in sync. Anita shook herself and allowed Meriam to drag her across the line. She paused with one hand on the door, glancing back up at the Keepers.

They hadn’t moved from their spots on the roof and were watching the Guardians almost curiously. “Get in the car.” Meriam’s irritated voice dragged her attention from the Keepers and she ducked into the vehicle. Meriam started the engine and the car jolted forward as the sound of gunfire startled her.

“What the hell was that?” Anita spun in her seat, straining to see but Meriam refused to stop the car. “Pull over!”

“They can handle it Anita!” Her voice left no room for argument. “We’re not stopping, they’ll be fine.”

“I have t-” Anita’s protest was cut off as her whole body cramped. She gasped out a breath. Meriam shot one look at her and pressed her foot to the floor.

“You need to get to a hospital.” Meriam drove the car wildly through the streets, almost smashing into the other drivers. “Too bad this isn’t a police cruiser,” she mumbled as she made a particularly risky turn between two trucks.

Anita groaned and held tightly to the safety handles. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Of course I do.” They both lurched forward as she reversed the car, doing an almost flawless parallel park in front of a large white building Anita assumed was the hospital.

Anita stared up at it warily. She’d never been to a human hospital and guessed they didn’t have a lot of experience with Guardians. “Are you sure they know how to deal with um... us?”

Meriam, who had walked around the car to help her out, stopped suddenly. “Um...yes? It should be fine. We aren’t that different.” She shrugged and helped Anita get to her feet, half carrying her towards the entrance.

Inside was chaotic. Meriam yelled, “Can we get some help over here?” and a bunch of nurses scrambled to their feet. Meriam lowered her onto a gurney and Anita hissed as the fabric pressed into her back.

One of the nurses paled and backed off, turning to Meriam with a fearful and confused look on her face. “That’s a Guardian.” Meriam nodded at the obvious observation and the nurse pursed her lips. “Did you call it in?” The other nurses hesitated, moving less frantically now.

“Things are changing, that Guardian is under the protection of the government.” Meriam flashed her ID and the nurse’s eyes widened when she saw her name. “I expect nothing but the best treatment,” she added when they just stared at her in surprise.

“Right away, Ms. Hayes.”