Deviant (39 page)

Excerpt from Her Guardians

Her Guardians (Her Guardians Trilogy
#1)

By

Jaimie Roberts

Prologue

I felt someone tugging on my arm, but I just wanted to sleep. “Cassie,” the voice called to me. “Cassie, you need to wake up now. It’s important.”

I slowly opened my eyes and saw my babysitter, Daisy, sitting on my bed. She looked frightened, which made me frightened.

When I saw there was a big man in my bedroom, I got really scared. “What’s happening?” I asked, shooting out of bed as the big man held his hands up in front of me.

“It’s okay, Cassie. I’m a friend. I am here to help you. I need to take you somewhere safe until we can reach your uncle.”

Why? I didn’t understand why I needed to get up and go somewhere until my uncle came. “Where are Mummy and Daddy?”

Daisy and the man looked at each other, and I didn’t like it. They looked like they were scared to tell me something and it was making me a little bit mad.

“Where are Mummy and Daddy?” I asked again, getting angrier.

“Cassie,” the man said calmly, sitting on my bed. “Your Mummy and Daddy were in a car accident. Something must have run out in front of them and they had to swerve really quickly to get out of the way. They hit a tree, and—”

I covered my ears because I didn’t want to hear anymore. “You’re lying. I don’t believe you. Why are you being so mean?”

My Mummy and Daddy only went out for dinner. They had been married for ten years and they wanted to celebrate. They couldn’t be gone. I wouldn’t let them be gone.

“Cassie, you know who I am, don’t you?”

Uncovering my ears, I latched onto my teddy bear. “You’re a policeman.”

He nodded and smiled. It was a nice smile. He was black with soft brown eyes and big bear arms. I bet he could crush a melon with those arms.

“That’s right, Cassie. I’m a police officer. You know that police officers should never lie. I would never lie, especially over something like this.”

I believed him, but I shook my head. “I don’t want to believe they’re gone. That is what you’re trying to tell me, isn’t it?” He nodded again and tried to reach out to touch my hand. “Not there!” I shouted, pulling away. “You can’t touch me there!”

The officer looked over at Daisy, but Daisy shrugged. “She doesn’t like it when people touch her hand.”

He looked at me again. “Okay, Cassie. I promise not to touch your hand. But is it possible for you to get out of bed? Daisy has packed a few things for you to take to the hospital.”

I was confused again. “Why do I have to go to the hospital?”

“Because your uncle needs to go there, and once he is finished, he can come and collect you. I promise we will look after you until he comes. The nurses are very friendly there and will make sure you’re taken care of.”

I shook my head, angry. “Why did I not see it? Why couldn’t they let me see it? I could have done something to stop it.”

The officer looked shocked. “Cassie, there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent this. It was just a terrible accident.”

I knew that was a lie. I could have prevented them from leaving. I could have seen it, but Mummy and Daddy always kept their hands away from me. They didn’t want me to see anything bad.

I wanted to shout at the man that he was wrong. I could have saved them, but my mummy’s voice was in my head, telling me to be careful. She would always tell me to be careful. She said that my secret had to remain a secret for my protection.

“I won’t go without Mr. Wigglesby.” I clutched onto my teddy, making the big man look at him.

“Who is Mr. Wigglesby? Is it this little fella?” he asked, pointing to my teddy. I nodded. “Well, then, I will personally make sure Mr. Wigglesby never leaves your side.”

Looking up into his big brown eyes, I saw he was telling the truth. “You promise?”

He smiled. “I promise.”

I got out of bed, but still didn’t let go of Mr. Wigglesby. He was my friend and he protected me from the monsters. I had a lot of monsters and they scared me, but I knew if I ever called Mr. Wigglesby, he would be there for me and would keep the monsters away.

“What is your name?” I asked the big man once I was ready to leave.

“My name is Terrance Bradley. In my car over there is my nephew, Simon. Do you want to go and meet him?”

I nodded and clutched onto Mr. Wigglesby as Terrance led me down the stairs. “Daisy,” he said as we went outside. “Officer Brent, here, will take you home.”

Daisy looked at Officer Brent, then back at me with a worried look on her face. “Is Cassie going to be okay?” she asked.

Terrance nodded. “Cassie’s going to be fine. You just get yourself home to your parents. They’ll be worried about you.”

Daisy nodded, giving me a hug and a big smile. “You take care, Cassie,” she said before walking off.

I turned back to Terrance and he smiled. He opened the back door of the car and waved his hand for me to get in.

“Hello, Cassie.” Simon was looking at me from the front seat. He looked very young and it made me wonder why he was here.

“Are you a policeman?” I asked him as Terrance got in the car. “You look too young to be a policeman.”

Terrance shut his door and laughed. “He
is
too young, but he wants to be one when he’s older. He likes to come for ride-alongs every now and then. He has been begging me to take him on a night shift. I eventually gave in.”

Simon smiled at me and looked at my teddy. “Who’s this you’re holding?”

“He’s Mr. Wigglesby. Everywhere I go, he goes.”

Simon smiled again. I liked his smile. It was a polite smile and my parents always taught me to be polite. “You’re going to be a very big policeman. I can tell.”

Simon and Terrance laughed as Terrance drove away from my home and into the dead of night. I didn’t know what time it was, but I knew it was very late.

“I think being big just runs in our family, Cassie.”

Shaking my head, I looked out of my window at the passing trees. They looked like blurry bushes as we passed. “I didn’t mean he would be big in that way. I meant he’s going to be big on the police force.”

Turning his head towards me, Simon looked like he was interested in what I had said. “You really think so?”

I squeezed Mr. Wigglesby and nodded my head. “I know so.”

When we arrived at the hospital, Terrance went to talk to some people whilst I sat on a little chair. A nurse came by and gave me some hot chocolate as I waited. I liked hot chocolate. My mummy taught me how to make it and it always tasted really good.

I didn’t know for how long I sat there. It felt like it was hours sitting in the chair with my little suitcase, Mr. Wigglesby in my arms. He was a beautiful light brown bear with a gold bow and the fluffiest fur you ever felt. There was no way I could be without him. I couldn’t let him go, not for a second.

A door soon opened and my head snapped up. Standing there staring at me was my uncle, Billy. He looked like he had been crying and that made me hurt inside.

“Uncle Billy!” I shouted as the tears came rolling down my face. I hadn’t cried until now. Just seeing my uncle so upset made me upset.

“Cassie!” he ran towards me and took me in his arms. I snuggled into his neck and breathed in his familiar scent. I was crying, but I felt safer now.

“They’re gone, Uncle Billy. They’re gone forever.”

He sobbed into my shoulder. “I know sweetheart. I know.”

I felt better now that my uncle was here, but one thing still made me very frightened. “Don’t ever leave me, Uncle Billy. You can’t die. I won’t let you die.”

I felt his arms tighten around me as he cried into my shoulder. “I will never leave you, Cassie. I promise. I’m going to take you home where Chris will be waiting. We will take care of you, Cassie. We will get through this together, okay?”

I nodded and snuggled into his arms. I didn’t want Billy to let me go. I felt him bend down to retrieve my little case as he carried me out of the hospital.

Now that I was with Uncle Billy, I felt my eyes grow heavy. I had been up for what felt like hours and I really wanted to sleep. Hopefully when I woke up, this would have all been a bad dream. Sometimes I did have bad dreams. Maybe this was one of them.

That was the last thought in my head before my grip on Mr. Wigglesby loosened and my world turned into darkness.

Author Bio

Jaimie Roberts was born in London, but moved to Gibraltar in 2001. She is married with two sons, and in her spare time, she writes.

In June 2013, Jaimie published her first book, Take a Breath, with the second released in November 2013. With the reviews, Jaimie took time out to read and learn how to become a better writer. She gets tremendous enjoyment out of writing, and even more so from the feedback she receives.

If you would like to send Jaimie a message, please do so by visiting her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJaimieRoberts.