Her Guardian Angel (Part 3)

A couple of days went by with four empty chairs in Caroline’s class and word spread quickly. “They still haven’t found your friends.” Her Grandma said at breakfast on the Saturday. “They weren’t her friends.” I informed her from my place by the back door. “Weren’t?”

“I meant ‘aren’t.’” I gave her a smirk and nothing more was said about it except the occasional “still haven’t found those poor girls” every now and then with the newspaper held up to her face. Caroline seemed to recover from the bullying pretty quick. She knew the truth about why her Dad and Meredith had disappeared, she knew she was loved and was about as normal as a kid can be. Well, except for the fact she’d formed a close bond with a demon and had no human friends but anyway.

‘Granny’ started drinking earlier and earlier. Always the cheap stuff; a box of wine or a store’s own brand cider. A glass before bed became a glass in the evening to ‘relax’ which became a glass at dinner and before you knew it she was drinking all day on her days off work. Some nights she didn’t come home, passed out on a park bench somewhere. Caroline was a good kid though; she’d do her homework, if her Gran wasn’t back by 6pm she knew she wouldn’t see her until the next day and would shove a ready meal in the microwave and go to bed at what humans would call a ‘decent time.’ After a while, the shit started. When her Grandma was home she’d snap at Caroline like a pissed off Jack Russel. Telling her she was a pain in the ass and wasn’t worth shit, to leave her alone and go to her room, stuff like that, stuff Caroline shrugged off. Then in the morning she’d cry, asking Caroline to forgive her. “I’m so sorry, Duckling.” She’d bawl. “I didn’t mean it. Do you still love me?” As Caroline grew and started ‘developing,’ the abuse got worse. “Bet all the boys are sniffing around you, aren’t they? Do you give it up as easy as your Mum did? She was a slut, your Mum, and you’re going the same way.” I’d intervene, standing between them and telling her to back off, and she’d immediately skulk back into the kitchen to her bottle of booze. I offered to deal with her, man did I want to deal with her but Caroline always said no, saying she didn’t mean it and she’d get sober soon. Poor kid actually believed she’d get her nice, kind Grandma back. I, on the other hand, was a lot more pessimistic.

                Caroline’s fourteenth birthday rolled around and her Gran had promised gifts, a new dress, dinner out somewhere nice, birthday cake, the whole lot. When we got in that afternoon, we were greeted by an empty house. Was she kidding? Surely she wasn’t going to screw up her birthday? At 5:30, Caroline pulled the freezer open with a small huff and started rummaging through it. “Wait a bit longer.” I said. She looked up, disappointment all over her face. “She’s not coming home.”

“Just wait. I’m going out. I’ll be back soon, ok?” And unlike her Grandmother, I stuck to my word. She was still in the kitchen, elbows on the table and chin resting in her hands, when I walked through the door with a little chocolate cake balanced on top of a couple of pizza boxes and a balloon that was trying to escape in the breeze. The balloon had a cartoon character on, some princess or something and was more suited to a four-year-old than a teenager but it was the only one I could find and they say it’s the thought that counts, right? She brightened up when she saw me and I swear a bit of spark returned to her eyes. “Happy birthday, Kid.” Ok so it wasn’t dinner at some fancy restaurant or an expensive dress but we stuffed our faces with greasy pizza, watched a movie and had a pretty good time just the two of us.

                A few nights later, we were back on the couch when ‘Granny’ fell through the door. “What are you doing?” She hissed. “That’s my TV. I paid for it, I pay the license and you just help yourself to it like a spoilt brat.” I got up but Caroline caught my arm. “You don’t have to …” I began but she cut me off. “It’s ok. Really. Come on.” And we headed to the stairs. Usually she’d have left it there; shouting and banging downstairs but leaving us alone at least, with Caroline continuing to reassure me she wasn’t bothered by it all and begging me not to take action. But this time the old hag charged after us. “I’m sick of you.” Venom practically dripped from her words as she invaded the bedroom. “You and that demon.” That sure got Caroline’s attention. “You leave him out of it.”

“Oh yeah, your ‘guardian.’ He’s not a guardian, he’s a demon! And you’re his dirty little whore. What do you let him do to you, eh? What do you do to him?” She spat the words out like they left a bad taste in her mouth. “It makes me sick just thinking about what you two get up to in here.”

“Nothing like that happens and you know it. You’re drunk. Again. We’ll talk in the morning. If you can keep away from your breakfast glass of wine that is.” Caroline wasn’t expecting the slap. She held her hand to her reddening cheek and her eyes, filling with tears, darted to meet my own. They were sending a message loud and clear. That nasty cow gasped in surprise when I reached out and grabbed her by the throat. “Close your eyes, Kid.” I called over my shoulder and, just as she had done six years before, she followed my instruction. “I’ve waited for this moment for a long time.” I grinned at the old woman. Her eyes bulged when I showed her my true face just as her son’s had done. She tried to scream but only made a choking noise as I tightened my grip around her neck. Her legs buckled as I dragged her into the bathroom opposite Caroline’s room, kicking the door shut behind me. She lashed out at my arms and face, clawed at my hands and wrists with her discoloured nails in a pathetic attempt to free herself. The sound of her head repeatedly hitting the side of the bath pleased me. Her warm blood flowed over my skin, the metallic smell filled my nostrils and made my head spin with delight. But what I truly revelled in was the crack her face made on the wall tiles, leaving one split in two and covered in red. I finally threw her lifeless body into the bath and proceeded to clean myself up and pull my bloody shirt over my head.

                “You can open them.” I said, retrieving another shirt from my drawer. “Don’t go in there, ok?”

“Ok.” Caroline let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I should have done that a long time ago.”

“But you didn’t because I asked you not to.” I hesitated. “Yeah, true.”

“I’m tired. Can you sort that tomorrow?” She nodded towards the closed bathroom door. “Sure.” I climbed onto the bed and laid down. Caroline wriggled under the covers and rested her head on my chest like she did every night. “Night, Adam.”

“Night, Kid.” I kissed the top of her head and closed my eyes as my soul, frozen and dark, lifted a little knowing I’d rid Caroline’s life of another shitty cockroach.

                Caroline’s school knew she lived with an elderly relative so rarely expected to see her or hear from her especially as Caroline suddenly started talking about her Gran’s ‘ill health.’ That made it a lot easier to cover her death up unlike when she was little and I’d disposed of her Father. Luckily, the kid could take care of herself and I got money as and when she needed, I won’t go into details how but I got it. Life was good after that. I’d say they were our best years. Then things got complicated.

Copyright Anna Smith 2020