Lynn nodded her assent, also.
"Very good then, let us begin again," Haniel said in what I could have sworn sounded like a proud voice. Though I knew I was imagining it. In the short time that we had been around Haniel, I had come to realize that he was a blank slate emotionally.
I closed my eyes and mentally prepared myself for the images that were headed my way. This time I was ready for the picture of the scared little boy huddled behind the couch. My heart went out to him the instant I saw his frightened face peering around the sofa. His image was replaced by a mean-eyed drunk hurling a beer bottle toward the couch, striking the child in the head. I ran across the room, desperate to shield the defenseless child from more harm. The emotions I felt - despair, betrayal, misunderstanding - hit me one after another like arrows piercing my body. I reached down to pick up the child and suddenly the image repeated, only I was now the target. I ducked to try to avoid the oncoming bottle and felt myself falling backwards.
I landed hard on my butt as Haniel once again retreated. "Crap, I suck at this," I said, exhausted from the mental abuse I was suffering. I glanced around and saw both Sam and Lynn also on the ground. "You too?" I asked, smiling a little at the grimaces on both their faces. It pretty much gave me an idea of what I looked like without glancing in a mirror.
"Krista, very good," Haniel said, standing over me.
"What," I asked, confused yet again. "What do you mean very good? I'm sitting in the sand again!" I said, letting my frustration show.
"Krista, you were able to make contact. Your attempt was quite remarkable for such a young and inexperienced Guide. It will not be long before you will be able to erase the images altogether. You have embraced your lead role extraordinarily well."
"Wow, you got to the little boy?" Sam asked awestruck. "I couldn't seem to make my feet move. They felt like they were sunk in cement by the fear I felt."
"Same here," Lynn said, clearly frustrated. I couldn’t blame her. Lynn always seemed so invincible, it was hard to believe that she suffered from the same fear Sam and I felt.
"Again?" I asked, rubbing my sore backside as I slowly got back on my feet with Mark's assistance once more.
"I think that you’ve done enough," Mark said, brushing the remaining sand off of me.
"That's okay…." I said, starting to argue.
"Your Protector is right. The soul of a Guide is precious, and as such, training should be taken in small steps," Haniel said, dismissing my protest as only he could. "Protectors, we will now work on your training."
"Sounds good to me my kind sir, let me just walk milady to the house," Shawn said in the weakest Medieval impersonation I had ever heard.
"Oh, brother," Sam giggled at his bad impersonation.
"Really man, that totally sucked," Robert said, grabbing Lynn's hand as we trudged along the sand on our way back to the house.
Mark grasped my own hand in his and I felt his healing touch working its magic over me.
"I'm sorry the training is so tough," he murmured into my ear as we topped the last step. There was just something about his lip touching my ear, breathing his warm air into me that made my pulse race with pleasure.
He chuckled lightly as he picked up my thoughts. His relief that I was feeling good enough to get hot and bothered was palpable. Leaning in even closer, he blew gently in my ear, rustling the hair around it. Goosebumps popped up along my arms as a delicious shiver raced up my spine, making my scalp tingle in anticipation. I turned fully into his embrace, wrapping my arms snugly around his neck. He pressed his lips gently to my neck trailing light kisses up to my ear. My legs turned to jelly.
"Go pamper yourself." Smiling now, he loped down the steps as I sagged weakly against the railing. Holy crow bear, he killed me sometimes.
Sam and I spent the remainder of the day preparing ourselves for our big night out. By the time the guys were clamoring to get the show on the road, we had both given each other pedicures, dolled up our hair, and added just a tad bit of makeup.
I felt like a bundle of nerves as I pulled the elegant dress out of the bag and slipped it off the padded hanger the sales clerk had sent home with me. I hoped against hope that it still looked as good on my stick figure body as I remembered from the day before. The satin of the dress caressed my skin as I slid it on. Stepping in front of the mirror, I gasped in pleasure when I saw the sparkling girl staring back at me. With my hair pulled up in the intricate knot that Sam had concocted, the touch of make-up, and the beautiful dress, I felt like a princess. My eyes sparkled and my mouth spread into a smile as Sam stepped up behind me adjusting her own dress.
"Oh my God Krista, you look so flipping beautiful. Mark is going to have a coronary when he sees you," Sam said delighted.
The excitement of the night began to grab me as I reached over and gave Sam a quick hug. "I'm glad you talked me into this. You were right, who cares what those cows think. It was crazy thinking we should skip it. Why give them the satisfaction?" I asked, echoing the same argument Sam had been making for last few weeks.
"Ha, they're going to die when they see how hot you look," she quipped, tucking a stray hair back up into one of the countless bobby pins on my head.
"Well, it's not like you don't look pretty spectacular yourself," I said, giving Sam a once-over. The midnight blue dress could have been tailor made for her with the way it accentuated her every curve. The strappy heels she wore made the full skirt swish around her in a very flattering way. I had piled her hair on top of her head, leaving several tendrils to hang down to curl attractively around her heart-shaped face. As a last touch, Sam had added glitter eye shadow to the top of her eyelids, which could have looked cheap, but instead made her eyes sparkle and dance. Had Sam been a foot taller, she could have easily walked the catwalk as a topped billed model.
"You guys read? Wow, you two look fabulous!" Lynn said, opening the bathroom door. "Um, you two are going to leave those three gossip hounds you're always talking about with tongues wagging tonight," she added.
"Aww, thanks Lynn," Sam said, giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek as the three of us strolled toward the racket in the living room. It was quite obvious the guys were getting impatient. Sam and I exchanged a knowing look as we stepped around the corner, stopping in the doorway.
All sound evaporated from the room as Mark and Shawn finally got their first look at us.
Lynn broke the silence with a knowing snort behind us.