My Guardians Redone

Tory woke up in a cold sweat. Her heart was racing, her blood was pounding, and her breath was coming fast. Inky darkness swarmed around her making her blind. As she sat up in bed her breathing slowed and her heart stopped racing. Tory took a sip of water and tried to remember the dream.

She had been walking down a hallway looking for an exit. And then there had been a scream. Tory remembered running down the hall trying to follow the sound of the blood curdling scream. The hallway had went on and on and so had the screaming. She had finally come upon a jet black colored door. Tory had flung open the door to see a person in black stabbing her mother, who was lying on the bed. Her father was already dead and lying motionless in a pool of blood beside the bed. The sheets looked like they had been covered by a sea of blood! The person had looked over their shoulder and saw Tory standing in the doorway. "No, not my baby!" her mother had screamed. The person had turned and faced her. "Tory RUN!" her mother had screamed. The person had taken a step toward her and Tory had taken off running for her life. She had run down the hallway searching for a door and had tripped. She had hit a wall and turned around to see the murderer holding the knife above her head, ready to stab her. Tory had screamed when the knife flashed and started its downward arc toward her.

That`s when she had woken up. Tory closed her eyes trying to make the dream disappear but it wouldn`t. It seemed so real and that`s what scared Tory the most. Tory let out a breath and told herself that it was just a dream.

The next morning Tory got up and got ready for school. There was no noise from her parents room. She thought that maybe they had gone to work early. As she was eating her toast, she noticed her mother's briefcase. Finding this strange Tory went to her parents bedroom door and knocked. "Mom? Dad? You in there?" There was no reply. Tory`s pulse jumped to a faster beat. She slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. What she saw there made her scream, blood covered the bed, her parents and the floor. It was all over the place, just like in her dream. She slipped limply to the floor and that was how the neighbours found her.

Tory sat wrapped in a blanket in her neighbour's condo. The police were combing the entire condo block. Tory was in shock, she couldn`t believe her parents were dead. A police officer by the name of Maggie was sitting across from Tory, gently asking her questions about her parents. Mrs. Wilton sat beside Tory on the couch and tried to offer support. Mrs. Wilton was a widow who had been like a grandmother to Tory since she was a baby. "It'll be alright dear, don`t you worry about anything." Mrs. Wilton said.

"Actually, Mrs. Wilton her guardians are here to take her," Maggie explained. Tory looked confused. Guardians? Since when did she have guardians? Her parents had never told her about their wills. Before she could ask any questions five young men entered the room. All were immaculately dressed. "Tory! Thank-god you`re alright!" one said as he swept her into his arms. Tory patted him on the back, feeling very detached from the situation. "Tory? Do you know who we are?" he asked not releasing her. Tory shook her head. "Don`t worry, we`ll explain when we get home." Tory was released and was just starting to get her breath back when he picked her up and carried her out of the condo, leaving Mrs. Wilton and Maggie yelling after them.

In the lobby of the building police were blocking the front doors. "I`m sorry Mr. Moore but you can`t take Ms. Tyber out of the building," a police officer explained.

"Why? Is she in danger?” Mr. Moore demanded and began to lead the group forward.

Maggie appeared on the scene. "Mr. Moore, we do not believe that Tory killed her parents. I can`t give you anymore information right now. But Tory must stay here until someone checks and makes sure that you are her legal guardians."

"WHAT!" another young man exclaimed, "THIS IS AN INSULT! We did not travel all the way here just to be told by the police that you don`t think we have legal custody!" Tory was confused, what kind of people were her guardians?

Tory tried to get free and was reluctantly set down. "Look," Tory said, "If you don`t want to be here then you don`t have to be.”

Mr. Moore stepped forward and said, "Tory, don`t ever think that! We want you to live with us!" Mr. Moore took Tory`s hands in his and continued, "Your parents didn`t force us to be your guardians, we wanted to." Tory nodded in understanding. "Now, it`s time to go home." Mrs. Wilton appeared on the scene, Tory went and hugged her. A hand gently pulled Tory away from Mrs. Wilton and led her to the exit. Outside there were news reporters yelling and shouting questions. Cameras flashed. All the while Tory was dragged through the crowd, faster than she could walk. She tripped and would have fallen if she hadn`t had a guardian on either side. Waiting at the side of the curb was a black stretch limo, Tory was pushed in after the first three young men had slid in. The interior of the limo was dark and Tory found it hard to make anything out. The panic from the dream returned once more but her guardians made Tory feel better and soon she was asleep.

The guys were worried, the killer was still at large and possibly after their new ward. Jason, Keyon, Josh, Shawn and Eric wanted to keep Tory safe. Unfortunately that wasn`t going to happen until the killer was caught. Once at the airport they moved quickly from the limo to the jet. None of the five wished to return to this city for they knew where the killer was hiding.

He sat in the dark, on a couch, rocking back and forth. Small sounds came out of his throat every now and then. To anyone listening it sounded like an animal gone crazy. His eyes bulged and he continued to rock and laugh. The bloody knife, lay on a table to one side of him. The blood was slowly drying. It had made a pool on the table, which had now turned brown. The blood on the knife was still as red as it had been when he had cut up the Tybers. He laughed at this memory. The Tybers.....so on the right side of the law. They had been dangerous, a danger to their daughter. He paused at this thought.. Tory... sweet young beautiful Tory. She was safe now. Her parents couldn`t harm her. She was safe with that nice Mrs. Wilton. Mrs. Wilton was so much better than those cruel Tybers. So he had killed them to protect Tory, to make sure Tory lived. Tory must live... Tory must live... The thought danced in his head. Tory MUST live. He turned on the TV to watch the news to find out about the evil people of the world.

"Early this morning, police were called in to investigate two possible murders. The bodies were found shortly after eight this morning by their fifteen-year-old daughter, Tory Tyber. The guardians of this young millionaire arrived. It seems that Young Businessmen For A Young Business World, are now the guardians of Tory Tyber. This is Lorie Donna reporting live." The man sat there, watching Tory being pulled through a crowd of reporters. He waited in fear as the five men pulled her into a limo and sped off. Tory wasn`t safe anymore. Tory wasn`t going to live. He knew it. Anyone who would have been listening would have heard what sounded like a wounded crazy and wild animal. The last thought the man had before he fell asleep was..."Time to kill."


Tory woke in total confusion and complete terror. The dream had returned again only it had been worse this time. Tory looked around trying to recognize the room she was in. Nothing looked even close to her room, Tory felt lost and alone. The fear of the dark that Tory had conquered when she was ten now came back faster and worse than before. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she rocked back and forth trying to calm down. A door opened and light seeped in from outside. Tory could just make out the outline of a man, she let out a scream of pure terror and would have jumped to her feet if the outline hadn`t spoken. “Tory? sweetheart it`s only me.” Tory sucked in a breath, she was shaking so bad it hurt her body.

Tory heard feet running on floor and soon more outlines appeared in the door way. “Shawn? What`s going on?” another sleepy voice asked.

“Just gave the kid a small fright,” Shawn answered. Tory watched the first outline come toward her and then a lamp came on beside the bed. Tory could now see all five of her new guardians huddled in her room. “Tory do you remember who we are?” the one closest to her asked. Tory nodded but didn`t say anything.

The one with sandy brown hair stepped forward and asked with compassion, “Tory, did something scare you?” Tory just pulled her legs in tighter to her body. The guy walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Do you want to tell us or me about it?” Tory shook her head. The guy started to rub her back and Tory felt herself relax a little.

“Where am I?” Tory whispered.

“We flew back to New York sweetie, you`ve been sleeping since we got in the limo,” the one called Mr. Moor explained, “Josh, we`ll leave this up to you for tonight.” The one sitting beside her nodded his head and the four others said their good-nights and slowly left the room.

“Do you want to keep the light on?” Josh asked. Tory nodded again, talking seemed like too much energy at the moment. “Okay, Tory are you sure you don`t want to tell me what`s scaring you?” he suggested again.

“No, thank-you,” she whispered. She lowered her head to her knees and closed her eyes. They flew open a minute later when she felt the bed shift. Josh was getting into the bed. “What are you doing!”

Josh paused in the action of swinging his legs under the covers, “What does it look like? I`m getting into bed.”

Tory shifted over until she was half way across the bed. “But this is MY bed, you should be in your own,” Tory pointed out.

Josh positioned himself against the pillows and rested his hands behind his head. He looked over at Tory and explained, “I`ll not be leaving you alone until you stop screaming in your sleep.” Tory blushed as she realized why everyone had come running. “See, there is something you`re not telling me. But I`m willing to wait for trust, I`m just not willing to wait to get sleep,” Josh said. Tory smiled fleetingly but didn`t move to lay back down. She was staring at the wall when she felt hands on her shoulders and then there was a weight that slowly forced her down. “Sleep,” Josh whispered and kissed her forehead.