The Guardian Assassin

By Chad Hammond

The Guardian Assassin: Predators Turned Prey is a psycho-thriller written by Chad Hammond. It introduces Chase Bradshaw a young athlete trying to find his place in life and his beautiful, intelligent girlfriend, Amber Johnstone who appears to be Chase's cornerstone. Their love is binding in ways of a true romantic.

Oblivious yet as to why, Chase is possessed by a ruthless mythological assassin that entitles no empathy to his victims! Those of societies worst! Sexual deviants of the most heinous kind.

Chase finds himself maturing as a man as well as an assassin, however, life has thrown him into an array of complicated circumstances. Assisted by his soulmate, Amber, and a mysterious glowing orb (the carriage stone), Chase, while possessed by Killian, tries to rid the environment of the soulless pedophiles that stalk their prey. Chase and Killian turn predators into prey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532085345

Chad Hammond

Chad Hammond started writing as an alternative to rebellion. Entering young adulthood, as a talented athlete, life's many trials and tribulations veered him onto a path of trouble and negativity . After years of downfalls and letdowns he decided to write as a pick-me-up and source of fulfillment.

Book preview

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1

"C hase! Throw me a beer, bro!"

Get your own beer, ya lazy bastard! I’m next on the rope, bro. Chase shouted to his buddy Josh, who was sprawled out on an inner tube barely in the water.

Rather than paying for a thin, cheaply made raft, most of the kids had found or bought inner tubes to use as floating devices. Made from thicker rubber, the inner tubes seemed to be more indestructible, which was needed for some of these wannabe daredevils.

Put one of the tubes out in the middle of the water! I’m gonna try to dive through the hole! Chase yelled to Josh.

Josh swam out in front of the rope swing, beer and inner tube in tow. He looked like a struggling dog without any grace. Giving the tube a shove, he left the black doughnut floatie and shouted up to the cliff where Chase was standing and holding the rope swing, Go for it, pussy!

Chase laughed and flipped him the bird. He grabbed the rope tightly and jumped into the air for added speed. He swung out over the water showing off as he went because Amber, his girlfriend of two years, was watching. He did a backflip after letting go of the rope, but his dive looked more like someone falling off a ledge. Arms flailing wildly, he bounced off the inner tube like a racquetball. His feet flipped around above his head—splash! It sounded more like splat!

In a second or two, he surfaced, coughed, and cussed: Son of a bitch! That sucked!

As he was swimming ashore, he noticed a bright-blue glow under his feet. What the hell? he thought. He took a deep breath and dove down five feet. Ten feet. He was right above a glowing object but couldn’t see it clearly because the water was murky, but the glow was very bright, almost blinding.

He reached out and touched something cold and smooth like a bowling ball. He grabbed it, but it didn’t budge. It was either too heavy for him to lift or was stuck in the mud. Almost out of breath, he gave up and swam to the surface; his lungs were burning. He broke the surface gasping, "Huuuhh, huuuhh."

Josh and Shane, his two best friends, swam to him. Shane’s monster arms snaked around Chase’s neck like an anaconda, and he was hoisted onto an inner tube.

You all right, bro? Shane asked Chase, who was thoroughly shaken up by his buddy being underwater for so long.

I’m okay, guys, Chase said between coughs. He regained his composure. Thanks for ripping me out of my shorts though. Chase grinned as he pulled his cut-off camouflage fatigues back up over his lily-white ass. Check out that bright-blue light down there.

We saw it, Josh exclaimed.

Is that what took you so long? Shane asked, still a bit shaken up by Chase’s going under the way he had and for so long. We saw it when we were swimming out to you, bro.

It’s about twenty feet down, and it seems heavy as hell. I couldn’t budge the damn thing. Maybe all three of us can get it out, Chase enthusiastically said. It’s no bigger than a basketball, so surely we three can lift it out. Come on down and help me pull it up.

But right then, the light vanished. The boys dove down numerous times searching for the mysterious object but failed to find it. After no lack of effort, they decided to call it quits. Bummed out because of their failure to retrieve the orb, the boys slowly paddled toward shore. They decided on the way not to tell anybody for fear of looking foolish.

The closer to the shore they got, the more Chase became irritated. He almost turned around and went back for a few more dives, but he was beginning to feel the throb of a headache. Probably the result of too many dives and the constant pressure from holding my breath, he thought. Snuggling up to Amber for a while will help though.

At least that’s what he told himself and would most definitely try to convince her of the same.

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2

C hase was startled out of what was a pleasant slumber by the sharp ringing of the phone. It sounded as if it were right on top of his ear. Half-asleep and mad as a hornet due to being woken up as he had been, he sluggishly pulled himself out of bed and reached across his nightstand to answer the noisemaker. Hullo?

Wake up, lil’ brother!

His older sister’s voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Her father had asked her to wake Chase up. Knowing it would piss Chase off, she didn’t hesitate to oblige.

It’s six in the morning, Robin! What in the fuck do you want?

His sister chuckled. Dad wanted me to call and make sure your lazy ass was outta bed. He said you got in late and would probably be tired as hell. So get up!

I’m up.

What time is your scrimmage Friday? Steve wants to come watch. He said you all are supposed to be pretty good.

Steve was Chase’s brother-in-law and had been a hell of a receiver in his day.

Seven, Chase grumpily said.

Ha, ha. Bye, shithead.

Chase rolled out of bed groaning. That day was the last double practice for the boys as their football season was about to start. Chase thought that double sessions sucked because it was hot as hell and the players seemed out of shape; three or four athletes vomited each practice.

He went to the kitchen; his muscles were aching from all the bumps and bruises due to practice. He fixed breakfast—macaroni and cheese and scrambled eggs, protein and carbs all in one. That was his and his buddies’ favorite breakfast of champions.

Groaning, Chase hobbled across the kitchen for a plate. Hell. I’m sore as shit. He took his grub to the living room and slowly lowered his battered body onto the couch. He had barely taken a bite when he heard the same annoying noise he had heard a few minutes earlier—Bbbrriinng … Bbbrriinng. Really? Another fucking call at six in the morning? This better be good, Robin. He believed his sister was calling again.

Hullo? Chase snapped. He was starting his morning in a foul mood.

Hey, Bone. You awake? Josh, Chase’s quarterback, asked.

Bone was short for Hambone, Chase’s nickname.

Yep, I’m awake, bro. What’s up? Chase asked with a little less hostility.

Can you pick me up for practice? Mom’s taking the Jeep, and I’m too sore to walk. You can come back to my house and crash between practices if you want. Maybe grab a couple of beers to help replenish those electrolytes.

Hell yeah. Sounds good. Be there in a half an hour, bro, Chase said. Damn. A cold beer would taste great after a hot, hard practice like today’s is going to be.

Drinking alcohol violated the athlete’s code of conduct agreement each player had signed at the beginning of football camp, but the boys knew that their coaches wouldn’t do much about it if they found out, especially since Chase and Josh were key players.

Chase finished his breakfast and cleaned his dish. He grabbed his overly large gym bag containing football gear and extra clothes and headed for Josh’s house.

Josh, whose nickname was Ten due to the fact that was his number in all sports he played—football, baseball, and basketball—had been the seventh-best quarterback in Illinois as a junior and should dominate the position as a senior, especially with the talent of his team that year. People were saying it might be the best team Shelbyville had ever produced. The players ate, drank, and slept football.

However, it wouldn’t be all a few of these great young athletes would dream about; a few of them would have nightmares, but not wanting to seem crazy, they would keep their dreams to themselves.

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3

"W hat are your plans for the day, hon?" Amber’s mother asked, knowing that if she didn’t ask early, the teenager would have a list of things she would be doing.

Not much today. Tonight though, Ashley and I are going to watch the boys’ scrimmage then go to the Dairy Queen. Why? What’s up?

I have to stay at work late, and your brother has judo class tonight from six to eight. Can you take him?

I can drop him off, but I can’t pick him up till after the scrimmage, around eight thirty, Mom.

I’ll have him walk over to the field, and you can drop him off at home on the way to the Dairy Queen. Will that work?

Amber knew that she could save her mom the hassle of leaving work to pick up her brother. Yeah, that’s fine. As long as I don’t have to wait for him.

Her mother knew that if football practice were not going on, Amber’s boyfriend would be at the judo class instructing the eight-through-twelve-year-old division and she would have no problem staying at the dojo for the full two hours of training. Jamie, Amber’s little brother, had become infatuated with judo ever since he had seen Chase, Amber’s boyfriend, toss an older fellow around like a rag doll at the Memorial Day carnival. The poor man had pinched his sister’s rear end, and Chase, being the protective boyfriend, made sure it wouldn’t happen again by hip-tossing the fellow to the ground and making him shit in his pants literally by nearly choking the life out of him. Since then, all Jamie would talk about was judo this and judo that, Chase this and Chase that.

Amber acted as if that made her sick while in reality she loved the fact that her little brother thought so highly of her boyfriend and that Chase took an interest in him, a big deal since Amber and Jamie were growing up fatherless. Chase seemed to be almost a surrogate dad to Jamie, and it made Amber love him that much more.

Don’t forget you’re volunteering at the hospital this weekend, Amber, so don’t make plans to hang out all day. You need volunteer hours if you plan on being accepted into the junior nursing program this year, and you need a hundred hours this school year.

Amber’s mother was the director of nursing at the hospital and seemed to want her daughter to follow in her footsteps.

I know, I know, Amber unenthusiastically replied. If I want into the program, Mom will make sure I get accepted with her contacts there anyway, she thought.

Her mother didn’t know Amber was starting to develop a serious interest in