Guardian

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. That’s the first thing that you need to understand. I’m not a bad person.

I was supposed to be enjoying the day, it was beautiful out and the sun was just setting, filling the sky with hues of pink and gold so that the lake shimmered like I’d just walked into an enchanted land. I was so mesmerized by the way the gentle waves lapped at the shoreline that when my foot hit the book, I simply fell. Face first, ending with a mouthful of sand.

I found myself no longer in a trance and couldn’t help but send an annoyed glare filled with disdain at the little black book that had taken away my moment of serenity. Now covered in sand.

I picked up the book as a sigh escaped my then gritty lips and flipped through the pages hoping to find something. The name of the owner perhaps, a lovely Italian woman written in a beautiful flowing script or the mad dashing of an eccentric chef trying out new recipes. Instead I stared at the book with a deep scowl, the blank pages staring back without a trace of ink.

Setting the book down gingerly beside me in the sand, I looked back out at the lake.

As I lay back in the sand and closed my eyes, trying to find a way to save this trip to Italy, the place I was supposedly born some 20 years ago, I heard what was sure to my imagination. The tinkling of bells not too far away. As the noise got louder and closer I tried to sink further into the sand and disappear.

Before long, a light shone brightly through my eyelids, beckoning me to open my eyes and find the source. One would think as I opened my eyes that I was simply in a dream state as I looked upon a woman. She stood tall and proud in front of me with her golden blonde hair falling in gently waves down her back and sides, adorned in places with acorns and leaves of varying sizes, all too shiny and bright to truly be from nature.

As she smiled down at me, I took on the rest of her slight figure, dressed in a billowing wrap of the same golden tone as her hair. She looked ethereal and otherworldly.

She soon offered me her hand, waiting for me to grab hold. Bracing myself, I grabbed the little black book from beside me as I slowly reached towards her with my other hand, I couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped me as sparks shot from our hands as they met.

With a welcoming smile she pulled me along with her as she introduced herself, “My name is Sianna and I’ve been waiting for you my dear. I only wish you hadn’t made me wait so long.”

Unable to speak though the lump of emotions in my throat I could only look at her with a questioning glance as we entered the woods. Looking back at the lake, I felt a moment of fear. A moment in which I wanted nothing more than to run. Yet my feet kept going as Sianna pulled me further into the woods in an eerie quiet.

Soon, we were in front of a little cabin. It was quiet and quaint with green trim and flowers and vines slowly creeping up the sides to lovingly cradle the building. I stood there as Sianna made her way inside, the shimmering gold of her wrap seeming to touch everything she passed, waking it up so that it could watch in excitement. The flowers standing taller as though in anticipation and the vines tightening so that they might protect their home. Even the house itself seemed to take notice, the wooden structure seeming more green as the trim hugged it tightly.

I made my way into the little cabin. Looking back, I know that it was my final chance to run. To escape whatever madness was sure to ensure. Instead I climbed the three steps and walked across the wooden porch, the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention.

Entering the cabin, I wasn't surprised to find it matched the outside. The brightly polished wooden interior adorned with the same green trim. The room was rather bare but beautiful with a small yet elegant coffee table in the middle of the room and three ornate chairs gathered around it.

Sianna sat regally in the first chair, motioning for me to join her as the door to the cabin opened once more. Lowering myself somewhat awkwardly into the chair, I kept my eyes on the man entering the room, a knot of dread growing in my stomach.

The first thing anyone would notice about this man wasn’t his face, handsome though it was nor his striking grey eyes that seemed to swirl with a deep green that left you with the unnerving sensation that he knew all your deepest secrets. No, the very first thing you notice is his command. Without uttering a word, he demanded all attention. Even the house, which seemed so excited and alive with the presence of Sianna now exuded an air of caution.

As he sat at the table with Sianna and I, I couldn’t help the small smile that creeped across my face. It was, in short, comical. The man was without a doubt fierce and cold. Yet the way he sat in the tiny elegant chair reminded me of a toddler that had outgrown his favorite toy chair. Perched on the small seat, his face as serious as could be.

He arched a brow, demanding without a word to know the source of my amusement.

As I opened my mouth, unsure what would come out, Sianna shook her head as her polite features turned down, leaving a sour scowl to set the tone of the conversation. It was a conversation I didn’t yet know would turn me into someone else, someone I wasn’t sure I was ready to be.

“Darling,” Sianna looked at me as she spoke, letting me know that it was a pet name I was stuck with, regardless of my feelings on the matter. “We need you to handle a job of utmost importance. You are the guardian, had it not been for your parents fleeing their post you would already be doing your job.”

“Lathian here is willing to help you learn how to go about your duties.” She nodded to the man. Yet I couldn’t seem to focus on him. The idea that I had a purpose was so alluring to me that I almost skipped over the mention of my birth parents. A couple I’d never even met, not really. After being left at a firehouse I was quickly shipped to an orphanage where I stayed until I was 18. Shaking my head to clear the fog, I heard Sienna's dainty voice explaining who I was, what I was.

“A guardian is what it sounds like. A protector. A protector of the Fealings and our world. The Fea world is weakening without a guardian and has been for quite some time. It’s up to you to start helping us rebuild our world and wipe out those that seek to destroy its beauty.” Her voice came out silky and smooth enunciating in all the right places, as though she’d said the same thing a million times before.

I opened the book to see a name, in the fancy script I’d been hoping for. Etched in golden letters that swirled and looped in the most elegant way. Yet I knew that that wasn't a good thing. That there wasn’t a happy ending for me or the woman who’s name I couldn't seem to read out loud.

“Well?” Lathian asked, “What do you say?”

I nodded my head slowly, unable to find my voice. I wanted to shake it instead, disagreeing with what happened to be my apparent birthright. I couldn’t. My eyes were fixed on the name, the flowing script. I’ve always known that beautiful things could be terrible too, I just never thought I’d be privy to one so twisted.

Without blinking he stood from the tiny chair and nodded just once before waving his hands in front of the wall, creating symbols in the air until it simply disappeared.

“After you.” He nods his head once more, this time towards the missing wall.

Stepping through, I could feel him behind me and then suddenly everything was different. The tranquil woods had become a city, teeming with life. A city I knew. New York. I looked behind me and could only see New York and Lathian, no cabin, no woods, no Sianna.

“Let’s go.” He commanded, his voice sounding like steel. I followed him inside a club, filled with people. Their bodies packed together so tightly it was a wonder anyone could move. Then I saw it. The name from the book, the fancy golden script, hovering over a woman near the bar. My feet stopped moving of their own accord. Something Lathian didn’t fail to notice.

“You see her.” It wasn’t a question, simply an observation he knew to be true. I nodded my head once more, eliciting a sigh from him, “You’ll have to take it from here. You’ll know what to do.” With that he was gone. Disappearing in the crowd. I managed to shuffle my way towards the bar, the crowd no longer as giving as before, only to find myself alone there. The woman had already disappeared.

I glanced around the room, I prayed that I might see the script once more, hovering above her. With no flowing names hovering above the crowds, I felt panic start to set it. I might not have liked the idea of what I had to do, but I liked even less what may happen if I was unable to fulfill my obligation.

Without many options, I left the club, determined to stake out the exit until I saw the woman leave. I didn’t expect her to be waiting for me outside. Looking me up and down as though she already knew what was coming. I also didn’t expect a glowing light to shoot from her palms, aimed at me. Throwing my hands up to protect myself, I’m not sure what I expected, a fiery pain maybe? Spreading through me until I could no longer breath? Perhaps I'd have been incinerated. Yet I felt a whisper of air rush past me before I looked up.

The woman still stood there, her hands outstretched, her mouth gaping almost as if in horror.

Lathian was right, I knew what to do. Following the same movements the woman had done just a moment before, I stuck out my hands, palms forward and felt a spark. Slow at first then all consuming. It slowly traveled through me and flew from my hands to meet the woman.

In an instant she was gone. Nothing left but her purse and clothes. Personal effects. I wondered briefly what happened. Was she just gone? Had I taken the life from her? I wasn’t sure I’d ever know. I knelt down beside her things and felt a slight respite

Now here I sit. The little black book beside me, beckoning me to open it, to read the next name.

With a distressed sigh and a laugh that was sure to be that of a lunatic, I grab the woman’s wallet, digging around for the cash I know is at the bottom before shoving it into my backpack and picking up the little black book.

I make my way down the street and open the book to see the next name. I still don’t know what happened to the woman but perhaps with the next person the book points me to, I can find out.