Guardian, p.4
Guardian, page 4
I wondered also about the conflict and pain. What had it been like, being ripped from the world of the living and thrown into the realms of the dead? How much agony and torment had Cain experienced that he still remembered it that vividly all these years later?
“And this is where you’ve been stuck, what you have been doing, all this time.”
—I deserve it,— he said.
I snorted. “That is such crap. You paid for what you did a long time ago.”
He didn’t answer, but he looked doubtful. —Moving on. After my...my transgression, other humans killed other humans. Other Avadis were created.—
“What does Avadis mean?” I asked. “I think...I mean, I have this feeling that I know, without knowing, that it used to mean something, but I can’t...” I gave a wild gesture of frustration.
—Avadis means ‘tormented one’ in the first language humans spoke to each other,— Cain supplied. —It is a language your Power knows. The work of the Reaper is to listen to that language. It will tell you all you need to know about being a Reaper.— He sighed, looking sad. —Even I have forgotten much of that tongue. I know of only one other whoever spoke it in life, and...we do not speak. He is forgiven. I am not.—
“You should be forgiven; it’s been long enough,” I grumbled. “But whatever about that for now. I interrupted you again. Other Avadis were created? That’s bad. What happened?”
—The Powers That Be created the first Guardian. Guardians have the ability to restrain an Avadis, even sometimes giving them back their sanity. They make it easier for a Reaper to tame an Avadis.—
I frowned. “Was there a Guardian restraining Willow? I had been wondering why she stayed in that one building and didn’t go anywhere else.”
—There were three non-Powered Guardians restraining Amanda Felicity Palmer, the Avadis you once knew as Willow.—
“Why three?” I asked. “That seems like a random number.”
—Three and seven are two of the numbers of power, numbers sacred to the Powers That Be. You need three non-Powered Guardians to restrain one Avadis and seven to restrain three, while one Powered Guardian can restrain up to three Powered Avadis.—
“Wait. There are Powered Guardians?” I asked. “I was wondering. I mean, if the Powers That Be went through all the trouble to create me, it stands to reason they should have created a Powered Guardian, too.”
—There is one. The Guardian waits for you to be ready to fight the Avadis, and they grow more impatient.—
“Who is it?” I asked. “Is it Willow?”
“Raven, Lauren is here,” Andrew said from the open doorway. “She wanted to know if she should stop by and tell Nathan that you can’t make it tomorrow or if you’re going with her. What should I say?”
I dropped Cain’s hand and turned. “One second; let me ask Cain if I can go.” I turned back to Cain, but he was gone. I sighed. “I guess that’s a yes, then?”
I stood up, wincing as the blood rushed back into my left foot, which had apparently been asleep for a long time. I walked out into the living room to find Andrew and Lauren sitting on the sofa together. I took the nearby armchair.
“How did the first lesson go?” Andrew asked.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” I said, something Andrew had been known to mutter from time to time. He said it was from a very old children’s book that predated the Silent War. He had apparently found it while scrounging in an old library some years back. It had sounded very strange to me when he had attempted to tell me the story.
“What do you mean?” Lauren asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t really know what to think yet. I feel like I have more questions now than I did before the lesson.”
I told them about the lesson. Cain hadn’t told me to keep the story a secret, after all, and I wanted Andrew’s opinion. Lauren’s too since she was there.
Andrew looked surprised as I spoke, then thoughtful. “I have read a few old scientific texts from before the Silent War,” he said. “Some of them suggest that there was life among the stars. It’s interesting to have your Cain confirm it. I wonder what else he could confirm for us.”
I shook my head. “He’s so hard to read sometimes. Who even knows?” I stood and stretched. “Lauren, I’m going to say yes, I’m still going to sword practice. Cain didn’t tell me not to, and I’m supposed to set the schedule, so I’ll have my lesson with Cain early tomorrow.”
I yawned. It had been a long day, and I was tired. What had started as a normal day of painting had ended with me agreeing to be trained by Cain, taking on extra tasks for Andrew and Captain Keogh, and somehow, still squeezing in my sword practice every other day. I had some busy days ahead of me, and I had no idea how long all of this was going to take. Suddenly, I was exhausted.
“I’m going to bed,” I announced with a yawn. “I’m tired.”
Andrew nodded. “Understandable. Lauren, would you like to stay for another chess game?” Lauren nodded. “We won’t disturb you, Raven?”
I shook my head. “I probably won’t even hear you after a few minutes.” I dropped a kiss on Andrew’s cheek and walked into my bedroom. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I lay awake for a little while, listening to the quiet murmur of Andrew and Lauren talking to each other.
Everything was changing again.
Chapter 6
I was wandering a riverbank, somewhere deep in a forest. Along the river, almost as if they were growing there, were the faces of people I had known while I was growing up. Here were Casey’s parents. Here was Ms. Crumple, the schoolteacher. There were some of the kids I had known at school. Doctor John Senior. Diego Salas, who had always yelled at me and Casey when we had dared to pass by his house on our way back from school. Curiously absent was Casey, my best friend growing up. Where were they?
“They’re all dead,” a heart-wrenchingly familiar voice said behind me. I turned. It was Lilly. Not as I had seen her last, as a ghost, or from my dreams when I had had pneumonia. Lilly as she had been when she was pulled out of the river, freshly dead. She was paler than milk, and her long black hair hung about her in wet straggles. She was barefoot, her feet covered in scratches, and, except for a large lab coat, she was naked.
“Lilly?” I asked, but I wasn’t certain. Lilly had moved on.
“I’m dead, and they’re all dead, and we’re all dead, and it’s all your fault!” she yelled. “You didn’t try hard enough to save us!”
The faces in the river turned to me, each looking angry. “Your fault,” they all said.
“No!” I objected. “I was just a kid! I didn’t even know I was a Reaper until it was too late!”
“What about those who have died since you learned?” Lilly demanded, stepping forward. I backed away.
“I can’t do anything about that! If I try to fight another Avadis too soon, I could hurt myself! I could die!” I backed away again as Lilly stepped closer.
“Says who?” she sneered. “Some interloper with an arbitrary deadline?”
That stopped me. My uncertainty intensified. “You’re not Lilly,” I said. “Lilly never sneered like a brat, and she didn’t know words like interloper or arbitrary. This is a dream.”
“Get her!” the dream Lilly howled, and the ghosts of my past popped out of the ground and swarmed over me. I felt dirty fingers grabbing at me. They dragged me down and started to shove dirt over me as they held me down.
“NO!” I gasped, sitting up in my bed.
Cain was there, standing at the foot of my bed. After the nightmare, and in the predawn light, he looked especially creepy. I nearly yelped. Still, I knew it was him. Any other time I would have found that comforting. Just...not after a nightmare.
“Morning, Cain,” I grumbled. “You have the worst timing. What do you want? It’s too early to be awake. I’m not going to do any Reaper training yet, so you can just poof off to wherever.”
He held out a hand towards me, and I sighed but took it. —You have scars,— he said. —You may bear them all your life. If you are lucky, they will heal and fade with time. For now, they are still fresh. There is no shame in having them.—
I blinked and rubbed my eyes with my free hand. “Cain, it’s too early for this. What are you talking about?”
—The loss of your soul sister, Lilly Taida, and the fight with the child Amanda Felicity Palmer...they have left scars on your mind. You may always have nightmares. There is no shame in that.— I heard his sigh when I only blinked blankly up at him. —Yesterday, I implied that you were weak for having these dreams and for seeking help for them. You were right to seek help. You are not weak. I am sorry for implying you were.—
I yawned. “Okay, Cain. I can tell this is important to you. I’m not mad about anything you said yesterday. We were both mad at each other, and maybe we said and did things that we shouldn’t have.” I threw off the covers. “I’m going to pee and go back to sleep if you’re not here for some other important reason.”
He popped away again.
I got up and went to the bathroom. Georgette met me at the door when I had finished, her tail wagging in the way it did when she had to go to the bathroom as well, so I took her down to the street for a walk. By the time I got back into the apartment, Andrew was up. I made him some eggs and toast before he went off to City Hall for the day. And then, whether I liked it or not, I was awake.
I went up to the dome of the Tower and looked at my painting supplies, but I didn’t really feel like finishing that last skyscape. Instead, I sat on Lilly’s bed and heaved a sigh. “Okay, Cain, you can come and give me my next lesson,” I announced to the empty air around me. He appeared beside me and sat on the bed next to me. “Mask,” I reminded him, pointing. Once again, there was that feeling of a sigh, but he took off the mask before holding out his hand for me to take.
—Let us try something different. You have done this before inadvertently,— he said. —I want you to close your eyes and listen. Listen to the world around you, the world of the living. I want you to push away everything you can hear of the world of the living and listen instead for the world of the dead. You can hear it now. It is only that the world of the living is so much louder for you by comparison. Listen for the silence.—
I sighed. This did sound familiar, now that he mentioned it. I guessed that was what I had done with Willow. I was still too tired to want to do this, but if this is what he wanted me to try...I closed my eyes and listened. For several minutes I sat there, feeling foolish, listening to the rain beat down on the roof of the dome, my foot slowly falling asleep.
“I don’t think I can do this, Cain,” I muttered.
—It may not come easily to you. Keep trying. You must be able to do this quickly in the future,— he counseled.
I sighed again but obediently listened. Rain. I pushed past it. Wind. I pushed past that also. My cheek itched, and I scratched it idly and pushed past it. Somewhere far below at street level, a car horn blared. Birds sang in the park. A heartbeat. I pushed it all away and tried to listen to the silence.
Two stories down was old Mrs. Kelper. She was a sweet old lady. She would watch Georgette for me sometimes. She was sick, some kind of cough. She had been for weeks. Up in the dome, I heard her cough. She took a deep, rattling breath, and before I could push that sound away and move past, I felt her die.
I jerked out of the trance I had been in and away from Cain. I flew to the door, out into the rain, and down. I pounded on Mrs. Kepler’s door and then tried the handle. She didn’t always remember to lock it. I found her standing beside her body, a Reaper in white holding her hand. Cain appeared at my side. He offered me his hand, which I took.
—She says she knew you felt her die, and she’s sorry you had to feel it,— he said gently. —I am sorry as well. I did not think of what may happen, of what you would feel if someone were dying nearby. Forgive me, Lenore, for not thinking. I am...accustomed to death, to dying. You are young and are not. Although, in time, you will also need to become accustomed, I will try to shield you for a time.—
I became aware of tears on my cheeks. “I better call the police,” I said as Mrs. Kepler winked out of view. I wiped at my face. “And...gods, I don’t know how I’m going to explain that I knew she was gone. Most people think my only Power is flying. Flying is so much more acceptable than having the Power of a Reaper.”
—Lie,— Cain suggested. —You knew she was sick. Say you were visiting her, to check on her, and you were here when she died. Only those that need to should know of your true Power. Andrew Bedford and Angelina Keogh, and whomever they decide are worthy.— And then he was gone, leaving me alone with the body of old Mrs. Kepler.
I called the police. I sat outside the apartment, waiting for them, my head on my knees. I felt...tired. Beyond tired. I felt sick. Heartsick and almost like I wanted to throw up. I cried a little more as I waited. Mrs. Kepler was nice. I had liked her...
“Raven?” Lauren asked.
I picked my head up off my knees and wiped at my damp face. I was relieved it was her. I let her help me up. With her was another officer I didn’t really know that well but vaguely recognized as her current partner.
“Let’s get your statement out here,” she said. “Ares, why don’t you look things over while I talk to Raven?” They nodded and went into the apartment. “So, what happened?”
I hesitated, then decided Cain was probably right. “Privately,” I whispered. “It’s a Reaper thing. I’ll talk to Captain Keogh.”
She nodded and whispered back, “Officially?”
I cleared my throat and started again, louder. “I wanted to check on Mrs. Kepler. I knew she was sick, and she minds Georgette sometimes. She called for me to come in, and then she started coughing. I tried to get her some water, but by the time I got to her...” I ran a hand through my hair, uncomfortable with the lie.
“Did you try to revive her?” Lauren asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know how. I keep meaning to take the class...but I keep forgetting.”
There was a free class at City Hall where people could learn basic first aid and CPR. It restarted once a month at the beginning of the month. If it weren’t for that class, Harold and Liese wouldn’t have been able to revive me when I had died. That would have been it for me.
“Where is she?” an angry voice demanded. We turned, and I was sorry to recognize Mrs. Kepler’s son, with his slick black hair and his fancy suit.
“Great,” I muttered.
“You freak!” he snarled and started towards me. “You’re responsible for this!”
Lauren, bless her, stood between us. “Hello, Mister Kepler. We’re still investigating at this time, but it appears Raven found your mother.” She turned to me. “Raven, I have your statement; you can go back upstairs now. Captain Keogh will let you know if we need anything else. Oh, and don’t worry about sword practice tonight. We’ll just skip it.”
I fled.
I trudged to the elevator, punched in my code for our apartment, and let the lurching death machine take me home. I ran to my room when it opened again and flopped down on my bed. Georgette whimpered, following me into the room. She jumped up next to me and licked the tears off my face. I hugged her close.
“I’m okay, Georgie girl,” I lied. “I’m okay.”
Chapter 7
After a long cry and a longer nap, I trudged tiredly into the police station. I hadn’t gotten any painting done after all. I didn’t feel up to it. Not that day. Taking a day off from work would put me behind on the commissions, but...I just couldn’t face them. I had promised to go through the files, though, so I dragged myself to the station.
“Hey, kiddo,” Lieutenant Avery greeted me at the desk. “You look like something the cat dragged in. Rough day?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I managed wearily. “The short version is: a nightmare, I haven’t painted anything at all today, and Mrs. Kepler from downstairs died while I was visiting her.”
“That’s pretty rough,” he agreed and held out a plastic clip-on badge for me. “Captain Keogh said you were doing some work for us, so she had a visitor’s badge made up for you.”
I took it. “I’m really not looking forward to going through those files. They’re kind of weird and creepy.”
“Which ones? The captain only said you were going through some of the old files in room forty-two.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a secret. It’s the stuff from that facility a year and a half ago.”
He raised an eyebrow. “We still have those? I forgot all about them. Let me know if you find anything interesting.”
“If Captain Keogh says it’s okay, I will,” I agreed and walked away toward the faceless hallway that contained room #42.
I picked another box at random and brought it to the table, along with an empty box for any medical files I might find. I broke the evidence tape and opened the box to find...pamphlets. Yay. I didn’t even like reading those when they weren’t written by a bunch of homicidal maniacs.
I picked one up at random and read the cover.
Cleaner Living Through Christ
Oh. Great. They weren’t just regular homicidal maniacs. They were religious homicidal maniacs. My favorite flavor.
There were a few along that vein. Sinners Go to Hell; There is Only One True Way; and A Brief History of the Right Hand of God. Stifling a sigh, I opened the pamphlet titled A Brief History of the Right Hand of God and began to read. It sounded the least horrifying.
Exodus 22:18 — Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
September 2112: the plague took the world by surprise.
There was no warning, no heavenly sign. Not for the plague nor for the famine that followed. And certainly not for the scourge that came only a few years later.
Aberrations.
The children born after the plague...many of them showed unnatural talents. At the time, no one knew what to do with them, what to call them, what they were. But the Right Hand of God knew them for what they were.
