Guardians

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                After they finished eating, Theo gave Newt his gift; beer.

                They went to his room, played some video games, and then left before afternoon hit, because that’s the time chaos normally occurs.

                Newt was all alone now. Mundane hit him hard. He began to drift, in and out of consciousness. After a couple of minutes of fighting his slumber, he finally gave in, and let the unconscious state invade him.  

                Guardians have access into the minds of our mortals; we see thoughts, dreams, whatever penetrates their minds.

                                                                                          ***

                   Newt is only eight years old in his dream.

                He is playing in the backyard with Teresa and Minho. They are playing hide-and-seek. Newt gets tagged by Minho, and now it’s his turn to seek Teresa and Minho. He begins counting, while sealing his eyes shut. “One…Two…Three…,” He finally reaches twenty, and begins his search. He first looks for them in a bush, then behind a tree. After innumerable minutes of nothing, Newt rests his back against a tree, and begins to gulp the air. He closes his eyes, and begins to think of their location; nothing. He releases a loud sigh, and he then hears the sound of shoes tapping against a hardwood floor. Newt follows the sound. He peeks through the blinds of the backyard glass double doors. The sun reflects onto the glass, making it difficult to see. He squints to get a better view; it’s a man.

                His figure was blurred from the suns reflection, but the details Newt did notice, was, that the man was Caucasian, with scarlet hair, and a charcoal colored suit.

                He is hovering over two beverages, and began pouring some peculiar liquid into one of the drinks. Newt begins contemplating the situation. He isn’t sure if he is hallucinating; he still doesn’t know. Then his father walks in with his wife right on his heels. Newt can’t hear what they are saying, but he can tell his father is introducing the obscure man to his mother. They do a series of shaking hands, and when introductions are decease, Newt’s mother exits out of the room. The obscure man and his father, share small talk, and release a series of laughter. Then their expressions become serious. Newt’s father leans over to the obscure man, and whispers something to him. The man nods in agreement, and they both grin, and toast their drinks.

                Newt’s concentration on his father is interrupted when Teresa sneaks up behind him, and taps his shoulder. Newt jerks his body back in sheer fright. His finger slices the blinds, as he turns around frantically; to witness his sisters amused expression.

                “What happen to you? Did you give up?” she asks. “I know I’m an amazing hider, but at least you could have made the effort to try to find me, instead of spying,” she says with a cocky tone, and a smirk.

                “Um…no,” Newt says nervously. He looks at his bloody finger, and bites his lip, from the anguish of the little cut. “I got distracted, but I’m back now.” He taps his sister’s arm, and tells her she is out. She protests at first, but becomes the seeker, after realizing she isn’t getting anywhere with this stubborn eight year old.

                Their game goes on for several minutes, and comes to halt, when a high pitched shriek fills the air. It sends chills down Newt’s spine. All of the movements, smiles, and speaking comes to an abrupt stop.  Everyone is immobilized, with faces full of dread, from the sense of apprehension.  

                Another bloodcurdling cry shatters the air, mortifying them all. However, this time they were able to comprehend the cry; it was a cry for help.

                “Get an ambulance!” the voice screams in terror. Newt’s eyes go wide with fear, because it was his mother’s voice.  Newt looks at Teresa, then Minho, and they both stare back. Newt watches Teresa as she scurries off into the house. He watches her shoes kick up dirt and grass. It’s like he watches it all occur in slow motion. Minho soon follows Teresa, also picking up dirt and grass along the way.

                Newt is still frozen, just staring blankly at the glass doors. Then someone begins to call his name, “Newt! Newt! Newt!-.”  He finally snaps out of his daze, and then he slowly begins to walk towards the sound, uncertain if he is imagining it all. The shouts, turn into cries of help. Newt increases his speed, and goes into a run. He soon stops abruptly once he is inside; he face turns a ghostly white.

                He stares at his father’s body on the floor. Newt stares at him for a couple of seconds, realizing he isn’t breathing. “Is-he-is-.” Newt begins to stutter, and begins to choke up, by just thinking of mentioning the word, “Dead.” A lump in his throat starts to strangle him, causing tears to spew from his eyes. He starts to tremble in fear, and his vision goes blurry. He feels sick with fear, and the room starts to spin.

                Then a shout brings him back to his senses. “Hey!” Teresa shouts through the commotion, and wraps her arms around her wailing brother, then releases him a couple of seconds later.  “Dad is going to be okay, now I need you to be a big boy and stop crying,” she says, smiling wryly at him. “Can you do that for me?” Newt nods, and Teresa wipes his tears away. “Good boy.” She ruffles his hair, and continues, “Now I need you to go get a cold towel, and a bucket of water, can you do that for me please?” she asks sweetly.  Newt nods, and runs off to fetch the objects.

                What Newt didn’t know at that time was that the towel, and bucket of water was useless, it only served as a distraction from the truth.

                When he returns back to the room, the medics are already putting his father on the stretcher. Newt drops the bucket containing water, and the cold towel, ignoring the fact that the water splashed all over him. All he could do was look around. Then a thought comes to him. Where is the man? Newt thinks. Then he makes another observation. There is a shattered wine glass on the floor. The drink. That man killed my dad, Newt thinks to himself. He finally snaps out of his thoughts, in enough to see his tear stained mother walk out the front door.  Newt runs after her, ignoring the comments from Teresa. He stares at his mother as she enters the vehicle. She stares back, with eyes, giving off the expression that it’s all over. Like everything is gone. Newt watches as the truck pulls off, and there is a man in the distance, who winks at him. Newt closes his eyes, and when he opens them, the man is gone.

                                                                                 ***

                Newt springs up, out of his dream, with sweat pouring down his face, followed by a rapid heartbeat.  Newt wipes the sweat off his brow and sighs anxiously.  He looks around frantically, as if something is going to come out and dispatch him, then he notices the beer on the nightstand, and reaches for the bottle.

                This is Newts first time ever tasting an alcoholic beverage. Predominantly, because his mother never allows it, but this time his mother has no knowledge of him possessing an alcoholic substance.

                Newt takes a sip, and feels the alcohol slip down his throat. It stings the inside of his throat in the process, and his face twists in a sour expression, as if he tasted the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon.  I chuckle a bit at this, because it was hilarious.

        He spit out some of the beer at first, but eventuallyhe got use to the taste, and drank on.