The Curse of the Guardian
Chapter 3

The whole design of the Mountain view shopping center, apartment building, motel, gas station and car mechanic shop was odd to say the least. It is like a little island of civilization in the middle of nowhere, nothing but an old road that used to be popular and connected two big cities but has become obsolete when the interstate was built and yet somehow this little slice of heaven was still alive and surviving. I call it a little slice of heaven, because that is exactly what it has been to me and my cousin, but not everyone sees it this way. Since we first came here I learned that it is actually quite common in America to have gas stations around the backyard roads and if someone takes a liking to it, they can buy and develop the land. Sometimes it leads to major development and a lot of money, and sometimes it disappears and becomes obsolete. Why and how Mountain View survived is all thanks to its architect and investor.

We don’t know much about Sebastian Kamen except that he is a vampire of unknown origin and that about 60 years ago he purchased this land that nobody wanted, miles between the two big cities and built himself a gas station with a diner. Or maybe it’s a restaurant with a gas station? He says he didn’t want to deal with the vampire politics so he used the confusion around the Vampire war that ravaged the North American continent in the forties and the fifties, and bought himself a plot of land. This was one of the few unclaimed lands that he liked and he wanted to make it big. He failed. It was very successful for a few years, so much so that his little diner grew, and he had to add a mechanic shop next to it, since that was a big demand and just across the busy road a motel was built for the travelers and next to the motel he started to build a few shopping stores, a shopping center of sorts. But that’s when the interstate took most of the travelers and working men away. From being busy and growing the whole area came to stagnate and after 20 years of prosperity everything came to a halting stop. Instead of building a huge shopping mall, Sebastian opted for just a strip of buildings with shops in the front and apartments on top of the stores. Later on he added apartments in the back as well and thus finished construction. Every couple of years he would update buildings making sure they were up to standard and that his tenants are happy and willing to stay, but there was no new growth. Most people who lived in the apartments worked in the stores below them or the motel, or they drove an hour to the nearest city. He offered to rent a store at a super cheap price and it came with an apartment as an incentive for people to stay here. All you have to do is sign a tenant contract for a few years, so that he can make sure there is always someone there, taking care of the stores and apartments. The business may not be as big as if we lived in a city, but we make do and survive.

We had rented the shop that was the farthest from the road, a bakery and an apartment that was across from it. Sebastian was very apologetic since shop owners usually get the apartment above the shop, but it worked out better for us in the long run. Apartments in the back had a little patio and an access to the forest, which works perfectly, if I have to shift and run out in the middle of the night. Above the bakery lived an old lady, a previous renter, who had become too old to run the store alone and gave it up, but she stayed at the apartment since she had nowhere else to go. Next to the bakery there was an adult store that specializes in sex toys and lingerie and next to that one there was a thrift store that has an absurd amount of prom dresses on sale all year round. I would often go take a look and wonder how do these two stores stay in business, especially the sex store which was open 24/7. I have never heard of a sex store that would be open 24/7, but every time I would question the owner, all I would receive was a cryptic smile and a question how much do I really want to know about his customers who require a sex store to be open at all time.

The liquor store that was next to the thrift store had a nice collection of alcohol and it offered a service where they can procure any beverage you want from any part of the world. They actually have a saying that if they can’t get you what you want in 21 days, you get it for free and we use the service often. I use it to amuse myself and to try alcohol from different parts of the world, but Mia uses it to help her with her spells since they can procure any liquid you desire. The last store was actually two smaller stores combined into one big general store, they just knocked down a wall in between and made it bigger and roomier. They have most everything we need so that we don’t need to venture into bigger cities, but they did not offer a lot of variety. Above the stores there were six apartments and the same layout was in the back of the building, six apartments on the first floor and six on the second. The apartments were all the same, two bedrooms with a little bathroom in between and one big room that was a living room with kitchen combined. Thankfully the bathroom had its own washer and dryer so we didn’t have to go to the laundromat every time we needed to do laundry.

In front of the stores there was a big parking lot which could park about 40 cars and on the other end of it, there was a Mountain View Motel. Motel was L shaped and it had 20 rooms, with some rooms specialized for vampire visitors, with darkened windows and a sun proof hole in the floors. The motel would go through empty and completely full periods depending on the season.

The road was what separated the area, and on the other side of the road there was a beautiful old timey diner, where Sebastian worked most nights. On the right of the diner were a few gas pumps and on the left a car mechanic store. Sebastian often said that the area grew as it was needed, and that he only started with a diner and added the rest later. He missed more people and more traffic but even he admitted that we had a nice community and that there are more than enough people to make money and a nice living.

I was sitting outside on the patio, sipping my imported beer from Chech Republic and thinking about the situation we have found ourselves in. When I woke up Mia was in the kitchen making dolls out of straw and hair, and because I didn’t want to bother her I ventured outside. When we moved in we made a little fence that would offer us some privacy from the neighbors, although living so close to each other privacy was mostly just in us averting eyes and pretending not to hear what we aren’t meant to hear. It wasn’t much, but it was our first real home since we came to America and I treasured every minute of it. I was actually thinking of asking Sebastian to rent my own apartment when it becomes available and while still living in the same building as Mia, not living in the same apartment. I loved living with my cousin but we were both over thirty and we made enough money that living together is no longer necessary.

Mia interrupted my train of thought as she sat next to me, her own drink in hand. She was looking tired and anxious as she sipped wine.

“I contacted Martha to ask for permission to use Wolf Creek park for my ritual and Delilah was the one to answer.” Mia said after a few minutes of silence.

“Delilah answered? I wonder why.” I said,

“I thought Martha was still the leader of the coven? Or did she name Delilah her successor?” Mia looked more troubled with each question I asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling. She basically demanded that I come over to her cafe so we can talk things through in person.” I raised an eyebrow.

“She demanded?” Mia nodded.

“Yeah. It was odd. I felt like she was trying to accuse me of something or get some information. Problem is I have no idea what she wants from me…” I shrugged. I finished my beer and took a deep breath.

“Do you really need to perform in that area? Is there no other way?”

She drank the last of her wine and looked to the forest.

“Honestly I could make do with doing the ritual without their permission, since the chances of them replaceing out that we are there is low. But I wanted to be courteous and Martha never had an issue of me being in their territory, she just wanted to know when and where. I really didn’t expect this to become something more than a call.” I tapped my fingers on the wooden table and smiled.

“When do we go?”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“Are you sure you want to come?”

I laughed, knowing that witches are the least scary things out there.

“Do you really think I would let you go alone to Delilah’s café? She is not as strong as her grandmother, but she is twice as mean. She would not be my first pick as a coven leader with her personality.” I burped loudly, and Mia made a face, but my manners weren’t the problem she wanted to go into at the moment. She checked her phone.

“She wants to meet tonight. As soon as possible.” I groaned and got up. I looked up and down at myself, realizing I could use a change of clothes. I went to the bedroom and motioned to my cousin.

“Let’s go then. We don’t want to leave the future coven mistress waiting. She might curse us with pustules and boils, and that would be a pain to deal with.” I made my cousin giggle as she followed me.

Driving to Delilah’s café took an hour unless you were speeding and since it was getting late, my foot was heavy on the gas. The drive was uneventful and silent until we entered the so-called witches territory. As soon as the car crossed the invisible boundary we felt an immense pressure and it almost caused me to crash the car. Luckily it only lasted a second and as soon as it started it also ended.

“What the fuck was that!” I said, slightly distraught as I stopped the car in the middle of an empty road.

“They set up a warning boundary.” Mia said, breathing hard.

“Whoever set it up can feel any supernatural creature entering or exiting the territory. This is a massive spell and it needs to be constantly worked on. It is a huge waste of power… I don’t understand.” She took another deep breath, clearly still feeling the boundary spell. She looked at me wide eyed.

“Something’s wrong. They wouldn’t have this kind of spell just up at the borders.” I slowly started the car again, going slowly toward the city of Savannah.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe it was meant for us? That they just wanted to know when we entered their territory?” Mia shook her head no.

“No, I told her we will come today, and she didn’t know until a few hours ago. This spell takes a long time to set up.” We continued driving in silence, both lost in thought.

The city of Savannah and surrounding area that coven considered their territory was about 10,000 people. Not the biggest of towns, but also not the smallest. The coven was very specific about who can and who can’t live in their territory, making sure there are no shifters or vampires on their turf. As far as we know, only witches and their kin are allowed, and humans of course. When we considered staying in the area, coven leader Martha wanted to recruit Mia into the coven. I wouldn’t be welcomed to stay within the town area, but the bakery was outside of the territory so it would have been a good arrangement since I would be staying with the bakery and in the apartment next to it and Mia would live with the witches in town. Mia almost said yes, but after their first coven meeting she was firmly against it.

Apparently they tried to cast a spell of some sort, to test how powerful she was, and some of the coven members used the spell to try and siphon off Mia’s magic. She discovered the attempt and turned it around on them. She told Martha that she would rather be a loner than stay in a coven with such blatant disrespect to visitors, especially since Martha wouldn’t punish the witches, calling it a teenager transgression.

We claimed the bakery as ours, although strictly speaking it did belong to Sebastian and Sebastian was a vampire who paid a tithe to the local Vampire family. The family claimed Memphis as theirs with most of the surrounding area, so they weren’t as worried about Sebastian as the witches were about Mia. Luckily for us, Sebastian cared very little about one lone witch and one lone shifter, and he was actually excited to have Mia around since he used her services quite often.

Sebastian declared his land as a neutral territory but I had the feeling he made some kind of a deal, other than regular payments, with the Memphis family in order for them to leave him alone. He was old and powerful, and it didn’t really make sense why he would work in a diner in the middle of nowhere, but you do not question the old vampires.

“I wonder if there is a turf war going on with the Family?” I suggested, but Mia shook her head. “I don’t think so. I talked to Ethan a few weeks ago, and he didn’t suggest anything like that. He gushed about how effective my healing oil is, claiming that it heals even old scars. He was saying he would want to hire me on a monthly basis, to make oils just for him and the Family.”

That was news to me. Ethan was the human servant of the Family and their daytime man. He was the highest a human could climb in a vampire family and if he spoke to her about a position it means it was approved from above.

“What did you say?” I asked quietly. Working for the vampire family would bring her a lot of money and a status that she would not be able to achieve on her own.

“That I would think about it, but I like my loner status, so he shouldn’t count on it.” I tapped the steering wheel.

“And he took that nicely?” She wouldn’t answer me and rather looked outside. I sighed loudly enough for her to know that I was bothered by her non response, but didn’t push her any more.

The witches had their café in the very middle of the town so parking was usually hard to replace, but this time there was an empty spot right in front of the entrance. I glanced at Mia, snorting at their use of magic but Mia was firmly looking out of the window, being all gloomy. I parked the car, and put my hand on hers, so that she wouldn’t rush out.

“What did Ethan offer, Mia?” I asked again, this time expecting an answer. She looked at me defiantly, as if she was a teenager breaking the rules and I was the mother. She knew I resent the implication of being overly motherly and overbearing so she used it against me to prove a point.

“It doesn’t matter what I was offered, my dear Sasha, so what is the point of talking about it? You know that I have to keep hidden and that I need to protect my magic, especially from vampires who might have a memory of what pagan magic is actually capable of. No matter what they offer me, working for vampires directly is one thing I can not do.” She left to go outside and I let her. Sometimes I wonder what we would be, if she had never disappeared, but today I didn’t dare to think too much about it. It was getting late and I wanted to go back home and leave the witches territory behind me.

I watched Mia walk away and sighed. I was toying with a bead on the only bracelet I wore, a bracelet that Mia made me and she had an exact copy on her. The bracelets were magically spelled so that if something happens to one of the wearers, the other bead would feel it. If Mia would get hurt, my bead would let me know. It does have some inaccuracies though and if Mia’s bracelet would fall off due to wear and tear, my bead would inform me that she has died, but other than that it was a good system and I relied on it telling me if something were to happen.

I sat in the car for five minutes when I felt my consciences slip. It wasn’t actually a slip, it was more of a jump. It was as if I was standing on the edge of the mountain and looking down to the abyss and I simply walked off the edge. I felt the powerful wind going through me, enveloping my body and eventually going through it. I no longer possessed a physical body, I was only energy rushing through space and what seemed like an hour was barely a millisecond. If I would do this of my own free will it would be called astral projection and I would enjoy the feeling of a powerful wind carrying me over space and time, but this time it was not voluntary.

The very first time I used astral projection was by accident in a dream world and to this day it is one of the most powerful experiences of my life. It started off with a regular dream that I don’t even remember, but I became conscious during it and wanted to end the dream by jumping off a cliff and instead of waking up, I flew. It was the same wind, the same loss of body and the feeling of being free. The feeling of wind rushing through your body, ignoring the muscles, skin or bones is odd to say the least, especially since I felt every last strand of hair on my head. The wind made my hair alive and I could feel my hair floating around as an entity searching and wriggling. That was not even the weirdest experience, that happened to me that very first time, but it was the most intense. As I was flying through space I saw bubbles of visions all around me and I flew through them. Bubbles had different entities, sometimes humanoid and sometimes not, in them and I believe it was a bubble of time caught in whatever space I was in. Some creatures seemed as if they were from the past and some looked very futuristic, more like robots and androids than magical. Some would notice me and smile, making me feel warm and happy and some did not seem to notice me at all. Later when I had time to think, I came to a conclusion that I entered a space where time is standing still and flows at the same time and the bubbles were the most important moments that happened and changed the course of the timeline. Or maybe it was all just a weird dream and everything I imagined was simply that, my imagination.

That first experience inspired me to try and actually use astral projection and I became quite proficient in it, but it was altogether a different experience. I would leave my body behind and still stay in the same space, unable to interact with things but able to converse with Mia in a different room. It was more akin to being a ghost who can travel fast and across the continent, although I have yet to successfully travel across the ocean to another continent.

But this time, it felt like that very first time, as if I was once again traveling through space with a speed that dissolved my body, toward one particular bubble, a bubble that was calling my name, crying and begging for help. It took me a while to recognize a voice in distress since it was muffled and so far away, but eventually a name came across my mind. Sarah, the little witch. As soon as I recognized the cries I flew even faster and suddenly the bubble was in view. It took me only a second to see what was happening, but luckily for me a second in this space was more than enough to make a plan.

I saw a room that was in the middle of being remodeled, half of the room covered in plastic and different colors on the wall, and all of the furniture was pushed to the middle, making space for plastic to be laid down on the edges. Right at the middle there was a bright pink bed with a bump under the covers, a bump that was shivering and screaming. There was a shadow standing above it, its mouth unhinged trying to suck the magic or maybe the child’s soul away.

The magical cry for help that called me left an open invitation to anyone else who can sense it and that was a danger in itself. I knew I had to destroy the shadow soon and close the gaping hole that Sarah had made in the magic circle, before something else answered the call for help. I felt my form gain more sustenance and I changed into a bear, as claws can make a big difference in astral form. I knew I was big and if Sarah could see me she would probably think of me as another monster, but sometimes you need to become a monster to kill other monsters.

The shadow turned around when it sensed my presence and that’s when I noticed that a shadow was actually a separate entity and that someone was controlling it from afar. A warlock most likely bound this shadow creature or maybe created it, but I wasn’t sure of the reason behind its creation. It made matters more difficult because killing the shadow won’t destroy the master, but it might wound him or her enough to make them stop trying. The shadow opened its mouth more and shot a beam of magic it just stole from Sarah as a laser beam toward me. I jumped to the side, but the beam caught my side and it burned me. I growled in pain and jumped toward the shadow, claws ready to slash. The shadow didn’t move, thinking my attack could not harm it and that was the mistake. My claws are six inches long and thick and I could feel them slashing the shadows belly. I put both of my paws inside the belly and pulled out, essentially separating the shadow in half. If it would have been human it would bleed all its blood volume in seconds, being slashed so deep, but as a shadow it merely tore in half. I could hear its master screaming, noting that it was definitely a female scream. It took only a few seconds for the master to relinquish its hold upon the shadow and while the connection was slowly dissolving I screamed, making sure the master heard me.

“I am the Guardian of the children, of the lost and the unseen, I am the protector and the assassin, I am your worst nightmare and the sweetest of dreams. If I ever replace you I will end your life and dance in your blood, making sure your soul is marked for eternity!” The connection dissolved completely, the master was gone and all that remained was a shadow pulled apart by me, and little Sarah, still crying under the covers. I leaned over the shadow, making sure it was harmless. When I was sure that the shadow could do no more damage, I changed my shape into human-like, although I did not truly look like me, at least now I had my face. I went toward Sarah, as I wanted to make sure she was ok, when I heard a faint thank you, coming from the shadow. I stopped and went back toward it, making sure it was still safe and dying. It was talking to me, but while I could not understand the words, I still understood its meaning. It was grateful to me for ending its life and for not letting it kill another child, and I could see its life in a series of flashbacks.

It was made out of the soul of a newborn, killed as soon as the baby took its first breath, and then given to a woman with very little magic power. The shadow was sent to various children of various ages and magical powers, and it was tasked with sucking their magic, killing most of the children in the process and then bringing back the magic to the woman. This has been going on for several years and the shadow developed a sense of self and it resented its owners but it was trapped. Now it was finally free and it could return to the proper cycle of death and rebirth, thanks to me. At least so it seemed, but the mark on its body was calling it back, pulling it toward its creator and the shadow was flailing, calling for release. I knew I had to do something but the only thing I could think to do was quite absurd and might not even work. I gathered myself, making myself more solid, and I plunged my hands inside the shadow, inside where the mark of its creator was seared into it. As soon as my hands touched the mark I could sense it, the soul of the baby and I whispered, pulling the baby into my embrace.

“Goddess of winter and death, goddess of rebirth and nightmares, I call upon you for this soul. Goddess Morana I call you as your faithful servant as I give unto you this twisted soul to be reborn as you are reborn every spring, sacrificing this meaningless life so it can be born unto you and convey your message across time and space, so that it can dream and worship, die and be reborn as is the proper cycle so the balance can be restored.” I lifted the soul in my arms and held it up high above my head, watching slowly as the mark started to change and mutate into something else entirely. The mark now looked like an x with a line at all the ends of the x and it was the mark of the Goddess Morana. She had accepted the soul as her own and marked it, overriding the previous mark. The soul of a baby slowly disintegrated into thin air and just for a second I wondered if I did the right thing, but surely a life in the service of a Goddess will be better than servitude to an evil warlock who uses you to kill others. At least now this soul will be reborn and maybe have a better life.

As I watched the little soul disappear, Sarah came standing next to me. I turned toward her and whispered:

“You are gonna be ok, little witch.” Her face was red and tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but she wiped the snot with her sleeves and looked from me to the shadow on the floor.

“Is it going to come back?” She reached her hands toward me, but I had no body for her to hold.

“No, the shadow is gone and whoever called it will be hurting for a while, so I think you are safe for now. But maybe go sleep with your momma for tonight.” She nodded and ran toward the door, not looking back. I sighed and watched the shadow dissipate, hoping that this will be it for today. As I looked around, I noticed a big gaping hole in the protection aura that surrounded the house, the hole through which the shadow and I came from. The hole was already disappearing and I had to hurry up and go back to my body, before my spirit got trapped within the protection circle.

The journey back was even faster than I expected and I suddenly appeared next to the car, staring at my lifeless body slumped in the front seat of the car. Two witches were eyeing me suspiciously and were walking toward the car, hands extended as if my lifeless body would attack them. It would be a laughable situation, if something dark on the horizon wouldn’t catch my eye. I turned away from my car and watched as a dark cloud was slowly coming towards us. It was so big, calling it a cloud was the only accurate description. It wasn’t just that it was dark, I could feel its evil intentions the longer I stared at it. The barrier that we felt as we entered the territory was stopping it, for now, but the cloud was growing wider, looking for a weakness so it could come in. I cursed and went back into my body, wondering how we didn’t notice the cloud before since it was in the same direction. I needed to talk to Mia.

Returning to my body was not a fast process. Before I was light and free and suddenly I had a body, muscles and bones and I felt incredibly heavy. I had to remind myself to breathe slowly, inhale and exhale. It took me several minutes before my body started moving and during that time I was incredibly weak and could be attacked by magical or physical means, which is why doing astral projection during a fight is really not the best time, even if it might help. When I finally had the strength to move my head I noticed the two witches, staring at me from the street. It took all of my strength to finally open the doors to the car and walk outside, trying to stretch my stiff body and make it work again.

It was a cold night outside I noticed, as freezing air filled my lungs and just what I needed to remind myself of how my body works. I wanted to ask the two witches if I could help them with something when the door to the café opened and furious Mia exited the building, yelling at someone behind her and her hands were formed into fists, as if she was readying for a fight.

Mia calmed down a little when she saw me standing and stretching, maybe realizing that something was amiss, and asked me if I wanted her to drive. Instead of saying anything I slowly and stiffly walked toward the passenger door and awkwardly entered the car. Mia entered the driver’s seat with fury and before I even had the chance of putting on my seat belt she drove away. I prayed to the Gods that I survive her driving, unlikely as that may be.