The Myth and The Guardian
Chapter 7

Austin waited for everyone in the house to go to bed before he snuck downstairs to the study. He had given some serious thought to asking Frank and Susan about the scar like he had intended to do at some point, but the fact that they already knew information about it made it hard for Austin to trust them. He figured they would lie if he asked because they obviously did not want him to know anything. He could not imagine what was so important about the scar that caused such an extreme amount of secrecy. They could not possibly know the supernatural aspects of the scar, or they would have mentioned it already. Austin assumed that the scar must be a way of linking him to something or someone, and they needed proof before assuming any facts had been established. He had a strong feeling that the scar would somehow be a source of information about his biological parents, and he could not understand why anyone would want to keep him from learning such essential information.

The house was dimly lit, and Austin could hardly see where he was going. He thought about getting the flashlight that was in his room, but he was already downstairs. He quietly opened the door to the study and closed it behind him. He had never been inside of Frank’s study, but he was not surprised about the abundance of scientific books that rested on the shelf. The room smelled of fresh paper and ink, but he detected a faint smell of cigar smoke. The entire book collection was alphabetized and filled the entire shelf. The top levels of the shelf were all scientific texts, but the bottom levels were filled with books on mythology from every culture known to man. Austin immediately turned his attention to the dark brown desk in the center of the room. He shuffled through documents, quizzes, tests, and papers of Frank’s students by moonlight, but there was nothing on the top of the desk that mentioned him.

Austin slid out the drawer on the left side of the desk and began rifling through the papers. There were assortments of personal documents inside of the desk, but the only one that regarded Austin was the adoption papers. Austin was beginning to think he would never replace anything inside of the study, and he wanted to return upstairs as soon as possible. Suddenly he noticed the feel of a book underneath the large stack of documents. He took a picture off of the desk and placed it underneath the papers, and he pulled the book from under the stack. The notebook had absolutely no writing on the outside cover, and Austin slightly hoped that it was a new notebook filled with blank pages. He opened the notebook and began to read the contents which revealed information that he did not see coming.

Every single entry was about him and described the details of his personality and actions. The very first entry was from his first dinner at the Wilson’s home:

“Austin is a remarkably bright boy with an intelligent and intellectual level that can only be described as unnatural or supernatural. Given the incident with his memory combined with his gifted mind, I am certain that he is exactly who we have been searching for all of these years.”

Austin read the words and felt a slight sense of confusion overtake him. There were numerous entries about him in the notebook, and all of them were detailed to perfection. Each entry included his behavior, responses to questions, reactions to people and situations, and there were word for word quotes from some of his answers and statements.

He skimmed more pages before turning to the last entry in the notebook which read:

“I believe Austin is beginning to remember events from his past as we have hoped he would. I catch him lost in his own thoughts as if he is trying to put together the missing pieces. His homework gives him no trouble at all, and he has nothing else to focus on with such depth. Susan and I are convinced that Austin is the boy who holds the key to our greatest conquest, but our affection for him is growing stronger daily. We know how valuable unlocking his secret would be for us as well as the entire world, but the risk of giving him the wrong impression and ruining his trust in us is far too great.”

Austin read the words and felt empathy for his adoptive parents. He shoved the notebook into its rightful place and quickly closed the drawer. He wanted to process all of the information immediately, but he had to get back upstairs before he started to get lost within his thoughts. He opened the door and looked into the living room area to make sure he was alone. He snuck out the door and faced it as he gently pulled the door shut and released the knob. He smiled as he realized he would be home free once he reached the stairs. If anyone caught him at that point then he could say he was thirsty, and nobody would give it a second thought. He reached the stairway and placed his right foot on the first step.

“What were you doing in there?” said a voice.

Austin started to shake and grabbed his private area to keep urine from coming out. His first thought was a plea for it not to be Frank or Susan. Once the sudden rush of urine had decreased, he put his hands down by his side and slowly turned around.

Chris was standing behind him with a beer bottle in his hand.

“Oh nothing. I was thirsty and decided to get myself a glass of milk.” Austin lied in the spur of the moment.

“The refrigerator is not in dad’s study, and mom drank the last of the milk earlier tonight while you were in the shower.” Chris said in a monotone voice.

“Do they know you drink beer?” Austin asked as he spotted the beer bottle and had an excuse to change the topic.

Chris looked down at the half empty beer bottle in his hand and slowly returned his eyes back to Austin.

“Well, I can’t sleep some nights, and the beer helps me relax.” Chris said finally showing some fear and concern. “Mom and dad know about it”. He managed to say in a stutter that let Austin know he was lying.

Austin looked at his new brother and shook his head slowly.

“I am sure they do which is why I am not going to mention it to them in the morning.” Austin said hoping Chris would take the hint.

“Right. Well I hope you enjoyed your juice which we always have in the refrigerator.” Chris said with emphasis on the word “juice”.

Austin thought for a moment and realized that there really was always some sort of juice in the refrigerator.

He smiled at Chris and said “Goodnight” before going back up the stairs.

Austin returned to his room as quickly as he could and immediately got into his bed. His heart was still racing from the scare he had received downstairs. His mind went into overdrive with the information he had just obtained. Although there was no mentioning of his scar in the notes, the notebook was too unusual to ignore. Why had Frank and Susan been looking for him? Who did they think he was supposed to be? Did they adopt him because they hoped he was the boy they had been searching for? What could he possibly do or know that was so important to the world? What could he do now that he knew they cared about him and he felt the same? What were they not telling him about who he is or who they believed him to be? How did Dr. Wilson know about the notebook, and would he tell him anything else if asked? These questions ran through the boy’s mind all night long, but there was not enough evidence to form any logical conclusion.

He had to replace more information about what everyone was hiding from him, but he could not do it too soon. If he started to act differently, they could get suspicious. All he could do, for the time being, was wait until some new information revealed itself or was discovered. He was growing impatient about not knowing anything about himself, and the fact that his adoptive parents knew more than they showed was annoying. He felt like they did not want to tell him anything about himself because they were trying to protect him, but he could not think of anything that would make him want to leave their family unless they knew something about his parents as well. Austin soon lingered on that thought for too long, and decided that his biological parents had to have something to do with the secrecy.

The Andersons knew some vital information about them and were refusing to share it. Austin could feel the anger starting to build up inside of him, but he soon thought about how much the Andersons had proved they cared. What if his parents were horrible people and used to abuse him? What if they are criminals who are wanted by some federal organization? What if they used some top secret scientific experiment to make him as smart as he is and they were killed trying to get him to safety? He thought about his previous thought again. What if his parents were dead? He remembered the first time he had experienced thoughts like that, and it was more painful this time. How would he react if he confirmed their deaths? He had no idea how it would change his relationship with his new family if any of the scenarios were true.

In the short amount of time it had taken him to think up each scenario, he realized how complicated the situation had to be for everyone. Suddenly, he decided to trust that his new family was doing the right thing by keeping the information from him right now. He was obviously not ready to handle any good or bad news about his biological parents. It appeared that his first assumption was the correct one. Frank and Susan were doing their best to protect him, and now he could see why they would feel as if they had to shelter him for a while. Austin guessed that they understood that his intelligence was far more evolved than his emotions, and certain news could damage a child.

“A child”. Austin thought more to himself.

He was Frank and Susan’s child, their son, and they were doing their best to be good parents. Austin allowed that to be his final thought of the night because of the good natured intention. Despite the reasons they had for lying to him, Frank and Susan loved him which was all that mattered to him for now.

The next morning, Austin woke up feeling refreshed and ready to return to focusing on his life. He got out of bed and got himself ready for the day. He brushed his teeth, fixed his hair, and got dressed, but he could not help but feel like he was forgetting something important. He thought he was forgetting a trivial step of his morning routine, but he stared at himself in the mirror and could not notice anything wrong.

“A picture of perfection” he jokingly said aloud. “The picture!” He yelled suddenly remembering the previous night.

He had left the picture on Frank’s desk inside of the drawer with the notebook. Frank would surely notice that the picture was not on his desk, and he would know someone was inside of his study if he found the picture inside the drawer.

Austin rushed downstairs and hoped that he would be able to put the picture in its rightful place before Frank noticed anything. He immediately went to the kitchen to see who were all sitting at the table for breakfast. Susan and Chris were already enjoying waffles, eggs, and orange juice. Austin tried to return to the living room without being noticed, but Susan saw him come in and turn immediately around.

“Good morning kiddo, is everything okay?” She said in a cheerful voice.

Austin panicked because he knew he could not say “yes” and then leave the kitchen without raising suspicions.

“Yes, everything is fine. I thought I forgot to brush my hair, but I can finish getting ready after breakfast.” Austin said in what he hoped was his normal voice.

He sat down and placed two waffles on his plate. He poured the syrup on his waffles and thought about spilling some on his clothes to create an excuse to be excused from breakfast.

“Chris would you go get your dad out of his study and remind him that waffles get cold faster than papers get graded.” Susan said hoping to get a slight bit of laughter from the boys.

“I will go tell him!” Austin said without thinking about controlling the volume of his voice. “I have to ask him something, and Chris has already started eating.” Austin added hoping he had cleverly explained his seemingly suspicious enthusiasm.

He got up slowly from the table and casually walked towards the living room. He reached the doors of the study still trying to prepare a lie when he was asked about the picture. He tapped on the door to the study and turned the knob.

“The door is open” Franks voice came booming from the other side of the door.

Austin pushed the door open and was relieved to see that Frank was on the phone with someone. His relief was suddenly replaced with nervousness as he noticed the picture sitting in its normal place on the desk. Austin did not know what to do as he was suddenly filled with panic which made him forget the lie he was planning on telling. There was only one way for Austin to avoid the inevitable situation for the time being.

“Susan is finished with the waffles and wants you to come and eat before they get cold.” Austin said a bit more quickly than he normally talked.

He immediately left the study and returned to the kitchen to finish his breakfast. Austin ate slowly as he thought about how Frank would react to the lack of respect for his personal belongings. Austin knew he was wrong, and he wondered how Frank would punish him for the betrayal of trust. He felt that the look on Frank’s face when he lectured him would be punishment enough. He cared so deeply about his new family, and any change in affection they exhibited toward him would be difficult to deal with no matter how much he may deserve it.

Austin was as quiet and still as a coma patient by the time Frank entered the kitchen. He looked at Frank and prepared to take his punishment like a mature individual, and he hoped his maturity would ease the situation as much as possible.

“Someone has been in my study without my permission” Frank said as he entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. “I am very disappointed and would like to remind everyone here about the importance of privacy.” Frank added without making eye contact with anyone yet. “Would anyone like to confess and tell me why they were in my study?” Frank said in an overly captious tone of voice.

Austin prepared himself for the moment after his confession. He knew that confessing, although difficult, would be easier than what followed the admission of guilt. Austin wet his suddenly dry lips and prepared for the inevitable.

“Chris, you left your keys on my desk. Now do you mind telling me why you were in my study?” Frank said staring directly at his son.

Chris was stuffing his mouth with waffles and hardly paying attention his dad.

“Oh my keys. I have been looking for those all morning. Thanks dad, where did you replace them?” Chris asked now aware that his father was talking to him.

“In my office Christopher, they were on my desk. Now what were you doing in my study?” Frank asked again showing signs of impatience.

“Easy with the “Christopher” dad. I had to print off my history paper and my printer was out of paper. I went to your study to get a few sheets.” Chris lied smoothly while forcing more pieces of waffles into his mouth.

Frank tossed the keys to Chris and looked at Susan.

“See how forgetful your son is dear? I told him to buy some more computer paper three days ago.” Frank said jokingly to Susan.

“Oh, he gets that from me does he? Says the man who nearly walked out of the house without pants on his first day of work.” Susan replied in a teasing voice.

They all laughed about the image and Frank looked over at Austin and smiled. “Austin, promise me that when you get older you will be able to remember more than girls phone numbers during your teenage years.” Frank said in a cheerful tone before taking a bite of his waffles.

“Dad nobody remembers phone numbers anymore. That’s why we love our cell phones so much.” Chris interrupted after finishing the last of his waffles.

Frank smiled and nodded his agreement to Chris’s statement.

“You guys have it so easy. You will never have to hear the “Oh you lost my phone number so I must not be important to you” speech. Frank replied after swallowing his food.

“Yeah dad, like you had a problem remembering all the phone numbers the women gave you when you were my age” Chris teased in a properly sarcastic tone.

“Well Casanova, I will have you know that your dad had plenty of trouble remembering phone numbers because...” Frank cut his sentence short as he noticed the glance his wife was giving him.

" because your mother, who was the only woman I had ever asked for a phone number, spoke really fast and had sloppy handwriting.” Frank said and immediately began eating the rest of his breakfast in silence.

Susan playfully hit Frank on the back of the head and kissed him good morning. Austin was smiling from the perfect family scene he was experiencing, and he could finally enjoy his breakfast. Susan asked if anyone wanted anymore orange juice as she prepared to put in back in the refrigerator. There was a harmonized “No thank you” from all of them. The moment Susan opened the refrigerator Frank threw a piece of his waffle at Chris.

“I am going to get you back for that one.” He said jokingly to his son.

The family enjoyed the rest of their breakfast in the pleasure of each other’s company. After breakfast, Austin was waiting outside on Frank and Susan to finish getting dressed for work, but he met Chris coming out of the house first. Chris did not even make eye contact as he walked towards his car.

“Hey Chris” Austin said in an elevated tone to make sure his new brother heard him.

Chris turned around and looked at Austin to acknowledge the boy addressing him. “Thanks.” Austin said in a sincere voice as he stared at his brother who he knew had put the picture back in its rightful place to keep him out of trouble.

Chris simply smiled at Austin before getting into his car, starting the engine, and backing out of the driveway. Austin thought about the events that had just taken place in the house.

“Parents lying to protect their child, one child being extremely curious, one child hiding the fact that he had a beer from time to time, two brothers who did not talk but looked out for each other, and all of them having a meal as a family as if they shared everything with each other”. Austin thought as he was sat in the backseat when Frank and Susan finally exited the house.

He smiled bigger than he had ever smiled in his life and enjoyed every second of that smile because of what it meant. That smile which was larger than life was due to the fact that he was a part of a “family” by every single word of the definition.