The Supranatural Guardian

In a small, narrow alley, several people were gathered and seemingly ganging up on a man. They all kicked the cowering man mercilessly in unison. They left him when he was limp and motionless. Feeling safe, the man lay on his back, staring at the dark sky. His body ached and he was weak. But he tried to hold on. He slowly got up and sat up. Despite the pain all over his body, he dragged himself against the wall. He paused for a moment, accustoming his body to the pain and wiping away the blood from his mouth.

"You're so stubborn and... Crazy." A voice startled him. Another man came from the darkness. "Sir..."

"Lurvine. Scott Lurvine."

"Lurvine. Interesting." The man stepped out of the darkness. "You know, entering that bar is like entering a lion's den, especially since you're acting like... someone with pretty poor mental health."

Scott paused for a moment. "Weren't you inside?"

Yes, Scott remembered. The man had been inside the bar he'd been to. He remembered clearly because the man was wearing quite a unique outfit, like a magician.

“You have a pretty good memory for someone who’s… clumsy.”

“And your clothes are quite eccentric, so they’re easy to remember.” Scott struggled to stand up straight.

“You should go to the doctor and have your wound checked.”

“I’m fine. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Scott adjusted his clothes.

“Uh, I’m confused. Isn’t going to the doctor to treat a wound? Why make a big deal out of it?”

“They’ll ask me a lot of questions about my injury. They might call the police. I don’t want that to happen.” Scott tried to stand up without leaning against the wall, but he couldn’t.

“But it looks bad. There’s a fracture, maybe.” The man pointed to Scott’s stomach with his chin.

“No, it can’t be. I—aahh...” Scott felt a sharp pain in his stomach. The man quickly ran over and helped Scott sit up.

“I’ll call an ambulance.”

“No, don’t. I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t look like it to me. Then let me help you.” The man reached out his hand toward Scott’s lower chest.

“W-what are you doing?” Scott looked wary.

“Healing you. I’m a witch.”

“Wait, what are you?”

“A witch, Mr. Lurvine.”

Scott paused for a moment, staring at the man, then chuckled through the pain. “Your joke is… Unusual.”

The man frowned. “But I’m not joking. You’re Lurvine. Your father is Colin Lurvine, right?”

“Right,” Scott replied, confused. “How do you—”

“Then it’s true. You’re the Lurvine I know.”

“Wait, I… I’m confused. I—”

“You don’t know who you are or your family. This is very interesting.” The man shook his head and chuckled. “It seems your parents haven’t had a chance to tell you. I heard the news of your parents’ deaths. They should have told you about your real family.”

Scott groaned in pain. “I… I still…”

The man stretched out his hand again and read a sentence Scott didn’t understand. All he knew was that a few seconds later, a white light erupted from the man’s hand. Scott was startled and moved away.

“Wait a minute. It’ll be over soon.”

Sure enough, the light disappeared.

“What…what…”

“You’re fine now.” The man stood up. Scott examined his body. It didn’t hurt at all. “And I suggest you look at the records, or whatever, about your family. You need to know about your family. It will save you and your family,” the man said, then turned to leave.

“Wait! What do you mean?”

The man stopped, turned, and stared at Scott. “Just do it. Then you’ll understand.”

The man left again. Scott stood up and chased after him. But no avail. The man seemed to have simply vanished. Even when Scott chased him out onto the highway, he was nowhere to be seen. Scott ran to his car, which was parked in front of the bar. He looked around, of course he didn't want to be the target of the joke anymore. When he was sure that no one was around, he immediately got into his car and left.

Scott's car sped up. He tried to get home quickly. Once home, Scott went straight to his late father and mother's room. He opened drawer after drawer and cupboard. He searched the entire room, making a commotion. He dropped several items. When he looked in the mirror, he saw his reflection. The man was truly a witch. His bruised and injured face was now clean, as if nothing had happened to him.

"Scott?"

His sister's call interrupted his reverie, and he went back to searching. Eira woke up to the noise her brother was making, as her room was directly above her parents'.

"What are you doing in Mom and Dad's room?" Eira asked. She rubbed her eyes.

"Ignore me. Go back to sleep," Scott replied, not looking at her.

"Yeah, but how can I go back to sleep if you're making a fuss? And what are actually doing here?" Eira looked at her parents' messy room.

Scott stopped his search and looked at Eira. “None of your concern. Just go back to sleep and I’ll be more gentle, okay? Now go back to your room.”

Scott searched for something again. Eira glanced at him for a moment, then returned to her room. Scott also checked the floor; there was nothing. He sat on the edge of the bed. He was exhausted, sweating profusely, his mind racing. He bit his fingernails. He had a habit of biting them when he was nervous or afraid. His eyes glanced up at the ceiling and paused for a moment. Right! The ceiling!

Scott went to the garage to get a ladder and quickly returned to his parents’ room. He set the ladder on one side of the room where the ceiling could be opened and climbed slowly. He pushed the ceiling open wide. Scott took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He lit up every corner and found something! Scott bit his phone and tried to reach what looked like a book. Bit by bit, and his hand reached further and further. Finally, Scott was able to reach it. He quickly got down and sat on the edge of the bed. He held the book in his lap. It was wrapped in a soft, light brown cloth and tied with a string. Scott untied the string, and the cloth wrapping parted as well. The book's cover read, "The Lurvine." Scott examined the book from side to side. It looked very old. He began to open it. The pages had browned.

Scott read each page. He seemed lost in the book.

"So I'm... a supernatural guardian?"

***

The kitchen was bustling early in the morning. Eira flipped pancakes in the pan and set out plates and cutlery. But only two plates. Then she filled one glass with milk and two with coffee. Since her mother died a year ago, Eira has been in charge of cooking in the kitchen. Eira placed the pancakes one by one on the plates, just as one of her older brothers, Charlie, arrived.

"Morning, sweetheart." Charlie put his bag on the floor and sat down in one of the chairs. "Hmm... The pancakes smell amazing."

Eira remained silent, listening to her brother's praise. He added syrup to the pancakes and then washed the dishes.

"How was school?" Charlie popped a small piece of pancake into his mouth.

"As usual." Eira sat down in her chair.

"If there's a problem, tell me. Anything." Charlie asked, but Eira just stared at him for a moment and then drank her milk. Charlie looked at his only sister. His sister was a quiet child, but usually she would tell him something or share her problems. But since their parents died, Eira had become increasingly quiet and distant.

Footsteps were heard entering the kitchen. Scott came in, his face and hair disheveled. Scott sat down in his chair and began cutting his pancakes.

"Come home drunk again?" Charlie asked, tucking in a piece of his pancake. Scott didn't answer and just ate his breakfast. "You're not a kid anymore, Scott. Be a grown-up. How long are you going to be this childish?"

"Oh, come on. Really? A lecture this early in the morning?" Scott protested, looking annoyed.

“Lectures? You’re twenty-one years old. You dropped out of college and wasted your time.” His tone was still calm.

“Wasting your time, you say?! I’m trying to find out why Mom and Dad died!” Scott raised his voice.

“Oh my God, Scott! Mom and Dad died a year ago! It’s time we moved on!!” Charlie raised his voice as well.

“Move on?? Move on?! Are you crazy?!”

Charlie slammed his fists on the table. “Enough!!” Charlie shouted. “Mom and Dad died in an accident. There’s nothing to find out!” Charlie sighed, then softened his voice. “I lost them too, Scott. But you have to stop this madness and move on.”

Scott laughed. “You never cared about Mom and Dad. Always like that. You were their favorite child, their pride. But look! You don’t even care!”

“Scott...”

“No!” Scott glared angrily. His eyes were wide, his jaw clenched. A flash of frustration and anger was clear in his eyes. “Don’t ever order me around.”

“I don’t—”

“You don’t know what really happened. Even as the eldest child, you don’t know about our family. So you better not try to control me or order me around.” Scott stood up and left the dining table.

“Scott!”

Charlie called out to him, but Scott ignored him. Charlie let out a long sigh. But then he saw Eira gulping down the last drop of her milk. Charlie closed his eyes and took another deep breath to calm himself, then opened them.

“I’m sorry. I—”

“I’m going,” Eira said curtly, standing up.

“I’ll drive you.” Charlie stood up.

“No need.” Eira put her empty glass in the dishwasher and left without letting Charlie say another word.

Eira put on her headphones and listened to her favorite song as she walked to school. Her brother’s fight? She was used to it. At first, she was scared and sad. But they fought every day, and she got used to it, and it didn’t bother her. She also didn’t want to interfere with her brother’s problems.

Eira walked to the school bus stop. She could have asked her brother to drive her, but since her parents died, she preferred to be alone. Away from the crowd, focuses on her studies. She was one of the smartest girls in her school, and she would make sure she continued to be the best. She wanted to get a scholarship to study far from home. Her house was filled with memories of her parents. It would be a lie to say she had moved on from their deaths. She cried almost every night and kept remembering it. That's why she wanted to get as far away as possible.

"Morning Nerd," a car slowed down, and a girl inside called out to Eira Nerd, laughing and driving off. Eira couldn't quite hear it over the loud music, but she knew what the girl was saying because she was used to it. At school, she was just an ordinary girl with an ordinary appearance. She was slender and quite tall for her age. Her face was a mix of Asian and Western. Her father was American and her mother was Asian, with long, curly, dark brown hair. But she was a loner, quiet, and a bookworm—well, everyone at school said so, and let's not forget she was smart. Maybe that's why she was called Eira the Nerd or Eira the Looner. She didn't care, tho. She had no desire to socialize, especially after her parents died.

"Eiraaaa!!"

A girl had been calling her while running. Of course, Eira didn't hear her. The girl caught Eira, startling her. Eira took off her headphones. She managed to catch her breath, which had become ragged from running.

“When did you get here?” Eira stared, confused.

“You and… those damn headphones… Oh, I’m exhausted.” The girl still looked exhausted. She put her hands on her hips. “Stop listening to the music so loudly. You’re going to go deaf!” she scolded.

Eira just shook her head, put her headphones back on, and continued walking.

“You—” the girl rolled her eyes. She was still speechless from exhaustion.

***

Tadariez