The Protectors

by T. N. Simmons

  “How will I know what I can do and what I can’t do?” I brushed off the bottom of my shirt to remove some of the dirt from my fall.

  “There are different tests you can do, but most of the time you just learn as you go.”

  “What are your abilities or powers?” I asked as I gulped down the icy water.

  “Speed for one. I am insanely fast. I can’t teleport, but I’m a close second. Strength, I may not look like it, but if I wanted to, I could throw an eighteen-wheeler over my entire house. Last, but not least, I can control fire. Which means I can start it, throw it, catch it, and snuff it out. Pretty impressive, huh?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

  “What if I don’t even have any powers? Or what if I do, but they are nothing compared to my parents’? If they couldn’t stop this thing together, how am I supposed to do it by myself?”

  “First of all, you will not be by yourself. I will be right beside you, and so will the other scouts in the compound. Second, there is no way you have no powers. How do you think I found you? How do you think Troy found you? It’s your essence,” he explained as he sat down beside me at the kitchen table. “Your magical essence lets off a slight vibration, and the stronger you get, the stronger the vibration will be.

  “The bind started losing power either because you are getting older and stronger, or because your parents are getting weaker and so is their magic. I couldn’t tell how strong you were, and I had no idea who you were, but I knew without a doubt you were one of us.”

  “Us? What are we, exactly?” I was unsure about my new-found destiny, so the more information, the better. “Is that why you decided to talk to me? Because of my magical essence?” I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice, but it was hard.

  “No, I decided to talk to you because I wanted to talk to you.” He walked over and picked up my magical box. “I didn’t even feel your essence until we were on the dance floor. It isn’t very strong, but apparently strong enough that Troy felt it at some point as well.” He handed me the box. “I know this is a lot of information, but if you want to save Krista then you need to trust me.”

  “I’ll go with you, but I can’t promise that I will trust anyone ever again.” I wasn’t sure what I believed at that point. I knew two things for certain—I had to learn to fight, and life as I once knew it was gone forever, which terrified me even more.

  Chapter Six

  What am I?

  “Jai, we are known as The Protectors.” Corbin placed a bowl of fruit on the table in front of us. “We are born with special abilities—powers, as some call them—to protect the innocent from anything evil.

  We all have different talents and come from different families. Most of us live here at the compound, but some choose to live elsewhere. Occasionally, we meet a drifter that doesn’t know what he or she is due to a one-night stand kind of situation, but other than that, we keep to ourselves.” He began to peel an orange.

  “Some of us call ourselves scouts or hunters, but the technical term written in our history manuals is ‘protectors’. We have certain rules set forth by the elders. Sometimes, we break a rule and there are different consequences for each rule broken. Like practicing for self-gain or using our power to harm innocents.” He ate one of the freshly peeled orange segments.

  “You’ll get all the details soon. It’s not all bad. We mostly get to hang out and practice all day. We hunt once a week, which means we go out making sure everything is okay.” He popped another piece of the juicy orange into his mouth.

  “Sometimes we’re sent far away, other times an hour or less. Just depends on where there has been suspicious activity.”

  “You said the Elders would confirm my DNA. Does that mean my grandparents are Elders?” I asked, just to clarify that I was following everything correctly.

  “Yes, they are. As you will be one day when they pass on. See, the Elders are direct ancestors of the founding fathers. They are made up of the five original families who built this compound, The Weavers, The Alexanders, The Nolan’s, The Whitlows and The Tabell’s.” He cleaned up his orange peel and threw it in the trash.

  “The Whitlow’s and the Tabell’s lines ended when their offspring were unable to reproduce. So, now it’s just the three remaining families. Your ancestors are the Weavers and the Nolan’s, two founding families, as your father is a Weaver and your mother a Nolan. Your father was on the council when he disappeared. So, technically, that is your place to fill should you choose to do so.

  There are lots of other families in the compound, and there has been talk of anointing two more families. It's only just been put up to vote, though, so I’m not sure what will come of that. Enough politics.” He threw a pair of white tennis shoes at me. “Let’s go show you how awesome the compound really is. We can walk, ride a bicycle, or take the car. Your choice.” Corbin bent down and tied the lace to his shoe.

  “I think I would like to walk.” It was a beautiful fall day, and I needed as much exercise as I could get after I saw how fast Troy was.

  “Excellent choice. I think you’ll love it here.”

  We walked out of his house and down the gravel driveway. I smelled the flowers in the cool fall breeze. The wind blew through the trees, causing the leaves to make a rustling sound, and it was heaven to my ears.

  Children’s’ laughter in the distance made me smile. I felt at peace here. If only Krista was with me. My stomach ached at the thought of her and what that monster was doing to her. I quickly brushed it away.

  I would save her if it was the last thing I did.

  We turned down a brick-paved road. There were several market places along the way, with everything from clothing to restaurants. It reminded me of the fair. Venders of all sorts aligned in their trailers.

  I breathed in the scent of Mexican food, and my stomach let out a loud growl. My breakfast had worn off.

  “That smells divine.” I looked around all the food trucks to find the source.

  “Ah, well then, let me introduce you to my father.” He grinned and walked me over to a little white food truck.

  “Hello, son, what brings you by today?” asked a man with dark curly black hair as his eyes settled on me. He grinned.

  “Dad, I would like to introduce you to Jaime Weaver.” Corbin pointed at me then pointed back at his father. “Jai, this is my father, Alan.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Jaime. Are you kin to the Weavers here on the compound?” Alan asked, tilting his head to one side and getting a closer look at me.

  “Yes,” Corbin answered before I could reply. “Mary and Walter just confirmed she is Roberta and Jimmy’s daughter.”

  “What? Where are they?” A smile lit up his face revealing ravishing white teeth. “Where have they been all these years?”

  “We have recently learned they have been imprisoned for the last eighteen years, and we’re going to try to rescue them,” I said.

  “Wow, well that is a lot to take in,” he said. A line of customers was forming. “Kids, we can talk more later tonight in private.” He passed us both a box of food and turned to wait on his next customer.

  We found a picnic table to eat our wonderfully prepared meal.

  “Corbin, this is delicious. I see where you get your cooking skills.” I crammed the spicy fajita in my mouth.

  “Thanks, he loves to cook.” He, too, stuffed his mouth full. “He and my mom divorced two years ago, and he took up cooking to distract himself.”

  “Is your mom still on the compound?”

  “No, she and my little sister Mandi moved to California. They visit often, but mom wanted a career outside of the compound and my dad didn’t”

  “Wow, everyone is so happy, I can’t imagine why she would want to move away from here. It’s very peaceful.” Children played hopscotch and jump rope on the sidewalk, while others sat under trees reading or having picnics on the ground. “I feel like I’m in one of those 1950s commercials where the mom pops out this elaborate dinner and look
s like she just stepped out of a magazine.”

  “I think that’s what she hated most about it. She said it was too perfect. Electronics are limited here. We focus more on personal training and imagination.

  “Mom enjoyed her computers and electronic devices,” Corbin said. We finished our meal and resumed our walk. “We have televisions and games, but they are not used much.” We walked up to three large brick buildings.

  He pointed to each as he explained their functions. “This one in the middle is our court house. It's where most of the Elders live and conduct legal business. To the right, we have our teen and adult training building, and to the left is our school and children’s training area.”

  “We all have jobs to help maintain the compound. We don’t need money here because we all work so well together. And we’re safe beneath the protective wall. It works as a shield of sorts. No one, unless invited in, can enter. There are fake gates used for visuals only.

  “We are considered a gated community, so no one has ever attempted to enter unless they were lost. However, they usually gave up waiting for someone to answer our fake gate and drove away.” Corbin pointed to different directions where the faux gates were located.

  “From the air, it just looks like a small town. The elders handle land taxes, but everything else inside our compound is self-sufficient. We do own land outside the compound that is rented out and maintained by rental agencies. That’s how we gain money for outside hunting expenses.”

  “I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing here.” I thought about how different my childhood could have been, and it made the anger for Troy grow deeper inside me.

  “Are you ready to start your training?” He snapped me out of my angry trance.

  “Yes. I want to learn as quickly as I can, so I can get Krista and my parents back.”

  “Well, you will learn a lot, but we can’t rush it. You must take your time and let your body learn on its terms.” He stopped, took me by the shoulders, and made me face him.

  “Okay, I understand. Let’s get started.”

  We walked to the building on the right. It was the shape of an igloo, white brick with a large iron door. Corbin opened the door and took my hand as we entered the building.

  “Just go with what I say, okay?” he whispered. “Folks are not too friendly to outsiders here.” His words made me feel nervous.

  The word ‘outsider’ echoed over and over in my head. I thought people would welcome me since I belonged to one of the founding families. Why did he want to keep that a secret? I supposed he had his reasons. I made a mental note to ask him to further elaborate later.

  As we walked through the building, we approached a group of men who stood around a table playing a game of cards.

  “Corbin, who is this very attractive young lady?” One of them asked—a guy with long, dark greasy hair.

  My cheeks heated. No one had ever told me I was attractive before.

  “What’s up, Zane?” Corbin replied, as he threw his hand up and gave Zane a high five. “This is Jai, a friend of my sisters. Turns out she belongs to one of our outside clans.” Corbin quickly walked passed Zane. “We’re going to practice a bit. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  I turned my head and saw Zane mouth the word, ‘Damn!’ It made me feel good that someone thought I was attractive. It was also funny to me, and I giggled.

  “What is so funny?” Corbin asked.

  “I don’t know, it just tickles me that he finds me attractive, that’s all.”

  “Well, I don’t think it’s funny. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He smiled at me.

  My cheeks burned again, and I smiled back at him. Then I looked around. There were several different hallways with numbers above each entrance.

  “What do all the numbers mean?” I pointed to them.

  “Oh, those are for the ages. See, you learn more each year because your body gets stronger and it’s able to tolerate more. So, each number represents that age group’s training hall. Each hallway leads to a series of rooms. A physical training room for taekwondo and one-on-one combat, a workout gym, a mental clarification room, and a spell room. We’ll start in the mental clarification room, so we can get an idea of what powers you might have. Then, we’ll go into the gym for a workout. You’ll need to strengthen your body and build up your stamina.

  “Next, we’ll move to the spell room to see if you can practice basic magic. Last, but of most importance, we’ll begin learning the basics to taekwondo and self-defense. We’ll do this in this order every day until you are ready.” He winked at me, causing me to smile.

  “I’ll do anything if it gets me closer to my friend and my parents,” I whispered.

  We walked into an octagon-shaped room. There were several rooms within the room. Most of them were occupied and had people waiting on benches to enter once they were finished. We found an empty bench outside of a room marked with the letter A.

  “What does the A mean?” I whispered in his ear.

  “It means amateur,” he paused.

  My eyes widened.

  “I’m teasing. They’re just labeled for directional use. In case you’re meeting someone to practice with.”

  I punched him on the arm and we both laughed.

  A young woman with curly blond hair and beautiful blue eyes walked out of the room. She looked over at us and frowned. “Hey, Corbin, who is this chic?” She put her hand on her hip and pointed her finger at me with her other hand.

  “Hello, Bethann. This is Jai, my friend.” He stood up and jerked my arm, pulling me up with him.

  “Hello,” I said and stuck my hand out for a hand shake.

  She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away. “Corbin, really. It’s been like two minutes since we broke up!” She huffed and walked away, shaking her bottom with every step.

  Corbin laughed, turned toward me, and whispered, “It’s been three years since we went on two dates. That woman is psycho.”

  “Remind me later what her super power is.” I laughed and poked him in the shoulder with my finger. “That way I’ll know how to defend myself when she decides she wants you back.”

  We walked into the empty room. It was painted a pale blue, and there was a desk in one corner with cards on it. There was also a sandbox with shapes and balls, a fish tank with plastic fish, and a table with candles.

  “There are four elements in the universe. Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Each one of these areas works different abilities. The cards are for psychic abilities.” He tapped his forehead. “The sand box with balls and shapes is for telekinesis. The fish tank is to see if you control the element of water, and the candles are to see if you can control the element fire.

  “Wait, you mean five elements, right?” I asked remembering my mother’s letter.

  “I have only heard of four, but the Elders may know more about the fifth Element. We can ask them later. For now, let’s focus on what I do know.”

  “Sounds like a plan. How does it all work?” I walked over to look at the card table.

  “Some of us draw energy from the elements and some of us don’t. Those who do can use this room to get stronger, and those who don’t can use this room to keep hoping,” he said as he pointed to each area.

  “Like my little blonde friend over there. She only has psychic abilities and has been unable to control when she gets a vision. I think she tries too hard. Since we don’t know what all you can do, we will start in here and move on as we go.” He opened a small black notebook.

  “Okay, it sounds like a good plan to me. Which one do we start with?” I was excited to see what I could do.

  “Let’s start with the psychic table.” He pulled out a chair for me to sit down. I sat down, and he sat across from me. We each had a stack of cards. “Jai, I am going to hold up a card, and I want you to try to see what card it is using your mind. You will have to clear everything out and focus on the card.” I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. I opene
d my eyes one at a time and stared and stared at the card.

  “Nothing. I see nothing.” But I already felt a little frustrated.

  “Don’t get irritated, just keep trying. Remember, this might be a gift and it might not be.” He held the card up again. “Don’t worry if it’s not. Just try to let your body figure it out.” Once again, I cleared my head and focused on the card.

  “Nope, I don’t see a thing.” I let out a defeated sigh.

  “Well, I don’t have that gift, either.” He laughed, and that made me feel better. We walked over to the sand box and sat down.

  Corbin picked up a handful of sand. “See if you can do anything with this.” I closed my eyes and blew hard. I managed to blow the sand right in his face. We both laughed, as that was no magical gift, but it was funny.

  I tried again. I concentrated on the sand and it slowly spiraled up like a tornado. I gasped, causing me to lose focus and it fell. “I did that!!” I squealed with excitement.

  “Yes, you did. It appears you draw energy from the Air element.” He wrote in his notebook. “Now, see what you can do with these blocks.”

  I focused on the blocks, mentally making them stack on top of each other. One by one the blocks did just what I demanded them to in my head. “This is easier than I thought.”

  Corbin smiled. “This is just the beginning.” He led me over to the fish tank. “See if you can shift the water slightly to one side of the tank.”

  I stood back and stared at the water. It was hard, because when I really concentrated on the water, it broke up into molecules. It was like I was seeing every drop individually. I was mesmerized by the beauty, and before I realized what I was doing, I had all the water out of the tank and swirling above our heads.

  Corbin mumbled, “Wow.”

  I lost my concentration, causing all the water to crash down on us in a whoosh. We got soaked, and all we could do was laugh hysterically.

  “Well, Water element, check.” He attempted to write in his soggy notebook. “Just a thought—do you think you could put the water back in the fish tank?”