Watcher Academy

by S. K. Gregory

  “I guess I understand why Max reacted the way he did. That’s awful. What was the entity? Like a demon or something?” I asked.

  “Nothing so normal, no. They managed to unleash some ancient Goddess if you can believe it?”

  “A Goddess? Wow. What culture?”

  “Babylonian, I believe.”

  ***

  I sneaked back into the journal room near the end of the day, once Chelsea went into a meeting. I don’t think I was doing anything wrong, but better to stay out of her way for now.

  What happened to Max was probably none of my business, but I needed to know what happened so I wouldn’t put my foot in it again with him. And yeah, I was curious too. An actual deity had escaped, that didn’t happen every day, which admittedly was a good thing.

  Flicking through my grandfather’s journal, I found no reference to Max or any Babylonian Goddess, but he was a Watcher for over forty years, he had more than one journal, I was sure of it. I checked the shelf again, but there were no other journals belonging to him. Perhaps he kept them.

  Most of his stuff was in his house across the country. Well, technically, it was my house now. I hadn’t decided what to do with it. It was far too big for one person. I also didn’t like the idea of living with all those memories, but I didn’t have the heart to sell it either. For now, I would leave it as it was. I could decide what to do when I completed my training.

  When I returned to my room, I was pleased to see that Brenda wasn’t home yet. Sometimes she would go to poetry readings in the student union. Or she was off terrorizing someone else. Whatever, I’d make the most of having the room to myself for a while.

  I pulled out my phone and dialed the house. It was maintained by a housekeeper, Delores, and James, Grandpa’s butler. Although he was much more than that. He was like family. An ex-soldier, he came to work for Grandpa before I was born. When Grandpa would tell me off for eating too much sugar, James would look the other way as I raided the cookie jar. Delores was the real authoritarian. She kept me in line, including nixing the whole cursing thing before it started. She meant well though. Grandpa wanted to send me into a potentially deadly occupation, Delores thought I should have a childhood first. I think she felt sorry that I didn’t have a mother anymore too.

  “Dell, so nice to hear from you. How is it going?” James asked when he answered the phone. It made me homesick to hear his voice.

  “Uh, good. Still finding my feet, but I love being here.” I wouldn’t admit to him that it had lost some of its shine these past few days.

  “Good to hear. What can I do for you?”

  “Well this may sound like a strange request, but did Grandpa keep Watcher journals at the house?”

  “He did.”

  “Oh, good. I’m looking for information on a case he worked on about ten years ago. Involving a man named Max Burrows? He’s a Watcher who came into contact with a Babylonian Goddess.”

  “Well I can take a look through them and see if it’s there. It might take a while.”

  “You would? I’d appreciate it. Call me back if you find something.”

  I hung up. It was clear James had no issue looking through the journals and he knew where they were too.

  He trusted James with that information but not me? I was a little hurt by it, but Grandpa did make it clear that he wanted me to forge my own path as a Watcher. He taught me the rules and what to expect as a trainee, but beyond that, he wanted me to do my own thing.

  I took a shower while I waited and fixed myself some dinner. The refrigerator was nearly empty, I needed to get some food in. God knows Brenda never offered, but she ate what she found. I would have to settle for some leftover Chinese food. I opened the container and sniffed it. It smelled okay. I dumped it onto a plate and heated it up in the microwave. Growing up with Grandpa, we rarely ate junk food or take out. Delores cooked for us every night and the only time I got away with eating junk was when I went out or at college. I tried my best to limit myself to once a week, but considering how hectic my schedule could become at the Academy, that might change. As I tucked into the leftover noodles, I promised myself that I would make the effort to only buy healthy stuff at the grocery store and make my own lunches.

  When the phone rang, I dived on it. “Hello?”

  “Dell, I believe I’ve found what you are looking for,” James said.

  “Great, do you think you could scan the pages and send them to me?”

  “Or I could give you the highlights, since I have no idea how to do that.”

  I bit back a laugh. “Right, sorry. Yeah, go ahead.” James hated computers, didn’t see the point in them.

  Settling on the bed, I grabbed a notebook to take some notes. “Go ahead.”

  “According to the report – Max Burrows was part of a team who were cataloguing artefacts in a tomb. A stone tablet broke in the excavation, releasing Ishtar, a Goddess who had been sealed away for her crimes against humanity. She killed the other men, but left with Max. According to him, she wanted to resurrect her dead lover, using Max’s body as a vessel. He was about to be sacrificed when he was rescued. Ishtar was sealed away again. Hopefully for good.

  Edward visited Max in the psychiatric hospital a while later, according to a later entry. Max said they had, “ripped her away from him,” he would scream her name constantly and had to be sedated. He spent six months in the unit before being released. I guess she became like an addiction to him.”

  I closed my eyes. “That’s awful. They let him back in afterward? Despite being compromised.”

  “He dedicated his life to studying curses, passed his evaluations. Edward seems to be supportive of the decision.”

  “Thanks, James.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else. Oh, by the way – he called the house again.”

  I knew exactly which he, James was referring to. Jason. “I hope you told him to go to hell.”

  “I did, quite forcefully.”

  “Good, then we don’t need to worry about it. It might be time to change the number again. Speak to you soon. Bye.”

  I tossed my phone onto the bed and sighed. Of course he would start his crap again now. Like I didn’t have enough to contend with. Well, it didn’t matter, he didn’t know where I was and he had no way of finding out. Another positive reason for moving here.

  Poor Max. I never really thought about how this job could affect you. I mean I knew you could be killed but locked away in a psych hospital after having your mind violated? It sounded like a fate worse than death.

  Ishtar.

  I knew the name, I’ve read about her. Most people think Gods are a myth, but the reality is they were powerful beings that had to be locked away to stop them from wiping out the human race. Once human themselves, they learned magic, became immortal, growing in power to the point where people started to worship them. The magic corrupted them completely, driving them insane. The only way to contain them was to send them into another dimension. They’re not even dead, just trapped and there is always a possibility that they could escape. Nothing is worse than a God.

  I’ll take a run of the mill demon any day of the week.

  I glanced at the notebook in my lap. It was covered in Babylonian symbols, like the ones in the book and on the orb. I didn’t even realize I was drawing them.

  The door opened and Brenda sloped in, dragging her bookbag behind her. I quickly shoved the notebook under a blanket.

  A chill ran through me. What is happening to me?

  Chapter Eight

  So much for my relaxing day off.

  The kitchen table was covered in books as I tried to decipher the writing in my notebook. So far, I had nothing, the writing too obscure to translate.

  At least Brenda had class. I didn’t need her bothering me right now. With everything going on, I didn’t have time to go apartment hunting, so I would have to grin and bear it for now.

  Frustrated, I closed the book in front of me. Nothing. I needed a break. G
lancing at the clock on the wall, I noticed it was nearly lunch time. I could use a snack.

  Opening the refrigerator, I groaned. I forgot to go food shopping. Closing it, I decided to take a break. I could go into town, grab a bite to eat and maybe get some new boots to replace the broken ones. I didn’t plan on being gone long, so I just left my stuff on the table.

  Grabbing my jacket and bag, I headed out. I didn’t have a car here, I hadn’t gotten around to it yet, so I would have to take the bus. I didn’t mind, at least it gave me a chance to check out more of the city. I really wanted to explore properly, but I’d leave that until I had more time off. As a diligent Watcher, I needed to know about my surroundings, in case a call came in.

  My first stop was a small café which offered some delicious looking steak and cheese sandwiches. I ate mine in the corner of the café, while I people watched. There were mostly couples, enjoying lunch together. It made me wish I was one of them and not here by myself.

  I really need to start socializing.

  Maybe I could organize a night out with some of the Watchers. That way we could have some fun and get to know each other better. I wouldn’t be inviting Chelsea though. I don’t really imagine her as the team building type. Then again, maybe with a few drinks in her, she would loosen up.

  The waitress passed my table. “All good?” she asked.

  “Yes, best I’ve tasted in a long time,” I said, giving her a smile.

  Her own smile faltered slightly as she walked away. Confused, I put a hand to my chin and found some sauce smeared across it. Rolling my eyes, I used the camera on my phone as a mirror to clean myself up.

  I’ve learned to laugh at myself over the years. I know I’m a klutz and a little scattered. When I was a kid, I used to get terribly embarrassed when I screwed up, to the point where my face would go bright red and that usually led to tears. My classmates picked up on it and loved to point it out, to tease me as much as they could.

  Mom actually helped me realize that I couldn’t go to pieces every time it happened. She picked me up from school one day, I must have been around seven. I was still crying from stumbling in the classroom and crashing into a girl called Mindy. Neither of us were seriously hurt, but the whole class erupted in laughter.

  Mom saw the state I was in and instead of going home, she took me out for ice cream, and we went to the park, despite it being December.

  As we sat on the swings, she told me about the time she tripped while on stage in the school play, fell, and managed to grab her teacher’s skirt on the way down. It did not end well. Mom burst into peals of laughter as she told me the story. Even I laughed at it, but I also knew that if it happened to me, I would never go to school again.

  “The point is, everyone is clumsy in some way. I’m sure all your friends have tripped or fallen at some point and when it isn’t happening to them, it can seem funny. If you let yourself get flustered, then you are going to keep getting upset like this every time.”

  “So what do I do?” I asked.

  “Laugh right along with them. As long as you’re not hurt of course. If you laugh, then you can’t feel embarrassed and the other kids won’t tease you. You’ll be untouchable.”

  “Or I could learn not to be clumsy,” I muttered.

  “No, sweetheart. You don’t need to change anything about yourself, just change the way you look at the situation.”

  I didn’t fully understand her advice at the time, but as I got older, I realized that she was right. Laughing took away their power over me. That day at the park is one of the clearest memories I have of my mother. I know that her and Dad worked a lot, they weren’t always there, but I know they loved me.

  Pushing my plate aside, I left the café. Next stop, new boots.

  As I wandered along the streets, mostly window shopping since nothing really caught my eye, I saw a familiar face up ahead.

  “Spencer?”

  He glanced up from his phone and waved. “Hey, how’s it going?”

  I decided to forget about the whole kiss thing for now. Spencer genuinely seemed like a good person and I didn’t think he would have anything to do with it.

  “Great, what are you doing here?” I realized that sounded stupid. He was no doubt shopping or grabbing lunch just like me.

  “I have to get my little brother some new sneakers. He trashed the last pair.”

  “You have a little brother?”

  He pointed at the fountain across the street where a boy of about thirteen with the same hair color and sense of style as Spencer stood, dipping his foot into the water.

  “Toby! Stop that,” he called.

  Toby quickly removed his foot, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He sloped toward us. “This is boring. Can we go to the comic book store?”

  “No, because Mom grounded you.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the exchange. They were cute together. I glanced at Toby’s sneakers, they appeared to be the trashed pair. One of them was split up the side, while the other was missing the original laces and had been replaced with a lace from a man’s shoe from the look of it.

  “Is this your girlfriend?” Toby sneered.

  Spencer took a swipe at him. “No, this is my work friend, Dell. Don’t be rude.”

  Toby trudged off to check out a window display.

  “Isn’t he delightful?” Spencer said sarcastically.

  “He’s a teenager, it’s expected.”

  Spencer snorted. “Yeah, I just hope he’s nothing like me at that age.”

  “Really? Were you a bit of a rebel?” I teased.

  “Rebel? No. I was the devil incarnate according to my mother. Good thing she doesn’t know that could be a real thing or she might have chosen her words more carefully.”

  “I’m sure you weren’t that bad,” I said.

  He laughed. “Let’s just say I’ve grown up a lot. What about you?”

  “I was…pretty much the same as now. Boring and a giant nerd.”

  “Well I hear nerds are in, so there’s that.”

  “Let’s go, Spencer,” Toby whined.

  “Okay,” Spencer said, waving him off.

  “He still lives with his mom, you know,” Toby yelled.

  Spencer put his head in his hands and groaned. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “Is it true?” I asked, amused at his embarrassment.

  He avoided looking at me, his cheeks red. “Maybe.”

  “Living on your own is expensive,” I said. It didn’t bother me that he lived at home. I did too, until recently.

  “For the record, its temporary and I live over the garage. Just until I earn enough to get my own place.”

  “I live with an angry Goth girl in one room. A garage sounds great compared to that.”

  Toby stepped between us. “Flirt on your own time, loser. Let’s go.”

  “See you at work, Dell,” Spencer said. He grabbed Toby by the back of his t-shirt and dragged him away.

  I watched them go, before turning away. As I did, I caught sight of my reflection in a window. For a moment, my face looked…different. I took a step forward to check, but I couldn’t see anything unusual.

  Must have been a trick of the light.

  After checking out a few more stores, I settled on a pair of black boots. They were flat, but the heeled boots weren’t practical for being on my feet every day, they just looked good.

  I took my time walking back across campus, enjoying the fall leaves. I loved this time of year. I stopped for a hot chocolate, a little treat before I got back to work.

  When I opened the dorm room door on my return, I found Brenda waiting inside. She sat at the kitchen table, where all my stuff still lay, including the page of symbols.

  Oh crap. I hope she didn’t read any of it.

  “What is this?” she asked, waving a hand across the clutter.

  “Um…the historical soc…”

  “We talked about leaving stuff lying around. We clean up our ow
n stuff.”

  I sighed with relief. She was mad about the mess, not what she might have seen.

  “Sorry, I will clear it up now.”

  She glared at me, then crossed the room to her bed and flopped onto it, kicking off her shoes.

  I gathered my books and my notes and put them into my bag, out of sight. I didn’t think that Brenda would go snooping, but maybe I should invest in a lock box. The desk the college provided had a single drawer and it didn’t lock.

  “What’s with all the weird symbols anyway?” Brenda asked.

  She did see it.

  “Um, it’s some ancient language that the historical society wants me to decipher,” I lied.

  She stared at me for a full minute, as if trying to figure me out. Finally, she said, “You are so weird.”

  “Yep, that’s my middle name. Adeline Weird Grimm.”

  Rolling her eyes, she put her headphones in and lay down to listen to her music. Some angsty rock band from the sound of it.

  I needed to be more careful about leaving things lying around. It was a breach of security, not that I believed Brenda would think any of it was real. No, she thought she lived with a messy weirdo.

  Knowing I couldn’t get back to work with her here, I started making a grocery list instead.

  “I’m going grocery shopping, do you want anything?” I asked.

  No response. I glanced over to find her reading a magazine. She couldn’t hear me over the music.

  Why am I offering anyway?

  Because if I didn’t, she would eat my stuff instead. I waved my hand to get her attention.

  “What?” she said, ripping out an earphone.

  “I’m going to the store, do you want anything?” I asked, as nicely as I could.

  “We need more chips,” she replied, then went back to her music.

  I rolled my eyes and wrote it on the list. I’ve never seen her cook anything, she’s always eating premade food or stealing mine. If we run out, she orders takeout. Perhaps she didn’t know how to cook. I wondered if I should offer to teach her, but she wouldn’t appreciate it. Besides, if she cooked our meals, there was nothing to stop her poisoning me the next time we had an argument.