Keeper of the Innocents

by Kristy Centeno

  There’s a good side to every story though, and I had the perfect excuse to bolt out the door as soon as I finished with breakfast. Taking care of a certain redheaded little girl was a way to earn some money, help out a stressed out man who struggled to support his responsibilities, and the excuse I need to escape my ever watchful mother.

  “Demi, don’t forget you have to come back at midday for a very important meeting.” Mom poked her head around the doorway that led to the kitchen and stared right at me. The seriousness hardening her features should have been enough of a clue to what I was missing but I remained aloof.

  Scrunching my face, I responded with, “What meeting? Are we having a family meeting?”

  I knew I was in trouble the second Mom scowled at me. But try as I might, my mind was somewhere up in the clouds. I was distracted, and the reason for that was obvious only to me.

  Dad, who was sitting to my right, shook his head while he tsked, tsked, tsked behind the newspaper he held in front of his face with both hands. He obviously knew something I didn’t. That could only mean I was about to piss off my mother without even trying.

  “Dad…” I leaned closer to him. “What meeting?”

  Was I going to meet with someone from school? I’d be leaving for college in a few weeks and so far I’d had to go on a tour, met with the admissions department, so on and so forth. But somehow, I didn’t think that was exactly what Mom was referring to.

  “Just wait,” he whispered. “It’s coming.”

  The second Dad said that I knew what he meant right away. I could see the discontent in my mother’s face.

  “Demi, this is important. I can’t believe you’ve forgotten already. I have been discussing this with you for weeks,” she ranted.

  My dad hid his face behind the newspaper.

  To be honest, we had been discussing so many things in the past few weeks that I had no clue what exactly she was referring to. With my finishing off high school, registering for college, and preparing for my big move to campus, my head was all over the place. Her not being specific didn’t really help me much, either.

  “Mom, seriously, we’ve been talking about a hundred different things lately. You need to be more specific when you refer to a meeting of some kind. I’ve had a few of those these past few weeks, remember?”

  She approached the table and gave me a look that made me want to swallow my tongue. I swear it felt as if she’d just slapped me with her eyes.

  “Since school is still six weeks away, the only thing you should be focused on should be today’s meeting,” she continued.

  My mind finally fell into place. “Ah, that meeting.” How could I forget the one meeting I’d been the most anxious about? Of course, I’d been dreaming about a post-apocalyptic world in which a barely visible creature attacked me, and that alone usually took much of my attention off everything else.

  I pushed the empty bowl aside and nodded. “I’ll be here.”

  Out of all the meetings I was sure to have from now on, the one Mom referred to was bound to impact my life the most. My life as a witch was about to take on a whole new meaning.

  Mom straightened up and squared her shoulders. “You know what happens once a Keeper Witch turns eighteen.”

  I leaned against the chair’s backrest. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  I’d turned eighteen a week ago, and ever since then, Mom had been preaching to me about the responsibilities that accompany such an important birthday. When most teenagers were psyched about officially being called adults and being able to control their own lives, my life was about to get more complex than it was to begin with.

  I could easily say that my lifecycle was just taking off, because from now on, I wouldn’t be just another normal teenager. Granted, I was never normal to begin with. Being born into a witch-bearing family doesn’t qualify as a normal existence. But my way of life was as average as could be under the circumstances.

  Even though my mother was born a witch, just like her mother before her, and her mother before her, she had chosen an ordinary human as a husband. They had fallen in love and married young, but they stuck together through all the hard times, which included protecting many charges over the years, and many supernatural battles. In fact, he’d gotten so used to it all that nothing surprised him anymore. Thanks to the great love and devotion they had for each other, I was born. However, far from being born human, I took after my mother, as they expected.

  Every Keeper Witch, no matter what branch of witches they belonged to, was always assigned their first set or individual charge after their eighteenth birthday. There was word that there were several different branches of good witches watching over those who needed guarding for one reason or another. My family and I were no different.

  My mom and I belonged to the Keeper of the Innocent branch. Our job was to protect the most vulnerable form of Innocent: children with special abilities. Mom had protected many over the years and she had never lost a charge. Ever. I recalled her speaking of how tough it could get at times, but I knew from experience that Mom was a trooper. She didn’t give up easily, and because she was as tough as nails, I’d seen how determined she could be when it came to doing her job.

  It was no secret to me that she was looking forward to me following in her footsteps, and in some weird way, I wanted to make her proud. This wasn’t something I could shake off and ignore, though. Being a Keeper was not just a badge for me to flash around or a simple birthright. Just like every other Keeper, I had been born for a reason. And even though I knew how difficult things could get for me, especially at such a young age, I still wanted to fight evil and win.

  “I’d love to skip all the secrecy and get to the part where I find out who my charges are though,” I said.

  “I don’t have the information you need, so you have to meet with the one who does,” Mom reminded me. “Today you meet your Overseer.”

  Overseer sounded like a loaded word for some reason. Meeting with a mysterious creature in charge of overseeing not only what charges I was to save from evil, but how well I performed my duties probably made me feel that way.

  Nodding, I scampered to my feet and gazed at her. “Wouldn’t this be easier if you told me who my charge is?”

  She placed both hands on her hips. “You know the rules. It doesn’t work that way for us. We have to wait until we’re contacted.”

  “But no one has contacted me yet. How do you even know he—whoever he is-will come today?” I asked curiously. Not knowing what to expect really annoyed me. I was a complete control freak and not being able to control this part of my life stretched my patience to its limit.

  “It is enough that I know he’s coming,” she replied. “It should be enough for you to know you are expected to show up punctually.”

  I’d heard over the years that, unlike other Keeper Witches, whose mothers communicated at the appointed time who their charges were going to be, our modus operandi differed. We had to wait for a third party intervention. In our case, the Overseer was the third party.

  As exasperating as the whole process might feel, it was our way. Fortunately for me, the dreaded meeting was just a few hours away.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know who my Overseer is going to be, would you?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. Who wouldn’t want to know? Besides, I had a feeling that Mom knew more than she let on.

  Maybe it was some secret mission or something. Then again, how secret could it be?

  “He’ll be here at midday,” she said, releasing some air in the process. “And he’ll tell you all you need to know.”

  “Why does this have to be such a complicated issue?” I asked. “Why not just get the info out and let me get on with my day?”

  “Oh, Demi. You have a lot to learn about being a Keeper,” she replied.

  I held back the need to roll my eyes. I’d heard it so much over the years I had come to hate the sentence with a passion.

  “I’ve learned a lot from you,
” I argued.

  “Not nearly enough. I have prepared you for this day for years, but you don’t know what it feels like to protect someone, to put someone else’s life ahead of your own until you are assigned your first charge. Only then will you fully comprehend the responsibilities handed to you.”

  Put someone else’s life ahead of mine? I didn’t like the sound of that. Was I expected to sacrifice myself in every way? That was a scary thought.

  “I’m just annoyed by all the secrecy. That’s all,” I said. “It feels wrong that you’re not allowed to tell me who my charge is if you’re my mother.” I looked at her expectantly, but she said nothing else. “So much secrecy unnerves me.”

  “I’m only following protocol, Demi.”

  Realizing Mom wasn’t about to crack, I sighed heavily and picked up the bowl from the table, chancing a quick peek at Dad, who was still hiding behind the newspaper.

  “Thanks for giving me a heads up, Dad,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear.

  He coughed behind the newspaper, but didn’t respond. Whenever Mom was in a mood he always hid behind something. Lately, his favorite hiding place was behind the newspaper.

  Shaking my head, I strolled into the kitchen to deposit my empty plate in the sink.

  “Don’t be late, Demi,” Mom insisted as I headed toward the dining area again.

  “I won’t be late.” I walked over to the table, picked up my cell phone, and stuffed it inside my jeans front pocket. “Renee usually takes a nap around that time.”

  A look of concern crossed Mom’s features. “What if Mina takes off?” She walked right up to me. “You can’t leave Renee alone in the apartment.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes again. The last thing I wanted was to get grounded, but she really was getting on my nerves today. I had no idea why she was so jumpy. Seeing her like this only unsettled me more.

  “Then I’ll call you and you can go watch Renee while I meet my Overseer.” I walked out of the dining area and into the living room with Mom following behind me.

  “All right then, but don’t be late, okay?” She followed me all the way to the front door. “This is very important.”

  I reached for the doorknob, rolling my eyes as my fingers grazed the bronze knob. “Okay,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Did you just roll your eyes at me, Missy?” Mom’s voice stopped me short of opening the door.

  I had no idea how on earth she could tell I’d rolled my eyes at her when my back was to her. Yeah, sure, she was a witch, but come on. How could she tell? It wasn’t like there was a mirror in front of me where she could easily see my reflection or anything.

  “No, ma’am.” I lied, of course.

  “Yeah, right,” she said. “Just get back here later. Don’t make me go up there and drag you down here.”

  I spun around and smiled at her. Mom always tried to sound all strict and all, but the expression never matched her tone of voice. Although she tried her best to seem firm, her eyes were always soft, and yes, full of love for her only daughter. She would yell if the occasion called for it, and if I misbehaved she wouldn’t hesitate to ground me, but not a day went by that she didn’t tellme she loved me or pull me to her as loving mothers tend to do. It was a little embarrassing, but at least she only did it in the privacy of our two bedroom apartment.

  I had to admit though, getting grounded after turning eighteen wasn’t really something I wanted to experience. Technically, I was an adult, but living under my parents’ roof meant no disobedience was tolerated by either of them.

  “That might be kind of fun,” I replied.

  She laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I might not have the physical strength but I know a spell that should do the job just fine.”

  I fought the urge to bust out in laughter.

  “I’ll see you in a little bit, but if you need anything, just call.” I patted my jeans pocket, which outlined my cell phone resting comfortably inside.

  “I will.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hands. “Now go on. I’ll see you later.”

  I waved. “Later.”

  With a smile on my face, I spun around to open the door. Though life as I knew it was about to change, I was up for the challenge. After all, there was nothing more challenging than trying to hide who you really are in a society where the supernatural was nothing but a myth.

  Chapter Two

  The Demon Next Door

  Leaving the comfort of home behind as I shut the door, I turned to the empty hallway. Mom, Dad, and I had lived in the same apartment building since I was five. The edifice had a total of three floors and every floor had four apartments. My family and I resided in apartment number 3B. It was small, but charming and comfortable. A big plus came in the form of our unusually quiet, passive neighbors.

  Of course, not all neighbors were quiet and private. In the apartment directly above ours, lived my best friend, Mina, and her two siblings, twenty-six year old Evan, and four year old Renee. Their mother had abandoned both Mina and Renee when the little girl was about a year old and being the oldest, Evan had taken the girls in.

  At the time, he had just started to be independent in the full sense of the word. He had been attending college and working to pay for his classes. When social services contacted him to ask if he would take his younger sisters in, he gladly accepted. He had no other family. I had known him for at least a couple of years prior to Mina and Renee coming to live with him. When Mina moved in, we became friends right away and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

  Even though she was my best friend, Mina tended to be a little bit of a wreck and things had gotten so bad that her own brother didn’t trust her to take care of Renee, which is why he hired me as a sitter. It was a good arrangement for all involved. I got paid good money for watching the sweetest little girl ever and Evan got to go to work without having to worry about Renee going hungry. Plus, Mina took advantage of me being there to sneak out to meet a boy she was dating.

  Mina was a great friend, but she wasn’t much of a sister. Evan might come across as grumpy and mean to Mina, but she failed to understand that at twenty-six, he had become more of a parent than their real parents had ever been. Not to mention that with two fulltime jobs, he was practically working himself into exhaustion.

  I tried to explain all this to Mina, but she had a mind of her own and would listen to none of it. No matter how you painted it for her, she still thought Evan was the immature one.

  Shrugging, I started toward the end of the hall, which led to a metal stairwell that in turn, led to the third floor where Mina, Evan, and Renee’s apartment was located. Following my routine of counting the steps I took from our door to the staircase, I lowered my gaze to the floor and watched my feet as I walked. It was a nasty habit. Mina had often accused me of suffering from OCD, but to be perfectly honest, it was the only unusual habit I practiced almost every day. For some reason, I felt more relaxed whenever I counted my steps.

  It could be seen as weird, but to me it was perfectly natural and at times, very relaxing. I had no idea if that’s what people who suffered from OCD felt like, but it certainly helped me.

  Lately, counting my steps helped relieve me of the tension I’d been carrying around for a week. Yes, a lot of that tension had to do with the Godforsaken nightmare, and some of it had to do with…

  As if on cue, all the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end the moment I turned and started counting.

  There it was again. That annoying sensation that warned me a pair of eyes was intently watching every move I made. I stopped halfway down the hall when a strong sense of being watched washed over me. For the past week I’d been not only going through hell while I slept, but getting that weird vibe every time I exited the apartment in the early morning hours. Every single time I turned to face the hall however, I found no one standing there. No one looking at me. But I could feel a pair of eyes on me.

  There was no mistaking that feeling. As a Keeper Witch, I
learned at an early age to distinguish these strange feelings and pay close attention to them because they could mean the difference between life and death. But no matter how much I forced my supernatural skills to help me reveal the identity of that which hid from view, nothing happened.

  My mood ring provided no answers, either. It always remained a nice shade of turquoise, as it did whenever there were no threats nearby. This confused me even more and kind of freaked me out, too. I recalled something similar happening in the dream, so I wasn’t about to dismiss anything.

  Unfortunately, it almost seemed like I was reliving some part of the dream every time I stepped out of the apartment the following morning. Unlike the nightmare, nothing happened, though. I wasn’t attacked, and eventually the sensation of being watched would disappear within a few minutes, which put me at ease, but I hated having to go through this morning after morning.

  I should have consulted with Mom, but the last thing I wanted was to worry her unnecessarily. Besides, since she had never mentioned feeling as if she was being watched in the hallway I could only assume she hadn’t felt anything, otherwise, she would have said something, or at the very least cautioned me. Mom didn’t fool around when it came to demons, sorcerers, warlocks, soul eaters, or any other supernatural predator that would try to bring a powerful witch down. Since she hadn’t said anything, I could only assume that if there was something out there, it only showed up when I was around, or it wanted me to know it was there.

  My skin broke out in goose bumps as a movement to my left forced my attention to the door marked with 4B on the wooden frame. I’d been living in the building for thirteen years and I’d only seen the occupants a few times. I remember catching a glimpse of a little boy, possibly my age, and a woman. Neither had ever been friendly and the few times I’d seen them they usually avoided us like the plague. I couldn’t remember when I’d last seen either of them, though.