The Keeper's Vow

by B. F. Simone

  “Unfortunately, this isn’t a normal situation, Miss Stonewall,” Henrietta said. “You were under the protection of the school and you and your classmates were sectioned off from the rest of the world to learn about our world and make your decision. Miss Watts does not have that luxury given she wasn’t properly registered. We have rules for a reason.” She turned to Katie and took off her glasses.

  It was the first time she looked kind. The wrinkles around her eyes lifted as she knelt next to Katie. “My number one priority in life is to protect as many people as I can. But, it’s my personal agenda to make sure the children in this world have a fighting chance. I would be going against that if I let you walk out this door without deciding. When the evil in this world knows you can see it, it’s only a matter of time before it seeks you out.”

  “How can I make a decision when I don’t know anything about any of this?” Katie wanted to get up and fight her way out of the room, but there was no way she’d make it past Glock.

  “We can make all of this go away. That’s what Glock is here for. He is an omitter. He erases memories.” Henrietta looked at Katie with clear blue eyes. “Or we can tell you what you need to know.”

  Katie thought about the blood that was smeared across her face and arms. How it coated her hands. She’d give anything to forget it. To forget the smell, that even now, lingered. “Will I just forget today?” Katie looked between Will and Lucinda.

  Darkness passed between them. Lucinda frowned, “We don’t know. Sometimes people only forget a few days, sometimes they forget months—or years.”

  “Years?” Katie couldn’t believe that. How could they erase someone’s memories if they didn’t know how it worked. Henrietta had threatened to do it to Brian. Now Katie understood why he was still staring at the table—still stark white.

  “The omitters don’t talk. When they take more than they are supposed to, we don’t know if it’s something they can control.” Jim rested his hand on a chair.

  “They don’t talk? At all?” Katie glanced at the dark hallway. Glock was there lurking—listening.

  “No one has ever chatted one up before. Not that I know of.” Jim said.

  Glock had spoken to her. There was no way she’d made that up in her mind. No possible way she’d ever think words like that: “I’ve tasted your memories…I’ve drank the horror that is your past.” She started to say something but stopped. She didn’t want anything more to do with Glock. She didn’t want him touching her, there was something sick about him. But how could she agree to become a guardian? She didn’t even know what that meant.

  She looked at Allison. Allison had been so calm and collected when Katie panicked and cried over Tristan’s bleeding body. Was that what being a guardian was like? Is that why Allison always walked with confidence? Could it be so bad if Allison and Brian, who she’d known her whole life, were apart of it?

  “You could always choose to be one of us,” Jim said as if he were talking about joining a team. “Ignorance is not always bliss, My Dear. Sometimes it can get you into odd situations, like the one you’ve found yourself in today. What you saw must have scared the daylights out of you. As a guardian, we are secret keepers. We make sure that our human world stays ignorant of the demons that live below us and amongst us—don’t look at me like that, Henrietta. Demon is a perfectly acceptable word these days.

  “Anyway, Darling, if you become one of us, you’d be professionally trained to spot a demon—“other being”—and interact with them socially. We have many different departments in our line of work, but most people like to patrol known areas where—“other beings”—frequent to make sure they leave normal people alone. That D-Range you saw was a perfect example of someone not doing their job and some lawless demon thinking he can do whatever he wants. That woman’s life was taken from her twice: once by the monster that changed her and again by the evil it turned her into. You, can protect people from that.” Jim smiled gallantly as if to emphasis the pride he felt for his work. “You can be apart of that, Katie.”

  Katie stared blankly.

  “In so many words,” Henrietta eyed Jim, “We also broaden relations amongst our different communities—”

  “Dress it up how you will Henrietta, they’re still demons,” Jim laughed to himself.

  “And we strive to learn the laws of each community, as to keep peace between our world and theirs. Yes, we save people from becoming victims of heinous crimes, but that is only a small part of the bigger picture.” Henrietta said as if Jim had never interrupted her.

  Katie took in a breath. Her chair was uncomfortably warm against her legs.

  “Do you understand, the choice you have to make?” Henrietta raised her eyebrows.

  Katie nodded but did she really? Was it that simple? No—it couldn’t have been, Tristan wasn’t human. Nothing was simple about that. Nothing was simple about deciding her future today—this very moment.

  Katie looked to Allison—Allison who always pushed her to take life more serious. No amount of perfect attendance and completed homework could have prepared Katie for this moment.

  Katie wished she knew what Allison was thinking.

  Allison nodded and smiled.

  “Miss Stonewall,” Henrietta said in warning. Allison broke eye contact, but the smile was still there.

  It was this or the monster. This, or possibly not remembering the last year of her life. “I’ll do it,” Katie said. “I’ll be a guardian.”

  Henrietta nodded. “It’s not an easy choice. You won’t be a teenager anymore. You’re expected to study hard. Failing in the classroom isn’t an option—yes we’ve seen your current transcripts—and you will be enrolled in a vigorous training program that will also challenge you mentally and physically. Life as you know it, will be over.”

  “If I get my memory erased, my life could be over anyway.” Katie said. What would life be like if she woke up and didn’t know who she was?

  “Fair enough,” Henrietta said, standing up. “You were born with a gift, and gifts should never go unused.”

  Katie shook her head without meaning too. She had no gifts. She could barely color in the lines.

  “If Will is right, and you were born with a mark, you are an untouchable like the rest of us. You posses a power that renders you untouchable to anyone who isn’t human. However, it’s not something you can just do. It requires discipline and hard concentration.” Henrietta paused, “She’ll need a mentor to get her up to speed.”

  “I’ll do it,” Lucinda said. All the heads in the room turned—even Brian looked up form the table. “I’m ready to come back. She needs someone she can trust.”

  “Lucy,” Will said.

  “Will, I can do it. I’m okay now,” Lucinda ran her hands across the table cloth.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Henrietta said, putting her glasses back on. “Will, I’ll do the paperwork for her school along with your nephew’s. Tristan, was it?”

  “It’s so rare we get transfers. To think, all of this in one day, what are the odds?” Jim laughed. “Where did you say he was from?”

  Lucinda smiled tightly, gesturing for them to follow her out of the room. “The—”

  “Southern part of Texas,” came a voice from the hall. Tristan walked in to the room looking pale as ever, but a smile stretched across his face. Everyone except Henrietta and Jim froze. His hair was wild and his shirt was wrinkled and blood free. He strolled into the room as if he hadn’t had a blade in his chest an hour ago. He sat down in the chair next to Katie.

  “A bit pale for Texas, aren’t you?” Jim reached out to shake Tristan’s hand.

  “Well I’m originally from the northeast.” He flashed a set of white teeth at Henrietta.

  “That’s a lot of transferring for someone still in training,” Jim said.

  “Yeah, it is. I only left the northeast because our house burned down. My dad said it was time for a new start. I had to agree, I felt like I was living in a prison cell.” Trist
an laughed at himself.

  “That’s too bad,” Henrietta said.

  “Yes, absolutely terrible,” Lucinda said, still gesturing for Jim and Henrietta to follow her out of the room.

  “Not as bad as the tornado that hit our house in Texas,” Tristan hung his head.

  “String of bad luck you’ve got!” Jim said, sitting next to Tristan. Fury flickered in Lucinda’s eyes.

  “No, the bad luck hit when my mom found out my dad had an affair with the guy who burned down our first house. My poor mom. Broke her heart. Literally.”

  Henrietta blinked a few times and glanced between Will and Lucinda. “I—I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “Dear, God. That’s a—a tough situation,” Jim said. He patted Tristan’s shoulder with a heavy hand.

  Tristan grabbed his chest and bent over. His face contorted with pain.

  “Are you okay?” Henrietta said as both her and Jim moved in closer.

  “It’s just so hard,” he said between his teeth.

  Katie’s mouth dropped. This kid was a class-act. A nut case. A whack job. Who told people that? Complete strangers no less. Was he even serious? Is this why Lucinda never mentioned him or his parents?

  “Okay, well if that’s all we have to discuss,” Lucinda said, moving to the hallway. “I’d love to have you both for dinner, but it’s been a long day and I still have to get Tristan situated.”

  “Oh. Yes, of course.” Henrietta looked relieved to leave. “Will, you’ve got a bit of paper work pilling on your desk.”

  “Gone for one day, and you can’t get on with out me.” Will left the room with Henrietta, Lucinda and Jim in tow. There voices moved slowly down the hall.

  “That was intense,” Allison exhaled when their voices were indistinguishable.

  “Of all the knives to use, you used an iron knife. My blood is on fire.” Tristan sat up. He pulled his hand away from his chest; there was a small blood stain. He was sitting so close, Katie could see it rise and fall. Brian got up and left the room without uttering a single word. Tristan’s eyes zoned in on Katie as if Brian hadn’t moved at all.

  “What do you want from me?” she said, watching him. He couldn’t have been the same boy from before. A boy who dragged her with no effort across her lawn. A boy who threw her out of the way as Brian ran up to him with a knife. A boy, who was more concerned with getting her out of the way than saving himself.

  “Now you want to talk?” He tilted his head back and studied the ceiling.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lucinda stormed into the dining room. “I swear to God Tristan, if you do anything like that again, I will lock you in a basement until you’re old enough to wear diapers again.”

  “Considering my current lifestyle, I’d say that might be a few hundred years,” Tristan said, closing his eyes. He was the poster child of spoiled brats. Everything about him made Katie hate that she wanted to know more about where he came from and what he was and—desperately—what he wanted to tell her.

  Will appeared from the hallway and leaned against the door frame. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Tristan, you’re wearing out your welcome. Go back to your room before that wound opens up more.”

  “Do you know what you just put us through? Or Katie through? Will had to lie for you. He put his job on the line,” Lucinda said. Her arms twitched and Katie was sure Lucinda was going to smack him,.

  “He didn’t ask me to lie, Lucy. Don’t put that on him.” Will said stared at Lucinda. Silence passed between them.

  Lucinda slunk into a chair. “Will, what else did you expect?”

  “For once in your life you could have—”

  “Not now, Will,” Lucinda said between her teeth. “We have company.”

  “When don’t we?” he said.

  Katie blushed. She had never really seen them fight before. The look on Allison’s face told her she hadn’t either. Tristan’s eyes were still closed as if he were asleep, unaware of everyone in the room. The slight smile creeping on his face said otherwise. This was all his fault. This entire day.

  “You know Lucy,” Will exhaled. “The funny thing about damage control is you have to cause damage first.”

  “What are you suggesting?” Lucinda said under her breath.

  Tristan opened his eyes and sat up. “Don’t worry, Will. Every good guardian family has a dirty secret,” he looked at Katie. “Like Katalina.”

  Though she could feel all the eyes in the room on her, the only ones that mattered were his. She couldn’t decide whether he was being rude or willing her to understand something. A voice in the back of her mind rattled; a thought had appeared and vanished before it could be heard.

  Will rubbed his temples. “Tristan, you haven’t even been here one day. I’m regretting my decision.”

  “Okay. Okay. I’m going back.” Tristan got up. He frowned at Katie as he pushed in his chair.

  “Will—” Lucinda started.

  “I’m getting tired, Lucy. Really tired,” Will said, running his hand down his face. He left the room behind Tristan, and with them Katie’s courage to look Lucinda in the eyes. Though it was obvious, she didn’t want Lucinda to know she had heard what he really meant.

  Lucinda cradled her head in her hands. “Today is a fine day for a glass of wine. Don’t you think girls?” She looked at Katie for a second and sighed. “I’m sorry, Katie. Today must feel like a nightmare for you. How about some ice cream and a movie? We can have our girls night early this month.”

  The last thing Katie wanted was ice cream and a facial. How could Lucinda think ‘girls night’ was the solution to spending—what felt like—hours soaked in more blood than she had seen in her entire life, meeting a deranged lunatic of a boy, watching the worlds most perfect couple admit they aren’t so perfect, and worst of all, agreeing to be something she didn’t know a thing about. She looked at Allison for help—for some desperately needed sanity.

  “Maybe we can take the ice cream to-go and call it a night,” Allison said. Her eyes were wide and in them, Katie could see, a plan stewing. They needed to be alone. They had a lot to talk about.

  “I don’t want Katie alone tonight,” Lucinda said, eyeing her. “You might still be in shock. Why don’t you both just stay over? I’ll get the guest room upstairs set up.” Lucinda sighed deep as she raised herself up and started pushing in all the chairs. The invitation wasn’t a suggestion but a command.

  “My dad—”

  “Don’t worry about him. We’ll let him know you’re staying over. Everything else can wait until the morning.” Katie knew Lucinda wasn’t going to call her dad. She’d get Will to do it, even if he was mad at her. Lucinda hadn’t said a word to Katie’s dad in three years—the year she was supposedly supposed to learn about all of this—today wasn’t going to be different. “Help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. I don’t think I’m up to cooking tonight,” Lucinda said, leaving the dining room.

  “Allison,” Katie said as soon as Lucinda was out of earshot.

  Allison put her finger to her lips to silence Katie and told her to follow her into the kitchen. Allison walked past the spotless island, past the other kitchen door and walk-in pantry, and all the way to the breakfast nook on the far side of the kitchen. It was a cozy spot under a darkening window. They could see someone coming from both doors if they needed to.

  “This is so freaking exciting. You’re one of us now. Ohmygod. I’m so mad this didn’t happen before. You could have been my partner instead of Brian. If I had known—ohmygod. Kay, this is freaking awesome.”

  “I need you to take three steps back, because your idea of awesome is grossly skewed.” Katie leaned against the table and sighed. Already everything started to feel like a jacked-up dream. It hadn’t happened. There were no such things as vampires, or whatever Glock was. Nothing about Tristan screamed anything more than teen boy—except his death grip on her arm and him walking around hours after being stabbed.

  “Once the shock wears off, you
’ll see what I mean. I finally get to tell you everything. Do you know how hard it was not calling you the first time I met a werewolf, or telling you how incredibly awesome it is to be the only level-3 in my class.” Allison rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out two bowls. Katie opened the freezer and shifted a bag of frozen broccoli to get to the rainbow sherbet ice cream she knew was in the back just for her. For a second she expected it to be gone. How could it be there—so normal—while Allison was spouting off things about creatures that only existed in fantasy.

  She grabbed the sherbet and found the chocolate for Allison. “What exactly have I signed my life over to?” Katie wanted to sound sarcastic and calm, but her voice cracked.

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Kay. If anything you’ve just been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity. You are a guardian now. Well, technically you’ve always been one, but now you get to actually be one.”

  Katie stared at her blankly as she sat the ice cream boxes on the table and slid into the booth. Not even the sherbet could ease the anxiety she felt in every inch of her body.

  “It really isn’t anything scary, just—cool.”

  “That is the vaguest thing you’ve ever said to me.” The sweet flavors of her rainbow sherbet were gone, and she wasn’t even two spoonfuls into the bowl. She let go of her spoon and moved the bowl away from her.

  “Kay, I’ve been studying for two and a half years. All I’ve done, so far, is meet a bunch of normal looking people and take tours around a city. It really isn’t a big deal. We’re just in on a secret that no one else is. That’s the cool part. I mean, if you’re hard core, when we graduate you could go into a department that does bounties.”

  “Bounties…like be a bounty hunter?” Katie’s eyes widened. “A bounty hunter?”

  “Normally that’s a Level-0 job.” Allison stopped mid-spoonful and put the spoon back in the bowl. “But it’s really rare to get a job like that. You have to be, like, really good. That story I told Henrietta doesn’t happen often. Most of a guardians work is to keep people from going downside and keeping and eye on our non-human friends and in some cases integrating newly changed people into both societies. There’s a department for that, but it’s pretty lame. No action there—it’s like, ‘here is a blood bank where you can buy your ounces, and raw steaks are cheapest in these locations—blah blah—here’s a pamphlet—blah blah—give us a call if you want to join the: Cry About Your Adjustment Problems group’.” Allison looked up and shrugged at Katie’s blinking eyes. “What? It was the worst field trip of my life.”