Watchers of the Night

by Matthew Keith

  * * *

  The rest of Paul’s day was spent finishing Hodge’s star maps and waiting while Hodge went over them for mistakes. All in all, Paul got the majority of them correct. He had to admit, by the time he’d gotten around to finishing the last twenty-five or so, he could do them without thinking about it very hard. Hodge’s terribly repetitive and boring method worked extremely well.

  At dinner time, Paul didn’t see Steven in the commons room. A good portion of the Sentinels weren’t there, either, so he assumed that training had just run a little longer for Steven and that he’d see him sometime before falling asleep.

  But even later, when he heard Lydia’s calm and sexy voice announcing thirty minutes until sunset, Steven wasn’t back and Paul began to get a little worried. He’d been in his room, going over what he’d learned from Hodge. Upon hearing Lydia’s announcement, he decided to see if he couldn’t find Steven himself.

  He found Parker, Liz, and Juliet in the commons room playing a game of rummy but they hadn’t seen him either. Liz said that her Sentinel, Alex, was also not back from training yet. She assumed he was probably with Steven, and told him not to worry about it. Sentinel training always kept odd hours, she said.

  Taking her at her word, Paul wandered a little bit more, not trying very hard to find Steven but feeling like he should make some sort of effort, until he heard Lydia’s announcement for the ten minute mark. At that point he was down in the glass training area, trying to find his way toward the course training area that Steven had described at lunch. With just ten minutes to get to his room, he decided to abandon his search for the day and head upstairs.

  Waiting at the elevator, he was joined by Dr. Abrams and Natasha, who were also headed up to the second level.

  “Are you ready for your big night, Paul?” Abrams asked in greeting.

  “I guess so. I didn’t know tonight was big.”

  “Every night during training is big, and for you it should be bigger than most. I know it’s all everyone else has been talking about.”

  “Well, then, yes I am ready,” Paul replied with forced confidence. As they entered the elevator, Paul asked, “Dr. Abrams, is Steven alright?”

  “Absolutely! He’s been offsite since just after lunch but I am told he should be arriving back within the hour. I’m sorry, I should have let you know about that aspect of Sentinel training—this will happen a lot over the next two weeks. He’ll be placed in as many real-life situations as can be found and sometimes, depending on what he’s being asked to do, he’ll have to leave at a moment’s notice. Those can be for long periods time.”

  Paul nodded his understanding, feeling a little more at ease.

  “I will also tell you this,” Abrams continued with just a hint of a smirk. “I’m informed that he has thus far surpassed all expectations. I think most of the Sentinels expected him to quit this morning, but from what I’ve been told he has, in his own charming way, impressed everyone.”

  Grinning now, Paul said, “I never doubted his ability or his charm for a second.”

  They rode the elevator up together and made their farewells.

  Paul didn’t pass anyone else on the way to his room, but that was normal at this time of the evening. Since he was still in temporary quarters, everyone else would be either headed toward their safe rooms or already in them, which weren’t anywhere near his and Steven’s rooms.

  He called Stephanie, and she picked up before he even heard it ring. “What is going on?” she demanded without saying hello.

  “Hi Stephanie,” Paul replied, trying to diffuse what he knew would be a difficult conversation.

  “Paul, are you in trouble? Where is Steven? He said he’d be back today and I haven’t seen him. His phone is going straight to voice mail.”

  “Steven is fine. At least I’m pretty sure he’s fine—”

  “Pretty sure!?” Stephanie snapped.

  “And yes he is still here. Well, he’s more or less here…”

  “More or less?!”

  “Yes! He’s here, he’s staying here, with me, and he is fine,” Paul practically shouted and then, realizing Stephanie was only being a concerned friend, he sat down with a heavy exhale on the bed. “Steph, I have so much to tell you. I do. But I don’t know where to start. It’s really complicated, and you have to believe me when I say that because… it is.”

  “Start wherever you want,” Stephanie replied, also calming down, recognizing that Paul was distressed.

  “Steven is here to protect me. He’s here because I asked him to do that, but by doing it he might end up hurt. He might already be hurt.”

  “That makes no sense. Why do you need to be protected at a hospital?”

  “It’s not a hospital,” Paul replied, immediately regretting that he said it.

  “What do you mean it’s not a hospital? Then what is it?”

  Thinking quickly, he said, “It’s too small to be called a hospital. It’s just… well, everyone here has someone to protect them. It’s just kind of standard.”

  “Paul you’re really freaking me out! Why would people at a place that treats sleep disorders need someone to protect them?”

  Paul looked up at the clock. He had five minutes to sunset and knew he had to end the conversation. He didn’t want to leave it in a way that would make Stephanie worry. “Think of it like a physical therapist and the way they help someone get back to good health. That’s kind of what Steven is doing for me. Kind of.” The leap in logic there was questionable, but it was all he could come up with on short notice.

  “Ok…” Stephanie replied. “It’s about to get dark here, so I know you have to go, but this conversation isn’t done. That’s just weird. Call me tomorrow night?”

  “Absolutely,” Paul answered.

  “Alright. Good night, Paul. I… I miss you.”

  Paul smiled into the phone. “I miss you, too, Stephanie. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  With just a couple of minutes left, he climbed into bed. Closing his eyes, his last emotion for the day was surprise at how much he now looked forward to it ending. Lisa had been right. He was beginning to prefer the Walking world over the Waking world.

  Opening his eyes to the gray tinge, he sat up and turned to look at the mirror. As usual, there was no reflection. Remembering how Lisa had explained that sometimes a Walker could unintentionally reveal a glimmer of themselves, he focused his attention on the mirror. Squinting, he tried to see anything of himself, even just a ripple in the air, but there was nothing. Sticking one finger in either side of his mouth and making the universal ‘baby face’ sounds with his tongue at the mirror, he glared at it for just a few seconds more. Not a thing. Feeling foolish, he took a deep breath, stood up, and made his way toward the training area where he anticipated that everyone else would be waiting for him.