The Last Guardian

Chapter_03: The Apprentice- Part Two

Monday 7:30 a.m. ,Old Church

Johnathan followed Billy into the Church hoping for answers. Billy knocked on the door and a young woman dressed in black leather jacket with short hair opened the door. Johnathan looked at her- she looked mean, goth, lips pierced, tattoo on her arms and neck. Her clothes stuck too her slim body almost too tightly.

"Where did you find this one?", she asked Billy.

Johnathan looked at her in surprise as they walked in to the cathedral.

"Now, now, be nice to him, I just pulled him out of the river... I think he's good enough...", replied Billy.

"Huh... we'll see about that...", replied the girl.

"Don't mind her, she's always like that... sit down anywhere you like...", said Billy.

Johnathan sat down and looked around. The Church was abandoned,there were no statues, only some broken benches and chairs and some dusty old murals.

"So?", asked Johnathan, "What were you telling me about me having powers?"

"You ever heard of the Knight Templars?", asked Billy relaxing in a chair next to him.The girl sat in front of him crossing her legs and sharpening a knife.

"Don't know much but they were like crusaders who fought some wars... very skilled and powerful...", replied Johnathan.

"Yeah you got a fair idea...they were brave knights who went from the west to the holy land and only answered to the holy see...like some sort of special operatives who answered only to the president... well the history lesson is not important but you know how they ended right?", said Billy.

"They were persecuted by some king I suppose?", replied Johnathan.

"Most of them were but a group of them escaped and hid themselves...Do you know why they were persecuted?", asked Billy.

"Because they grew enormously powerful and wealthy?", replied Billy.

"That's what the history books will tell you... but what happened truly was that the king who persecuted them was possessed by the darkness. He knew that only the knights were powerful enough to stop him so he executed them all...or so he thought."

"For a few years he kept on ruling in absolute tyranny and turned his kingdom into a proverbial hell on earth. While the rest of the knights who survived, trained in secret and grew stronger and raised their own army until one day they were strong enough to retaliate and wage a war against the king.."

"But the kings army had help from the darkness. It was a bloody war, thousands of soldiers died on both sides and finally the Knights defeated the kings army and the darkness. Once defeated they executed the king and sealed away the darkness with 66 locks and guarded it with their lives. Had they lost, and the darkness prevailed, the whole earth would have been enslaved by the darkside..."

"The seals were located all over the world and were guarded by the offsprings of the knights called the 'The Guradians'', but lately most of them had been broken by some unknown group of mercenaries in an effort to release this ancient darkness."

"What do you mean 'were'?", asked Johnathan.

"There are only 6 seals left now and they are all located in this sleepy little town."

"And it's Guardian?", asked Johnathan.

"You my boy..", replied Billy.

"Wait, wait, hold on... me? That's crazy...I mean you see my condition right...", said Johnathan

"Yeah I see your current pitiful state and I'm not referring to your physical state...", replied Billy.

"And what is this darkness you talk about anyways...", asked Johnathan.

"It's an ancient force, primitive and destructive...No one knows where it comes from but its been here since the earth was formed. It raises all that is evil and ugly on this planet. Ghosts, Demons, Zombies,Windigos, Djinns,Sirens... you name it! ..."

"There are a group of mad men who are trying hard to break the seals and bring forth the darkness and they have been quite successful so far.We don't really know who they are except that they are everywhere, even in the highest ranks of the government...All they want is to watch the world burn..."

"We believe that the breaking of the seals has already raised some demons like the ones you saw earlier..."

"But why were they after me?", asked Johnathan.

"Because your Chi has been activated and they know that you're a Guardian...well about to be..."

"Chi? What? This is crazy...I mean... I'm just a drunk...loser...I got nothing...I ...I...", Johnathan started hyperventilating.

"Woah...Calm down...here drink this...", said the girl handing him a glass of water.

"What's this now? Magic potion?", remarked Johnathan sarcastically as he drank it.

"It's just water ...dummy...", shrugged the girl.

A couple minutes later Johnathan calmed down and looked at Billy.

"So you say about powers...what kinda powers? Like Superman stuff?", he asked.

"Don't be silly boy...that stuff is made up, this is real. Lemme explain...",said Billy.

"Everyone has this inner life force that we know as Qi or Chi... It remains dormant until it's awoken through years of meditation. But as Guardians, this Chi is always on standby since the time they're born and its double the amount of an average person. All it takes is one life threatening experience and thats when it gets activated like bam! After that, all you need to do is to learn to control and harness it..."

"So you mean I have powers too... like right now...", asked Johnathan.

"Yeah.. that explosion involving your leg ...that triggered the Chi in you and it saved your life like it did last night on the bridge. Every Guradian has a unique set of skills and so their powers are different...", explained Billy.

"So we just have to see what powers you have ...", he added lighting a smoke.

"And what do you do? You're a Guardian too?", asked Johnathan.

"Huh... I'm just a clockmaker from downtown and also an Elder.My job is to keep watch over the darkness and find future Guardians...."

"And her?", asked Johnathan.

"She's called Raven and she can kick some serious butt... so don't mess with her. She helps me in my quest and no she ain't no Guardian for they are chosen before their birth through lineage and heritage...."

Johnathan took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead.

This was overwhelming for him. Only last night he was drowned in alcohol and self pity and now they say he's special?

"Could they be really serious?"

"God my head hurts..."

Billy was staring at Johnathan trying to figure out what's going on in his mind.

"I think you still ain't convinced...Raven show it to him...", he said.

Raven took out her phone and clicked on a news video and showed it tow Johnathan-

"Mysterious cases of people dying under horrible circumstances has occurred all over the city. Police officials say that atleast 13 people were supposedly murdered on a single day. The victims belonging to the age group of 30-60, apparently had been chosen at random and killed at different locations all over the city. According to the police Chief this seems to be a case of m*********r and they are still trying to find the culprits..."

"What the...hell...", murmured Johnathan.

Raven snatched the phone away from him.

"13 people killed... that's the sign of breaking the sixth seal...only five remain...the last five...now do you get it?", said Billy looking at Johnathan.

"What do I need to do?", replied Johnathan.

"Well first you need to freshen up and change those clothes...then we drive ... to the holy temple...", replied Billy as he walked out of the door smoking.

7:00 a.m. Lisa's House

It was almost time for her to wake up and get ready for work but she was fast asleep. She was dreaming about the incident involving the murdered cab driver...

"The whole incident was replaying in her head all over again. She saw the severed head again and the shadow of the woman ... the woman in bloody pink dress...but see couldn't see her face no matter how hard she tried..."

"Suddenly she felt someone grabbing her feet with ice- cold hands underneath her blanket . She was startled and suddenly woke up. She raised her blanket and looked inside. There was a dark shadowy figure of a woman crouching on her feet...her charcoal black and wet hair hid her face...the stench of rotten garbage filled the air...Lisa screamed... ....".

The phone on her bed began to vibrate and Lisa woke up. She opened her eyes and started to breathe heavily. She removed her blanket- nothing! She rubbed her eyes and her forehead-

"Oh my God...I was dreaming....", she said to herself.

"Oh no... I'll be late...", she said looking at her phone.

The Captain's assistant Mary had already called twice. It was almost 8 a.m. and it takes an hour to reach her office. Lisa quickly jumped out of her bed to get ready. She had no time for breakfast...

In about 15 minutes she showered and got dressed. As she was wearing her shoes she noticed a strange rash on her right ankle. She hadn't seen it before but she had no time to worry about that. And in another 5 minutes or so she was speeding down the highway...