The Legend Keeper

Radar walked back into his apartment at 4:29 that afternoon. He threw his keys on the table near the door along with his mail, rubbing his temples. He walked slightly farther into the apartment and paused. He sniffed the air, making out the slightly out of place scent. It was soft and fragrant, a woman’s perfume? But his cleaning lady never wore perfume-she always smelled of bleach. And it wasn’t her day to come clean the apartment.
Just then someone came into view in his peripheral vision. He whipped his head around, but could barely make out anything in the shadowy apartment.
“What the hell?” he burst out. He instantly went to reach for his cell phone in his pants pocket. But as he managed to free it, it tumbled to the ground and skidded a good several feet.
“Easy killer,” the figure said. Definitely a woman. Her voice was low and sultry and for a split second he wondered if it was always like that or if she was just trying to calm him. “I’m not here to rape you.”
As Radar’s eyes adjusted, he smirked at that. He had a good six inches on her. She wasn’t necessarily slight, nor was she bulky, she fell somewhere in between. Her hair appeared to brush her shoulders and her face was completely thrown into the shadows.
“Well that’s a relief,” he said. He slowly flipped on the light switch near him, illuminating the room so he could get a better look at her.
She didn’t even flinch at the bright light. She didn’t move at all, actually. For a moment, Radar just stood and stared. She wasn’t incredibly beautiful-she was actually quite average. That was, except for her hair. Naturally it looked like it was a dark brown, almost black, but she had highlighted it with a deep blood red that immediately caught his attention. Her hair was wispy and like he had predicted, just brushed her shoulders. Her face was average-it had a slight square shape with a slightly large nose and a slightly small chin. Her lips were of medium size, the bottom one fuller than the top. And her eyes…he paused a moment at her eyes. They were a dark brown and as the light caught them, the sparked. And they were huge; they took up much of her face. He got a pang of recognition when looking into them. She locked her eyes with his and he felt a jolt. Like he should know her from somewhere. But that was ridiculous; he’d never seen this woman before in his life. But if that were true, why did he feel a distinct pull towards her?
“Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?” he said, calmly, searching his brain to make sure he had security’s number programmed into his phone.
“Such unoriginality in this city,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “It’s like you all follow a script.”
“It’s DC, what do you expect?” he asked nonchalantly. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Now who’s being unoriginal?” he asked smoothly in the tone of voice he used with clients he wasn’t sure were firing on all cylinders. He reached down nonchalantly to get his phone. But as soon as it was within his reach, it skittered away. Bewildered, he made another grab for it; it did the same thing. Then, it suddenly was suspended in midair. He froze and stared at it. It ascended towards the ceiling a few more feet while Radar could do nothing but stare. Then, it fell as if someone had dropped it, and shattered on the hardwood floor.
“Sorry about that,” the woman said, “but the last thing I need is for you to be calling security before I’ve had a chance to explain myself.”
Radar looked at her, bewildered. “You mean to tell me YOU did that?” he exclaimed.
She smiled slightly, secretly. “Guilty.”
His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Then he laughed. “Oh, ok, I get it, I’m dreaming. That or hallucinating.”
She flashed that small smile again. “Sorry but no.” She sat on the sofa and motioned to the spot next to her. “Sit and I’ll explain.”
“No way lady,” he said. “You broke my phone, what’s to say you won’t do the same to me?” he said, going back to try to placate her.
“Because that would take entirely too much energy,” she explained calmly. “And I can see I’m going to need all the energy I can to convince you.”
“Convince me? Of what?”
“Sit and I’ll explain. And I promise not to drop you on the floor.”
Radar judged the distance between himself and the door.
“I wouldn’t,” the woman warned.
“Wouldn’t what?” He asked patiently.
“I’m not crazy,” she said calmly. But Radar had heard that one before in the same tone of voice. “Come on, give me the benefit of the doubt.”
“I tend not to give people the benefit of the doubt when they appear in my apartment. How’d you get in here anyway?”
“Through the door,” she responded simply.
“Cute,” he muttered. Not sure why he was doing it, he took a step closer to the couch and upon reaching it, sat down. Something inside his head was screaming that he was insane for not making a dash for the door and calling for help, but a bigger part of him was assuring him that she was safe and that he should listen to her.
The woman stuck her hand out. “Ava.”
He took her hand albeit wearily and felt an odd current travel up his hand. He barely restrained himself from pulling back.
“Just Ava?” He asked.
“Just Ava,” she confirmed.
“Radar,” he responded.
No comment like most other people when they first met him. No “so your Dad was a cop?” or “one too many speeding tickets?” She just nodded and pulled out a large, leather bound book from a tattered backpack lying on the floor.
He lifted an eyebrow. The book had seen better days.
“So…you’re here selling Bibles?” he said, trying to make light of it.
Ava hit him. It broke the tense atmosphere of the room. “What the hell was that for?”
“Trying to get your attention.”
“You had my damned attention when you broke my damned phone,” he muttered.
“Good to know. This,” she gestured to the book, “is The Book of Legends.”
Radar had to chuckle a bit at that. “Book of Legends? Talk about reading from a script. Sounds like something straight out of a TV show.”
She cut her eyes at him. “It is the written history of all things supernatural back from when humans first started noticing that they walked among them. Every supernatural incident is recorded on these pages, every known supernatural dormant or active is listed, descriptions of every species.”
“First a Bible, then a TV show, then a nature book.”
“I don’t think you understand the magnitude of what is sitting in front of you. Do you know how many governments have gone to war, how many lives have been lost because of this book? People would die-have died-to get their hands on it. And in the wrong hands it would destroy the lives of millions of supernaturals.”
“You lost me a little there. Supernaturals? Like what? Crop circles? Alien sightings?”
“Stop thinking and just listen for a minute.”
“And if it’s so valuable,” Radar continued, “why do you have it? And why the hell are you here?”
“I’m not finished. The book is kept by The Legend Keeper, who normally keeps up with all of the supernatural happenings, but there’s a threat on the book. One of our own-a supernatural-went to the government and now they’re hunting it. They want to turn us into weapons.”
“Well you picked a hell of a place to go if you’re trying to stay away from the government. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re outside of the capital.” He paused a moment. “Wait…did you say us?” he asked. He shot to his feet, getting more annoyed by the second. “Hold on one second lady, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m just a normal human. That book has got nothing to do with me. I’m a sane, normal person; not someone who goes chasing after UFOs or demands the answers to what’s inside Area 51.” Now he really was convinced that she was crazy. The book probably had some mad scribbling in it.
Exasperated, she opened the book. Radar peered at it. He had been right about the scribbling-except, they looked kind of like words. On closer inspection he realized that the book was in Latin of which he knew two words because of his one semester of Latin in college.
“Let me guess, you’re a golden boy right? Everything always goes right for you, you never have to try too hard to be good at anything. You did every sport in high school, made the Dean’s list and managed to snag a dozen girls a year.” She glanced up at him. “Right?”
“I don’t see how it matters.”
She flipped towards the front of the book and started reading: “Supernatual: description. A human who inherits abilities from both parents that go beyond those of an average human. While dormant this human is better at sports and academics than most other normal humans. They are also markedly more attractive. More obvious signs may be odd dreams and seemingly amazing luck.” She stopped and looked up at him. “You’re one of us.”
“Us?”
“I am a supernatural. Human in appearance but with some extra abilities that make me different. Our species is the only one without a name, so we’re just supernaturals. There are other species of supernaturals of which I’m sure you’ve heard all about from this country’s recent obsession with vampires and werewolves.”
“You mean to tell me that vampires and werewolves actually exist?” He laughed. When she didn’t return his mirth, he sobered. “But they’re just stories, myths, legends.”
“And where do you think the stories come from?”
“I don’t know, some writers who had nothing better to do with their lives?”
She looked like she wanted to hit him again. “No. Reality.”
“How do you even know I’m a supernatural?” he asked wearily, even as he asked himself why he was digging himself into a deeper hole. The woman was obviously deranged.
“I would really appreciate if you didn’t call me names,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Now I don’t much like liars either. One of our abilities: mind reading.”
“You can read minds?”
“And you could too with a little training. And there are a couple reason I know you’re a supernatural. One: I can sense other supernaturals; you give off a very distinctive energy. Two you fit the profile. But mainly because of this.” She flipped the book almost in half to another section. There was a list of names, some with gaps in between them. “This is a list of dormant supernaturals. The only way to create a supernatural is from two supernaturals so they’re pretty uncommon.”
“So…my parents can read minds too?”
“No. You don’t get the cool abilities until you’re an active supernatural. Only about a third of supernaturals become active; most go through their whole lives thinking they’re just normal, very lucky people.”
“You’re losing me.”
“Here,” she said, pointing to a name scrawled on the list. Sure enough it read, Radar A. Chandler.
“That’s not possible,” he whispered.
“And if this book gets into the wrong hands, the government will hunt you down and try to use you as the ultimate weapon. Everybody in this book will be.”
“Why are you coming to me?”
“Because you are the most powerful supernatural in the area.”
“But I’m…what did you say? Dormant?”
“It doesn’t take much to change that.”
“And what if I don’t want to help you?”
Ava closed the book. “Then that’s your own prerogative. I just go find someone else who is willing to help me save the supernatural race.”
“You’re making me sound like a heartless bastard.”
“No, you’re doing a fine job of that yourself,” she said standing. She put the book back in the backpack and headed for the door.
Radar’s eyes were drawn to his phone, laying in pieces on the floor. He was surely losing his mind. “Wait,” he said.
Ava paused but didn’t turn around.
“I’m still confused.”
“Of course you are,” Ava said sweetly, turning to him with a fake smile. “I’m much older than you and even I haven’t completely figured it all out.”
“What do you mean older than me? You don’t look much past twenty.”
“And there’s that supernatural charm. My body is approximately twenty-two. My mind, however, is about five hundred.”
Radar blinked. “What?”
“Once supernaturals become active, they stop aging forever.”