The Protectors
That's What Friends Are For
The first thing I registered when I woke up was the pain. It instantly made me wish I had never regained conciousness. At least now I knew I wasn’t dead. There was no way it would be this painful. I slowly opened my eyes, but instantly shut them again. The room was bright from the sunlight streaming in and my head hurt even more now. For a while I just laid there, wanting to rest a bit before trying again.
This time when I opened my eyes I kept them open for a little longer, searching the room with them without moving my head. They found Mike sitting slumped in a chair not far away, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, asleep. I shut them tight again. To try to wake him up and let him know that I was awake was out of the question. So I just laid there without moving, trying to ignore the pain.
Last night’s events played through my mind as I tried to figure out exactly what had happened. The answer was obvious: Mike had rescued me. What wasn’t was how. He had taken on a group of vampires and had somehow dragged me away. An image of him asleep flashed through my mind, his busted lip, scratched face, and black eye. Mike had gotten away, but not unharmed. There was no doubt now that I had to tell him the truth. He definitely had the right to know and he had just proven he could handle it.
After coming to this conclusion, I waited for him to wake up. I ended up falling asleep again, though, before he did.
The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Mike awake, looking deep in thought. My stomach growled loudly, catching his attention. He sprang up from his chair, a look of relief on his face. It didn’t last for too long though, soon turning into an angry one. I braced myself for the torrent of questions sure to come.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this? Who were those people? Why did they beat you up? What’s going on? Is this what you’ve been hiding from me? Have you been doing something illegal? You’re lucky I decided to turn around after I realized you weren’t coming. You could’ve been killed! I barely got us out of there! One of them even attacked me, and I barely kept him off me. He was way stronger than I thought he was. Now tell me why that sort of people are after you.”
I took a deep breath, hoping that Mike wouldn’t think I was crazy after he heard what I was about to say. “You probably won’t believe me, but I’ll tell you anyways since you have a right to know. You know how we were told fairy tales with vampires, fairies, and other magical creatures in them? Well…they’re true.” I didn’t look to see how he was taking this, wanting to get it all out before he accused me of my insanity. “My dad was part of this group called ‘the Protectors.’ Well, at least until he died. Right before he did, he gave me this book that has been passed down for who-knows-how-long that has a lot of information about magical creatures in it. I’m supposed to use it to help keep the balance between humans and magical creatures. Luckily, there’s others, only all scattered around the world. Those people who attacked me last night were vampires. I sorta pissed this one vampire off, and I guess news travels kinda fast…” I added sheepishly.
There was silence, during which the only sound was my stomach growling some more. I wondered how long I had been asleep for. It must’ve been a while since my last meal. I hoped Mike would make up his mind about whether to believe me or not fast so I could eat. Finally he spoke, getting my attention again.
“So you’re saying you were attacked by vampires because you got one of their kind angry when you’re supposed to be protecting the balance between us and them?” Mike asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, I sorta didn’t really know what I was doing,” I admitted. “I’m still new at this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Well, one: I expected you to think I was crazy. And two: I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Then I added, “Oh, and why don’t you think I’m crazy?”
Mike looked dead serious as he replied, “Last night I knew those people weren’t normal. The look in their eyes was so scary, I didn’t think it was possible that they were human. And when I was attacked, I just knew they were stronger than a human could be. I thought I saw fangs, but I just assumed I was imagining things. So what you're saying makes sense. It’s easier than admitting that we’re both crazy.”
“Oh…” I was silent for a moment before saying, “I guess the second one was the one that I had to worry about more. But that I can’t help anymore. It’s already happened.”
“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t take on a group of angry vampires for you?” Mike joked, grinning.
“A sane friend,” I replied, also smiling. “But can you not tell anyone? I don’t want people throwing us into the insane asylum.”
“Of course I won’t,” he promised. “Only, what about Tré?”
I thought for a moment. “We’ll tell him soon, only first let’s try to figure out a way that would make him believe us.” And after saying that, my stomach growled yet again.
Mike stared at me. “Hungry?”
“Yeah. How long have I been asleep for?”
“Well, it’s like 8:30 right now, so getting close to all day. I’ll go get you something to eat.” He left, closing the door behind him. I wondered if he’d told anyone what had happened, or if he had kept it a secret. He had probably made up a cover story, maybe us getting in a fight over something stupid. I doubted he would have said anything about me being attacked by a group of people.
Despite my pain, I felt better than I had for days. Telling someone my secret had lifted a great weight off my back. Now there was only one more person I had left to tell, and I had somewhat of an idea for that.
This time when I opened my eyes I kept them open for a little longer, searching the room with them without moving my head. They found Mike sitting slumped in a chair not far away, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, asleep. I shut them tight again. To try to wake him up and let him know that I was awake was out of the question. So I just laid there without moving, trying to ignore the pain.
Last night’s events played through my mind as I tried to figure out exactly what had happened. The answer was obvious: Mike had rescued me. What wasn’t was how. He had taken on a group of vampires and had somehow dragged me away. An image of him asleep flashed through my mind, his busted lip, scratched face, and black eye. Mike had gotten away, but not unharmed. There was no doubt now that I had to tell him the truth. He definitely had the right to know and he had just proven he could handle it.
After coming to this conclusion, I waited for him to wake up. I ended up falling asleep again, though, before he did.
The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Mike awake, looking deep in thought. My stomach growled loudly, catching his attention. He sprang up from his chair, a look of relief on his face. It didn’t last for too long though, soon turning into an angry one. I braced myself for the torrent of questions sure to come.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this? Who were those people? Why did they beat you up? What’s going on? Is this what you’ve been hiding from me? Have you been doing something illegal? You’re lucky I decided to turn around after I realized you weren’t coming. You could’ve been killed! I barely got us out of there! One of them even attacked me, and I barely kept him off me. He was way stronger than I thought he was. Now tell me why that sort of people are after you.”
I took a deep breath, hoping that Mike wouldn’t think I was crazy after he heard what I was about to say. “You probably won’t believe me, but I’ll tell you anyways since you have a right to know. You know how we were told fairy tales with vampires, fairies, and other magical creatures in them? Well…they’re true.” I didn’t look to see how he was taking this, wanting to get it all out before he accused me of my insanity. “My dad was part of this group called ‘the Protectors.’ Well, at least until he died. Right before he did, he gave me this book that has been passed down for who-knows-how-long that has a lot of information about magical creatures in it. I’m supposed to use it to help keep the balance between humans and magical creatures. Luckily, there’s others, only all scattered around the world. Those people who attacked me last night were vampires. I sorta pissed this one vampire off, and I guess news travels kinda fast…” I added sheepishly.
There was silence, during which the only sound was my stomach growling some more. I wondered how long I had been asleep for. It must’ve been a while since my last meal. I hoped Mike would make up his mind about whether to believe me or not fast so I could eat. Finally he spoke, getting my attention again.
“So you’re saying you were attacked by vampires because you got one of their kind angry when you’re supposed to be protecting the balance between us and them?” Mike asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, I sorta didn’t really know what I was doing,” I admitted. “I’m still new at this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Well, one: I expected you to think I was crazy. And two: I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Then I added, “Oh, and why don’t you think I’m crazy?”
Mike looked dead serious as he replied, “Last night I knew those people weren’t normal. The look in their eyes was so scary, I didn’t think it was possible that they were human. And when I was attacked, I just knew they were stronger than a human could be. I thought I saw fangs, but I just assumed I was imagining things. So what you're saying makes sense. It’s easier than admitting that we’re both crazy.”
“Oh…” I was silent for a moment before saying, “I guess the second one was the one that I had to worry about more. But that I can’t help anymore. It’s already happened.”
“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t take on a group of angry vampires for you?” Mike joked, grinning.
“A sane friend,” I replied, also smiling. “But can you not tell anyone? I don’t want people throwing us into the insane asylum.”
“Of course I won’t,” he promised. “Only, what about Tré?”
I thought for a moment. “We’ll tell him soon, only first let’s try to figure out a way that would make him believe us.” And after saying that, my stomach growled yet again.
Mike stared at me. “Hungry?”
“Yeah. How long have I been asleep for?”
“Well, it’s like 8:30 right now, so getting close to all day. I’ll go get you something to eat.” He left, closing the door behind him. I wondered if he’d told anyone what had happened, or if he had kept it a secret. He had probably made up a cover story, maybe us getting in a fight over something stupid. I doubted he would have said anything about me being attacked by a group of people.
Despite my pain, I felt better than I had for days. Telling someone my secret had lifted a great weight off my back. Now there was only one more person I had left to tell, and I had somewhat of an idea for that.