The Last Guardian

Chapter_29: Bad Juju

Raven suddenly showed up from between the trees.

“Where on earth were you? We almost got killed here -“said Johnathan in surprise.

“Got caught up-here’s your stuff-“said Raven handing a backpack to Billy.

“What’s in the bag?” asked Lisa curiously.

“Holy water and blessed salt -!”replied Billy taking out the stuff from the bag.

“What? But we just killed the monster-“said Johnathan.

“Yeah I know- this is for us and this forest-“he replied.

Johnathan looked curiously at what Billy was doing. Lisa stood close to him while Raven watched leaning against the truck.

“Son-“said Billy, ”we need to purify ourselves before we get outta here- this whole monster hunting thing takes a lot of toll on your body and soul- some bad things might attach themselves to you and I also need to make sure that the evil thing cannot rise up again in here-“

With that he took out a bottle of holy water and poured some in his hand and sprinkled over Johnathan and Lisa while chanting some obscure Latin verse. Johnathan wondered if it was really necessary- he was confident now that he could handle anything demonic or monstrous. Next he took out a small pouch and poured about 200 grams of white salt on the ground and then while chanting the same verse, he lit a match-

“You might wanna step back a little-“ he said.

Johnathan and Lisa retreated a few steps back while Billy threw the matchstick on the salt. For a few minutes, it seemed that the matchstick would burn out but then a sudden fire arose from the salt-it was pure white in colour. The fire rose about five feet from the ground and suddenly subsided back into the salt with a loud hissing sound. Johnathan thought it was nothing more than some cool firework show but he was wrong- a ring of white light began to expand out of the salt and gradually got bigger. The ring of pure white light now accelerated at an immense speed out from the salt, encircling the entire forest like a shockwave. Lisa heard the sound of the wave moving away like a wave in the ocean and suddenly it disappeared.

“We’re done here- let’s go-“said Billy packing his stuff.

“It’s done?” asked Lisa ”so we good to go now?”

“Did I stutter?” said Billy sarcastically.

Johnathan looked at Lisa and said-

“Hey-it’s been a long night- sorry for dragging you along with us-should I drive you home-“

“Oh she’s a grown woman for god’s sake- she can drive herself home-“ scoffed Raven.

Lisa almost laughed-

“I’m okay thanks- and it’s not your fault-I dragged myself here-I’ll drive home now- it’s about to be dawn- gotta go to work and find a way to explain my boss about all this- this monster stuff-so see you and thanks again-“

Johnathan put his sword inside his truck while Billy sat in the passenger seat-

“You drive- I need some sleep-“he said and relaxed in his seat.

Johnathan started to drive away-he saw Lisa driving ahead and Raven as usual had taken her bike and disappeared. He was glad to finally get out of this god forsaken place and hoped to never return. A few minutes later as they reached the country roads, Johnathan asked Billy-

“Why are you so mean to her?”

“I dunno- why you being so sweet to her?” replied Billy.

Johnathan stuttered.

“Yeah I know- you’ve been lonely for a long time- but remember she’s a cop- she won’t think twice before dragging your butt off to jail-so better to keep a safe distance- everything I do is for  your good-“said Billy and tilted his hat down and closed his eyes.

Johnathan didn’t reply- he knew that he was right but he also knew that he liked Lisa and something about her made him feel like home- he imagined what it would be like if he didn’t have to be a Guardian and like a normal person, settle down with her, now that he had let go of Maya’s memories and was officially single. He caught himself dreaming with eyes open and felt stupid for thinking like that- after all he barely knew much about her-maybe he would ask her out sometime, he thought.

The sun had almost risen and lit the morning sky with its warm golden rays. The birds were chirping everywhere and Johnathan had reached the city- it was time for him to drop Billy off at the church and drive himself home. It was five in the morning...

A few hours later, Johnathan woke up and looked at his watch-1.30 p.m. He had slept almost half of the day. He got out of his bed feeling terribly hungry but there was barely anything left to eat in the fridge. He checked his wallet- barely a few bucks, but it was enough for a meal. So he freshened himself up and dressed in new clothes he went out of his house walking towards the local diner.

He went into the diner and sat down at the corner table and ordered some soup. The waitress gave him a cup of coffee and brought in some tomato soup. He ate his meal heartily and was almost done. He looked at the wall clock in the diner- it was 2’O clock but something was wrong. The ticking of the clock was getting louder- he could feel the dials of the clock moving slowly and every second it moved, it felt as if his heart was going to explode- he felt a terrible sense of anxiety- his breath was getting heavier. He looked around- everything and everyone was blurry. He was panicking hard and tried to get up but his legs wouldn’t move-he froze. Straight ahead he saw a strange bluish figure approaching him- it was scary and he felt that it was about to crush his heart right inside his chest. He had no idea what to do next and sat on the chair sweating profusely. Suddenly he felt a hard slap on his face and he snapped out of his trance-

It was Raven- she was standing in front of him and saying something-

“Wake- Up!” he heard her saying.

And then she splashed a glass of water on his face. Johnathan suddenly stood up saying-

“Woah! I’m up – I’m ok- What-happened-“

“You’re cursed- c’mon let’s get outta here-“ she said and went out of the diner.