The Last Guardian

Chapter_71: White Rabbit

Everything was turning back to normal in the park. Farid helped Raven by tying a piece of cloth around her shoulder- luckily for her, the bullet went through, without doing much damage. He and Solomon took her to their place to treat her. Lisa heard everything that happened earlier and how Johnathan was smitten away-she was worried about where he was and whether he was alive. With the help of the local cops, she arrested Billy- who was on the brink of death and took him to the nearby hospital- she wondered if he would stay alive for long. She had arrested the one responsible for the museum heist and the murder of the guard, atleast she would have something to show for after all of this mess.

She asked Farid, Solomon and Raven to leave the scene immediately and said that she would come by later. The three immediately took of in their van towards the shop. Everyone was worried about Johnathan- Solomon argued that Farid shouldn't have taken such a drastic step to stop Johnathan- the prayer beads were supposed to be the last resort- a final weapon in a monk's arsenal. But he also realised that there wasn't any other way to stop him- he had turned into a monster.

"God knows what happened to him!" remarked Solomon as they were driving home.

Farid was quite- he was upset about he did or rather forced to do- if Billy hadn't fed him the demon blood, it wouldn't have come to this. He kept wondering how he would find him and whether he was alive. He had never known anything or anyone that had survived the heavenly smite!

But Johnathan was still alive, far, far away from the city- almost on the border of the neighbouring state. High up on a flattened mountain top, Johnathan lay unconscious for hours. He had turned back to his previous self and he was barely breathing. He opened his eyes and it was nighttime. As he tried to sit up straight he felt an enormous amount of pain throughout his body- as if all of his bones were broken. He groaned in pain, trying to sit up straight but his ribs hurt him like hell and he finally gave up and lay down again. He tried to call upon his powers but nothing happened- he finally gave up.

He looked up at the bright stars above him and wondered why he was facing such pain and difficulties. What did he do wrong? All his life he had served his country and later he got betrayed by his love of his life. He was forced to be a Guardian and he was good at it too but is this how he's rewarded?

"Why- God why?" he said in a broken voice looking at the stars.

Suddenly he heard a rustling sound amongst the bushes. He turned his head and saw a little white rabbit hopping out of the leaves. It came closer to Johnathan and stopped and stared at him. Johnathan smiled sarcastically-

"Hello there little friend- look at me- a broken man- about to die-" he said looking at the rabbit.

But then he began to think that it was strange to see a fluffy white rabbit in the wild. They were mostly domesticated pets- a wild hare would have made more sense. But he didn't know what to think anymore and closed his eyes. The white rabbit stood there looking at him.

"Where are you now Azazel- you crazy son of a gun! I'm dying here-" he muttered.

A few seconds later he heard more rustling sounds and as he opened his eyes he was surprised to see tiny little blue lights hovering over his body- he was scared at first but he felt a sense of calm as he kept staring at them. He looked at the rabbit- it was starting to glow bright.

"What the!" he exclaimed trying to move but the pain was too great for him.

The rabbit began to glow brighter and brighter and the lights kept hovering over him. Johnathan kept staring at everything with awe and wondered what were those things. Suddenly a bright white female figure emerged out of the rabbit. He saw the face of a kind and peaceful lady staring at him.

"You poor boy- look at you- I'm the forest Guardian, sent to heal you - the demon inside you has been quited down .... these willow o' the wisps will treat you .... rest now and arise a new man..."

To this day he doesn't remember the actual words but he's sure that he heard this from the strange apparition. The Willows began to submerge one by one inside his body and he felt calm and peaceful and fell asleep. It was the best sleep that he had ever had....

Back at the shop, Farid treated Raven's wounds and let her rest for a while. She kept repeating feverishly that she was a fool for joining Billy and apologised over and over again until the medicine made her drowsy. Solomon was sitting on a chair with a worried look.

"How are we going to find him now?" he asked.

"Don't worry Brother- I'll work all night if I have to but I'm gonna find hma way-" Farid assured.

"It was our fault for dragging him into this whole mess and punishing him for something he was not guilty of-" said Solomon shaking his head.

"Nay Brother- 'tis fate that brought him here - he's been through a lot now but I'm sure that heaven is watching over him. Great things await him -" replied Farid and started to look through his shelves for anything that could help him find Johnny.

Lisa was at the precinct submitting her report on the whole incident. Everyone congratulated her for catching Billy- the thief. She put on a fake smile and thanked them but inside her heart was heavy thinking of Johnathan.

Billy was admitted to a hospital and he lay there on a bed with handcuffs tied to the bed. The doctors said that he had broken most of his bones in his body and was now in a coma. It was hard to tell when he'd wake up.

"Suits him right-" Lisa said to herself.