“The Guardian” – Episode Three: {Deja Vu}
Hey guys, this is part two of the two part drop for tonight. The episode…as promised…
Catch up if you haven’t. I got all of the entries right here. In order. Yaooooowah. LOL.
The Preview (Before Episode Two)
Annnnnd noooow…. Episode Three: Deja Vu. For the facebook people…I’ll tie your name into the next part if you can tell me after this why the staff extends and retracts the way it does…
Quick reminder. This is 5 episodes… so this will be ending soon…but who says the Episodes won’t be split? Just letting you know Episode 4 and 5 will be severed… not exactly sure how I’m going to present Episode 5 yet. If I go by my outline for the series…it’s going to get intense pretty fast. It’ll be dope though. You’ll like it.
Enjoy.
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Episode Three: Deja Vu
Nolan decided to lay on the ground for a moment, unmoving. He was sure Kale could’ve killed him, but he chose not to. It confused him, but not to the point of pursuing the thought. The more he thought about it, the more he was upset that he couldn’t lay a hand on him like he could with the other demons.
I feel bad for the next demon I grab… His focus came back and he stood up, looking around and surveying the nice, suburban neighborhood Juan lived in. There were a couple of people out looking confused, but that was to be expected. They couldn’t see him, and at the moment, that’s all that Nolan cared about. After that embarrassing loss, he kind of didn’t know what to think.
He picked up his short sword and his staff and frowned. The staff was suddenly smaller than the sword.
Did I break it? No… It was fine before the last fight… But it was definitely longer when I first came outside…
His thoughts continued to race as he floated to the top of the house and sat down. He peered through the roof at the parents in the kitchen, half-heartedly watching them still overreact to the “freak damage.” It was fine in the kitchen… I don’t know… So this thing grows and shrinks whenever it feels like it?
…And why am I still feeling like it’s not safe??
Nolan stood up and looked around again, clutching the staff. He even flew higher into the air to survey the complete area in one 360-degree sweep.
Nothing.
He gently landed on the roof, confused. He couldn’t relax. He knew something was wrong.
God…show me…
The parents suddenly grabbed their coats and headed for the door.
“Where are they going…” he muttered, a little interested. As they walked out, Nolan was suddenly tempted to follow, but stayed lodged to his seat. They weren’t his assignment. Juan was.
Suddenly the light bulb went off in his head. Juan was missing.
Nolan dropped through the roof and landed on the couch he had grown accustomed to earlier. Without thinking, he fixed the couch back the way it was before the war. “My bad…” he said with a half-laugh as he turned and walked down the hallway.
“Juan? Yooo. Where you at?”
All of the doors were open except the door on the right at the end of the hallway. Nolan cautiously knocked on the door. “You’re not naked are you?”
He heard bedsprings squeak for a moment, then nothing.
“Yo. I know you’re in there.”
Silence.
Nolan knocked again. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He shrugged.
“Fine. If you’re naked and you scar me for life with your man-parts, I’m going to kill you,” he said, laughing as he walked through the door.
The first thing he saw was a big dresser mirror on the wall. The second thing he noticed was the gun aimed at the boy in the mirror. Then he saw the boy turn the gun on himself.
Nolan was speechless, frozen in a horrified state. The images threw him into an all-too-real flashback he was not mentally prepared for…
“LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Juan screamed. His eyes were red, his nose running, and his voice was completely unstable. “Just… get out!”
Nolan somehow managed to speak. “Are you insane?” His voice was working better than he expected, so he kept going. “No, you can’t do that. I can’t let you do that.”
Juan seemed as if he focused on something else for a second, and then snapped back to himself. “I’d be better off dead. I don’t do anyone any good-“
“You honestly think that? I mean, you seriously-“
“You’re smart right? Nolan?” Juan tapped the barrel of the gun to his temple a couple of times in an ‘are-you-an-idiot’ manner as he said, “Do you NOT see this GUN to my HEAD?? EVERYONE always think I’m a joke! Even at school, everyone thinks I’m just a nobody. I’m tired of it-“
“So you’re going to prove them right or wrong by killing yourself?” Nolan took a step closer but Juan pointed the gun at him. “You really think that affects me?”
Juan slanted his eyes for a second. “Oh yeah… good point.” He pointed the gun back at himself.
“Ok, point it back at me, don’t do that.”
“Nah, smart-mouth. This is better anyway. Just stay back.”
Nolan stopped a couple of feet away from him. “Ok. Ok. Just put the gun down.”
“No one would even notice if I was gone, and you know it.”
Nolan felt the feeling of déjà vu creeping in. He had been here before… “…You can’t do this. You know it’s not right.”
This conversation sounds like me…before I died…
A sense of panic surrounded Nolan as Juan answered the question the same way he did… “It’s the only option for me right now.”
“No. No it’s not. You have to make those idiots out to be liars. You know they would miss you,” Nolan answered, almost shell-shocked at the role-reversal…
“There’s no way things can get better from here-“
Nolan interrupted. “It can get better! It will get better. You have to have faith and ride out the hard times-“
“What is this, a Viagra commercial?” Juan’s tone switched to an angry sarcasm. “Seriously? No, I’ve been waiting for too long. I’ve been patient for TOO LONG. Nothing’s changed. Nothing ever changed. Nothing will change-“
Nola interrupted him. “Faith takes time. You can’t rush it. Faith-“
“Faith is blind. I mean, no one can even prove God exists! I’ve been studying and reading and everything…I know chapters of the Bible by heart! And there’s technically no proof-“
“So God sending you a freakin’ Guardian Angel doesn’t count for anything?” Nolan said, almost disrespected by the statement. “REALLY?”
“If God cares for me… why is He letting me go through this?” Juan waved the gun around as he took it off of safety.
Nolan recalled what his mom told him once: “Without a test, there’s no testimony-“
“Nah, screw that.”
Nolan suddenly had a revelation: If it didn’t work for me, then what makes me think it’ll convince him to not do the same thing? He sighed and put his hand on his head. “This is too crazy…” he said to himself.
“You’re calling me crazy?! YOU DON’T KNOW CRAZY-“
“Ok, Juan. Stop it. Stop yelling.”
Juan looked away for a second. “Yeah, you are bothering me! Nolan, leave me alone!”
Nolan replayed the statement in his head before he spoke. It sounded weird to him the way he phrased it. “I can’t do that. You know that.”
“Well, I’ll make it easier for you.” Juan pointed the gun at his chin and put his hand on the trigger.
Nolan couldn’t think of anything else to say… until Juan suddenly screamed at the wall. “SHUT UP!!!!”
Nolan frowned in confusion, but a moment later a thought crossed his mind that made him apprehensive. “Is there someone else here?”
Juan didn’t answer. He looked back in the mirror, hands shaking, sweating…
Nolan knew the answer. “Do. Not. Listen. To. It. Listen to me.” Nolan looked around the room, trying to spot whatever it was, but he couldn’t see anything.
I’m not going to be able to see it until I convince him to relax… “What about your family-“
“You mean the ones that just grounded me for flipping the couch over? Although I didn’t flip the couch over, you did.”
“Hey…I fixed it back on the way in here, if that helps anything.”
“…Way to focus on the big picture…”
“Look, your family loves you-“
“They have a funny way of showing it.”
“But you know they do-“
“Screw my family.”
“Don’t say that.”
Juan looked at Nolan as if he was retarded again. “Um, I HAVE A GUN. I can say whatever I FEEL like.”
“Doesn’t make it right though.”
“This bullet will.”
“Make it right for who? For you? How is it right if you’re dead, Juan? What about your family? Your friends-“
Juan interrupted him. “Wait, were you even at the school earlier? The only friend I might have left me for milk and cookies. Remember? ‘MIIIIILK AND COOOOOKIES’??”
Nolan almost laughed, but he kept his expression the same. He sounded just like his friend from earlier. “Point taken. I mean, there has to be something you’re looking forward to-“
“No. I don’t care about anything anymore. I don’t care about anyone anymore. I just want this to end-“
“That’s a cop-out,” Nolan commented, shaking his head.
“No it’s not.”
“Yeah, it is, and you know it.”
“It’s an escape,” Juan retorted.
“No, if you have to qualify what it is…it’s a cop-out. Yo, think of the fallout-“
“I won’t be here. Not like the fallout bothers me.” The barrel of the gun went into his mouth. “I don’t like that game on Xbox anyway,” he said, the barrel muffling his mouth.
Nolan desperately searched for something to say, a word to convince Juan to relax, something.
There was nothing.
Juan began to squeeze the trigger…
…just as the phone rang, making Juan jump. He looked at the cellphone on the edge of the bed, a little bug-eyed. Nolan could tell his nerves were completely on edge because of the way he reacted to the ringtone.
“You’re not going to answer it?” Nolan asked, hoping he could stall him for a moment. If somehow he could get Juan to think straight, then he’d be able to get rid of…. whatever it was. That was his logic for the moment, at least.
“I should be dead. Stupid phone.” Juan put the gun in his left hand and picked up the cell. “Alice…”
“Who’s Alice?”
“One of my friends…Why is she calling me?” He answered the phone. “Hello…hey…A little busy right now… can you just call back later? You really got me at a bad time… Yeah…No it’s Romans. It’s Romans 8:28…. Yup… Do I believe it? What do you mean…”
Juan let go of the gun suddenly. “Yeah. I do. Why’d you call me?”
Nolan heard the girl’s voice through the speaker of the cell phone: “No one else listens to me when I ask. I just wanted some answers, and I know you’d be able to help me before I did something stupid.”
“Well… It’s not like I’ve never thought about doing stupid stuff.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said. He could tell it was said with a smile. She had no idea what was happening on this end of the phone.
“So would you,” Juan said, somewhat smiling. He heard the smile too. “But like I said…you didn’t just call me to ask me that.”
“No, I was going to ask you if you wanted to meet up-“ She stopped for a second. “Hey, I have to go. I’ll call you back later or…see you at school tomorrow?”
“Yeah… That’s what’s up. I’ll talk to you then.” Juan hung up and stared at the gun lying on the bed.
“Who’s Alice?”
Juan picked up the gun again and pressed it to his chin.
“You seriously are going through with this? After that?”
Juan didn’t answer.
“Who is she? She was thinking about you enough to call, so OBVIOUSLY there’s one person who would be screwed if you died-“
“She’ll be fine.”
“How do you know?”
Juan didn’t answer again.
“How do you know her, Juan? Just answer that for me…”
Juan sighed. “You don’t have a bio-book on me and my associates or anything? God didn’t give you a file on her or nothing?”
“Actually… I’m kind of working off the whole ‘trust in Him’ method. Worked so far.”
Juan thought for a second, his grip on the trigger slackening. “…She’s a friend. She came up to me a couple of months back asking me questions about church. I’ve been trying to get her to go to mine because I know people there can explain stuff way better than I can. She was asking questions I knew the answer to for myself, but I couldn’t put it in layman’s terms…”
Juan placed the gun on his lap. “You know?”
“She’s in your life for a reason. You can’t leave her like that.”
“We don’t date, so I’m not leaving her-“
Nolan laughed at the sudden self-defensive tone. “No, I didn’t mean in that way. I just meant that you have something she needs, and without you, she might not get to where God wants her to be.”
“God can do anything He wants to. He can choose anyone he wants to help her.” Juan picked up the gun again.
“But He chose YOU,” Nolan said emphatically. “That should mean something.”
“No pressure though, right?” Juan sounded even more stressed.
“No. No pressure at all. Being yourself is what attracted her to you, so all you have to do is stay the same. God will do the rest. You have to TRUST HIM. Look… You said you’ve been praying for God to help you with stuff right?”
Juan nodded. The gun was still close enough to him to do permanent damage, so Nolan kept going.
“Well..I’m here. God sent you ME. I’m not the BEST angel he could’ve sent. I haven’t seen Gabriel fight yet, but I hear dude’s a monster. But I’m not exactly a SLOUCH. I’m not bragging or anything, but He probably could’ve sent me anywhere else, but he chose YOU for me to chill with. And I’m glad He did. He knows what He’s doing, and all of that has to count for something. Even in the logical sense, man.”
“Yeah…” Juan placed the gun on his lap.
“So…Can I come closer now?”
Juan looked at the gun, and then laughed. “Oh. Yeah…” He opened the dresser drawer and placed the gun back into it neatly, gently closing it and sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looked in the mirror at himself. “Dad doesn’t even know I know where his gun is.”
“Yeah, let’s keep it that way?”
“I look like trash.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Yup.” Nolan saw something trying to relocate to the corner. There you are. “Bathroom’s that way. I saw it on my way in,” Nolan said, pointing to the hallway.
“I live here! I know where the potty is. Geez.” Juan stood and walked towards the hallway. At the door he stopped. “You know…if you wanted me out the room while you kung-fu fight, you could’ve just said it.”
Nolan smiled and shrugged. “Duly noted. Now go.”
Juan stepped out into the hallway as Nolan launched himself towards the corner of the room, elbow-first, colliding into one of the demon’s faces. In one swift move, he grabbed it by the throat and suspended it in the air. “Identify yourself.”
“Anger…”
“Well, obviously. I’d be pissed too if someone was about to kill me. What’s your name?”
“ANGER.”
“Ooooh… got it,” Nolan slowly nodded. “You by yourself?”
The demon began to shake it’s head yes, but Nolan clenched onto his throat tighter with his left hand and pulled out his short sword with the other.
“I thought your name was Anger…not Liar. Don’t die being something you’re not; that’s what rappers are for. Don’t be a rapper. Where’s the other one?”
Anger’s vision seemed focused on something behind him. Nolan groaned, unable to hide his disappointment. “You guys really have to stop telegraphing your partners positions. That’s bad business…”
Nolan shoved the short sword into the demons stomach, making it instantly turn to ashes. He swiveled around just as the other demon tried to rush in with a wild right hook.
Nolan side-stepped under the hook and caught the demon in the back of his shoulder with the sword and stepped back swiftly as the demon screamed in pain.
“So,” Nolan said, prepared for a sparring match. “I’m going to apologize in advance for what’s about to happen to you.”
“This shall be where you die!!” The demon turned just in time to duck the sword that Nolan had slung at his head dagger-style. “Your aim needs wor-!”
A moment later, the demon was staggered by a Barry Bonds-type blow to the head from Nolan and his extended staff. Stumbling backwards, the demon saw Nolan motion his hands forward, as if he was beckoning the demon to challenge him again. Infuriated the demon took a step forward…
…and felt something slicing through the back of his head. The last thing he saw was the angel catching the sword he had thrown moments before, boomerang-style.
“Hmm. My staff’s back to normal again. Dope.” He slung the staff over his shoulder and started to make his way out of the room, but paused.
He went back to the demon, which was literally dead on his feet. “I need this,” Nolan said as he snatched a small holster from the demon’s waist.
“Don’t need this though,” he muttered, emptying the holster of its knife and stabbing it into the demon’s arm, which was – somehow – still standing. Nolan adjusted the new accessory on his waist and slid his short sword in.
“Dope.”
Nolan walked out of the room, smiling. The body finally tilted forward, but turned to ashes before it could face plant into the floor.
He found Juan on the porch, sitting and gazing into the street.
“So?” Juan asked.
“Yup,” Nolan answered as he sat down next to him.
“You’re good now?”
“Yup.”
“What’d you do to him?”
“Don’t worry about all of that.”
“Was it Street Fighter finish or Mortal Kombat style?”
Nolan yawned as he stretched his arms. “It’s always Mortal Kombat, homie. It’s just my way.”
“Can I watch next time?” Juan asked, looking at Nolan.
Nolan kept looked straight ahead at the street. “Nope.”
They both went back to their comfortable silence, both reflecting on different things. For the first time in the whole day, Nolan felt as if things were ok for a moment.
After a long reflective silence, Nolan commented, “I’m still glad you weren’t naked when I came in. That would’ve been gay.”
Juan looked at him and laughed. “That’s what you were thinking about?? Way to focus on the big picture.”
“Yo, that’s important. When two guys are in the same area, the more clothes the better.”
