The Guardian

Graduation

Itai stood in the corner of a dark room, motionless. His senses were on overdrive; each slight creak of wood seemed to be a footstep, and the blinking red light from a security camera reminded him that he was on display. The key to his exit was dwelling somewhere in the darkness ahead of him.

It had been at least five minutes of silence. Itai knew his objective. He was tasked with taking down a ghoul whose sole purpose was to kill. If he succeeded, he would be given the chance to return to the living realm. But if the stupid thing didn't appear, what was he supposed to do? Stay in this boring-ass corner for another hour?

Another minute ticked by. Itai leaned against a wall with a sigh, checking that his tranquilizer gun was loaded for the fourth time. He knew that the room was a simulation, but it had been created so flawlessly that the light from the security camera was the only reminder that this wasn't real. Everything he did was being monitored. He needed to trust his instincts, and they told him that if he kept waiting, nothing would happen. There was no reason to be afraid; after all, a dead man can't be killed.

Just before the lights had shut off and plunged him into darkness, Itai had spotted a crate on the opposite wall. Although there were plenty of creepy antiques in this room, that crate had caught his eye. Keeping his gun pointed ahead, Itai crept forward. Finally his foot hit something solid, and when he reached down, he felt the splintery edge of the crate.

Itai pulled back suddenly. As a spirit, he could see, hear, and smell-however, touch and taste vanished when he'd died. The simulation was tricking his mind into thinking that he could feel objects again. A cruel and distracting trick.

Now fueled with anger, Itai cocked his gun and dug his fingers under the lid of the crate. It slid off with little effort and clattered onto the floor. After a tense moment, Itai realized that no creature was crawling out. He nudged the crate again. Nothing.

Itai groaned, frustrated with the lack of action. He knew his strengths, and patience wasn't one of them. That blinking light seemed to be taunting him. I'm waiting, it said. Impress me.

Moments later, a hiss cut through the air behind him. Finally. He almost wanted to smile in relief.

Itai spun around, shielding his back with the wall. A flash of movement caught his eye, and he aimed, keeping his focus on the spot. Ghouls had a few weaknesses, one of them being that they were limited by a physical body. A few good shots could bring it down quickly.

He waited for it to move again. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and when they did he spotted a figure slinking along the floor, just close enough to make him nervous.

The ghoul was down on all fours, examining him with eyes that reflected like a cat's. It shied away from the small amount of light that crept in from under the exit. Long, stringy hair sprouted all the way down it's back, spanning out to cover the floor around it. Itai didn't have to see it's mouth to know that fangs sharper than a blade were protruding from it.

In a terrifyingly silent burst of movement, the ghoul skittered to the other side of the room, running so quickly that Itai nearly lost it in the darkness. He fired blindly and was not surprised when he heard the needle clatter to the floor, missing its mark. He held his fire, analyzing the ghoul's routine and noticing a pattern. It would run for one second, no, two seconds, and then stop. One, two, stop. It repeated this pattern, getting closer each time. Itai's finger was poised over the trigger.

Stop. One, two, stop. One, two-

He fired just as the blur came to a halt. Itai couldn't tell if it hit the creature or not, but he definitely startled it. A high-pitched whine came from the ghoul, and suddenly it was moving much faster, and right at him. He leapt to the side just in time, and the creature pounced head-first into the wall. The crate snapped apart on impact.

Itai took advantage of its daze and fired another tranquilizer at the nape. He knew that this one had hit when the whine was replaced with a chilling growl. The ghoul scrambled over the remains of the crate, and Itai took a step, taking two more calculated shots

Sudden silence made him hesitate. Surely it wasn't over already. He waited for a revealing flicker of movement, or any noise at all.

A click startled him, but it was just the lights turning back on. Itai blinked to adjust to the brightness. The simulated room faded, and all that remained were four blank white walls. 

Had he passed? Itai glanced up at the camera and cautiously walked towards the door. The sound of descending footsteps made him recall the pretty assistant who had led him to this room, and he quickly checked his hair against the reflective side of the gun before the door swung open.

To Itai's slight disappointment, a stocky man came into the doorway holding a steel container. "Gun in the box, Kohin," he directed. Itai quickly unstrapped the holster and placed both it and the gun into the man's hands.

"Come with me," he said. Itai was close enough to read his nametag. The name Nikolai was printed in bold letters, with Loss Prevention Officer  written underneath. As the two walked, Itai found himself glancing at his gun, locked in the box. Nikolai was leading him to an area of the training center that he'd never been to before.

They came to a stop in front of a revolving door. When Itai squinted, he could see two figures at a table. The door went through another revolution, and Itai stepped in. He automatically scanned his surroundings for threats, a habit that had been ingrained into him by the training instructors. The walls were covered with intricate paintings; it was more art than he'd seen in the entire rest of the building. The ceiling was domed and revealed a second floor, but he saw no way to reach it. Plenty of places for ghouls to hide, yet he felt perfectly safe.

The two people around the table turned to look at him. He recognized the man right away. Jeffrey Mage, his primary trainer and ex-guardian, who for once had combed his hair. The other person was a woman he'd never met, but her eyes held a friendly sparkle.

"Itai Kohin," the woman addressed him. "We have been monitoring your work with ghouls, and your mentor"-- she waved a delicate hand at Jeffrey--"has convinced me that you are ready to return to the living realm. You will be given an orientation before proceeding with your work. Congratulations." She handed him a small badge, with the words "Junior Guardian" embroidered on it. Itai stared at it as a grin formed. Months and months of hellish training had led him to this.

"Instructor Jeffrey will share the details of the case with you now," the woman said. Jeffrey handed him an inconspicuous envelope with the Guardian's company symbol stamped on the front. Itai peeled it open and shook out a thick contract, an informational package, and the yearbook photo of a dark-skinned curly-haired girl. This was his first real assignment, the person he would be guarding for the time being.

Itai was surprised to realize that he recognized her. The girl's name was Arden. She had attended the same school as he used to, and his best friend Jay had developed a slight crush on her back in middle school. Her sassy smile was easy to recognize, yet there was a change-a certain glow in her that he hadn't been able to see when he was alive.

"Itai." Jeffery covered the photograph with his hand. "I realize you know this girl, but don't let that distract you" he warned. "You can't make contact, no matter the circumstances. The papers will tell you more, but we have reason to suspect that she is being targeted by ghouls. We're not sure why yet."

"I understand." Itai dutifully repeated what he'd been taught over the past few months. "No being pervy, no spooking her, and definitely no contact." He grinned at his trainer. "At this point, you should have more faith in me."

Jeffery's face softened. "I do, and I'm proud. Just don't screw this up."

"I won't," Itai promised. "You know how much I want this."

They shared a moment of comfortable silence. This is really happening, Itai thought to himself. He wasn't sure that he was ready, but at this point, he didn't have a choice. "Be careful back in the living realm, my newest Guardian recruit," Jeffrey said. "And don't fuck it up."