Mirror Soul

Chapter Six: Assigned Guardian

The kitchen was a mess. Bruce and the four mystic users, as they called themselves, were sitting in the living room, the Angie lady looking upset, as Bruce explained what happened to him.

He relayed the events that occurred in the alley and his encounter with the well-dressed man, but when he got to the part where he was attacked by the alley cats and birds, the caramel skin boy-or Nix- started laughing.

"You almost got killed," he laughed again. "By kittens and birdies!"

He was laughing hysterically now. Bruce gritted his teeth.

"They were alley cats!" Bruce protested. Nix laughed louder.

"There were like hundreds, and I was surrounded." Bruce tried to defend himself.

"I grabbed an empty beer bottle so I could at lea-"

Nix was on the floor laughing, tears in his eyes.

"Oh, it's too much! Make it stop!" He begged through laughter.

Bruce glared at the boy on the floor with a scowl

"Can he leave, is that possible?"

"I've been asking the same thing every day for years." Layva mumbled just as the owl-like creature from before landed on her shoulder silently.

"And what the hell is that thing?" Bruce asked, pointing a finger.

"I'd explain, but as you so kindly said earlier, you don't trust us. So why would you believe me now?" Layva said while stroking the strange creature's feathers.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at her. "You're a lot more talkative now that your pet is here, huh?" Now that they were side by side Bruce could see that the gray of Layva's eyes were identical to the gray of the creature's.

"I will put another dagger to your throat." Layva said, looking indifferent.

"And I will blow your ass halfway across the room again." Bruce snapped back.

Layva's mouth lowered into a grimace at the same time Bruce's stretched up in a crooked smirk. Their expressions were exact opposites, but their meanings were the same.

Their stare down lasted for a second until Layva turned her eyes to the whispering adults behind them.

"What are you two gossiping about?"

Rolist and Beangala looked at the teens butting heads and said, "We have come to a decision, but first," He turned to Bruce. "Are you ok?"

Bruce stared at him with wide eyes. "Umm yeah, I'm good, I mean maybe I have a few questions! Like for instance what is this blue light? Who are you? How do you do these things? How did you know i was in the alley? And how do I use this awesome power?"

The two adults looked at each other before Beangala cleared her throat. "We already told you everything. You have a mystic that attracts monsters and if you don't learn how to control it...you won't last a month."

Bruce swallowed the lump in his throat as he finally realized that this was all real and his life could be in danger. A man had tried to kill him today and he had been helpless. He knew these people were hiding more than they were sharing, but he also knew it would take time before he could learn it all.

Looks like I'll have to rely on these guys for a while. He plastered a crooked grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Okay, let's get started. But first I'm starving! I didn't get to eat breakfast or lunch because of someone." He looked beside him.