Guardians of the Dark

Kasen kept his eyes ahead of him and his elbows down. He strengthened his grip on the foam mallet in his hands, while mentally preparing himself for what’s to come. Eliza moved in the corner of his left eye, also adjusting her footing. They were in the Dark room – all four of them – preparing for their first official test as Guardians.

“Alright, recruits,” came Matt’s voice from the other side of the door, “are all of you clear on what to do?”

Malcolm slouched, leaning on his mallet for support. “Yea, yea,” he groaned, “it’s not exactly rocket science, now is it? You’re going to adjust the knob, staring at level 1, after which each of us must run up to the line of stuffed dummies, and whack the life out of them with these pathetic excuse for weapons …”

“No, Malcolm, you’re not supposed to whack the life out of them. You’re only supposed to tip them over. This is a test to see up to which level of Dark you’re able to maintain control. Once you lose your cool, we know the starting point for your training.” Matt sighed. “Okay, is everyone clear on what to do now?”

The four of them nodded.

“Good, then –”

Eliza stuck her hand in the air.

Felix, by the window in the recreation room, banged his head against the glass. He droned through his teeth, “Come on, people! We’re evaluating you on this, you know!” He took a deep breath. “Yes, Liz, my girl?”

Eliza clicked her heels. “Are we obligated to go for the dummy directly in line with us” – she motioned to the mannequin-like figures on rods by the wall – “or can we choose whichever one looks the most challenging?”

Felix stared at her without blinking or making a sound. He pressed his fingernails to the glass, and scratched down in one long, shrill movement. He licked across his front teeth, then, finally, asked in an almost-whisper, “My dearest Eliza, why in the Light’s name would you want to go for someone else’s dummy?”

Eliza’s face fell.

“What he means is – uh – no, Eliza, you cannot go for whichever dummy you want,” added Matt before Felix entirely lost his cool. He cast his boyfriend a look through the window. “Anyway, let’s get on with it, shall we?”

“Please, I’m getting hungry,” grumbled Malcolm.

Matt counted down.

Three …

Kasen held his breath. He hated how his stomach dropped and his jaw clenched when he came in contact with the Dark. And that was without having just lost his best friend. To his brother. To a stranger. To a monster.

Two …

Kasen squeezed the mallet again. The motion didn’t actually soothe him, but he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. He had to clear his mind. He couldn’t afford to fail this test and be assigned a lesser post.

One …

Matt turned the knob.

Eliza and Buff were the only ones to gasp aloud. Malcolm smirked at them, then peered down the line at Kasen. When Kasen didn’t return the glance, he said, “Looking a bit pale, Traynor. Is level 1 too much for you?”

Kasen scoffed. “I’m fine,” he whistled through his teeth. He kept his eyes on the dummy’s faceless head, rising and deflating his chest in pace. In. Out. In. Out. He wasn’t sure how, but he managed to keep his thoughts of Samael, Clay, and his father at bay. They were there, but he resisted any trace of anger and remorse.

“Eliza? Buff?” asked Matt.

“I’m good,” wheezed Eliza, her jaw visibly tight.

“Same,” said Buff.

“Then, what are you waiting for? A formal invitation? Go!” cried Felix, slamming his palms against the window.

Malcom was the first to set off. He ran at full speed down the length of the Dark room – empty, save for the four of them – wielded his mallet, and whacked his dummy right in the centre. It only fell over after three strikes.

“Level 1, easy,” he said-half-breathed, then wiped across his upper lip.

“I couldn’t agree more,” sneered Eliza and charged. She let out some form of battle-cry, howling at the top of her lungs. Her swing deemed much less graceful than Malcolm’s, but somehow more effective. She spun around with her hands in the air. Her entire ponytail came loose, and her hair sprawled across her face.

Buff went next.

Kasen panicked and also set off. He doubted his mental readiness, but refused to be the last person to go. He raced across the mat, not at full speed, but fast enough to overtake Buff. His dummy came within reaching distance, and he drew a breath. It was now or never. He skidded to a stop, yanked back, and aimed for the middle.

The dummy toppled over on his very first swing.

“Wha –” Malcolm was speechless.

“Nice job,” Matt praised him. “Maybe a little too much power to my taste, but if you felt in control of yourself …”

Kasen didn’t.

Not in the slightest.

He had lost every ounce of control the moment the faceless dummy had sprouted eyes, a nose, and a mouth – when it had turned into Samael of the Dark. He flexed his hand. His knuckles ached all the way into his forearms from squeezing the mallet so hard. But if he hadn’t, he’d have taken the dummy’s head off.

So much for an easy level 1.

Buff whacked his own dummy a couple of times before it fell over. He seemed the most calm of them all, having hardly broken a sweat. He swung the mallet over his shoulder and strutted back to the starting point.

“Whatever! You just hit it at the right spot,” sneered Malcolm, bitterly. “I bet you can’t do it a second time, Traynor.”

“You’re just jealous, Malcolm,” Eliza defended him, but even she spoke with a hint of resentment in her voice. She didn’t turn to meet Kasen’s eyes, nor did she check whether he had thanked her for defending him.

“Why would I be jealous?” asked Malcolm with an exaggerated shrug. “I don’t want a coldblooded killer for a brother.”

Kasen’s blood curdled with anger. His every muscle ached to charge at Malcolm, but he withheld himself from doing so. Instead, he curled his toes and chewed the inside of his cheek. Malcolm likely wanted him to snap. He wanted him to give in to the Dark and fail the test. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not today.

“That’s enough, boys,” Matt interjected, “let’s get on with the test.”

Levels 2, 3, and 4 went pretty much the same. Kasen distracted himself with Clay’s face, smiling at him that night before they went to bed – the last time he’d seen him alive. It worked for the most part, reducing his strength to three or four blows before the dummy toppled on its side, but just about drained him. His jaw trembled from its constant clenching, and his heart throbbed in his throat, silencing all other sounds around him: Eliza’s battle cries, Malcolm’s disses, and Felix’s critique from the other side of the window.

“Kasen!” snapped Eliza from somewhere at the back of his mind.

He blinked rapidly.

“Kasen, aren’t you listening?” she repeated. “Matt asked whether you’re alright to continue on to the next level?”

Kasen turned his head to the door. Matt’s shadow lingered beyond the window next to it. “Y– Yea, of course I’m alright.”

Eliza’s frown deepened. She kept looking at him, even after he shook himself loose and adjusted his stance.

“What?” he demanded to know.

She shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Eliza, I’m fine. Really.” Kasen feigned a grin. “Now, get ready to have your behind handed to you in level 5.” His performance successfully fooled her, for she promptly returned his grin and copied his warm-up moves.

“Here we go,” announced Matt. “Level 5.”

Felix applauded them on the other side of the window. Numerous Guardians had joined him in the recreation room, all curious to see who’d go the furthest. A greater of the audience rooted for Malcolm, who soaked up the attention by performing flips and cartwheels mid-run, and called out his name after each victory.

Matt turned the knob, and all four of them gasped.

Kasen’s knees buckled. It felt as though the floor gave way under him, swallowing him into a pit of endless Dark. Without air or sound or sight. And this was only level 5. It was nothing compared to level 10, never mind the actual Dark. The buzz in his ears faded, shortly replaced by a ring. A ring mixed with cheers, heckles, and grunts.

“You all okay?” asked Matt.

No answer.

Eliza alone shook her head. Buff turned up his right thumb, and Malcolm proved his level of okay by setting off down the mat. He performed three consecutive front-flips, then used his mallet to vault through the air and kick his dummy sideways in the stomach. He tumbled into a squat position on top of it.

“Is this okay enough for you?” he shouted, then beat his chest with his fists. The crowd in the recreation room amplified their cheers.

Malcolm blew them a series of kisses, gathered his mallet, and strutted to the starting point with his eyes on Kasen the entire time. He said, “You really do look pale this time, Traynor. Did you finally realise my greatness?”

Kasen made no reply. He didn’t even roll his eyes. He heard – saw – Malcolm speaking to him, but had no idea what about. He struggled to make sense of the words, each one passing through his head as a meaningless mumble.

When Kasen didn’t respond, Malcolm merely shrugged it off and chuckled to himself. “I thought so,” he said.

Eliza went next, shortly followed by Buff. They ran at their dummies together, undergoing the same motions as during the previous levels. When their dummies at last fell over, they turned to one another and high-fived. Eliza spun with her right hand in the air, likely expecting Kasen to have run along with them, but when he wasn’t there, her face fell. As did her hand. He stood exactly where he did moments ago, cemented.

Clay.

Dead.

“Kasen?” she asked.

“Yes?” replied Kasen, automatically. He kept his head to his dummy, but looked at her through the corners of his eyes. She was but a fuzzy, withering blob in a rotating room full of static. An iciness washed over him, and his skin rippled with bumps. The bottom of his jaw clattered against the top, loud and uncontrollably.

His father.

Stabbed in the chest.

“Kasen, you really don’t look so well.” Eliza dropped her mallet and approached him. Her blurry silhouette moved too fast for him to follow with his eyes. She reached out, but he wrenched away before she touched him.

“I – I’m fine. Just fine,” he insisted. He pulled the mallet in against his stomach, and shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. It didn’t work. It was filled with grime. With blood and sweat and tears and flesh.

Samael.

A murderer.

“Are you –”

“I said I’m fine, Eliza!” Kasen thwacked the mallet at her, but she hopped back, out of the way, just fast enough.

Eliza glared at him. She cocked her head to the side and looked him in the eyes, one by one. After a moment of this, she pursed her lips and stepped back even farther. “Fine,” she said, “take your turn then, Traynor.”

Kasen flinched at this. He hadn’t known her for that long, sure, but she’d never called him by his surname before.

Only Malcolm did that.

“Eliz –”

Felix hammered against the window, stilling the words in his mouth. “Come on, princess, we don’t have all day!”

Kasen felt the urge to throw the mallet at him, but didn’t. The voice in his head told him to scream, to roar, to attack everyone in the room. It told him to get out of there, to go to the edge of the city and call out to Samael until he showed himself. To accuse him for what he did, and demand they settled things with a fight.

But he couldn’t listen to the voice, for the voice was the Dark.

It was pure evil.

Kasen set off down the length of the Dark room. He jogged instead of ran, each step colliding heavily with the mat. The dummy neared, and he shut his eyes. He couldn’t look at it – at Samael’s heinous face. His heart accelerated, slowed, accelerated, slowed. His legs tensed, and he skidded to a stop right before the dummy.

Silence.

“What gives, Traynor?” shouted Malcolm from behind him.

Kasen didn’t open his eyes. Not yet. His father. Clay. He swallowed, and the voice amplified in his mind. Justice must be served. Samael of the Dark must die for what he did. He counted to ten, trying to escape the voice.

To escape himself.

“Kasen?” said Eliza. “Kasen, look at me!”

But he couldn’t. As much as he wanted to, his neck wouldn’t let him. He wasn’t in control of his body anymore. The voice was. The evil, twisted, poisonous voice. The voice Doctors Marx had told him to ignore, to resist. But resisting was so difficult, and giving in was much, much easier. Much, much more fulfilling.

So he did.

Kasen lifted his right knee, then snapped the mallet in two across it. He took one half in each hand, yanked back, and whacked the dummy’s head right off. It hurled across the Dark room, colliding with the window.

Thud.

The head rolled across the mat.

The crowd gasped at first, but Felix shushed them and they silenced. They watched Kasen as he heaved, his shoulders rising and lowering with each breath. Eliza ran up to him, but Buff blocked her with his arm.

“Don’t go near him, Liz,” he warned.

“Kasen!” she shouted, trying to break past. He didn’t look at her, but could hear the distress in her voice, and the determination in her movements. “Kasen, can you hear me? Turn it off, Matt! Turn this damn thing off!”

Matt turned the knob to zero.

The moment the Dark faded, Kasen dropped the mallet and fell to his knees. Buff let go of Eliza, and she ran toward him. He showed his hand at her before she reached him, shaking his head. “Stay away,” he ordered.

“Kasen … it’s alright.”

“No, I lost control of myself.”

“Well of course, we were at level 5. It’s a difficult level.”

Kasen got up. He turned, still with his head lowered, and pushed past her. “It seems I’m the weakest one here, then.”

“No arguments from me,” muttered Malcolm.

Kasen had no strength to snap back at him. He headed for the door, but stepped aside when it slid open to reveal Matt. He scratched his head when he saw Kasen, not exactly sure how to respond to what just happened.

“Are you –”

“I’m fine, Matt!” shouted Kasen. “Stop asking that already.” He made to slip past, but Matt stepped in front of him.

“Training’s not over yet, Kasen,” he said.

Felix rounded the corner from the recreation room. He took away Matt’s arm. “I think we ought to give young Traynor some space, babe. He’s obviously going through a tough time.” His bottom lip curled over in pity.

Matt sighed, running a fist through his hair. “Fine.” He turned to the other three. “It seems training’s ending early today. Go home and rest up for tomorrow. We’re taking you for your first Dark collection at the Southern Collection Point.” Then, he turned around and courted Felix around the corner to speak to him in private.

“Now you’ve done it, Traynor,” hissed Malcolm, pushing past him out the door. He made straight for the recreation room.

Eliza and Buff followed behind him. Buff went straight inside, while Eliza paused a second by the entrance. She looked over her shoulder at Kasen, then smiled weakly before she cleared her hair from her eyes and left.

Kasen rubbed across his face. He’d made an absolute fool of himself. And in front of every remotely influential Guardian, nonetheless. He had to get out of there. He had to go somewhere where he could get some fresh air.

He surged down the corridor to the three security doors, passed through them, and headed for the cave. He summoned a railway pod on his transmission band, then paced about the platform while he waited.

“Stupid Dark room,” he muttered to himself, knocking his head with his fists. He grasped at tufts of his hair, doubling over. His throat itched to scream, but he couldn’t. Not there. Not then. “Damn, cursed aptitude test …”

Kasen straightened and kicked the first stone in his path. He half expected it to ricochet off the side of the cave, but it didn’t. Instead, it rolled into the shadows, into a secret opening along the rear wall of the cave. He approached it and peered inside. A drop of water splashed on the ground, echoing far, very far, into nowhere.

“Strange,” noted Kasen under his breath. The opening proved wide enough for two people next to each other, and high enough for even Buff to walk straight. He searched for a sign, an indicator, of some sort, but to no success.

Except …

Something lay on the ground several feet in. Something light. Something greyish. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in. Yes. It was a piece of clothing, of a Guardian’s uniform. But, what was it doing over there?

Kasen entered the tunnel. He took care about where he stepped, afraid Emperor Hamman might’ve rigged alarm systems or traps. An opening such as this wouldn’t just sit there for anyone to enter, especially not recruits. He reached the piece of clothing without trouble, scooped his foot under it, and tossed up it to his hand.

No dust.

Kasen squeezed it. The fabric was cold, which meant someone hadn’t worn it that recently, but also not too long ago. He spread it open and held it up. It was a jacket, a Senior Officer’s jacket. The same one Matt and Felix wore. He held the nametag to the light, and gasped. Mary Bates. But, how was this even possible?

Kasen bundled the jacket and turned on his heels. His heart skipped a beat, and a yelp escaped his lips. He cursed aloud, coming face to face with Felicity. She gazed over her glasses at him, at the bundle in his hands.

“Kasen,” she said, “have you lost something?”

“Uh, no.” Kasen held out the piece of clothing. “But Mary Bates might’ve.”

Felicity took the jacket from him. She frowned and raised it to the light. When she saw the nametag, she let out a shriek-like gasp, and promptly bundled it. Her face drained of colour, and her glasses slipped to the tip of her nose. “Wh – Where did you find this?” she asked, pushing up her glasses with her index finger.

“Right here. On the ground.”

“Oh, it’s a good thing you found it.”

“Yes – uh – but what exactly is this place?”

Felicity rounded him, her heels resounding down the tunnel. “This is an emergency escape route for the Emperor.”

“An escape route?” Kasen looked into the dark, taking in the scent of dirt. “What would Mary Bates have done down here?”

“I have no idea. She wasn’t right, you know, up there.” Felicity motioned to her head, indicating where the deceased girl’s problems lied. Then, she stuffed the jacket under arm, adjusted her glasses, and stepped aside.

Kasen accepted this as a signal for him to get out. He slinked past her and exited into the cave. His railway pod had arrived already. He thought of just climbing in and going, but stopped with his hand in the doorway.

“Go on, then,” said Felicity, watching him from the tunnel’s entrance. “You must be eager to get to the hospital?”

Kasen frowned.

“To visit your father?”

“Oh, right.” He slipped into the pod, but added before the door slid shut, “Matt seems to believe that Mary’s death wasn’t a suicide. Do you think that might be possible? You know, considering we found her jacket –”

“Mary Bates leapt to her death on camera,” Felicity forestalled him. “Guardians have a bad reputation for suicide as it is, Mr. Traynor, so don’t you dare add murder to the list as well.” She froze for a moment, then exhaled and reclaimed her composure. A part of this included smiling at him, and waving as the door slid shut.

Kasen watched her until the pod went underwater, then sat back. It might’ve just been the Dark room speaking, or the result of his exhaustion, but Matt didn’t sound all that crazy. Mary Bates could very well have been murdered.