badassery runs in the family
Current word count: 41, 250
Day 25
From the living room came the sounds of a video game in progress, punctuated now and then by Moses’ cursing. Anne lifted her head from her book, tempted to remind Moses to watch his mouth, but decided against it. From where she was sitting at the dinner table, she could see Moses’ brows furrowed in concentration. He was too adorable to interrupt. She sipped at her coffee instead and turned the next page but her eyes drifted to her older brother instead.
Adam was on the phone near the stairs, out of earshot, but by the way his shoulders were squared it seemed like the phone call wasn’t a pleasant one. She managed to catch bits of Adam’s side of the conversation, the rest muffled by the sound of the rain. “Yes, sir... My apologies... Sorry to be a bother.” He hung up the phone, probably a little to roughly, and let out a deep sigh.
Anne marked her place and stood as quietly as she could to cross the kitchen. As she drew closer, she could see that Adam’s face was taught with a scowl, his lips a thin grim line. “Kuya? What’s wrong?”
Adam turned his head a bit, to look at Anne over his shoulder before he looked away. His voice was soft but tainted with anger. “Noah lied.”
“W-what?”
“I called Mr. Hermoso.” Adam planted a hand on his hip and massaged his temples with the other. “Eric Hermoso isn’t in Cebu anymore. Much less the Philippines.”
Anne looked down, her own brows furrowing. “Then where could Noah be?”
“What’s important is who is he with.”
“Should we call the police?”
Adam shook his head and started climbing the stairs. “I’ll handle this.”
Anne watched as Adam disappeared at the top of the stairs and heard his door slam shut. After a moment, she managed to find the sense to follow him upstairs, walking slowly. She hadn’t seen Adam this angry in all her life. When she finally reached his door, she took a deep breath before opening the door.
He was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling on a pair of boots. Strapped across his chest and back were shoulder holsters, which guns were occupying. Anne couldn’t get her legs to move anymore and she had to keep herself up by holding on to the door frame. She knew Adam kept guns hidden around the house in case of emergencies but seeing them anywhere near him filled her with intense dread and fear.
“Kuya,” she managed, her voice a little more than a whisper. “What are you going to do?”
Zippers hissed as Adam closed both his boots. “Nothing, if they cooperate.” He stood and grabbed the jacket that had been next to him on the bed, pulling it on in one fluid motion, and zipping it up completely to the neck. The holsters and the guns were perfectly concealed under the thick leather. When he turned to face Anne, still fastening the belts around his neck, she saw he had switched to his contact lenses. A little behind him, on the window sill, were his glasses, folded neatly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Anne shook her head, eyes squeezed tight, clutching the door frame so hard her knuckles turned white. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Anne, do you remember that night Noah came home with his shoulder bleeding?”
When Anne opened her eyes, Adam was standing over her, expression softened. She could only manage a nod.
“You remember there was a man with him?”
“Kuya, who was he?”
“He’s a Guardian, Anne. Scum. And he might have our brother.” Adam leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Anne’s forehead. “Don’t worry, all right? I’ll be back, with Noah.” He stepped around her and started making his way down the stairs, his pace as casual as it would have been at any other time so as not to distract Moses.
The moment she heard the front door open and close, Anne’s knees completely gave way. There was the sound of an engine being revved downstairs in the garage and then the sound of a motorcycle as it sped away.
The video game sounds from the living room stopped, replaced instead by the quick and light sounds of feet running up the stairs. Moses slowed down, approaching Anne carefully, before kneeling down next to her. “Ate? What’s wrong?”
Anne leaned back against Moses and turned to smile the best she could manage at him. It mustn’t have been very convincing because Moses’ frown deepened. “Ah, nothing. Kuya just went out to buy something. Could you be a dear and get me the phone? Now, um, could you please call your Ate Phi? Thank you.”
***
Noah stared hard at the objects floating in the containment units. Some were hardly human shaped, chopped up so thoroughly that they were just single limbs. An arm here, a leg there, a little closer to where Elias stood was a torso with a distinct Y incision.
“You see, Noah--” in contrast to the way Honor said his name, the pleasant warmth in his gut that came from it, the way Elias said it made Noah's skin crawl. Noah was starting to revise his opinion on just how much the brothers were alike. “--We had to adapt as well. We were dealing with sentient creatures, after all. Some of these fuckers have actual lives.”
The realization that on most days, those creatures could be among normal people, interacting with normal people, were actual normal people, made bile rise to Noah’s throat. He wasn’t sure if he felt better that he saw them for what they were. “So do you cut just about any of them open?” The sharpness of Noah’s voice surprised even himself.
Elias shook his head, waving that idea away as if it were ridiculous. “We only take the spoils of battle. But at the core of all this, Noah. We’re murderers.” He extended his hand to regard the containment units, the objects floating inside them. “We may be protecting humanity but we take from these monsters their human lives. We make their human families grieve. Are you sure you want to be like us?”
Noah scowled and looked away, fisting his hands. He was repulsed, there was no way around it. He wanted to get the hell out of there but he forced himself to stay put. It took great effort on his part to return his eyes to Elias, who had taken his turn to look away and up at the containment unit and the disembodied head that floated there. That head however looked nothing like the Aswang or the Kapre; it made the bile rise even higher in Noah’s throat.
“Perhaps the worst part of it all, Noah, is that we do not stop at these monsters. We disect Seers as well.” He shook his head slowly, maybe a little sadly. “We have indeed lost quite a few Seers in battle. Casualties, of course. And in our constant struggle to learn more, to beat those motherfuckers at their own game, we have had to take extreme measures.”
“So at the end of my life--”
“You might be in one of these tanks too.” Elias let his hand ghost on the glass as he turned to walk towards Noah. Noah twitched when Elias stopped a four feet away from him but forced himself to not take several steps backward to get the hell away from Elias. “So, Noah. Do you still want to be a Guardian?”
Noah looked up at Elias and felt as if he was looking up at the most repulsive human being to exist. As if he was more of a monster than the things inside the containment units.
And Noah realized, that was what a Guardian was.
Day 25
From the living room came the sounds of a video game in progress, punctuated now and then by Moses’ cursing. Anne lifted her head from her book, tempted to remind Moses to watch his mouth, but decided against it. From where she was sitting at the dinner table, she could see Moses’ brows furrowed in concentration. He was too adorable to interrupt. She sipped at her coffee instead and turned the next page but her eyes drifted to her older brother instead.
Adam was on the phone near the stairs, out of earshot, but by the way his shoulders were squared it seemed like the phone call wasn’t a pleasant one. She managed to catch bits of Adam’s side of the conversation, the rest muffled by the sound of the rain. “Yes, sir... My apologies... Sorry to be a bother.” He hung up the phone, probably a little to roughly, and let out a deep sigh.
Anne marked her place and stood as quietly as she could to cross the kitchen. As she drew closer, she could see that Adam’s face was taught with a scowl, his lips a thin grim line. “Kuya? What’s wrong?”
Adam turned his head a bit, to look at Anne over his shoulder before he looked away. His voice was soft but tainted with anger. “Noah lied.”
“W-what?”
“I called Mr. Hermoso.” Adam planted a hand on his hip and massaged his temples with the other. “Eric Hermoso isn’t in Cebu anymore. Much less the Philippines.”
Anne looked down, her own brows furrowing. “Then where could Noah be?”
“What’s important is who is he with.”
“Should we call the police?”
Adam shook his head and started climbing the stairs. “I’ll handle this.”
Anne watched as Adam disappeared at the top of the stairs and heard his door slam shut. After a moment, she managed to find the sense to follow him upstairs, walking slowly. She hadn’t seen Adam this angry in all her life. When she finally reached his door, she took a deep breath before opening the door.
He was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling on a pair of boots. Strapped across his chest and back were shoulder holsters, which guns were occupying. Anne couldn’t get her legs to move anymore and she had to keep herself up by holding on to the door frame. She knew Adam kept guns hidden around the house in case of emergencies but seeing them anywhere near him filled her with intense dread and fear.
“Kuya,” she managed, her voice a little more than a whisper. “What are you going to do?”
Zippers hissed as Adam closed both his boots. “Nothing, if they cooperate.” He stood and grabbed the jacket that had been next to him on the bed, pulling it on in one fluid motion, and zipping it up completely to the neck. The holsters and the guns were perfectly concealed under the thick leather. When he turned to face Anne, still fastening the belts around his neck, she saw he had switched to his contact lenses. A little behind him, on the window sill, were his glasses, folded neatly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Anne shook her head, eyes squeezed tight, clutching the door frame so hard her knuckles turned white. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Anne, do you remember that night Noah came home with his shoulder bleeding?”
When Anne opened her eyes, Adam was standing over her, expression softened. She could only manage a nod.
“You remember there was a man with him?”
“Kuya, who was he?”
“He’s a Guardian, Anne. Scum. And he might have our brother.” Adam leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Anne’s forehead. “Don’t worry, all right? I’ll be back, with Noah.” He stepped around her and started making his way down the stairs, his pace as casual as it would have been at any other time so as not to distract Moses.
The moment she heard the front door open and close, Anne’s knees completely gave way. There was the sound of an engine being revved downstairs in the garage and then the sound of a motorcycle as it sped away.
The video game sounds from the living room stopped, replaced instead by the quick and light sounds of feet running up the stairs. Moses slowed down, approaching Anne carefully, before kneeling down next to her. “Ate? What’s wrong?”
Anne leaned back against Moses and turned to smile the best she could manage at him. It mustn’t have been very convincing because Moses’ frown deepened. “Ah, nothing. Kuya just went out to buy something. Could you be a dear and get me the phone? Now, um, could you please call your Ate Phi? Thank you.”
***
Noah stared hard at the objects floating in the containment units. Some were hardly human shaped, chopped up so thoroughly that they were just single limbs. An arm here, a leg there, a little closer to where Elias stood was a torso with a distinct Y incision.
“You see, Noah--” in contrast to the way Honor said his name, the pleasant warmth in his gut that came from it, the way Elias said it made Noah's skin crawl. Noah was starting to revise his opinion on just how much the brothers were alike. “--We had to adapt as well. We were dealing with sentient creatures, after all. Some of these fuckers have actual lives.”
The realization that on most days, those creatures could be among normal people, interacting with normal people, were actual normal people, made bile rise to Noah’s throat. He wasn’t sure if he felt better that he saw them for what they were. “So do you cut just about any of them open?” The sharpness of Noah’s voice surprised even himself.
Elias shook his head, waving that idea away as if it were ridiculous. “We only take the spoils of battle. But at the core of all this, Noah. We’re murderers.” He extended his hand to regard the containment units, the objects floating inside them. “We may be protecting humanity but we take from these monsters their human lives. We make their human families grieve. Are you sure you want to be like us?”
Noah scowled and looked away, fisting his hands. He was repulsed, there was no way around it. He wanted to get the hell out of there but he forced himself to stay put. It took great effort on his part to return his eyes to Elias, who had taken his turn to look away and up at the containment unit and the disembodied head that floated there. That head however looked nothing like the Aswang or the Kapre; it made the bile rise even higher in Noah’s throat.
“Perhaps the worst part of it all, Noah, is that we do not stop at these monsters. We disect Seers as well.” He shook his head slowly, maybe a little sadly. “We have indeed lost quite a few Seers in battle. Casualties, of course. And in our constant struggle to learn more, to beat those motherfuckers at their own game, we have had to take extreme measures.”
“So at the end of my life--”
“You might be in one of these tanks too.” Elias let his hand ghost on the glass as he turned to walk towards Noah. Noah twitched when Elias stopped a four feet away from him but forced himself to not take several steps backward to get the hell away from Elias. “So, Noah. Do you still want to be a Guardian?”
Noah looked up at Elias and felt as if he was looking up at the most repulsive human being to exist. As if he was more of a monster than the things inside the containment units.
And Noah realized, that was what a Guardian was.