Katherine Belt
The Original Fantasy Art of
Guardian of the Hours: Chapter One
“THREE!” Kaylee shouted, dropping a flaming red flag that gently fluttered to the ground like the autumn leaves all around her. Mike and Seth, standing next to each other, took off racing down the track, dust flying up and completely obscuring Kaylee’s view. Their High School was closed for the weekend leaving both the track and nearby public park deserted.
“Go, go, go!” Kaylee cheered, coughing from the dust. Her chestnut hair flew into her hazel eyes and open mouth. As she struggled to tie it back out of her face, she dashed a few yards and picked up a Polaroid camera—this race looked like it might be a photo finish.
“Say cheese!” Mike shouted, nudging Seth as they neared the finish line.
The camera snapped; Kaylee tossed it aside, shaking the developing picture. “What are you doing…Whoa!” Kaylee giggled as Seth scooped her up into his arms. She ruffled his raven black hair, looking into his slate eyes as he grinned mischievously. She then threw her arms around his neck, snuggling happily up against his chest and kissing him on the cheek.
“Hey, what about me?” Mike asked.
“What about you?” Kaylee hopped out of the arms that so lovingly held her to shove her brother. “You’re such a jerk, Mike.”
“And you’re an idiot,” he retorted
“Smelly-breath!”
“Barf face!”
“Let me see that,” Seth said, snatching the photograph out of Kaylee’s hand.
“Heeeeeeeey!” She protested, crossing her arms and pouting, “No fair! That’s MY job, Seth.” She tried to steal it back, but the boy held it over her head playfully.
“Want me to get it back for you?” Mike asked.
“Yes, please!” Kaylee whined.
“Too bad,” he laughed, “That’s for insulting my breath. And for your information, I have a Tic-Tac in my mouth as we speak.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she replied, grabbing on to her brother’s arm. He hoisted her up a little off the ground as she laughed, “So, who won, Seth?”
“I…don’t…”
The picture fluttered to the ground as it slid out of his grasp, his hand now clutching desperately at his chest, face twisted in pain. He fell to his knees.
“Seth?”
“SETH!”
*******
“Seth, am I right?” A voice echoed hollowly throughout the vast expanse.
Seth twisted and turned, still hanging in the air, trying to find the source of the words. No luck.
“It is all right. I will show myself when I choose.”
It struck Seth that this voice was perfect: deep, and rather sultry…almost haunting. It reminded him of the heavy breeze that would often grip his home in New England on those summer nights, the cool breath that would caress his face and alleviate the heat of the earlier day. He tried to reply, but the words just wouldn’t form.
“It is all right,” the voice soothed once more, “there is no need for words here. Your language, with all of its paradoxes and confusion, is bound only to your world. But here…here, all you have to do is think, and it will be known.”
“What’s going on? Why am I here?” Seth somehow said, but noticed his lips weren’t moving. Anxiety seized his thoughts as a realization dawned on him, “Telepathy? What the hell is going on?!”
“You are dead.”
“Could you please say that again, this time a little more bluntly?” Seth sneered, his default sarcasm kicking in as it always did when he became completely overwhelmed.
“Watch it,” the voice teased. “Remember, you do not know with whom you are talking to. For all you know, I could be God.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?” The voice asked; it was so hypnotic, too calm to cause any fear. In fact, it was almost as if it were toying with Seth playfully. Seducing him.
“Are you…God?” Seth hesitantly asked.
“Yes. I am.”
“Really? You know, I never could figure out if you exist—“
“I was kidding,” the voice quickly cut Seth off. It then slowed down once again to its drawling pace as it continued, “Calm down, there is no need to have an existential crisis on me. No, I am not God, although I do get that a lot, come to think of it. Hmm, I wonder why that is,” the voice mused, trailing off.
“Oh. Then, just who are you?” Seth asked.
“Me? I am just a humble Watcher,” the voice said matter-of-factly, as if his reply should clear up any and all questions in Seth’s mind.
Seth gave up on the ceaseless circumlocution with a sigh, switching tact and instead asking, “Why am I here, exactly?”
“You are dead.”
“I KNOW that!” Seth slapped his forehead in exasperation. “Do you have to keep rubbing it in?”
“Calm down,” the voice soothed. “You have been given a special opportunity…”
*******
Kaylee was huddled up in the corner of her room. All the lights were off, and the stereo, normally blaring rave music, was silent. Pens littered the floor, a journal sat with pages torn out on the bed, shredded remains of writing scattered on the ground as if she was trying to plant them as seeds. Plant them, and maybe somehow Seth would come back to her, like a flower bulb that springs forth into life after its death, year after year.
A gentle knocking echoed hollowly against the door for the third time that hour. “Kaylee, please,” Mike sighed, resting his head against the cool ashen wood of his sister’s closed door. He could count on his fingers the times he had seen his sister this past week. Mike struggled with the knowledge that he and Kaylee coped differently: he wanted to be near someone who understood him, while she, the only one who could possibly understand, wanted to abandon the world. And that included him. He banged his fist angrily on the door as a rogue tear trickled down his cheek.
*******
“What do you mean, an ‘opportunity’?” Seth asked.
“You are a chosen one,” the voice replied, emphasizing the last two words almost sarcastically.
“You have the chance, if you so choose, to become immortal.”
“Immortal?” Seth questioned suspiciously. Something didn’t feel quite right.
“Yesss,” the voice hissed.
“As in, live forever?”
“Yes.”
“As in, never ever die?”
“Yes…”
“As in—“
“ENOUGH!” the voice snapped. “Immortality. Take it or leave it.”
“Could I have some more informa—”
“No!” the voice said hastily. It then sighed and continued, “Look, child, there are many others who would die, no pun intended, for this opportunity. I could easily just…”
“Choose another chosen one?” Seth sneered.
“Exactly.”
*******
“I dreamt of Seth again. The sky was blue and pink, like cotton candy. He reached out for me, Mike, but I couldn’t reach him,” Kaylee said, starting to cry.
Mike stood silently in the doorway, his heart feeling as if it had hit his stomach when he saw Kaylee’s tears. It gave him the strength to wipe his away, always the older brother, even if by only a year. He searched for words before finally just sitting quietly beside his sister and handing her a package, “Here, I brought you more Oreos.”
“Thanks,” she sniffled, ripping the package open and handing Mike one. She nibbled a little on the cookie, staring at the piece of paper in her hand.
“What’s that?” Mike asked, running his fingers through his sandy blond hair.
“Oh…it’s trash,” she replied, crumpling it up and tossing it behind her aimlessly. She then began to stare at the wall blankly, lost in thought.
Mike grabbed the paper and straightened it out, skimming over the words. He laughed slightly, “I remember this! It was your sixth birthday, right? Which would have made Seth and I seven. It seems so cliché now, the childhood proposal on the playground,” Mike smiled sadly at his sister, “it was perfect for me, too, the idea of my best friend becoming family. Do you still have the ring?”
Kaylee tugged at a chain that hung loosely around her neck, unearthing the ring that was kept safely underneath her clothing. She held it gently in her hand, as if it would disintegrate if she breathed too hard. Seth had bought it from one of those quarter machines in the grocery store and presented it to her. It was as good as any diamond, even though by now the cheap metallic paint had all but chipped off with age. Her lip quivered as she cried, “I miss him, Mike…”
“Me too,” he replied, patting her shoulder. He stood up and dusted himself off before continuing, “You’re coming with me, Kay-Kay.”
She looked at him with mild surprise, “I haven’t heard that one in a long time.”
“Well, it’s about time you did. Now it’s just you and me, kiddo,” he replied, helping his sister up. “It’s going to be hard, but you’ve got to try for me, okay? We’ve both got to try.” He walked to her closet and picked out a flowery purple sundress, handing it to her, “Now get dressed, we’re going out. If you don’t go willingly, I WILL be forced to carry you, and I know how much you hate that.”
“I don’t know where you’re planning on dragging me off to, Mike,” Kaylee frowned, knowing how useless it would be to protest, “but I am not wearing that anywhere. We may still have each other, but Seth is dead. I’m not going to forget that.” She instead grabbed a black dress and had her brother turn around as she changed slowly, reluctant to leave her room and venture out into the chilly autumn air.
“There are…rules,” the voice said.
Seth could hardly hear him. His whole body started to tingle, as if circulation had been cut off. He struggled to keep up as the voice continued.
“There are a limited number of immortal bodies. Twenty, to be exact, each one in charge of recording events as they witness them played out. They are numbered on the back, for they are not ours to own. Think of it as a tattoo.”
“But why…” Seth started to ask, before being cut off.
“When a new person is appointed, the old soul is booted out of the immortal body and the new one put in its place. In this case, that would be you, replacing me.”
“Who is this ‘me’?” Seth asked, clutching his head, which had begun to throb as the tingling increased.
Just then there appeared before Seth a small pinprick of light. It expanded outwards and took on a humanoid shape before the light dulled, leaving in its stead what seemed to be a normal, though anachronistic looking, man. His hair was flaming orange, like the leaves Seth had left behind in mid-autumn down on Earth with his Kaylee. Smiling smugly, the man replaced a golden pocket watch into his suit and replied, “Me.”
Seth gritted his teeth; the tingling became a searing pain that he couldn’t bear anymore.
“You feel that, child? You are dying. Again. You see, the soul cannot last long in a place like this, and your time is running out. I will ask you one more time. Immortality. Take it or leave it.”
“Please, do something!” Seth cringed.
“Done,” the strange man chuckled sinisterly. “By the way, nice doing business with you.”
Guardian of the Hours: Chapter Two
The streets were fairly crowded as Seth looked for a place to catch his breath. One moment he was in a weird blue-pink place listening to a disembodied voice (an ass of one at that), and then he was suddenly on the sidewalk of Main Street. People were giving him strange looks, and it took him a minute to realize it must have been his new appearance; his hair was now the same orange as the strange man in his vision, and he was also wearing his very dated suit. Seth wanted to go find Kaylee and tell her that he was okay, but instead decided to try and escape the stares by entering the nearest shop, a small cafe. Sitting there, looking out at the rain that had just begun to fall, he wondered where this deep sense of sadness that stole over him was coming from.
“Can I get you something, err…sir?” a confused waitress asked, unaccustomed to taking orders from tables and not at the register. The man had walked right on in and sat at a table, and her co-worker sent her to approach him, refusing to do it herself on account of that she always has to deal with the “weird ones”.
“Huh?” Seth looked up, caught off guard, “uh, sure. A cocoa.”
The waitress nodded briefly, eager to leave the strange man.
As Seth reached into the pocket of the suit in the hopes of finding some coins, he felt the smooth, golden pocket watch. He was about to pull it out when his hand brushed up against something else, something small and square. He fished out a tattered notebook, opening it eagerly and skimming over the words on the front page. It appeared to be a journal, filled with notes and diagrams in a beautifully ornate calligraphic script. It has to be at least a hundred years old, Seth thought as he began to read:
Gate Guardian: one who guards gates.
Seth sighed, running his hand through his hair as the waitress quickly deposited a Styrofoam cup on his table and rushed off to gossip with her coworker. Just how many “chosen ones” were there that they could be so stupid? An uneasy feeling took hold in his gut; he was beginning to think he might be just a little gullible. Seth continued:
That was my best guess when I took the task. Now I write these notes in hopes that I can someday find someone to replace me and end this accursed existence. But I am not so cruel as to leave them without direction like I was left so long ago. I hope this basic introduction is of some solace to you, the new Guardian.
Seth scratched his head. Immortality can’t be that bad can it? This must be the journal of his predecessor in that weird blue-pink place. He read on:
A Gate Guardian guards the various realms of time, the entrances to different eras. Some prefer the term Timekeepers, for that places emphasis on their association with time. Once one has been chosen as a Gate Guardian, they cannot relinquish their powers. The only way to free their soul from captivity is to convince a recently dead mortal spirit to take their place in the immortal body, which if you are reading this apparently I did. If they cannot, they are doomed to pass the ages in eternal loneliness. Of course, some do enjoy their given immortality; numbers three, five, and nine have held their posts for millennia and rather enjoy their existence. The bodies borrowed are all identical except for the marked number between the shoulder blades, and the eyes. They inherit the eyes of the possessor
Chosen one my ass, Seth thought as he sipped his already cold cocoa. Well, as far as he knew, immortality was no big deal; he still had Kaylee, after all.
“Umm, sir? We’re closing in five minutes,” the waitress hesitantly said.
Seth dropped his book in surprise, spilling the remaining coca all over his shirt. “Err…I’m just going to use the restroom really quick,” Seth replied, pocketing the book. He never did find any coins, so instead he softly set the golden watch on the wobbly table. It had to be worth something, and he wanted as little to do with his predecessor as possible. He darted for the restroom.
Seth closed the door quietly behind him and then glanced under the stalls to make sure he was completely alone. There was an old wooden chair holding one of the stalls shut that Seth moved underneath the doorknob as a makeshift lock. He then approached the mirror and took in his new body. It was a good three inches taller, a leaner, more angular face, and of course the orange hair—but his eyes were the same slate hue that reminded him of stormy fall evenings. The new hair color only furthered that image in his mind.
“I wonder,” Seth rambled to himself as he removed his suit jacket and then the white, coca-stained undershirt. He twisted and turned to get a view of his back in the tarnished mirrors. Finally, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it: XIII.
*******
It was a childish choice of locale to say the least. The blanket of shadows the towering trees cast was patched with holes that the dwindling autumn foliage punctured in the light. The beautiful, small lake glistened as a frayed rope dangled playfully above it, tied to a low-hanging tree branch. Rusting, decaying sheets of metal and plywood sprawled the area, leaning up against each other; one was marked in a child’s sprawling handwriting: “The Three Musketeers ONLY.”
“Wow, look at this dump,” Mike said as he toppled a sheet of disintegrating metal to the ground, leaving only three sides of a makeshift shack standing. “I guess you kind of have to expect it after all these years…”
Kaylee was by the lake, crouching and staring at her distorted reflection in the rippling waters; she touched it softly to watch it fade for a moment, only to return. If only all of life was water…
“Don’t drown your sorrows,” Mike said, placing his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. “Remember science class? Matter is neither created nor destroyed. We’re all connected. Seth’s not gone, he’s just not here right now.”
“Bullshit!” She said, grabbing a rock from her side and smashing in her own reflection; it returned moments later.
“He’s right, y’know,” a strange-looking man tagged in, moving gracefully from out of the foliage of a tree located just behind the fort a few yards away.
“W-who are you?” The siblings gasped in unison; nobody had ever walked in on their hideout before.
“You’re right too, love,” He said as he waltzed over to the shore, scooping up a flattened stone along the way. “All life is water,” he threw the stone; they all watched it skip along the smooth surface, creating minute waves as it bounced seven times. “I think that might just be a new record for me.”
“Just who ar—“
“Nobody. No one. A shadow, a void, a shape-shifter, a timekeeper…an immortal,” He said as he grabbed the rope on the tree and wrapped it skillfully around his foot, hoisted up his light frame, and took to swinging back and forth. “I am the Pendulum,” his golden-orange hair flew into his face that was iced with a smirk and cold, smug, slate eyes, “I am a Gate Guardian. The Master of the Hours.”
“A Gate Guardian?” Kaylee asked, stepping closer to the odd man.
Mike reached out instinctively to pull his sister back.
“But, your eyes…” she trailed off, ignoring Mike’s gesture. She was two feet away from him now, too drawn in to his timeless appearance to notice his smug smile falter.
“What about them?” he played along, swinging lazily back and forth on the rope he was still mounted on.
“They’re so hypnotizing,” she whispered as she drew in closer.
“And?” He had heard her say that before. He dismounted from the swing and stood face to face with Kaylee.
“So deep, and for some reason…familiar,” she said as she stretched her shaking hands towards his face.
Seth’s heart skipped a beat when her trembling fingers softly caressed his face. He had a hard time not looking away or closing his eyes as she stared into them, but he didn’t want to miss the moment she realized who he was. He put his hands on hers lovingly, and smiled gently, giving in and finally closing his eyes to better absorb the moment.
“Get away from her!” Mike finally yelled, snapping out of his stupor, grabbing Kaylee’s arm and pulling her into safety.
Seth knew it would have happened sooner or later, and it hurt to see his best friend object to his being close to Kaylee. But he understood. He sighed, and walked towards the thick foliage.
“Where are you going?” Kaylee cried out to him.
“I don’t know,” Seth paused to mumble. And with that, he vanished behind a tree.
“What just…happened?” Kaylee asked Mike, her knees giving in as she fell softly to the grass. He still held on to her arm, gently, unsure what to say.
“I have no earthly idea,” he finally managed to mutter as thunder began to roll across the late autumn sky, “C’mon. Let’s go.”
*******
“Mike…” Kaylee trailed off, sitting on her brother’s bed as the thunder crashed in the distance. Even as a child, she would run to him during storms.
“What?” he asked as he dug through his closet for God-knows-what.
“Today. That man. Did he seem…familiar to you?”
Mike paused for a second, and then threw a shirt over his shoulder as he replied, “Forget him.” He had immediately been uneasy around the strange man, and had no desire to dwell on him.
Kaylee started crying, hugging her knees to her chest. Mike promptly returned to the bed and sat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly as he handed her an old shoebox. She opened it to reveal a seashell, a broken piece of glass, and a few other trinkets.
“What’s this?” She sniffled.
“This is all I have of him,” he replied, removing a handful of photographs. “Oh, remember this one?” he said, handing her one of the photographs.
Kaylee took the photo and ran.
*******
The rain had stopped. Seth let out a sigh, hands jammed into his suit’s pockets to keep them from the crisp night air as he walked briskly, wondering where he was going in such a rush. All that kept playing through his mind was her face so close to his…
Seth came to an abrupt halt. Thinking he had heard something, he turned into the neighborhood playground that was next to the running track that he had died on. Instinctively, he walked to the now-rusted swings, soft, faded memories floating to mind of him pushing a girl so dear to his heart, and her declaration to him that, because of him, she could fly. This was his and Kaylee’s spot, it always had been, and it always would be.
He was shaken from his thoughts by a soft whimper. There, on the sand beside an empty swing, was a dark figure, huddled up and shaking ever so slightly. Seth looked to his left, then his right, wondering if he should approach the stranger or not. He gave in.
“Hello? Are you okay?” he whispered, reaching out a hesitant hand and touching the figure lightly on the shoulder. It jumped violently, and a tear-streaked youthful face whipped its gaze towards his, shock setting in on the two of them.
“Y-you!” They both cried out in unison, Seth taking a step back, and Kaylee pulling her legs in tighter towards her slim body.
“Just who are you?” She asked, a cross expression stealing her features. “Why are you following me? What do you want with me? How do you explain this?” She said, flinging the photograph at him.
Seth picked up the photograph, “Well, it’s a picture of you, your brother that you were with earlier, and another young man with black hair.” He handed the photograph back to her.
“What the hell?” Kaylee gasped, snatching the picture and staring at it. He was right; the picture was of Seth. “I must have been seeing things earlier. I could have sworn you were in this photograph…”
“And why do you think you saw me there?” Seth asked, baiting the hook.
“You…remind me of him,” Kaylee whispered. “I miss him so much,” she struggled to hold back tears, “maybe, I just hoped…”
“You hoped that I were him?”
“You have the same eyes,” Kaylee frowned up at him. “Just who are you? Why do I feel safe around you?”
“Well, Kaylee. Maybe the fact that I seem familiar to you helps you feel safe.”
She looked at him suspiciously, “How do you know my name?”
“May I…?” He sighed, gesturing in her general direction, not wanting to frighten her off. She gave a firm nod, and then looked down, trying to compose herself. When the air was silent for a few seconds, she looked up again, to see the man’s hand stretched towards her. Confused, she took it, and he lightly placed his arm around her, aiding her to the swing she had been sitting next to on the midnight sand. The chain around her neck broke loose, and the chipped ring from Kaylee’s childhood fell, unnoticed, to the ground.
“Fallen angel…surely you haven’t fallen because of I?” He said, mainly to himself, gently pushing her on the swing. “Maybe I can help you fly back home?”
“He used to say that to me,” she sighed softly, “Seth…”
“Yes?” He answered, continuing to push her on the swing. He stopped suddenly when he realized what he had just done in answering her, and the swing slowly came to a dead stop, both Seth and Kaylee standing perfectly still as the moonlight poured over them. A breeze shook a handful of warmly colored leaves to the ground, falling like shooting stars. Neither of them dared to move, neither of them dared to breathe. The wind whistled its reply hollowly through the night.
Kaylee moved first, jumping furiously out of the swing and glaring at the orange-haired man, pointing her finger accusingly. Her arm shook with rage, and tears glittered on her cheeks in the moonlight. She finally managed to speak, “How DARE you.”
“Kaylee, please let me explain!” Seth pleaded, taking a step towards her.
“Don’t you DARE take another step,” she replied, voice quivering.
“Okay, okay,” Seth stepped back and showed her the palms of his hands in submission, “I’m right here. I’m not moving. I’m not going anywhere. Please, calm down.”
“Calm down?! You are INSANE! You come in out of nowhere, act all mysterious, then try to SEDUCE me by appealing to my love for my DEAD BOYFRIEND?!” she yelled, her voice cracking.
“Please, Kaylee…”
“And you knew what he used to say to me when he pushed me on the swing! You knew our secret hideout! You knew all the right things to say! You even answered to his name! How could you? How could you do that to me?” she sobbed, “Just who are you?”
Seth sighed, gazing up at the bright harvest moon. “I remember how much you love to eat Oreos, and I know you rub your nose when you’re nervous. I know how much you love Mike, and how he picks you up and carries you around, just to annoy you. I remember how you always mussed up my hair. It was black then. And I remember when I proposed to you on the playground, Kaylee, when we were only little kids. That proposal still holds true today, if you’ll have it.”
Kaylee stared, mouth agape. Finally, she found her bearings, “Just what are you trying to say?”
“It’s Seth, Kaylee. I’m Seth,” he stared her straight in the eyes, hoping beyond hope her face would light up in recognition. He couldn’t breathe. The wind blew strongly again, blowing his orange hair into his face as a brutal reminder. He whispered again, “I’m Seth.”
Kaylee stood, paralyzed in fear. A million thoughts flew through her head like bullets. Was he really Seth? That’s impossible, Seth is dead. He must be a stalker. He must be a rapist. Is he a murderer? He can’t be Seth. He’s not Seth. Seth is dead. Dead. Dead. Dead…
Just then the sound of footsteps rang throughout the dense night air. A blurred figure ran towards them, shouting, “KAYLEE!”
“Mike…MIKE!” Kaylee sobbed, “Thank God!”
Mike finally reached them and quickly stood in front of Kaylee, acting as a buffer between her and Seth. “What the hell is going on here?” he growled, “What did you do to my sister!”
Seth sighed, bending to the ground and scooping up the chipped plastic ring that had fallen to the sand earlier. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Is that true?” Mike turned and asked Kaylee, careful to keep sight on Seth out of the corner of his eye.
“Yes,” Kaylee nodded weakly, “He didn’t do anything to me. Please, can we just go home?” She trembled, tears still streaking her cheeks, “I just want to go home…”
Mike’s muscles relaxed as he wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder, helping her to remain standing. He then gave Seth one last glare, “I don’t ever want to see your face again, you hear me?”
“Yes,” Seth replied, “You won’t. But one last thing.” He took a step towards Kaylee, and seeing Mike stiffen up again instead chose to just extend his hand to her. “You dropped this,” he said, the ring lying in the palm of his hand.
Kaylee quickly took the ring, looking up at the strange man, hatred and fear blazing in her eyes. She and Mike then turned to leave.
“Oh, and Kaylee?” Seth started, “Your beloved Seth is gone now. He’s gone forever.”
Kaylee whipped back around, fury pulsing through her veins. But the strange man was gone, vanished without a trace like earlier by the lake. She screamed loudly, clearly in pain, a sound so heart wrenching that it sent chills down Mike’s spine. He scooped her up and held her tightly to him, trying to stop her shaking, glaring one last time at the place where the orange haired man had stood only moments before. He turned back around and carried her towards home.
Seth emerged from his hiding place and walked slowly back towards the rusted swing set. Thunder rolled through the dense night sky once more, storm clouds eclipsing the moon. The playground fell into darkness as Seth sat on the swing, rocking back and forth, back and forth. The wind howled mournfully as yet another handful of flaming red leaves drifted lazily to the ground.
“Seth is dead,” he said quietly to himself, “I am a Timekeeper. I am a Guardian. I am the Pendulum. I am Thirteen,” tears rolled down his cheeks, “Seth is dead. Seth is dead. Seth is dead.”
He could have sworn he heard the chilling laughter of his predecessor echo endlessly throughout the dense night air .