The Curse of the Guardian

Being woken up by two girls chatting, making breakfast and then screaming in excitement was not the best start of my day. I really needed to talk to Sebastian about getting one of the apartments next door, I said to myself as I got dressed. Mia and Penelope were clearly busy making something, but it wasn’t breakfast as I suspected. Mia was leaning over her magic pot giggling like a mad witch, and honestly she really should just buy a cauldron and do her magic stuff with that because her looming over a pot isn’t scary at all. I sat behind a counter on one of the high chairs and watched them pull dolls out of the pot.

Mia successfully pulled a doll out and handed it to Penelope with tongs, who slowly grabbed the doll and turned around. As soon as she saw me she screamed and dropped the doll in surprise. I mean I knew I looked messy, but I didn’t think I looked that bad?

“Sasha! Don’t sneak up on me, woman!” She finally said, grabbing the doll from the floor. I only shrugged, being too tired to speak just yet. Penelope put the doll next to almost identical dolls that were laying on the counter. Some were handmade dolls, made with rags and stuffing, others were store bought with plastic heads and arms and there was even a Barbie doll. I picked up the Barbie doll and raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” Mia turned around, saw me picking up the Barbie doll and blushed.

“I was trying out different materials and how they would work holding Sarah’s essence.” I put Barbie next to me and I inhaled deeply trying to catch its smell. It did smell like Sarah but faintly, almost undetectable. The rag dolls on the other hand had a very distinctive Sarah smell and if I would close my eyes and only based location based on smell, I would not be able to distinguish between the real Sarah and the rag doll. I put the dolls back and saw that both Penelope and Mia were staring at me expectantly.

“Rag dolls smell exactly like Sarah so those are your best bet, while Barbie has a very faint smell and would probably not be a good decoy.” They both smile and Penelope gave Mia a light punch on the shoulder.

“Told you my dolls would win!” Mia smiled back at her, but said nothing. I watched them do their thing until all the dolls were made. Mia looked at the collection and sighed.

“I will go around the area and bury them or put them in some places that won’t cause too much harm if an evil sorcerer comes around to collect his child. I hope this gives us enough time to strengthen the protection around the house and find a way to…” she didn’t say it because she didn’t know how to say it.

“I think the only way Sarah and Shawn will be safe is if we kill their father.” I said bluntly. Mia nodded, but Penelope looked away as if she didn’t want to hear it.

It took Mia a few minutes to gather her thoughts. She separated the dolls in three piles, and looked at me and Penelope. I wanted to say no, but the look in Mia’s eyes convinced me. I took the smallest pile and grumbled.

“Fine I’ll help but only because it’s for the kids…” Penelope took the second pile with the same expression that I had.

“Sasha, would you mind visiting my uncle on your own? You can dispose of the dolls on the way and I told him to expect you soon. I won’t be any help anyway and if we go in three different directions it will be easier to finish this today.”

“Doesn’t that feel kind of awkward?” I said, not wanting to go at all.

“I mean, I will just show up at your uncle’s place, probably not even who he is looking for, and without you to explain who I am or why I’m there?” Penelope sighed and blushed a little.

“So my uncle is a prankster, ok? He has always been the joker of the family and I was his favorite victim. You have a way of dealing with jokes that he will not expect, like when you are being all serious and asking for an explanation. Every time I try to prank you, you just stand there stoically and make me feel bad!” I didn’t know whether to be insulted or flattered. Mia was silently laughing in a corner, and I glared at her.

“When did you try and prank me?” I suddenly asked, interrupting her rant. She raised her hands in exasperation.

“See?! You don’t even know!”

“So you want me to go there, and say Hey, your niece sent me because you might be looking for me?” I asked, calmly with raised eyebrows. Penelope calmed down as well.

“I didn’t tell him you were a woman or that you are a bear shifter. I told him I found someone who can help him in his search, so just you being you would be the prank…” Her voice went quieter toward the end and I could barely hear what she said. I grabbed my pile of toys and went to my bedroom to get dressed.

“Fine. I can go there by myself and surprise your uncle, but I really don’t see the joke that you are trying to make.” As I walked away, I heard Mia whisper.

“Don’t call her stoic, she hates when people call her stoic. She just doesn’t have the same sense of humor as the rest of us.” As I was closing the door I turned toward them and yelled:

“I heard that!”

Penelope typed the address into my GPS and away I went. I stopped every 15 min to drop a doll, at first in forest in random locations and then randomly in towns that I passed over. Some went to the bus stations, some next to trash cans, some on a corner of a street and some I dropped into cafes where supernatural communities gathered. It took me nearly two hours of driving before I finally saw the path that would lead me to the cottage where the uncle was staying. He was in the middle of a forest in a cottage that her grandmother owned. It was so well hidden that the path just ended and I had to drive on little forest tracks if I wanted to drive all the way to the cottage. I was cursing myself for taking the smaller car instead of the truck that Mia drove, since my car was not meant to drive anywhere but asphalt road since it was so small and delicate. More and more I felt as if the prank was played on me, not on the uncle.

As soon as I saw the cottage in the distance, I also saw a wolf standing near it. It was a small gray wolf, staring at me with intelligence beyond his stature. I opened a window to catch his scent, but he only smelled like a wolf, not like a werewolf. He could be a Native American shifter who truly shifts into an animal and not like European shifters who shift into a wolf comparable to their weight as a human. Werewolves don’t smell like natural wolves, but a mixture of human body odor, a wet wolf and a hint of danger. Penelope doesn’t talk often of shifters of native descent, but from what I’ve heard of them they are quite similar to how my family works. Shifting is a family thing, you shift into an animal of the same weight as a wild animal, your bite doesn’t change anyone else into a shifter and most importantly, you are a wolf or bear. I heard that werewolves as we know them have a wolf’s soul inside of them and they fight for dominance and when they shift they might not be in full control of their own actions. My grandma always said that was the difference between us, who were blessed and the others who were cursed, and if my knowledge of native American mythology is correct, they can shift because their spirits would occasionally take a human form and have a family, so those children and their children would sometimes have an ability to shift to whatever their ancestor could shift. In a way, if you consider their spirits gods, that would make them demigods? I didn’t want to go into a full blown mythology discussion with myself at this time, since I was just about ready to park, but it was something that I could ask Penelope.

Wolf was hiding in a forest, when I stepped out of the car so I let him be. There is no reason to suspect the wolf means me harm, and even if he would, there is no way in hell a lone young wolf would ever pose a threat to a bear. I waved at him with a smile, because one thing I love to do is tease the little wolf boys, since usually they have no idea what they are in for and they always tried to intimidate me. He disappeared behind the cabin and I knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds I knocked louder.

“Come on in,” came the slightly accented male voice. I opened the door with more confidence than I actually had and walked in, but the sight that awaited me was not what I expected. Uncle Tim was an extremely good looking man of native American descent. He was a bit taller than me, but that still made him small as a general consensus, since I was barely 5 ft 2. The first thing I noticed was that he had long silky black hair that reached all the way to his butt and the next thing I noticed was that he was shirtless. I tried not to stare, but he was extremely handsome and I was weak against any man my parents wouldn’t approve of. As he came closer, as surprised as I was, I noticed he had a very similar face to Penelope, just a bit more square with a larger nose, but they both had full lips with a rounded chin. He also had amber eyes, whereas Penelope’s were darker brown. I have never seen eyes like that before. Just as I was ready not to stare at his very nicely defined body anymore his scent hit my nostrils, and just for a second I fell in love. He smelled like the wild, old forest of my dreams and it was making me feel nostalgic and lustful.

“Hello,” I finally said.

“I’m Sasha. Penelope said I might be able to help you with your problem?” I extended my hand, and after a few seconds he finally shook it.

“Tim, also called Tim the wanderer or Tim the dreamwalker. Nice to meet you.” He held my hand in his, staring at me. I blushed and pulled my hand back. It was a bit embarrassing and him not wearing a shirt made it worse. I kept staring into his eyes, wondering if he was the wolf I had seen outside. Amber eyes could be an indictment of that, but the problem was he did not smell like a wolf nor did he react to me as a fellow shifter would.

“Please sit down,” he finally indicated on one of the sofas. I took a look around and I have to say, the cottage looked very nice and comfortable. It had one big room that served as a living room, dining room, kitchen and an office space. Everything was made from the same logs, so it had a very homey look. There was a door on each side of the log. Probably one to the bedroom, one to the bathroom and one to the backyard. At least that’s what I imagined since all the doors were closed.

Tim offered me a soda and I graciously accepted. He sat across from me and somehow he had managed to find a shirt and cover up and just for a moment a thought of regret flew around my head, but I pulled myself together with blushing cheeks and waited for him to speak.

“Penelope told me she has a friend who can help me, but you are not what I expected.” He finally said, looking at me. I smiled.

“Yeah, I think she wanted to prank both of us a little.” He laughed. It was one of those manly laughs, pure and deep, that rolled on you like a wave of warmth and happiness. It was my favorite kind of laugh and I have to admit, it touched me in places it was not supposed to.

“So it’s a prank that you are here, or can you actually help me?” He asked, eyebrows high. I shrugged.

“She genuinely thought I could help. She mentioned something about a vision? She was not very specific, but she is doing me a favor and she said I could repay that by talking with you.” He got a bit more comfortable on the couch. He looked at me for a second, but thoughtfully he didn’t know where to start. He leaned closer, and I followed suit.

“Yes, are you a bear expert? Or do you know a bear?”

“Both, of sorts.” That got him interested. I could almost see a twinkle in his eyes.

“Are you a witch like her girlfriend?” It took me a few seconds to remember that Penelope never told him I’m a bear shifter. I closed my eyes and smiled, hoping that he would prank Penelope twice for the big revelation.

“No, but the witch in question is my cousin.” He suddenly jumped up a bit.

“So that’s the accent! Southern Europe?”

“Yes.” I said with a smile. People always comment on my accent even when I thought I lost it after living here for almost a decade. We were silent again for a few seconds.

“So can you tell me about your vision or is it private?” I asked.

“I’m just not sure how you’re gonna help. I mean no offense, but you aren’t a witch..” I held up my hand to interrupt him, even though I know it’s impolite.

“I’m a bear shifter.” That shut him up. He stared at me, eyes wide, shock on his face.

“But I haven’t heard about any bear shifters around here.” He said, almost too low for me to hear. I shrugged.

“I don’t really advertise what I am.” He was looking at me with a lot more interest now. He shifted closer to me and said,

“Well, maybe you can help me. Or more accurately, I can help you.” I raised my eyebrow.

“I don’t need help?” It was more of a question than a statement. I slowly scooted away from him, to regain some of my space, but as I moved away he moved closer. His scent was now overwhelming me and I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. He smelled too good for me to keep holding myself back and not melting into his embrace and fuck his brains out. He smiled at me, daring me to come closer, almost as if he knew my thoughts. Even if he didn’t scare me, that smile made me shiver in all the right places. He leaned closer and his expression got more serious.

“On my walkabout I was contacted by the Great Bear Spirit and it told me that a bear shifter will need my help and I need to make myself available in any way possible. I assumed it would be a member of the family whose genetic line can be traced to the Bear Spirit and that he or she will awaken to their bear legacy and since most members have been killed off, I was thinking it might have been an orphan or someone of mixed blood, unaware of his legacy. But I have contacted everyone I could think of and walked all the way to Alaska in search of a missing bear, but I found no one who would fit the description. I managed to find a family who claim that they are the descendants of the Great Bear but no one has awakened and when I went on a spirit walk with them, they just didn’t have the gift for it.” He sighed and I looked around for a pillow that I could hug. I knew it was an odd comforting gesture, but I could really use something to hug. He gave me an appraising look.

“It never crossed my mind that it could be someone not of Native descent, or even…” I closed my eyes and finished his sentence.

“Someone of a different pantheon all together?” He smiled and flashed those pearly white teeth at me.

“That doesn’t mean anything.” He said, waving his hands around.

“We are a part of one world, we are all connected.” I was trying really really hard not to roll my eyes, but Tim continued.

“Even if you are not part of my family, the Great Spirit considers bear shifters a part of his family, which makes you a relative to all Bear shifters on this continent.” I was holding my inner thoughts to myself but I truly didn’t believe that he could be of any other help than an eye candy. He would work absolutely great at that though.

“I don’t know what to say but I still don’t think I am the one your spirit talked about.” I finally said. He scooted closer and before I knew it he was so close I could touch him.

“Tell me about yourself, about your family, about how you became a bear and what problems have you gotten my cousin into?” I sighed and one of his questions bothered me.

“What do you mean, how I became a bear?” He was the one surprised now.

“Well, I assumed it was an accident? Were you attacked by a bear or was it a family member? Is it a family thing?” He was quite honest and it took me a second to remember he most likely only has experience with European werewolves, who can only reproduce by being bitten. Well I did hear a rumor that there is a way for werewolves to be born, but it is extremely rare. I looked at him definitely, making sure I spoke with a serious tone.

“I wasn’t bitten, I was born. I don’t know any bears who became bears by being bitten.” His eyes went wide and his mouth opened in surprise.

“What do you mean? I thought all European shifters are made?” I smiled and leaned closer to him, as if I was telling a secret.“As far as I know we, my family, are the oldest bear shifting family line and we are born what we are. Honestly, until I heard about how Native American shifters’ family line works, I had no idea we were so similar. There are some differences of course, Penelope didn’t know all the details, or just didn’t share, but what she did share sounded awfully familiar to how we work.” He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch, his hands on his temple, thinking.

“So it runs in the family?” He finally asked.

“Yes. We call ourselves a clan or family, depending on who asks. My great grandma told me that we used to be a lot more numerous, but the world wars killed many of the extended family, and the war after Yugoslavia broke up killed off entire villages, so many of my extended family was caught in the crossfire. Currently there are only about a hundred in my home village, and a couple of hundreds in the outer area. No one really wants to talk about it, but we used to be in the thousands. I think after the world wars many actually left to make new lives, but the clan considers them dead, so I’m not sure about the actual number…” He stared in awe and whispered.

“I didn’t know the wars affected you so?” I shrugged, not knowing what to say.

“To the rest of the world we are a very Catholic, very patriotic family. Being shifters by birth we don’t have the same weaknesses like silver or being moon bound, but we heal almost humanly slowly. So if someone shoots us in the head or torso we most likely won’t survive.” I said matter of fact. I didn’t even notice when, but he was suddenly sitting right next to me, and instead of getting more uncomfortable I just blurted.

“Why do you keep moving closer? You started all the way on the other seat and now you are practically in my lap?” I worked really hard to sound mildly annoyed, but all I did was make him laugh.

“I like making people uncomfortable to see how they react, since it is an honest view of their personality. Not a lot of people can hold their true feelings for themselves once I make them uncomfortable.” I blushed. I hated people like him, who make others uncomfortable just to see their reactions, to judge them silently, so I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I looked him straight in the eyes and sat as close to him as humanly possible. Our legs were now pressed together and I had to put my hand under his so we could sit semi comfortably. The only way I could come closer to him is if I would sit in his lap, and while he seemed strong enough I am not a skinny woman. He made a little surprise noise when I wrapped my hand around his arm, but I completely ignored his protests and continued.

“Considering that we can’t bite people and make them bears, we can only grow as much as we can give birth to. We do have a longer life span, which makes our fertility last a couple of decades longer, but still, until a few years ago more bears died than were born. Part of why some of my family moved to other countries was so we can establish more branches and hopefully not interbreed too much. My mom won’t say it but she does want more bears to find human spouses to try and have some outside blood as she calls it, but only one in five children of the union will be a bear, or maybe none at all. Whereas a two bear family will always have a bear cub.” I didn’t look at him, but his warm body being this close to me was actually making me more relaxed than before. I tried not to inhale his scent too obviously, but I finally realized why he smelled so good. It was his natural scent, blended with herbs from the forest and he most likely bathed in the lake. I was breathing steadily, thinking to myself that I won, as he seemed uncomfortable now. He pulled his arm away from my hand and for a brief second I thought maybe now he will stop his games and give me more space, but he put his arm on my shoulders, pulled me closer to him and now there was no barrier between our bodies being as close together as it was possible. Mentally I cursed myself. I may have won the battle, but lost the war.

“So how is your cousin a witch?” He asked with genuine interest.

“We are not blood related. During the black plague many died and those who survived were killed by the priest or other survivors. That era is called the Great Purge and it killed many European supernatural communities, so much in fact it completely changed the course of history. Vampires are the ones that survived the best and ever since then, they have been considered the ruling class and we simply don’t have the numbers to fight them, so we have to coexist with them. In the old stories though, they were considered lesser supernatural creatures and were quite often killed on sight.” I didn’t actually want to go into that much detail, but I got a bit distracted by his body being pressed firmly against me.

“The purge formed an alliance that still lasts today, an alliance between the Clan and the Coven. Every Clan family has a counterpart of a Coven family, and children are raised together as cousins and if tragedy strikes, as family. That way our bond is as if we were blood relation, but in some cases it goes further than even that. We have several mixed couples, and even if their children are always human those couples are what makes our alliance so fruitful. Even if my grandmother would be quite devastated that one of her daughters would never have a bear cub, even she wouldn’t oppose a marriage with a witch and the same goes for the Coven side. Our alliance is what keeps us safe and strong and nothing is allowed to come between that.” I suddenly noticed that he was playing with a strand of my hair and I sat as if I was a statue, trying not to think of his hand touching my skin or pulling my hair. He moved a bit closer and whispered in my ear.

“Can you shift from birth?” I nodded, blushing.

“When my older sister was pregnant she felt a stabbing pain in her belly. She shifted out of habit, and once she was in her bear form realized her baby shifted with her. Grandma told her she needed to stay a bear until the baby is born or she risks miscarriage, saying that baby most likely wouldn’t have survived if it was human. Once she gave birth, she stayed a bear for a full year, until my nephew shifted into a human, and even then he was more likely to be a bear than a toddler.” I stopped talking since what followed was none of his business. I turned my head slightly, whispering back.

“So yes, we can shift from birth, but usually stop shifting when we can walk until we reach puberty when shifting is brought on by hormones.”

The door slammed open with a loud bang and we both looked up in surprise. Tim held me even closer and was pushing me behind him, while still sitting down, making sure I would be at least partly hidden behind him in case we were attacked. It surprised me, because I’m the one that usually does protection and because he pushed me behind, gave me a perfect view of a very nice ass. Before I could even see who came rushing in I heard him. He sounded young and in distress.

“Tim, you need to get away from that woman! She is not what she seems!” I finally managed to peek away from the view he offered and looked at the screaming boy. He was definitely a boy and not a man, scrawny and maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. I giggled. He was stark naked, covering his manhood with his hands. When he saw me, Tim’s hand on my shoulders, standing in front of me he blushed a lot more than I thought someone of darker complexion could. He stuttered, pointing at Tim with one hand.

“Can you for once not think with your dick!” The boy yelled, clearly upset.

“She is a shifter of some kind and not human! She will most likely bite your dick off!” I couldn’t help myself and I started laughing so loud that there were tears starting to form in my eyes.

“So you are the little wolf that was peeking from the forest?” I managed to wheeze during a laughing fit. Tim got up and threw the boy a blanket from the sofa, and I averted my eyes so he could cover himself, but I was still laughing. Tim joined me and pulled me into his embrace as if nothing happened, making us seem a lot more intimate in the boy’s eyes.

The boy, his lower part of the body securely wrapped in the blanket, sat on the chair opposite of us. I smiled at the boy and put my hand on Tim’s knee, as if I was the most confident woman in the world. I was daring the boy to say something again, but he just stared at me, waiting for me to sprout a second head.

“Tim, would you like to introduce us?” the boy said quite sullenly.

“That’s uncle Tim to you.” Tim replied. The boy visibly gritted his teeth and I had to hold back giggles.

“Uncle Tim, would you like to introduce me to your new side piece?” Now he was insulting me? Too bad for him, because I knew exactly how to deal with nasty little wolves. Just a little, I let my bear go. I don’t know if Tim felt anything, but I was mentally moving forward into the wolf’s safe space and the boy knew it. He scrambled backward, in surprise, trying to hold the blanket in place.

“Want to try that again?” I said calmly, but I knew he could see something more in my eyes. Tim laughed, and the boy got startled again. I could hear his heart thump loudly and fast in his chest, full of fear and surprise. Tim was enjoying the exchange immensely. He finally relented and did the introduction.

“Sasha, this impolite little wolf is Sam. Sam, this is Sasha, cousin of Penelope’s girlfriend and a shifter who will help me, or rather will let me help her.” Tim made sure to pull me closer to him and it caught me off guard and off balance. I almost fell into his lap. Sam’s eyes widened as my bear suddenly disappeared.

“Nice to meet you,” he said meekly.

“Nice to meet you as well,” I replied.

Sam’s arrival put a stop on the questions and we just sat there, until Tim sighed loudly.

“Sam, why are you here?” Sam looked away. Tim finally had enough and started talking to him in a language I did not recognize and that finally prompted Sam to talk. Tim was getting more and more upset and so was Sam, but it wasn’t until I noticed Sam’s tears that I figured something was wrong. I got up and Tim caught my hand, to stop me.

“You say that you had a vision to help me, but I believe this young man requires your help more than me.” Tim wanted to argue and Sam took a big breath, probably to counter me as well, but I would not take no for an answer, and I pulled my hand away.

“I promise, if I find myself in a situation that would require your help I will call you. Even better, I will leave you my phone number and you can call me if you think there is something urgent that could require my expertise. But at the moment, I have some stuff to do, and so do you.” I gazed upon Sam, who was still clearly upset. Tim had nothing to say, so he let my hand go. Tim handed me a pen and a piece of paper and I put my number and name on it. I left it at the kitchen counter, took one last look at the handsome stranger who held me in his arms just a moment ago and left quietly.

In the car I finally felt comfortable and just as I was about to drive home, a thought occurred to me that maybe he could help with the witches or the sorcerer, but what could a dreamwalker do that I could not do myself? Still I did make a mental note to at least ask Penelope if maybe she could inquire if Tim would be of any help, and with that thought I drove away, looking for a safe place to put the last doll that my cousin entrusted me with.