Cursed: Chapter Five: Staying Hidden

 Just a heads up here, I think that every five chapters or something I'll do something like what I did in the prologue where you hear some people that you don't know talking about things you don't understand, so this isn't really essential to the story and you can skip this if you want. Okay? Good.

Chapter Five

Staying Hidden

    He was waiting. He didn't usually leave his charge very often, considering she might try to kill herself again without him watching, but this was important. He had been watching her for sixteen years now, and he was going to be visited by the Leader. He shifted uncomfortably, thinking about it. Would he be displeased by his performance? She had almost killed herself, anyway. But he had saved her, so she wasn't dead, right?

    He rubbed his forehead. He had to stop worrying. Calm yourself. His mother's patient voice echoed in his ears, although it had been ten years since she had left him, with the occasional visit to catch up on things.

    "Remember. The most important thing is staying hidden, quiet, and calm. Calm is a necessity to all these things. If we didn't have these, none of the Guardians would have succeeded. You are a Guardian. You must take care of your charge and you do that by those three words. Hidden, quiet, and calm. Don't forget that."

    "Yeah, Mom," he whispered. "I'm trying." He looked up as he heard someone approaching. His mind immediately went through all the possibilities. Too light to be a dragon, and too heavy to be a bird or animal of some kind. It was the Leader.

    The Leader came into sight. He was wearing the standard camouflage cloak that most of them wore when meeting in secret. It was light and sturdy. He looked at him and nodded. "Guardian."

    "Leader." He nodded respectfully, trying to make his hands stop shaking.

    If the Leader noticed, he didn't let on. "How is your charge?"

    Thoughts raced through his head. Fighting with a villager, talking to dragons, helping with a scavenger observatory, trying to kill herself... "Truthfully, she's pretty much the same as always."

    The Leader chuckled. "Is that so? I'm not sure if that's good or bad."

    Neither, really. "I'm not sure. One moment it seems like she has a straight path to freedom, and then the next it's like she's heading backwards." Like trying to kill herself.

    "Is that so?" The Leader regarded him with piercing eyes, partially hidden by the shadows cast by the moonlight and the hood over his face. "And what do you think of that?"

    What do I think? I think I'm not a good Guardian and someone else should take my place! I'm not ready! I started this thing when I was two years old! What kind of baby can take on this responsibility? Trying to calm his hysterical nerves, he took a deep breath and said, "It's hard, Leader."

    "Oh?"

    "All the time I'm worried about her getting hurt or doing something that might hurt other people. I think she really wanted the dragons' help with getting rid of it. When they couldn't, she got really depressed. She..." He trailed off, studying his boots.

    "Tried to kill herself," the Leader said quietly.

    He looked up. "Did the scouts see it?"

    "No. Although some have tried desperate measures like that." The Leader looked into his face. "If you feel like you are not ready, you may stop. I'm sure many would like to take your place. All you must do is ask."

    He wavered for a moment. I could be free. Free to go back to my home and live there with my family, without the hair-graying job of watching this psycho Dragon-speaking girl. Someone else could take over instead. I wouldn't have to worry. Hazel- Oh, three moons. Hazel. I can't leave her! What if the other Guardian doesn't realize it if she tries starving herself again? What if Hazel dies all because I wasn't there to protect her?

    His mother's voice came back to him. "Sometimes you have to do these things. When you officially become a Guardian at age eight, you must decide. You can either leave and let someone else do this, or you can keep going. It's up to you. But son, choose carefully. If you choose to go back to the village then your charge will be without you. She doesn't know it yet, but she needs you. You must decide between having no responsibility or being with her." He had chosen once before, ten years ago. And his answer was still the same, whether he knew it or not.

    "No, sir. Hazel can't survive without me watching her. I've driven lots of bears and wolves away from her house while she was sleeping, and know everything about them. Someone else might not. I can't risk it." He met the Leader's eyes. "Please let me stay with her."

    The Leader smiled. "When I meet with Guardians, I don't determine whether they can stay by what their charge has done. I determine it by their loyalty to their charge. You have proven that you are loyal to this girl, and it is for that reason I am allowing you to stay with her."

    He gave a relieved sigh and leaned against a tree. "Thank you."

    The Leader nodded. "If you need help, just ask." He turned and left.

    He watched him go. He was staying. It was final. But for how long? How longer would Hazel not accept the truth? She was sixteen now. She had to come around sometime, right?

    As he turned to check on her, (he wouldn't be surprised if that girl had discovered Pantala in the space of the thirty minutes he had left) his mother's voice came back to him. "Remember. Hidden, quiet, calm."

    "I will, Mom. I'll stay hidden."