Look out for the <>!

Grayson's POV

I looked at my arm and frowned at the green paste covering the black wound that the beast gave me. "Will this be done healing already?" I asked Else who worked in the kitchen on some other task, giving no attention to me and the healing process of the paste.

"Just give it a moment more Gray," she said as she ground something that smelt like rust in a mortar and pestle. "You should have called me as soon as this happened. Because you waited a day to call for help, the healing will take longer."

I knew that, but she scolded me as if there wasn't a good reason why I didn't call her. She was on a trip far away with the royal family of Churchwell and it was important that she gave that trip her full attention. We all had our own jobs, and she had hers to fill, just like I had mine. Calling her away from those meetings would have just thrown a kink in our jobs. I was just closing the gate; I wasn't supposed to fight monsters from the Churchwell realm.

"You're lucky I came home when I did. If I took another day..."

"I know what another day would mean," I frowned at her, stopping her from finishing the subject. The beast that attacked me was called a Darkling and they were the most dangerous creatures in the Churchwell realm. Their shadowy figure made it hard to hunt them in the night and they were as fast as a wild car and as powerful as a bear and deadly poisonous. Just a scratch from them caused the immune system to go into wreck, making your veins turn to fire. And after a few days of agonizing pain, the poison would finally get to the heart and kill you.

The last 14 hours had put me through so much pain, but this wasn't the first time I had been attacked by a Darkling. Memories of being a young child wondering through the woods of the Churchwell realm popped into my mind so quickly, I couldn't push them away. They came out of nowhere back then too; I was just glad my father was there to fight them off. 

I knew how dangerous they were. But I knew Else would come back so there wasn't much to worry about. I could deal with pain for a few hours, after all, it wasn't the worst thing I had to experience.

"But I still had another day," I said, reminding her I still had time before the poison killed me. Right before Else came into our small house, all I remembered the terrible pain, wishing for it all to end.

"You can't walk on the edge like this, Gray. I don't know what you are trying to prove there."

"I'm not trying to prove anything," I retorted a little too quickly.

"You don't have to be like this," she sighed as she rubbed her temples as if I gave her a headache, although I think I normally did. She never enjoyed caring for me, it was just something she was called to do and she stepped up to the plate. 

Before this calling, she was right hand to the Royal Family of Churchwell. She was constantly traveling and meeting important people, but after my father died, they asked her to keep an eye on me. I still wasn't sure why they asked her out of all people, but she didn't question it and right away assumed the position of a foster mother.

I rubbed my eyes in exhaustion, knowing we had these kinds of conversations before. She would never understand my mindset. She would never understand the pressure I put on myself. I wouldn't have to prove anything if my father was a nobody. But at the top of his game, he was some super star, and I felt like I needed to be just a talented at half his age. If I proved myself, then maybe people wouldn't feel so bad for me all the time.

Before this turned into another argument, I looked away from her and poked my wound. My mind flew back to getting attacked, and it caused me to shutter as I remembered looking into his dark eyes. The shadowy beast towered over me as I laid on the ground after one of it's claws sliced through my arm.  

I didn't see the Darkling coming when. It attacked with such force I saw my life fly before my eyes. I could have sworn it was waiting for me to close that gate, waiting to get me. I wasn't well trained on fighting those monsters off and I grasped at straws to kill it. "The Darklings are getting closer to the gate."

She frowned, stopping what she was doing then walked over to me. I could see concern in her eyes, and I wondered what she was thinking. She always kept all her thoughts to herself, and it drove me mad. It was as if she didn't want me to be a part of Churchwell even though I was from the land. "I know."

"Should we call for backup?"

She shook her head as she checked my wound again. "Not yet. There aren't many Darklings out there since your father killed most of them years back. I'm not concerned just yet about the problem. Also this needs more time," she said as she put more paste on my arm.

I nodded although I wanted to push the idea of calling for backup. Even though my father nearly killed all of them off, seeing one yesterday, it was concerning. Darklings were deadly to humans since they poison was uncurable for them. Darklings weren't supposed to be in this realm, but yet there was a time when they would escape to this realm and wreak havoc. I was the gatekeeper and I had to call it in when magical beasts were close to this world.

<>

I remembered stories my father told me when I was younger. He was a gatekeeper warrior just like myself and the bedtime stories he shared were that of a time when Darklings were completely gone because of his team of fighters. It worried me that maybe I needed backup to stop them because I couldn't fight them off of my own. Yesterday was just one, but what if more came. However Else didn't seem worried about the topic so it made me think I was being overdramatic.

"Gray, tell me what you saw yesterday. Every detail," mom said as she pulled out a seat, ready to give me her full attention for a rare moment.

I sighed, afraid that she would pick apart everything and see that it was me that did something wrong since she was so good at that. She always wanted me to be this perfect worker however she often forgot that I was hardly trained to be a gatekeeper.

"Grayson, this is protocol. You need to tell me," she said, pulling out the rules as if that would make me want to tell her even more.

"I went to the gate, but I noticed evidence of starrings in the grass."

"That's not possible. Starrings are only seen when the something from the Churchwell realm comes to this realm. There is no way."

"I thought the same, but I saw a starring at school the other day. And then yesterday, I don't think it's a coincidence."

Else frowned as she soaked in my words. She ran her hands through her short dark hair and sighed as if she didn't like what I said. "Why did you not mention the school sighting?"

"Because I knew you would play it down like you did before I had the second example to show." I pointed out.

She chewed on her lip, seeing my point. "Ok, then what happened."

"I went into the Churchwell realm to make sure nothing was wrong by the gate. That was when I saw the Darkling. It was there in the grass, waiting for me. It attacked, and I pushed it off, but not before it sliced into my arm. I ran to the gate, but it ripped me away before I could go through, so I stabbed it with this," I said as I pulled out a small clear crystal dagger from my pocket and placed it on the table. As it glittered in the light even though there was still evidence of black blood at the tip of the dagger.

"Ok, I'll write a report about this. For now, rest and feel lucky. Darklings are cold-blooded killers."

"I know that," I said as I remembered the human named Easton that I befriended when I first moved here. He followed me to the gate and ran in. Before I had time to get him out, a Darkling got him. I shook my head as I cleared the image of the bloody body from my mind, however it didn't help. I don't think I would ever forget that day. That was the marker, then it all changed for me.

She sighed and cupped my cheek. The touch was supposed to be warm and welcoming, but it just left me feeling empty and I couldn't help but recoil from her touch. She was not a warm person, and I wasn't used to it when she showed it since it was so rare. "I know you do," she stood up from her seat and started to walk away, but I stopped her.

"I want more training."

She turned back to me with another frown. "We've been over this, not until you graduate high school."

This argument we had time and time again and it always ended the same way. I didn't understand why she placed such a high importance on getting through school when I had no intentions in living in this realm. "Darklings are coming, starrings are showing... I need to know how to stop them and be a true gatekeeper, like my father."

"And look where that got him. He tried to be it all and it forced him over the edge," she snapped.

Her words were a slap in the face as I remembered stories of what happened to him. It had been so long since I hear mention of him in this light that it caused me to cringe. "He wasn't ready but if I trained, then I would be ready for anything."

"You know I've already tried to talk to the Royal Family about you attending the Churchwell academy.  They want you here because you are the only gatekeeper we have."

"But I know you can make an exception."

She smirked lightly, then pulled out a blue gemstone ring and placed it on her finger. "You are always looking for exceptions, aren't you?"

I nodded since my life felt like one huge exception, I might as well make the most out of it.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"Of course," she sighed and for a moment we were silent. "You remind me a lot of him."

The mention of my father went unwelcomed since I knew she didn't get along with him.

"Gray, I mean that in all the best ways. Your father was difficult, but he was a true gatekeeper until the end when he turned. There weren't many like him but you, I see that in you."

"Thanks," I mumbled as looked back at my arm, which was not stinging any more. Everyone knew him more than I did, which caused resentment to build up within me. Everyone said I looked like him or acted like him, but when I remembered the few memories I had of him, I just saw someone that was a stranger. Everyone said he was kind and hard a good heart but never once did I get to experience that kindness.

"I think your arm is healed. We can get that paste off."

Silently, I gave her my arm so she could wipe the paste off with a washcloth.

"Gray, you got out of there just in time. When you closed the gate, no one saw you right?"

I paused as I thought about Stella and how she wanted to help. I pushed her away so aggressively. I didn't mean to do that, but she needed to understand that she needed to keep her distance. We weren't meant to be friends; she had to understand that. "No." I lied, knowing what it would mean for a human to know what we did.

"Gray, you know what would happen if a human would find out. Be honest with me if they saw you."

"No one saw anything," I said with more force, proving a point.

"Ok then," she said and stood up from the chair. She paused to look at my fully healed arm, happy with her work. "Not even a scratch. Look at that." She beamed. "Well, have to go the Churchwell realm and look into these Darklings for myself. I will be back tomorrow, but please call me if you need anything at all."

"Of course."

"Oh and Gray, please study for your classes. I don't want to keep making up excuses for you," she smirked, then walked out the back door without another word.