Jesper lie on his bed. He was around 5'9", with short black hair, and had the build of a track runner. He had been watching his television very closely; for months he had been following the reports on the World Federation for Eliminating Guardians. (WFEG) Once a small radical party thought to be constructed of insane people who accepted the paranormal as the truth was now a very large and influential lobby to governments around the world after the discovery of guardians. Guardians were people who had inherited from ancestor's powers and abilities far beyond the capabilities of human perception. Ever since his kind had been exposed 10 years ago Jesper was always weary of strangers and attentive on the news. The views of the WFEG were that guardians were a threat to society (go figure) and that they should be labeled. Fortunately no legislation was passed in the country Jesper was currently residing in supporting the WFEG.
The air was unnaturally calm yet moist. Jesper had lived in the same house, in the same room, for his entire life of 27 years and it had always been dry and cold unless extremely windy. He sat up into a position resembling a college student about to take a very lengthy written exam on a Friday. Attentive, anxious, and worried; Jesper watched the appealing story on the decision of the U.N. after hearing from the WFEG.
"Today the U.N. heard a very convincing case from the WFEG in Stockholm, Sweden. The WFEG has been trying to convince everyone of the existence of humans with supernatural abilities for more than thirty years and until ten years ago had no hard hitting evidence. However, after revealing a secret society of people called "guardians"; the party has commanded a great deal of respect and has been given much more movement room, and if I may so myself, much more attention than before. Today they presented the case against the guardians as people of an unstable and violent nature. After Havlar Pahlberg, head representative of the WFEG, presented several accounts of recent attacks made by guardians abusing their power; he made this suggestion:" The screen flickered to a video of a very stout man wearing a most unfashionable suit of grey and maroon and mouthing something incomprehensible until it got to the quote the reporter was stating.
"I believe that these attacks can go on no longer! I do not believe that I, nor any of my fellow colleagues, will be able to sleep peacefully again until we know exactly what is out there and how to keep our families safe. I propose to you, the members of the U.N., that everyone of these guardians" the man flexed his index and middle fingers in the air making quotations around a word that was invisibly wrote in the air "submit who they are, where they live, and what they can do."
Jesper continued to look at the television with immense conversation trying to soak in every single word and make sure he interpreted it correctly.
The screen switched back to the reporter who continued about the hearing "After making his final statements the U.N. went into discussion about their decision for a mere 6 hours and reported back with a decision." Jesper leaned forward ready for the worst. "The U.N. has agreed with Mr. Pahlberg and all participating members will enact legislation in their laws immediately."
The world had stopped. Jesper had his hands clasped together and was looking at the dingy hard wood floor and concentrated hard on the sock on his right foot. "This is wrong." He thought to himself. He picked up his cell phone and called his lifelong friend from across the way, Oskar.
"Hey, Oskar this is Jesper give me a call back or text me as quick as you can. I know it's" he glanced over at the clock on the bottom right of his computer screen "7:00 in the morning and you're not normally up but make sure you get over here, quickly, and bring all of your necessities."
He closed his phone and slung it casually over onto the dresser cabinet across from his bed and continued to concentrate hard on his sock.
Oskar didn't even call but instead arrived at Jesper's house 40 minutes later with a big duffle bag of clothes, food, and a carry along safe; which Jesper took it to be all of Oskar's personal documents. As soon as Oskar set his duffle bag on the couch in the sitting room he turned to Jesper and asked "What's this all about? Where did this Havlar Pahlberg guy get the power to decide what's best for us?"
"I don't know man, we've just got to endure this and live to fight…" but before he could finish Oskar cut across him "Yeah, yeah, I know Nancy boy, live to fight another day, but has it occurred to you that today is that 'another' day?" He asked now pacing the room with a sickened look upon his face.
Jesper looked frightened, he knew Oskar had a short temper but had never seen let himself go this much before. Then Jesper spoke "Think of it like this friend-o. No matter how important or special something is; it will be destroyed if unaccepted. If the world was entirely writers and an artist was born, what do you think would happen to him?"
Weeks went by. Continuous rain had started falling in splurges of 3-6 days after that one really moist day. Deciding that it was a born right that they have privacy they did not identify themselves to the WFEG.
"You know this makes us criminals now? Don't really feel any different, you?" asked Jesper smirking.
"Yeah," replied Oskar, the side of his mouth starting to twitch "I reckon I'm a little sad, if I get thrown in prison, no more McDonald's." They both laughed. Jesper went back to the room while Oskar kept watch on the television, as if it was some sort of criminal they had captured and was questioning. Jesper was taking off his clothes to take a shower when the wooden dresser cabinet behind him made a very loud, vibrating noise. He opened up his cell phone and looked at the person calling: it was his girlfriend Emma.
He put on his shoes and ran into sitting room, struggling to throw a shirt over himself and looked worriedly at Oskar and finally said "The girls! Dude how could we forget the girls?!? We've got to go get them now man! Come on, come on now!"
Finally getting through the arm loops of the shirt Jesper followed Oskar outside, hopped into the Jeep, and went to go get their girlfriends.
Dust trailed behind their Jeep as the vehicle sped down the cobblestone road. Inside there was a near deafening silence only interrupted by the Jeeps frame rattling from the sound of jostling from going over a pothole at a high speed. There was a looming sense of fear as they passed houses; every now and then they'd see a house that was completely dark and deserted looking. They reached the end of Edsel Place at house number 256. Fear struck them as this house was also dark and appeared deserted. Jesper jumped out of the car with terror struck upon his face.
"Please let them be ok" he mumbled to himself as he ran towards the front door. He reached the door step and had a loathing feeling, expecting it to swing open and Emma or Emilia standing there with a wide smile inviting them in. But this was just a day dream because he soon realized that they couldn't have heard him arrive. They were probably in the basement, yeah that was it. Jesper clenched his fist and knocked on the door with the back of his palm. He rang the doorbell several times, no one was coming.
"They have to be here" thought Jesper. "COME ON EMMA! OPEN THE DOOR AND STOP PLAYING GAMES!" shouted Jesper, as if it would help the situation.
He heard sirens in the back ground, the police were going to arrive soon, but he wasn't leaving without Emma. He felt like he was getting tackled as Oskar ran from the Jeep and wrapped his arms around Jesper telling him "Jesper, mate, come on we've got to get outta here! Remember we're technically on the run now! If they find us and figure out what we are we are screwed! Come on!" Finally Jesper accepted the truth and willingly ran back to the Jeep. He jumped into the passenger seat and buckled his seat belt as Oskar started the car it started to rain.
They arrived back at 2317 Amesbury Avenue nearly 10 minutes later. "We should've stayed, waited to see if they would come back" pronounced Jesper.
"We couldn't have Jesper, you know that if the cops had shown up and they found out that we are guardians and haven't signed up it would've been prison or worse," replied Oskar quietly and continued to say "Tomorrow I'm going to a grocery store and a couple other places to get some supplies. If any of the WFEG guards ask me anything I'll just flat up lie to them." "Ok" agreed Jesper.
He went back up to his room where he had started spending most of his time. He turned on the television to CNN to see if there had been any new news on their situation. It was starting to become a habit and an obsession; listening to the reporter talking while carefully watching the stretch of tape at the bottom of the screen running headlines happening around the world. Ever since the U.N. members had created this new law in their countries, naturally some of the guardians weren't just going to hand over there privacy and there were probably hundreds in the same situation as him and Oskar.
Other than an occasional report on a guardian or a group of guardians in hiding being captured there was no new news from the reporter or the ticker tape for the rest of the evening. Jesper noticed, however, that guardians in hiding being found were being prosecuted with an iron fist.
Such as a group of 3 teenage guardians sentenced to 30 years in prison; which Jesper thought was pretty steep for such a petty crime until he heard what the three could do.
"The eldest female that was captured, 17, could melt any metal within three feet of her and could also solidify and toughen objects as well as weaken metals." the reporters tone changed slightly to a more fearful looking as he continued "There were two boys traveling with her, both 16, one could talk to, control, and turn into any animal he wanted to. The third teenager could travel through electrical appliances along with anyone who touched him. These three have been stationed in a high security prison along the Jotuheim Mountains in Sweden." Jesper could not stand anymore of it. He clicked the remote and turned the television off.
It was sickening, putting three teenagers in a high security prison, just because the feared what society would think of them. The report brought on more than disgust for Jesper; he started asking himself "What kind of monster would do this to mere teenagers, only weeks after the actual law was set into place?" He had to know more. He opened up his laptop and searched the internet for answers. Havlar Pahlberg was just the representative for the WFEG. So who was the mastermind behind this? He continued searching throughout forums and blogs occasionally reading the crackpot theory that one of the world leaders was behind it, the original guardian Toreanclath, was behind it. But he knew better, he knew Toreanclath the original guardian. He was the person on the front of going against the WFEG; he was the leader and flagship for the resistance.
He blundered downstairs loudly and uncaringly. He got to the bottom of the stairs and went into the kitchen where he toasted some bread and spread some strawberry jelly on it. Leaning against the stove he pondered on how his life had changed in the past few weeks. He no longer had a job, he spent most of his day watching news channels, which was a complete bore, and his diet consisting mainly of bread, cheese, and jams and jellies. All of a sudden there was a loud crash in the sitting room, like a bird had just flown uncontrollably into a room and broken many objects. There standing in the middle of the room holding out his hand and making a table come back together as if there were magnets on the four legs he'd broken when landing inside.
"Hello Jesper. It has been quite a while since we last met." Oskar came down the stairs apparently going down them three at a time because he was at the bottom shoulder to shoulder with Jesper now looking at an averagely tall and slender aged man.
"My name is –" before he could answer Jesper cut across him "Toreanclath. Yes I know your name; you are the leader of the resistance against the WFEG. What do you want?" Jesper asked coldly. He was not expecting any visitors and was still in a very sour mood since being unable to retrieve his girlfriend in time.
"I want to have a little chat" replied Toreanclath.
