Game with unknown Rules

Chapter 8: ...You can go like that

   "Rest now, young one." Kara's smile began to falter. "For a serious time has't come. Take care now, as the ordinary shalt shift underneath thy feet and shall no longer bring thee comfort as 't did ere."

   Slowly, I black dots began to form in front of my eyes, before I swallowed thickly and nodded anew. I waved at her and she gave me a curt but friendly nod. Kara turned around and walked away. Her black robe fluttering after her, hair bouncing with every step she took. It was real. She was real.

   A sigh escaped my lips as I fished out my keys and somehow managed to open the door. Closing it behind me, I got rid of my bag and fell onto the sofa. I don't think I even remember hitting the surface as I woke up in my own bed, thanks to a noise that sounded like a screaming cat.

   Confused, I rubbed my eyes and checked for my swimming glasses. Not feeling them on my head nearly gave me a heart attack, but I found them on my nightstand and the world was whole again. Then I remembered the scream.

   Still tired and confused I got out of my bed and opened the door to the corridor. On instinct I wandered into the living room. Luis was leaning against the wall, and Sherry almost fell off the sofa. Rose sat next to her. Melanie seemed to have a comfortable rest on the back rest, a deadpanned look directed forward. And Lenny tried to... take a white cat away from Kuro who was holding it into the air like the lion king.

   "Oh, hi Hec." Kuro grinned.

   "Where did you get that cat from?" I wanted to know, not being too surprised anymore.

   "This one?" Kuro held it next to her face, cheeks smashed together

   The cat seemed rather annoyed and was... pulling a face. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked closer to it. The cat, weirdly enough, started to grin widely, while their eyes grew bigger, making the colours more clear in the light of the ceiling lamp.

   "Is that Psyche?" Realisation struck me and the cat started to speak with a very familiar voice.

   "Ding, ding, ding! The candidate receives full house!" They grinned, putting their front paws up into the air and slipped at the same time from Kuro's grasp, who looked very disappointed. They started to walk around my legs, rubbing against them like a normal cat would do. "Welcome home buddy. Hope you had a nice sleep."

   A little weirded out I took a step back, once they left me alone. They didn't care as they continued to rub their head and side on the sofa, before walking toward the table with an upward pointing tail.

   "I think I did." I slowly said, shaking my head slightly to clear my thoughts and followed them to the table. The rest fell into my steps. "Why are you a cat?"

   "Because Kuro requested it, once she learned that we could do so." Psyche wiggled their butt and jumped on the table. "And to be fair, good taste, not to mention good for our bones, since a cat resembles more of our actual physiology than a humanoid one and is therefore less painful. Our poor back..."

   "Back on topic." Melanie sat down. "Will you help us?"

   "One moment." Rose spoke up, who also took a chair. "I think we should get Hector up to speed, first."

   "Do you want to explain?" Melanie asked and Rose nodded, before she turned to me, as the rest also sat down.

   "Hector." Rose began and I listened to her carefully. "You already know the things we've discussed before school even began." I nodded. "So let me follow up. Luis, I and my parents were once part of a clan of psychics with different powers and abilities. I gained my powers from our father, who is also able to read minds and went up to the level of now being able to control them. I'm not on his level yet, and no, he has not used it on anyone without being in a fight. This power is dangerous and should not be used whenever we feel like doing so."

   I couldn't do anything besides nod enthusiastically since this was really scary. Swallowing thickly.

   "Luis gained his powers from our mother." Rose continued. "My drawback, is, that at the beginning I couldn't ignore the mindreading and had very easily headaches. However, Luis drawback is a little different..."

   "I have no emotions." Luis spoke up, while his sister wouldn't. "As long as I can't fully control my psychokinesis, the path in my brain for the release of hormones like serotonin is blocked off. No idea why it evolved like this."

   "We already speculated that maybe it has something to do with making it easier for rational decisions." Rose shook her head lightly. "Then again, we don't have the technology to actually check if there is not another reason for this drawback."

   At first it didn't really click, then I thought about it. No happiness, no anger... no love, no comfort, but also no stress. I couldn't and still can't possibly imagine how Luis must have gone through all his live.

   "Now that you know about all of us." Melanie took control of the conversation again and she looked at Psyche. "You really like to talk, if someone lets you." Psyche was visibly shrinking under her stare. "Mind repeating that what you have said about the 'Guardians' living in the Pappelwald?"

   "Ah..." Psyche's gaze shifted around the room as their tail nervously swished around. "You see..." They laughed embarrassed.

   "Guardians?" For the billionth time that day, I was confused and I also looked at the white cat, sitting in the centre of our group. "Why would they be important? What about the government and the eradication?"

   "That's exactly the point." Sherry spoke up. "The only place no being can enter without permission, are apparently the quarters of the 'Guardians of the Forest'. We're wondering, if we could get into a place, where no one else could reach us, so we can safely go around and take down these experiments. And bring those hurt and injured with us. We would be able to save the captured and their captors can't attack us."

   "Before that, we would evacuate any paranormal being so no attack could be made against them." Lenny continued.

   "There are beings around this town who know how to open portals to other places for the time being." Melanie stared Psyche down. "Someone just needs to communicate instead of wanting to shoulder it all on their own."

   Psyche was getting smaller and smaller and I was certain that at one point they would sink into the table. Melanie sighed.

   "We've already spoken with our parents about this, but none of them knew about these 'Guardians'." She continued, rolling her eyes. "Except for my mother who excused herself with 'you never asked'. What the hell..."

   "Ha!" Kuro laughed out, gaining a look from the red haired girl.

   "Alright, alright." Now it was Psyche's turn to sigh. "We'll tell you about the 'Guardians of the Pappelwald', but first, we think that you are a few individuals short."

   "What do you mean?" Melanie frowned.

   Psyche grinned and turned their head toward me. "Exactly four individuals to start, and we're pretty sure you know who we're talking about."

                                                                                             ****

Author's Note:

"Pappelwald" means poplar forest. I'm very sorry for anyone who has to do a lot with old English, but Kara is very old and very much a literature nerd and a great fan of Shakespeare and other old writers and I don't want to take that away from her! I swear, she only tones it down around the kids, so they understand her! ;v;

I will probably not update the coming two weeks, since I have essays to write. Fun. /s    But I'm planning to do a side book with useful information and a little world building for the species presented in GwuR and how they differ from other media or folklore. It will go up in the coming week.

We'll meet one another when another star collapses. Take care.