Crescent Pine

"Whatever, go."

"Anyway, five years passed and she was thinking to settle down finally when dark forces snuck in. A dark sorcerer, he spread a plague throughout the forest, every limb on every tree, every straw, root, leaf, rotted away instantly. He had come to take the heart of Crescent Pine into himself."

"The heart, the core, the good energy, he wanted to take it into himself and then absorb the life of any and all beings he crossed. A balance much be held here, too much blood spilled with sour the land. The sorcerer decayed half of the forest before approaching the cabin. He could not break through the wall around it, he couldn't take it in either."

"When your ancestor appeared he became enraged. All the while he was destroying the forest she was taking his darkness. She weakened him near death. Then she destroyed the energy and casted him out of Crescent Pine for all eternity. The heart of this forest was describe as a real heart, or a spot in the soil, I'm not completely sure the history is completely correct."

"But after those events your ancestor summoned all the creatures that lived in or by this forest. They came willingly and listened to her as she told them that they needed to protect the forest from the darkness that came from outside. So she selected guardians who would stand by and watch over the corners of the forest for each generation."

"She helped everyone who came to her whether they drank blood or howled at the moon, shift-shaped, or had any magical abilities. They came to love her, even after she had her family, she would help whoever she could and steer out any dangers, solve any conflict. And there you have it."

Rory rubbed her eyes "Okay, so my grandmother chose you as a guardian along with the guy who nearly drained me dry?"

"Yes, six years ago when I was fifteen. It was an honor, still is. I'm just sorry I couldn't get to you earlier. We never knew if you were coming, everyone thought that Ruth would be the last. Luckily you came, and in a mess of a time."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard? People have gone missing from town, vampires have been luring them in, doing as they please without regard to how this effects us. We were peaceful, living together, yes we had differences, but we were pretty civil. When Ruth died every started to panic. To put this in short, we need your help Rory."

Rory blinked taking it all in. She believed it, accepted it, understood most of it, but now she was curious about the pendant "You mentioned a pendant."

Ian smiled "Ruth said you were perceptive, could hang on to every word."

"I mean I've been wondering this entire time since she passed about the gift she left for me here in her will. And that honing pendant sounds peculiar, is that the gift?"

Ian shrugged "I don't know, I wasn't here when she wrote the will. I've been tending to pack problems. Going into town for the local gossip to stay updated. I hadn't visited in awhile. But if she left it here it must be somewhere for you to find right?"

Rory nodded standing up.

"Um you're still healing-

"I appreciate your kindness, but this has been gnawing at me. I won't be able to sit down until I find it. Can you help?"

Ian sighed, giving up. He opted to check the living area, kitchen, and dining room while Rory checked the bedrooms. The master was her grandmother's room, but if it were an item for her from her grandmother Rory guessed that it would be something in her room. But where? The closet? Dresser maybe?

Rory stepped into her old room looking at the light blue bed that sat in the middle of the room with a navy rug at the food of it. Her dresser sat right next to it and her closet to the left. A small vase sat on the dresser with some old books that Rory favored. There were a few old paintings hanging up on the sides of the wall and one window a few feet away from the wooden dresser.

She plopped on the plush covers and stared into space, mulling it over. Her grandmother was the best when it came to hiding things and this was no different. Obvious places would be the dresser and closet.

She exhaled rubbing her head then her neck. Still sore and on the verge of having a migraine Rory closed her eyes to clear her thoughts. No vampires or werewolves, just the gift. In a blank space in mind she could see it almost perfectly. There was something wrapped around it, like saran wrap. It reminded Rory of how her grandma would wrap up leftovers from a meal, tightly until not a breath of air could enter.

She breathed out again, pushing the pain down, she wanted to wish it away so she could concentrate. For a moment she felt relief and pulled back each layer until she could see a small marble box that was in the shape of sea green star. Then the pain came back and she opened her eyes.

"Found it yet?" Ian asked from the hall. He then poked his head into her room "Rory, you should rest if your neck's bothering you."

"No." Rory went to the dresser and turned the vase on it's side, carefully turning it upside down as a small star shaped box slid from it's mouth. Rory pulled the lid off, there was a post-it on whatever it was keeping inside. It read: ~Now's your time, I know you'll shine. Love Grandma.~

After removing the note she could see the pendant, an oval shaped stone with a mint green hue on a silver chain.

"That's different." Ian said.

"What?"

"Gale told me once that the pendant was red...maybe the stone changed itself."

"To fit the person who wears it." Rory pulled up the chain eying it in the light. Once it was in her hands the stone started to glow, Rory could feel herself being pulled by some unknown force into a void. In the void there were screams, growling, faces flashing before her eyes before she snapped back.

Rory nearly fell over holding a hand to her chest, but Ian helped her stay up right.

"It seems you have gifts of your own." Ian said indicating a destroyed book on her dresser.

"I did that?"

"Nearly singed it. It was a spark and then nothing. It teared itself apart."

"What does this mean?" Rory was too tired to be confused, in pain, and freaked out.

"You have powers, mystical powers."

"Psychic powers?"

Ian nodded "No one ever told you? Your mother?"

"She passed away after she gave birth to me, and my grandmother..I don't know why she didn't tell me."

"Probably to give you some normalcy, a choice at what you want. But that's every that I know. So don't worry about it. Rest. I'll lock the doors and keep watch."

Rory shook her head at him "You don't have to stay up all night to watch me. I'll be okay."

Ian looked down at her "No. You could get an infection or someone might try to lure you outside. This cabin is like an armory. Those invited in are lucky, because this protects paranormals from their own kind."

"Okay...I'm exhausted, Ian. You can protect me if you want, I just want to sleep." Rory crawled onto her bedspread and inched herself under.

"Night." Ian said, he left the room and as promised Rory could hear him turn the locks. It was incredible to her on how safe she felt with him, he was still a stranger, but for some reason she could feel that he would stay true to his word and that gave her comfort for the night.

In the morning Rory got up groggily seeing her bag on the floor, she rummaged through it, showered, brushed her teeth, and got dressed in a simple black tee and jeans, with low to ground sandals. Ian was there sitting in the kitchen, cooking.

"I'm used to cooking here, Ruth taught me, let me stay over a few nights." He explained fixing a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"That for me?" Rory grinned.

"You didn't have to be psychic for that, yes. You didn't eat last night." Ian handed her the plate and watched as she sat on a stool at the counter.

"Thanks again." Ian started to make himself breakfast as Rory devoured half of her plate in two minutes.

"No problem."

"What about your guardianship?"

"Well I guard you too as well as the woods. And being that this is completely new to you we might need help with sorting everything out."

"Like?"

"Knowing what lives here, who's friendly, who's not, the grievances, if something wicked this way comes, stuff like that."

"Like where you live?"

"An underground den underneath a large pine tree. It's sturdy, mostly wolves, a few young ones like me. My pack doesn't really shift into human form as often as I do."

"Ohh a rebel." Rory teased.

"I'm curious about people. It's not against any law, and they don't mind since I'm a guardian and I need to shift at times. The vampires live in a pocket in a cavern to the west of here, there's a cliff. Witches use glamour spells, transformative spells, some live in toadstools that shrink and enlarge, spirits sometimes roam as well. You may spot a sprite too, but that's mostly it for majority of the area."

"So where do we begin?"

"Well I- Knock! Knock! The pounding at the door was anything other than subtle. Rory felt her skin chill and eyed the door that went into the living room. Ian placed his plate down onto the counter and went to the front door. Rory tailed him watching as he opened it.

Pale, dark hair, red eyes, and a dark brooks brother suit. Gale appeared in a less frightening manor in the daylight.

He smiled "Morning neighbor."

"Bye." Ian was about to slam the door in his face, but was blocked somehow despite not being invited in.

"You said you'd stay away."

"Correction I said I'd never feed on her again. And I won't, but Miss Martin and I have business to discuss. Loose ends that need to be tied up."

"Because you knew my grandmother?" Rory squinted, what was this connection between them?

"Something like that, so you can either invite me in or come outside."

Rory wanted fear, but felt none. The aura around Gale wasn't animalistic or belligerent, it was calm and surprisingly warm.

"Don't." Ian said reading her face "He's a lia-

"You can bring the puppy with if you don't trust me. Sunlight isn't exactly my source of strength, so can we hurry about?" Gale asked.

"It's okay." Rory looked up into Ian's eyes, deep seas of green that sparkled in the light, she wanted him to know she was okay with it. Ian blinked for a second rubbing his eyes.

"Fine." Ian groaned.

Rory went to get the key and locked up. Gale led her and Ian into the part of the forest thick with greenery, at least a five mile walk from the cabin. Gale led with Rory behind him and Ian behind her. Once he stopped Gale slowly approached Rory, his eyes seemed so sad, dreary almost.

"I'm sorry for attacking you...But part of the reason that I did was Ruth, the other was my own insatiable appetite. I nearly lost my head and forgot." He gulped down the last word hard.

"My grandmother had you bite me?" Rory glared "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Please don't use such foul language." Gale crossed his arms sighing "It was a test to see if you could push your powers out further than what you could in your youth. But I took it too far."

"What is this about?" Ian asked.

"How do you know my grandmother? I can't see why she would allow this in the first place. I need to dots connected somehow. Gale?" Rory stood there waiting for something as Gale stood there awkwardly adjusting his shirt.

He cleared his throat and sighed "It's a complicated relationship or it was. I met Ruth forty three years ago when she was eighteen. I was enamored by her wisp blonde hair..and those eyes. The first time I met her I mistook her for a townie and bit her. She slapped me, roughly, and explained."

"We got along after that, I became one of her guardians after a year of friendship we became close. Very close, we fell for one another. And on her twentieth birthday we found out that she was pregnant."

Rory's jaw dropped and Ian for once had nothing to say to him.

Gale rubbed the back of his head "During the pregnancy I went back to feeding on those foolish enough to be drawn here by my power. I didn't kill them, I just fed. I needed strength, I wanted to be there to protect Ruth and our child, and it took my mind off of becoming a father."

"I was a wreck, but your grandmother found out. She said she would resend my invitation after the child was born. And then she was. Your mother, we named her Sable, because she hair as black as night, a trait she took after me. But she had the same eyes that you do, the exact same. After that I was to stay away. I never met Sable personally, but I saw her sometimes. She didn't know of course and then Ruth came to me one night and told me she passed."

"I consoled her as much as she consoled me, it was a blow, I sent a wreath to her funeral anonymously. And then I came back to help Ruth, she knew you'd have power, but she wanted to see how strong it was against someone of my caliber. She became frail, but I obeyed her nonetheless. And if you want I can lend a hand, you are...my granddaughter."

Rory closed her mouth and tried to force her eyes to shrink back down to their regular size "How? My mother was human, wasn't she?"

"Bloodlines are tricky, your ancestor was probably the cause, some type of magic or blessing on some kind. The women will bare human children for eternity, I don't know the full story behind it. It could be that she took after her mother. That can be rare, but possible. No matter the issues we may have my blood is still your blood."

"Did you know she was going to die?"

Gale bit his lip "Your bloodline is blessed is immortality, Ruth took on too much at once and overloaded herself. She put up that glamour constantly when you came around, but she stayed the same in appearance since she was twenty one. It was not old age."

"Okay..." Rory rubbed her head, what the hell was her life becoming? Why hide and cover so much of this from her?

"Aurora, I can't excuse my behavior, but when I am at my lowest I do go to extremes...if you can forgive me I'd like to make up for my mistake."

Rory bit her nail anxiously as the man before her made this confession, an apology. "You knew about me the entire time?"

Gale nodded "Since Sable gave birth to you. I know your father was a red head, but your hair is blood red. It drove me to a point I will not cross again, or I'll send myself to my demise. Hold my hand to verify it."

Rory wasn't going to hesitate, so she grabbed his cold hand in her own and she felt embarrassed and odd about it. He was telling the truth, so she let his hand go and looked up at him.

"I had a grandfather here the entire time. She kept you away from me, because of this didn't she?"

Gale nodded "Yes, I also know you have great potential. But you need to learn and be careful. My kind as well as dark beings like to prey on those with pure blood."

"Pure blood?"

Ian instantly blushed and turning his head slightly to avoid eye contact "He's saying they'll be attracted to you, because you're-um-you know--a virgin."

"God, I get a grandfather who bites me and outs me." Rory groaned.

"It's nothing wrong with saving yourself in fact-

"Please don't." Rory held out her hand "You're my grandfather, no stories on this subject okay?"

Gale smirked "Alright, now that you're in the know how would you like to begin?"

Rory shrugged "Grandma didn't have to go through this, so why wait until I turned eighteen? I get this, guardians, special paranormal forest, safe space, protector, you, Ian, me. I just want to know why I wasn't told sooner."

Gale rubbed his face then started to explain. After the loss of her mother, both he and Ruth were in a state of sorrow that no one could dig them out of. And when their grandchild did grow up she'd have all these questions about her mother and where she came from. Sable had agreed to move with her husband to Crescent Pine and fulfill her duty. At the time she was still pregnant and preparing for the move. When the child came earlier than expected things fell apart.

Ruth would have to remain in Crescent Pine until her granddaughter was of age, run herself ragged with keeping the peace between creatures, sending protection charms to the town in the form of a pastry treat, warding off anyone with a dark heart, and keeping humans who visited rarely from learning the truth about the forest.

Rory would have been taught, trained to learn control over her abilities, but her father who knew about Sable and Ruth's sacred duties forbid it. With the loss of his wife he held tightly to his daughter. Ruth had no say in it being that he was her guardian and then his sister in turn. When Rory turned eighteen she'd have her own choice to make, so Ruth gave her that freedom, time to be normal, explore a little. So she left the pendant for Rory without any clues or explanation, Rory's aunt would tell her or Ruth's friends would explain it. And she left the world knowing that to be true.

"How do I train if there's no one like me here?" Rory piped up at the end.

"The pendant." Ian tapped her shoulder "You didn't put it on, but that would be a start. Your powers are in flux, they need to stabilize before you try anything."

Rory just wanted to walk around the cabin first, take in the fresh hair, feel the sting of grass poking at her feet, and gaze at the sunrise.

"And then." Gale continued "We do trial and error."

"What about meeting the residents here?" Ian asked, he himself was just as innocent. He was doing his best, but he was still young. Still learning to walk as a guardian.

"We can wait on that until she can showcase her power. They'll respect her more if they see what she can do, keep them in line. And maybe we can talk a little bit longer." Gale added.

"Maybe." Rory agreed "Lets head back then, Ian's probably starving."

Ian smirked rubbing the back of his head "Yeah, I cut breakfast short didn't I?"

"As cute as this is we should in case someone stumbles upon us." Gale started walking again and Rory and Ian followed suit.

Once back at the cabin Rory let Ian help place the pendant around her neck. Then he went to his plate which he brought with him front of the cabin, eating quietly as Gale acted as instructor. A pile of logs sat in between Rory and Gale.

"Pick one up with touching." Gale said "You've seen things before, things that weren't here, but in your mind."

"Yes." Rory replied, most of her life she could see pictures, images, but it came and went too quickly for her to realize or figure out what they were.

"Think of the logs as building blocks. You want to pick up one block and hold it in your hand."

Rory nodded closing her eyes when Gale coughed, when she opened them again he had his hands on his hips leering at her. "What?"

"You need your eyes open, to see and not see with them open. Be aware of your surroundings. Just focus on one as a block and let your mind drift, but stay awake."

Rory looked down at a log on the ground, she looked at the brown bark and tried to compress it in her mind as a block of the same color. She started to feel drowsy, but focused all her attention on the log, she felt her breathe become shallow, her muscles tightened, and the air become thick.

All the logs started to fade away with Gale, the trees in the distances, the land was all becoming one blur that faded into a black nothingness. There Rory imagined building blocks, the kind she played with in preschool, pine with little numbers and letters carved into the sides. And then she reached out to stack them into a small pyramid.

Now in the pyramid she wanted to pull one out without it falling, so she reached towards one block that was near the top. She felt the small cube in her hand and clutched it tightly, there was a warm sensation coming from the block and she started to feel light headed, but kept hold of the block until a light breached the void and everything that disappeared slowly came back into view.