I met my guardian angel recently and they’re not exactly what I expected, anytime someone thinks of an ‘angel’ grace comes to mind; along with beauty, well, he was none of these things. For the record I never believed in the spiritual world nor did I even fathom the idea that each one of us was assigned some care giver, the mere thought always made me chuckle because through out my life I’ve had the worst luck. My friends think of me as the black sheep in the literal sense, if something bad could happen then it would happen to me, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard some silly statistic about 1 in 5 or 1 of 3; immediately understanding I would be that one. Hit by a car? Sure several times, been mugged before? Almost on a weekly basis, hell I’m the guy that constantly finds a hair in their meals and for the most part I accepted the reality of my fate, I was a person not like others. I’m even still single because 1 in 4 men will never get married, at this point I’m tired of hearing about ratios and statistics, it’s almost like learning the future whenever a new study is announced. So I spend most of my time at my local pub drinking my sorrows away; not that I really had any, but I didn’t have much going on and understanding that 1 in 10 men will develop liver disease I figured why not enjoy my liver while I have it.
This is when I met Roger, he was sitting at the bar with his head hunched down into his arms; he appeared to be sleeping as the perspiring mug of beer stood tall next to him. I’ve seen him before, he usually was drunk whenever I would arrive to the pub and for the most part there was nothing special about him, that’s to say I really never noticed him. Occasionally I would see him lift his head, reaching for his mug as he would swiftly chug down whatever remaining remnants of beer was left and then signal to the bartender for another only to retreat his face back into the comfort of his folded arms. This particular day the bar was a bit more crowded than normal apparently there was some game on, I didn’t really care for sports so I had no desire to sit close to the big screen, because of this the one spot I found at the bar was next to Roger.
As usual his face was wedged into his folded arms, he seemed to be passed out; I could hear the dreadful sounds of him wheezing out for air escaping his clenched posture. I signaled to the bar keep for my usual and before I could even sit down a stench emanating from Roger hit my like a bag of bricks; it was awful. It smelled as if he hadn’t showered in weeks, to make matters worse the sea of people that inundated the small space kept shoving me closer to the drunken man. As soon as I got my drink I downed it and scoured the room for another available spot, that’s when I first heard his raspy voice; a pathetic sound it was.
“You did this to me” the drunk man spouted out.
Even though my back was turned to him I knew he was speaking to me, the words some how fluttered their way into my ears as the sound caused me to shiver. I pretended not to hear him as I kept my eyes forward towards the screen acting as if I was watching the game.
“You hear me!” Roger yelled out a bit louder this time.
I closed my eyes annoyed realizing it was time to leave, I didn’t know what his problem was and I had no desire in finding out. As I began to walk away a cold hand grabbed me by the shoulder stopping me in my tracks, I could see Rogers long fingers practically attach themselves to my shirt like some nightmarish spider and that’s when I finally decided to turn around. Now facing him I could see how malnourished he seemed to be, his cheeks sunk into his face while dark rings cradled underneath his puffy eyes, he bare a look of devastation, but worse he seemed to be angry.
“After everything I’ve done for you, you don’t even have the courtesy to answer me? I’ve should let you die a long time ago” he angrily scolded me.
I aggressively shoved his hand off of me, feeling more dominate seeing how thin the man was, though his grip left a tingling sensation on my shoulder.
“What do you mean old man?” I told him with a stern voice, though Roger’s intense stare didn’t break.
I saw his frown sink further down his face as a bits of amber seemed to appear in his eyes, my once courage dissipated into the noise that engulfed us and I gulped heavy with dismay.
“I know you know who I am” the old man told me.
I narrowed my eyes trying to see through the withered face imagining how the younger version of this drunk man would look and to my astonishment he did seem oddly familiar.
“Yeah, yeah I remember you, I was a kid, doing the things us kids did; I was running home from school delighted that it was Friday and I ran into the middle of the street without looking and…” I paused, I could see a slight grin grow on the old mans face.
“You’re the douche bag that hit me with their car!” I shouted at Roger now remembering the man.
I could feel my fist clench tightly as an urge of violence washed over me ready to strike the man that started my bad luck; since that accident my life never was right. As I opened my mouth ready to thrash the drunken man with another verbal assault he interjected.
“If I didn’t hit you with my car you would of been kidnapped that day, the strange van that you occasionally saw roaming around the school building well, they were going to stop a block away, sit there with malice waiting for the perfect victim to walk by and if you ever looked in the mirror then you know that pitiful mask you call a face was the perfect victim, so you’re welcome” Roger told me.
I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, what van? Did I remember a van, no, there wasn’t one; though what I did remember was having two broken arms and a concussion, I missed almost an entire school year because of this idiot.
“Listen old man, I don’t know what you’re talking about but because of you my arms didn’t grow the way they were suppose to, I got held back a grade because of you. I should kick your ass” I angrily yelled as I approached closer standing over him as he sat on the bar stool.
That’s when Roger stood to his feet, this must of been the first time I’ve seen him not crouched over the bar, passed out and that’s when I realized how tall he was; he had to be almost 7ft tall.
“Remember the time you fell of your bike and chipped your tooth? That was me as well, you’re welcome” Roger said as his horrid breath showered me in it’s stench.
“When I chipped my tooth? You mean when I flung off my bike face first busting my mouth; I lost several teeth that day and what do you mean it was you? My bike hit some stupid rock” I told him.
Rogers grin only grew more hideous when he saw how perturbed I had become.
“If you didn’t loose your tooth that day…”
“Teeth” I interrupted.
“Yeah, teeth, then you would of eaten some bad meat at school and let’s just say your sad gut wasn’t made to withstand any food poisoning” he told me.
My annoyance was now reaching the threshold of no return understanding that this man knew way too much about me, perhaps he was some scam artist. I held my tongue as I came to the epiphany that he seemed to be getting off from my anger, so instead of yelling I calmly asked him to explain his point to this foolish conversation.
“Okay, so what are you getting at? What do you mean it was you?” I cautiously said with much apprehension.
“I was assigned to you, at first you didn’t look like much; just your typical kid. You should of seen me back then, I was quite a sight, young and strong; I had the energy of a million suns; my initial thought of protecting you would be a walk through the park. It wasn’t until I saw the thing following you did I realize I was in for a wild ride. Initially I thought the creature would get tired, leave you be, but, boy was I wrong because that dreadful beast persisted. Even after I confronted it, the thing stared me down as if I were a mere fly waiting to be swatted. I have to say I’ve never met a being that made me feel so inadequate but I had no other choice; I had to protect you the only way I could and sometimes my methods might have led to you being harmed, just know if I didn’t do what I did then that thing would have killed you ten times over. Honestly I don’t know what it wants with you, you have something that it finds desirable; either way ‘it’ needs you dead.” Roger told me without a blink, his eye contact did not break once through his monologue.
I didn’t know what to say, nor what to think I mean what does someone say to that, so I stood there motionless processing everything he told me. I wanted to tell him that he was crazy, to lay off the booze but unfortunately my heart manifested the reality that he was telling the truth. Funny enough when it comes to the internal battles one has it’s always the heart fighting against the mind, one approaches situations with emotion while the other wants everything explained with logic; so as this war carried on inside of me Roger put his thin malnourished hand back unto my shoulder snapping me out of my daze of confusion.
“It’s here now, over there in the corner, it hasn’t stopped staring at you since you came in; take a look” the drunk man told me.
I slowly turned my head towards the direction that Roger had indicated to, it was the corner of the bar, one that seemed to be absent of any light and for whatever reason the sheer sight of such desolation left me with a sensation of angst as I shook my head trying to shake of the uneasiness that had just consumed me. I turned back to Roger and he was still staring at the corner of the bar, a vicious snarl formed on his defeated face as I heard a timid growl protrude from his deep voice.
“No, no, no you’re messing with me, you don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s nothing in the corner” I told the old man now with a shaky tone.
This wasn’t real, there was no such thing as angels or demons, people were always their own worst enemy and perhaps this tired drunken man was battling his own personal devils while using me somehow in his demented atonement. He then placed both of his hands on my shoulders gravitating my gaze towards his, I felt trapped, like his grip disabled any possible movement and all I could do is stare up at him.
“There is only one way, one last resort, because my boss knows how much I’ve tried; just look at me I’ve withered away in a matter of decades I know I don’t have another one in me. Listen boy, that thing will eventually get you if I don’t regain my strength so there’s only one last thing we can do and that is…” he hesitated for a moment and an expression of sadness inundated his beaten face.
“You have to let me inside of you”, my face dropped with disgust, what the hell was he talking about.
“What the hell man!” I shouted back as I shoved his arms off of me taking a step back.
I knew this guy was some kind of perv and this was the final straw, now I’ve never been a violent person even though I threaten the man earlier I knew I didn’t pack any power in my punches so I did what I always did in threatening situations; I left. I stormed out the bar slithering between the sea of people as Roger continued shouting out to me incoherently. As I passed the corner of the bar on my way out a slight quiver erupted up my back not even bothering to stare that direction, though a weird feeling of being watched triggered my ‘sixth sense’. As I walked out into the midnight air Roger’s voice only continued and as I turned around I realized the strange man was following me. I didn’t know what I was going to do, was I really going to hurt this old man; I guess I would if I needed to, but I just continued walking only glancing behind every so often. He kept yelling the same thing over and over,
“I don’t have much time, you have to let me inside of you”.
I could feel my rage intensify as I clenched my fist tightly and before I turned around Roger stopped his rant mid sentence,
“I don’t have much time, you have to…”.
The sudden silence startled me and I quickly turned my head, to my surprise the old man was gone.
“Roger?” I muttered out.
I then looked down at the dismal street, all I saw were Rogers tattered clothes on the floor; he had vanished. My heart throbbed with vigorous intent as I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. As I stood there in the dark infested street the night lights protruded their vaguely dimmed glow, I looked up and realized how vacant the road had become in the distance, it was a void of emptiness devouring the space that surrounded me. I looked deeper into the abyss and that’s when I finally saw it, the beast that Roger had warned me about; the creature that had been hunting me since I was a kid. It’s shape was practically impossible to make out but what I could see was it’s eyes, those abysmal eyes; they glowed in the darkness like four light houses attracting incoming ships to it’s shores. The air became thin, my skin tighten, I finally knew Roger was telling the truth and as I stood still with trepidation my brain awoke me to the horror reality of what was happening and I ran home.
I know I must sound crazy, hell if it wasn’t happening to me I would call most lunatics if they described to me what was happening to them. That thing is hunting me, I don’t know how to escape it; I only wish I had a guardian angel to protect me; I wish Rogers was here.