Seer

Gabe’s

I am now Aaron. Named for the brother of the famous prophet Moses, as my own beloved is the brother of the Seer. The parallels are meaningful, and it is deeply impressive how Natalie derived this name. I am forever grateful, and forever changed. I am Aaron.

As we travel back to Brenda’s home, the children are all quiet in the back seat. The adults discuss plans for the rest of the weekend, now that they have altered course and will be returning early to this residence.

Gabe is deep in thought, wondering about what happened with Jonathan. All of the children, Gabe included, have noticed recently that Jonathan’s negative behavior has escalated. Gabe hasn’t any idea why, but he knows that it is unacceptable. The fact that Natalie was victimized by Jonathan has deeply soured Gabe against his friend.

At the age of 10, Gabe is entering the pre-adolescent phase of his life, and has begun maturing emotionally. Jonathan, although younger than Gabe, has been able to maintain their close friendship with his exciting personality and daring. However, it is not unlikely that Gabe would soon be moving on to friendships with peers closer to his own age, even without the current trouble involving Jonathan and his Guardian. I do not know how it will impact Jonathan if Gabe begins distancing himself. However, I would prefer this to occur for Gabe’s benefit. A kinder group of friends, or even just a group of friends closer to his own age, would be more appropriate for Gabe as he approaches adolescence.

When we arrive home, Gabe quickly notifies his parents that he is going to go and play with some of the other boys who live in the complex, and who he saw playing a ball game in the nearby field as his father parked the car. I am very pleased about this development. He has sometimes enjoyed the company of these slightly older boys, but does not often have the chance to play with them while spending weekends at his father’s house. These children seem like appropriate companions to my beloved.

We will remain in close enough proximity for me to also participate in the conversation taking place between the Seer and the other Guardians.

In the meantime, I whisper encouragingly to my dearest one. “What a lovely opportunity to spend time with these other boys, my dear. You shall have an enjoyable time this afternoon, an unexpected pleasure. Perhaps the events of today will work out for the best.”

Timothy’s

When Natalie and Timothy arrive home, the adults are unsurprised to see them immediately run up the stairs and close the door to Natalie’s room. This is normal.

Natalie immediately begins. “Ok, Angel, what’s happening with Jonathan?”

Angel regards each of us to ensure that we are all prepared to participate as needed in the conversation. Of course we are. Even the others, whose Guarded are involved in separate activities, have no trouble both monitoring the actions of their own humans, while attending carefully to this very important discussion.

“Children,” he begins, “you will recall the day, about two months ago, when you conducted the experiment to determine whether Guardians can communicate over longer distances.”

Timothy and Natalie glance at each other, surprised at this unexpected statement. What could this possibly have to do with Jonathan, they both wonder. Neither of them speaks, but Timothy nods.

“Do you remember that we told you that when Guardian and I began ‘yelling’ at each other, every other Guardian in the region was able to hear this?”

“Yeeeessss,” Natalie says, slowly, already starting to put the pieces together. Timothy frowns and waits.

“One of the Guardians who heard it, of course, was Jonathan’s, because they were in a house nearby when the experiment was conducted.”

Natalie suddenly realizes that although she knew about the other Guardians hearing the disturbance, she had never thought to inquire about whether this had any repercussions. Frankly, neither did Angel or myself, at least initially. We knew that the activities of the Seer were always observed with interest, but we did not anticipate that any other Guardian would be motivated to do anything other than watch from a distance. Even with Jonathan’s Guardian, who we noticed was greatly fascinated with the discoveries we made during that night of experimentation, we assumed that it would end with fascination only. Not with implementation.

Soon, however, we saw what was happening. We watched Jonathan’s Guardian learn by observing our communications with each other, and with our humans. And we beheld when that learning was put into action, and Jonathan’s Guardian began manipulating him deliberately, using the power technique that we had unintentionally demonstrated.

“When we participated in the experiment, we did not know that Jonathan’s Guardian would take what we had learned and begin to use it himself.”

After listening to Natalie repeat this to him, Timothy asks, “Do you mean Jonathan’s Guardian is talking to you too?”

“I am afraid not. He is talking to Jonathan.”

“What?” Timothy is bewildered. “Do you mean Jonathan can hear his Guardian, like I can hear mine?” Timothy and I have continued to progress in our communication. Timothy practices almost constantly the method of opening his mind, and when he is not focusing on other things like studying or reading, he also attempts to induce the dreamlike state in which he can hear much of what I am telling him. It does not flow as smoothly as the communication that the Seer has with Angel, but the progress we have made in just a few weeks is astonishing.

“No,” Angel says, filled with consternation and grief over the situation, and over having to explain this to our beloved children. “Jonathan does not know of the existence of his Guardian, and has never thought of making any of the efforts that Timothy uses to make his mind receptive to the communication of his.”

Angel pauses while Natalie relays this information. The children wait, confused, for further explanation.

“I have explained in the past that what humans normally perceive from their Guardians is a very occasional burst of emotion, such as when the human is experiencing a stressful time, and the Guardian can transmit a sense of peace or calm to help the human.”

The children listen, trying to understand.

“What Jonathan is hearing, then, is not words, nor any message. He does not know what is happening. What he experiences when his Guardian uses power to speak to him is an enhanced emotional state.”

“But,” Natalie bursts out, “why is he just getting meaner? Why isn’t it helping Jonathan be calmer and more peaceful, like you say happens when most people hear their Guardians”

“Because, sadly, that is not the message that Jonathan’s Guardian is sending to Jonathan.” The children are growing frustrated, unable to comprehend where this is heading.

Angel goes on, “I must remind you of another aspect of what you have learned about Guardians. I have explained that the Guardian is here to share the soul with the human, and to help the soul grow. Sometimes the soul can grow even when the actions taken by a human are bad, or cruel, or violent. Remember this?”

“Yes,” Timothy says after Natalie relays the words, his brow furrowed as he tries to piece together what is being said. “And you said that even if the Guardian doesn’t really like what the human is doing, at least they are happy that the soul is growing because of it, right?”

“You remember correctly, my dear. Now we can return to the situation with Jonathan’s Guardian. For years now, Jonathan’s Guardian has known that when Jonathan is cruel to you, or to others, his soul grows brighter and stronger. His Guardian has begun not just accepting this behavior, but actually desiring it.”

Natalie feels a growing sense of horror as she repeats this to Timothy. “Are you saying,” she whispers, suddenly comprehending how all of this links together, “that is what his Guardian is using power to tell him? To be mean?”

“Tragically, yes. Jonathan’s Guardian is already very unusual, in wishing for his human to be cruel to others, because of how much that strengthens his soul. This is rare, but not unheard of. What is different now is that Jonathan’s Guardian has discovered that by using the power technique learned through our unplanned demonstration, Jonathan can actually perceive his Guardian’s desire for cruelty.”

My Timothy wishes to clarify, to understand precisely what this means. “So, do you mean that Jonathan’s Guardian is using power to tell Jonathan to do bad stuff? And that is what Jonathan is hearing?” Angel nods, and Natalie sees that Timothy’s statement is accurate.

“Can’t Jonathan just ignore him?” Natalie asks desperately. “I know that Jonathan was starting to get nicer, I really think that is what he wants to do. So can’t he just try not to listen to his Guardian?”

“He does not have the ability to do that. First, he has no idea that he has a Guardian, so he cannot distinguish between what he senses from his Guardian and thoughts that he is creating himself. Second, he isn’t hearing the messages from his Guardian as though they are spoken words. He perceives them as raw emotion, almost always negative emotion. His Guardian encourages him to commit violence, and Jonathan believes it is an urge coming from within himself.”

Again, Timothy wants to clarify. “So, what happened today at the library, was that because of Jonathan’s Guardian?”

“Yes,” Angel confirms sadly. “Jonathan’s Guardian used power to instruct him to take the book away from you, Timothy. Jonathan did so. Then, when Natalie tried to convince Jonathan to give it back, his Guardian used much more power than ever before to tell Jonathan that he had to stop Natalie. The power created an overwhelming emotion in Jonathan that he had no way to control.”

The children listen with wide eyes, aghast at what they are hearing. Natalie is extremely distressed even as she continuously repeats the words for Timothy.

Angel goes on, wanting the children to understand what happened. “Jonathan experienced this message from his Guardian as sudden rage, and an irresistible urge to commit violence. When he struck Natalie, he was not in control of himself. His Guardian was essentially controlling him.”

Natalie remembers some of the stories that she has recently read in the bible. “You mean, like, he was possessed? Like with a demon?”

“Yes, my dear,” Angel says, brokenhearted at the pain that this knowledge is inflicting on his beloved, but committed to ensuring that she understands the danger that she is in. “That is a very good analogy. This is very much like a story in which a human is being controlled by an evil spirit.”

She covers her face with her hands, distraught. She is shattered to think that the boy she had tried to help, to befriend, is being victimized by his own Guardian. She does not assign blame to Jonathan. She never has. She has only ever wanted to help him. Now, she sees that the problem is far more serious than she had realized. Jonathan is helplessly in the control of a powerful and evil entity. And she has a sudden flash of inspiration.

With a wry smile, a strangely adult expression of humor in the face of adversity, she says, “Well, I know what to call Jonathan’s Guardian now, so that he has a name too.”

Timothy has been staring at the carpet as his mind processes everything he is learning. He looks up at her. “What will you call him?”

Her face filled with an expression of deep resolve, she says, “Demon. His name is Demon.”