Protectors

Arfid and Cvs are diseases and cannot be seen by people. Only heard by the one they protect.

***

Arfid watched as Cvs backed off slowly letting the small girl laying on the couch go. The girl didn’t lift her eyes to meet her parents who had watched helplessly waiting for the attack to stop. 

“I’m sorry” she said shamefully even though she was the victim of the attack.

“It’s alright dear. You can’t control it” her mother said as she took the bowl from her child’s hands.

The child laid back on the couch exhausted. Arfid stepped up closer to her. Sick, exhausted, confused, and frightened. Just the kind of person who needed his help and would listen to his advice.

Cvs looked at him as he stepped closer. “What are you doing here Arfid? Come to get her brother to not eat his broccoli?”

Cvs and Arfid didn’t like each other much. Cvs wouldn’t like him any more after what he was about to do.

“No” Arfid said calmly, “I’m here for the girl.”

Cvs launched himself at the girl and Arfid stepped in front of him, blocking his attack. Arfid heard the girl start coughing, a trigger for an attack. He looked back and whispered calmly to her.

“Easy, in through your nose out through the mouth. Stay calm.”

The child obeyed his instructions easing her breathing and holding onto his words like a lifeline. Cvs glared at him as his attack was repelled and he had to fall back.

“You are far too blatant Cvs. You have no subtlety” Arfid said “You’ll get found out like that.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing here! She already has a protector! Me!”

“Yes, but my plans depend on the fact that she lives and your blatancy could get her killed.” Arfid retorted.

“Ha! Your plans?!” Cvs scoffed “Come to get her to not eat her broccoli for a few years? I have some news for you Picky but I can last upto ten years, maybe longer.”

“And I can last forever.”

Cvs looked at him wryly “I thought the Arfid clan didn’t use their full force.”

“We usually don’t, but this was too good a chance to pass up. ”

Cvs scowled at him “I’ve driven people insane before and my clan is almost never found! We have no cure. Sure they can stop our attacks but we will always be back. I won’t take orders from you Picky”

“As I said before your blatancy will get you found. The girls parents are searching everywhere for a diagnosis, and they’re getting close.”

Concern crossed Cvs’s face. If they found out that he was the girls attacker they would do everything possible to stop him. Learn all of his signs and keep watch,take her to the hospital to stop his attacks as soon as they started. 

“That’s unlikely” He said but he sounded unsure. 

“Your clans blatantcy has made you more detectable. More and more people are detecting you. If they find you they won’t let you get close to her. They won’t let you protect her then.”

Like him Cvs had a protective urge toward this girl which was the reason for his attacks. It seemed strange that he protected her by attacking so violently.

Cvs took an eager step toward the girl and Arfid saw that she had picked up her glass of water from the ground. 

She’s thirsty from the last attack. She’s about to make a big mistake.

“Small sips!” Arfid ordered hoping she would not gorge herself on the water. He was unsure how many of Cvs’s attacks she could take.

She took a few small sips and then placed the cup on the ground. Cvs growled angrily at him. 

“She was about to take a big drink! You are stopping me from protecting her!”

Arfid turned to him. “As far as I can see the only thing she needs protecting from is you!”

Cvs launched himself at the girl again and Arfid had to hold him back.

“Cvs! You can’t protect her forever! You said it yourself that you’ll fade in ten years! I can protect her for you once you’re gone! But I can only do that if I gain her trust and the only way I can do that is by defending her from you!”

Cvs stopped his assault the words making sense to him. This way the girl would always have a protector and if what he knew about the Arfid clan was true they often brought along other protectors to secure their place.

“Will I still be able to protect her?” Cvs asked

“You will be my enforcer. You can still protect her just not as often as you maybe would have.”

Cvs sighed “Well, if what you say is true then I won’t be able to do it much anyway so I might as well go along with your plan.”

Arfid nodded “I’m glad you see it that way; now I need to see the girl. Alone.”

Cvs shrugged “I attacked a little bit ago. She’s yours for a little bit.”

He walked away still staying close but not an imminent threat to the girl. Arfid knelt down beside her.

He could hear her thoughts worrying about if she would have to go to the hospital, about how an attack could come from out of nowhere and there seemed to be nothing she could do to stop it, whether her parents were mad at her for the sickness she could not control. But mostly there was one question over and over again: Why?

Arfid held her hand. “Don’t worry my child. I’ll help you. If you listen to what I say I can make it stay away. I will teach you. It’ll be alright. I won’t let it kill you. We’ll figure this out together.”

“I will protect you. I promise.”

Two Years Later

The girl sat up slowly as not to make a sound from where she had pretended to be asleep on the couch. She kept her eyes glued on the couch across from her where her mother laid in case anything happened during the night. Her mother stayed silent as did the rest of the dark house.

“I know what you are thinking. You shouldn’t do it.” Arfid said to the girl. Cvs stood beside him waiting eagerly to attack. He had attacked her that day until Arfid had managed to get the girl to listen to his advice. It hadn’t taken long but now that Cvs hadn’t attacked for a while she was reconsidering. Her parents had taken away her water bottle keeping it next to her sleeping mother. Now she was extremely thirsty and everyone else was asleep.

The girl ignored his warnings. She slowly stood up on weak, shaking legs and stood on her toes to walk more silently. She didn’t go to the water bottle next to her mother and risk waking her but instead headed toward the kitchen in the other room.

The girl stepped silently through the house; years of practice on these silent missions telling her to stay on the balls of her feet and where every creaking floorboard was found, making her little more than a shadow in the darkness.

“You know you shouldn’t be doing this!” Arfid begged the girl. “Go back to bed.”

But yet again the girl ignored him. Her thirst was intense and she was close to her goal of quenching it. She picked up a paper cup while leaning against the counter to steady herself. She turned on the water filling her cup almost to the brim.

This will taste way better than the bathroom faucet water. She thought remembering when she was on the couch downstairs the last time Cvs attacked her a few months ago. The closest faucet was the bathroom and she had to use her hands to drink the water.

“At least just take small sips.” Arfid warned “You know what happens if you take a big gulp.”

The girl did know- all too well- what would happen, but now she was only thinking of one thing. Water. She downed half the cup in one large swig then poured the rest down the drain, throwing away the cup so there would be no evidence.

“You shouldn’t have done that!” Arfid said angrily “You know what will happen now!”

The girl layed back down on the couch exhausted from her short trip but glad she had quenched her thirst. I don’t care. 

Arfid sighed angrily. He couldn’t protect her if she wouldn’t listen! Cvs started creeping towards the girl and Arfid didn’t stop him. If she didn’t listen and did something to trigger one of Cvs’s attacks he was allowed to attack. That was the deal.

Cvs placed his arms around the girl and squeezed her in an iron strong grip around the middle. Her eyes widened as she gagged and reached for the bowl at her side. The sound woke her mother who sat up and came over once she was done.

“You drank water again didn’t you?” Her mother asked annoyed. The girl nodded shamefully. “I’m sorry. I was just…so thirsty!”

“You have to learn not to do these things! Every time it happens you get sick again!”

To reiterate the point Cvs squeezed the girl again making her reach for the bowl in her mother’s hands. Arfid stepped closer to the girl telling her how to relax and get him to ease his grip. Cvs glanced at him annoyed but relaxed his grip and took a step back. 

Arfid placed a hand on her shoulder. She was still trembling. “You shouldn’t do these things.” He said sternly, “You have to learn to listen and obey. If not..” Cvs took a step closer and the girl flinched sensing his presence. Arfid shooed him away. “You know what happens” He finished gently.

Her mind spun grasping at the words and absorbing them, making them part of her very being. She wouldn’t disobey him again. She knew that he was right. She trusted him completely.

 Arfid felt a rush of energy and strength. He smiled.