The Little Guards

Chapter 2
Part 2

The Little Guards:

Part 2

“Let me see if I got this straight,” Christopher “Chris” Rokk said awkwardly, pointing to the stone on his coffee table. “This stone can actually make people younger?” Across from the black-haired, 46-year-old was the Jones and White-Dove family, their children sitting between them. Kevin nodded and looked at the item with a hint of remorse. “I know how it sounds, Chris,” the man said calmly, “But you can’t deny what you've seen.” Chris stared at his college friend for a second, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at the stone and reached for it. His hand stopped over the item, his fingers hovering an inch over it. Chris sighed again and looked at the three other adults with a tired expression. “I know, man,” he commented tiredly, “But it just sounds so…I don’t, internet. Like one of these bad stories you find online.” “Err,” Joan Jones replied casually, making a so-so gesture, “I say, this is more like a standard internet story.” Ivo gave his wife a deadpan expression, and Joan just grinned innocently, her daughters laughing behind their hands. Ivo shook his head and looked at Chris with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about my wife,” the man said, “But since our daughter’s ungrowing period, she had gotten hook reading stories online.” Chris frowned as he looked at the married couple. He looked at Kevin and was about to say something when his wife returned. “It took a while, but I finally got these little rockstars dressed,” Brandy said warmly. The group of adults looked as the youthened member of WarGuard-X strolled into the room with childish confidence. Chris couldn't help but gush at the sight. “I have forgotten how adorable you all were as kids!” the man exclaimed. The kids had a moment of childish shyness, blushing at the praise. That feeling quickly passed, and Gloria and Glenn struck a pose, allowing everyone to see their outfits. Gloria and Glenn were dressed similarly: black overhalls and thin sweaters, lilac for Gloria, and faded gold for Glenn. They wore sandals, and both wore caps to top the look off. Gloria’s hair has been tied into a messy ponytail that stuck out from the end of her cap. Martin, who was still looking at his body sourly, was wearing faded blue runners and light blue jeans. He wore a sweater with the sleeves torn up past the elbow and a yellow scarf tied around his right wrist. Chris frowned as he focused on the last member of his little girl’s band. Amanda had become the shyest among her bandmates and was hiding behind the others, trying to make herself unseeable. Of course, the confident five-year-old wouldn’t have it, and with help from her brother, Gloria gently pushed her to the front. Amanda wore a cotton, mismatched skirt; the right side was green, and the left was red. Musical notes were running across the rim of the skirt. Amanda wore a green sweater with a large musical note in the center. Amanda’s hair was in a ponytail on her left side. To top off her outfit, she wore a red do-rag with notes and a necklace with a bass guitar ornament. “Your family really goes all in with this music theme, don’t you?” Ivo asked curiously. “Three generations of musicians,” Chris replied proudly, then looked at Amanda. Chris frowned as he noticed his foster daughter's state and got up. He walked over to Amanda and offered her a kind smile as he held out his hand. Amanda looked at her foster father’s hand, uncertain for a second, and slowly reached out. She placed her hand in Chris’s hand, and the man gently closed his around the former teenager. Chris led Amanda to the couch and lifted her onto it. He took a seat and patted his thigh. Amanda looked at her foster parent uncertainly for a few seconds before she gingerly put her head on the man’s lap. Brandy smiled at the sight and couldn’t resist taking a picture with her phone. She then joined her husband on the couch as the rest of her kids began to mingle with her charges. It was long before the group of children was entraining themselves by playing. Mindy and Lissie were discussing something while Heather and Gloria decided to play a quick game of tag. Glenn and Martin had somehow gotten their old phones and were looking at Rock ‘N’ Roll videos. Jenny was close to Glenn, watching the video with mild interest. “So, what did I miss while getting our little rockstars ready?” Brandy asked. The mood in the room immediately changed, and everyone’s attention turned to the stone on the coffee table. Everyone, except Mindy, felt uneasy about the stone. Kevin sighed after an awkward silence and looked at his friends. “Well, I was explaining to your husband a few things this stone could do besides make people younger,” Kevin explained. Immediately, Brand and Chris gave their friend their undivided attention. Some of the kids even looked at the man curiously. “Well, and this is just something we suspect, but we think the stone affects those indirectly exposed to it,” Kevin explained slowly. Chris blinked and looked at his friend like he had gone nuts. Kevin saw this and sighed. “I know how it sounds,” he said, “But can you really deny that after a short panic, you had treated your kids like they had always been their current age? I mean, you walked up to your foster daughter and wordlessly comforted her.” Chris and Brandy blinked and looked at Amanda on Chris’s lap. The former teen looked at her foster parents and blinked owlishly at him. “...I see your point,” Chris commented awkwardly. Chris blinked as he watched Kevin’s oldest daughter walk up to him. The black-haired man watched Lissie tug on her father’s leg, and Kevin leaned down. He watched as the child whispered something to her friend and looked at Chris. He suddenly gasped, and his eyes went wide. “LISABETH!!” Chris screamed. The former adult looked at her old college friend, smiled somewhat awkwardly, and waved just as awkwardly. Chris could only gawk at the seven-year-old, then turned his attention to his friend. His mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. Ivo and Joan saw that Chris looked ready to faint and looked at Brandy and Kevin for answers. The woman sighed and patted her husband on the shoulder. She looked at her guests with a slightly exhausted expression. “Kevin and Lisbeth meant through Chris when they were in college,” Brandy explained, then whispered, “And I didn’t realize I have been babysitting my best friend for the last three months.” Brandy frowned as her eyes drifted to the stone. Curiosity getting the best of her, she gingerly grabbed the stone off the table and brought it close. She still couldn’t believe the power this stone had; not only could it make people younger, but it created blind spots that no one noticed unless affected by the stone itself. “...Have you ever tried to get rid of this thing?” Brandy asked curiously. Kevin sighed and nodded. “More times than I like to admit,” he replied sullenly. “I have smashed that thing a lot. Once, I even took a sledgehammer to it and put the pieces in boxes. I then scattered the boxes to the corner of our towns. I even threw one in a river! But it didn’t do ANYTHING!!” Everyone could see the man was starting to get worked up, and Ivo placed a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. Kevin glared at his friend, and the look in Ivo’s eyes was enough to chill his building anger. “Kevin,” Ivo stated calmly, “Calm down.” Kevin nodded reluctantly and took a few calming breaths. After a few minutes, he looked back at the Rokk family. “Anyways, no matter what I tried, the stone always seems to return and find its way to another person,” Kevin explained. Brandy frowned as she looked at the stone in her hand. She still found it hard to believe, even with everything she had seen. She wasn’t the only one; Chris had become curious about the stone’s power and reached out to take it from his wife. Suddenly, Gloria came running at her parents from the side. She tried to stop but couldn’t in time and ran into her father’s legs. Startled, Chris yelped and jolted forward, rubbing his hand against the stone. Everyone could only watch as the stone began to glow with wide eyes.