The watcher of Weeper's cliff.

The watcher of Weeper's cliff.

“When someone is broken inside, they begin to hear the call…”

I remember the first time I heard it. It was around 2 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep and I had no one to talk to. I went for a walk and I sat down next to my favorite tree close to my apartment. I turned left and right, took a deep breath and I broke. I began to cry my heart out for I noticed that I was…alone. Right there, is when I heard it call me for the first time. “Lena…” It said with an eerie voice in a whisper inside my head.

As days and weeks and months went by and as things went from bad to worse the voice grew louder and louder until one night, I was driving through the city after being evicted from my apartment for not paying because I lost mt job a week prior, when suddenly the voice began to tell me where to go and me being too curious plus having nothing else to lose, I began to follow it. Just like a lunatic would do. I don’t know for how long I drove. 1, 2, 3 hours maybe. “Left, right, here, there” when out of nowhere I heard it say: “Stop…” And so, I stepped out of the car and began to follow the voice through some trees when I began to listen to listen crashing waves. I wanted to stop but something pulled me out of the woods and towards a cliff, as if I was under some kind of spell.

I began to weep but I couldn’t listen to myself. I couldn’t hear anything the closer I was to the edge. The only thing I could listen were the voice calling me, saying: “Lena…you’re tired. Come. Rest. Sleep.” I was sick of life. I was sick of everything honestly. My friends, my family, my life, so I closed my eyes and kept on walking, when suddenly I fell…but backwards, as if something had pushed me away.

I opened my eyes and saw a big dog, almost as big as a wolf. Silver gray and white fur and yellowish bright eyes. I shook my head thinking I was only seeing things but the dog was still there. He looked at me straight in the eye and said with a really sweet voice:

-Don’t listen to it. –

I shook my head again, thinking to myself I had just lost my last marble and I was now I complete lunatic but I opened my eyes once more and there he was, looking at me with those bright yellowish eyes. He asked:

-Are you ok? –

But the only thing my dumb ass could thought of was:

-You speak?! –

Followed by the dog being just as surprised as I was.

-Wait. You can hear me?! Can you see me?! –

Said the dog as we both jumped backwards after the surprise.

-You can talk! –

-You can see me? –

He said as he smiled and waved his tail left and right.

-You can hear me! Gods, it’s been an eternity since…-

-Wait, wait, wait. First of all, how can you speak? What are you? –

I asked. He took a deep breath and sat down again, putting the same serious face when I saw him for the first time.

-I am a Limen. A keeper. A watcher, so to say. –

-A keeper? Keeper of what? –

- “Weeper’s cliff”. –

He said with a serious tone.

-I am the gatekeeper, tasked to stop those who hear “the calling”. –

-What’s “the calling”? –

-The voice you heard before. It’s a curse. It blinds you. Deafens you. Fools you. You are not the first to hear it and you won’t be the last. –

I finally stood up and shook the dirt off my pants before I walked a bit closer to the cliff to see the fall.

-And…why did it call me? –

-I don’t know for certain but you are one of the lucky ones. –

He suddenly turned around and as he left, he asked:

-You coming or what? –

I really had no idea of what was happening, so I followed the talking dog because why not. As we walked away from the cliff, I asked:

-Why did you say I was “one of the lucky ones”? –

-Few are those who hear “the call” yet fewer are those who survive it. I have kept guard here for many, many years. Too many to be precise. My task is to stop humans to follow it but…-

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence. I stopped walking and asked:

-But what? –

My curiosity, clearly, getting the best of me. He simply sighed deeply and said:

-I have spent lifetimes trying to stop your kind from doing so but I have only managed to stop a few. Very few.

As soon as I hear someone, I rush to stop them. Sometimes, they feel me trying to stop them yet almost none had ever managed to see me. –

We kept on walking a bit and reached the woods again. He walked through some bushes and I followed and there it was. The house at the end of the world. It was a wreck but it was starting to rain, so I didn’t have many options.

-Welcome to my home. –

He said as we both walked through the door. I looked around and the house was…horrible to say the least. The tapestry was falling off the walls, rotten furniture and a hole on the floor.

-Cozy. –

I said clearly not controlling my sarcastic ass.

-You can stay here for the night if you want. –

I walked around the little house and something cracked under my boot. I knelt to see and it was a painted portrait of a family. I lifted it up and I felt his heavy footsteps walking to me.

-Who were they? –

I asked him as he stood next to me.

-My family.

The small ones were Lilly, Edgar and Edward and that was Master Salvatore and his wife, Olivia. They were the ones to build this place…just to keep me company. –

-You mean they could see you? –

He closed his eyes and gave me a simple nod.

-Master Salvatore also heard “the call” but he saw me right before jumping. We couldn’t speak but we understood each other. Years later, he came back and built this place all by himself with the trees of these woods. He left again for a while but one day, he came back, this time with a female and a small human, Lilly. He introduced me to them and oddly enough, his wife could listen to me yet not see me but Lilly could do both. Then came the other two. Edgar could see me and feel me but Edward could only feel me. He usually tripped on me when I was asleep. –

He suddenly chuckled and continued:

-Master Salvatore thought I was alone here, so he brought his family to live here and make me company. –

-And what happened? –

-Time. Us Limen can live for hundreds of years but humans are not made to last long. –

He said with a sad voice and went back to his place next to the chimney. I placed the portrait on a table and went to join him.

-So…how did you become a Limen? –

 I asked as I sat down on the only dry spot on the floor I could find.

-I don’t know. The only thing I remember is…a stary night and a cold hand on my head. After that…there was the voice of a woman telling me what I needed to do and I’ve been here ever since. –

-How long ago was that? –

-Time works differently for us. 100 years for you could be 5 for me. I stopped counting after Lilly…after Lilly died. –

-I…I’m sorry. –

I said almost in a mutter but he simply looked at me in the eye and said bluntly:

-Don’t be. It was her time. That’s life. –

For the first time in the night, I stopped seeing him like a talking dog and saw him by what he really was and, I won’t lie…I felt a shiver down my spine.

-Umm…I wanted to ask, what…-

Suddenly, a strong wind draft interrupted me and I the doorbell rang. I turned around slowly and I asked him utterly confused:

-Who is that? –

-The only visit I ever have. –

He said with a bothered tone as he walked to the door and I swear I couldn’t believe my eyes when he opened it.

-The reaper…-

I muttered in a whisper.

-Evening, Pharos. How are you tonight? –

Said the hooded figure. Pharos sat down at the door and answered quite unpleasantly:

-Sarius. What do I owe this unpleasant surprise? –

-Well, unfortunately for you, old mutt, I had to come see who you just saved. Meaning I came to see her, not you. –

Sarius said as he moved Pharos away with the tip of his finger and stepped inside. Pharos growled a bit and closed the door as I heard:

-Oh. She can see me? You can see me, right? –

I swear I couldn’t talk or move because I was too afraid, so I nodded. But Sarius noticed.

-Oh, right. Give me a second. –

He lifted his left hand and it was pure bones and nothing else. He muttered something and a greenish flame suddenly appeared on the palm of his hand. He sighed before casting it into the chimney and lighting it and the room up.

-That’s better. You probably thought I was “the reaper”, as you humans call her, hence the face, am I right? –

-Don’t worry. He doesn’t bite but I do. –

Said Pharos as he sat down next to me, staring at the hooded man.

-Oh, shut it, old mutt. You haven’t bitten anyone in ages. –

-Want to be the next? –

I couldn’t take my eyes off Sarius. He was wearing a really old greyish tunic, a belt made of chains holding many crystal bottles and had a tall walking stick but I couldn’t see his face under his hood. He suddenly made a displeased groan to Pharos and turned to see me.

-So, this old mutt finally managed to save someone again, eh? Looks like he’s still useful. From time to time, obviously. –

Pharos growled at him as he chuckled under his hood and continued:

-Tell me, girl. What’s your name? –

I was going to answer but my brain decided to go nuts and instead, I asked:

-What are you? –

-Oh. Alright. –

He muttered before he stood up and said:

-I am a Linges-mortem, as you humans call us. I am life and death alike. And the name is Sarius. Pleasure to meet you. –

He extended his right hand and it was a completely normal hand. I shook it slowly and I said:

-Lena. –

-Oh, like Luna. Beautiful name, I must say.

So, tell me, Lena, how does it feel to be the first human to survive “the call” in 200 years? –

-200 years…-

I heard Pharos mutter as he lowered his head a bit.

-I’m sorry but…what is “the call” exactly? –

-Sigh. Of course, you don’t know. That useless Limen doesn’t do anything anymore. –

-Watch it, Sarus. I am still a keeper. –

Answered Pharos with an angry look.

-Yes, yes, yes.

Sigh. Alright. Where should I begin?... Ah! Ok.

Many, many, many years ago…there was a crazy human who fell deeply in love with Death. He wanted to gain her love, so he decided to create “the calling.” He tore open gateways to the underworld. Places like this all over the world, where the “broken” come kill themselves. He thought the offering of those souls would make Death love him but instead, it made her despise him. The rejection of his love broke him and he was the first to fall to his death under his own spell. –

-Wait, what do you mean by “broken”? –

-Sigh. Your kind is too fragile within. As if made of the thinnest glass. Anything and everything can hurt you, yet loneliness and sadness are the ones proven to shatter your delicate hearts the most.

When your kind breaks…they listen to “the calling”. The temptation to sacrifice their lives grows the more “broken” you are. –

I took a deep breath and I nodded, now knowing clearly the reason I heard the voice in the first place.

-Is there a way to stop it? The “calling”? –

I asked but Sarius gently shook his head.

-Death herself has tried to break the curse for millennia but she hasn’t been able to, so instead she asked a star for help to keep your kind safe.

Together, they created the Limen, like Pharos and assigned them to watch over places like this, to stop your kind from shortening your already short lives but, unfortunately, Limen have been…failing at their task for quite a while now. –

-What do you mean? –

-Your kind cannot see me. It is known for some of you to do so but your numbers have been dwindling for centuries now. I cannot help your kind for that is not my purpose, that’s his. –

Said Sarius as he pointed at Pharos.

-However, as centuries pass, Limen have been losing power over your kind.

At the beginning, everyone could see them. Feel them. Talk with them. They were regarded as gods but now…it is odd for them to save people as they once did. –

-But why is that? How come everyone could see them but now almost no one can? –

-Because our mother dies as days pass. –

Said Pharos with a blunt tone.

-Sigh. It’s true. From the beginning, Limen were creatures doomed to die. Death cannot give life, so the star gave them hers instead. They are linked to her as she is to them. They may seem immortal and their power limitless, however, everything in this universe is meant to perish, even gods and stars alike.

They cannot save humans like they did because they are fading away from existence, my dear. –

I turned to see Pharos who looked back at me with those bright eyes. I lifted my hand to pet him and he immediately lowered his head for me to do so. Sarius suddenly chuckled gently and said:

-It’s been a long time since someone did that, has it not, Pharos? –

But he didn’t say a word. He simply enjoyed my hand petting his head.

-You’ll never change, old mutt. –

Sarius muttered under his breath as he chuckled.

***

After that night, Lena decided to stay here with me. She told me that she’d help me with my task and Sarius laughed loudly when he listened to her and said: “Humans are so odd and curious creatures. I have been around for a long, long time and I never grow bored of you.”

First nights, we spent them talking. She asked me many questions and I answered them all. She asked me to tell her stories of yore and so I told her tales I heard when humans saw us Limen as gods. One day, Lena told me she needed to find a job. I told her there is a human town somewhere close, so she left to look there. She said she needed something called “Mony” to fix the house.

As stations came and went, the house grew back to its former glory. The walls were no longer rotting. The ceiling was no longer falling and the floor was no longer sinking. One day, Lena brought home a flower from her job. She said: “they are called “lilies” and she said “that way you’ll never forget your Lilly.” I looked at her straight into her greenish eyes and…I smiled. I smiled for the first time in a long time. I was truly happy to have someone around again. Someone I could call “family.”

As years went by, Lena helped me stop many humans from the claws of “the call” and we even appeared in something she calls “news”.

Sometimes, after we saved someone, Lena brought them back home and talked with them for hours. Even when they couldn’t see me, I knew Lena would stop them and that brought me joy, for I was useful once again. Those days were full of happiness and laughter, however…as time went by, Lena grew older and older. Her hair grew as white as mine and her face grew wrinkled but we kept on stopping people from throwing their lives away for many winters until her very end.

Sarius came to visit me after it happened but I didn’t speak. I couldn’t speak. The first night I spent alone, I walked outside and I howled for the first time in ages. I howled and howled. From dusk to dawn. I knew Sarius was watching but I simply couldn’t stop myself.

Seasons came and went and my house began to retake its former shape. The rotting walls, the sinking floor and the falling roof retook their places and my home no longer smelled of lilies.

As time goes by, humans have stopped seeing me altogether. Each time a “broken” comes, I rush and try to stop them…but each time I fail. There are times when I see Lena, running by my side as we try to stop a “broken” but when I turn, there’s no one by my side anymore.

I now howl each night under the moon, hoping my star can tell her I am still here, waiting patiently to see her once again.