The Beginning

Elijah Smith, an 18 year old boy with black hair and bright blue-green eyes, just returned home from his last day at School. He finally graduated from High School, and though he had a party with his friends at School, Elijah knew there would be no party waiting for him at home.

As Elijah walked along the dirt road leading to the run-down trailer where his parents would be waiting, he began wondering what they would yell at him for this time. Elijah would then begin planning on telling them he plans to leave, likely to get a simple job. Elijah doesn't expect to get far, but being where he can be happy will be enough.

Finally, Elijah arrived at the place he will not be calling home for much longer, not that it ever was home. Elijah took a deep breath, feeling painful anticipation building within his chest, "You can do this, Elijah... It won't be that bad." Elijah sighed to himself before continuing through the door. At first Elijah was met with the familiar hole in the wall standing directly in front of the door, which had been the result of his father's drunken rage eight years ago. They never had enough money to patch any holes, so now the house is littered with similar damages.

Upon closing the door, Elijah heard a familiar shrill voice calling for him from the kitchen; his mother. "Elijah! You were supposed to be home two hours ago!" His mother would call, her voice sounded rough and rather gross. "Yes ma'am." Elijah replied, staring at the floor as he trudged towards the kitchen, only looking up through his eyes at the bleach blonde haired woman. His mother used to have hair just as dark as Elijah's, but his father likes it blonde so she started bleaching it. Elijah's mother currently stood in her favorite spot, leaning against the counter next to a window with a pipe in hand, one for smoking tobacco.

Elijah now stood straight and looked into his mother's eyes, and just as she would open her mouth to say something, he spoke. "I'm leaving." Elijah started, his voice sounded sheepish and shaky, so he cleared his throat and continued in a more confident tone, "I'm leaving and I'm getting a job on my own. You will not be—" Then he was cut off, "No you're not." A deeper voice came from behind Elijah, causing him to jump and look back at his father. His father is a rather large man with an intimidating appearance, and a nasty personality to match.

"But sir—" Elijah started, now taking careful steps away to put distance between the two of them. "I don't give a damn if you are eighteen years old. You will work for us and help pay the bills." His father cut in. There's a dangerous look, in his eyes, the one that he would get when he's about to get violent.

Instead of submitting to his father as he usually did, Elijah got angry, real angry. He felt the seething bubble form within his chest and spread to his throat and then he let his words loose, "All my life you two have told me how much you regretted having me, and how you couldn't wait until I left! Now you're telling me you want me to stay and pay your bills?! No, I—!" Elijah felt the impact before he even realized the punch was thrown. Elijah hit the ground and groaned in pain, but managed to roll out the way before his father could kick him. He's been through this before, he knows the kick would come. "I'm leaving." Elijah said, a sudden calm washing over him after having been punched. He couldn't feel the pain right now, all it was is a strange thumping feeling on his cheek, but he knew it would hurt later.

Elijah rushed to the window and cast a glare towards his so-called mother before climbing through with such grace one would expect he's done this many times. His mother never does anything to stop either of them, so naturally Elijah didn't worry about her grabbing him. After having climbed through, Elijah immediately began running, having a good head start to get away from his father. It's a good thing Elijah had packed his most important belongings into his backpack before heading to school, because now Elijah really is on his own.

After some time of wandering aimlessly, Elijah would begin to feel the throbbing in his cheek become painful, and wishes that he left in secrecy instead of confronting his parents. Elijah wishes he'd been smarter, but at the same time, despite the mistreatment, the two are still his parents, and he didn't want his mother to worry.

Finally, Elijah sat down on a bench, watching carriages roll by from where he sat. Elijah could tell that he's no longer in the slums, it's pretty obvious from even just the fact that there are horses on the streets.

Elijah closed his eyes, and with a sigh Elijah leaned his head back on the bench. After a while, Elijah ended up drifting off to sleep on the bench, having been exhausted from the events of today.

The night passed rather peacefully... Well, as peacefully as one might expect from sleeping on a bench in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

Elijah woke up with a start, his father had wielded fire magic to force Elijah back home, Elijah could still feel the stinging burns all over his body from where flaming ropes wrapped him and— Elijah sighed, realizing it was just a dream, Elijah's family could never afford magic lessons.

When Elijah focused his attention on his surroundings, he immediately noticed an almost unnaturally tall ghostly looking figure looking directly at him, standing not but a few feet away. Elijah yelped in surprise and shot up, taking a moment to process that it was not a ghost, but instead, a person.

"I'm sorry... Can I help you?" Elijah asked, noticing how strangely beautiful this man looks with his long silky white hair and golden eyes. "Ah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stood so close." The man said, looking away. The stranger had a gentle voice, the sound being rather soothing.

Although Elijah likes the sound of this stranger's voice, he finds it strange that he talks to him as if he were an old friend. The stranger began to talk, bringing Elijah's attention back, "My name is William, and you must be Elijah." The stranger said with a smile, but the fact that such a well dressed man knew his name shocked Elijah.

"How... Do you know my name?" Elijah asked, thinking of all the things he's done to be able to be remembered. "I was sent to protect you, consider me a guardian angel. Only you can see me, so be careful when you talk to me, otherwise you may seem crazy." William said casually with a soft smile on his face.

Elijah only scowled at William, he does not believe such a crazy tale, "Sir... I think you're mistaken, you're the crazy one here." Elijah said, but then... what if it is true? "If you're my guardian angel, prove it." Elijah said finally, determining that would be the right way to go.

"Well, if I were any normal guy, would I be able to do this?" As if he were never there, William had disappeared without a sound, and without even the slightest flicker. it was simply instantaneous. Elijah looked around and jumped forward when he found the tall man to be standing behind him. "H-how did you do that?!" Elijah stuttered, eyes wide. "Well, think about it this way. I'm not really here." William said finally, a simple yet content smile on his face as he continued, "Since I am not technically alive, I can do that quite easily." William finished.

"... You're lying. That was just... some kind of warping magic. ... Just... really fast." Elijah said, refusing to believe it based on something like that. "But you know that's not true, don't you Elijah?" William started with silky smooth confidence, "After all, warping would be disappearing into a different space and then reappearing." William finished, placing a hand on Elijah's shoulder, which Elijah quickly brushed off.

"What do you want from me?" Elijah asked, the glare in his eyes not letting up for a second. Elijah believes this guy must have some ulterior motive, there's no way he's actually his guardian angel. He could be a demon, for all he knows.

"All I want is to lead you into a happy life, Elijah... Follow me, and I will lead you to a much easier life. Easier than living on these filthy streets." William said, eyeing some rats that scurried past. Elijah watched those same rats before replying, "... Okay. Fine. I'll follow you. But if I found out, even for a moment, that you lied to me, I'm leaving. I can survive on my own." Elijah said with venom in his tone. "But is it really living if you're just surviving?" William asked.