Chapter 4

Haytham stared at his grandfather with his mouth open. He had heard about the supernaturals but that’s all it was, he had never seen or interacted with any supernatural thing in his entire life.

After silently thinking on what his grandfather had said, Haytham spoke,

“B-but I have never experienced this power within me. Does that mean I don’t have it?”

“When I say power, what comes to your mind?” asked Robert with his hand on his chin.

“Um, flying, telekinesis, super strength.” Haytham replied excitedly.

Upon hearing his answer Ellie let out a light chuckle.

“Well unfortunately for you it's none of those. In essence we are shamans, which means we have the power to interact with other people’s subconscious.” said Robert.

“Does that mean we can control people’s minds?” Haytham asked with the same excitement as earlier.

“Yes and No. It is nothing convenient as whatever is in your mind. Currently we can only enter into people’s subconscious but only when they are sleeping. And even there we are restrained by a lot of restrictions. There was once a time when our family was the most powerful mind controllers in the world. However, that was when we resided in the underworld.” said Robert with a grim face.

“What do you mean grandfather?” asked Haytham with confusion evident on his face.

“Well you see Haytham, we are the natives of the underworld. In the underworld our family was a flourishing one, we owned a vast amount of land. It was big enough to be a country and we ran our own community like a country. And at the center of our territory was the Soul Tree.”

“What is the Soul Tree?” Haytham interrupted his grandfather as his curiosity was at its peak.

*Sigh* “I would’ve told you what the soul tree is by now if you hadn’t interrupted me. Your enthusiasm is evident but your lack of control is glaring.” said Robert with a threatening gaze.

Haytham knew this was the last time he was allowed to interrupt his grandfather, so he just sat straight with sealed lips and eager ears.

“The soul tree was an ancient tree with a connection to almost all of the living creatures, meaning every single living creature with a soul in the underworld as well as this world. Our powers to interact with someone’s soul originated from this very tree. Thus our ancestors settled around the tree in order to worship as well as guard it. Over the next few centuries the small settlement turned into a village which then turned into a town and finally into a country.”

After saying this, Robert glanced at Haytham. He could see there was a storm of questions whirling in his eyes.

After waiting for a few minutes he said, “Go ahead, I can hear your questions without you even saying it.”

“Grandfather you said the soul tree WAS! an ancient tree, why? And also why do we no longer live in the underworld.” Haytham asked hurriedly.

“Well the answer to both of your questions is the same.” with a slight pause and a grim face Robert said, “Demons!!”

“Demons?” Haytham repeated in a state of shock.

“Yes, the demon race is responsible for our plight. A few hundred years ago our country was attacked in the middle of the night by the demon race. Unknowing of our impending doom, that night everyone was peacefully sleeping with minimum security when all of a sudden the next day there was nothing but blood everywhere. Only a lucky few survived, only because they weren’t present at the time of the slaughter.”

“And one of the lucky ones was our ancestor. Who ran away from all that carnage, all alone, knowing that the only thing back there left for him was misery and death. So he decided to leave the underworld for good and take residence in the human world. He managed to open a portal from the underworld with what little power he had left and then decided to lead a life of a normal human in this world. His name was Haytham Walker.”

“W-wait what? So does that mean I am Haytham Walker the second?” asked Haytham with an expression of shock.

“That is right. You are named after the founder of the Walker family.” said Robert with a hint of pride.

Haytham took a good minute to soak up all the information in silence and then asked “But then what happened to the soul tree?”

“The primary target of that heinous attack was the soul tree. Those scums believed that they could acquire the soul tree’s powers for themselves. Little did they know that the soul tree would end up rejecting their evil essence but unfortunately it came at a big cost.” Robert paused after saying and then continued in a grievous tone, “The soul tree was corrupted and slowly and painfully it died.”

There was a brief sad silence in the car.

Then Sebastian broke the silence by saying, “Master, we have arrived at the shop.”

“Hmmm, I guess the history lesson will have to wait as we are here to learn about the present.” said Robert, “Let’s go.”

Robert, Haytham and Ellie got out of the car while Sebastian stayed as the driver.

Haytham stood in front of an old looking yet well maintained shop, it had no name and there was only the walker family insignia on the shop sign above. Haytham had vague memories about the shop as he was last brought here when he was just a toddler.

“It has been so long since I came here.” said Haytham with a sentimental tone.

“It has been 16 years and 122 days since you were here.” said Robert with a sombre tone.

Haytham stared at his grandfather in shock while Ellie chuckled at the situation.

However the sombre expression on Robert’s face only lasted for a second before turning back into the usual expressionless face. He walked into the shop with Ellie holding the door open for him and Haytham.