Energy - Awakening

by MJ Schutte

  ‘What? There are other girls here? I didn’t even notice,’ Brighton said with mock surprise.

  Lilian pulled his head down to hers.

  ‘Just to remind you who you belong to,’ she said and gave him a long passionate kiss.

  Brighton swayed on his feet as Lilian walked away, shadowed by a servant girl.

  ‘Stay close to Adri, you don’t want to get lost in this maze,’ she called over her shoulder.

  ‘Isn’t she absolutely gorgeous?’ Brighton said to the remaining servant girl.

  ‘If you say so Master Brighton,’ the girl answered.

  ‘Oh yes, I do say so,’ Brighton said with a smile.

  He looked at the young girl next to him. She was probably fifteen or sixteen years old and reminded Brighton a lot of Lilian.

  ‘The guest rooms please?’ he asked.

  The girl walked down another corridor without another word. It was a short walk to the guest rooms. At the third door, Adri stopped and opened it.

  ‘Your room, Master Brighton,’ she said.

  ‘What’s with calling me Master Brighton,’ he asked her.

  She just stood looking at the floor not answering.

  ‘Call me Brighton,’ he said as he walked into the room.

  ‘Dear angels,’ he whispered. ‘It’s bigger than my whole house.’

  Adri remained just outside the door.

  ‘I’ll be right here should you need anything,’ she said and closed the door.

  ‘Thank you, but I’ll be fine,’ he replied, but the door was already closed.

  Brighton put his backpack down and looked around the room. A large bed was in the middle of the enormous space. Numerous sets of fresh clothes were laid out on it. The ceiling was high and also had satin covering it. There were chandeliers everywhere, all the candles lit. The floor and walls looked the same as in the corridor.

  ‘Cave walls and floors aren’t this smooth, someone made it this way,’ Brighton said to himself.

  A bath was standing close to the left wall.

  ‘Well, ok then. I’ll bath and get dressed for dinner,’ he said to the empty room.

  He walked over to the steaming bath and put his hand in. It was far too hot. Brighton preferred the cold running water of rivers, not hot standing water in a bath. He walked to the door and cracked it open.

  ‘Yes Master Brighton?’ Adri said immediately.

  He opened the door fully.

  ‘I want to bath…’

  ‘Do you require help?’ Adri said quickly.

  ‘No, I…’

  ‘Perhaps I can call one or two more girls to satisfy your other needs,’ Adri offered.

  ‘What? NO!’

  Adri cast her eyes downward and said in a small voice.

  ‘How many girls does Master Brighton require? I am here to…’

  Brighton grabbed her arm and yanked her into the room.

  ‘I am here to serve all your needs,’ Adri said as she started removing the material covering her chest.

  Brighton saw tears in her eyes. He caught her hands preventing her from getting undressed.

  ‘Stop and listen to me,’ he said gently.

  He let her hands go. Her arms flopped to her sides, her head dropped.

  ‘Please let me be of service to you,’ she pleaded. ‘If you tell Supreme Seth I was not good he will punish me.’

  Her whole body was shaking.

  Brighton slowly said, ‘I’m not going to tell Seth anything of the sort.’

  Confused, the girl look up.

  ‘Then why did you pull me into your room?’ she asked.

  ‘The bath is too hot,’ he said sheepishly.

  ‘I will fix it immediately,’ Adri said, eager to please him.

  She ran off to fetch some cold water.

  She returned carrying a full bucket. Brighton saw that it was heavy and tried to take it from her. She didn’t want to let it go.

  ‘I must do it,’ she protested trying to pull the bucket away from him.

  Some water spilled out. Adri let go of the bucket and jumped back.

  ‘I’m so sorry Master Brighton. I will clean it up,’ she said, almost crying.

  ‘Adri, relax a little!’ Brighton said exasperated. ‘What have these people done to you?’

  She just stood with her head down.

  ‘I’m going to bath now. I will call you if I need you,’ Brighton said as calmly as he could.

  ‘I will help you,’ she declared and reached for his pants.

  ‘ADRI! Stop it,’ he shouted.

  The young girl burst into tears.

  ‘If I don’t serve I will be punished,’ she sobbed.

  Brighton tried to speak in a soothing tone.

  ‘Look, only one person has ever seen me naked and she was my mother. I’m shy so I would like some privacy,’ he said.

  ‘I’m not a person, I’m a servant,’ Adri said softly.

  Brighton took her face in his big hands. He gently tilted her head upwards so that he could look her in the eyes.

  ‘You are a person, not just a servant,’ he gently told her.

  She looked at him with big brown eyes, confusion on her face.

  ‘You’re different from the others,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I’ve been told that before,’ he replied. ‘Now please, wait outside so that I can bath.’

  Adri turned around and walked out closing the door behind her.

  Brighton emptied the bucket into the bath.

  ‘It will have to do,’ he muttered.

  After he finished bathing he looked at the clothes on the bed. He selected a shirt and pants and got dressed.

  ‘Time for supper I guess,’ he muttered.

  When he opened the door, Adri was still standing there.

  ‘Yes Master Brighton?’ she asked.

  ‘Call me Master one more time and I’ll spank you,’ he tried to joke.

  Adri’s face was a mask of fear.

  ‘It’s a joke,’ Brighton quickly said. ‘A silly little joke.’

  ‘Yes Mast…um…’ Adri stammered.

  ‘Brighton, just Brighton,’ he helped her.

  ‘Yes Brighton,’ she said uncomfortably.

  ‘When and where is supper? he asked.

  ‘Follow me,’ she replied.

  ‘I hope Lily is there,’ Brighton muttered.

  When Adri looked at him quizzically he said, ‘Lilian.’

  ‘Oh, Miss Lilian,’ Adri said.

  Adri led him through a maze of passageways.

  Finally they reached the dining hall. It was a dome shaped room and like everything else in the palace, it was enormous. Passageways led into it from all directions. A large, half circle table followed the curve of the wall on the far side. People stood around everywhere, some were seated already.

  Brighton estimated the table had fifty or sixty seating places.

  Brighton looked in the crowd for Lilian. Small arms circled his waist from behind.

  ‘Hello my love,’ she said pressing up against his back.

  ‘Ah, the lady of my heart,’ he said and turned around.

  ‘Come, let’s go sit,’ Lilian said.

  They took hands and she led him towards the large table. Her place was next to Seth’s. Brighton took a seat next to Lilian.

  Lilian pointed out the Supremes.

  ‘That’s Amber, Lauryn, Raina, Michael, Richard and Theresa. Seth you already know,’ Lilian said.

  ‘And who are all the other people?’ Brighton asked.

  ‘Their children mostly and one or two grandchildren,’ Lilian replied.

  ‘Who is the little girl with Seth?’ was Brighton’s next question.

  ‘Hannah, my half sister. She is Seth’s youngest child, nine years old. I’m second youngest. I think she is the reason Seth agreed to help us,’ Lilian replied.

  Brighton looked puzzled.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Seth wants to teach Hannah the Dark One’s ways. My presence is hampering t
hat. If I don’t have the gift anymore he can focus on Hannah. He can’t let me run around with the gift if I “haven’t been properly trained”,’ Lilian replied.

  Brighton nodded. It made sense now why Seth was so eager for them to give up the talent.

  ‘I thought there were eight Supremes. I only see seven,’ Brighton remarked.

  Lilian spoke softly.

  ‘Nobody talks about it. All I know is that Danika died. Raina named her second daughter Danika in honour of their sister.’

  Seth moved to his chair. Just before he sat down Adri approached him, head down. He listened briefly to what she was saying then slapped her hard across the face. She stumbled backwards, fell, and quickly crawled away.

  Silence fell and everyone else quickly found a seat. In moments, Seth was the only one left standing. Without a word he sat down.

  Servants started bringing food out. There was far too much for the number of people present but servants with trays just kept coming. As soon as Seth had helped himself, everyone else started.

  Brighton didn’t recognize half the food on the table. He decided to play it safe and took some meat and bread.

  Seth leaned over so he could see Lilian and Brighton.

  ‘As soon as supper is finished we will use the bracelet. Brighton will go first. Agreed?’ he said to them.

  Both nodded.

  Seth did not speak to them again throughout supper. He only spoke when people spoke to him first and then it was mostly monosyllable answers.

  Supper was a long, drawn out affair. Brighton couldn’t wait for it to finish. He already had plans to have Adri show him where Lilian’s room was after their talents had been drained.

  Finally, the servants started clearing the table. Most of the people left, only the Supremes and a few of their children stayed behind.

  Seth spoke to Brighton.

  ‘It’s time,’ he said softly.

  ‘What do I do?’ Brighton asked.

  ‘Stand in the middle of the room, I’m coming,’ Seth replied.

  He disappeared into one of the hallways.

  Moments later he came back carrying a small wooden box. Standing right in front of Brighton, he opened the box. Lilian came to stand beside him.

  Carefully he removed a thin silver bracelet from it.

  ‘I’m going to put this on your arm. When the talent is successfully extracted, you will feel it. It won’t hurt,’ Seth said slowly.

  ‘Are you ready?’ he asked Brighton.

  Brighton looked at Lilian and smiled.

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  Seth put the bracelet around Brighton’s arm. He tried to close the clasp but it refused to stay closed. Every time it just popped open again.

  ‘Strange,’ Seth said softly.

  ‘Why is that happening?’ Lilian asked.

  ‘The bracelet won’t close if the person is not willing to give up their talent,’ Seth answered.

  ‘But I am willing!’ Brighton protested.

  ‘The only other reason is that sometimes it has to be put on by someone you trust. You don’t trust me so your instinct is to protect yourself.’

  ‘This is not going to work,’ he said, disappointment showing in his face.

  Lilian spoke, ‘Can I try?’

  Turning to Brighton she said, ‘You trust me, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ he answered.

  Seth thought for a moment.

  ‘It’s worth trying,’ he said handing the bracelet to Lilian.

  She put it around his arm. The clasp closed on the first try.

  White eyes watched the palace entrance from behind a thick bush. At night, Mischief was seldom seen. He easily slipped through the city. A familiar hand touched his back.

  ‘What do you see boy?’ Carmen asked.

  She was less than a day’s travel from Avarya when Mischief joined her. They travelled together to Zedonia. He mostly stayed close by in the woods. Mischief had to slip through the city but Carmen simply walked. It was not a strange thing to see people going to the palace.

  She wanted to see Brighton to make sure he was alright. She also wondered if they had used the bracelet yet.

  ‘I can go in there because I’m a Dark One,’ Carmen told Mischief.

  A thought formed in her head. She didn’t really want to leave the big cat behind. He could take care of himself but she’d gotten used to the protection he gave her. On the way to Zedonia two bands of robbers approached her. As soon as Mischief came out of the woods they turned tail very quickly.

  ‘We can go to the gate and say you’re a gift for the Supremes. People bring them gifts all the time. Once we’ve seen Brighton and Lilian you can slip out again.’

  She suddenly felt silly for talking to a black panther.

  ‘I wish you could understand me,’ she said to the cat.

  Carmen decided to come back the next day, it was late and Brighton might be asleep already.

  Brighton’s arm jerked away from Lilian. He looked at her strangely as he sank to his knees.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Lilian screamed.

  Seth grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

  ‘Now we watch,’ he snarled.

  ‘Watch what?’ Lilian screamed at him. ‘You said it would not hurt him!’

  ‘Oh, it’s going to hurt a lot,’ Seth replied with a smile. ‘Right up to the point when he dies.’

  The other Supremes were all laughing.

  ‘Dies? No!’ Lilian screamed as she tried to get to Brighton.

  Seth held on to her arm tightly.

  ‘There is nothing you can do now. The bracelet won’t come off anyway until he is dead,’ Seth said calmly.

  Lilian yanked free from him and raced to Brighton. Furiously she tried to get the bracelet off. It wouldn’t budge. Seth pulled her away again.

  Brighton’s body was twisting in painful spasms.

  ‘You lied to me!’ Lilian screamed as she pounded her tiny fists against Seth’s chest.

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘Why?’ Lilian screamed, close to tears.

  ‘Your boyfriend has a very special talent. I don’t know exactly what it is but he could possibly threaten us. We have to get rid of him,’ Seth replied in that evil voice.

  ‘How do you know he has a special talent?’ Lilian sobbed.

  ‘Nobody can sense him. It’s as if he is protecting himself with his talent. It’s the first time I’ve ever come across this,’ Seth explained.

  ‘But…but…’ Lilian sobbed. ‘How could you do this to me, to us?’

  Seth just smiled.

  ‘Where did you get this cursed bracelet?’ she asked through her tears.

  ‘I took it off my mother’s arm right after I killed her,’ Seth said matter-of-factly. ‘Danika wanted it so I put it on her wrist. She died a painful death. That’s how we know of its power. It can only be put onto someone by a trusted or loved one.’

  ‘And I played right into your hands,’ Lilian said softly.

  ‘Yes, you did,’ Seth laughed.

  He sat down on his chair.

  Lilian sank to the floor.

  Brighton’s body was still jerking violently.

  Chapter 12

  BRIGHTON OPENED HIS eyes. He was lying flat on his back looking up at a blue sky. There was just a hint of clouds. He lifted his head. He was in the clearing close to Four Mountains where he used to take the goats.

  Slowly he looked around. Everything was as he remembered; even the little white goat was there.

  Did I dream everything?

  Someone was approaching.

  Brighton got up. He walked closer and saw that it was Thomas.

  ‘Thomas!’ he shouted, waving his arms.

  Thomas waved back. Brighton ran to meet him.

  ‘Young Brighton, so good to see you again,’ Thomas greeted when he got close.

  Someone else approached. He didn’t know the woman.

  ‘Who is that?’ he asked Thomas.


  ‘Evangeline,’ Thomas replied.

  ‘Seth’s mother?’ Brighton asked.

  Thomas nodded.

  Maybe I’m dreaming now, Brighton thought.

  Nothing made sense.

  ‘How come she is here? She died thousands of years ago,’ Brighton said.

  ‘Yes she did,’ Thomas replied.

  Evangeline was close now.

  ‘Good day, young man,’ she greeted pleasantly.

  ‘Good day, ma’am,’ Brighton replied.

  Evangeline held out her hand to him.

  ‘I’m Evangeline,’ she said.

  Brighton looked at the offered hand.

  ‘I’m Brighton,’ he said. ‘Sorry but I prefer not to shake hands.’

  Evangeline laughed.

  ‘I see Thomas has been teaching you some things,’ she said.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Brighton asked. ‘Didn’t you die a long time ago?’

  ‘Yes I did. More than three thousand years ago,’ she replied.

  ‘Then how come…’ Brighton started.

  Understanding crashed into his mind like a falling tree.

  ‘Oh no! Oh no! I’m dead too.’

  ‘Yes,’ Thomas replied quickly.

  ‘No,’ Evangeline countered.

  ‘Yes he is,’ Thomas said heatedly. ‘He is here, isn’t he?’

  Before Evangeline could answer Brighton said, ‘Here? Where exactly is here?’

  Evangeline answered, ‘Heaven, the afterlife, the spirit world, a different dimension, a higher existence. People call it by different names.’

  ‘That helps,’ Brighton said sarcastically. ‘How do I get back to Lilian?’ he asked.

  ‘You don’t,’ Thomas jumped in.

  ‘Enough Thomas,’ Evangeline said seriously. ‘Give Brighton and I some privacy.’

  Thomas fell silent but did not move.

  ‘Now!’ Evangeline said sternly.

  He turned and started walking away.

  ‘I knew she would betray you,’ he muttered as he walked.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Brighton called after Thomas.

  When the old man did not answer, Brighton started going after him. Evangeline stepped in front of him.

  ‘We need to talk, time is precious.’

  ‘Talk about what? Thomas said I’m dead. I can’t go back to Lily,’ Brighton said despondently.

  ‘Not quite,’ Evangeline said. ‘Concentrate. Do you feel a link to somewhere else? A different place?’