Awakening the Mare (Fall of Man Book 1)

by Jacqueline Druga

  Marie said the ocean was perfect to visit during the day but I was not able to leave the bunker until I was finished with my program. She pulled out an old clock that ‘ticked’ at a steady pace.

  It was in the middle of the day, just after I finished viewing an informative news show called Sixty Minutes. I lay next to the clock and focused on the steady sound. Once I had gotten into the rhythm of the sound, my body relaxed and I did all the steps the book had outlined.

  My key was spinning. My body had to spin. Fast and faster my core spun like a child’s toy until I could release.

  I was not sleeping at all, and with my release, I looked down at myself lying on my bed. I feared at first I had died, then dismissed it. Marie sat in a chair reading from a thin paper magazine. The words on front said ‘Caught Cheating’ and she was engrossed in it. I moved to her and she didn’t see me or notice I was there.

  “Marie,” I called to her.

  She turned a page.

  Think. See me. Think.

  After concentrating on my visibility, I called her name again. “Marie.”

  She glanced up from the magazine and screamed. I frightened her and in return, she scared me into instantaneously returning to my body. I discovered at that moment, returning too quickly made it hard to breathe. I sat up gasping for air. One thing was certain, however. I had reached a milestone. It was something that could be a powerful tool and I had to perfect it.

  Three times a day, in between our television lessons, Marie would have me practice traveling. She would send me places, all places I had been to in my short time in Angeles City.

  Then innocently enough she told me to go to the ocean. To see the magnificent body of water in the day. I thought that was a great idea, especially after seeing Mike, Carol, and all the Brady children go to ocean.

  I traveled there and it was so much better in the light of day. I could not wait until I got released from the bunker and physically went there, because in my infancy point in projecting, I could only hear and see. I could not feel the ocean air or the sand beneath my feet.

  Standing there, enjoying it, my attention was drawn to a familiar laugh.

  Tanner.

  I grinned widely. I had not seen him at all since being in the bunker. I had asked Marie about him. She told me he was busy and that Davis did not want any outside influences for me. For some reason I was filled with excitement over hearing him, and I turned from my ocean view to see him.

  My smile fell from my face. Tanner flapped a blanket on the beach, and he was not alone. Smiling, he sat down with a girl.

  She looked older than me, though not by much. Her short hair was auburn, and it blew softly in the wind. She had a beautiful face with petite features. They sat together on the blanket, and Tanner pulled out some fruit from a bag. I could not make out what they were saying but they were giggling. The sensation and sound of blood rushing filled my ears. They did that flirting nudge and then… then he not only touched her, Tanner leaned into the girl and kissed her.

  It seemed in slow motion and they held the kiss for a long time. My gut swirled and my head buzzed. Anger and sadness, both at the same time, consumed me and I wanted to scream. I did not know or understand why it happened and the clash of opposing emotions swept me back and returned me to my body faster than I wanted.

  “Vala!” Marie grabbed a hold of me. “Breathe. Breathe!”

  I could not catch my breath.

  “Open your eyes and breathe,” she said.

  Finally, I gained control and my breathing eased.

  “Here, take a drink.” She handed me a cup. “What happened? You went to the ocean?”

  I nodded and took a sip.

  “Did something happen?”

  “No.” I handed her the cup and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “You look upset.”

  “I… I saw…” Locking eyes with Marie, I paused. “I saw the ocean. And it frightened me because I could see it clearly.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Marie compassionately stroked my hair. “You’re fine. Why don’t we eat lunch and get back to our lessons? You’re almost done. I know you can’t wait to leave here.”

  Something inside told me my mind wouldn’t be on my lessons, they would be on Tanner, and that disturbed me.

  32. Release

  “It is called hero worship.”

  I was not transporting or leaving my body, I was having a dream. A simple dream. I was in the bunker enjoying the books. Yet, there was Iry standing before me.

  “It happens when someone saves you,” he said. “What you are feeling will pass.”

  “How do you know what I am feeling?”

  “Because I have been around.”

  “Why are you in my dream, Iry?”

  “Because you opened that door. You have been moving about. Now you can see me more. I know what you saw when you transported, him and that girl. It bothered you. It will pass because it is a simple infatuation. You feel jealousy.”

  “This is a dream.”

  “Yes, it is, but I am here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, Vala, this is not you. This living in Angeles City, that’s not you. You are more than this. You are destined to be something more.”

  “Akana is not for me either.”

  “No, it is not.”

  “Then what is?”

  Iry smiled. “Me.”

  I did not respond.

  “This is very limited,” Iry stated. “Conversations in your dream state are limited to what your subconscious will allow. Once you are free from this iron cell called a bunker, I will find you. I will speak to you more. I will.... I will see you soon.

  Then he vanished and I slipped back into a normal dream state. One where I was not lucid, where Marie looked ten years younger, and Snake was wearing Alice the maid’s uniform. A restful sleep and dream until I woke up and Davis was there.

  “Ready sleepy head?” he asked.

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “Did I sleep late?”

  “No,” Davis said. “I want to get you into your new home, then start training you.”

  “Training to do what?”

  “I’ve been working on something. For now, let’s get you out of here.”

  “After she eats,” Marie said. “She has to eat.”

  “I’ll feed her when we get home.”

  Marie shook her head. “I already have it prepared. Come on, Vala.”

  I made my way to the table, where Marie had a meal prepared for me. I had gotten so comfortable with Marie that I did not want to leave.

  I had been in the bunker ten days. Longer, she said, than anyone else she ever knew. Marie told me I was harder to break than toilet training her son was. Prior to my time in the bunker, I would not have gotten that joke.

  I learned so much. Marie told me she knew when I used the words ‘yeah’, and ‘okay’ I was good to go. ‘Okay’ was a new word for me. I liked it a lot, especially when I found out it actually was short for ‘all is good’.

  Relaxing my speech was something I had to work on. It still was not natural, and I supposed eventually it would be. I focused on how they talked on television and incorporated that into the way I talked. If I wanted to be accepted into Angeles City, I had to be like them.

  I did not like leaving Marie. She was comforting and in a sense, I knew she needed me, as if I were a welcome distraction. For as much as I was slightly afraid of leaving the bunker, I was sure Marie wanted to go home and I asked her that.

  “Are you missing your own home?”

  “Very much so,” Marie replied. “Davis promised he was keeping an eye out on it.”

  “Fields are good. Ready for picking,” Davis said. “I even got Vala’s room ready.”

  My eyes widened with surprise. “I will be living with Marie?”

  Marie smiled. “I hope that’s all right.”

  “Yes!” I shrieked enthusiastically, and leapt from my seat to embrace her.

&nbs
p; “I’m glad you’re happy. Finish up.” Marie said, darting a kiss to my cheek.

  I returned to my seat with a newfound excitement.

  “Wait until you see what I found for your bedroom wall,” Davis winked.

  “I can’t wait.”

  Davis nodded his head at Marie. “She’s talking like us.”

  “Pretty much so,” Marie said. “She slips, but she’s getting there.”

  “So it worked well? I was worried,” Davis said. “She was down here quite a while.”

  “Even though she tends to whine like Lucy now, argued to get a Carol Brady haircut, mentioned she will not settle for a husband unless he looks like Jessie from Full House, she—”

  “His hair is amazing,” I interjected.

  Marie snickered. “Oh, yeah, and she laughs like ALF.”

  “What kind of laugh is that?”

  I demonstrated. “Ha… Ha-ha... ha.”

  Davis laughed.

  “At first I found it difficult to grasp,” I explained. “A furry, toy looking man with a deep voice and an affliction for dining on cats. However…” I held back my laugh, “he is the king of sarcasm.”

  “I concur. You love that eighties stuff.” Davis ran his hand over my head in an affectionate manner. “Finish up. We have a lot to do and I want to start that training.”

  “Davis? The last we spoke of any battle, you didn’t know what exactly was going on. The only plan was to let the Sybaris battle it out themselves. Have you figured out how to do that?”

  “No. That was the plan and that was all that we had to work with… before you arrived. Now that we have you, Vala, all that has changed.”

  “You have another plan?”

  A pleased smile slipped across Davis’ face. “We have a plan.”

  33. Lyon Estates

  The village of homes was located outside the city limits of Angeles. No big buildings, trees, or bushes took over the roads en route there. Davis called it a ‘housing plan’, or that’s what it was called prior to the event. He showed me what he referred to as a ‘brochure’ of what it looked like previously.

  It was well hidden in the trees. Once we approached it, I saw what they had transformed it into. It had two huge stone walls with an iron gate. The words ‘Lyon Estates' were etched on a bronze style sign.

  My first thought was there was no way that simple gate would keep away the Savages. Then I realized it wasn’t supposed to. The homes were plated with metal shutters and reinforced roofs.

  Unlike in the brochure, there were a lot of homes missing. Some were ‘shelled’ out and used as indoor plant housing. Some were leveled to make room for planting gardens. All around the homes were small farms, and people moved about the road, carrying goods by way of horse drawn carts.

  With the exception of the farming so close to the homes, it really held the same peaceful simplicity of Akana.

  Marie’s home was third on the right and oddly enough, a large gray structure. The second floor of the structure was sealed tight.

  “Why are the windows permanently sealed?” I asked.

  “We don’t use the second floor,” Marie stated. “We consider it a buffer, should the Savages make it through the roof. It doesn’t happen much though.”

  The stone path to her home was lined with small flower bushes. She opened the door and I followed her in, entering a large room. Remnants of a staircase dangled from the ceiling, but the top was sealed as well.

  Just a few feet into the entranceway, she gestured to a metal door.

  “This is our retreat room,” she said. “Should a Savage attack become severe, we retreat to it. It’s reinforced. Typically the steel shutters do the trick though.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep through a Savage attack like you did. It was quiet in the bunker.”

  “You will get used to it, trust me.” Marie smiled and walked me down the small hall.

  “The kitchen,” I said.

  “See?” Marie looked at Davis. “She calls it a kitchen now, not eating room.”

  “Lucy never used her kitchen,” I said. “But the Tanners always were in theirs. Ha …. Ha-ha …ha.”

  Davis laughed. “That’s good.”

  “Your room.” Marie pushed open a door off of the kitchen. “You can place your things in here. Davis has plans for you, so while you’re out, I’ll try to find you more clothing.”

  “Thank you,” I stepped into the room. The walls were clean, there was a single bed there, a tall dresser, and on the wall across from the bed hung a long color picture. With a gasp, I turned to Davis. “You placed a picture of your God in my room. Thank you.”

  Davis winked. “Figured I had to keep you focused and spiritual.”

  “I will. I love it, thank you.”

  Davis clapped his hands. “Well, we better head out; I want to have you back before evening.”

  I set my things on the bed and that was when I heard Tanner’s voice. Typically it made me smile; this time it sent this shocked twitch to my gut.

  “Oh, cool, I’m not late,” Tanner said. “I can catch a ride with you. Hey, Vala.” He tapped my arm.

  I spun around, stared at him then looked at Davis. “Can we go?”

  “Wow, whoa,” Tanner said. “You ignored me.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “How was the bunker?”

  “Fine.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  I wanted to say ‘yes’. I wanted to berate him. Where were you? Why didn’t you come see me in the bunker? More than that, I want to know who the girl was. I didn’t say any of that. I just said 'no'. Of course, in typical Tanner fashion, he was aloof and just said ‘cool’, and followed me out.

  34. The Jail

  The words were so faded they were hard to make out. The years had taken their toll on the gold words painted on the black background. Buildings all around the fenced in structure were burnt and destroyed, almost like monuments of man’s final violent hour.

  It was obvious the fence had been restructured and the concrete road around the building was uplifted with growing grass and bushes.

  “What is Men Central?” I asked of the only two words that were semi clear. The rest were pretty washed out with only letters remaining here and there.

  “It used to say ‘Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Men’s Central Jail’.”

  “I know jail. Lucy was in jail. She was arrested with Ethel, season two, episode thirty-one.”

  “Then you know what this place is.”

  Tanner laughed.

  “That’s funny?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that you know the episode and season. You’re so weird.”

  “Grow up,” I snapped at him and returned to Davis.

  His eyes were wide. “Did you just tell him to grow up?”

  “I did.”

  “That’s excellent! Anyhow…”

  “Are there criminals still here?”

  “No,” Davis said. “No. Something else is in here.”

  I took no more than one step and knew by the odor that flowed my way. “Sybaris.”

  *

  Just inside the entrance to the jail the smell was overwhelming, even making me lightheaded. No one else seemed to notice it as much. It was horrible.

  “Why do you have them here?” I asked. “Why not slaughter them?”

  “Eventually we do,” Davis said. “But to beat your enemy you must know your enemy.”

  “They aren’t your only enemy.”

  “No, they aren’t. But the Civilized ones aren’t fighters. We defeat them, we still have all of these to contend with.”

  “And the Day Stalkers.”

  “Yeah, those too,” Davis said. “So we experiment. We haven’t fed them, but they don’t die.”

  “The Savages?” I asked. “Because the Civilized will live for thousands of years with very little nourishment, they just wither away.”

  “These do too. The only ones that die from lack of food are the Day S
talkers. But they don’t eat people, they are people. They kill people. Make sense?”

  “Very much so. How many do you have?”

  “About fifty. They aren’t easy to catch. Some have been here for years. We catch them by slowing them down with battery operated lights, loop a rope around their necks, like a lasso, then it takes about three of us to bring one in.”

  “Killing them isn’t the hard part,” Tanner said. “It’s getting close enough or catching them.”

  “Which brings us to you,” Davis said. “ You have this ability and we’re hoping to use it to fight them, if you’re willing.”

  “Very willing.”

  “We’re hoping you can kill multiple Savages at one time,” Davis said. “You have the gift, and if you think it against them you can make it happen. I want you to come here, see them, and try it.”

  “Think them dead?” I asked.

  “Just one. Focus on one and then we’ll work.”

  “I want to train,” I told him. “I want to fight the Civilized, as well.”

  “You’ll be more on the intelligence side of our Civilized Sybaris battle.”

  That made me smile. Not that I was part of the intelligence portion, but because they were going after the Civilized and not leaving it to the Sybaris to battle themselves.

  “You realize they aren’t physically that strong,” I said. “They can be brought down many ways.”

  “I do.” He nodded. “If we can do it all at once the better. But we need to know where they are, their weaknesses, their city weaknesses, so we can pull off a full scale attack. Once that commences, the Savages are going to run for humans and we have to be ready.”

  “So you are going to infiltrate?” I asked.

  “Yes, we are. We have a person we feel is perfect. We are going to send her into Akana or Belau to live, and hopefully she’ll be chosen. She is with child, so they’ll let her in. That’s where you come in. Marie said you have been getting really good with transporting.”