The awakening hc-1

by Stuart Meczes

  Until he had said the last part, I’d had no clue what I was going to say. Now I knew.

  Mum unravelled herself and stood away from me, wiping her eyes.

  I raised my hands in a defensive pose. “I’m really sorry I worried everyone. I’ve been feeling pretty down lately, so I decided to go to this new alternative health place down the coast.” My words sounded confident to my ears. I hoped it was the same for them. “They were advertising it for sixth formers. A winter retreat. I had to get the train really early in the morning and because I was so tired, I forgot to take my phone.” I breathed in deep. “I was going to call you from the place, but you weren’t allowed to use phones unless it was an absolute emergency. Part of the treatment they said.” I felt the last few words hang in the air, like vapour.

  John was staring at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth. Before he could call me out on it, Mikey came to the rescue. “He’s telling the truth Dad. I’ve seen it advertised in the hub. This is actually my fault a bit. Alex told me he was thinking of going the other week, but I completely forgot.” That seemed to work. There was no way that perfect Mikey would lie to his Dad. John nodded and flicked his eyes back to me. “Why didn’t you tell us you were going?” he demanded. I looked down at the floor trying my best to look ashamed. “Because I didn’t think you would let me.”

  He shook his head and sighed. “Well you’re a bloody idiot for leaving your phone behind.” He turned to Mum who was staring out of the window. She looked lost in thought.

  “I’m going to call the police and let them know. You coming babe?”

  Mum snapped out of her reverie. “Yes, two seconds honey.”

  John headed for the door and stopped. He seemed to be dealing with some kind of internal struggle. When he spoke and the words were a little strained. “Whatever they did at that health place, it’s done the trick. You look…better,” he grunted. Then nodded to show he was done and disappeared from the room.

  A smile crept across my face at yet another unexpected compliment courtesy of my stepdad. It soon switched to confusion when Mum hugged me again and whispered something so low into my ear I could barely hear. I drew back at her words, confused. She squeezed my arm and turned, heading out of the door.

  What on earth did she mean by that?

  I shook my head and let the words fade away for the moment. It had worked — they believed me. To be honest, what choice did they have? There was no other rational explanation. I would have believed it. I turned to Mikey and smiled. “Thanks for backing me up there.” Shrugging, he scooped his bag up off the carpet. “That’s what brothers are for right?” He squeezed my shoulder and followed the others out of the room, leaving me standing on my own.

  Later, after the buzz of me not being face down in a ditch had subsided, I snuck away into my room. Flopping onto my bed, I tried to get a handle on my thoughts. I knew I had super strength and speed, but what else? Were these effects permanent? Could I have been involved in some kind of radioactive accident, like in the comic books? Is that why I couldn’t remember where I’d been? I also couldn’t get what Mum had said out of my mind. Did she know something I didn’t? Or was I reading too much into it? There were so many questions swimming about in my head, they made me feel dizzy. So I shut my eyes and let my thoughts drift. Instead, more questions squeezed into my crowded brain: Is this real? Have I gone mad? Why me? Is there a reason? I couldn’t cope; it felt like my head was going to explode.

  “Stop it!” I hissed, pounding my fists against my temples. “Just stop!”

  Silence.

  I sighed and sat up on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands. Get a grip Alex.

  Suddenly I remembered my phone. Leaning over, I scooped it off the desk. It had run out of battery, so I had to rummage through my top drawer for the charger before I could switch it on.

  When the logo had faded away and the information had loaded, I saw that I had five missed calls and Voicemail. A personal record.

  The first missed call was from my parents. I figured they must have called me and heard it ringing upstairs. The next was from Tim and the last three were all blocked.

  I tapped the voicemail button and waited as it connected. The woman’s disjointed voice informed me I had four new messages.

  The first was from Tim, left Friday evening. He explained that my Mum had called him in a panic. He asked if it had anything to do with Terry. He offered to go to the school Principal for me if I didn’t want to. Asked me to call him and rang off.

  The next was from a telemarketer. Apparently I could consolidate my existing debts into one easy monthly repayment. I sighed and deleted the message.

  The third made my stomach jolt. It was Gabriella. Her angelic voice floated through the speaker into my ear. “Hi Alex its Ella. I hope you don't mind, I got your number from your friend Tim. I was a little worried about you. Has something happened? Anyway, please call me back as soon as you get this.” She read out her number then clicked off. I repeated it over and over in my head as I scrambled about for a pen and paper. After jotting it down, I made a mental note to call her the first chance I got.

  I saved the message and waited for the final one. It had come through this afternoon. As soon as it started, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  At first, there was nothing apart from what sounded like fierce wind. It crackled loudly in the receiver forcing me to hold the phone away from my ear. Then a robotic voice cut through the noise, like the types they used in hostage films. It was slow and deep and the mobile reacted to it, buzzing electronically like it was getting interference.

  “ Alexander, we are the ones who took you. Please understand it was to help you. To keep you safe. Your escape was…unexpected. There is no point trying to remember where you have been, or what happened, because it will be impossible. You will know only when the time is right. We are aware that you have discovered that you possess abilities which defy logical explanation. Our advice is experimentation. But be careful. Your body is still adjusting and therefore will be quite unpredictable. You may end up hurting yourself or others.”

  The voice stopped for a long beat and there was nothing but the crackle of wind again. My ear was glued to the phone and I had stopped breathing, not daring to miss a thing.

  “ Alexander, you always wanted to be special and now you are. Go and be the person you always wanted to be. Remember though, we are keeping an eye on you. We will be in touch.”

  The message ended, followed instantly by the female recorded voice informing me that the message had been successfully deleted. I pulled the phone away and stared at it. I hadn’t pressed anything. The message had deleted itself.

  Freaked out, I threw the phone away from me like it was a giant insect. My heartbeat was a hummingbird fluttering its frantic wings inside my chest.

  Someone took me? To keep me safe — but from what? I escaped- how? And from where? Where have I been? Millions of questions began to pour into my brain again. I felt so confused that I wanted to scream and rip my hair out. The rational part of my mind was yelling that none of this happened in real life. I felt torn. On the one hand, these people had kidnapped me and done god knows what. On the other hand, although it was crazy, I owed these people a lot. I looked and felt incredible.

  The caller’s words echoed in my mind.

  Our advice is experimentation.

  Without thinking, I leaned over the edge of my bed. I fumbled in the abyss between frame and floor. Eventually my hand closed around what I was looking for and I dragged it out. It was one of a twin set of dumbbells John had given me for my 17th birthday. Looking at it now, I rolled my eyes. He might as well have written ‘man up’ on the gift tag.

  I stripped the weights off and pushed them back under the bed with the heel of my foot. I was left with the metal bar. I weighed it in my hands. It certainly felt solid enough. I curled my hands into fists and took a deep breath. Then I twisted them against the bar, pushing upwards and towards the m
iddle. The bar didn’t want to bend. My biceps threatened to split through my skin. I could feel the tendons in my neck straining from the effort. A growl of effort came from deep within.

  Eventually, something gave way. When I looked back down, the bar resembled a U shape.

  “No way!” I breathed. I pushed the metal further with the palm of my hands. It crossed over itself. I grabbed one end and with much less effort pulled it through the loop, tugging both ends like a shoelace. Now the bar was a giant knot.

  I stared at the lump of metal in utter disbelief.

  This is insane.

  The phone ringing almost made me scream. I crawled over the bed and looked at the screen. The number was unknown. A cold chill ran through my body. Is it them? My throat was sandpaper as I picked up the handset and pressed the answer button. “Hello?” I croaked. “Alex, that you?” I sighed with a mixture of relief and disappointment. “Yeah it is, hi Tim. Your number came up unknown.” “House phone mate. Ex-direct. Anyway, just checking you’re ok.” I looked at the pretzel shaped dumbbell as confirmation. “Yeah I’m fine…great actually.”

  Tim made an approving noise then stopped to shout at someone. “Sorry, my sister’s doing my head in. Anyway, glad to hear you’re ok. Oh before I forget, I wasn’t the only one worried about you.” His voice had changed and I could imagine him wearing his trademark dopey grin. “What do you mean?” “That ten…Gabriella? She was asking about for your number. I gave it to her, did she get in touch?” “Yeah she left a message,” I said.

  Tim whistled. “Mate, I am so jealous, that girl has a soft spot for you. And she is so hot, I mean like…wow. Things are looking up hey Alex?” I gave a little chuckle. “You know what? I think you may be right.” “So where were you anyway?” I paused. I hadn’t thought about whether I was going to tell him or not yet. I needed time to think. “Sorry mate, I’ve got to go. My Mum’s calling me for dinner.” “Err…okay, cool. So does this mean you’ll be back tomorrow?” I glanced over at the wrap of metal on the bed and then to my upgraded reflection.

  Go be the person you always wanted to be.

  “I'll be there.”

  6

  As I wolfed down my breakfast the next day, I heard the post drop. John walked out to collect it.

  I’d woken up an hour earlier than usual, almost jumping out of bed with energy. My hair had taken seconds to style. Clothes fit, rather than hanging off me like sacks. I’d bounded downstairs and helped Mum prepare breakfast and tidy the kitchen. She made no reference to the strange comment she’d made. Instead she was back to normal — all smiles and laughs.

  “Well, you seem different today,” she’d laughed as I danced about, putting plates away, and humming a Soulfire song.

  “I feel different.”

  Now as I sat eating team effort pancakes, John returned to the kitchen and dropped a letter next to my plate. I frowned and picked it up. The envelope was high quality, its surface thick and the colour of fresh cream. The writing on the front was elaborate, dark ink scrawled across the paper like spider legs. No stamp. My fingers pressed against something hard inside. I knew this wasn’t a letter to open in front of an audience. So after breakfast, I headed into the hallway and locked myself in the downstairs toilet.

  “Bro, we going or what?” Mikey called through the door.

  “I’ll see you in the car,” I replied. “Keys are in the bag.”

  Slipping my thumb into the corner of the flap, I tore the envelope open. My heart was beating double speed. I tipped the contents into my hand and stared. It was a black key fob. Confused, I peered into the envelope and noticed a small folded note. I opened it up. The message was written in the same spidery handwriting.

  Parked on Mason Avenue. This should help you with your new life.

  That was all. I crammed the note and keys into my pocket and flushed the toilet for effect. Grabbing my bag from the hall, I shouted goodbye and rushed out the door.

  Mikey leaned back in his seat, lost in thought. I’d filled him in on everything I knew so far. The only thing I hadn’t mentioned was the letter and keys. I wasn’t sure what they meant myself yet. He looked over when I took a left instead of a right.

  “Hey, just how badly did your memory get affected? You're going the wrong way!”

  “I need to make a quick detour,” I replied.

  Mason Avenue was a little street not too far from Town. Devoid of streetlights, it was dark and gloomy in the winter morning. Cars were parked nose to bumper on either side. Given the road’s closeness to town, it was doubtful that many of them actually belonged to the owners of the houses.

  I parked up on the corner and climbed out.

  “What's going on?” asked Mikey, winding down the window.

  I ignored him and pulled the key out of my pocket. Held the fob in front of me and clicked the button as I walked. About a hundred yards away something flashed and beeped. I ran to the noise and my jaw dropped.

  Sitting unassumingly between a Skoda and a Toyota was a brand new Audi sports car.

  Its sleek silver body gleamed in the emerging sunlight. I pressed the fob a few more times just to make sure I was seeing things right. The lights blinked and the car beeped in response.

  “Oh my god,” I breathed. I didn't know a huge amount about cars, but I knew this was an expensive one. Excitement swept through me as I opened the door and the intoxicating smell of new leather rushed out to greet me. On the driver’s seat was another small note.

  Check the boot.

  I fumbled about and found the button that opened it. Once popped, I headed around and lifted it. Bags filled the space. Names like Selfridges, Boss and Versace stamped on them like awards. They contained what must have been thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes: t-shirts, jackets, jeans and shoes. I even found a brand new pair of Ray Ban’s.

  I picked a knitted beige jumper and checked the tag.?249.99

  I let out a disbelieving laugh. Someone must really like me.

  I looked around to see who was about. The street seemed empty. Even Mikey was blocked from view, so I shrugged off my clothes and slipped into the jumper and a pair of jeans I’d found in another bag. I finished with a black leather jacket and matching shoes. Everything fitted perfectly. I shut the boot and walked back to my old car. “What’s going on…where did you get those?” Mikey quizzed, a deep frown etched in his face. I leaned against the door and grinned. “How do you feel about sports cars?”

  The engine roared as I gunned down the road. The car was so fast I wouldn’t normally have been able to handle it — I’d only had my licence a few months. But something was different now. I seemed to know exactly what to do at every possible point — when to drop a gear, accelerate, when to brake. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mikey staring at me wearing a look of disbelief.

  “Listen,” I said, taking a corner a little too fast, “before you ask, I still don't know what’s going on. A letter arrived today with the keys and this note inside.” I handed him the fold of paper. “That's all I can say. But if someone gave you all this stuff, would you say no?”

  He scanned the words and shrugged. “Depends on what they wanted in return. I mean, why else would they do all this?”

  I paused. With everything going on, the thought that there may be a catch hadn’t even occurred to me.

  What could they possibly want from me?

  “Do you think it could be some kind of government experiment?” Mikey asked, fiddling with the CD player. “It would explain the reason you were taken and why you have all these sick abilities.”

  I lifted a hand off the wheel and pinched at the bridge of my nose. “Maybe. I mean it’s possible, I guess. Argghh I don’t know!” I hit the wheel with the palm of my hand. “Screw it; I’m going to enjoy this while I can.” Mikey gave an approving nod. “That’s what I’d do.” The CD activated and the soft rock intro of ‘Rise’ by Soulfire filled the plush interior. Mikey raised an eyebrow. “Yours?” “Nope.” He settled
back into his seat as we gunned past another car. “Well they certainly know you.”

  Eyes bulged and jaws dropped as the car rolled through the gates of Chapter Hill School. I parked near the main steps, buzzing from all the gawping stares. As Mikey pushed open the door, he turned and looked at me.

  “Quick one, how do you plan to keep this from Mum and Dad?” I shrugged. “I’ll swap it for the Peugeot whenever I drive home.” “And what do we tell everyone else?” “Tell them a rich Uncle on my Dad’s side died and left me money.” Mikey smiled. “Got all the answers these days huh?” He patted me on the shoulder and climbed out.

  Not all of them.

  People stared even harder when I slipped out of the sleek sports car and flicked the alarm. With a large smile etched on my face, I weaved past them and up the main steps. As I made my way through the school, people glanced up and social circles stopped talking to stare. It was an odd sensation, being the focus so many people, but minus the suffocating feeling of awkwardness. This must be what actual confidence feels like. As I turned the corner, I saw a familiar blonde topped shape ahead of me. “Tim!” I shouted and caught up with him. “Yeah?” he said, turning and regarding me with a momentary blank expression. His eyes widened. “Alex?” “The one and only,” I smiled. “Miss me?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Mate what happened, you look so different!”

  I’d been confused and in need of support when I’d confided in Mikey. Now I had a better handle on things, it seemed better to keep the circle of trust tight. At least until I knew more. So I decided not to tell Tim — yet. Instead, I fed him the exact same story I’d used on Mum and John, with the rich Uncle bit tacked on the end. Explained how I’d used some of the money to pay for the expensive private retreat. I must have spoken with conviction, because he didn’t even frown.

  “Well rest assured mate, it was money well spent.”