The awakening hc-1

by Stuart Meczes

  “I know. I shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry Ella. It’s just I accidently overheard him speaking to Sage Asmund and he said that the meeting may have something to do with me. I had to find out, so I followed them and spied on the meeting. That’s why I can’t go and see him now; I’m too drunk and scared. If he gets inside my head, he’ll know I was there for sure.”

  Gabriella drew her lips together. Her eyes were burning with such intense anger that I felt about an inch tall. “Tell me everything,” she demanded.

  I told her, including how we’d almost been caught.

  “You selfish idiota!” she screamed. “Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you could have caused? Everyone involved could have been banished from the Alliance!”

  “I didn’t realise, I’m so sorry-”

  “Forget your apologies! You put everyone in a terrible position by asking them to do what you did! Not to mention that you went and did the exact opposite of what I told you to do! Like it or not Alex, I am the leader of Orion. So when I order you not to do something, you damn well listen!” She stormed past me into the lounge. I followed her like a chastised puppy.

  “Plus your little plan made Midnight believe that a girl he sees like a daughter was slipping away from him! God knows that man has been through enough in his life already.” “But, Rachel told her to do that, I didn’t-” “It doesn’t matter!” she yelled, coiling her hands into fists. “It was you that started this mess!” I held out my hands in an appeasing gesture. “Ella please calm down,”

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” she screamed, swiping a vase of flowers off a side unit. It smashed against the far wall in an explosion of water and glass. Fresh tears were streaming down her face. “I thought we were meant to be friends. How can I trust you now, when you hide things from me?”

  A sudden burst of anger surged through me. “Are you seriously talking about trust? After the number of times you lied to me?” I thrust out a finger towards the photograph on the mantelpiece. “You even lied about your dead parents!”

  As soon as the words had spilled from my mouth, I knew I’d gone too far.

  Gabriella slapped me across the face.

  A sharp streak of pain swept across my cheek. I tasted blood in my mouth. I stared at her in utter disbelief. She looked down at her own hand as if it had acted without her permission. “Gabriella, I-“ “Just go home,” she said in a voice completely devoid of emotion. “But-” “Go home,” she repeated. Without another word I left the apartment.

  I didn’t sleep at all.

  When my alarm finally buzzed, I couldn’t even bring myself to pull the photograph out of the handbook — making it the first time I’d ever consciously not spoken to Dad’s picture. The fear of The Sorrow tracking me mixed with the regret of the conversation I’d had with Gabriella. It settled into a feeling of malaise that hung over me like a cloud.

  I broke my promise of telling Mikey, because frankly I didn’t have the energy to deal with the barrage of questions that would follow. He seemed to know that it wasn’t the right time to ask, so we settled engaged in stilted small talk on the drive to school. He tried to cheer me up by telling me about an amazing new girl — some redhead he’d met at the party he’d gone to, but I was barely listening. I gripped the steering wheel, trying to shake the images of my fight with Gabriella from my mind. Eventually Mikey got the message and switched on the CD player, sinking into his seat with a glum expression on his face.

  The day dragged. The worst part of it was that Gabriella wasn’t there. I spent English throwing constant hopeful looks at the door, whilst Mr Hanley rattled on about the lack of self-belief the narrator had in Rebecca. All the way through the lesson, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

  Afterwards, I couldn’t stop myself from ringing her. It rang until the voicemail kicked in. I hung up and slammed a hand into a nearby locker, creating a palm shaped dent in the metal.

  Luckily no one was watching.

  During my lunch break, I tried to track down Rachel. I asked the sinewy secretary at the front desk to help me locate my Science teacher. After clicking the mouse a few times, she informed me that Mrs Steel was off sick. The feeling continued to gnaw at my stomach.

  By the time the afternoon came around, my malaise had grown into an almost overwhelming sense of dread. I tried dialling Gabriella a dozen more times and each time it rang out. Something’s wrong. I knew she was probably still furious at me and rightly so, but to completely ignore me after what I’d told her? It was too extreme. I inwardly cursed myself for not taking the numbers of the rest of Orion.

  Mrs Carter was late for History. Whilst the drone of conversation buzzed around me, I stared down at my phone, willing a call or a message to come through.

  I sensed someone standing over me.

  “Ella,” I said, snapping my head up. Instead I saw an uncomfortable looking Grace standing by my table. Of course it isn’t Gabriella idiot, she doesn’t even take History. “Sorry,” I apologised, putting my phone away in my pocket. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “Clearly,” she said, fiddling with a pink ring on her thumb. “Anyway, I uh- I thought you were going to text me over the weekend.”

  I remembered the promise I’d made to text her after the night out. A knot of guilt twisted inside my stomach, adding to the growing amount of discomfort there.

  “I’m really sorry, I had a pretty crazy weekend,” I confessed truthfully.

  “That’s okay,” she said with a sweet smile. “Listen, I wanted to ask you something, but I just need to know first, you’re not like with Gabriella are you?”

  The name cut through me like a hot knife. God please be okay. “Um…Alex?” “No,” I snapped. Grace filched from my harsh reply. Her smile crumbled. “Fine, if you’re going to be like that-”

  “No, wait Grace, look I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day, that’s all.” In the friendliest tone I could manage, I said, “no, I’m not with her.”

  Some of the smile returned. “Okay great. Well then, I was wondering whether you’d given any thought about who you were going to take to the Christmas Ball.”

  With everything that had been going on, the normal world felt completely surreal, as if it no longer properly existed. Her words made no sense at all.

  “Huh?”

  “You know…the Christmas ball that the sixth form is having?” Her voice was losing confidence by the second. I carried on staring blankly until the cogs in my stressed out brain finally turned.

  “The Ball!”

  “Wow, you are having a bad day aren’t you?”

  If only you knew. I gave a fake laugh. “To be honest I haven’t given much thought to who I wanted to take.”

  Grace glanced at her friends, who were eagerly sneaking glances over their shoulders. “Oh right. Well I was wondering, you know, if you weren’t going with anyone…then maybe…” she flicked her hazel eyes up, “you might want to take me?”

  I let the information register and tried to think of a reply. If she’d asked me a few weeks before, I would have jumped at the chance. In fact it was more likely the universe would have imploded from the anomaly. But still, things had changed. If I went at all, there was only one person I wanted on my arm. And I don’t even know if that person ever wants to see me again, or even if she’s okay, I thought miserably.

  I didn’t want to be nasty. After all, Grace was a really sweet person — even if she’d only chosen to speak to me after learning about my new car.

  “It’s really nice of you to ask, but I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to go. Can I get back to you?” I said, trying to look as conflicted as possible.

  Grace exhaled in a deep whoosh. “Uh yeah okay. Well you’ve got my number so-” she half laughed and then turned and returned to her desk, where her friends leaned over in search of gossip.

  I groaned and flopped my head onto my bag.

  My phone rang.

  I was l
ying on the bed, staring at the picture of my father. Gabriella’s phone had refused to go beyond ringing tone all afternoon. After an internal battle, I’d left a deeply apologetic message and pleaded with her to call me. The dread gnawed at the pit of my stomach, each bite telling me that something was definitely wrong. The number came up as unknown. My heart skipped about fifteen beats. I dived across the bed and scooped it up to my ear. “Hello?” I breathed. “Alex? It’s Mum.” A surge of disappointment rushed through me. I collapsed down onto the bed. She sounded panicked. “What’s wrong?”

  I paused. Pretty much everything. “Nothing Mum, I’m fine. “Oh I’m relieved, you had me worried for a second. Is Mikey okay?” “He’s fine Mum. Everything’s fine.” “Good. Well things aren’t so great here. I’m calling from the hospital.” I tensed up. “Is it Connie or Edgar?”

  “No, no they’re in top shape. It’s John. He’s come down with some kind of food poisoning. Nothing too serious, just lots of vomiting and uh…the other end, but the hospital want to keep him in for observation for a few days just to be sure. It means we won’t be able to fly back tomorrow though.”

  I nodded. So this is what Faru had in mind to keep them away. It was wrong, but I couldn’t resist a brief smile. “Don’t worry about it Mum. Tell John to rest up and come back when you’re ready.” “I will honey. Use the emergency money if you need to. Depending on flights, we should be home by next Friday at the latest.” “No problems. I’ll see you then.” “Alex, are you sure everything is okay there? I had an odd feeling.” “Honestly Mum, we’re doing great,” I lied. “All right then. I’ll speak to you soon. I love you Alex.” “Love you too Mum. Bye.” The phone clicked and she was gone.

  I didn’t allow myself to sleep that night for fear that The Sorrow would be in my dreams. I went into school Tuesday morning tired and bleary eyed. Mikey didn’t even bother to ask, he knew he wouldn’t get anything out of me. Maths dragged and I fled the room as soon as the bell rang, heading for Science and praying that at least one of them would be there. I took my seat, nervously tapping a pen against the table. After a few minutes, people began to filter into the room.

  Neither Gabriella nor Rachel came through the door.

  About a quarter of the way through the lesson, a jaded looking Miss Cleveland came in and informed the class that Miss Steele was ill and that we would be watching a televised lecture on physics instead. The caretaker wheeled in a TV and activated the DVD player, before switching off the lights and shutting the door behind him. As expected, no one paid the slightest bit of attention to the TV. An absent teacher meant a licence to talk. Not having any desire to participate, I sank my head into my bag. I heard Elliot say something to me from behind and I just grunted a muffled response.

  There was a click of the door, followed shortly by a thud next to my ear. I lifted my head up and I almost cried out for joy when I saw that it was Gabriella’s bag making the noise. But it was replaced by dread when I noticed how dishevelled and drawn she looked. Her hair was tied back but several strands were loose, sticking out at various angles. There were dark bags under her eyes and her face looked pale. I knew without asking that my bad feeling had been justified. “Ella, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I whispered as she slumped onto the seat. She shook her head. “What happened?”

  “Not here.” She pointed towards the door and stood up. I clambered off my stool, almost knocking it over in the process. People looked ready to start making suggestive noises, but cut them short when they noticed how distraught she looked. We walked to an alcove in the corridor. Gabriella’s eyes were brimming with tears. She took a deep breath. “It’s Sophia. She’s really sick.” I didn’t know how to correctly respond. My mouth flapped open and shut a few times before I could speak. “I don’t understand.” “She’s been bitten.” “Oh my god. By what?” “A Bloodseeker.” My brain was spinning with questions. I tried to grab hold of them one by one. The first one was obvious. “But she’s a Chosen. I thought we were supposed to be immune to bites?” “We can’t be turned. But she’s contracted Heptacemia.”

  Haven’t read it. “What’s that?” “It’s an extremely rare blood disease that we can catch from Vampire bites.” “Is it curable?” “Normally. But because she’s so young and only half Chosen, her immune system is too weak to fight the infection properly.” My mouth gaped open. “But she’s going to get better right?”

  Gabriella’s shoulders slumped. “We don’t know. She’s in so much pain. And she looks so frail.” Her voice cracked. “Alex, I think she’s going to die.” Tears slipped down her face. I pulled her into my arms and smoothed her hair. I shut my eyes and thought about the poor little girl, with the sweet smile and rosy cheeks, writhing in pain as an infection slowly killed her. I forced the images from my head. It didn’t bare thinking about. Gabriella pulled away from me and wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. “Can’t the Coven cast a spell or something?” I suggested. “They’re going to try. Rachel’s gone through the Veil to collect some ingredients for it,” she sniffed. A sudden fear gripped my chest. “But what about The Sorrow, isn’t that where it’s heading?”

  Gabriella gave a weak smile. “I told her everything. I think her actual words were The Sorrow can piss off, I’m going anyway. As far as I can tell, Faru hasn’t sealed it yet. I guess he will once she’s back.”

  “So what happened anyway? I’ve been so worried about you.”

  Gabriella ran a hand over her face, it was a sharp harsh movement, she was clearly beyond tired and stressed.

  “A few hours after you left, the Coven foresaw a Bloodling attack on a house a few miles from the Warren. I should have called you back, but I didn’t — I’m sorry. To be honest I was still angry with you…and myself a bit for how I reacted.”

  “Don’t worry about that now. Go on.”

  “Sophia sensed them. They were hiding in the attic waiting for the owners to return home from a night out.” She shrugged. “It was easy, we arrested them no problem.”

  “So what went wrong?”

  “As we were leaving, we were ambushed by the SOS, dozens of them. We were outnumbered and outmatched. We managed to escape, but Sophia got cornered by a Bloodseeker. Midnight pretty much tore the thing in half, but not before the bastard got his fangs into her.” She paused, harshly tugging out a strand of hair that had slipped onto her face. “Alex, it was a setup.” “You mean there’s a Rogue in the Warren?” “There has to be. It’s the only explanation. They knew we were coming.” I blew air out through the side of my mouth. “That’s the last thing we need.” We stood in silence for a moment before I asked. “Can I come and see her?”

  “Of course. We can head together later. Selene and the Coven have requested to see you today anyway. To be honest the only reason I’m here is to bring you in.”

  “Surely Faru could have just done that link thing with me like he did before, you didn’t need to come here.” As I said the words, it dawned on me that all my frantic call attempts could have been avoided. The communication is two way — I could have linked with him. I groaned internally.

  Gabriella shifted her gaze down to her hands. “Okay, I needed to get out of there, in case…you know.” She lifted her head up. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. “Does that make me a bad person?”

  “No, of course it doesn’t…it makes you human.”

  She looked relieved. “Thanks. Listen, I also came here to apologise. It was wrong for me to act the way I did. I was terrified and overwhelmed by everything.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s me who should be apologising — what I said was completely out of order. And as for going behind your back, I promise I will never do anything like that again.” I held out a hand and tried my best smile. “Friends again?”

  Gabriella knocked my hand away and wrapped her arms around me. She pressed her cheek against mine and I felt the warm dampness of her tears on my skin. As I breathed in her wonderful scent, the knots in my stomach unravelled and all of the fe
ar slipped away as if it had never existed.

  I turned down the Soulfire song blaring from the car speakers and glanced at Gabriella.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier. If there really is a Rogue in the Warren, why not force Bargheist to give up who it is?”

  “That’s yet another reason I think there is one. He was deported back to Pandemonia just before the ceremony started. The trap happened what — six hours later? I would say that’s about the perfect amount of time for a message to be passed on and for an attack to be set up.” I indicated and overtook an old couple in a Beetle. “They knew you wouldn’t be able to question him about anything.” “Exactly.” “Which also means that they must be close by.” Gabriella raised her eyebrows. “I don’t follow.”

  “Think about it. If they were able to setup an organised attack like that within a relatively short window of time, there must be a base nearby.”

  “Alex, you’re a genius! Of course they would need somewhere to meet safely. If we can find that base, we can take them all out.”

  “Yeah, but how do we do that?”

  “That’s the hard part.”

  We drove on in silence for a while. The Audi raced along the duel carriageway. Under Gabriella’s instruction, I came off onto a country style lane and followed signposts towards an area called the Warrens. The name sounded so innocent and normal. Like hiding in plain sight.

  A thought occurred to me. “Do you think the attack was meant specifically for Orion?” I asked.

  “I think so. It’s common knowledge that Orion is the first response team for Chapter Hill. Echo and Trojan back us up if it’s a big mission or handle specific jobs, like the occasional infiltration or protection- like they're doing with your house. The rest of the Guardians generally work further afield. Plus…” She cast an odd glance in my direction. “What is it?” “Well, there’s been this feeling I can’t shake. But I didn’t want to worry you.” “You’re worrying me now! Tell me.” “I think the trap was meant for you.”