The awakening hc-1

by Stuart Meczes

  M-my precious girls were heaped in a pile on the floor. There were cuts all over their bodies. Their wrists had been slashed. They were bleeding out right in front of my eyes. Cass had attempted to cover Joy to protect her from whatever had attacked them, but it was pointless.

  There was so much blood. It was everywhere. Pools on the floorboards, splashed on the walls. Even the ceiling. Some of it had been used to write the words Chosen must die on the mirror. I had no clue what it meant, and I didn’t care. I only cared that my girls were dying.

  I ran over to help them and that’s when I saw it.

  The thing stepped out from the shadows in the corner of the room. A Banshee. It had this rough, papery skin and these slick black eyes, like solid oil. Long, lank hair that reached the floor and left a trail of slime as the thing moved. Its mouth was all twisted up and filled with thousands of these needle teeth. And the smell. Christ, the smell. Sickly sweet, like turd covered in syrup. But its hands were the worst part by far. The thing had these spindly fingers the length of an arm that curved at the ends into razor nails.

  They were stained red with the blood of my family.

  It gave me this teasing smile and then sucked their blood off its fingers with slow pops. I looked at the evil bitch and back at the mangled mess of my family — my life, and the darkness returned. It hadn’t gone. It had hidden away, waiting until it was needed again. It was needed then. I felt rage the likes of which I’d never felt before. It was like a white hot fire of pure hatred.

  The Banshee must ave sensed my fury, because it screamed. When a banshee screams, it’s the worst noise you could imagine. It’s the cries of a million tortured souls. Pray to God you never experience it. Only those it wants can hear the sound, so no one can help you. Its hair fanned out as if it had been electrocuted. The sound brought me to my knees. I started to haemorrhage blood from everywhere.

  For a minute I was frozen — bleeding to death. Then I saw my blood trickle into and mix with the blood of my girls.

  The darkness took over. Somehow, I managed to summon enough strength to stagger over. Then I grabbed it and started smashing it with my fists for everything I was worth, screamin’. It lashed out, most hits missed, but one connected, removing most of the skin from this side of my face and blinding me in one eye. The pain didn’t even register. I grabbed its throat and with a strength I didn’t know I possessed, ripped out it’s larynx. Then screams became a gurgle and the slashing turned into pathetic taps, but I didn’t stop. Because it couldn’t scream any more, my attacks were stronger. I punched, bit and kicked until there was nothing left but lumps of meat and slime.

  I was wrenched from my revenge by Cass’s hand touching my arm. She crawled towards me, dragging Joy with her. I scooped them both into my arms. We all knew that it was too late. They’d lost too much blood and the wounds were too severe. It was simply a matter of time. For some reason they were both calm. They looked up at me as I held them in my arms and Cass even managed a smile. I gripped them, sobbing uncontrollably. At exactly midnight my whole world died in my arms.

  The Alliance came to me a day later. They’d finally figured out who I was and what I was going to become. Apparently when they found me, I was still in the same position, rocking backwards and forwards with my girls in my arms. It took four of them to prise me away. I don’t remember much about the few days after that. I do know that their deaths brought about my Awakening. I had it less than a week later. The sight in my left eye returned and the wounds healed a bit, but the poison in the Banshee’s fingernails made it scar badly.

  Faru told me everything, probably the same things he told you. Gave me the whole spiel. Apparently they hadn’t tracked me fast enough. The SOS has Witches working for them too. They found out about me first and sent a Banshee to wait for me. My family had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  I didn’t say a word the whole time. In fact I didn’t say another word for the next three years. I blamed em for the death of my girls. All I could think was how they should have discovered me earlier — should have protected my family like Guardians are supposed to. I didn’t need to tell Faru my thoughts, he saw it all in my mind. He didn’t even ask me to join the HASEA, he knew it was pointless. I didn’t care about protecting the world. There was no one left in the world that I wanted to protect. All I cared about was being with all my girls again.

  You know this strength that we have is great at saving our arses, but it’s a curse if you want to die. I took six bottles of sleeping tablets — they only gave me chronic stomach ache. I shot myself in the face — it just broke my jaw. I even jumped off the top of a block of flats. Granted, it put me in the hospital for three weeks, but the point is I survived.

  I couldn’t die.

  I was trapped in purgatory with my darkness. There was nothing left for me. Every time I looked in the mirror and saw the scars, I was reminded of my loss. So I tried to cover em with a tattoo. I thought it would help. It didn’t. All it did was make other people more scared of me. I decided to use that to my advantage. I went back to my house for the last time and grabbed the only thing I cared about.

  A few days later I used the same gun I shot myself with to rob a newsagents. The rush took away the pain for long enough for me to feel somethin’ again — if only for a few minutes. But then it was back again and stronger than ever. I did it again and again. I didn’t even bother to wear a mask. I didn’t care if I got caught or not. I didn’t even spend the money. I left it in a backpack at the end of the crappy hostel I lived in.

  It took longer than you’d think to get caught. But still, there’s only so long a six foot nine bald guy with half his head covered in a tattoo can go unnoticed. I went down. Twenty years with a minimum of sixteen to be served. I didn’t say a word through my sentencing.

  My darkness consumed me. In the joint I put at least six guys in the med ward for lookin at me the wrong way. I couldn’t feel any remorse. It’s like I sat on the side-lines watching myself. They kept addin’ time onto my sentence and confined me to solitary. The whole time I kept thinkin’ I don’t care, I deserve everything I get.

  You see I’d finally come to the understandin’ that it was my fault that my girls had died. If I hadn’t told them to stay at home, then… well things might have gone differently.

  I served a whole year of my sentence before the HASEA came back to me again. Faru spoke to me in my mind one evening. I remember thinking I was having a seizure and then he appeared in my cell in front of me. He asked me to reconsider joinin. I told him where to stick his offer, but then he said that he wanted to show me something. An image of a little girl appeared in my mind. My heart leapt into my mouth, apart from the eyes, the girl was the spit of my little Joy. He told me that the girl had lived a life as bad as mine. That she had just had her Awakening and was scared. She needed someone to look after her.

  He’s a clever one old Faru. He knew exactly what he was doing by showing me Sophia — there was no way I would refuse. I agreed to join on a single condition. That he never referred to me as Michael Williams again. That man was dead. A new one had been born the moment my family died.

  I told him my name was Midnight.

  25

  My throat had a huge lump in it. Midnight’s eyes were damp with tears. He mopped them with back of one of his huge hands.

  “I–I don’t know what to say. What happened to you…no one should have to go through that.”

  He sighed. “Sometimes I think about it and it’s like I can’t breathe. I just want to be with them again. But then I remember that I still have Sophia… and the memories of those fantastic eight years.” “Can I ask a personal question?” He shrugged. I pointed to the little girl fighting for her life. “Are you still only with the HASEA to protect Sophia?” Midnight cast his gaze over to where I’d pointed and then looked away again, closing his eyes in grief.

  “Originally yeah. But then thought — what if one of those creatures or somethin’ like it attacked
another man’s family? What if another dad came home to find his life in ruins? I wanted to help others avoid the pain I went through when lost my girls. My plan was to protect her and save everyone I could until the day one of them things finally kills me. But I failed. I failed to protect her, just like I failed my family.” He put his head in his hands.

  His words shook me to the core. I’d pegged this man down as a mindless thug, when he couldn’t be further from it. I’d judged him before I got to know him. The very same thing that people had been doing to me all my life. I felt ashamed of myself.

  “You didn’t fail anyone Midnight. You did the best you could. You’re not God. But I’ll tell you one thing. You’re a good person and Sophia is lucky to have you to care for her.”

  Midnight looked up at me. He seemed to contemplate what I’d said for a moment. Then he leaned forward and offered out his hand. I shook it.

  I pointed towards the locket wrapped around his neck. “Is that what you took from the house?”

  He placed a hand around it, as if shielding it from my question. “Yeah. It was an anniversary gift for Cass, ‘cept I swapped my picture for hers after she…you know.”

  “May I see?”

  Midnight seemed to contemplate the request for a moment. Then he lowered his neck and slid the locket over his head. I stretched over and he placed it in my hands.

  The case was silver, polished to a shine. The initials MW amp; MW had been engraved on the back. I pressed a clasp on the side and the locket opened. Inside were two small photographs. One showed a very pretty woman with curly blonde hair. She wore a smile than seemed bordering on a laugh, which lit up her whole face. The girl in the other couldn’t have been more than six when the photograph was taken. Even so, she looked so much like Sophia, they could have been sisters. Right down to the rosy cheeks. Looking at the photographs, it was easy to see why Midnight had once been so happy. “They were both beautiful,” I said, closing the locket and handing it back to him. “Thanks.” He slipped the locket back over his neck and tucked it into his t-shirt. “I have a picture of my dad that I carry around with me too.” Midnight held out a hand. “Only fair.”

  I rummaged through my bag and pulled out the handbook. I slipped the picture from the pages and handed it to him. He looked at it and nodded, before passing it back to me. “Looks a lot like you.” “You think?” “Now yeah. Maybe not so much back when you were a massive nerd.” We both laughed. His was a deep rumble that rolled through his chest. “So how did you get out of prison?” I asked. “You kiddin? One call from the HASEA to the right people and I was out within a day, record as squeaky as an Eaton schoolboy.” “Wow. I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m planning on robbing some newsagents.” Midnight started to laugh again, but stopped dead when Sophia cried out in pain.

  “It’s okay pint size. I’m here,” he said in a voice so soft I wouldn’t have thought it possible. He busied himself once more with removing the cloth from her forehead and dipping it in the bowl of water.

  Gabriella and Delagio returned, armed with mugs of coffee. Gabriella had to say Midnight’s name three times before he turned his attention away from Sophia. She passed him a coffee and he downed it in a matter of seconds, even though there was steam curling from the top. She placed hers on a table near the door. Delagio took a long sip of his, set his cup down next to Gabriella’s and returned to his position in the corridor.

  The sombre reality of the situation returned with a ferocity. I leaned back into my chair as Gabriella stroked Sophia’s cheek gently with the back of her hand. Time dissolved as we stayed locked in our positions. Midnight removing, rinsing and replacing the cloth. Gabriella stroking Sophia’s cheek. Delagio standing vigil outside. Me sitting on my chair, feeling useless.

  Then something happened.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Gabriella looked on the brink of tears. I stood up and placed a comforting hand on her back. As soon as my hand connected, a giant wave of energy exploded in my chest and rushed up my arm. Gabriella arched her back and cried out. Instantly I felt drained. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor.

  “Alex!” Gabriella gasped. From my position on the cold linoleum, I watched as Midnight jumped to his feet and Delagio burst into the room. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Several sets of hands lifted me up and positioned me back on the chair. The room was spinning and I could barely focus. “Are you okay buddy?” Delagio asked, leaning over me. I raised a hand. “I’ll be fine, just give me a minute.” Slowly, everything seemed to return to normal. “What just happened?” asked Gabriella.

  I was about to reply when I saw Sophia’s eyes flutter open. They searched around the room, not seeming to understand where she was. Stunned into silence, I could only point. Everyone turned to face the bed.

  Midnight dropped the rag clutched in his hands. It landed on the floor with a loud splat. He tried to speak, cleared his throat and tried again. “Hi sweetheart. How you feelin?”

  Sophia gave a little nod of her head and tapped at the oxygen mask attached to her face. Midnight gently lifted her head and slipped off the mask. Her lips struggled into a tiny smile. “Better,” she whispered.

  “Guys, look at her skin!” exclaimed Delagio.

  We all looked. The red lines of infection were retracting back into the bite wounds, as if they were threads of a fishing line being reeled in. The purple puncture wounds turned pink and shrank, until they disappeared completely. Her skin changed from grey to white and then back to her normal tone. Her cheeks bloomed last of all — as if an artist had applied the finishing touches.

  Midnight’s mouth hung open in disbelief as Sophia dragged herself up into a sitting position on the bed. He stared from her, to me, to Gabriella and back to me again. “I don’t understand.”

  I looked down at my hands and then up at Gabriella. “I think I just healed Sophia.”

  Midnight barged his way past the medical equipment and scooped me up into a crushing bear hug. He spun me around in a circle and my feet sent both cups of coffee somersaulting off the table. He was laughing hysterically and tears of happiness flowed down his face. When he finally set me down, he did the same to Gabriella and Delagio. Sophia was laughing from the bed. If it weren’t for the fact that she still looked too skinny, it would be impossible to tell she’d been ill at all.

  Delagio clapped his shoulders. “Put me down you big idiot,” he laughed. Letting him go, Midnight moved back over to Sophia. “You sure you feelin better darlin?”

  “Yup. I feel a bit tired, but that’s it.”

  He placed his forehead gently on top of the smiling girl’s head and let out a long sigh as tears continued to slide down his face.

  We stayed with Sophia for hours, fussing over her and revelling in her miraculous recovery. The atmosphere had changed so quickly from misery to joy.

  “Right, I think I should go let Faru know,” said Delagio “He can send a message through to Rachel and bring her home. I don’t want her to be there any longer than she needs to be.”

  “We should go too,” agreed Gabriella.

  I gave a tiny shake of my head and stared at her. Me and Delagio together in a room with Faru? Bad idea.

  Gabriella seemed to understand my concern. “Actually, on second thoughts, Alex is due to meet Selene and the rest of the Coven soon. We’ll head down there now and let them know that they don’t need to worry about the spell. We can deal with how it happened later. The main thing is that Sophia is feeling better.” She turned to face the bed. “You promise you’re feeling better mia bambina?”

  Sophia lifted three fingers. “Witches’ honour.”

  The room broke out into relieved laughter.

  “Okay, well I’m gonna go speak to the head honcho, I’ll see y’all later” chuckled Delagio. He rotated his hand and the oxygen mask that Midnight had removed levitated from the bed and ruffled Sophia’s hair with a blast of air. “Hey!” she giggled. He gave her a wink and disappeared from
the room. “You two will be okay here if we head off too won’t you?” asked Gabriella.

  Midnight wiped away a fresh set of tears. A grin spread from one ear to the other. “You kiddin? I got loadsa stories to bore her with. Get going.”

  Gabriella walked over and kissed Sophia on the forehead. We waved at each other. As I was leaving the room, Midnight called out my name. I turned back.

  “I’ll never forget what you did mate,” he said.

  “I…don’t really know what I did.”

  “It don’t matter. You still did it.”

  In the corridor, Gabriella threw her arms around me and planted dozens of kisses all over my face. Each one zinged my skin as if her lips were electric. I laughed and pretended to push her off me, even though I could have happily let her keep going all day. “So I redeemed myself for the other night then?” Gabriella held out her index finger and thumb in a C shape. “Maybe a little bit.” We reached the elevator and pressed the button. “Did you feel that in there?” I asked.

  “How could I not? It was like you hit me with a Taser!” Reading the confused expression on my face she added, “wait until we speak to Faru. I’m sure he’ll have some answers. He always does.”

  As we sped along the Nexus, I leaned against the side of the cab, and swung my schoolbag from side to side.

  “So why does Selene want to meet me?”

  “It’s standard for all new Guardians to meet their local Coven — especially Chosen. Witches get precognitive energy from us. The more of a team they meet, the stronger their premonitions will be.

  “You’ve lost me.”

  “An attack premonition is like a jigsaw puzzle. When a Witch meets a new Guardian, that person — or piece — becomes available to them. The more pieces they have, the stronger their premonitions are and the clearer the overall pictures become. But if a Guardian that they hadn’t met went on that mission, they’d appear as a sort of black spot in their mind that could cause them to miss things.”