The Awakening

by Rochelle Southwick

  We both went pink at her accusation, it was one hell of a first kiss surely one I would never forget.

  When we touched back down on the ground, Jake put rocks in a circle to make a firepit. He laid some wood and kindling down and then Zeeda used her fire breath to start it. It was the first time I had seen it and instead of orange, red and blue, there was more purple to it.

  It was beautiful. We smiled and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of the evening. We laughed and told campfire stories..

  The drive home was much more pleasant than the drive to see Zeeda. “Look,” Jake said, gripping the steering wheel. “We need to talk.”

  “Oh?” I asked him, not knowing what turn this was going to take.

  “Yeah, I shouldn’t have kissed you. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it, but right now it is my job to protect you. I can’t let anything impede keeping you safe.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t let myself get emotional. It could end badly for you and I don’t want that to happen. Please, I hope you understand.”

  I sighed, truthfully I had been thinking the same thing. “You are absolutely right.” He glanced over at me and, shocked, I came to the same conclusion. “Right now the timing isn’t right. I understand that we both need to keep our head in the game and our feet on the ground.”

  “Well, I mean we can still go for night-time jaunts with Zeeda, that was a blast.” He said with a smile.

  “Yes, but right now you are required to sleep in my room, how are we supposed to carry on with a relationship with you in my room every night? My mother may be oblivious lately but even she would put her foot down.”

  “Exactly, and frankly I don’t trust anyone else to protect you.” He didn’t say this egotistically or anything. It was a well-known fact that he was the best at hand to hand combat and magic when it came to fighting an enemy. “I don’t know what I would do if I stepped back and due to that you got hurt.”

  I could see that this decision was hurting him. “Jake,” I said, reaching for his hand. “For now, we need to play it smart. Keep ourselves safe and stay together we are stronger that way. As for the relationship side of things, I am not saying it will never happen. But I think we both agree that now isn’t the time.”

  “Yeah, we both see it. Even if I don’t want it to be true. It will disappoint Zeeda. I think she wants us to be together.” He said with a wink.

  “Well, maybe someday Zeeda will get her way. But for now,” I said, pulling my hand away from him. “We behave.”

  “Yeah. Agreed.”

  We were quiet the rest of the way back to the house, neither of us wanting to believe what we had agreed to. I was melancholy again when we got to the house.

  We went straight to bed, Jake’s cot was set up under the window so no one could sneak in. “Goodnight Bea.” He mumbled.

  “Goodnight,” I replied.

  Ten

  Eight hours later, I awoke with a start. Groggily I looked at my phone for the time, it was nearly noon. This made sense as we sat in the waiting area for hours last night waiting for information of some sort.

  I went out to the kitchen and found breakfast waiting for me. Waffles, eggs, bacon and fruit, they were in warming bins to keep the food fresh and warm. I pulled a plate from a stack on the counter and served myself some food.

  The room was light and airy which was unexpected because we were so far underground there wasn’t any natural light.

  The furniture in the living space was all light grey. Rose-gold accents littered the room, there were vases, lamps, picture frames, nick-knacks, all rose-gold.

  As I ate Jake came out of the room they had assigned him. “Hey.” He said his voice was still a little off.

  “Hey.”

  “Sorry about last night. I acted as though you were my property or a prize to be won.” He looked down at the ground, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

  “It’s all right. Just remember, if I had to pick right now, I would pick you.”

  “Really? Even after boy-wonder took a dagger for you yesterday?”

  “Yes, he may have taken a dagger, but you have dealt with a lot more of my crap lately,” I said with a smile. “And kept my secret about Zeeda.”

  “Of course I did, she’s incredible.”

  There was a knock at the door. Jake went to answer it while I sipped on some orange juice.

  “Hello, Jake.” I heard Malcolm’s voice ring out. “Is Bea up?”

  “Yes, sir. Come in.”

  “Ah, Bea! There you are.” Malcolm said as he walked into the room. “Mitch is awake; he would like to speak with you.”

  “Oh, of course,” I said, standing and taking my dishes to the sink. I waved my hand over them and they were instantly clean. Another trick I had been working on, I hated dishes.

  “Impressive,” Malcolm said with a grin. “When Atticus said you could master more than one skill he wasn’t kidding.”

  “Yeah, I suppose not.”

  “Well, come along.” Malcolm motioned to the door, and I followed his gesture. He led me down the hall to another suite. He opened the door, and I noticed this one was like ours, but the furniture was a navy blue color.

  Mitch was sitting on the couch shirtless. A smile lit his features when he saw me. “Bea.”

  “I’ll give you kids a few minutes to talk,” Malcolm said walking into a different room in the suite.

  “How are you feeling Mitch?” I looked to his shoulder, which now looked completely fine.

  “Much better. It took some time to heal last night, she poisoned me.”

  “She didn’t mean to, it was meant for me.”

  “Yes, but I am glad that it wasn’t you Bea, I’m bigger than you. You may not have made it to the med room.”

  I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

  “I just wanted to see if you were okay.” He said as he reached for a piece of bacon that was on a plate on the coffee table.

  “I am not the one that took a dagger.”

  “No, but you are the one who had to see it happen, and I know you feel guilty that it was me and not you.” He said, raising his eyebrow. He knew me well, I had been feeling guilty that he jumped in front of the dagger. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” I asked.

  “Feel guilty.”

  “You went through so much yesterday and then to top it off you had to get stabbed.”

  “That wasn’t your fault. That was on her.” He said. His face had gone hard.

  “This must be so hard for you.”

  “Lexa died long ago. This isn’t my sister, she isn’t the girl I knew.”

  Malcolm came out of the other room and said, “All right, well I insist that this wayward boy of mine get some rest. He had a rough one yesterday. Bea you and your mom are free to go, but make sure you take Jake with you. You aren’t out of the woods yet.”

  I nodded and got up. “Hey, Bea?” Mitch questioned as I started for the door.

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t write me out.”

  I turned to him, “out of what?” I asked.

  “Out of the race for your heart. Just because the seers say so isn’t a good enough reason for me. I want to fight for you.”

  I nodded, not sure what the appropriate response to that was. Especially with his father in the room.

  Malcolm led me back to my room. Inside, Cardinal was waiting with Jake and mom. She led us out of the room and back to the main floor. One of the Elders gave us a ride home. Upon arriving, I began laying spells out as fast as I could for protection.

  Jake helped me and soon we had everything cleaned up from the night before. Jake pulled an arrow out of the wall. “I’ll patch that later.” He said to mom.

  “Thank you, Jake, that is very sweet of you.”

  I went upstairs and jumped into the shower. I let the hot water wash over me. Letting the water wash away my thoughts from the night before. After I was done I decided we needed to go out for a bit
.

  When I opened the door Salem was outside. “Hey!” She said.

  I hadn’t seen her in a few days and I was confused as to why she was there.

  “You forgot, didn’t you?” She asked. “Remember, our study session?”

  That’s right, I was supposed to be helping her with her magic. “Oh, of course. It’s just been a long night.”

  Jake stepped out onto the porch. I sent him a quick thought explaining why she was there.

  The three of us headed up to the mountain to work on some magic. She was doing better. I shot spells at her and she practiced deflecting them. One in every five or so shots she actually deflected.

  Jake approached me as the morning wore on. “I’m going to go use the restroom.”

  “You’re in the woods. There is no restroom!” Salem teased.

  “Would you rather me say I’m going to go piss on a tree? That’s not very gentleman like now, is it?” He asked. He was getting more talkative around other people in the clan, but he still didn’t speak much.

  I watched as he walked off into the woods. “Take your time.” I thought, knowing he needed a break from her.

  We practiced for another moment before there was a rustling in the trees to my left.

  “Well well, what do we have here?” A dark-haired boy asked as he stepped from the shadow of the trees.

  “Who are you?” Salem asked.

  “Shh.” I thought to her. “Someone is here.” I thought to Jake.

  “Zip it troll.” He said, slamming his hand to the side. I watched as she flew into a nearby tree. She bounced off, slamming her head hard into a rock. “That’s better.” He said.

  I said nothing; I let my magic flow through my hands.

  “Now, Bea, is it? Where is the pendant?”

  “Maybe you should have taken better care of it.” I hissed.

  “Oh now Bea, relax. She’s not worth your anger.” He said nodding toward Salem. “Her magic is so diluted.”

  I saw the gleam of the sun off of metal before I saw him. Jake slashed his Katana down, pressing the sword firmly on the boy’s neck. “Scram. Or I will take it off.” Jake said, his voice menacing.

  In a poof of smoke, the boy disappeared.

  I ran to Salem and felt for a heartbeat; I felt nothing. I looked around and saw a puddle of blood around her head. Her body was still warm and I could feel it almost vibrate. I heard as Jake thought to the others, and suddenly Salem’s body disappeared.

  “Where did she go?” I asked, tears stinging my eyes.

  He knelt beside me. “You know where.” He wrapped his arm around me and I let the tears fall.

  When one of us passed on, if we had lived a moral life, our bodies would vanish. I knew now they would hang her picture at the Elders building and if she had something that we needed to know the Seers could speak with her.

  “It’s my fault. I should have protected her.” I said as I sobbed into Jake’s shoulder.

  “No, no, honey.” He said as he rubbed reassuring circles on my back.

  I felt the rush of air around me and then I felt Zeeda’s calming presence. She pressed her forehead to my back and I could feel her warm soothing breaths.

  “This isn’t on you.” Zeeda said over and over to me.

  How she even knew what had happened I didn’t know. I sobbed until I couldn’t anymore, my hands pressing into the dirt where Salem had fallen. The blood she shed was still vibrant on the ground.

  “Jake, you need to get her home. She shouldn’t be here.” Zeeda said as she surged one more burst of magic through me.

  Jake nodded and reached his hands out to me. He pulled me from the ground and wrapped his arm back around me. He walked me towards his car, placing me gently in the front seat.

  He opened the back seat on the way to his side and pulled out Salem’s bag and put it in the trunk so I wouldn’t have to see it.

  He started the engine, and we made our way back to town. I said nothing. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Salem’s death was my fault.

  We made it back to town and mom was waiting for us in the living room. Had she heard Jake’s message? Was she opening herself to magic again?

  “Mitch called. Oh, honey, I am so sorry you had to see that.” She said as she pulled me into a motherly hug. I broke down again once in my mother’s arms. She walked me to the sink where she helped me wash the blood and dirt off my hands.

  “Go shower, honey.” Mom said, pushing me towards the stairs. I did as she asked, expending more tears in the shower.

  My soul hurt as I tried once again for the second time today to let the water wash away my thoughts. This time, though, it wasn’t so easy.

  Poor Salem, she had barely lived. I felt bad for thinking she was irritating and wished I could go back and show her mercy.

  I spent a long while in the shower and then went into my room. I would have crawled naked into bed if I didn’t worry that Jake may show up in my room at any moment. I put on some sweats and crawled into my bed.

  I closed my eyes and let thoughts of Salem fill my mind.

  What more could I do? I felt a body slide onto the bed next to me. I could smell Jake’s cologne envelope me as he wrapped his arms around me. He was on top of the blanket to give me some privacy.

  I turned to him, laying my face on his chest. “I will make your shirt all wet” I said as I snuggled into his chest.

  “I don’t care.” He said as he again rubbed circles on my back.

  I fell asleep right there with him in my bed. Under any other circumstances mom would have killed me for letting him stay there. She understood though that I needed comfort.

  I woke up several hours later. I remembered nothing from my time asleep, but I could see that it was dark out. I slept most of the day.

  I looked over at Jake; he was still on my bed, arms folded behind his head. He was looking up at the ceiling.

  “I’m sorry I wasted your day,” I breathed.

  He looked down at me. “You wasted nothing.”

  He sat up and I threw my arm over him. “No, please don’t leave me.” I knew I sounded pathetic, but I didn’t think I could handle being alone.

  “Okay, okay. I’m right here.” He said placing his arm back around me. I snuggled into his side again and tried to calm my breathing that had gone slightly erratic.

  “I’m being crazy, I know,” I said as my breathing finally slowed down.

  “You are not. You went through a serious trauma today. I will be here as long as you need me to be.”

  “Or until my mom kicks you out of my room.”

  “She’s already been in here several times. She understands the pressure you experienced today. She sat up here for an hour and one time while she was up here I tried to get up and you freaked out and didn’t calm down again until I sat back down.” He rubbed his hand up and down my arm. “After that she forbade me to leave until you decided it was time.”

  Well, that was unexpected. Mom never wanted me to have boys in my room, let alone in my bed.

  “Why am I so tired?” I asked. “I just woke up and yet I feel like I didn’t sleep at all.”

  “That’s the trauma. It will get better with time. Now, I know you don’t want me to leave, but can I at least remove my sweater? I have been dying of heat for the last hour.”

  “Oh!” I sat up, pulling away from him. “I’m sorry.” I flushed red and rubbed my arms.

  He laughed, pulling his hoodie over his head. “You’re funny.” He said as he leaned back onto my bed. He opened his arms for me to lay back down. I sat still for a moment, suddenly embarrassed that I was acting this way.

  “Okay if you’re done now.” He said as he sat up.

  “No!” I said, laying back down and cuddling back into his warm embrace.

  I felt him chuckle and then he began rubbing my arm again. My head lay in the spot between his neck and his shoulder. I let my arm drape across his body, lying gently on his other arm.

  I felt his arm
it was smooth and then my fingers found a scar. And then another and another.

  “And now you know my secret.” He whispered.

  “Jake, what happened?” I asked as my fingers found more scars.

  He shifted uncomfortably under my scrutiny. “I… don’t want to talk about it.”

  I let it go, for now. He was being nice to me after the day I had; I changed the subject. “What do you think Salem’s parents will say?” I asked as I shifted away from him slightly. “I mean I blame me too but are they going to say it?”

  I felt him shrug under me. “Maybe, but remember they are grieving. This wasn’t your fault. It’s mine.”

  “How is this mess your fault?”

  “I shouldn’t have left you guys.”

  “She was driving you insane and peeing is an important use of your time.”

  He chuckled slightly under me, knowing I was trying to make him feel better. “I suppose. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? It’s late.”

  That was his way of effectively ending our conversation for the evening. He was self-conscious about his scars, I could tell.

  Eleven

  The next morning I awoke and Jake was no longer on my bed. I felt anxious and frantically threw off the blankets and put on my robe.

  My bedroom door was closed, lately, I had been required to leave it open. I opened it as quietly as I could, I crept towards the stairs and voices drifted up them.

  “This is unacceptableJake, what if it were her that was killed?” I heard Mitch say.

  “Mitch is right.” Malcolm’s voice rang out.

  “This wasn’t Jake’s fault.” Mom said. “Jake was gone for two minutes tops as soon as Bea told him something was up he came straight back. She wasn’t alone and you can’t expect him not to use the restroom.” Mom had his back and I was glad for it.

  “What if it was Bea that died Karen? Then what?”

  “Then the world would be doomed. But it wasn’t, my daughter is capable of taking care of herself. If you two hadn’t noticed she’s more powerful than she knows. Then any of us know, you are just taking this out on Jake out of jealousy and spite.” I was proud of mom for standing up for Jake I could imagine at this point she was standing up.