K: The Awakening (The Shadow Chronicles Book 1)

by K. R. Fajardo

  “My father asked if I could stay with you? When did you talk with him?”

  “Yesterday after the Enforcer left. I talked with him right here on the front stoop. He told me he was concerned with your safety and wanted to know if you could stay with me a couple of weeks.” Marta glanced back and forth questioningly between the three of them. “Haven’t you talked to him?”

  “No, ma’am, we just arrived.” Citera’s heart was racing with excitement, if Marta had talked to her father after the Enforcer left that meant he was all right. Then the second part of what she had said hit her. “Two weeks? He said I needed to stay with you for two weeks?”

  Rigar interrupted, “Have you see him this morning? I don’t mean to doubt you, but are you certain the Enforcer had left when you talked to him?”

  “No, I haven’t seen him today. He usually comes in the mornings for bread and coffee, but he didn’t come this morning. I figured he was tired from yesterday and slept in.” She was beginning to pick up on the concerned looks on the trio’s faces. “But as far as the Enforcer goes, yes I am certain he left. I saw him walk down the street myself. I also heard the patrols escorted him back to the Tower this morning after that incident in the street.”

  “What incident?” Dirik asked, curiosity getting the best of him. He turned and was met with disapproving looks from both Rigar and Citera, who were both anxious to get inside and check on her father.

  “You guys don’t keep up with the news, do you?” Marta said, looking proud of her vast knowledge of the town’s business. Citera wanted to tell her that the news they kept up with fairly well, but gossip was another thing. However, her father would kill her if he knew she had sassed the kind neighbor that had volunteered to let her stay with them, so she kept her mouth shut.

  “Well, what I have heard is that after he left here he wandered down into the streets on the east side looking for the inn. On his way there, he was confronted in the street by that gang of Full-bloods that has been terrorizing that area. Even after they figured out who he was, the idiots attacked him.” She was talking directly to Rigar. “Can you believe that? Those young ones thinking they could take on an elder Full-blood like that.” She paused, possibly expecting some kind of response from Rigar, but when it didn’t come she continued, “Anyway, there was a fight in the middle of the street and he killed a couple of them.”

  Confused, Dirik inquired, “So what’s the big deal? It’s nothing he hasn’t done before. He executes people in the street on a regular basis, it’s how he keeps everyone scared of him.”

  “Yes, yes I know. But have you ever heard of him decapitating someone, with his bare hands?” Dirik’s legs almost betrayed him, as the image of the Enforcer stalking toward him snapped back into his mind. Luckily Citera was close and caught ahold of him as Marta continued, “No I didn’t think so, neither had the patrols. They were concerned there might be a backlash from the Full-blood community, so they contacted the Tower who requested he be sent back with an escort immediately.”

  Rigar was losing his patience with all this chatter and made his move to get inside the clinic. He was turning the knob on the door and motioning for the two of them to follow as he addressed Marta, “Good riddance. Well, we should go inside and check on Mikel. Citera will come over in a little while, after she has had a chance to talk with her father.”

  Citera, still holding up Dirik, scorched him with her gaze; she had no intention of staying with Marta for two weeks, no way that was going to happen. Rigar only shrugged as he pushed the pair through the door.

  Marta headed toward the door as if she intended on follow them inside, but Rigar blocked her path. “We will let you know if we need anything.”

  Realizing that she wasn’t about to get past the broad man blocking the door, Marta turned around reluctantly and started to walk away. “Well okay, I’ll be next door.” As she headed down the steps, Citera was sure she heard her mumbling about the poor social graces of Full-bloods, to which Rigar merely huffed.

  Once inside, the eeriness of the place caught Citera off guard. Never in her life had she seen the clinic so quiet and lifeless. There was no staff running up and down the halls, no patients waiting in the lobby, and no sign of her father barking orders to everyone. “Dad, we are here, where are you?” Citera called into the darkness. But no answer came. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she turned to Rigar.

  “I’m sure he is fine. He probably did sleep in since you weren’t here to wake him up.” Though he was trying to reassure her, the expression on his face made it clear he was as concerned as she was.

  “I’ll go check upstairs in the apartment,” Citera said as she darted out from under Dirik’s arm, causing him to nearly topple to the floor. “You two check the clinic rooms.”

  “Citera, wait, maybe we should stay together,” Rigar called out to her. But it did him no good; she had already made it down the hall and was halfway up the staircase to their apartment. She wasn’t waiting, she needed to see her father, to know without a doubt that he was all right.

  She ran through the living room and kitchen heading straight for his bedroom. She knocked on the door and called to him, but no answer came. Slowly she pushed open the door. “Dad, I’m coming in, okay?” When there was still no answer, she opened the door the rest of the way, and to her disappointment, no one was there. Her imagination started to get the best of her as she surveyed his room; his bed was still made and there were no signs that he had been in here at any time during the night. Tears came to her eyes as she screamed as loud as she could, “Dad, where are you? Please answer me!”

  Sounds of someone coming up the steps caught her attention, and for a moment the idea that he had been in the clinic all along filled her with relief. Frantically she ran to the stairwell only to meet Dirik coming up the steps. “Oh, it’s you. Did you find him?” she asked, unable to hide her disappointment.

  “Nice to see you, too,” he retorted, but seeing the panic in her eyes, added, “I don’t know, I came up here to help you. Rigar is looking downstairs.”

  “Well he isn’t up here, so he must be down there. Let’s go help him,” Citera stated, darting past him and heading downstairs.

  Once back in the clinic she began throwing open door after door down the hallway as she called to Rigar, “Have you found him? Rigar, do you hear me, have you found him?”

  She opened a couple more doors and still hadn’t heard an answer from Rigar. Pausing from her search, she glanced down the hallway and saw him staring into a room a few doors down from where she was.

  “Rigar,” she called to him nervously, “Rigar, why don’t you answer me?”

  Dirik made it down the stairs and joined her at her side. “What is he doing?” he asked Citera before calling to Rigar himself, “Rigar?”

  But he continued to ignore them as he stared blankly into the room. They glanced at one another, then back at Rigar. Neither of them wanted to move, they were too scared. Scared of whatever could have caused the mountain of a man to block them out completely. Citera took hold of Dirik’s arm for support and together the two of them slowly made their way down the hall to where Rigar was standing. They were only one door away when Rigar turned toward them, his face pale and his voice shaky, “Citera, stay there. Dirik, keep her there, don’t let her come any closer.”

  Panic set in as she started to move forward only to be held back by Dirik. “Let me go, Dirik! I need to see what is in there.” She turned her attention back to Rigar, as she continued to struggle against Dirik. “Rigar, you tell me if my father is in there. And don’t you dare lie to me, I need to know.” Dirik was already struggling to hold her when she spun around suddenly and kneed him in the stomach.

  Buckling from the blow, he released his grip. Before he could recover she turned and took off toward the door only to be caught by Rigar. He made easy work of holding her back, and try as she might she couldn’t break free of his grip. Exhausted and terrified she sank to the floor. Ri
gar went down on his knees with her, embracing her in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No, it can’t be. It can’t be, the Enforcer left. I don’t understand, there was no one else here? What could have happened to him?” She glanced up at Rigar, her voice trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I have to see him. I don’t believe you, please let me see him, I need to know what happened.”

  She was pleading with him, but Rigar just held on to her, eyes staring blankly at the floor. “Citera, I am so sorry. I never should have brought her here. I tried to tell him, warn him, but he is just so hard-headed.” He turned and looked over his shoulder at the room. It was then she realized which room they were in front of, the girl, the one they had brought in right before the inspector’s arrival. Rage filled every pore of her being. Suddenly a sound came from within the room, distracting Rigar long enough for her to duck past him.

  But what she saw when she reached the doorway stopped her in her tracks. She stood there in shock, followed closely by Rigar who was quickly at her side as her legs gave way beneath her. Dirik came up behind them, stopped, grabbed his mouth, and took off running down the hall toward the bathroom. It was now more than clear who had harmed her father. She had forgotten about Rigar bringing the girl in right before the Enforcer came. Yet there she was, lying on the floor by the motionless body of her father, with a lake of blood surrounding them. After taking a moment to recover from the initial shock, Citera made a move to go inside, only to be held back by Rigar.

  “Please, he might still be alive. I have to check.”

  Rigar sighed as he released her arm and the two of them entered the room, carefully making their way through the mess toward Mikel’s body.

  As they came to the other side of the bed they had a clearer view of the scene. A bedside table lay knocked over with its instruments scattered about the floor, Mikel’s body lay unconscious only a few feet away. From the way he was positioned, not to mention the large gash near his hairline, it appeared all the blood on the floor was a result of him hitting his head on the table. The girl was only inches away, with his arm was pulled toward her, and a large bite wound in his wrist.

  Citera had heard stories of Full-bloods that used to drink the blood of Terrians, but she had thought it was nothing more than a rumor spread by the Shadows to keep the races divided, at least that was what she had hoped. But this was no hoax. She gripped her stomach tightly, fighting back her own nausea, as she stared down at the body of her father laying in front of her with a bite wound on his wrist and his blood still covering the mouth of his attacker.

  She carefully made her way to her father’s head, trying to not disturb the scene, and trying her best to not be sick. Once there, she bent down and placed her fingers on his neck to check for a pulse like he had taught her. She waited for what felt like an eternity until she felt what she thought was a thump. Her own heart skipped a beat. Was it real, or was it her mind’s feeble attempt to create something that wasn’t there? No, there it was again, another thump a little stronger this time, still weak, but there. Wide eyed, she turned to Rigar, the expression on her face being enough. Instantly he was between them, lifting Mikel in his arms, and heading down the hall to another exam room. Dirik was standing at the end of the hall and caught sight of them running into the other room. “Is he?”

  “He’s alive, for now,” Citera answered. Her mind was racing with all the things she had seen her father do in similar situations. “Dirik, go to the supply room. Get me a bag of fluid and the tubing that goes with it, he has lost a lot of blood, and we have to get something back inside of him.” Without hesitation he sprinted out of the room and back down the hall. Meanwhile Rigar gently placed him on the bed, as Citera dug through cabinets, not exactly sure what she was looking for … perhaps something to help with the gash in his head.

  She came across a needle and some of the thread her father used to stitch up wounds, in another drawer she found a bundle of gauze; she grabbed it and a bottle of sterilized water they used to clean out wounds. Running back to the bed, she laid the supplies on one of the tables and hesitated. Come on, she told herself, you have seen him do this a million times, just do it.

  She opened the bottle of water and poured it into the gash which appeared to be much deeper than she had originally thought. After cleaning it out as best she could, she picked up the suture kit. Meanwhile, Dirik came running into the room with the supplies she had sent him after.

  She stood there looking down at her father, holding the needle and thread. Carefully she brought the needle down toward the gash, but hesitated before she punctured the skin. She couldn’t do, she couldn’t bring herself to poke this needle into her father’s head and scalp. Disappointed in herself, she turned to Rigar. “Can you …?”

  He walked to the head of the bed, took the needle from her hand, and went to work carefully suturing the wound closed. With him working on gash, Citera took the supplies from Dirik and prepared to start a line on him.

  This she was familiar with. He had showed her how to do this for times when it was really busy, so she could help out. She grabbed a cathlon, and not giving herself the privilege of doubt, she pushed it into her father’s arm, a flash of blood confirming she had it in the right place. She hung the fluids on the pole next to the bed, hooked it up to the tubing, and let it begin to flow freely into his veins. Feeling proud of her accomplishment, she couldn’t help but wonder what her father would say about all this.

  Citera turned her attention to Rigar, who had finished stitching the up the wound and was staring at his hands; now covered in her father’s blood. “Are you all right, Rigar?”

  When he turned to face her, Citera gasped aloud. Rigar’s normally dark brown eyes had turned bright red in color. Dirik, noticing the change as well, immediately grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from Rigar.

  Unable to fathom what was happening, Citera called to him in desperation, “Rigar, are you all right? Please, answer me.”

  The fear in her voice caused something inside of him to click and the redness faded from his eyes. He scanned the room for a moment, appearing unsure of his surroundings and what was going on, then looking at his hands once again, he apologized to Citera. “I’m sorry. I’ll go restrain the girl, but then I have to go. I haven’t had any formula in several days and I am having difficulty keeping the thirst under control.”

  He pushed past them and headed to the nearest sink to wash his hands, bewildered they both stared after him. So it was true. Deep down Full-bloods really did crave Terrian blood. And even Rigar—with all the strength and goodness in his heart—wasn’t impervious to it.

  “Maybe you should go help him,” Citera suggested to Dirik. “There is a lot of blood in there.” The squeamish look returned to his face at the thought of going back in that room, but he didn’t argue.

  Walking into the hallway, he could see Rigar scrubbing his hands rigorously in a nearby sink. Deciding it might be best if he let him be, Dirik continued on to the room. Entering the room, he was caught off guard by a set of pale blue eyes looking back at him. The girl, who had somehow managed to pull herself into an upright position, was sitting on the floor, blood all around her, staring at him with a piercing gaze. Paralyzed with fear, Dirik called down the hall, not once taking his eyes off the girl, “Ri-Rigar, I need you to come here. Now.”

  Rigar rounded the corner, locking his sight immediately on the girl and hers on him. A look of unbridled hatred took over him as he grabbed a metal tray off the counter, spilling its contents onto the floor. With a speed Dirik had never before witnessed of him, Rigar raced across the room and slammed the tray into the side of the girl’s face so hard he could heard the sound of the bones cracking under the force. The girl, who never had a chance to react, was laid out on the floor unconscious as the whole right side of her face began to swell and turn a rainbow of colors. Dirik, frightened and unsure of what to do, continued to look over the gruesome scene. He had never seen this side of Rigar
before; all he had ever known of the man was the calm, serene soul who would give the shirt off his back to help out a person in need.

  Rigar threw down what was left of the tray, grabbed the girl up off the floor, and dropped her into the bed. He then angrily began throwing open the various drawers and cabinets in the room in a desperate search for something.

  “Do you need me to help you find something?” Dirik asked cautiously.

  Rigar turned on him so fast that it caused him to startle and stumble back a few steps. “Did you know?” His voice was angry and deep as he repeated himself, this time louder, “Did you know? About her eyes, did you know?”

  Rigar came at him fast. In a panic, Dirik backed up hoping to find the door, but instead bumped into the wall a few feet away. Advancing until he was almost on top of him, Rigar stopped and stared down at the frightened boy, fury contorting his features. “You did, didn’t you?” Dirik had nowhere to go and was a really bad liar so he nodded. In a fit of rage, Rigar punched the wall beside his head, leaving behind a large hole.

  “Do you not understand what is going on here? You should have come to my house last night, you should have told me immediately.”

  Dirik cowered against the wall, gaping at Rigar, whose eyes had once again turned red. He couldn’t help but think how ironic it was that this was the second day in a row an angry Full-blood had pinned him inside this same room.

  Citera, having heard all the commotion, came rushing into the room and took in the scene before her. “Rigar! What are you doing to Dirik? Let him go.” Rigar’s attention snapped to Citera, then back at Dirik as he repeated himself, more calmly this time, “You should have told me, I would have come and taken her out of this clinic. Even if I had to dump her in the street, I would have gotten her out of here.”