Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (18 page)

“By the way, Mom … my passport says
that I've been to Greece seven times – seven – you would think that
I would remember something ... wouldn't you?” Then she rose from
her seat.

“Coralie, you're right – there is
more, and I can explain –” Katelyn started in
desperation.

Coralie looked at her with aversion.
“What Mom? What could there possibly be to explain ... you’ve been
lying to me...”

“It's just - I don't know ... I mean,
I can't find the right words –” Katelyn stammered.

“Forget it - I've got to get outta
here!”

“Coralie ... wait –” Katelyn called
after her daughter. “Please, Cor ... wait –”

But Coralie was already
running.

She ran through the waving wheat field
beside her house. She could hear Jacques barking after her. But she
couldn't turn around now. Not yet. She needed time to think. Time
to clear her head.

She didn't know where she was going or
how long it would take to get there. She just wanted to run. To get
away. To get as far away from everything as she possibly
could.

Things around her were changing. But
not her parents, too. She needed them. She needed them to be the
same unfailing, supportive parents she had always known.

That was it. She had to go back. She
had to talk to them. She had to tell them everything. About her
dreams. About her memories. And of course, the holes … The holes in
her memories. The holes that disallowed her from evoking her
memories. The holes that prevented her from recalling her
life.

... There's more – I can
explain ...

Coralie allowed her mother's words to
run through her mind again and again
.
She knew that she
should have let her mother speak.
There was more ...
what
did her mother mean by
more?

Though there were holes in her
memories, it seemed that some things were started to seep through
the cracks. But what was it that could be causing these holes,
these cracks in her mind? If she found out what was causing her to
forget things … if she could just find out what had been causing
these holes ... then maybe, just maybe, she would be able to
remember what the holes were hiding ... and then perhaps, just
maybe, she could get her memories back. Maybe even be able to find
out who she really was ... because as of this moment, Coralie had
no conception to what was and was not reality.

She took a deep breath as she came to
a stop. She was in the woods now. How far had she run? And how
fast?

I have to go back
... she
thought to herself.
I have to talk to them. I have to figure out
the truth.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind
her. The crackle of the earth beneath them was voluble and
unnerving. She slowly turned to see a dark figure standing in front
of her. The dark figure started to take a step closer, but Coralie
didn't give them a chance. She turned to run, but felt a hard,
heavy hand plant onto her shoulder and pull her backwards against
the darkness.

“Cal, we have to go after her...” Katelyn
screamed at her husband in a panic.

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know, but we –”

“What happened? She just ran out ...
and you let her?” Cal started.

“What was I to do?”

“I don't know ... here’s a thought
stop her!”

“How? By force? Cal, that's not us!
That's not how we operate! What has come over you? She could get
hurt, Cal!” she shouted back. Then trying to reclaim her poise, she
took a deep breath. “This is all
our
fault...”

“Kate, settle down ... she will be
okay...” Cal said as he picked up his phone. “Yes,
Court...”

“Mr. Collier, is everything, okay?”
Court asked on the other end of the line.

“Yes, we are all fine...” Cal said,
trying to cover his worried words.

“Not all of you. Coralie - where is
she?” Court asked.

Realizing he could not fool Court, due
to his Gift, Cal backed down. “Court, she has run off. And she was
pretty upset … of course, this, leaving her mother in
shambles...”

“I take it, you guys have had a chance
to chat...”

“Well, sort of ... but that's no
never-mind...”

“So, you
didn't
tell her?”
Court asked for confirmation, though he already knew the
answer.

“Not exactly, we had not yet gotten to
that part yet, and she got upset and left the house...”

“Unbelievable –”Court said,
disgruntled.

“Court, please set your hard feelings
for me aside. We are very worried about her. Do you have any idea
of where she may have gone?”

Court swallowed his anger. “Yes, Sir –
and I will bring her back safely...” Court said, hanging up the
phone after his last word. He knew just where to find
her.

“Thank you, Courtland –” Cal started
to say, but Court was already gone.

* * * * *

Coralie fell hard against a tree
trunk. Her body ached. She looked up to see the dark figure coming
toward her again. She jumped up swiftly from the ground, landing on
her feet.

It was dark. But the silhouette coming
toward her was in plain sight. She struck her approaching attacker,
knocking him to the ground. She saw the silhouette return to his
feet, but she swept her leg underneath his feet, knocking him back
down.

She watched as he remained on the
ground, barely moving. Her chest was rising and falling with the
quickness of her breath. She turned and started to walk
away.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grabbed her
ankle.

Coralie expeditiously rotated toward
him. Before he could pull her down, she jerked her ankle out from
the strength of his hand.

Coralie took her stance for a final
bout.

Her eyes met the wildness of his.
Dark, hollow, and empty.

No, wait ... not empty at
all ...

There was something almost familiar in
them.

She tilted her head, studying him.
There was something oddly familiar about this person that lay on
the ground beneath where she stood. “Who are you? Why are you
trying to hurt me?” she sneered at her obvious enemy.

“You really haven't the slightest idea
of who you really are, do you?” the voice said, beginning to move
into a sitting position from his place on the ground, taking
advantage of Coralie's clear curiosity.

“No ... So, why don't you just save us
both a lot of trouble and let me in on the little secret … I mean,
if not, I guess I could just go ahead and finish this ... I tend to
frown upon unfinished business...”

Sounding as if it were rising up from
the pits of hell, he let a loud, rumbling, sickening sound of
bawling laughter escape him. Coralie had heard the same sickening
laughter before.

She saw the silhouette easy himself
from the ground into a standing position with such
gracefulness.

“You're laughing? Why?” Coralie
demanded.

“Finish this
...” he mocked,
slowly beginning to walk toward her,
“... tend to frown upon
unfinished business...”
He had now, casually, backed her into a
large tree trunk. “You sound so much like your
father...”

“How do you know my father?” Coralie
began surveying her surroundings.

“The infamous Callus Collier ... oh,
come on, who doesn’t?”

“What do you know about my father?
Nothing! You know nothing about him, you know nothing about me.”
Coralie said, as she turned slightly, realizing that she had been
backed into the trunk of a tree.

“I know enough,” the man said, slowly
approaching her, “but he’s not important to me ... you are the one
that I’m after...”

“My father ... he’ll find
you...”

“No doubt ... and I’ll be waiting ...
for as for now, I must tend to some...” he paused for a mere
instant, eyeing her, then continued, “light weight
business...”

Coralie glanced at her surroundings.
She had nowhere else to go. Coralie heard the smile spread across
his face when he said the words, “... this will be fun...”

“What exactly?” Coralie questioned,
sounding confident, but stalling the inevitable attack.

He allowed a slight laugh to escape
before his words, “... ending your life...”

Before the panic set in, which she was
expecting, something else swept over her. Something that began to
wash over her like a high tide. Coralie felt this
something
rush through her body like it was in her blood, like it was a part
of her. Then, without a trace of the anticipated panic, a swift
smile spread across her lips. “I'd like ... to see ... you ...
try...”

Coralie gave him a taunting wave,
beckoning him to charge her.

* * * * *

Cal watched his wife pace back and
forth. Katelyn mumbled to herself nervously, searching for some
sense of comfort. This was comfort that should have been coming
from Cal, but he almost felt that he couldn't allow it. Couldn't
allow himself to show the weakness.

When comfort seemed to be lost within
herself indefinitely, Katelyn stopped pacing and turned to look at
Cal. Where words should have been, there was mere silence and
tearful eyes.

“Kate, she'll be fine...”

Katelyn shook her head, allowing tears
to stream down her face. “What if she’s not, Cal? What if
–”

“Kate, listen to me – I know Cor ...
She'll be just fine.”

“But, Cal, she doesn't even – she does
not have the training nor does she have the know-how to be
scurrying off on her own, especially now ... especially since –”
She paused and swallowed hard. “Clearly, you know the reasons
why...”

Cal looked away from her glare. He
knew exactly what she meant. And he knew that she was
right.

“She's starting to figure it out on
her own...”

“How do you know?”

“Cal, you didn't see the look on her
face ... The look of recognition. The recognition of betrayal.
Hurt. Anger. We should have told her. We shouldn't have kept any of
this from her. How will she ever trust us again?”

“Kate, she will … Coralie has a very
trusting, forgiving, and understanding heart.”

“And we, as her parents, have taken
advantage of that … and for that, we are wrong! We are so wrong! We
don't deserve her forgiveness!”

“She will be fine...”

“But without training, without
preparation...”

“Even without training and
preparations, dear … Cor will be fine. Besides Courtland is looking
for her as we speak...”

“If anything happens to her
–”

“Nothing will...”

“You can’t be sure of something like
that...”

“Yes, I can … I have
faith...”

“Cal, this is all our
fault...”

“We've been through
this...”

“No, we should have told her. We
should not have kept this life from her.”

“But, we agreed, it was for
her
protection...”

“Talking to her ... telling her the
truth - that should have been our way of protecting
her
. The
truth - not lies and deception...”

“Kate, it came from a good place,
remember. We said that we didn't want to expose her to the dangers
of this life ... especially since we knew what sort of perils lie
for her out there...”

“I know, but we could have better
equipped her for the emergencies...”

“Kate, we don't even know what she's
capable of yet...”

“You know that she will need
training...”

“Look, first things first, let's get
her home, safe and sound. When she calms down a bit, we will talk
to her and explain everything.”

Katelyn looked at her husband, with
wide hopeful, yet fearful, eyes. “Everything?”

“Yes, everything … then, we will start
penciling in training, okay?”

Katelyn turned around and looked back
through the window into the night. Cal came up behind her, standing
about a head taller than her, and gently put his arms around her,
resting them on her shoulders.

She took a deep breath inward,
allowing air to fill her chest, and then reached up to hugged his
arms with hers. “I just hope that she's okay out there all
alone...”

“She's always protected ... and she's
never alone ... always remember what sort of blood runs through her
veins …

* * * * *

Coralie ran.

Faster and faster...

Pushing her way through trees,
branches, and brush.

It was dark ...The blackest of all
nights.

She ran as fast as could. She wanted
to put as much distance between herself and the dark figure that
had attacked her as humanly possible.