Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (4 page)

She turned only to be faced with the
strange figure standing before her. Its face was shadowed in
complete darkness by the hood of his hooded jacket. Coralie, once
again, saw a brief flicker of green within the darkness and gasped
as the hooded character began to approach her.

A dream. It’s only a dream, Coralie, wake up
... she chanted to herself.

“It's not a dream, silly girl, and
it is far from over ... you may have taken out my canine friends,
but now, you must perish ... and of that I will make
certain...”
a male voice said, with a sly and cunningness to
it. She knew that the voice had to have come from the faceless male
that was standing in front of her. Though she could not see his
mouth move, she knew it was the source from where the threats had
emerged.

The hooded assailant lunged at her,
fast, but not quite fast enough. Coralie slid out of the way, in a
single, solid, swift motion, releasing Jacques who sprinted after
her attacker.

The attacker turned and raised his
arm, attempting to block the bounding Jacques. The attempt was
futile. Jacques clinched onto his arm, knocking the enigmatic man
to the ground, biting down, and drawing blood.

The man twisted away from Jacques'
clinching jaws and rose hurriedly to his feet. He began to lunge at
Coralie again, seemingly un-phased by Jacques’ recent attack on
him.

Jacques flanked swiftly to her side.
Coralie thought quickly, as she caught sight of the leash hanging
from his neck. She reached down, grabbing the leash and hitting the
release button simultaneously.

As her aggressor approached her,
hurtling toward her, she whipped the leash around her head and
flung its metal clasp end toward her opponent. In a quick snapping
motion, the metal clasp caught and wrapped around the attacker's
wrist. Coralie jerked the leash tight, hurling him toward her.
Using a nearby tree base as her leverage, she jumped onto it. She,
then, used it to propel her body. Flinging herself through the air
like a dagger. She vaulted into her foe, knocking him hard onto the
ground.

Staggering, her adversary started to
rise against her and come for her again. Without thinking, Coralie
put her hands in front of her, suddenly stopping him just a few
feet in front of her. He tilted his head. Even though Coralie could
not see his face, she knew there was a look of confusion plastered
all over it. She lifted her hands, and as if on cue, he levitated
off of the ground.

Coralie could tell that he was scared
and surprised. She could tell that he was not expecting this. The
thought cross her mind to let him go, but she questioned her
thought. If she let him go, would he run away? Or would he come at
her again, in the attempt to finish her – surely as he had been
ordered?

Deciding against her gut, she began to
let him down slowly. “I will let go, but under the solitary
condition...” She paused feeling a brief sense of accomplishment.
Very brief.

Suddenly, she saw a change in his
stature. She cut her words abruptly. The change was nothing too
noticeable, but enough to make her stop his descend. His shoulders
began to square-up and his chest rose as it filled with air.
Instead of frightened or taken by surprise, now, he seemed
confident and assured.

That's when she heard it.

It sounded like a low-rising chuckle,
a bit of sickening laugher. It was coming from him. She couldn't
tell if he was laughing out loud.

Was it coming from
him
or from
his
thoughts
?

Coralie wasn't sure. All she knew was
that this person – whoever they were – was there to hurt
her.

Still hearing the laughter seep from
the faceless man, she stopped his descend to the ground. This must
have struck him as odd, because his laughter suddenly
stopped.

Coralie almost didn't recognize the
feeling that had swept over her – it was a sick, victorious
pleasure. She unconsciously and unwilling allowed a grin to swell
across her lips. With a swift motion of her hand, his body flung
hard against the base of a nearby oak tree … this time, leaving him
laying atop the ground, unmoving.

Jacques' bark was ringing in her ears.
She backed away from her hooded attacker, moving toward Jacques’
collar with his leash in hand. With her eyes still on the heaps
that lay on the ground, she clasped the leash back around his
neck.

Coralie rose to her feet slowly,
keeping Jacques close to her and her eyes fixed on the pummeled
masses lying on the ground. She could see a dark, pooling liquid
beginning to cover the earth beneath the lifeless
bodies.

She turned around wanting to run away,
but her thriving adrenaline was gone. She tried to take a step
forward, but she could feel herself slipping into darkness – then,
all of her surroundings began to fade around her.

* * * * *

“
Kate – ?” Cal called out,
entering the kitchen.

“In here, Dear.” Kate called back.
“Did you check on her?”

“She's fine, Honey, don't worry...”
Cal answered her, watching her nervously scrub the already clean
sink.

“But you know that I do ... I can't
help it. And don't act like you don't worry...” Kate turned around,
facing Cal across the island bar that centered the
kitchen.

“Of course, I worry ... she's my
little girl ... but, I have to admit,
this
is the one time
that I
don't
worry about her...” Cal said, as he took a seat
on one of the bar stools.

She walked toward him, closing the
space between them. “Not even a little ...?” Kate questioned, as
she placed her hands on the counter top of the bar.

Jokingly, squishing his fingers
together, he said, “Well, maybe a little … Kate, she's my little
girl, too ... and though she is growing up ... I always worry about
her,” Cal said, then adding a smirk. “With that said, even though
I'm always in a state of worry over our daughter’s safety and
well-being. These times, these scenarios … these are the ones that
I don't worry so much about ... she’s a Natural and she’s
Protected.”

“I know she's a big girl, Cal ... she
doesn't let a day go by where she doesn't verbally remind me of
that ... and that's what brings me to say this...” she paused for
only a moment to gather her words, “Cal, Honey, I really think that
it's time we talk to her ... I think, no, I know, that it's time
that she knows ... It’s time that she knows the
truth...”

Cal sighed, not wanting to admit it,
but knowing his wife was right. “Kate, I'm not sure – I mean, she's
doing fine and I'm afraid it'll mess things up for her ... afraid
that she –”

“... will be angry with us?” Kate
finished her husband’s sentence, looking up at him with sincere
eyes.

Looking down, Cal continued, “Maybe
... but, it's not just that … What if she's not ready?”

“You know that she is ... she has
always been ready...” she said, as she laid her hands on his
shoulders. “You know that I worry about her on a constant and
continuous basis, but I feel that we are doing her an injustice by
keeping this life from her.”

“But we had agreed ... this is what
was best for her.” Cal started to argue defensively.

“But that was then...” Kate said, with
a calmingly, genuine, heartfelt voice.

Cal exhaled a heavy sigh, as Kate
continued.

“You know, as well as I, the others
her age already know what to expect and have already been –” but
her words were cut off by Cal.

“I know, Kate...” Cal said in a low
voice.

“So, are we agreed?” Kate
asked.

“Yes, we are agreed...” Cal spoke low,
as he reached to his shoulder to touch his wife's hand for
reassurance. He turned around on the kitchen bar stool, hugging her
close to him. “But let's get through tonight, okay ... then we'll
find a good time to sit down and talk with her.”

“Okay...” she said, sealing their
agreement with peck on her husband’s lips. “Are you sure she was
okay?” Katelyn said, barely backing away.

“Yes, of course I'm sure ... besides,
I am certain that I would have been notified of anything different.
She'll be fine...” he said to his wife, with assurance.

“Well, just until … I mean, once she
knows, it won't be necessary, but do you have plans for –” Kate
stammered nervously.

“Yes, I have everything ready ... just
in case of emergency...” Cal said.

“I'll just be glad when all of this is
over...” Kate sighed, trying hard to shake her nerves, but still,
she was unsuccessful.

“Kate, you do realize that once she
knows, it won't just be
over
… There will be no turning back
... we won't be able to undo this...” Kate took a deep breath. Cal
continued, “It'll be the start of more than you or I, or anyone for
that matter, could ever dream of...” Kate sighed heavily, not
knowing which scared her more – revealing the truth or the truth
itself.

Coralie could feel her weight being lifted from
where she lay. She tried to open her eyes, what seemed an almost
impossible task. She finally managed to crack her eyelids open just
enough to see a silhouette of what looked like a young man. The man
was holding her close to his body. He felt familiar. He carried her
tired, limp body … holding her close … holding her
tight.

She tried to shift her eyes into
focus, but they would not allow it. She could feel the warmth of
his body and the strength of his arms surrounding her, carrying her
as if she were weightless.

Where am I?
Coralie thought to
herself, unable to remember. Had she hit her head? Where was she?
Trying to remember only made her head ache worse.

She tried to open her eyes once more.
There were beams of light shining all around
him.
There was
a brilliant halo of light around his head, blinding her weakened
sight from seeing his face.
An angel?
She thought,
questioning the safety that wrapped around her. Was she dead? Could
this really be happening
? S
he couldn’t explain it, but
somehow she felt a sense of safety.

She made another attempt to open her
eyes. The slits in her eyes barely allowed light to peak through
them. Where had she been? Where was she now?

Wait, light ... sunlight ...
outside ... woods ...
What had she seen? Had she passed out in
the woods? What was she doing there? And who had found
her?

She started to try to sit up in his
arms, but her effort was a failing one. Realizing how painful of a
blow she must have taken to her head when she lost passed out in
the woods, Coralie relaxed back into the security of
his
arms and started to float back into a state of
unconsciousness.

* * * * *

Coralie awoke to the sound of her
mother's voice. “Coralie,” her mother called out, from the
staircase. Coralie could hear her mother's footsteps nearing her
door.

Coralie started to stir – mind first,
then body.

“Coralie,” her mother called
again.

Coralie rubbed her eyes and blinked a
few times, trying to focus on the image pacing around her
room.

“Coralie, Hon, it's time to get up...”
Katelyn walked over to her daughter’s bedroom window, moving the
curtains aside, as she spoke, allowing light to peek in.

“Mom? What time is it?” Coralie asked,
groggily.

“Three o'clock, dear...”

“Three? Morning or
afternoon?”

“Afternoon ... honey, you've been
asleep all day...”

“Sleeping ... all day...” speaking
sleepily, then Coralie sat up suddenly. She recalled events passing
through her mind like a movie on fast forward. She saw moments
flicker scene after scene.

“Mom ... asleep ... I've been asleep
... are you absolutely sure that I've been asleep?” Coralie asked
in desperation.

“Yes, dear ... asleep ... and you need
to get up and start getting ready ... it's getting late. Do you
know what you are wearing tonight?”

“The library. Mom ... I went –”
Coralie started but was cut off.

“Oh, the library ... right ... you
mentioned that you needed to get some book on hold for your Lit
class ... What was it again?” she paused, looking down at something
in her hand. “Oh, yes ... Austen.” She said, reading the author's
name. Katelyn laid the book down on Coralie's bedside table, then
she began to cross Coralie’s bedroom again.

“Wait, yes ... but how did you
–”

Cutting her daughter off again before
she could ask a too in-depth question, “Honey, you mentioned it
this morning ... in the kitchen ... I know that the library closes
early on Saturday, so I thought while I was out running errands,
I'd pick it up.” She stopped just long enough to look at her
daughter's confused stare. “Besides, you've been so tired lately
... And well, between helping your dad and me with the Benefit, and
working so hard on your studies ... I thought that you may need
some rest, Cor.”