Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening: Revised Edition (24 page)

“What about my mom, is she…?”

“No, she’s not. We hope you
see the seriousness of the situation you face, Aiden,” responded my
grandfather.

“I understand to an extent,
but I’m still wondering why would you want a teenager to join the resistance. I
mean you guys are worse than an African warlord recruiting child soldiers.”

“I wish I could offer you some
kind of comfort Grandson, but I can’t and I am sorry you have been thrown into
this war. We all tried to keep you and your sister away from the minefields but
the recent events have forced our hands. You have to stop seeing yourself as a
child or teenager. Your childhood was over a few nights ago and now it’s time
for you to step up and be a man.”

“I’m not ready for all of this
and I don’t know how you expect me to be so accepting of becoming some kind of
super-soldier. I didn’t even want to go to the armed forces when I thought we
were all normal and now you want me to join in a war that’s full of
supernatural beings that want revenge on me because I accidentally killed their
greatest assassin. I’m just not so eager to go out and kill people.”

“That’s understandable, but
you must know that the people you are trying to avoid killing didn’t offer your
father the same courtesy,” Jaffrey responded.

“What are you saying? The
Shadows murdered my dad? So he wasn’t killed in action in Iraq?”

“No, he was returning from an
important and highly classified mission when his team was hijacked. The rest of
his team managed to escape but he was captured, tortured, and killed,” Jaffrey
answered.

I felt anger swell inside of
me at this new revelation. Everything I thought I knew or believed was all a
cloak hiding the real truth and discovering my father was a victim of the
Shadows made things even more complicated.

“If the mission was so secret,
how was he hijacked?” I asked while trying to fight back the emotions I felt
when I played back that violent vision I had on the night of my birthday. I
began to understand what I saw and realizing my father may have actually gone
through that torture almost mad me lose my cool.”

“I won’t lie to you and tell
you that every Baraqu can be trusted and they support the resistance. Some of
them would rather not fight and hope that the Shadows will show them mercy.
They are rarely correct in their assumption and once their usefulness is
drained they are disposed of.”

“So he was betrayed by his own
people? Nice, and I’m supposed to fight for the same people that gave my dad
up? Yeah, that is really giving me incentive to take up the battle for the
Baraqu.”

“Aiden, the fight isn’t for
you or those people who made those decisions. It’s for the future of this realm
and all the other realms that stand to fall if the Shadows succeed. It’s only a
matter of time before they figure out how to cross over into other realms and
cause the same havoc they caused here. Their treachery will have no bounds or
mercy.”

“I still don’t see how I can
make a difference. They have the same power I have and according to you a lot
more of it.”

“That is incorrect Aiden. I’m
sorry if I led you to believe your powers and theirs are equal. Your powers are
not equal. Understand, positive energy is much more powerful and potent than
negative energy. Positive energy keeps the sun active, negative energy would
cause it to falter and shut down. Some see that as a great and terrible
power—to possess the power to shut down the sun. But in reality the sun would
shut down not because the negative energy is so potent, but because the energy
that has taken control of it isn’t powerful enough to sustain its unrelenting
power. One of us could with a snap of a finger lay waste to legions of Shadows
with the right amount of positive energy at our disposal. But heed my warning:
Don’t ever underestimate their power. They are still formidable adversaries.
But their power has limits and boundaries, which positive energy does not.

“Baraqu control time and space
which creates reality and Shadows control that reality,” added Jaffrey.

“Wait! You are confusing me
Jaffrey. You just said time and space equals reality and the Shadows control
reality, so that would make us equals, correct?”

“You have much to learn, Aiden.
Reality is made up of time and space, so that would mean you control the
elements that give Shadows their powers.”

I sat there for about a minute
trying to make sense of what Jaffrey was saying but it still wasn’t clicking
for me. How could the Shadows controlling reality make them weaker than those
that control time and space?

“I can see you are trying to
wrap your head around this concept. Let me make this easy for you. Without time
and space there is no reality. But time and space can exist even if a reality
doesn’t exist.”

Now it started to make a
little more sense to me. I still needed some more time to think about that
concept to fully understand what Jaffrey was trying to teach me. But I was
getting there.

“So you are saying I could
just walk into a host of Shadows and just start handing out cans of whoop ass?”

“Yes and no, but we will get
into that more once we start your training.”

“Training? I never agreed to
join the resistance!”

“No, you didn’t, but I will
train you all the same. You must learn to protect yourself and your family if
you are to survive another week. So enough talking for tonight, tomorrow we
start training and during your training you can think about joining the
resistance. But by the end of your training you must make a decision.”

“How long is my training?”

“That’s entirely up to you
Aiden. Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day for both
of us.”

T
o say
I couldn’t sleep that night would be an understatement. Actually I didn’t even
attempt to fall asleep. There were too many mental traffic jams in my head to
even entertain the thought of sleeping. My entire world had been turned upside
down and everything I thought I knew to be reality was all smoke and mirrors.
Everything about my dad, the world, my family, and my future was now an unknown
variable. I felt completely naked in this new world I had awakened in and
through the night I caught myself praying that all this was a horrible
nightmare and when the sun rose over the horizon things would go back to the normal.
The whole ancient battle between two races of superior beings—and me being one
of the last warrior kind—sounded like a really good RPG video game.

If only it was just a game. If
anyone had told me any of this before experiencing Jason the other night, I would
have laughed in their face and if they had told me this before coming in
contact with Jasmine, I would have suggested they get medicated immediately.
But after experiencing those two, it all made sense and as much as I wanted it
to be some kind of sick YouTube conspiracy theory, I couldn’t ignore what was
personally happening to me. And Jason, I still felt him; the closeness and love
I felt for the man was still fresh and I couldn’t shake them. He did a serious
number on me and no matter how hard I tried the remorse of taking his life hung
over me like a dark cloud. I knew it had to be done, but I wasn’t happy about
taking another human being’s life. Even though Jason wasn’t completely human, I
mean he had some extra shit going on inside him.

Just like I did. Never in my
darkest nightmares did I fathom that I would be forced to kill someone.
Especially someone I thought loved me. All these thoughts played on my sanity
and emotional stability. I knew my grandfather and Jaffrey wanted me to become
a man, but I was only seventeen years old and no matter how you slice it this
was a much bigger piece of cake than I was expecting from life. The more I
played the scene from my mom’s room back in my head, the more emotionally unstable
I became. What did Jason do to me? Why was I feeling sorrow for the man who was
planning to murder all of us in cold blood? I tried to fight back the sorrow
and anguish but I couldn’t and before I could regroup I began to cry
uncontrollably. The more I fought the harder I cried and I found myself
gripping the covers in anger.

My muscles were so tense that
they began to shake and soon it was like I was having a seizure. My heart was
racing and I began to sweat and my eyesight became blurry. The room was
spinning now and I felt like I was being pushed towards the wall. What is this?
I thought. Am I having a heart attack or am I being attacked by some unseen
force? My symptoms became worse the more I fought my emotions and before long
I’d fallen off the bed, unable to move. It felt like my body was shutting down
and eventually I felt my lungs would too. As I lay there unable to move, the
only thing I could think of was Sarah and my mom. I felt like they were both in
the room with me, begging me to stop fighting and let my emotions flow. But I
didn’t want to feel the way I felt. I didn’t want to feel sorrow for Jason and
I definitely didn’t want to feel the love I had for him. I wanted to hate him
with every inch of my body but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t. I loved him;
even at the moment when I took his life, I loved him. This was a truth I didn’t
want to accept but here in this room, feeling my body shut down, I needed to
make a decision. Either hate Jason and die or admit I killed a man I loved as a
father and live.

Was this a test? Whatever it
was, I was willing to fail before I succumbed to my emotions. My lungs had
completely stopped working and I could feel the burn in my chest as my body
fought to survive. I was moments away from blacking out for probably the last
time and I welcomed the darkness. There was no way I would ever admit I loved
Jason, so if this is my end, so be it, let the darkness take me. A thin veil of
darkness began to cover my eyes and then…

I heard two thunderous claps
and found myself kneeling in a garden. I could feel the sun’s heat on the back
of my neck and the breeze blow past my face. When I lifted my eyes I beheld the
most beautiful natural setting that I had ever seen. The colors of every tree,
flower, and blade of grass seemed to be enhanced and illuminated in the most
beautiful colors. The air tasted sweet and free from pollutions and the odd
smells one would encounter in today’s world. Was this heaven? I thought as I
smiled, looking around and taking in more air and the beauty that surrounded
me.

“No, you are not in heaven.”
The voice came from behind me and it was none other than Jaffrey. I quickly
turned to see Jaffrey standing there with a worried look on his face.

“What is this?”

“This, Aiden, is the beginning
of your training and you failed your first lesson. You failed it miserably.”

“Are you telling me that whole
seizure-thing I experienced back there was a test?”

“Yes and again you failed to
pass it.”

“Whatever! What was the point
of it? To make me admit I love the man who tried to kill me and my family?”

“No, that was just the surface
of the test. The purpose was for you to accept your emotions and use them to
save your life. But it seemed you’d rather die than let your emotions flow.”

“You got that right, Jaffrey!
No way will I ever let love and Jason be in the same sentence with me, let
alone feel it.”

“Then you will never be able
to protect your family and become Baraqu.”

“Oh damn, there goes my dream!
Bummer!”

From the look on Jaffrey’s
face I could tell he was not amused by my sarcasm.

“I told you already, I want no
part in being a Baraqu, so me not passing the test really doesn’t ruin my day.
Sorry, but I’m just keeping it real with you, Jaffrey.”

“Keeping it real? You have no
idea what that really means. You are lying to yourself Aiden and if you don’t
accept the emotions that flow through you naturally, you will succumb to the
unnatural emotions created by man and be ultimately destroyed.”

“Man-made emotions? C’mon,
Jaffrey. Are you telling me that man created his own emotions?”

“Yes, hatred being the most
vile and powerful of them all. When you are born you have no idea what hatred
is. A baby can only love. It is when we fail that a child begins to feel
unnatural emotions like hunger, abandonment, and pain. When we fail, we
introduce these unnatural emotions that teaches a child to ultimately hate.
Hatred is taught to a child; it’s never a gift from life but a curse from man.
So when we fight and ignore the emotions that flow naturally, we again fail and
become our worse enemy. Like you, Aiden. You decided you’d rather die than to
let your natural feelings flow. This way of thinking and feeling has to be
unlearned if you are to become a warrior and possess the power necessary to
protect your family. Whether you decide to join our cause or not, the Shadows
will not stop until your entire family is dead. And your family’s safety is
entirely up to you because though your brother Manny is a very skilled soldier,
he is not capable of fighting the Shadows head on.

“You are your family’s only
hope of safety, and if you refuse the training I am giving you, you are
ultimately condemning your family to death. Either at the hands of one of
Jason’s students or another assassin; they will die and you will be the cause
of their deaths because you refused to act when action was needed.”

“So I actually have no choice?
Either train with you or everyone I love will die?”

“Yes, that is your dilemma.
You are free to refuse, but for every action the universe reacts or responds.
It’s truly up to you.”

Jaffrey was right, I had to go
through with this if I wanted to be able to keep my family safe. I didn’t want
the responsibility, but life isn’t fair, it never is.

“I will give you a warning
Aiden. Unless you accept your true feelings for the Shadow you killed, you will
never reach your full potential and again you will be leaving your family
vulnerable.”

“Okay, now I will agree to
train but I won’t feel what you are suggesting and I would really appreciate it
if we changed the subject concerning Jason.”

“Very well, Aiden. Shall we
begin?”

“Sure.”