Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening: Revised Edition (33 page)

She then tried to cast the
curse again and I crumpled it up again and ran towards her as fast as I could.
She kept casting the curse and as I ran, I quickly balled up the darkness and
threw it to the side of me like balls of paper thrown to the floor. I then made
a car from the parking lot appear right above her head. Jasmine looked up at
the car right before it came crashing down. But before it could crush her she
smiled and took control of it and threw it in my direction.

Her quick response surprised
me and I wasn’t expecting to see the same car hurling towards me, so I
teleported myself out of the path of the car and appeared right behind Jasmine
just before it came thundering down into the ground sending a cloud of dirt and
grass into the air. I grabbed her hair from behind and slammed her onto her
back. She yelled out as the force of the ground sent shockwaves of pain through
her body. I then changed the density of the skin and bones in my arm and fist,
similar to hardened steel, and prepared to punch a hole straight through
Jasmine’s chest as she lay on the ground grimacing in pain.

Her eyes widened as she saw my
fist cutting through the air towards her chest and she quickly shifted away
from my oncoming blow. The force of her movement knocked me off my feet. The
ground was not kind to me when my body fell and the impact forced the wind out
of my lungs.

As much as I wanted to lie
there, I couldn’t because I knew Jasmine was going to try and attack while I
was down and my assumptions were correct. The same car that she hurled at me
was now hovering over me and in a fraction of a second would come down on top
of me. Any normal person would have just chalked this one up in the loss column
but not me. I wasn’t normal and Jasmine wasn’t aware of what I was capable of.
I quickly teleported Jasmine inside the car and much to my delight and her
surprise she wasn’t expecting that. I then sent the car zooming upwards into
the sky and when I thought it was high enough I sent in speeding down towards
the earth. I could hear her screaming and fighting trying to get the car doors
open; which I conveniently sealed tight. She then tried to break the glass as a
last resort. Too bad I made them unbreakable as well. She was trapped and
before she could figure it out the car and the ground was reunited.

The impact of the car hitting
the ground caused several car alarms in the parking lot to go off. The sound of
the impact was like a bomb detonating and I could hear screams coming from
inside the hotel. I walked over to the car to gloat in my victory, smiling to
myself at what I had accomplished. No one would ever hurt Sarah, not while I
drew breath. No matter how beautiful or sexy the assailant may be; they would
face a brutal demise if they decided to go after Sarah to get to me. But my
victory was short lived because to my surprise and disappointment the car was
empty.

“Very clever, Aiden,” I heard
Jasmine say behind me. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. You’ve been trained
very well to control your abilities. But so have I and I’m not easily beaten.”

I turned around to face her,
but she wasn’t there.

“Just like you, I am
different, I am not like other Shadows.”

This time her voice was coming
from above me as if she was flying but when I looked up no one was there. During
my training with Jaffrey he warned me about the Shadows’ ability to be in
multiple places at once. He said it was a cheap trick to  get their prey to
concentrate on the sound of their voice and not the sound of their movements. I
closed my eyes and listened. Her voice was everywhere now,  surrounding me like
a tornado spinning faster and faster. I kept listening for movement and tuned
out the sound of her voice. Then I heard her move by a tree that was no more
than three feet behind me and I quickly harnessed electricity and sent a bolt
of electrical energy in her direction. I heard her scream as the electricity
struck her body, throwing her to the ground. I opened my eyes and saw her lying
on the ground, smoke coming off of her body as she moaned in pain trying to get
up.

She
was
different. The
other Shadows I’d faced were easily killed by such a shock of electricity, but
not Jasmine. I could tell she was in a lot of pain but she wasn’t dead and the
only thing that was physically damaged was her dress. I thought the smoke was
coming off of her skin but it was coming off of her burning dress. Before she
could get up I used telekinesis to lift her body from the ground and forcefully
slammed her against the tree behind her. I made sure she couldn’t move by using
my powers to keep her bonded to the tree. She struggled, but eventually she
discovered she wasn’t going anywhere…well, maybe hell, but she wasn’t going
anywhere until I sent her there. I slowly walked over to the tree but not
before glancing over my shoulder to see where Sarah was. She was now on her
knees, weeping with her hands covering her face. Seeing Sarah like that only
multiplied my murderous rage towards Jasmine and I quickened my pace towards
her to end this once and for all.

“Before I end you, tell
me—what did you do to my sister?”

Jasmine was in terrible pain
and I could tell it was hard for her to speak clearly but she cleared her
throat so that she could speak.

I saved her life, that’s what
I did.” Jasmine’s response infuriated me even more.

“What!? Are you insane? Look
at my sister, look at her! How is that saving her life?”

“Listen Aiden, I know you have
no reason to trust me because of what I am. But I am telling you the truth.”

“Or you could be trying to
save your ass!”

“No Aiden, I knew who Jason
really was and I wanted to warn your family. But the only way I could was to
awaken Sarah’s abilities. Your family was marked for execution by the council
and I couldn’t just let them murder all of you. Had I not awakened her
abilities, she would have never been able to see Jason for what he really was
and he would have killed all of you in your sleep. I tried to warn her but she
wouldn’t listen, so my only option was to awaken her ability.”

“Oh, so now I’m supposed to
believe that a Shadow wants to help a family of Baraqu, right?”

“Believe what you want, but
it’s the truth.”

“So what were you doing now?
Saving us again? Look at her—she’s a wreck.”

“No Aiden, those are not tears
of pain but tears of joy. I gave her more control over her ability, more
confidence. I didn’t have time to complete the awakening with her because I
heard someone coming when we fought at the school and I couldn’t risk it being
another Shadow. Do you know what would happened to me and my family if they
found out I was trying to help your family?”

“Hmm let me guess, what I’m
about to do to your lying ass right now?!”

“Precisely, Aiden.”

“So I guess the darkness curse
you were putting on me was a life-saving technique?”

“No, Aiden, I was protecting
myself.”

“How is that?”

“You are Baraqu and I didn’t
know you weren’t aware of your abilities. I misread you. Your aura is very
powerful and it appeared you were a threat and I wasn’t sure what you were
going to do to me! You were staring at me pretty hard!”

“It wasn’t because of that! I
was clueless about all of this!”

“So why were you staring then?
Oh, okay I see.” Jasmine chuckled. “Boys!” she said rolling her eyes. Her
revelation about why I was staring at her made me blush and I turned away for a
split second.

“Listen, Baraqu stud…you won
and I can see that you are a killer and ready to end my life, so let’s get it
over with because this tree bark against my back is pretty uncomfortable.”

“For someone about to die you
are pretty coy about it.”

“Everyone and everything dies
Aiden, we can’t escape it, and if I am to die here telling you the truth then
so be it. But I’m not going to beg you.”

Her arrogance was astonishing;
even in the face of death she was still defiant.

“Well, have it your way Jasmine.”

I began to ready myself to
send a bolt of lightning through her body while Jasmine looked towards the sky
waiting for the final blow, and then I felt someone reach for my arm and pull
me away from the tree. It was Sarah, and when I looked in her eyes I saw
compassion in them. Compassion for this evil I was about to destroy.

“No, Aiden, this is wrong. She
is telling you the truth, she did help me, and she helped us.”

What? I quickly turned to
Jasmine and demanded to know what kind of mind control did she have over my
sister.

“Aiden stop! Stop it now! I am
not under any mind control, my abilities make that impossible. She just
completed the awakening in me. When she initially did it she wasn’t done, so I
wasn’t completely awakened and my abilities were uncontrollable and
inconsistent. Now that it’s completed I can turn it on and off anytime. Let her
go!”

“I can’t, Sarah, I just can’t.
I’m sorry but this is for your own safety. I can’t bring myself to trust a
Shadow. Not after what Jason did to us.”

“No Aiden, you won’t. You
won’t even try.”

I walked over to the tree and
looked Jasmine in the eyes.

“Whatever you did to my
sister, it doesn’t work on me.”

 Jasmine began crying and
wouldn’t look at me.

“Just do it please, you are
making this harder for me.”

“Harder for you? I thought you
were ready to die.”

“No, I said everything and
everyone dies and I wasn’t going to beg you.”

“So why are you crying?”

“None of your business Aiden,
you don’t believe a word I’m saying anyway. Remember I’m evil, I’m a Shadow,”
Jasmine mocked.

I could hear Sarah pleading
with me not to kill Jasmine. I couldn’t bring myself to listen to her. She was
young and naive; she had no idea what these things were capable of. She didn’t
see what I saw in Jason, she didn’t see what I saw in Spain.

“I’m tired of talking. It’s
time for you to die now.”

Jasmine looked at me with eyes
filled with tears. I was expecting them to be tears of anger or sadness because
her time had come, but they were tears of regret. Not the type of regret from
bad things we do in life but regret from something unrealized. Something she
wanted so much that was being taken from her on this night by my hands. I
placed my hands around her wrists so that she wouldn’t try and get away while I
sent thousands of kilowatts of electricity through my body into hers. I wasn’t
taking any chances; Jasmine was right, she was different, and Jaffrey warned me
that she was uncannily powerful. Sarah began screaming behind me, pleading for
me not to do it, but I wasn’t listening. I looked into Jasmines eyes one last
time. This time she looked directly in mine and what I saw in her eyes wasn’t
regret, sorrow, or anger. It was something completely different and then she
did something that changed our lives forever…

I
felt
an electrical charge run through my body from my toes to my hair follicles. It
was warm and felt like I was walking on air. This wasn’t the electricity I was
planning on using to kill Jasmine. This was something else. I was in a trance
and it felt like time was standing still and then I realized what was
happening. Jasmine had kissed me and I was kissing her back.

When I opened my eyes I
discovered that Jasmine and I were floating about fifteen feet above the
ground. I looked down at Sarah and she had the biggest smile on her
tear-drenched face. I looked at Jasmine and she was also smiling and crying. I
didn’t understand what was happening to me. Jasmine was my enemy, her kind had
taken my father from me, sent a man to our home who shared our mother’s bed and
used his powers against us so that he could kill us. Jasmine was a Shadow and
my enemy but here floating above the earth on prom night I’d just discovered
that I was madly in love with her and what was more surprising was that she
felt the same.

Yes, I called it madly in love
because we both had to be out of our freaking minds to even let something like
this occur. The dangers and ramifications of our love could rock the very
foundations of the realm. This wasn’t supposed to be. This was impossible, but
sometimes the only logical answer is the impossible. Jasmine smiled at me
seeing the confusion on my face. I looked at her and she nodded in agreement
with me. Yes, she too thought this was crazy, but here we were.

Back on the ground I sat down
on the grass in complete confusion. What just happened? Jasmine sat next to me
and held my hand and placed it on her chest over her heart. With my hands that
close to her…
cough
…you know…I damn near fainted.

“This is what drives my
actions Aiden, not my heritage or what I am.”

“But if that’s true then why
did you do all that crazy stuff to me? The football games, tryouts, the
lunchroom?”

“Aiden, as powerful as I am, I
am still a teenage girl and sometimes we do dumb things. I wish I could explain
it further. But after our first contact in the lunchroom I realized you weren’t
aware because of how it affected you, but then again being a teenage girl who
liked a boy that didn’t like her I decided to mess with you. Yes, it was mean
and I am very sorry, but I’ve wanted to kiss you since that day in the
lunchroom. I figured that since you weren’t aware maybe you could love me too.
But when I saw Jason with your family at the games I knew that sooner or later
you would be aware and would hate me. But to experience what we just did
tonight, almost killing each other and then this; even though we both are aware
of what we are and the history behind who we are, is a miracle.”

I was at a loss for words.

Then I realized Tony was
right. I
was
jealous seeing Brian with Jasmine, but my hate clouded my
mind to the point I was willingly lying to myself about how I really felt about
Jasmine. It all started to make sense now. I dreamed about this girl and showed
up in her house uninvited on several occasions, looking at her while she slept.
But the bloodline of the Baraqu and the hatred for Shadows it carried confused
me and my intentions towards Jasmine. Just like her, I now realized that I
loved her. I had been so consumed by hate that I hadn’t realized it. But
Jasmine knew how she felt all along and to hold on to that love, even though
there wasn’t a chance in hell that we would find ourselves in this moment was
incredible. Jaffrey was right, there wasn’t a Shadow like her.

“Aiden, I know you have a lot
of questions and I will answer all of them, but right now we need to clean this
mess up and you are the only one who can do it.”

So after cleaning up our
lover’s quarrel we all went back inside to try to enjoy the rest of the night.
Life was going to be very interesting going forward but at the same time I was
optimistic because for the first time in my life I was in love and she loved me
back. I just wished it wasn’t so complicated. But when I thought back on all
the so-called loves I had in my younger years prior to Jasmine, none hurt more
than when I was twelve years old and had a serious bug for an eighth grade
cheerleader named Asia Radcliff.

At the time she was the most
beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes upon. Half Asian and half African
American, she was the top track star in her class and the captain of the
cheerleading squad. She also happened to be on the fast track to the
gold-digger hall of fame. At the time I didn’t quite understand the concept and
I thought she walked on gold-plated butterfly wings. I couldn’t get enough of
Asia and every chance I got I made myself known to her. At first I was ignored
until she found out through some of her fellow gold-digging acquaintances that
my family was “balling.” Immediately after that I was her main concern. She let
me carry her books and we sat together at lunch. I even got her phone number
and to all the guys in my age group I was “that dude.”

But soon I started getting
requests from her of a financial nature. I was spending all the money I could
get my hands on for that girl. Taking her to the mall and getting her whatever
she wanted but when I didn’t have the funds she would ignore me for weeks.
Every time that happened I got this aching feeling in my stomach and it felt 
like I couldn’t breathe. My classmates would clown me every time she would
ignore me when I called her name. They all knew what she was doing, but no
one—and I mean no one—had the character or the balls to tell me to my face that
she was using me. During that time, Tony was overseas going to school so I didn’t
have him watching my back. But he came home earlier than expected and the very
first day he saw her he told me exactly what she was doing to me. It was hard
and it really broke my heart.

She was my first kiss and I
was hoping I would lose my virginity to her as well. I don’t think I cried as
much as I did back then, trying to cope with the betrayal and pain of loving
someone and finding out they never loved me back. And she told me she did all
the time and my dumb ass believed her too. Now here I was again in a very
complicated situation, but the currency this time was life. My life and the
lives of those I cared for.

I know on the surface it
seemed irresponsible and it seemed like I hadn’t learned my lesson after
dealing with Jason’s treachery. Yet here I was, accepting the love of someone I
just wanted to kill and giving my heart back to her instantaneously. It was
fast, I know, too fast, but even with all the anger and hatred I felt,
something deep inside was telling me that this was the love I should be
investing in. This is the girl I should be with. So I trusted my gut and went
with it; also the way she looked in that red dress helped a lot too.

What? Shame on me? No, shame
on you to think otherwise. I was seventeen years old and I had an unlimited amount
of hormones flowing through my body and Jasmine was a hormone-magnet. Just
looking at her inspired fantasies of me and her doing things that would make
even Tony blush. And then to find out she actually had a heart was just icing
on the cake. I was so excited about this new love and I didn’t hide my disdain
towards Brian when I saw him again inside. I heard him whisper that I was
“playa-hating,” but I didn’t care. I was looking everywhere for Tony but I
couldn’t find him. Finally someone told me he had gone upstairs with his
dynamic duo and they even gave me the room number. I had to tell Tony about
what just happened outside, I was too excited not to. I had temporarily
forgotten about wanting to kill her and everything I had experienced prior to
this night. I was just filled with so much joy and it felt like a huge weight
had been lifted off my chest. I was knocking on the door for about five minutes
before I heard Tony yelling,

“Who is it!”

“It’s Aiden. I need to talk to
you, it’s important!”

“Aww, dude, come on! I’m in
the middle of something,” he yelled from behind the door. “Literally in the
middle of something.”

“Tony, seriously, you know I
wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t important!”

“True,” he said. “Okay, one
sec.”

Tony flung open the door wearing
a pointy happy birthday hat, boxers, and a smiley face made of whipped cream on
his bare chest.

“Dude, what the hell?!” I
yelled at the sight of him in the doorway.

Tony just stood there with a
mischievous grin on his face in a Superman pose. I guess he figure if I had the
nerve to interrupt his hotel room romp I had the nerve to see him in this
unnerving manner. I didn’t even want to go there with him right now.

“You know what, never mind. I
hope you are having a great time. Listen, something incredible happened to me
outside tonight.”

Tony leaned forward to get a
closer look at me and then he sniffed me like he was trying to smell something
unique. Then his eyes widened and he started jumping up and down like an idiot.
His whipped cream smiley face started to come apart and slide down his chest. I
quickly took a step back just in case he tried to hug me and ruin my suit.

“Wait? You got you some? Like
some real good some? OHHH my boy Aiden is a man now…I told you boy, when you
get the good stuff you want to tell the world but you can’t because she won’t
give it to you anymore…I remember I did that and I still regret it to this
day…did I tell you about that…maaan…”

“Tony, Tony, no it’s not
that,” I interrupted.

Tony would have ranted on and
on and I needed to tell him so that he could get his silly-looking ass back in
the room before someone called animal control because something just wasn’t
right inside that hotel room.

“Me and Jasmine are a couple
now!”

“Wait, what the hell you just
say to me?” Tony asked.

The tone of his voice sounded
like I had just called him a racial slur.

“I said me and Jasmine are a
couple now.”

“A couple, huh? Yeah, I agree,
a couple of freaking idiots! Man what is wrong with you? First you wanted to
kill the evil bitch, right? I mean earlier tonight you looked like you were
ready to get all buckets of blood on her ass and now you’re telling me you two
are dating?”

“Yes!”

“So first you wanted to take
her out and now you want to take her out but this time on a date, under the
moon and stars, riding unicorns and eating honey-covered wafer snacks, right?
Aiden, get your mind right so your ass can follow! What is going on in that
head of yours dude? Let me guess what happened: you two had to have a
confrontation outside in order for you to get that close for her to tell you
she loves you, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Right, so then you whopped
her ass and right before you was about to deal the final blow she professed her
undying love for you; am I on point?”

Damn he’s good.

“Yes, you are.”

“Dude, listen to yourself. She
played you man!”

“Tony, your whipped-cream
smiley face is melting,” I jokingly interrupted.

“Don’t worry about my whipped
cream! Worry about your ass! She didn’t want to get her bag tipped so she
preyed on your weakest desires. Which are love and lust because it’s clear you
are attracted to that evil bitch.”

“Hey, watch your mouth Tony.”

“Oh, so now she’s a laaaady?
After almost killing you in the lunchroom and almost ruining your chances of
getting on the football team, now she’s a lady and demands respect? I guess she
had a viable explanation for that too, right?”

“It wasn’t viable but it made
sense,” I responded.

“It made sense? Aiden, does
any of this shit make sense to you? Dude, the last Shadow you got close to
tried to kill you and your entire family. Wipe all of you off the map. Remember
that? I do, because I was pulling your unconscious ass out of a burning house
with emblems of fire attached to my ass. So now you are willing to jeopardize
the lives of your mom and sister? For her? For love? I don’t know what she did
to Sarah but I know she did something and what you are telling me right now is
insanity.”

“I know it sounds crazy but we
love each other!”

“Ya’ll have a crazy way of
showing your love. I guess if you guys get married the ceremony will consist of
a selection from the choir and a battle to the death at the altar. You know
what Aiden, I’m going to go back inside this hotel room and try to forget what
you just told me. But tomorrow you and I are going to get into this. Right now
I’m going to get into this,” Tony said, pointing inside his hotel room.