Awakening: The Elder Chronicles, Volume 1 Read online

His tone scared her. She watched as his eyes grew wide with shock. She didn't think it possible, but his voice took on a tone of even greater urgency.

  "Now!" he exclaimed, wagging his hand at her. "It's not safe for you here." He began walking toward her.

  "No!" She pushed past him. "Alec, I have a lab. I have to get to my la—"

  She again froze. In the distance, two identical men were walking toward them. Both men were average height with long white-blonde hair swept back behind their ears. The white cable-knit sweaters and dress slacks the men wore could not hide their muscular bulk. Most noticeable of all, Elena could see both men were fixated upon her as they broadened their pace and picked up speed.

  Alec followed her gaze. "It's too late," he muttered. "Crap!"

  Elena heard a strange buzzing sound. It reminded her of standing in the middle of a cocktail party with hundreds of conversations prattling on around her. Her body tingled with the same electric sensation she had felt when Alec helped her up after she'd slipped outside the dining hall. Her jaw dropped and she stared, unable to move, as the two men approached.

  "Elena," he pleaded, "we've got to get you out of here. Those are the men who killed your father. And now, they're coming for you." The words struck a deep chord. She turned her gaze from the approaching men back to Alec and stared into his eyes. Reflected in them were both fear and truth.

  "What do you mean they killed my father?" she asked.

  The two men were but a couple hundred yards away now. They'd closed the distance without any visible effort. "There is no time to explain," Alec said as he grabbed her by the wrist and ran, dragging her behind him.

  Elena stumbled for the first few steps, but soon exploded into a full sprint.

  "We have to leave. Fast! Where is your car?"

  Back through the tunnel, Elena led the way as she and Alec ran across the quad and between the dorms to the parking lot. On her way to her car, she fumbled in her pockets for her keys. Once beside it, she nearly dropped them several times in her haste but finally managed to unlock it. They both slipped inside as the two men appeared at the edge of the parking lot. She slipped in the key and tried the ignition. Her gut sank at the sound of a spinning starter motor.

  Not... Now! Dammit!

  "C'mon...C’mon... C'mon!!!" she screamed at her dashboard.

  The men were closing fast.

  The car roared to life.

  "Yes!"

  She jammed the shift lever to reverse and mashed her foot to the floor, whipping her Camry around out of the parking spot, surprised she had managed to pull off the maneuver without crashing into another car.

  She slammed the transmission into drive and sped through the maze of parking spaces.

  "Who the hell are..."

  Her question was cut short by the plinking sound of two bullets punching holes into the thin sheet metal of her car. Another bullet pierced her rear window, shattering it. Alec flinched at the last shot and his hand grabbed his left side.

  She turned to him and the car began to slow.

  "Drive!" he shouted at her, "Go! Go! Go!" She thrust the accelerator to the floor again and the car lurched forward.

  She over steered around several short turns, but never once let her foot up off the accelerator. The tortured engine screamed. The stop light separating the parking lot and the main road through campus raced toward her. It was red. Gritting her teeth, she sped into the intersection and whipped the car hard to the left, heading toward the interstate. The car took purchase on the pavement and bolted down the road. Elena let out a huge sigh of relief, grateful for the lack of morning traffic.

  "You need a doctor," she told him. "I need to get you to a hospital. We need the police." The words were coming out fast.

  He seemed far too calm for a gunshot victim. "I'm fine," he said. "Don't worry about me. You need to get as far away from here as fast as you can." Then, he added, "And whatever you do, do not call the police."

  In a few quick turns she headed south on the interstate, not quite sure where to go. But she knew where she wanted to go. And it was south of school. Far south.

  "You need a doctor," she said again, panic still in her voice.

  Alec shook his head. Lifting his closed right fist toward her face, he turned his hand palm upward, and opened his fingers. Within it were the shattered remains of a bullet.

  "Like I said," he told her, "don't worry about me." The smile had returned to his face.

  Her jaw dropped open. She eased up a little on the accelerator.

  "Don't slow down yet," he cautioned her. "We're nowhere out of the woods. They are still coming after us." In her rearview mirror there were no cars visible anywhere. Despite being a state highway, it was never heavily trafficked. The men might be coming after them. But she knew she had a great head start, and given the usually empty nature of the road, any pursuers would be easy to spot.

  "Can you answer some questions for me?" she asked him with more calm than she believed she'd be able to muster in the present circumstances. She turned her eyes from the road to address him. He slowly nodded in agreement.

  "Good," she replied. "First: who are those people?" Her voice flat, and cold.

  "The two chasing us are very bad," he responded. "They are wicked henchmen who have no respect for human life and specialize in killing. They are the ones responsible for killing your father."

  "My father died of an aneurism at his lab," she retorted.

  "No," Alec replied. "Your father was murdered. Damage to his brain caused the aneurism and his death. The two following us caused the damage to his brain."

  Elena's head swam. How could he know all of this? "Why would somebody kill my father?" she asked. "He was a genetic researcher. I mean, how can you be sure he was murdered?"

  Alec explained, "Because of the implications of his research. And to answer your next question, based on what happened to your father, it is my job to protect you."

  The needle on the Toyota's speedometer crept down toward sixty. Unaware of the declining speed, Alec continued, "The people chasing us will stop at nothing to capture you."

  It amazed her at how calm he seemed to be talking about a couple of cold-blooded murderers wanting to kill her. In a way, it almost made sense. After all, they weren't after him; they wanted her dead. Why should he be scared and get riled about them wanting to kill her? She decided to move on before becoming too agitated at his nonchalance.

  Her eyes finally crept down to the speedometer. "Crap," she exclaimed. She pressed her foot to the floor and the car leapt forward again with a whine of the transmission.

  Alec glanced at the speedometer. Elena could see his face take on a vacant expression. "Dammit," he said in a hushed voice. "It's too late."

  He hadn't even finished mouthing the words when a dark shadow overwhelmed the speeding car. Elena could see something fly over the car and land on the road in the distance right in their path. A heavy thud echoed through the interior of the car as the roof dented downward.

  "Pull over," Alec said to her. "It's no use running. They've got us." Alec's voice lacked emotion, and Elena had trouble hearing him. The ringing in her head had returned with force, its din nearly deafening her. Despite the noise, there were some occasional words amongst the din. But the words she heard were in addition to those spoken by Alec and did not belong to his voice.

  She pulled over onto the shoulder. As they slowed, the shadow which landed in the road ahead glided toward them. The creature standing before her almost caused her to steer into the ditch.

  As a person in the scientific disciplines, Elena did not think of herself as irrational. However, the being standing in front of her car defied any rationality. She recognized him as one of the men who had been chasing them. He wore no shirt, but still had the dress pants he had been in. The cold, fierce expression on his face made her cringe. However, the sight that shocked her most, taking her breath away, was the fourteen-foot-wide span of opalescent feathered wings spreading outward fro
m the man's back.

  He drew back his fist and smashed it into the hood of her car. The sheet metal nearly tore from the impact.

  She heard a strong voice command her, "Elena Michaels. Get out of the car. Now!"

  The man's lips never moved.

  Alec leaned in to her and whispered, "Stay in the car. No matter what happens. Do not go to them willingly." Without allowing her a chance to respond, Alec opened the door and stepped out of the car onto the shoulder.

  Amidst the noise in her head, Elena could hear an unfamiliar voice speaking. Youngling...silence...the girl...more silence...you must! She could hear Alec's voice respond. Leave the girl alone!

  And then it began. The movements were fast and she lost track of the action. One second Alec stood beside the car, staring down the winged being; in the next, they were both gone.

  Pushing her face against the windshield, she gazed up into the sky. A patchwork of shadows danced across the roadway and hood of the car. However, her view was quickly blocked as the hood of her car crunched and a pale face pressed itself up against the outside of the glass. Startled, she shoved herself backward into the seat.

  Wild white-blonde hair framed the pale face against the glass. Hello Elena. I was wondering if we might be able to talk. The face behind the windshield cocked sideways, an unspoken question in its eyes. It cocked again, back the other direction. You do hear me, don't you?

  Without thinking, Elena nodded in response to the unspoken question.

  Good. The face smiled in a failed attempt at seeming warm and inviting. Instead, the smile screamed danger to her. I would like to speak with you out here. Out in the nice, fresh air. As the voice spoke in her head, the atmosphere in the car became stale. Her lungs struggled to catch breath.

  It really is nice and crisp out here. She could see the beast kneeling on her hood breathing deep as her lungs struggled even more.

  Her hand sought the door handle.

  Elena! No! Whatever happens, do not leave the car! Alec's voice invaded her head. Was he shouting at her?

  She reached for the steering column and turned the key in the ignition. A slight sense of relief washed over her as the car started on its first try. She turned on the radio and cranked up the music.

  The face staring at her through the windshield grimaced. Do you think the music... You call this noise music? Odd... Do you really think it can block me out? Then the creature's maniacal laughter filled her head.

  Elena turned the radio up as high as it would go. She forced herself to focus on the music and sang along at the top of her lungs.

  The laughter grew more intense. The sound of his mental voice numbed her head. Outside, in the distance, something fell to the ground. The faint impact of a solid mass striking the pavement preceded a hollow metallic thud on the roof of her car.

  Outside the window, her tormenter had disappeared. Against her better judgment, she leaned forward to peer out again. What met her eyes made her jump back in her seat, throwing her hands over her face. Her scream drowned out the blasting car stereo.

  A body hurtled toward the earth at amazing speed. Her heart sank and her stomach twisted in fear as she recognized the coat wrapped around the falling form belonged to Alec.

  Chills ran down her spine. The trajectory of the falling mass made it clear she would soon be crushed as it fell through her windshield to land on top of her. An instant before impact, though, the falling body slid sideways and landed in the road inches from the car. The creature who had guided Alec's body down through the sky leap off a split second before it struck the pavement with a hard thud. She screamed.

  Her voice halted with a gasp. She must be going insane, because she recognized the figure standing before her car as a smirking Alec. Though what shocked her more was a powerful pair of pure, snow-white feathered wings stretching wide from Alec's back. She blinked. The wings were gone.

  Wait! How could this be? She had seen wings there. They were there! Elena shook her head in disbelief. Perhaps it had been a phantom memory of the wings she had seen on the other being.

  He walked with purpose to the car and tried the handle of the locked car door. Elena fumbled with the power door locks and managed to let him in. "We have to get out of here," he said. "They're not going to stay down for long. These are a tougher bunch than I figured they would send." He spoke with urgency. Sitting in the seat beside her, he closed the car door, and put on his seat belt.

  She stared at his shirtless form dumbfounded. He had an amazing physique, like something from the cover of a cheap harlequin romance. Never would she have guessed such a solid and toned body could hide beneath his shirt. She lacked the will to shift her attention back to driving.

  And yet a question burned in her mind. She needed answers. "What the hell is going on?"

  "Drive," he told her, "and I will explain." He spoke in a calm, even tone. After a quick glimpse out the car window added, "Elena, we have to hurry."

  She sat numbed for a few more moments. Alec reached over and grasped her right hand. His touch felt soft, warm, and electric. Her skin tingled. She couldn't understand why, but the feel of his skin on hers somehow calmed her. She turned to gaze into his alluring blue eyes. "Elena, I understand this is a lot for you to take in. Your whole world has been turned upside down. But you have to trust me!" He clasped her hand to lend her support. "We have to leave. And we have to leave now!" Almost to illustrate his point, the being in front of her car began to move around.

  Elena blinked and snapped back into focus. He…it's not dead! It would be pretty pissed when it recovered. She stomped on the accelerator, nearly hitting the body in front of her car, maneuvered off the shoulder, and continued speeding down the highway, thankful for an empty road.

  Chapter Six

  For the next three hours, they drove south and west on the highway at about eighty miles per hour in complete silence. They had crossed state lines into Massachusetts two hours ago and were about to enter New York State. The roads were more heavily trafficked, but everything moved well and they were able to maintain their speeds, especially on the multilane highways. Elena could not take the oppressive void of silence any longer.

  "So, you said you would explain," she prompted. Glancing up from the road, she turned off the highway onto a back road. Alec's eyes never turned away from the side window. To Elena, he seemed hypnotized by the passing scenery. Yet, she could almost swear she had heard him mumble something under his breath once or twice.

  "So?" she sniped at him. This time, she turned from the wheel and stared at the back of his head.

  "You really should pay attention to the road when driving this fast," he responded in a flat, emotionless voice. He sounded tired. "You never can tell when a deer might jump in front of the car." He turned back to face her.

  "I am sure," he continued, "it's an understatement to say you have a long list of questions." His voice had a sense of comical amusement to it. "And I can't say I blame you. After all, for someone like you, this has to be quite bizarre."

  "Yeah, there's an understatement." Her voice had a slight tremble.

  "So shoot," he responded. "Ask me anything. Oh, and you can slow down now. We should be relatively safe for the time being. They gave up the chase about an hour ago." He chuckled to himself, and then said, "It's harder to fly with broken wings. Unfortunately, by now they have your whole life history." She could hear a little hint of frustration in his voice.

  As the speedometer eased back from eighty, she blurted, "Okay. Who the hell are you?" Perhaps, she considered after the words escaped her lips, I could have asked him a little nicer.

  "Don't worry about being nice," he replied to her. She started at his words. Had she said it out loud? After a brief moment of reflection, she concluded she hadn't.

  "What?" she asked, "Can you read my mind or something?" She couldn't keep the anger from her voice.

  "Yes," he replied. "I can hear your thoughts when you think out loud." Before she could interject with ano
ther question, he continued, "In answer to your question: I am here to protect you. As you can tell, I am not human. Would you care to venture a guess as to what I am?"

  "Given the immense set of wings I saw sticking from your back," she began, "and believe me when I say I don't believe I am about to say this, but I would have to guess you are something like an angel."

  With a smirk he replied, "You saw those, huh? I tried to tuck them in before you could see."

  She could not believe his nonchalance about the encounter, but it also seemed a little forced, like he wanted the whole thing to appear laughable.

  "The simplest explanation is I belong to a very old race of beings," he explained. "Our kind predates the emergence of what you understand as modern humans. I myself was born more than three thousand years ago." He paused.

  Elena asked. "So, who are you?"

  Alec seemed to consider this for a moment, then turned and asked, "Long story, or short?"

  "I don't want a story; I want the truth."

  "Fair enough," he replied. "Long it is—" He sat in silent contemplation for a few seconds. He glanced up and called her attention back to the road. "You're going to miss your turn."

  Elena snapped her head forward in time to see he'd been correct. She almost drove right past the same small street she had driven onto hundreds of times since receiving her license.

  "How did you know where I was going?" she asked.

  He ignored her question and spoke with extreme caution. "Elena," he told her, "our meeting was not by chance. I have been watching over you for a long time. I am here to protect you."

  "Protect me?" she asked. "From what?"

  "Yes, protect you," he replied. "What from? Well, how about those two creatures I fought back there and the ghoul I fought the other night? All of which were sent for you. Elena, I am your protector, your guardian."

  "What do they want with me?" she asked him. Her voice sounded helpless, despite her best efforts at bravado.

  "Because," he told her, "you're special." Elena detected an unintentional slip of emotion in his voice.