Awakening (37 page)

Darla was gently stroking Luke’s
forehead. Tears were streaming down her face.

Freddy said in a harsh voice, “I won’t
let you turn him into a zombie.”

I stopped struggling, stunned by his
words.

“
He told me what you can
do. There’s no saving him. He’s been crushed to death. The stone
weighs a thousand pounds. Luke’s dead…” Freddy’s words ended in a
choked sob.

I shook my head back and forth. “He
can’t be dead. He’s not dead.”

Freddy pulled me closer. He leaned in
and whispered in my ear, “Colina, listen to me. You can’t help
him.”

I started struggling against his grip
again. “I can! Let me go! Let me go!”

Black smoke was now
billowing in clouds on the other side of the room.
People were rushing out in all
directions.

Freddy started dragging me out of the
room.

I screamed, I kicked, I scratched, I
bit at Freddy, but he didn’t let me go.

When we were finally outside, he threw
me to the ground. I started to get up.

Darla was now at Freddy’s side. Her
eyes were full of tears. “You did this. You killed him,” she
said.

I shook my head. “No, no…”

Darla wiped away the tears and yelled
at me, “You wouldn’t listen! You wouldn’t wait! He tried to protect
you. He went in there because of you, and now he’s
dead!”

Luke wasn’t dead. I didn’t
believe it. I couldn’t believe it.
I stood
there in a daze. Flames were now showing from the windows. The
mansion was on fire. People in black robes were rushing from the
exits. But there were others too, running across the grounds,
others who were dressed in regular clothes.

“
Those people in the
basement. We need to get them out,” I yelled at Freddy.

Darla watched the bodies racing across
the yard and said, “I set them loose. I went down to the room when
Freddy and Luke came after you. All the people being held hostage
are free.”

I had gone back into the
mansion with the intention of saving the innocent people Macaven
held hostage, but I hadn’t given them a second thought once I set
my sights on Macaven. I had been so bent on my revenge, so focused
on seeing Macaven die that I hadn’t cared at all what happened to
anyone else. I had killed a man in cold blood, and then watched as
the zombie I created killed a dozen more. I was responsible for it
all. For my family’s death. For Luke’s death. It was all my
fault.

I slumped toward the ground. This
couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be truly happening, it had to be a
horrible nightmare that I would wake from at any moment
from.

Freddy grabbed my arm and
started to pull me into the bushes. I was pulled and shoved through
the woods, I didn’t resist instead I moved as if in a trance. When
we finally made it to the car, Freddy pushed me inside.

Luke couldn’t be dead. This was not
happening. I was dreaming, and any moment I would wake up. What
madness had possessed me to do something so rash as to go back into
the mansion? What had I done? Luke was dead, and it was all my
fault.

Chapter
Seventeen

I lay in Pagan’s bed, staring blindly
at the ceiling. The drive back had seemed unreal, like some
horrible dream. The whole way back Darla had cried, sobbed, and
moaned for her brother. Freddy had been silent, and I had stared
out the window unable or unwilling to process what had
happened.

I kept waiting to wake from this
dream, I was desperate to wake and find Luke back at my side. But
Luke was dead. The words rang through my head and forced me off the
bed onto my feet. I walked over to the window. Storm clouds were
gathering outside. I wondered when it would start raining. It was
cold in the room, but I didn’t care. I welcomed the chill, it
matched the one surrounding my heart.

The gypsy had warned me. She’d said
the awakening was dangerous, and she’d been right. The awakening
had triggered something inside me. The rituals had changed me. I’d
become darker, reckless, no longer worried about my life or the
lives of others. I’d given in to my anger and rushed in to seek my
revenge, not caring about the consequences, and because of my
actions Luke was dead.

The demon had granted me my inner-most
wish--to see Macaven dead. But watching Macaven’s body crumple to
the floor hadn’t given me any true pleasure. Revenge hadn’t brought
my family back. I had tried to save my father, my brother, but I
had failed and now their spirits were forever intertwined with a
demon, an evil creature that was out there in the world doing
who-knew-what unspeakable things? It was my fault the demon was
free. My reckless behavior had set that monster loose. And if the
creature hadn’t lied, if he told the truth and my family was dead
because of me? I shook my head trying to make sense of it all. Was
I really just a puppet in the twisted creature’s game? The demon
had said our fates were intertwined, and that he would see me
again. That I wasn’t ready yet to give him what he needed. His
words sent a chill down my spine. What did it all mean?

Every time I closed my eyes I could
see the image of Luke’s lifeless body, crushed under the stone. But
no tears streamed down my face. I felt nothing now but a dark,
deep, void. A cold breeze ran across my cheek, and there was a
pressure against my arm. Something was here in the room, something
that was not of this world. A breeze rustled against my
neck.

“
I’m here.” The words slid
across my brain.

“
Luke?” It was him. His
spirit was there with me in the room, I could feel it. I sobbed and
reached out my arms. His spirit was with me, but I couldn’t touch
him, I couldn’t hold him.

“
Luke, I’m so sorry,” I
whispered.

“
I’m here. I’ll never leave
you,” the voice called out.

* * * *

The cemetery didn’t look any less
spooky in the daytime. I was on a hill close by, watching the
proceedings from behind a tree. Fifty people were gathered in a
semicircle, all dressed in black. I had watched six strong men
carrying Luke’s casket through the cemetery. It now rested near an
open grave.

Storm clouds filled the sky. It hadn’t
started raining yet, but a cold wind whipped through the
trees.

“
Thank you.” The words
whispered across my ears, and a cold chill ran across my
fingers.

I looked up into the face of Sarah’s
ghost. Her Spirit stood before me, almost solid.

“
Because of you, I’m
finally free. I wanted to thank you before I go.”

“
Were you the one guiding
me, helping me find Darla?”

Sarah nodded her head, and her image
started to go translucent.

A light, a brightness like the sun,
appeared only a few feet away. Like before, there were forms,
shapes at the other end of the light. An incredible feeling of love
and joy radiated out from within the light, and voices began
calling out Sarah’s name.

Sarah turned toward the light and then
back to me. “My family is calling and, because of you, I can
finally go to them.” She looked down at the funeral procession.
“I’ve a message to pass onto you before I go. “

“
A message from who?” Was
it from my mother? Could spirits commute with each other on the
other side? I hadn’t seen or heard from my mother since the night
we worked the Ouija board spell.

“
Don’t forget who you are,”
Sarah whispered as the light reached out and engulfed her, and she
disappeared.

“
Don’t forget who you are.”
Those were the same words the gypsy healer had told me when she
gave me the protection pouch. But I had to forget who I had been.
For I was no longer the gentle healer. I was no longer on the path
of light. I walked in darkness now, and death and destruction
shadowed my every step.

I had set the demon free. It was
running out there running loose in the world disguised as a young
child. And Luke. The image of his lifeless body flashed before my
eyes. I gave myself a mental shake. I wouldn’t think about that
now. I’d lock those images into the deepest, darkest corner of my
mind, and maybe one day I would deal with them, but not
today.

It was then I felt another presence,
not a spirit this time, but a person. I said her name, but I didn’t
turn around. “Darla.”

“
I knew you’d be here.” She
waited for me to say something, but when I remained silent she
continued. “Macaven’s coven is broken, my guild is hunting down
those members responsible for the killings, and there’ll be a
reckoning for what they did, for the lives they took. They hid
their actions by blaming the deaths on the Redeemers, but everyone
knows the truth now. Word has spread about what happened. Rumors
have started about my kind. People are blaming us for those
creatures at the hospital, for the massacre at the mansion. My
family is in danger because of what you did. I know that you can
raise the dead. Freddy told me what you did at the hospital and I
told my family. They had to clean up what you did at the mansion.
That thing you left…all those people dead…”

I turned and looked at her. A black
scarf covered her hair and her dress was long and black.

I forced myself to ask the question,
“How many dead?”

“
Twenty dead, a dozen more
in the hospital.” Her eyes filled with hatred. “You saved me, and
for that I’ll give you this warning. My family wants you dead. They
blame you for what happened to Luke. I blame you. He should never
have gone back into that place. He’s dead, and it’s all your fault.
Don’t come back here. If I see you again, I’ll kill you
myself.”

I started to walk away, and she
grabbed my arm. “Luke is around, I can feel him. We tried to do a
ceremony to get his spirit to go into the light, but he won’t.” She
sobbed, “I know it’s because of you. Freddy told me what you did to
Thomas. You can make Luke go into the light, you can free
him.”

I shook my head.

“
You can do it,” she
pleaded.

“
No. no, I can’t. I won’t
let him go.” I shook off her grip and walked away from
her.

The sky overhead opened up and rain
poured down. There was nowhere left for me to go. My clan would
never let me come back once they found out what I’ve become. Once
they found out the terrible acts I had committed in the name of
revenge. I had killed a man in cold blood and there was a demon out
there roaming around because of me. Dozens had died that night in
the mansion. I hadn’t cared about their lives—I’d been too intent
on revenge. A sob escaped my lips. Luke was dead. It was my fault.
I could never take back the things I had done to avenge my
family.

I wiped the wet hair from my face.
Luke’s death had been violent and unexpected, which meant that, for
a short time at least, his spirit should be unsettled, roaming the
ether sea. But Luke’s spirit was here, with me. I could feel him at
different times around me.

Possession. The word gave me hope.
Luke had said a spirit could over power someone weak, or someone on
the edge of insanity. Wanda’s spirit had possessed me. Her very
essence had filled me, moved my body and limbs at her command. With
Luke's help, I had been able to force her out, but what if I
hadn’t? Wanda would have been able to roam the world using my
body.

Possession. I was a death dealer now,
I could bring him back, Luke could possess someone and come back to
me. I could help force his spirit back into a living
body.

I looked up at the dark sky and rain
fell down on my face. I didn’t have a lot of power. I had survived
the rituals, but I hadn’t finished the death dealer training. There
had to be someone out there who could teach me. I could learn
spells, and I could find the books that would help me.

Possession. It was my one chance to
bring Luke back. If there was a way to bring him back, I’d find it.
He was the only thing I had left. The only reason I still had to go
on.

I wrapped my arms around my body and
looked out toward the cemetery. “Whatever it takes,” I vowed. And
as I said the words, I felt a chill run across my neck and a
ghostly touch slide down my cheek.

THE END