Awakening (Children of Angels) (16 page)

Mia opened both eyes and looked around the room, puzzled. “Where on Earth could she have gone now?” thought Mia, annoyed. It was one thing for Leonara to disappear while she slept, but another thing entirely if she was going to disappear every time she closed her eyes - especially when they were only closed because she had told her to close them!

No sooner had the thought popped into her head, than Leonara tapped her on the shoulder.

“
Boo!
”
she cried out, in obvious delight.

“
Where did you go?
”
demanded Mia, who had almost jumped out of her skin and tried to hide her embarrassment with annoyance.

“
I told you we were going to work on your
‘
pager
’
, Mia. You were thinking about me. And now I
’
m back. You weren
’
t trying very hard.
”
She mock-scolded the girl with a playful grin on her lips.

“
Trying at
what
?
”
blustered Mia, her heart still pounding from the fright Leonara had given her.
“
Y
ou didn
’
t tell me to do
anything
, just close my eyes and breathe, and I was doing both of those just fine.
”

“
Not entirely true, Mia. I told you to empty your mind of everything but your breathing. But you didn
’
t - for some reason, you thought of me, and that is what called me back. It was a pretty strong thought, too, not just a passing one. You were focused on
me.
”

Mia blushed guiltily.

“
Well, yes. I
did
think about you. I opened my eyes and you weren
’
t here. I was
…
confused
”
she lied.

“
A-ha!
”
cried Leonara with child-like delight.
“
S
o you
weren
’
t
sitting with your eyes closed like I told you!
”
She pointed in mock-accusation at Mia, seeming to enjoy the game.

She quickly sobered when Mia’s face did not reflect her own glee - she simply looked mutinous.

“
Oh Mia, don
’
t look like that. How else am I going to teach you, if not by going away and seeing if you call me back without meaning to?
”
She spoke in a soothing tone, which bordered on patronizing.

“
If you had
explained
that was what we were doing, it might have helped
”
replied Mia tightly.
“
If I had
explained
then it would not have worked properly,
”
replied Leonara huffily
“
if you know something is going to happen, you can prepare yourself for it. It
’
s no good if I say
‘
okay Mia, I
’
m going to go now, so don
’
t think about me.
’”

Mia could see the logic, but was still irrationally riled up by the whole thing. It made no sense for her to be angry about it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. The aching in her body intensified, and did nothing to improve her mood which had suddenly gone sour.

“
Come on, lets try it again.
”
Leonara spoke in a soothing tone, like one might use when speaking to a small child.

“
Fine,
”
replied Mia coldly. The hardness of her tone shocked her, she had not meant it to sound so angry. She took a breath and made a concentrated effort to sound more pleasant
“
lets try this again, shall we?
”

“
Now, as you
’
ve probably guessed, I
’
m going to go away again. But I
’
m not going to tell you when, and I don
’
t want you to peek this time. You should be able to
feel
that I
’
m gone. Even humans, when they
’
re attuned to their surroundings, know when they
’
re not alone, or when they
’
re being watched. You should feel it when I leave, or when you sense around for a sign of me, that there
’
s no-one else there. You
’
ll think about me while you do it, but as you
’
re thinking about me, I want you to shield your thoughts.

I know it sounds strange, but imagine there is a wall of steel and bricks, keeping those thoughts to yourself. I don’t want to hear my name from your mind, or feel your pull. I won’t be far away, but out of shouting distance to a human. The only way you could call me back is with your mind, and I don’t want to hear a peep from it.”

“
Okay.
”
Mia replied, taking a deep breath, and focusing on making her mind blank, and thinking of only a blank canvas, to keep anything from popping into her head. A blank canvas. An image of a strange sunrise fading into nothingness popped into her mind, and she quickly pushed it away, focusing instead on pure black nothingness, like the night sky in the dream place. She was doing it again - thinking about
something
and not nothing. She breathed deeply, and imagined her head was full of nothing, not like the sky in the dream place, not like anything at all - just nothing.

She sat like that for a minute or two, and became increasingly tempted to take a peek. But Leonara had told her not to, and she
did
need to learn how to master these Angel skills of hers. For at least the hundredth time since she had first met Leonara, she felt completely ridiculous. Sitting cross-legged on a bed in a hotel room, with her eyes closed, trying to sense whether there was an Angel in the room with her or not.

“
No good
”
came Leonara
’
s voice, and Mia jumped and opened her eyes as the silence was broken, and she was disturbed from her thoughts.

“
But I didn
’
t even
start
yet
”
protested Mia.

“
Well, clearly you did,
”
replied Leonara, matter of factly
“
or else I wouldn
’
t be here right now. Don
’
t worry - it
’
ll take a while to get it,
”
she softened
“
you must have been absent-mindedly thinking about me. I picked up on what would have been a weaker signal, because I was waiting for it, probably.
”

Mia nodded, and sighed loudly. This was already harder than she had expected it to be. A month ago, if someone had told her she had Angel magic, she would have thought it would make her life so much better, so much easier. As it was, all it had done was take her away from her life, and leave her trying to learn impossible things in a hotel room God only knows where.

“
Okay, lets go again. Brick and steel. Quiet thoughts.
”
She managed a small forced smile at Leonara, who smiled back with a much warmer and more genuine one.

Again, Mia closed her eyes, focused on her breathing, and kept her mind clear. She felt her mind drifting towards whether Leonara was still there or not, and caught herself, realizing quickly this was where it had gone wrong last time.

Now she focused on building a safety net in her mind, through which her thoughts could not escape. In her mind, she saw a physical wall being built, around a fine steel mesh, between layers of bricks. For what seemed like a long time, she built that wall in her mind, unsure of whether this was exactly what Leonara had in mind. Each time she felt her thoughts straying towards Leonara, she pulled them back in quickly and focused on the wall. Eventually, the wall was high and strong. She felt a little silly, and wondered if it was safe to test out whether Leonara was still there or not.

In her mind, she examined the wall for cracks and weak points. She tried to figure out whether it was tall enough to keep her thoughts contained. Well there was only one way to find out. Keeping part of her mind on the brick wall, she sent another part to focus on the room she was in. She listened carefully for any hint that she was not alone. The slightest movement, or the sound of the quietest breath. She heard nothing. She was not sure what Leonara had meant when she said she would feel her go. She didn't
think
Leonara was there, but couldn’t be certain.

And at that moment, the brick wall in her mind crumbled with such an intensity that she felt a physical pain. A migraine, out of nowhere, descended upon her. She opened her eyes, then instantly closed them again and her hands flew up to cover them, as the brightness in the room seemed to burn her eyes, making her already pounding head a hundred times worse. And then there were hands on her, cool hands, and a voice, a soothing voice but even so far too loud. And then there was only the darkness - again.

This time when she awoke, the room was dimly lit by the daylight shining through the thin curtains of the hotel room. Her head was still pounding, and the aching throughout her body had intensified again. She sat up shakily, even the dim light in the room hurting her eyes. Her mouth was dry, and she turned to the table beside the bed, grateful to find a fresh glass of water and the bottle of paracetamol waiting for her. She swallowed 2 pills, and half of the glass of water gratefully, then flopped back down onto the pillow. Aware, this time, that she was calling her, she allowed her thoughts to drift to Leonara, and what had happened before she had blacked out.

And then, of course, Leonara was there.

“
Ah, you
’
re awake
”
she said softly.

“
Sadly, yes
”
quipped Mia in response, and she covered her eyes with her hands again

“
I think, before we try shielding again, I should teach you another very important skill, delicate one. And we
’
d better hope it
’
s one you
’
re good at
”
she joked.

Mia shifted her fingers to glare at Leonara through the gap in between them

“
I
tried,
”
she said stonily
“
a
nd all I got for my trying was a tonne of bricks on my head.
”