She Awakens Read online

  “Hey big ears. What are you doing here?”

  When James finally reaches my front door, he ignores my insult and takes me by the elbow. “I came to escort you to the town meeting, little lady.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m not little and I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “I know, but your father asked me to pick you up from home.” A huge smirk spreads across his face like he’s won some prize.

  As we walk by the building, which holds the town’s food stores, my annoyance at the situation pours out. “I don’t know why he continues to think I need a babysitter,” I mumble under my breath.

  James peers sideways at me and then pushes me into the alley next to the building, taking me completely by surprise. “What are you doing? Why—”

  When I gaze up at him, I see an intensity I don’t often see in his eyes, he pushes me up against the building’s outside wall, putting both of his arms on either side of my head making sure I can’t leave. His face is mere inches from mine. His eyes move to my lips and his breathing increases.

  “Attina, Silas loves you. With everything going on, he wants to make sure you are safe, and he trusts me. You’re more precious to people than you realize.”

  He puts one hand on my cheek caressing my face till he reaches my chin and gently grasps it lifting my face towards his. I take my chance and scoot out of his grasp, I’m able to take a few steps and turn around, when I peer back, his forehead is resting against the wall.

  He lets out a big sigh and turns to me. “You know we will be married one day, you could at least act like you want more than just a playmate.”

  I place my hands on my hips and tap my foot. “You are the one that knows we will be married one day, not me. I am the writer of my own story, not you.” Then I turn around and run the rest of the way to the town hall, but no matter how fast I run I can’t get the hurt expression on James’s face out of my head.

  3

  Attina

  When I arrive at the dilapidated building we call our town hall, I have to bend over and catch my breath. My breathing is erratic, and I already feel like there are knives lodged in my lungs and a split in my side. I make a mental note, I truly need to get in better shape.

  When I finally collect myself, I peek up to the hall. It’s not much of a building, only four walls making up one big room. It doesn’t even have doors on it. Some years ago, we had re-purposed the doors to help a couple in the community. They needed the doors more than a town hall building needed them.

  The hall is already full of people and everyone is milling about, talking to each other. As I walk to the front of the room where I know my father will be, I can hear a couple words from these conversations… Solis… where… I thought it was over… I reach for my necklace and hold it as I walk. It’s weird hearing someone talk about the Solis.

  The Solis are monsters in a story told to us as kids to scare us into being well behaved. They weren’t real, or so I thought. I can’t understand it. People are having a serious conversation about the Solis? What’s happening here? Before I can contemplate it too much, I see my father at the front of the hall.

  He’s a big, daunting man. He has a broad muscled chest, and when he walks into a room, everyone takes notice. Growing up together I remember he always had short, thick jet-black hair, but as he's matured, gray hairs have peppered throughout. The rest of his features are somehow soft, while being rough at the same time. He seems like a big scary bear, but in reality he’s as gentle as a teddy bear.

  I call out to him waving my hand in the air. “Dad!” I yell, and immediately release my necklace to run over to him. Like every day, my father takes pride in his appearance. He always manages to have the nicest tunics and today is no exception. He’s wearing a dark purple tunic which he fashioned himself specifically to match his muscled physique and broad shoulders.

  “Hey pumpkin,” he says warmly.

  I scrunch my nose and his laugh brings a twinkle to his bright aquamarine eyes, the same eyes I have, and the only physical trait I acquired from him. The years have been tough on Father.

  It’s been only the two of us my whole life; my mom died a few days after giving birth to me. Growing up, he had to be my father and mother, which was a full time job. Yet, he still made time to help run our town.

  Today though, the years seem to be weighing on him more than usual. The lines in the corner of his eyes seem deeper and although his tunic was fashioned to fit him perfectly, now his clothes seem to hang off him looser. I only saw him this morning at breakfast and there is already an immense change in him. My stomach drops. Whatever this is about must be bad.

  I walk into his open arms and hug him with everything I have. “Dad, what’s going on? Why the huge meeting? Whatever’s happening can’t be so bad the whole town would be affected, could it?” My father’s face takes on the grave expression he regularly wears when trouble is coming. His brows furrow and his lips purse like he's just sucked on a lemon. He should never play poker; his every thought shows on his face.

  “Well Attina, I guess we’ll find out. I saved you a seat next to James in the front row. Go ahead and have a seat, we’re about to get started.”

  When I turn to walk to my seat, I see James is already sitting in his next to mine. His eyes are wide, and a slight smirk is on his lips, giving his face an expectant air. I’m still furious with him, but he is my best friend and I know I can’t stay mad at him for long. Before I can sit down, he stumbles out, “Attina… I’m… I don’t know—”

  I hold out my hand to stop him mid-sentence. “Relax. You need to stop trying to own me, and everything will be fine between us.” I give him the best smile I can muster.

  “I wish you’d realize how great you are.”

  I cross my arms and glare down at him. “Which is for me to find out, not for you to push on me. You’re my best friend and that’s all I want.”

  “Okay. But I’m still gonna wait for you.”

  “Don’t!” I snap.

  His lips curve up and a thin, wicked grin spreads across his face, but only for an instant. Then his face relaxes and he replaces the wicked grin with a wink and a soft, sweet smile. The crack of the gavel rings out three times throughout the hall, a sign for everyone to take their seats. I take my seat next to him and hold my breath as the man up on the little stage at a podium clears his throat.

  I know the man well. Nathan has spent many nights at my house through the years going over town business with my father. Today he’s abandoned his normal hole filled robes and is wearing a stately plain black robe that drapes all the way to the ground. I knew this meeting was important but if Nathan is this dressed up it must be more important than I originally thought. I run my eyes over his body scanning for any other differences in his appearance, but he still seems like the same Nathan I grew up with. He has a head full of gray hair, but has some of the kindest green eyes I’ve ever seen. He also gives me candy every time I see him and no matter how old I’ve gotten, I’ve always loved it. Nathan has invariably been such a strong person. Someone the town could continuously rely on to lead. Now, his usual smiling face is gaunt and gray. Being in the front row, I can almost see his body shudder under the stress, which immediately gets my attention.

  Then he starts talking and his usually deep confident voice is shaky. “Well, I'm sure you’re all wondering why we called this town meeting.” There’s a murmur from the room. Nathan pushes on. “James and Attina were able to shed light on what’s been happening outside of town. It seems as if the Solis have progressively gotten worse. The big cities must be uninhabitable by now.” There is an audible intake of breath in the room before everything becomes silent.

  I quickly swing back and forth, scanning around the room, confused as to what’s happening. The Solis are real? What’s going on? How is such a thing possible? My quick movements draw Nathan’s attention. “I know this must be a huge shock to those of you who were born here or were extremely young when we settled into thi
s town. Everyone who moved to this community agreed long ago we wouldn’t talk about the Solis unless it was deemed necessary. For those of you who don’t know, the Solis were once humans like you and me, until the Fae showed themselves. I know some stories of the Solis have leaked out over the years and well, they’re all true.” Women start screaming and children start crying. At this point, Nathan lowers his head and raises his hand. “Please, I know some of you are having a hard time with this right now but please hear me out.”

  He clears his throat and starts again. “To your next question, yes, magic exists and it’s extraordinarily awful. All the Fae want is to rule Arealea by conquering every last human. They will kill us, turn us all into slaves, or wait for us to be changed by the Solis.”

  “The Solis have one thing on their minds—death and destruction. No one knows for certain why they were created. If I had to venture a guess, I’d think they were created to wipe out the rest of the human race completely. We might not know why they were created, but we do know who created them.”

  “The Solis were created by the Fae King, Henrik.”

  “Henrik used blood magic to bring these unnatural things to fruition. The venom in their bite kills the soul, but reanimates the body. The venom is the real trick to this spell; it is laced with Henrik’s own blood. After a human is bitten, Henrik’s magic enters the body, kills the human, and then his spell resuscitates the body without the soul. From then on, the body's only reason for functioning is to find their food, humans. When the Solis have found their food, and taken a bite of it, the cycle repeats. The next human dies and the body is brought back to life and searches for another human to eat, around and around, until the human race is extinct. I would like everyone to know, after some investigating, at this point it doesn’t seem like the Solis are leaving the cities yet. But it definitely appears they will be leaving soon, so we will have to discuss what we as a town are going to do. Part of tonight’s agenda is to let you know what the elders have decided to do before the Solis inevitably reach our town.” The room bursts into chaos and people scream over each other.

  Nathan lets the unruliness continue to a crescendo and then smashes down his gavel furiously on the podium three more times. My father, who is next to him on ground level, shouts in his deep booming voice, “Silence! We will have order here or you will all be sent home!”

  When my father shouts like this, there is no second-guessing him. Father constantly says what he means and means what he says, and the townspeople know it. Which was one of the reasons he was chosen as a town elder, his word could be trusted. One of the other reasons was he is a physically imposing man. He has a way of towering over everyone, even over people who are physically taller than him.

  Over the years, a few people tried to take on my father and challenge his authority, but all it took was a few words from him and they would back down and submit with their tails tucked firmly between their legs.

  In this moment, he is the leader and there is no saying otherwise. My father gazes up to Nathan and nods his head. “Nathan, the floor is yours again.”

  Nathan bows his head. “Thank you, Silas.”

  Nathan turns his attention back to the now quiet audience. “Now, as I was saying, the elders of our town have been throwing ideas back and forth over the past few days on how to combat this major crisis. Some of you may know there is a place called Sanctuary.”

  There is a mass intake of breath and Nathan holds his hand up to quiet the crowd. “We’ve scoured our old maps and think we know where Sanctuary is. There’s a great crater in the world with what appears to be tunnels, which could hold a mass population of people underground, hidden from the rest of the world. We will be leaving to find Sanctuary and will take anyone who is willing to move there with us.”

  He rubs a hand over his face, the exhaustion clearly wearing him down. ”Of course, no one is forcing you to uproot your lives and leave on this perilous journey with us, but in our opinion, this is the best choice for survival. The journey will take at least a week. Now, I know some of you have small children, but this is what the elders have decided is the best and safest way for everyone to go. We will be leaving in a week and a half, which should be plenty of time for those who wish to leave with us to get their affairs in order. Thank you for your patience.” Without another word, Nathan turns and walks off the stage. Everyone in the great hall seems stunned for a moment, everything staying dead quiet, and then all hell breaks loose.

  The townspeople start shouting. Some run towards the bottom of the stage to where my father is standing, yelling at him, asking what they should do. My father tries to stand his ground, but the crowd pushes him back against the stage and I can see that if this continues, things are not going to end well. I stand up from my seat and jump onto the stage where Nathan had been standing seconds before.

  I call out, “Townspeople! I know we’re all scared, and rightly so, but now is not the time to panic. Go home, get some rest, and let this sink in. Then you can reassess this news in a new light tomorrow.”

  A man who is standing next to my father and was seconds ago yelling and pushing him, stares me down with hatred in his dirt-colored eyes. The skin on his face is dark and almost scaly from being out in the sun too long. The years are etched clearly on his pompous face. His jowls droop and his gray straw-like hair caresses his small pencil-like shoulders.

  “Why should we listen to a little girl like you Attina?” he seethes.

  I turn my head to glower down at him and feel a strange, steadying warmth spread throughout my body. “Apparently, I’m the only one in here capable enough to not lose my shit.” With a forcefulness in my voice I hadn’t heard before, I growl, “Go home.”

  The man’s eyes grow wide, and he hangs his head, defeated by my truth, and everyone starts calmly filing out of the building. My father gazes up to me with something close to admiration in his eyes. I smile down at him then stride around the podium and walk off the stage, but James has somehow pushed past everyone and is now on the stage next to me, standing right in my way.

  A look of annoyance crosses his features. “Why did you get in the middle of it? You should’ve let the men take care of the situation. Girls shouldn’t be spitting out orders.”

  His words are like a punch to the gut. “Well, asshole, I seemed to have diffused the situation even if I am only a lowly girl,” I spit out.

  The warmth I felt a second ago now leaves the rest of my body and zeros in on my palms. I rub my palms down my sides, silently reminding myself I shouldn’t hit him. I spin on my heels and walk away from him without another word. His eyes follow me all the way to where my father is already standing at the other end of the hall.

  I walk up to my father and wrap my arms around him. Just being in his presence calms me, and the heat and anger in me seeps away from my body. He’s never made me feel like being a girl was a bad thing or that I was less important than a man. His sweet, woodsy smell fills my nostrils and I turn my head up to scan his face. He’s worried, I can tell by the way his face sags at the corners. I give him a warm smile. “Let’s go home.”

  Father smiles back down at me. “When did you get to be such an adult?” He searches my face for a second before continuing, “Yes, it has been a long day, pumpkin. Let’s get some rest.” His gaze travels up behind me. “Will you be walking home with us?” he asks who I presume to be James.

  I cringe and turn to face James. He leers down at me with a strange glint in his eyes. “Of course, I’ll be walking you both home. After this news, I don’t want to be far away from our girl.”

  My father nods. “Good, I’m glad.”

  I roll my eyes and head for the door alone. Outside of the hall, I wait for Father and James to follow me. When they make it out, I loop my arm through my father’s strong arm. No one says a word until we make it back to the house. There is too much on all of our minds for much discussion between the three of us. When we make it back to the cottage, Father invites James inside to
sit down for some coffee.

  Our small one-story log cottage isn’t much, but it’s home. My father built it when I was just a baby. The cottage has two bedrooms, a kitchen slash living room and a bathroom, which Father and I have day in and day out shared. After the town meeting, seeing my front door is a welcomed sight. All I want to do is to crawl into my soft bed and drift away to dreamland. As we all walk in the house, I announce I am going to bed and head to my room. Father nods his head and moves to the kitchen to start making coffee, but James grabs me by the arm as I move to walk down the hall.

  He gazes at me with soft sad eyes. “Goodnight, Attina.”

  “Goodnight, asshole,” I hiss, tearing my arm out of his hand as I head to my room.

  When I reach my room, I change into my favorite nightgown and pull my blankets back and crawl into my plush straw and goose down bed. I lay in my bed for a long time thinking about what was said at the meeting tonight. I try to keep my mind on the fact that the Solis exist and what a shock this is for everyone, but my mind keeps traveling back to James and all the things we’ve gone through in the past few days.

  Right when I’m about to fall to sleep, I hear a clink clink against the window behind my head. I stand up and pull back the same ugly beige window curtains I’ve had my entire life and jump back with a start. James’s face is pressed up next to my window. Ugh, this is not what I wanted to deal with at the moment. He motions for me to open my window. Rolling my eyes, I open one of my windows, but only a crack.