Awakening (32 page)

I looked down at what I was wearing.
Black jeans, black boots and a black jacket. If we wanted to get
in, we needed one of those cloaks and a mask. I didn’t have a real
plan in mind, and I was as surprised as anyone when I started
moving forward. Luke reached out as if to stop me, but I
sidestepped his grasp.

My whole focus was on the woman. If I
could somehow get close enough… I reached down and picked up a tree
branch. Just a little closer now and I’d be within reach. One more
step and if she didn’t turn around, but she did, she spun around.
Her eyes registered surprise and then outrage, and she sucked in a
breath to shout an alarm. I raised the branch and without even the
slightest hesitancy I brought it down on her head. The woman
dropped to the ground. I stood, almost as stunned as she was. I
looked at the branch in my hand and dropped it. The woman was
laying on the ground a large gash on the side of her temple. Blood
began to slide from the wound. I had killed her. I had hit her over
the head and killed her. I couldn’t believe what I had just done.
The woman’s head began to move back and forth, and she moaned
softly. My knees almost buckled with relief. She wasn’t dead, she
was alive.

Luke was at my side and grabbed my
arm. “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”

I raised a trembling hand to my
forehead. “We need her cloak to get in there.” I was still having a
hard time getting my mind around the fact I had just walked up and
clubbed some innocent woman. Not so innocent, a voice whispered in
the corner of my mind. She was one of the bad guys, and I had to
admit to the rush of adrenaline as I brought that branch down on
her head. A part of me wanted to see her suffer for hurting my
family. It was not like me. I was not a violent person. But I had
changed. The rituals had changed me, and I was morphing into
something else. Something that was seriously starting to scare
me.

Freddy was suddenly in front of us.
“Whatever the two of you are doing, I suggest we move. We’re
sitting ducks out here. One person turns our way, and they’ll see
us.”

I leaned down and grabbed the woman’s
right arm and started to pull her toward the shrubbery. I looked up
at Luke. “I need your help, she’s heavy.”

He frowned, but without a word he
reached down and grabbed her other arm. Freddy picked up her feet,
and we carried the woman into the bushes.

Once under the cover of the bushes I
squatted down beside the woman. She moaned, but her eyes stayed
closed, I didn’t know how much longer she’d be unconscious.
Whatever I was going to do, I’d better get moving. I opened the
front of the cloak and eased it off of her, then made a grab for
the mask. I put on the cloak and the mask and turned toward the
mansion.

Luke was blocking my way. He stood
arms crossed at his chest, a determined look on his face. “No way
you’re going in there by yourself.”

“
This was your plan. You
said if an opportunity arose to save Darla, we should take it.” I
lifted up the mask. “This is an opportunity.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going
in there without me.”

“
So find another way in.” I
looked over at Freddy. “You guys can scout out the rest of the
mansion. This is a gargantuan place, there has to be some side door
or servants’ entrance you can get through.”

“
Luke, it’s not a bad
idea,” Freddy said, coming to my side.

“
Colina, I’m not letting
you out of my sight.” Luke was angry.

“
This was your plan. We
have a chance for me to go in and see the layout. Try to find where
they have Darla.” I could see by his expression that I wasn’t
changing his mind, so I tried again. “I’m in a cloak and mask
surrounded by a couple dozen people dressed similarly. No one will
recognize me. I can blend in and move around unnoticed.”

Luke shook his head. “It’s a bad
idea.”

I pulled the mask down and started
forward. “I’m doing it, and I don’t need your
permission.”

Luke put his hand on me as if to stop
me, but I shook it off and kept moving.

His hand came down hard on my shoulder
this time, and he spun me around. “I know we fought earlier. It was
a stupid fight.”

“
This is not the time to
talk about it,” I said looking over at Freddy. Freddy was just
standing there watching us.

Luke raised his hand as if in
surrender. “It is if you’re about to walk in there and get yourself
killed.”

I reached out and grabbed his hand and
pulled it into mine. “I’m not going to do anything
stupid.”

He squeezed my hand. “Promise me,
promise me that you’ll just take a look around. If you see Darla,
or any of the guys that tried to grab you at the magic shop, you
won’t do anything. You’ll wait for us.”

“
I promise,” I
whispered.

He took a step forward and lifted the
mask and before I could say anything he leaned in and pressed his
lips against mine. It was a soft, gentle kiss. His fingers came up
and brushed against my cheek. “We’re all going to get out of this
in one piece. We just have to play it smart.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. A
part of me wanted to push myself into his arms--to feel his warm,
solid body against mine, but I held myself back. If I hugged him
now, I may never let go. I forced myself to release his hand and
take a step back. Then I lifted my hand in a half wave, turned
around and made my way toward the mansion.

I knew he was watching me. I
desperately wanted to turn around, to see him one last time before
I headed off into…God only knew what. What dark and creepy things
would I run across in the mansion? I squared my shoulders and
lifted my chin. I could do this. I had to do this. I quickened my
steps and headed toward the unknown.

****

I was running out of time. Most of the
crowd had made their way in. I hurried my steps toward the large
archway. A man, also dressed in a cloak and mask, closed two
exceptionally large ornate wooden doors about ten feet high just
inside the archway.

I spoke up, “Wait, wait. I’m
coming!”

The man swung the door
open.

I put on my best smile. “I’m sorry, I
had a problem with my shoe.”

The man nodded his head, and I slid by
him.

I was finally inside. Now what? They
were holding Darla somewhere inside, but where?

I made my way down a hallway and into
a big room. Mirrors covered one of the walls. The floor was wood,
but not any kind I had seen before. Different colored exotic wood
panels created elaborate patterns and designs across the surface of
the floor. Three large crystal chandeliers were hanging from the
ceiling.

I expected to see a crowd, but the
room was empty. I moved across the room and through another set of
doors. This hallway was smaller than the last and was entirely
red--red paint covered the walls and ceiling, there was red
carpeting on the floors. Hues of red, yellows and oranges covered
the half dozen paintings on the walls. I made my way down the hall,
and at the end I stopped in front of another large door. I was
reaching for the doorknob when I felt a chill running across my
arms. There was another breeze across my face and a whisper, and I
knew I wasn’t alone.

I felt one tug on the cloak, and then
another and the words. “This way.” Echoed through my mind. It was
then I noticed the large red and gold tapestry hanging on the wall
to my right.

I walked over to the tapestry. What
did ‘this way’ mean? There was no door, at least not one I could
see. I started to turn away when something pushed hard against my
back, and I stumbled forward. I reached out to catch myself and
instead of falling against the wall I fell through the tapestry. I
came down hard on my knees on a stone floor. A secret room? I
looked around, but it wasn’t a room, it was another hallway. This
one was barely wide enough for a single body to move through. Light
flickered from somewhere down at the other end. I got to my feet
and made my way down the small passageway. My hands trailed against
the cold stone wall as I walked and the passage slowly opened up
into a small room. The room was only a few feet long, and on the
other side was a staircase made of gray stone winding into a
spiral, heading down. Old fashioned light fixtures lit the passages
at the top, and I could see light shining up from the
bottom.

So far I hadn’t met anyone. No one had
demanded to know where I was going, and up until this point, if I
had run across someone, I could claim to be lost. But if I came
across someone now, how could I explain my descent down the dark
winding staircase?

I realized I was holding my breath as
I made my way down the stairs. I got lucky there was no one to
greet me at the bottom. I now stood in a hallway that ran in two
directions.

I looked right and then left trying to
decide which way to go when I heard the voice again. “Close,” it
said, gently lifting and then dropping pieces of my hair on the
left side of my head. Decision made, I turned left and started down
the hall.

I don’t know why I stopped, no voice
sounded this time, no invisible hands were guiding me. Doors lined
the hallway, but for some reason, something about this particular
doorway brought me to a dead stop in front of it. I tried the
doorknob. It turned easily enough, but the door still wouldn’t
open. Looking up the frame, I saw a padlock and hasp near the top
of the door. I put my ear to the thick wood--there was a noise, and
then another. Muted voices on the other side?

It was a crazy thing to do, but I
knocked on the door and said softy, “Darla?”

Silence met my question.

I tried again, this time louder.
“Darla, are you in there? It’s Colina.”

I waited a few seconds and then turned
and started to walk away when I heard the tap. It was coming from
the other side of the door.

“
Darla? Is that
you?”

Two taps this time.

It was her, I was sure of it. Darla
was on the other side of the door. I rattled the door handle in
frustration. “Darla, hang in there. The doors locked. I have to try
and find something to get it open. Your brother’s here. Freddy’s
here. We’re going to get you out.”

Two more taps. Was it truly Darla
behind the door? No one had jumped out to grab me, so it wasn’t a
bad guy. I wanted to believe with all my being it was Darla. But if
it was and I had found her, how was I going to get her
out?

* * * *

I made my way back up the stairs, down
the passage and through the tapestry. This time I went through the
door at the end of the hall. My only thought was getting back
outside so I could find Luke and Freddy. We could come up with a
plan to get back inside and get that door at the bottom of the
staircase open.

The door swung open, and I was
expecting to walk into another empty room, but this time the room
was full. This room was identical to the other. Mirrors hung from
one wall, wooden patterns ran across the floor and glass
chandeliers hung overheard. But the chandeliers weren’t turned on.
The room was mostly in darkness, except for a glow of candles in
the center of the room. A dozen candelabras circled the middle of
the room, and each large black candle holder held six lit red
candles. The flames from the candles created eerie shadows that
danced across the mirrors. Everyone was dressed in cloaks and
masks. People closest to the door turned when I entered. I had no
choice now, but to go inside and try to act like I was supposed to
be there. I smiled and nodded my head as I walked into the room,
and as I did a loud voice boomed overhead. “The time is finally
here!”

A man stood on a platform in the
center of the room, surrounded by the candelabras. The man on the
platform wore a red robe and a bright orange mask covered his
face.

The man raised his hands, and his
voice. “Everyone, everyone, thank you for coming!” He made a
sweeping gesture with his arm. “I know you’re as excited as I am
that the time is upon us. We’ve waited so long for this
day.”

I immediately recognized his voice. It
was Macaven, the man who murdered my father.

The crowd began to move forward, and I
moved with them. Silence fell over the crowd and bodies pushed in.
Everyone’s attention was on the man in the red robe.

Someone led a white goat up onto the
platform. The goat struggled to get free, but it was held tight.
The goat was lifted and put down next to Macaven. It was only when
Macaven took a step forward that I saw the stone altar. They had
tied the goat to it. They were going to do a sacrifice. An animal
sacrifice.

A large knife was handed to Macaven.
He held it high in the air with both hands. The knife came down
fast and sliced across the goat’s throat.

Applause sounded from the crowd, and
they began to chant the name, “Macaven” as blood gushed onto the
altar.

I felt my legs begin to
buckle.

He was killing the goat like he’d
killed my father.

Macaven raised a hand in the air, and
everyone fell silent. “I know we’ve waited so very long for this
day. Many of you have newly come into our fold to be a part of this
fantastic journey we’re about to embark on.” He wiped the blade of
the knife across the sleeve of his robe. “As you know I’m Donald
Macaven, grand master of the Garuda Guild. For a hundred years,
they’ve forced our people away from the traditions that had in the
past made us one of the strongest Guilds. For a hundred years,
we’ve stood by and watch as other, weaker guilds, used naive rules
to steal our power and influence. Our weakness forced us into
submission, but no more. No more will we follow the ways of others.
We’ve been and always will be true leaders of our kind. We’ve
magical royalty pumping through our veins.” He began to walk around
the stone altar. “I know many of you who have entered our fold over
the last year are not blood kin.” He raised his hand again. “But
that doesn’t mean that you’re not family to us. You’re all closer
now than blood could ever be. For you’ve helped shed blood in our
name for our cause. You’ve done what had to be done in order for us
to raise ourselves back up toward greatness. Without your help, we
wouldn’t be here now on the precipice of a new age.” He raised the
knife high in the air. “I know there were some who refused to be a
part of this great adventure, and at this moment I think we should
take a moment and bow our heads in silence for those lost to us,
for those poor souls who could not, or would not, see the way to
true enlightenment.”