Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (2 page)

BOOK: Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1)
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I marveled at her meticulous organization, at her ability to talk and write at the same time, at the beauty she hid behind those dorky glasses. I remembered when she first came home wearing them. I think they came with a guarantee to not only correct her vision but as an effective man repellant.

Mom never dated. Ever. She was only forty-two and drop-dead-gorgeous behind those fifties glasses. She was a brilliant-minded scientist but never once did she even mention finding a companion. And don’t ask me about our father. I have no idea what happened there.

I zoned for a moment and must have missed something very important because mom is staring at me expectantly.
“Well, Meg?”
I have no idea what she just said. “Sure, mom. I’m on it.”

“Excellent. All right then, boys. Help me get the bags to the truck, please. Remember, there is plenty of food in the pantry, and I made extra lasagna. Bedtime is at 8:30 sharp. Brush your teeth, say your prayers and wake on time.

“I may very well call in the morning just to be sure you’re not wasting the day in bed. I love you all so much. I’ll be home tomorrow night at 10pm your time. Don’t wait up for me, but know I’ll come in to kiss you when I get home.”

All this she said as she marched with purpose outside to the truck. Her simple briefcase filled with her laptop and power point presentation, was slung over her shoulder. She looked confident and exhilarated until she turned to hug us good-bye.

“Now listen to me you three. I have never left you alone before, and I’m really anxious about the idea of doing it now. Bringing you with me isn’t an option, but leaving you here doesn’t completely ease my fears either.” Mom kept talking and my mind began wandering.

Did I mention she tended to be a little paranoid? Okay, a lot paranoid.

Mom had trained us to protect ourselves, to survive battle and kill if necessary, since before we could even remember. See, she put herself through medical school by serving in the military. There, she had been some sort of special ops soldier. Our mom may look fragile on the outside, but inside she has nerves of steel and the training to back it up. I wouldn’t want to go up against her. She’s got some serious skills.

Our homeschooling wasn’t just based on reading, writing and arithmetic. No, we had several other subjects in which we were schooled.

While other moms are out there watching cooking shows, our mom was watching us design and disarm explosives. Other moms were driving in a carpool while our mom was teaching us how to drive our fists through slats of wood. Other kids our age played soft ball and had band practice. We played laser tag and simulated target practice. Mom was paranoid, all right. And she taught us to think there was good reason to be.

“I love you all so much. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen, Mom, except you may find yourself missing your flight and your own coming-out science party.” Alik grinned sweetly. He loved to tease her.

“Oh, you’re right Alik. I’d better go. Expect my call at 7pm! I love you!” She was still waving as she drove down our dirt road. Dust billows rose behind the conservative SUV and lingered in the air long after mom was out of sight.

Evan, Alik and I looked at each other warily. Maze let out a soft whine and stared anxiously after mom. It was going to be a long thirty-six hours.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 Found

 

The supple leather chair hugged him as he sipped his cup of coffee. It had been a long night, but it was about to be well worth it. Now he was just waiting for his cell phone to ring with confirmation that they found her.

In his hand, he held two steel marbles. He loved everything about them, the way the light reflected off their perfectly smooth surface, how they clanked together when he held them in his hand and when he rolled them around each other, he loved to hear their metallic scraping sound. It was out of habit that he carried these with him. Now he stared at his distorted reflection in them and smiled.

After all these years, nearly a dozen, he would finally be able to wrap his hands around the data that was stolen from him. Too bad the data was all inside her head. Ah well, there were ways of extracting information from the mind.

He didn’t usually like getting his hands dirty with such undesirable tactics, but this time, well, he would make an exception. He was salivating at the thought of watching her eyes glass over with pain.

Her fate was determined the moment she walked away with his work twelve years ago. His pocket began vibrating. A smile curved the corners of his mouth as he flipped open the phone and listened. The marbles moved methodically in his right hand.

Oh yes, it was going to be a wonderful weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3 Maze

 

When we were younger Alik, Evan and I would run around the ranch chasing the goats and cattle. Sometimes, when we weren’t focused on our studies or developing our survival skills, we’d play a game of hide-and-seek. I think we loved the friendly competition, the chase and the thrill of the hunt. It was during one of those carefree days of childhood, some three years ago, when I befriended a coyote.

Mom always warned us to be very careful of wild animals as we were living in their world and if we crossed them, they would only see us as a threat. But I wasn’t thinking of mom’s warning that bright morning as I wandered a little too far during one of our infamous hide-and-seek games.

I saw her crouched in bushes as she stalked a prairie dog. I stood motionless a dozen yards away from her when she sprang to life and snapped the rodent’s neck in one swift motion. She turned to watch me, even as her breakfast hung still warm from her dark mouth. She was beautiful. We stared for a moment, sizing each other up. Convinced that I wasn’t a threat, she trotted back to what was her den. She stopped at the entrance and looked back at me as if to say, “Come along, then.”

I followed her to the opening of her cozy hole in the ground and saw her beautiful pups. Three of them. They nuzzled to nurse as soon as their graceful mother curled herself up to them. Mom ate, the pups drank and I learned a whole new level of awe.

I remembered that day so long ago as I stroked Maze’s head. He was such a handsome creature. He was silver coated, like his mother. And like his mother, we had an immediate connection. Maze was one of the pups I saw that day. Who knew he would turn into my best friend. Who knew his doting mother would disappear (probably killed) and leave him and his two sisters alone to die.

See, I went to check on the coyote family the very next day. The pups were there, curled into a loud whining ball of fluff, but their mother never showed up. Thinking she was out hunting and that I just missed her, I left the pups undisturbed. I returned that night; sure I’d find all four of them snuggled together. But they weren’t. Even before I confirmed with my eyes, I could hear the babies crying painfully from their den. I stayed with them looking for any signs that their beautiful mother had returned in my absence. Nothing. The dirt wasn’t disturbed around the entrance to their home. The pups’ cries were unbearable and unrelenting.

It broke my heart to leave them that night, but I knew my mother would worry if I didn’t return home soon. The whole way, I thought about what I should do if the mother coyote never returned. Surely that wasn’t going to happen. Surely when I check the next morning the mother will be right there and all will be safe and sound.

I couldn’t sleep that night.

I flew out the door immediately after breakfast calling out a quick “see you in a while, gotta go check on something” even as the door flapped close behind me.

When I approached the den, I strained to hear a sound—any sound. But there was only silence. My worst fears came true when I looked in and saw the babies alone and obviously weak from hunger. Oh, no. For the first time, it occurred to me that these little ones could be dying right in front of me. I had to help.

So afraid was I of disappointing my mom, that the idea of telling her I’d disobeyed one of her cardinal rules of living on the ranch was terrifying to me. I wasn’t supposed to have been near a wild animal, and here I was stalking a whole litter of them!

But these babies needed milk, and I needed mom’s help to take care of them. I knew I had no choice but to tell her about the coyote family. The thought of those three babies dying of hunger all alone drove me.

My mom never ceases to amaze. Instead of a lecture, she was grabbing the keys to the Jeep and rushing me out the door. I didn’t even have time to finish my explanation.

We arrived at the den just as the sun was setting. The pups barely put up any fuss as mom reached in to collect them one by one. Maze was the littlest. His sisters, though obviously wanting for nourishment, seemed relatively strong. Maze wasn’t holding up nearly as well.

We put the girls in a box on the floor of the Jeep, but I couldn’t bring myself to add the little boy. I wondered if he would even survive the ride back to the house. In my hands he lay limp, and though I could feel him breathing, his heartbeat was barely tapping against my sensitive fingertips. I held him close to me hoping my warmth would revive him, and hoping the sound of my heart beating would remind his of what it was supposed to sound like.

In her lab, mom made a coyote pup cocktail of goat’s milk and sugar. She handed me a dropper and told me to start with the littlest one while she fed the sisters. “Don’t put him down, Meg. He needs to feel your warmth, your love. Keep putting drops of milk on his lips and see if he’ll take any of it in. When you’re tired, let me know and I’ll take over. We’ll work in shifts. Okay?

“Are you up for this, Meg? Do you understand that even after all your effort, all your love, he may still die?”

I looked down at the tiny ball of fur in my arms. He was so little he could fit into the palm of my hand. How amazing he was. This beautiful gift. I loved him immediately and unconditionally. “I understand, mom. I’ll take care of him as long as he’s here. Every minute with him is…,” my voice caught in my throat, “precious.”

Mom nodded with a wisdom I’d never noticed before echoing across her face. “All right, then. Let’s get to work.”

The whole night long I stayed up with the littlest coyote. My neck was stiff and my arms ached and I really had to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t put Maze down. At 1am, he finally started to lick the milk off his lips. By 2am, he was letting me put the drops right on his tongue. By 4am, he had finished four ounces of his special milk and was sound asleep. Only then did I start to feel like this little guy might make it. My little fighter. He was so amazing to me. And that is how he got his name. Maze.

His sisters were more easily revived. By the third day, all three of them were rolling around on top of each other like the pups they were. The girls play-fought pretty rough, so I kept Maze with me much of the time. He was still smaller than the little ladies, and I didn’t want him getting caught in the middle of a skirmish or worse, becoming the center attraction in some sort of coyote she-pup smack-down.

As soon as he could keep up, Maze followed me everywhere. He would trot behind me like a fluffy shadow as I went about my daily chores, working on my studies or playing with my brothers. I’d look over at him and he would cock his head to the side, let his tongue loll out of his muzzle and smile at me as if to say, “Hey, you. What’s up?”

Pretty soon, the entire family started talking to Maze as if he completely understood every word we said. He fast became my confidant, my entertainment, my protector and my best friend.

Mom says I imprinted on him just as much as he did on me that first night when I nursed him back to life. I believe it.

By the fourth month, Maze’s sisters had wandered off preferring life in the wild. They didn’t make a huge production of good-byes or anything. They were playing in the field behind the house one morning when some yummy scent caught their attention in the brush. They took off after it and stayed out all night. The next day, they came back for a drink of water and a quick “hey” to their domesticated brother. They left and haven’t been back since. That was more than two years ago.

As for Maze, it never even occurred to him to leave. For some reason, that silly coyote thought I was worth sticking with. I think it would be more fun chasing my nose in the wild, but I’m very thankful Maze didn’t agree. So he slept on my bed, and ate at my feet, and draped his now huge furry body across my lap when I read a book on the couch. My wild coyote was anything but wild.

Sitting with Maze at that moment, watching the way the light shinned off his soft, thick coat, seeing the look of unconditional love in his sweet, expressive eyes, I felt a wave of thankfulness for my life and my family.

Forget leaving the ranch. I love it here. I love my goofy brothers and my fiercely devoted mom.
I never wanted things to change.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 A Watched Pot Never Boils

 

Our chores were long since done. I warmed up the lasagna for our dinner and we ate in relative silence—each of us lost in our thoughts. We three had just tried killing some time playing a board game, but it really wasn’t fun without mom. She would always get us laughing at something and we would get so lost in the fun we wouldn’t even care who won. But tonight, with just the three of us all so competitive and tense, it didn’t feel like the same game. We gave up an hour ago.

I was working on a puzzle, Alik was reading about the Civil War (again) and Evan was calculating triple digit multiplication problems in his head then checking his answer with a calculator. Yeah, he’s scary smart.

Just when I located the last of the “edge” pieces, I noticed the clock. Mom was late. She was supposed to have called to check in by now. Sensing a change in my demeanor, Maze looked up at me with those beautiful yellow eyes. I didn’t want to say anything and worry the boys so I pretended not to notice the time and kept working. But now I couldn’t concentrate. I kept glancing up at the clock—trying to be inconspicuous. Pft. I’m horrible at keeping things from the boys. They can’t keep anything from me either. It’s like we have this sixth-sense about what one another is thinking and feeling. Sometimes it’s helpful. But times like now, it’s irritating.

BOOK: Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1)
5.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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