The Awakening

AVA

I didn't think twice about it.

The look on his face, my father's face, was enough.

Without another word, I spun on my heels and dashed into the woods. The sharp wind slapping against my cheeks, just as the branches scraped my arms, yet I didn't stop.

All I could think about was the horror I'd just seen...

"Ava!" my mother called, the pounding of her feet echoing behind me. "Ava, wait! You can't get past the bou—

A strange blue shimmer flared in front of me as I crossed the treeline.

For a brief second, it felt like the world tilted. My breath hitched. My stomach twisted, threatening to spill out the nonexistent dinner in it as I stumbled to the ground, gasping for air.

"Ava!" She caught up with me. "You shouldn't have been able to do that." Her voice was heavy with disbelief.

"What... what was that?" I panted. "What's happening to me? Why do I feel this way?" I cried. "What's going on, Mum?"

"I placed a boundary to shield us from the outside world. You just tore through it," she whispered, her eyes wide with fear at its implication.

Perhaps it was the situation... or the overwhelming fear I felt, but my thoughts had become advanced. And somehow, I knew that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear.

Something told me the boundary she was talking about wasn't the same one I was taught to spell in school.

Those weren't meant to act as shields...

Shaking my head, I sat up.

"But it broke... It broke when I ran. And I... I saw Dad." I gasped with wide eyes, the scene replaying in my mind. "It was horrifying. We need to run mum. Something is coming... something terrible. If your shield is broken, then we're exposed." I couldn't stop speaking as tears streamed down my face.

It was all too much.

I had a lot of questions. Too many.

What just happened? How did he see me? How did I see him? What was he running from? Why was he so fast?

I should be asking how my mother created the shield... getting answers to the things I'd held back the past week.

But none of them mattered— not now.

My only thought was "Run".

This was much more than I could handle... much more than my age should be allowed to handle.

My mother gently gripped my shoulder, a grim look on her face.

"I know... I know, baby."

"Why are they... why are they after us?"

"It's your power. It's awake." She smiled tightly, giving my head a soft pat.

My powers? I had powers?

Her words had barely settled when a loud growl tore through the trees. It felt terrible and gut-wrenching, shaking me to my very core as my heart seized in my chest.

Just like the thousands of emotions I could feel, the bloodthirst in it was evident.

"What's... what's happening?" I whispered.

"There's no time to explain," she said, helping me to my feet. "We'd leave as soon as your father gets here."

The air crackled as another growl tore through the night, and her expression darkened.

"Ava, listen to me. We need to find somewhere safe to hide for a while."

She was right. But I couldn't move; I was lost in the newness of it all. Tears blurred my vision as I wiped my nose, biting down a sob.

And then— it happened again.

In a flash, I wasn't in the woods anymore. I was somewhere else.

My legs, much longer, tore through trees at unnatural speed. Blood soaked my arms from the different deep slashes on my chest and back, yet I kept going.

If it wasn't for the terrible pain flaring in my side, I wouldn't have noticed the large chunk of flesh that was missing.

Still, I didn't stop running.

I couldn't. Not with the awful stench and heat coming from the unknown creature behind me.

Where was Mum? When did we leave the clearing?

A familiar, stern voice thundered in my skull.

"No. This is not your time. Get out of my head and get yourself and your mother to safety NOW!"

Instantly, I was yanked back into my own body. My gaze met mother shaking me violently, with panic-looking eyes.

"Oh my god. What was that? What did you see?" she demanded.

"Dad..." A new batch of tears began to fall. "He's fighting... there's too many. They're almost here." I wept. "He's hurt. We've got to... He says to run."

She didn't ask any more questions. The look on my face told her everything she needed to know.

The tensed air became heavy with silence for a while as she stared into the distance, and then her face grew hard.

"So we run."

"But Mum—"

"Now, Ava!"

There was no time to complain. One minute, I was standing in front of my mother, her hands tightly holding onto me, and the next?

We were flying.

Impossible!

I couldn't believe it.

She held my hand in hers, as we darted through the woods like the wind itself carried us.

It felt amazing. My astonishment was swallowed by shock.

We'd barely spent ten minutes in the air when the trees around us burst into flames.

I screamed as the force jerked us apart, throwing me into a thorny shrub. Smoke filled my nose and my lungs, making it hard to breathe.

The instant we fell to the ground, a wall of fire surged before us, and beyond it, I saw moving shadows.

"They've found us." My mother grunted, crawling her way towards me.

She didn't hesitate. Her eyes glowed the now familiar blue as she chanted, and I watched, dumbfounded, as the blood from the little scratches on her face dried up and her wounds closed up.

My jaw dropped.

What in the world was that?

She did the same to me before speaking.

"I need you to be strong, Ava. Can you do that for me?"

The previous Ava would've jumped on the chance to prove she wasn't a baby, but I couldn't be bothered at this point.

"I'm scared," I confessed.

She touched my face, brushing my tears away. "I know, baby. I do, but I need you to listen. You must run when I tell you to. No looking back. Promise me."

Swallowing, I gave her a small nod, though my body screamed at the thought of leaving alone.

Little by little, the shadows around us began to materialise. We were being surrounded, and I instantly knew our attackers had found us.

Except for my muffled cries, nothing could be heard as the fog slowly cleared away.

Only one word came to mind—

Monsters.

I'd never seen anything like it in my entire life.

They stood on their hind legs, their backs bent with spines sticking out. Their bodies were covered in half hair and half skin. I couldn't prevent the startled sound that erupted from the back of my throat when I spotted their elongated fangs and teeth.

Taking a step back, I hid behind my mother, trying to ignore the snarls they sent our way.

She stood proudly, her shoulders raised, staring back condescendingly, like she wasn't internally breaking down in fear.

"Where's my husband?"

The creatures, six in number, threateningly snapped their teeth in reply

"You had better give me a reply, or I'll roast the hair off you mutts," my mother bit back, earning even more angered growls.

A small cackle resounded into the night as three of the creatures which we hadn't seen before stepped forward.

One looking to be the leader stepped into the circle, with the other two holding up an unconscious, brutally injured man.

It took me a while to recognise the face.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, forgetting the situation as I lunged for him only to be drawn back by my mother.

"Stay put," she whispered.

Really? Can't she see? He's hurt... being dragged around like a sack of flour, and she says to "stay put".

Blood gushed from his side. His face, barely recognisable as they threw him to the ground, yet he lay unmoving.

My heart skipped.

Could he be...

"He tried..." the leader chuckled. "Killed 11 of our men by himself, but we all know this is futile. Aren't you tired of running?" He tutted.

I waited for my mother to speak, but her eyes remained stuck on my father... his pale form.

She probably was wondering the same thing I was.

"It's been nine years, but I found you guys. Again, as promised. I think it's time you hand her over."

"I'd be damned," she gritted out. "She's my child. My daughter! Nobody else's."

My eyes darted between them.

Had they met before?

"You should've thought about it when you decided to have her..." the scary man roared. "You should’ve thought about what it meant for our world; instead, you ran off with your dreamer of a husband!"

"It doesn't change the fact that I do not owe you anything." My mother snapped back. "I won't give up my daughter to be an instrument of doom in your hand."

I still couldn't understand what the conversation was about.

How could I be an instrument of doom?

The man let out a loud, irritating laugh.

"Better us than the others; now enough chitchat. Hand her over."

The moment he took a step forward, I felt the entire world slow down, and my father jumped to his feet.

"Now, Ava!" My mother screamed.

My eyes widened in relief.

He was alive and judging from the look my mother shared with him, she knew.

"Dad!"

"Get out of here and don't look back." He yelled.

"Not too fast, you filthy witch," the leader growled as he grabbed my mother by the hair.

"Mum!"

I reached for her as she let out a painful scream but before I could, an invisible force snatched me up into the air.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My throat burnt, and before I knew it, I was the one screaming.

It was raw and wild. Everything inside me was breaking as the force wrapped around me like a cocoon... squeezing the life from my soul.

My eyes began to roll to the back of my head.

Was I dying?

I had no idea what death was but it couldn't be more painful than this, right?

With great difficulty, I weakly extended an arm towards my father, who was staring at me with a torturous look.

"Da...d," I wheezed, and his eyes widened.

Help... me..."

His body began to shake in vivid anger. He trembled violently... helplessly. His deep grey eyes slowly faded into a bright golden hue, purple.

And then, something I never expected happened.

He shifted.