The Awakening Box Set

by Michael Timmins

  So, he allowed the child to be born. A boy. Samuel named him Cirrus. The mother increasingly became demanding of him and his time and so he took the child and told the woman to never come back. She did, of course. She would not give up her son. So, she suffered from an ‘accident’ and the boy was his, and his alone.

  It was awkward at first. He knew nothing of raising a child and was forced to hire a nanny. It didn’t stop him from spending as much time with the boy as possible. He didn’t fail at anything, and he wouldn’t fail at this, no matter how uncomfortable it made him.

  He was not a compassionate person. He was not expressive with his feelings. A child expresses these things naturally. Samuel taught him through his own actions to be cold and aloof. Cirrus learned swiftly, and soon became like his father, passionless and emotionless.

  In time, the nanny was dismissed, and Samuel was able to take care of Cirrus on his own. In part, because Cirrus required very little in the way of parenting. He had become very self-sufficient and showed a maturity well beyond his years. Several months after Cirrus’ sixteenth birthday, Samuel got a call from one of his informants about an American woman who had begun poking around Stonehenge.

  This came as a bit of a surprise to Samuel. It had been decades since any in-depth investigation into Stonehenge had occurred. It was believed, that what was to be discovered about Stonehenge had already been discovered. It was part of the reason Samuel had felt comfortable and guiltless about not taking a more active role in keeping Stonehenge free of interference.

  With knowledge that his abandoned role of protector of Kestrel’s resting place was being tested, Samuel had no other choice but to resume it. If Kestrel was found in her resting place, her body would be disturbed, and possibly destroyed. Then all his earlier work would have been for naught. He would not have that. As much as he wished to be finally free of this obligation, it was a failure he could not accept.

  He contacted his informant to locate where the woman was conducting her research, and after finding out it was at the Institute of Historical Research, he created a new background for himself as a Professor and used his influence and considerable money to gain a position at the Institute. He would need to keep watch over this woman and steer her away from finding anything of importance about Stonehenge.

  The problem, of course, was he couldn’t do this with a kid in tow. He would need to deal with Cirrus, keep him out of the way, and cut ties with him. The boy was sixteen now. When Samuel was sixteen, he had already done so much in his life, but times had changed, and the expectations on the youth in this age were minimal.

  Cirrus, of course, was different. Samuel had made sure of it. He had done his best to train him to be self-sufficient. Not only self-sufficient, but also a highly trained and skilled individual. He had Cirrus trained in fighting, both martial and with weapons. He had educated the boy and trained his mind to think way more analytically than a child his age would normally be capable. Samuel had trained him in tactics, and warfare as well. Trained him in survival, wilderness and city. Cirrus could make snares to catch prey and make bombs to kill a different type of prey.

  And, as with all children of Trues, he carried lycanthropy. Though it only manifested itself in rapid healing. He would never be a real lycanthrope, only a dormant carrier. That wasn’t true. He could one day be a real lycanthrope. If Samuel were to die and Kestrel returned, then Cirrus would have it awakened in him.

  When Samuel realized this, he realized he needed to tell Cirrus what he was, well, what he could someday be. Cirrus already understood he was different. He had noticed his rapid healing and knew it to be unusual. He hadn’t been prepared to hear the truth of it, though. Samuel remembered the day vividly.

  Samuel had returned home later in the evening than usual to find his son, Cirrus, reading. Cirrus was bent over a book, sitting on the green plush sofa prominently placed within their home’s great room. The sofa faced a massive cobblestoned fireplace, the stonework framed the open hearth and traveled up the wall above it all the way to the ceiling.

  A second plush sofa faced the fireplace at an angle, across from a black recliner, also angled to face the fireplace. The fireplace was cold now, it being mid-summer and there being no reason to have the extra heat. To a visitor, this room would seem peculiar to most other homes for its absence of a television. It wasn’t as if Samuel didn’t like to watch TV. He did. He felt it important to keep up with the news, no matter how dodgy it sometimes was.

  He also made sure Cirrus was kept apprised of current events as well. Both of their bedrooms sported state of the art televisions which would make any AV enthusiast giddy. He didn’t feel it belonged in a social room as what he considered the great room to be. That room was meant for conversing, interaction, or if there was no one about, then quiet contemplation, and of course, reading.

  Samuel entered the great room and approached Cirrus. His son was like him in many ways. He shared Samuel’s olive-tinged skin and dark hair. Though, where Samuel was gangly, Cirrus was proportionate. He didn’t share Samuel’s long limbs. His body was more equal in size and shape. At sixteen, Cirrus was shy of Samuel’s height, making him tall, indeed. Whether finishing puberty would put him taller, they would have to wait and see.

  Years of martial training had also seen him fill out more than Samuel ever was. Samuel always avoided fighting if he could, and so he never tried to make himself a stronger person. With his enhanced strength from being a True, he could out-match pretty much anyone alive today. His son would not have supernatural strength, so Samuel did his best to make sure he had his own natural strength to help him.

  “Hello, father,” Cirrus said, without glancing up from his book.

  “Good evening, Cirrus. How are you today?” They both knew it was a meaningless query.

  “All is well, father.” Cirrus answered distractedly, still not removing himself from the book.

  “There is something we need to discuss.” Samuel made sure to impart the importance of the comment in his tone, and Cirrus closed the book immediately, not marking the page. Samuel knew the boy’s memory was almost equal his own, and he could easily pick up the book in a couple of months and know exactly which page he had been reading. Cirrus set the book on one of the end tables flanking the sofa and looked at him.

  Cirrus had a humble face. It lacked the length of Samuel’s and was fuller and rounder. Flat-nosed and full lips made him appear a little bit like an oaf. His eyes were sharp though, close examination of those would quickly clue you to the intelligence of the boy. Samuel thought back to the day Cirrus complained about his facial features and how they made him seem stupid. He had assured Cirrus it was a blessing. If people thought you were stupid without knowing you, you will always surprise them. And a person surprised is a person vulnerable. Intelligence should never be underestimated, and when it was, it became as powerful as a loaded gun.

  Cirrus waited patiently. He had learned early on that to try and rush Samuel with harassing questions swiftly led to punishment. And, it was punishment Samuel doled out quickly and effectively. Even rebellious as children usually are could not last long under the unforgiving lessons Samuel imparted without remorse or restraint.

  “There is something I need to tell you. Something which might be of import later in your life.” Samuel began, taking his suit’s jacket off and folding it carefully before putting it on the edge of the sofa.

  “It is possible this will never happen, but in case it does. I would be remiss to you, and to Her, if I didn’t explain some things to you.” He knew he was being purposely vague, and in part, it was because he was unsure of how to explain this, or how it would be taken.

  Cirrus continued to wait patiently for him to get to the point. It was a testament to the lessons he had learned that the boy had yet to interrupt, though there were clearly questions he would already have forming in his mind. Not least of which was, why it appeared his father was undressing in front of him, as Samuel had proceeded to also remove
his dress shirt.

  “You are aware of your ability to heal at an accelerated rate?” Raising his eyebrows in question, Samuel folded his shirt, awaiting a response.

  Cirrus nodded, his eyes following Samuel’s movements.

  “Are you aware we share the ability?”

  Samuel asked this not truly knowing the answer. To his knowledge, he had never been injured in front of Cirrus, so it shouldn’t have been apparent. However, there were other aspects of the healing Cirrus might have clued in to. If he was very observant, and very intuitive.

  Cirrus nodded again, and Samuel smiled in pride.

  “Good.” Samuel began to remove his belt and he allowed his trousers to fall to the ground where he collected them and proceeded to fold them. He felt odd, doing this in front of his son, but he assumed his son would not believe him when he told him and would therefore be forced to shift to prove it, and he didn’t want to destroy a fine suit.

  “The reason we have this ability is because we are unlike other people. We carry something within our bloodstream others do not.

  This is why I have told you under no circumstances should you ever go to a hospital. A hospital would find out about this, and you, and me would not be safe.”

  Cirrus watched him raptly. Clearly interested in where this was going, yet still refraining from asking questions that must be running through his young mind.

  “What we carry in our bloodstream is known as Lycanthropy.” Cirrus started at this. He clearly recognized the word, and since the world had distorted the reality of Lycanthropy over the years, he could understand his son’s reaction.

  “It is not what it has been portrayed as in the movies and in literature, son. Lycanthropy is not a madness, nor is it a ‘disease’ as well. It was something created and gifted to a chosen few.

  “What you have, is a dormant form. You can’t shift into a Were-form. In fact, you will most likely never transform… ever. The only way it would ever happen is upon my death, and the awakening of the one who created it in the first place. Neither of which has happened in two millennia.”

  Samuel paused for a moment and watched as what he said dawned on Cirrus. When Cirrus raised questioning eyes to Samuel, he nodded his permission for him to speak.

  “So,” Cirrus began. “You mean to tell me you have been alive for 2,000 years? How is that possible? And who is this person who created it, and why and how would this person be awakened? And why are you nearly naked?”

  Samuel quirked a smile at his son. All excellent questions.

  “The answer to your first question is yes. I have been alive for over 2,000 years. How is it possible? Well, that is harder to explain.” Samuel sat down and took a moment to collect his thoughts on how best to say it.

  “When a body ages, it does so because the cells in the body break down, they are slowly destroyed. Our ability to heal rapidly, offsets this damage slightly. You less than me, for reasons I will come back to. Our body’s cells break down naturally over time, but also partially because our body is active.”

  Samuel paused for a moment to study his son. He was clearly paying attention, but given the quick intelligence he had, it was obvious this still made little sense to him. So, Samuel tried a different track.

  “Think of it as a car. A car will break down over time. It will break down quicker if it is used more. The more wear and tear a car goes through, the faster it will reach the end of its life. Now, if you were to keep the car in storage, and only use it occasionally, it would take a lot longer to break down, right?”

  Cirrus nodded.

  “Okay, well now, imagine if while you put that car in storage, anything that was damaged, or worn out while you did use it was repaired and fixed. You would essentially have a car that would never die. That is how my body works. Now, there are, of course, other things that happen to people, like disease or sicknesses, but as you may or may not have noticed, those do not happen to us. Our bodies do not suffer natural maladies, as others do.”

  Cirrus nodded his head slightly in understanding. The analogy made sense to him.

  “So occasionally, throughout the years, you ‘rested’? Somehow, slowing your metabolism to a point it was slower than the speed of your healing?”

  Samuel was once again impressed by his son’s ability to reason things out.

  “That is correct.”

  “As to the person who created this, well, it was a long time ago… a different time. Kestrel was a Druid. Not like those supposed druids you might read about that gather at Stonehenge these days. These were the spiritual leaders of the Celts. They were powerful, and they had powerful spells. They used their power and their spells to protect nature, and the Celtic way of life. Kestrel believed civilization was a plague, if allowed to spread would harm and eventually destroy nature. Much like the environmentalist of today.

  “Her beliefs were not shared by many, including the Elder. Knowing the longer it took for her to convince the others of the truth, the more damage civilization would do. She took matters into her own hands.

  “She created the first Lycans, the Trues. These she used to create an army of Lycans and went to war. A war she lost. However, before she lost, she used a spell which would ensure she would come back, and when she did, the descendants of the first Trues would once again become Lycanthropes. It’s rather a complicated story, but since it has yet to happen yet, and possibly never will, is part of the reason you will most likely never be a true lycanthrope. Also, since I am still alive, if she was to come back now, I would already occupy the role, and as such, you wouldn’t change.

  “As to how she would be awakened? Well Kestrel put a contingency into her spell that when the last of the stones of Stonehenge were to fall, she would be awakened.”

  Cirrus stared at him for a moment before asking.

  “So why have you not toppled Stonehenge?”

  Another excellent question, Samuel thought. Of course, he had thought to topple Stonehenge and awaken Kestrel, but part of the spell stated, ‘…nature will make the call...” Nature will make the call. Not him. He couldn’t risk it. If he toppled Stonehenge, and it didn’t work, there would be no fixing it. She would never be able to return. No, he couldn’t risk it.

  “It wouldn’t have worked, Cirrus. There were aspects of the spell preventing tampering. It must happen naturally. And so, we wait.”

  Cirrus examined him closely before saying more.

  “While this all seems plausible the way you have said it, father. It seems complete and thorough, and reasonable. It still is impossib…”

  Cirrus didn’t finish, as right before his eyes, Samuel shifted. His body took on a more rounded form. Skin transformed to reptile-like scales.

  Samuel’s physical form elongated, torso stretching, merging with, and extending behind, to form a tail. Neck melded with body and head, arching forward into snake-like head. Within seconds, a hybrid, part snake, part man towered over Cirrus.

  “…ible.” Cirrus managed to finish finally, staring with a mixture of wonder, fear, and disbelief.

  Samuel knew it would take this to convince his son. He couldn’t have shifted right away, though. He needed to set the groundwork for understanding in his son’s mind. Without the background, both the history and the science of it, his son would have most likely run from fear, or attempted to attack him when he had shifted. Now, his son understood what he was seeing, and why he was seeing it, which in turn would help him understand it.

  “That…that is incredible.” Cirrus stammered. “So, you are a Were-snake? I have never heard of that type. Werewolf, obviously, I have heard of. I have even heard mention of bear and tiger. But, never snake.”

  Samuel frowned. Even though he had gone to great lengths to erase information about himself, it still irked him the lycans people knew about still were Sylvanis’ lackeys. The victors truly do write history.

  “Yes. Well. There were others, as well. Eight total. Four of us fought for Kestrel. Four for the opposing sid
e.” Samuel shifted back and began to put his clothes back on.

  “Understand this, Cirrus. If I were to die, and Kestrel were to return afterwards. You will become like me, and it will be your duty to find Kestrel, and join her, help her continue her fight. That is your legacy.

  “I know you didn’t ask for this, and as I have said, it will most likely never come to fruition in your lifetime, but I felt it imperative I inform you, in case it did.” Samuel finished dressing and scrutinized his son. It seemed he was taking this information in stride. He had faith his son would come to grips with this shortly. It was true he was an intellectual, but he was also young, and so unburdened by much of the hard truths of life. The cynicism and the rigid thinking came with adulthood. As such, he should be able to accept this, though it was fantastical, and in many ways unbelievable, regardless of what he saw Samuel do with his own eyes.

  Cirrus eventually relaxed in his seat, the tension of the moment had passed, and acceptance had creeped in. To Samuel’s surprise, Cirrus looked at him, nodded, picked his book back up and returned to reading. The matter was closed.

  That was a year ago when he got the call from his informant. A year since he left his son. He hadn’t left him alone. He hired a handler. Someone to stay and watch over Cirrus for as long as the person felt it was necessary. At which point, he would contact Samuel and explain why he felt Cirrus no longer needed minding.

  Samuel, time permitting, checked in on his son. Though, he did it in a manner, so Cirrus never knew he was there. He couldn’t. He utterly and completely cut ties with his son. Accounts were set up, with it a trust for him which would become his when he turned eighteen, or when the handler felt he was capable of living on his own.

  If he used it wisely, there was more than enough money to live a life most people only dreamed of. Also, he was armed with the knowledge, at some point, there was always a possibility he might become a full Lycan. Samuel hoped Cirrus would continue to keep himself in top shape, both physically and mentally.