The Awakening Box Set

by Michael Timmins

  Since the day he told him he was leaving, he hadn’t spoken to Cirrus. There were no tears, no yelling. It was clear, while Cirrus was not happy about it, he accepted it. In part because he was aware, no matter what he said or did, Samuel would still walk out the door, and any amount of debasing of himself would only make him appear weak in his father’s eyes.

  This wasn’t the first time he thought about Cirrus since leaving, and now, more so since Kestrel’s awakening. He assumed when she awoke, because he was still alive, Cirrus would be unaffected, but he couldn’t be sure. The spell was old, and he doubted it had been crafted with the idea one of the original Trues would still be alive.

  Contacting the handler, he asked if anything strange had occurred. The handler informed him everything was fine and not to worry. Something in the man’s voice left Samuel with an uneasy feeling. Unfortunately, things moved along steadily with Kestrel, or he would have checked on things himself.

  He sent one of his informants by the house to check on things. The informant told him he saw the handler several times, come and go from the house, but not Cirrus. He told Samuel while he hadn’t seen Cirrus, the handler did not appear to be distressed or upset, and everything, for the most part, appeared to be normal. Samuel decided to evaluate this information later, but he hadn’t had a chance, yet.

  He wondered if he should tell her about Cirrus. Truth is, he didn’t wish her to know about him. While Cirrus’ and his relationship was never one of closeness, he still felt the need to protect his son in some way. And, keeping him away from her plans was the best way to do this.

  Samuel glanced Kestrel’s way; she was still engrossed in her books. No. He didn’t think he would tell her of Cirrus. As far as he could tell, Cirrus was still a carrier of Lycanthropy, but not a lycanthrope. She would have no need of him. There was no way to turn him into a full lycanthrope. Since he carried it, he couldn’t contract it. For all intents and purposes, Cirrus would be useless to Kestrel for her plans. His eyes roamed the cabin once more, stopping to examine Gordon again, then back to Ian, who was still taping his feet to some unheard music.

  Ian rested in the soft comfortable chair of the airplane’s cabin; eyes closed as electronic trance music thrummed in his ear. He was aware of eyes on him, but was unsure of whose — probably Samuel, or whatever his name was.

  Ian was smart enough to realize most of what the man had told him was a lie, which included his name. Not that it mattered overmuch to Ian. He had thrown his lot in with the guy, and it was best not to worry too much about things he couldn’t change.

  He doubted it was the new guy on the plane. Gordon Sands, Ian had caught his name. Gordon and he had a lot in common, as Gordon was wealthy, being a doctor, they both were well dressed and attractive middle-aged men, but that was where the similarities ended. Gordon was congenial and friendly, but Ian could tell it was a fake smile the man hid behind. It scarcely hid his superiority complex or his masochism.

  What scared him more was what they had discussed. Oh sure, he never listened to them when they spoke, but long ago he became curious of Samuel and his dealings.

  Whenever he could, he would record conversations held around him when he was ‘not listening’ by totally immersing himself in music. Putting on earbuds and playing music, he made it obvious he was listening to music. All the while, the wireless microphone in his watch, and a recorder in his pocket, recorded the conversations. Most times, when he would play back what was said between Samuel and whoever was with him on the plane, it was business.

  What Ian heard Samuel and the woman discuss was not business. It was insanity. Some of it he didn’t understand at all. Talk of Trues, and animals. The talk of finding some girl and killing her he understood all too well.

  This woman they sought was a Druid and a little girl now, a baby, and others would be searching for her as well. He sensed the man, Gordon, was going to help them get this girl. Why they would need a man like Gordon, a doctor from Australia to do this, he wasn’t sure.

  They also talked about someone else they sent to Chicago to kill a wolf. A wolf? In Chicago? None of it made sense. Frankly, the whole thing made him wonder if it was time to get out of this business with Samuel. He had completed his job and done it well. Convinced the world all this money, all this wealth, was his.

  The world watched him, and ignored Samuel, the way it was supposed to. He had done it well for many years. If he left, he knew it would be with a sizable stipend for continued silence about the arrangement. At least, he believed that was what would happen. After hearing the conversation between Samuel and the woman, he was no longer sure. It seemed Samuel might be the type of guy who understood the only way to ensure silence was if the person could no longer talk.

  He could try to disappear. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough money. The problem? He was well known. Everywhere. It would only be a matter of time before Samuel could locate him. It would be easy enough. If he disappeared, his location would be a hot news story to anyone who ran into him, no matter how remote. They would know the information to be valuable. He couldn’t run, and he no longer believed he could quit. He could, however, ensure his ass was covered which meant recording as many of these conversations as he could.

  Keeping a record, so when the time came, and the authorities were alerted to what Samuel was doing, he could distance himself from the man and provide evidence he wasn’t involved. It was the best he could do. Anything else could put him at the mercy of Samuel, or worse, the woman, which was something he most definitely wished to avoid.

  Chapter 5

  "Does love always feel like this?" Jason Randal asked his buddy, Mike.

  "Lust you mean?" Mike smirked back.

  "I'm in love, you idiot."

  "You don't know her, Jason. I mean…really know her. You have been staring at her since what? The third grade? Have you ever talked to her?"

  "I mean, first, it was grade school, and then it was the same high school," Jason went on, ignoring what Mike had asked. "Then the same college. It must be fate, right?" Jason glared over at Mike. "What?" Noticing for the first time Mike's expression of frustration.

  "If it's fate, why the hell haven't you gone over to her and asked her out? Do you know how annoying it is to hear someone drone on and on about the love of their life for ten years or more?" It was obvious Mike was a little ticked off. "You're an adult now, for pity's sake, act like one. Go over to her and ask her out! Or I'll do it!"

  "You'd ask her out for me?"

  "No, you idiot. I would ask her out for ME. She is rather hot, and if you are gonna sit on your ass and not do anything about it, I might as well have a shot at her."

  "You wouldn't?" Jason demanded, eyes widening to never before seen heights.

  "Why not?" Mike shrugged. "It's not as if you are ever going to do anything about it."

  Jason was about to respond, his mouth opening a little. He snapped it closed. Mike was right about one thing. He hadn't done anything about it.

  He watched Stephanie Boles who sat across the student union at Tennessee State. The room wasn't at all crowded right now since it was late in the day and most people took classes earlier. He had a clear shot of her. A tiny thing, perhaps five feet tall in heels, she barely weighed one hundred pounds. Lithe and yet, she still appeared feminine, like a miniature version of a runway model. She had all the right curves in all the right places. Rusty brown hair was cut short, a little above her shoulders, and she had part of her bangs teased down in front of her left eye.

  She had a pale complexion, but not so pale as to be white. Just pale enough to show some slight freckles, like fading stars in the early morning light. Eyes were a light brown, almost amber, and always sparkled when she laughed.

  Jason had loved Stephanie since grade school. In the third grade, she sat in front of him and she would always smile at him when she took her seat. His heart was claimed by that smile and had been ever since.

  Mike was right about something else. Steph
anie and he maybe exchanged a half a dozen sentences in the past decade. Jason was extremely shy and apart from saying hi and hello, he did nothing but stare at her, as if willing her, by mental force, to come over to him and say something. She never did.

  Jason had been a dorky looking kid, at least in his opinion, taller than most in his grade, not filled out, just tall and gangly. The over-sized tortoise-color framed glasses with wide thick lenses sat awkwardly on his face.

  A lot less dorky now, he still felt he appeared a little dorky. In junior high, everyone caught up to him and passed him in height, so he was no longer taller than everyone. He was average height for a man, thin with a little bit of a gut from college drinking. His hair was cropped short, almost army cut. He was a somewhat average looking guy, nothing striking about him in any way.

  Because of all of this, he knew there would be no way Stephanie would be interested in a guy like him. Of course, it's not like he knew what kind of guy interested Stephanie, but he was sure it wouldn't be a guy like him. Irrational he knew, yet it always stopped him from trying to talk to her. The sad thing is, until two years ago, she lived only eight houses from him. This year she moved in with her friend, Beth, somewhere here on campus.

  He kept staring at her till she glanced in his direction, as soon as their eyes met; Jason quickly glanced away, back to his buddy Mike, who was staring at him like he was some pathetic loser… which he was.

  Mike stood up.

  "What are you doing?" Fearing Mike at long last had enough of his stupidity and was going to go over to ask her out.

  "Calm down, Casanova, I've got a class to get to." With that, Mike left Jason alone.

  Jason peeked back over at Stephanie who was still gazing at him. Jason glanced away and pretended to scan the rest of the student union as if he was people watching and not purposely staring at her. He still glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, though, and watched as she gathered up her books and slipped them into her blue and gray backpack. Standing, she slung the backpack over her shoulder and made her way to the exit, once again, walking out of Jason's life.

  Enough! Not this time, Jason decided and gathered up his books, and headed for the exit. Walking briskly towards where he had seen Stephanie leave. She had rounded the corner up ahead and would leave the building through the glass doors at the entrance to the student union. Yet, when he turned the corner and saw those doors, frantically scanning outside, he didn't see her anywhere.

  "You know," came a voice from his right. "I wait here every day for a minute to see if you would try to catch me."

  Jason turned to see Stephanie leaning up against the wall, next to a glass trophy case where she couldn't be seen by someone coming around the corner.

  "Well, almost every day.” She peered out the double doors. “Sometimes I am too late for class and I can't wait. I always worried it was going to be one of those days you’d chose to try and catch me, and I wouldn't have time to let you,” Stephanie said, glancing back at him.

  She smiled at him; eyes slightly cast downward. His heart skipped a beat.

  "Umm...ah...I wasn't, I mean, I didn't...umm. You were waiting for me?" Jason sputtered out.

  Stephanie giggled a little bit. It was the sexiest thing Jason had ever heard; he ignored the fact she was giggling at him.

  "Yeah, I was. It sure took you long enough. I thought you would have said something our junior year of high school."

  "Truth be told, it would have been third grade."

  "Wow." Eyebrows raised, mouth parted slightly, Stephanie took in this information. "I started to notice your interest in high school. Wow. You're way shyer than me. I didn't think it was possible." Stephanie gazed at him still leaning against the wall.

  "It would seem, it is," Jason said smiling, rocking slightly from foot to foot.

  They stared at each other for what was like an eternity. Neither of them knew what to do with the acknowledgement of their interest in each other. Jason was going to be damned if he was going to let this moment pass. Since the third grade, he had dreamed of this day.

  "So... Do you have some time to talk? Or do you have to get to class? It’s okay if you do, I understand. We can always talk later," the words, scrambling to get out of his mouth, spilling out like an open firehose.

  "I do have to get to class," she said with a frown, angling her body towards the door.

  Jason deflated in front of her, shoulders sagging and head drooping slightly. He felt as if he was losing his one chance with her.

  "But..." She turned back towards him. "I would rather talk to you than go to class, so let’s go back inside!"

  "Really?"

  "Really." Approaching him, she linked her arm around his and turned him back towards the Union.

  They made their way back to the table he had been sitting at, since hers was now taken.

  "Third grade, huh?" She peeked up at him with her amber eyes.

  "Yeeeeaaahhh...umm," Jason replied while glancing down and peering away.

  Stephanie giggled again, and Jason's heart melted a little more.

  They reached the table and Jason sat, Stephanie sat next to him, not across from him as he had expected. It was an unexpected delight.

  "So, what took you so long?" Stephanie enquired.

  "I don't know," Jason told her. "Well, not entirely true. I do know. I thought you wouldn't be interested in a guy like me."

  "Why? What's wrong with a guy like you?" A little peeved at his answer.

  "I don't know," Jason shrugged. "I am a bit of a dork."

  "Maybe I like dorks. Did you ever think of that?"

  "Oh, come on. You are beautiful, sexy and amazing. Why would you be interested in dorks when you could have any guy you wanted?" Jason asked her.

  Stephanie searched his eyes for a moment, finding nothing but innocent sincerity.

  "First, thank you for the compliments," she told him with a smile. "And secondly, why do think because someone can have something, they are going to want it? I also discount your belief I could have any guy I want. I'm not that beautiful. I'm too short. I don't like to wear girly clothes or makeup. I like to keep my hair short, not flowing like some Barbie doll." She ranted for a moment as her voice got a little louder as she spoke. "Did you ever consider just because you seem to think of me as beautiful, doesn't mean every other guy does?"

  "I don't understand what you are saying," Jason told her flatly.

  "Are you telling me you have never seen some hot girl with some ugly guy and wonder what the hell does she see in him?"

  "Are you saying I'm ugly?" Jason teased, knowing now where she was going with her point, but couldn't pass up the opening she had left.

  "No... That’s not what...I wasn't saying that," she stumbled over herself to explain to him, and saw the small smirk he was trying to hide and slugged him in shoulder.

  "You know what I mean!" She yelled at him, trying to sound put out, but hiding a laugh.

  Jason rubbed his shoulder where she had slugged him. He didn't have to feign hurt, she packed quite a punch.

  "Yeah, I know what you mean, Stephanie. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?"

  "More or less. I think people are attracted to different things. I don't think because you appear a certain way you are attracted to those types of people."

  Pondering this for a bit, Jason had to admit she had a point. Unfortunately, it meant he had wasted all this time when he could have been with Stephanie since the third grade, or at least high school.

  His expression sank, the muscles in his face slackened, his lips dipped downward at the corners. His sadness must have been noticeable, for Stephanie seemed to understand what it meant, and took his hands in hers.

  "It's okay, Jason, we have from this moment on. We might not have been ready to meet before this point. Maybe there were things we had to experience in life before we experienced this."

  Jason smiled. He also believed sometimes things in life don't work out because we try them to
o early, or perhaps, too late. If we don't experience certain things at certain times, they are doomed to fail. Glancing over at the girl he hoped to be with all his life, sitting there holding his hands in hers, and gazing into his eyes, he was happier than he had ever been in his entire life.

  "Would you like to go out on Saturday?"

  Her smile lit up his heart. "I would love to, Jason."

  Stephanie Boles applied lipstick to her upper lip and pursed her lips in a kiss towards the mirror. Her round face was almost doll-like. Taking a moment, she examined herself in the mirror. She was a small girl; she always thought she appeared like a gymnast, though she was shapelier than one. Gymnast tended to lack the curves of a woman, and she wasn't lacking in that department.

  She had full B-cupped breasts which were perky, her body thinned down to her waist with a slight flaring out at the hips. Her ass was heart shaped and firm, since she spent hours in the gym to make it so, and the legs were shapely and slight. Freckles dotted her cheeks and upper chest, but they were faint and hardly noticeable, she considered them highlights.

  Tonight, was her first real date with Jason.

  Of course, they talked every day on the phone and met in the Union between classes. It drove his friend Mike nuts. They were practically fawning over each other, she knew, but she couldn't help herself. Every time they would say sweet stuff to each other, and Mike was there, he would groan or make gagging sounds. Jason and she laughed, but they toned it down till Mike left for a class.

  It was amazing, after all this time of being near someone and never really meeting, you could find your soul mate. It sounded stupid, even to her, to say, but she honestly felt an amazing connection to him, as if they were meant to be.

  "If you glowed anymore, we’d be able to save money on the electric bill." Beth said, stepping in lightly from the bathroom doorway.

  Stephanie looked at her and smiled more. Beth had been her friend since the first year of college. She was quite different from Stephanie in many ways, she was tall, light skinned, for a black girl, but still darker than Stephanie. A shapely girl as well, but where Stephanie was thin and shapely, Beth was a bit fleshier. The only downside was Beth’s long face. It gave the impression of a high forehead and a long chin. She was good-looking, not beautiful.