Mia was dreaming, and aware that she was. She realized that she had not dreamed since she had left home. Home. The word sounded strange now, even in her mind. It was a foreign concept. A home. What did it mean? She had no family now. No, she had never really had a family. Those people, whom she had loved, they were not really her family. They didn't miss her. But she missed them. And home. She missed home. Where was home now? This room? For how long? Forever? She hoped not.
In her dream, she was walking to school. That was one thing she would not miss. Or had always thought she wouldn't miss. Now she thought it might be quite pleasant to walk down the tree-lined streets of her small town, down the same familiar roads she had walked down a thousand times before. It was sunny in her dream, and warm. She closed her eyes, and walked with her face turned up to the warmth from the sun. She didn't need to look where she was going. She was familiar with these roads.
She bumped into something then - something that should not have been there. She opened her eyes in surprise, to find that it was a person she had bumped into.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I…” her sentence tailed off as she saw the face of the person she had bumped into. It was him. The boy from her dream. The boy who was like her. “I…I wasn’t watching where I was going” she said in a small voice.
She should run from him, surely. She should wake up. She should be terrified. She was terrified. Or was she? No, she realized, she wasn't. Her heart was racing, her mind going a hundred miles an hour. But most of all, it was curiosity. Curiosity about him, the only other one in the universe - or universes in the plural, if Leonara was to be believed - who was the same as her. She stood and looked up at him, his handsome face looking even more dashing in the morning sunlight.
“You should” he replied coldly “You should be very careful where you tread.”
“I’m sorry” she replied, in her small voice again, taken aback by his hostility.
But of course he would be hostile towards her, why wouldn’t he? They were enemies. Born to be enemies. Born to fight one another, or…something. Mia didn’t know quite what they were born for. She only knew that they were at once the same and very different from one another.
He continued to look down at her with distaste, then leaned forward, as though he was going to kiss her forehead, before pulling back and scowling. It was odd. Mia wondered what on Earth he had been planning to do to her. She remembered, almost unwillingly, the way he had changed in the last dream, and the way that the fire had started.
Still, the boy was looking down at her, and now something very much like fury burned in his eyes. He was angry with her - but why? It made no sense, she had done nothing. Perhaps it was because he couldn't find her. And yet here he was, in her dreams.
It was different in this dream to the last one. This one did not feel real, it felt like a dream, which made it all the more peculiar, because in a logical world, the one with the forest and the snake and the monster this boy had become would be the one that felt like a dream, and the everyday walking down the street she had been doing in this dream would feel like reality. She was fast giving up on logic. Logic was not logical, not in matters like these.
“Goodbye Mia. I’ll see you soon” said the boy, and he strode off across the street. He disappeared around the corner, and left Mia staring after him.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The rest of the dream was normal, as far as dreams go, and Mia didn't remember it when she awoke just after dawn the following morning. She only remembered that he had been there, and wondered whether she ought to tell Leonara. But no, the Angel would probably only worry that she had been thinking about the boy. She wondered whether thinking about the boy would summon him, the way she could summon Leonara. She hoped not. At any rate, Leonara's protections should keep him away. She was not ready to face him yet, knowing that he was inevitably going to be so much stronger than she was.
Resolutely, she decided to keep her mind away from the subject of the mysterious boy, just to be on the safe side. Leonara was nowhere to be seen in the room, so Mia decided to take the opportunity to do a little more healing. She was almost back to full health now, and felt invigorated. It was as though she was almost over a long illness. Taking little bits of power from various parts of her body, she healed her aching joints with ease, and was delighted to stand up out of bed onto legs that did not ache. She stretched luxuriously and smiled, enjoying the feeling of power that was still buzzing through her as her awareness of it wore off.
“Feeling better this morning?” asked a voice, and Mia whirled around to come face to face with Leonara.
“Oh, hi,” she said guiltily, feigning cheeriness “uh…yeah. Feeling much better, thanks” she smiled nervously, and waited for Leonara to speak.
Leonara simply stood before her and looked her square in the eyes, wondering whether she ought to tell the girl that she knew what she had been doing. That she ought to stop. To listen to her when she gave an order. But then, who was she to order this girl around? She was, in the grand scheme of things, a nothing. Much as she loathed to admit it, even to herself, she was a nobody - not compared to the girl. The girl would someday, if all went according to plan, be her boss.
Leonara wondered if she would ever be ready. Something in her consciousness stirred, and she realized that she had been simply looking at the girl for some time, and that Mia was obviously waiting for her to speak, or move out of the way, or do anything but simply stand there staring.
“Good,” she said, then forced a smile, hoping it looked genuine “that’s good. Maybe we can get back to work on teaching you how to keep your beacon switched off.” She winked, and Mia nodded, a look of relief obvious on her face. Leonara wondered what on earth the girl had been up to while she was gone, that she should look so relieved not to be found out.
But she had her orders, she must not pry. She was to do as she was commanded and nothing else. And at the moment, her orders were simply to keep the girl safe, keep her fit, and get her ready for what was to come.
Once Mia had showered, she made herself a brief breakfast of cereal with half a banana chopped up on top, which she only ate a few spoons full of - she found that her appetite was unusually poor lately. She had at first thought that it was because of the aching and nausea that had a hold on her body for the first few days, and that her appetite would return once she felt better. But so far, her appetite had remained poor and she had eaten very little. She was eating now more as an obligation to her body than out of any hunger or desire to eat anything. She shoved the half-eaten cereal away from her, and waited impatiently for Leonara to return from wherever she had gone to shortly after she almost caught Mia healing.
She felt like a caged animal now, something inside her wanted her to be free. Free of this room. Of this whole town, even, whichever town this may happen to be. There was a world out there, so many different places to see. She wanted to see them all. After all, if she was to fight in some kind of war she might as well get a good idea of what she was fighting for. To protect the world, and all those who dwell on it. Well what did she know of the world? Her own tiny town, where not a soul even knew she ever existed, thanks to the Truth Switch. She had to find a new reason, she thought. Yes, she had left to keep her parents safe, but going to war for them? They who would probably call the police if they found her upstairs in her attic bedroom? No, she didn't think she could justify going to war for them. And that surprised her, she had always thought she would do anything for her parents. Apparently not.
She stood up from the small dining table, and began pacing the room. Yes, she definitely needed to get out of this room. Consciously and deliberately, she called Leonara’s name out in her mind, loud and clear. She did not much care if calling the Angel back would frustrate her, she needed her back here and now. Something was building inside of her, a kind of frustrated tension that she did not know how to control or manage. She felt like she might burst, and every inch of her seemed to be buzzing with power.
>
“What is it?” asked Leonara in a tone of voice which betrayed the fact that it was a forced calm.
Mia whirled around to face Leonara, and burst out “I need to leave this room. Leave this place. I’m going nuts in here. I need to…I don’t know. Let off some steam. Burn some energy. I feel like I’m about to explode, Leonara. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just know I need to do something.” She barely took a breath in between words during her outburst, so it came out rushed and barely comprehensible. If Leonara had found it difficult to follow what Mia was saying, she didn't show it.
“Alright, okay. If you can prove to me that you are safe to be outside this room, we’ll go out today,” as Mia opened her mouth to reply, her expression more animated than it had been in days, her eyes shining in excitement, Leonara held up a hand to silence her “if you can be safe outside this room and on one more condition” she said firmly, looking Mia square in the eyes.
“Anything!” replied Mia, almost breathlessly.
“You agree to do exactly as I say when we are outside this room. Regardless of what you think you should do.” She looked at Mia, and tried to put all of her meaning into her gaze. True, she was not truly the girl's superior, and so she could not scold her for what she had done, but she wanted to at least let the girl know that she was onto her, and that outside of this safe haven, it was important to follow her instructions. “Here, there are protections in place. If you start…doing things, out there, in the world, then you could be in dangers I cannot protect you from. So, will you agree? To follow my command outside of this room, at all times, without question?”
“Of course” replied Mia solemnly.
She was so desperate to get out of the room, she didn’t even hesitate. She would have agreed to almost anything.
“Okay, good. First, we have to get your skills honed a little bit, so that you’re not a sitting duck out there. If you could get the shielding mastered, that’d help a lot. Here in this room, your…well, trace I suppose, is hidden. Unless you specifically call someone, they won’t know you are here. Out there, now that you’ve opened up your powers a little” she deliberately played down how powerful she knew the girl was becoming “you’re going to leave a trail behind you. You need to be able to hide that. It should be easy enough, now that you’re Awake.”
Mia nodded impatiently, she could do this. Whatever it was that Leonara wanted her to do, to hide herself, or whatever, she knew she could do it. Instinctively, she just knew.
“Okay, so what do I do?”
“Hide” replied Leonara simply.
“Hide?” she asked “What, are you going to count to ten and we’ll have a game of hide and seek?” her snappy tone surprised her, she really was going crazy cooped up in this room.
“Yes, hide. Its pretty much just the same thing as the Truth Shifting that we did in your bedroom, on that first night. You just have to accept that you cannot be found. Make it True” She smiled encouragingly.
“And how will I know if it’s worked?”
“Well, try it now. Hide from me, somewhere in this room. Like you said, we’ll play that game - hide and seek. Close your eyes first, I know that’s not how the human equivalent goes, but it will help you to feel me leaving, rather than see it. You close your eyes, and wait until you feel me leave. Then hide, and make it so that I cannot find you. I’ll come back one minute after I leave, and try to feel you out. Remember, keep your mind shielded from calling me back - unless you need me of course - and know that I cannot find you until you want me to.”
Mia nodded, and this time there was none of the hesitation that she had felt the first time she had tried to shield her mind from calling Leonara back. She simply knew that Leonara would not hear her thoughts, nor find her when she hid. She closed her eyes when Leonara instructed her to, and sent out her power somehow, without knowing how she was doing it. She sent out waves, radiating out from her body in all directions, like sonar. She felt there in the room, at one point, the power met with another field of power, creating little waves that pushed back against Mia’s own. That was where Leonara stood, she knew instinctively. After around two minutes, the resistance disappeared, and Mia knew that the other Angel had left.
She opened her eyes cautiously, and sure enough, she was alone in the room. She smiled in satisfaction, an odd sense of achievement and pride washing over her. In a matter of days, she had gone from ordinary - and possibly borderline crazy - to this. She realized there was no time to bask in the glory of her achievement, of her very existence, and that she needed to hide quickly.
She eyed the spot where Leonara had been standing, moments before. Usually, the Angel returned to the same spot she had left from. With an Impish grin, and an air of confidence, Mia strode purposefully to the wardrobe just behind that spot. She would be inches away from Leonara when she returned, but was certain that the Angel would not be able to feel her out. She pulled the door shut and stood quietly, waiting for Leonara to return, the smile still playing on her lips.
Sure enough, moments later, she felt Leonara return. How obvious it was, the change of power in the room. The room seemed to become charged, as though with static, like a storm was building in the air of the room. How had she not noticed this before? She stopped wondering for a moment, and realized that in all likelihood, the next few days and weeks would hold many surprises, and many more “why did I not realize this before?” moments. And besides, she needed to focus on Leonara.
She felt Leonara’s power rippling out from her, and braced herself as the first waves of it gently buffeted against her own. Determined that Leonara would not sense her out, she made herself invisible. Invisible to the waves of power, that is. To the eye, she knew she was very much visible. She allowed the waves of power to simply pass through her as though she was nothing more than air, and hoped Leonara would mistake the slight hesitation and resistance for the resistance put up by the door as the wave tried to travel through. She hoped.
After a couple of minutes of searching, Leonara called out to her. Mia stifled a giggle and remained hidden for a moment. It was almost exactly like being a child again. Refusing to give up such a good hiding place.
“Mia?” Leonara called nervously. Oh if the girl had run off on her own, they would not be pleased. “Mia, come out now.” She called out more forcefully, wincing at the slight quiver in her voice. It was uncanny, if Mia was in the room still, the way she had hidden herself so completely on the first try.
And yet, Leonara should not have been surprised, Mia had been shielding her powers for years, as they lay dormant, which was why she had never been found until now. Now that her powers were Awakened, it was only natural that everything about her became amplified, better, stronger - and part of that was bound to be her ability to hide.
She almost jumped out of her skin as the wardrobe door opened behind her suddenly. It had been a very long time since anyone or anything had managed to creep up on her. She whirled around and found herself face to face with Mia, who was barely containing her laughter.
“Oh your face!” she burst out, letting her laughter flow “You’d think you’d seen a ghost! Well, colonel, do I pass muster?” she asked in mock seriousness, standing to attention.
“I’d say so. But Mia - remember your promise” Leonara said seriously.
“Aye cap’n, I remember the orders - obey orders, without hesitation, without question” she barked the words out like she was a soldier repeating them back, then burst out laughing again.
Her laughter was infectious, and Leonara smiled.
“Right. Where to then, my young friend?”
Mia stopped laughing, and considered this for a moment.
“I…I don’t really know,” she admitted thoughtfully “you’re the well-travelled one, Leonara. I haven't seen anything of the world. I’ve never been anywhere. Take me somewhere beautiful. Somewhere exciting. We can go anywhere at all, right?” she said.
“Anywhere at all” smiled Leonara.
>
“Your choice. Where to?” asked Mia, the excited twinkle still sparkling in her eyes.
“Take my hand, and you’ll soon see” said Leonara mysteriously, with a smile.
“Aye aye captain!” said Mia, and looped her arm through Leonara’s with a smile.
The boy watched them both disappear, and cursed his luck that they were both shielded. He would have to wait until they slipped up. He didn't like her being out of his sight for long.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Mia opened her eyes, she found herself looking across an incredible snow-covered mountain range, breathing in cold clear air.
“Wow” she whispered breathlessly “its so…beautiful.”
“Isn’t it though?” replied Leonara dreamily. “Of all the places and things I have seen, I still think things like this are the best of all.”
“Mother Nature sure paints some pretty pictures” agreed Mia, in awe.
Leonara turned to look at the girl beside her.
“Mother Nature?” she laughed incredulously.
“Oh…of course…” Mia felt silly then, talking about nature. And to think that when she had read the stories of those refusing to teach evolution, those who believed in creationism, she had laughed at them. She sent a silent apology to them, and looked back over the mountains with fresh eyes. Eyes that knew these beautiful things had been designed and then deliberately created to look this way.
Awakening (Children of Angels) Page 12