Wide Awake - Academy of the Fallen Series

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  I started to tell her that I had to go; I figured that he was here for me. If I left he would leave too and she would be left alone and safe… Only, Benjamin stood next to her, putting one of his hands on her belly and as he did that, his eyes looked brighter, he seemed… stronger.

  “We need to get out of here!” I told her.

  Ashley looked at me confused, then placed her hand over Benjamin’s, only she clearly couldn’t see that he was there.

  Her tone changed from frustrated to crazy-psycho-girl as she told me to get the hell out of her room and her house and never to come back or talk to her again.

  Benjamin was laughing like that had been the funniest joke.

  I couldn’t believe that I wished for that, but hoping that Benjamin would follow me out, I left.

  I didn’t see him anymore that day.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  That had been the day I hadn’t heard from Hunter. I did think about calling and telling him what had happened. I just hated how I became so dependent on his help, so I didn’t call or look for him.

  I did go shopping with Jessica and Emily as an attempt to get my mind off things, not that it worked. The first mention of Ashley gave me chills as I instantly thought of Benjamin.

  After leaving Ashley’s house, it crossed my mind that I should have tried to summon Benjamin and to find out what he wanted, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted to know what he wanted, but not as much as I wanted him away from me.

  Turned out that Emily and Jessica already knew about Ashley moving away, which meant that by that time, everyone knew. Apparently, Emily’s mom had heard about it at the spa.

  “So, what was the deal with Justin the other day?” Emily asked, eager to hear all of the details. Honestly, I was surprised it took her that long to ask me.

  I told them nothing happened, that he was still the same jerk and was probably never going to change. Emily made a comment about how she didn’t mind him being a jerk, but I just ignored it.

  That night we all slept at Emily’s house.

  As sad and pathetic as it was, I missed Hunter. It was just so…different hanging out with him. He made me feel safe and I hated having to depend on him for something so simple as feeling safe while I slept.

  After Jessica and Emily finally stopped babbling and went to sleep, I just lay there, unable to sleep and unable to get Hunter off my mind, no matter how hard I tried.

  I barely got any sleep that night.

  When I finally got up, I went to check my phone and there was a text from Hunter. “We need to talk. Can we meet somewhere?”

  I figured he either didn’t want to take the risk to go to my house or he knew that I wasn’t home and had not tried to find me.

  “What are you smiling about?” Emily asked as she watched me reply to the text.

  I hadn’t even realized that was what I was doing. I shrugged. “Nothing. I need to get home soon though.”

  I got dressed and rushed out of there. I had texted Hunter that I would meet him at his house, but he asked me to meet him at a park near the school instead.

  When I parked my car, he was already there, waiting for me. For the first time, I noticed how much I was fighting against the way I was feeling for him. ‘This is never going to happen…’I took a deep breath before getting out of the car. ‘No expectations, no disappointments.’ I reminded myself.

  I walked over to where he was sitting and sat on the other side, across from him.

  He avoided even looking at me. On the table, there was an envelope with my name on it. Only it said Kayla D… His hand covered the rest of it.

  “What is up?” I finally asked.

  “I found your file. You know, with information about your biological parents.”

  I stood up. “I told you I didn’t want to know.”

  “There is not much that I can tell you anyway. There wasn’t much in there…. “

  I turned my back to Hunter, so he wouldn’t see that I was shaking and afraid to find out anything about my real parents.

  “Look, I will go. There were some pictures of your parents… The envelope is sealed, so you can do whatever with it.”

  I stood there, motionless.

  “I – I will just talk to your later, Kayla.”

  I wanted to ask Hunter not to leave, but the words didn’t come out. When I turned around, to watch him go, he stood right in front of me and pulled me into a hug.

  It was amazing how just a hug made me feel so comforted.

  I didn’t need to ask him to stay while I opened the envelope or even say that I wanted to look at the pictures. He simply stood there, next to me.

  My biological parents were actually older than I would have ever pictured. My mom was tall, slim, long blond hair and brown eyes…. but something about her wasn’t right. I couldn’t feel anything. Then I looked at my dad’s picture and I couldn’t hold back the smile. Unlike me, he had brown hair, green eyes, and looking at him, I felt sad… I remembered him playing with me outside. Somehow, that one distant memory made me miss his presence.

  Hunter sat down. I sat next to him, still staring at the picture. “So, what all did you find out?” I finally got the guts to ask.

  Hunter sighed. “Nothing really. Just family history background. Your… umm… mom had another kid years before you, but something went wrong. There were no other details other than he didn’t make it.”

  “You don’t think Benjamin is--?”

  “No. I mean… the child didn’t even get a chance to grow up.”

  I didn’t say anything to that.

  “I know this is a lot to take in.”

  “Did you find out anything else… any reason why Benjamin would have a connection to him?”

  I noticed Hunter had been staring at my dad’s picture, which I was still holding.

  “Nothing at all. Seems that we are running out of time. There may not be any other options except going directly to my mentor.”

  “But you can’t… you said… What about that someone you said was helping?”

  He avoided my gaze.

  “It is complicated. We need to get rid of Benjamin before the baby comes. Both your mom and Ashley’s”

  “Why? What does he want?”

  “Benjamin…what he is… well, I told you before he can feed off that kind of energy. He is already getting stronger.” I could feel Hunter was hiding something… having trouble choosing his words. “Certain young souls… well they are unprotected. Things like Benjamin can take advantage of that, especially when… never mind. Our options are to get rid of him somehow, or find a spirit, even a trapped one like Carolyn, to reincarnate. She can protect that baby’s soul. Only, you will have to find a way to release her first.”

  To say that I was confused was an understatement. Before I could even process anything, I got a text.

  ‘Mom went into labor. Meet us at the hospital.’

  Speechless and more afraid than I had ever been, I showed Hunter my phone.

  He cussed and told me to get in the car, that he would drive while I tried to focus on getting Carolyn.

  TWENTY-SIX

  “Close your eyes and focus!” Hunter snapped.

  “I can’t! Especially with you yelling at me! Just worry about driving, okay?”

  “I’m not—“ He sighed. “Sorry. You need to try harder, please,” he begged.

  “It’s not like I’m not trying!” I snapped back.

  We both knew that was just not going to happen. We were both stressed out, and focusing was impossible.

  We got to the hospital in a matter of minutes.

  Kelly was already hooked up to all sorts of monitors.

  Hunter was in there with me, but Kelly and Andrew didn’t say anything. I thought Andrew was about to say something about it but whatever it was, he let it go. Yes, the baby was coming way early, but there was no stopping now.

  At that point, Kelly’s contractions started getting stronger and closer together, and Hun
ter and I were asked to leave the room.

  As soon as we were out of the room, Hunter grabbed my hand, which made my whole world pause for a split second. That ended when he started basically dragging me down the hall and into the emergency exit.

  We took the stairs, and went up to the roof. The door accessing it was open, so Hunter led us outside.

  “Okay, we need to do this now.”

  I nodded.

  Hunter walked me through it. We both stood there. “Close your eyes…” He probably noticed my hands shaking and he grabbed my hands into his. “I’m right here with you…just relax… now focus on Carolyn… focus on helping your mom…. Let Carolyn know that you need her help and that this will help her as much as it will help you.”

  Asking for help alone had been a big step for me. Months ago I would have simply refused, but I couldn’t be that selfish, especially when it involved Kelly.

  I took another deep breath while letting Carolyn know that I needed her. I used all of the energy that I had, stopping only when I felt my knees give out on me. Hunter was now holding me up.

  There was nothing else I could have done. I opened my eyes, and as I did, I saw Carolyn. This amazing light surrounded her, and she walked toward the rooftop entrance to the hospital. Before entering she quickly turned around, glanced at me and said thank you. The light got brighter and she made her way into the hospital.

  I faced Hunter, puzzled.

  “It worked!” he said smiling. “You did it!”

  My cell phone started ringing. It was Andrew.

  “Kay, where did you go?” Without giving me a chance to reply, he said. “Come meet your baby sister.”

  I felt relieved and it made me smile that, in a way, I already knew her.

  “I will be there in a sec.” I said cheerfully.

  We walked toward the rooftop entrance and after going down the first flight of stairs I just couldn’t help it. I practically jumped into Hunter’s arms. “Thank you!”

  “You don’t have to thank me. You did all the work.”

  I looked up to see that he seemed as happy as I was.

  That was when I felt him being ripped away from my arms, being thrown down the stairs and not getting up.

  Benjamin materialized in front of him and started walking toward me…. He was furious.

  I felt overwhelmed with panic. Whatever Benjamin had done to Hunter had really hurt him.

  I had to help Hunter, I had to get to him and I knew there was only one way to bypass Benjamin and that was getting rid of him.

  I closed my eyes, knowing that he was there, knowing that was the only way to focus on sending him away, even if it was a risk…. even knowing how weak I was from summoning Carolyn. I felt even more vulnerable when I felt his touch, but I couldn’t afford to open my eyes, even though my focus was gone at the moment he touched me. I just couldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that his little game was working to keep me from concentrating.

  His touch felt strange. I couldn’t even describe it as cold or warm, it was almost as if I could feel some sort of energy; energy that disguised itself as something comforting, pure, luring me into thinking that I was safe, making me forget my surroundings, including Hunter… until I pulled myself together and was able to focus on remembering what Benjamin was.

  I felt his fingers brushing against my hand, slowly making their way up my arm, his hand now resting on my shoulder, pulling me against his body.

  I was now afraid of opening my eyes, afraid of knowing whether Hunter would be okay.

  Benjamin’s cold and frightening words changed everything. “You had no right allowing that girl to use my child to reincarnate!” He growled as he picked me up and threw me against the wall. Those words… images of him hovering around Kelly and Ashley, both pregnant… I knew what he was; I knew what kind of demon he was.

  The energy that surrounded me turned into something else as Benjamin approached me again. I was unable to open my eyes, but I could feel his hand on my wrist. My mind and soul fighting, trying to resist his touch, but my body not responding, almost as if it was detached from everything else.

  … And it was. Through that touch and pain, he fed off what I felt, replacing it with emptiness, as I slipped into a coma and entered the Otherworld.

  All I could see now were snapshots from his memories, his childhood, allowing me to confirm what Benjamin really was, he wasn’t just a demon as Hunter had said, he was more, he was the son of an Incubus. That part of him, the part that came from his father was wide-awake. That was the same part of him that had once been overshadowed by the humanity he inherited from his mother… from our mother.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  That place was dark and frightening, just as Carolyn had described, but the sound of Hunter’s voice calling my name pulled me out of there.

  ‘Don’t give in,’ he said.

  I started trembling as I realized that I was not within my body. I stood there, watching Hunter asking over and over that I don’t give in… that I open my eyes. My first thought was that I was dead. That was when I realized that I was still breathing, which was good, other than me having no clue what was going on.

  ‘Hunter – Hunter, can you hear me? Please tell me you can…. I haven’t given up. I’m fine.’ Well, I wasn’t technically fine….

  I approached him and realized that he didn’t seem weak like he was before; in fact, he didn’t seem weak at all. I remembered what had happened and frantically looked around, but Benjamin was just gone!

  “Please, Kayla,” he whispered. I was surprised to hear the desperation in his voice. I wondered why he had yet to get a doctor. That was what I needed, a doctor just had to find a way to get me back. Whatever Benjamin was up to now, couldn’t be good. I had to stop him.

  “Hey,” said the voice behind me. Startled, I looked around, and assumed that he was looking at Hunter, but he was staring right at me.

  “You can see me?” I asked.

  “Of course.”

  “What is happening to me?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “It is complicated… I’m Chase by the way.”

  “Okay, well… great. So, Chase, how complicated exactly? Am I dead?”

  He smiled. Glancing at where Hunter was. “Looks to me like you are breathing, so that would be a ‘no’.”

  Before I could say anything, he asked me if I needed to talk to Hunter. “With that, I can help you,” he said.

  “So, are you a ghost?”

  He nodded.

  “And I’m not dead?” I asked.

  “That would be right. Look, I know he can see and hear me if I want to contact him, so do you need help or not?”

  “Why are you so willing to help?” I asked.

  “Jeez girl, you sure ask a lot of questions! Let’s just say that Hunter helped me through some things. I just wanted to do something for him… and it kinda looks like he is very concerned.”

  I nodded.

  “Hunter… Hunter!” he finally yelled.

  Hunter looked up at him. “Chase!” He said surprised. “I – I don’t know what to do. I was going to call the doctors, but something just feels off.”

  “You are right, you can’t do that, dude.”

  “I just don’t know what to do!” Hunter said, frantically.

  Chase looked at me and than back at Hunter. “She is here, if you need me to help you talk to her.”

  Hunter looked shocked. “…but she is not dead!”

  “You are right,” Chase said.

  “Tell him that he needs to call a damn doctor!” I said. “Or call my mom or dad.”

  Chase smiled.

  “What? Tell me what she is saying… Is she okay?” Hunter asked.

  “She says you need to call a doctor, or her mom, or her dad… She is right about that last part.”

  “But—“ Hunter was interrupted.

  “No, dude. Not that dad… you need to call her real one.”

  I froze in place.

&nbs
p; “She would hate me for that,” said Hunter. “HE would hate me for that.”

  Chase faced him. “Dude, I’m pretty sure you would prefer to have them both mad at you for that, then for her being trapped where she is about to go very soon if you don’t.”

  “He sent her to the Otherworld…” Hunter said as if he had just realized it.

  “Yes, but somehow you are pulling her back here and there is no way to tell for how long that will last. You need to get out of here and take her with you. I mean… you know… her body. However you are keeping her here, it may be broken if you get separated and you know just how difficult it will be to get her back if she is gone.”

  Hunter sighed.

  “So, I’m in a coma… how exactly can my biological father help?”

  Chase faced Hunter. “She wants to know how her father can help… should I tell her?”

  Hunter avoided his gaze and glanced at me… the ‘me’ that he was holding.

  “Is that the only way?” Hunter asked Chase.