K: The Awakening (The Shadow Chronicles Book 1)

by K. R. Fajardo

  Mikel snapped from his stupor. “Tell him she has light brown eyes and let’s hope they don’t check.” He knew very well that it was likely that they would, but he didn’t have any other ideas. “Also tell him to make her a member of the road crew, which will help explain the condition she is in.” Dirik looked at him doubtingly, then at the girl, and started to leave. “Dirik,” Mikel called after him, “don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, what you have seen here. Do you understand?” Dirik glanced back at him over his shoulder and nodded, then disappeared through the doorway leaving Mikel alone with the girl.

  Mikel stood there staring at the lifeless body for what felt like an eternity. What was he going to do, what could he do? He took a deep breath and turned his back to the bed, leaning his body against the metal frame. Suddenly he felt exhausted and overwhelmed. “What are we going to do?” he asked, gazing over his shoulder at the girl behind him. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to discuss this matter with her, maybe he just needed to vent to someone who wouldn’t argue with him. Whatever the reason, he continued, “The two of us are in big trouble, you know. These inspectors come here searching for any reason they can find to arrest someone. Anything out of the ordinary, scars, birthmarks,” he got up and began to pace around the room, “strange eye color. Those are definite traits that will get you arrested. I have performed my share of miracles in the past to prevent people from being taken, and I’m pretty skilled at explaining away scars and marks.” He stopped and returned his gaze to the girl. “But I don’t have a magic trick to change someone’s eye color, so if you have any ideas I would love to hear them.” Pausing, he watched the motionless body for a few moments more, then with a sigh concluded, “I didn’t think so.”

  He turned and walked away, looking back as he exited through the door. “I am going to be sure the rest of the clinic is in order, I will be right back.”

  Mikel searched the hall for Janil and found her busy in one of the rooms gathering supplies to send home with a patient. She continued working when Mikel walked in. “Did Dirik tell you?”

  “Yes, I have already sent most of the patients that could leave home. I think we can get just about everyone out of here except for a few.”

  “What about the staff? They need to leave as well. I want everyone that can get out of here out.”

  “I have already talked to them all, they will go once we the rest of the patients and their families are gone.” Janil walked down the hall and handed the supplies to one of the staff. “Give it to the patient and family in room twelve. It should hold them until this is over.” The girl took the supplies and hurried down the hall, and Janil turned back to Mikel. “What about Citera, where did you send her?”

  “I sent her with Rigar. She can stay with him until this is over, and if the inspectors go through the housing district she can claim to be doing house calls.”

  Janil, seeming pleased with the answer, went back to work. “I think there should only be three patients left after everyone else leaves, including your new arrival.”

  “Who are the other two?” Mikel asked, watching the scurry of people in the hallway darting from room to room.

  “The Hurder’s boy and the Full-blood man who came in a few days ago.”

  Mikel knew about the Hurder’s son, he had become a resident at the clinic having been there for nearly two weeks. In their youth, Full-blood and Terrian children were virtually the same. It wasn’t until they reached maturity, usually around their twenties that a Full-blood’s body would begin to phase and require the use of formula on a continual basis. Once this occurred, a Full-blood became semi-immortal, with increased strength, endurance, and a life span more than double that of the Terrians. It was this ability to endure and thrive that had made them the targets of the Shadows when they decided to start building the road over the rocky terrain of Vanteria. But recently, thanks to their rapidly declining health and population, the Shadows and their soldiers were beginning to place younger and younger Full-bloods to work; despite the fact that their young bodies could not handle the same amount of stress as the ones who had come of age.

  That was the case of this particular boy. The government put him to work on the road before he reached maturity and it was more than his young body could handle. He had passed out from exhaustion after almost a month in the trenches and was still barely clinging to life. The poor child’s family kept a nearly constant vigil at his bedside, leaving him only to go to work themselves, so as not to get arrested.

  The other man, also a Full-blood, he didn’t know much about. All he did know was that he had come in a couple of days ago saying he had been attacked and blacked out shortly after. No one knew who he was or anything else about him. Mikel figured he had gotten robbed, possibly hit in the head, and hopefully only needed some time to heal on his own.

  “Do they all have their tags on?”

  After a slight hesitation, Janil finally answered, “Yes, they both have on the tags they came in with.”

  One of the staff girls approached the two of them. “Sir, ma’am, almost everyone has left, but we are having issues with the boy’s family. They don’t want to leave him.”

  Mikel started down the hall. “I’ll go talk to them.”

  However, Janil stopped him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Let me do it. I have had several long conversations with the mother and have developed a relationship with her, she will listen to me. You go and see if you can get the girl looking more presentable.” And just like that, she headed down the hall past him, not even giving him a chance to argue. She was as stubborn as ever. He smiled and shook his head, turning back toward the girl’s room.

  He did his best to get the worst of the dirt and blood off of the girl, but the more dirt he removed the more scars became visible. Some of them, like a v-shaped pattern of small circles on her chest, appeared to have been placed there with purpose, perhaps as mark or brand. A few, like the ones on her wrists and ankles came from being captured or arrested, but the majority appeared to be battle scars, the sharp straight lines of a knife or sword being slashed or stabbed through the skin. After he had done his best to clean her up, he placed her in a new gown, and then took the time to wrap the deep wounds on her wrists, knowing those would be harder to explain.

  “Who did this to you?” He spoke quietly to his lifeless patient as he worked, but as expected she remained silent. “I really do hope you recover from this. I bet you have some interesting stories you could tell us.”

  He had just about finished when Janil walked in to update him on the progress, and check on his. “Everyone is gone but us and the patients.”

  Mikel turned around to face her. “You should go, as well. I knew the risks I was taking when we carried her through the door, but I don’t expect you to take them with me.”

  The older lady shook her head, answering him in her soft matriarchal voice, “I have been here with you in this clinic since you and your wife took me in off the street. You were there for me when I had nowhere else to go.” She met his gaze as she finished, “And now I will stand right here beside you no matter what comes of this.”

  Mikel let out a sigh, knowing it would do no good to argue with her. One of her best qualities was the fact she never gave up. No matter how awful the condition or hopeless things appeared, he knew he could count on her to find a way to work things through, and he couldn’t imagine the clinic running without her. “Thank you, but I still think you should go. There will need be someone left to run the clinic, just in case.”

  “The clinic will be fine. Besides, it is more dangerous and suspicious if you are here alone when they come,” replied the older lady as she shifted her attention to their patient. He knew she was right, but he still didn’t like it. “Do you need me to do anything else?” she asked, turning to leave.

  Mikel shook his head. “No it’s out of our hands now, just pray to the stars for a miracle.”

  Chapter 2

  The Inspection

/>   “Where is he?” Mikel asked, pacing back and forth across the clinic’s lobby. With all the staff and family members gone home, his footsteps echoing off the walls were the only sounds that could be heard in the otherwise silent clinic. That was the way he wanted it; they wouldn’t be taking any chances today. Even a few of the critical patients had been sent home with their families. The only people left in the normally bustling clinic were him, Janil, and three patients that couldn’t be moved.

  “I’m sure he will be here soon,” Janil soothed. She sat calmly in one of the chairs, watching him pace, while she steadily worked to secure her graying hair up into a loose bun. She had a demeanor and way of speaking that usually left him feeling comforted, even in the worst of times. Yet even she couldn’t calm him right now, when all he could think about was what would happen to the two of them if their young messenger didn’t return with the tag in time.

  “He should have been back already, it’s been almost two hours. Jahol can reprogram tags in half that time,” he argued as he continued pacing. “Something must be wrong.”

  Janil smiled as she watched him. “Dirik is a smart boy. He’ll come back with the tag, just like you told him to.” She paused and her smile grew as a memory of better times came to her. “Remember when you sent him to the clinic in Haborte to retrieve some antibiotics? The patrols tried to intercept and search him, so he ran. They chased him all the way back to town, where he hid inside a garbage barrel for three hours in the heat of the day until they finally gave up. When he did make it back to the clinic he was grinning from ear to ear, reeking of rotten vegetables but medication in hand. It took nearly a month to get that smell out of his hair.”

  Mikel couldn’t help but chuckle, as he pictured his wife holding down and scrubbing the struggling boy in the rain barrel behind the clinic. No doubt about it; if anyone could pull this off it was Dirik, being equally as determined as he was skilled.

  For a moment, at least, they had let themselves forget about the impending raid. But their reprieve was short lived as a commotion in the street outside caught their attention. Mikel walked out the door and watched from the stoop as people hurried in different directions. One after the other, stores all around the clinic were starting to close, their owners trying to put distance between themselves and the target of the inspectors.

  “Guess the news about our inspection has reached everyone,” Mikel muttered, turning to go back inside.

  “Mister! Hey, mister,” someone yelled from behind him. He turned and spotted a young Terrian boy running up the street. Mikel recognized him as the messenger for old man Jacobe, a friend of Mikel’s who lived on the outskirts of town where the main road came into the city. Mikel had known Mr. Jacobe most of his life; he was older than most and had lived in a time before the Shadows came to power. Because of this he hated the Shadows, and all those who followed them, with a passion. He kept a constant lookout for any signs of trouble, and would notify Mikel in advance so that he could prepare for what was to come. He had saved Mikel’s butt more times than he cared to admit, and Mikel knew that if Mr. Jacobe had sent a messenger then it wouldn’t be long until the inspectors arrived.

  “Mister, Mr. Jacobe sent me to tell you the inspectors have been spotted on the edge of town,” gasped the young boy. “He wanted me to warn you they have the Enforcer with them.”

  Mikel felt as if the boy had yanked the rug right out from under his feet. Inspectors were bad enough, but the Enforcer? The man was the Shadows’ right hand and had a nasty reputation for inflicting quick and brutal punishment.

  It now made sense why the Full-blood in Lidas had been killed on site. The inspectors were nothing more than a group of Terrians who went from place to place looking for who knows what. The Enforcer, however, was a Full-blood and the voice of the Shadows, who never stepped a foot outside of the Tower. He held full authority to carry out whatever sentence he saw fit for a supposed crime, and answered to no one except the Shadows themselves.

  Mikel knew that if the Enforcer was with the inspectors they weren’t coming just to check things out, they were coming with the intention of taking someone. Mikel turned to Janil, who had come up beside him, having heard the young messenger’s news. “You need to go,” he demanded

  “I will do no such thing,” Janil snapped back. “I said I was staying and that is final.”

  “Janil,” Mikel changed tactics and began pleading with the older lady, “please go. I can’t allow you to stay her and get arrested. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I was to blame.”

  “Mikel, I have already told you, I’m not leaving you here to face this alone,” Janil replied sternly. “I am aware of the risks involved in my decision and I am willing to take them.”

  Before he could object again, a familiar face appeared running down the now empty street. Mikel couldn’t help but wonder if everyone had heard the boy’s announcement and picked up the pace, because at some point between the young boy’s arrival and his pleading with Janil to leave, the entire street had emptied.

  “I have it!” yelled Dirik, running as hard as he could. He rounded the corner and jumped up the stairs to meet Mikel and Janil at the top. Mikel thanked Mr. Jacobe’s messenger and sent him running back home, then they all quickly retreated back inside the clinic where Dirik handed Mikel the tag to inspect. As usual Jahol had not failed him; in his hand was the dark metal band that would hopefully save all of their lives.

  It was less than a decade after the uprising when the Shadows first passed the law that mandated all Full-bloods be required to wear the bar coded tags on their wrists. Without one, a Full-blood was unable to get a house, formula, or any other items necessary for survival. Then, when the Shadows decided to build the wall barricading the capital city, and more recently the stone roads, they used the tags to assign jobs to the Full-bloods and forced them to work for them in order to receive the merits needed to buy formula. They declared that at eighteen all Full-bloods would be required to register and receive their tags, mature or not, at which time they would be assigned a job and sent to work. Failure to comply came not only with the risk of starvation, but also the threat of being arrested and sentenced to death for treason.

  After taking a moment to look it over, Mikel quickly tucked the tag into his pocket, and turned to Dirik. “Thank you in for coming to our rescue again, but I think it would be better if you left.”

  Dirik looked hurt. “You want me to leave?”

  “Dirik, it is not safe here. We just received news the Enforcer is with the inspectors,” Mikel said as he nudged Dirik toward the door. “Go to Rigar’s house and check on Citera for me. Let her know you got us the tag, it will make her feel better.”

  “Well ... okay,” Dirik muttered as he sulked out the door.

  Meanwhile, Mikel turned his attention back to Janil. “Do a quick check and be sure everyone is all right. I’ll go and check on the girl.” Janil nodded slightly in agreement and they were almost out of the front room when a voice called softly from behind them, “Mikel …”

  “Dirik,” Mikel said impatiently as he spun around, “I told you already, you need to go—” Mikel faltered, for once he turned he realized why Dirik’s voice had sounded off. There, standing in the doorway, looming over Dirik, was the massive dark figure known simply as the Enforcer.

  Even though he had been the head of the Shadows forces for as long as Mikel could remember, Mikel had never seen him this close up, and as he stood staring up at the monstrous man he couldn’t help but pray that this wouldn’t also be the last. He was by far the largest person Mikel had ever laid eyes on, standing at least two feet taller than Dirik, and so thickly muscled that he was broader than the door frame of the clinic. His one hand nearly spanned the width of the boy’s shoulders.

  “What’s the hurry? I thought he might want to stay a while. After all, I just arrived,” the Enforcer said, his voice as dark and looming as he was. He ducked his head and twisted his body to get through the doorw
ay, better revealing the completely massive size of himself. However, it wasn’t just his size that was playing hell with Mikel’s nerves at the moment, it was those eyes. As black as the hair on his head and clothes that covered him from head to toe, they were completely devoid of any white at all, and Mikel found himself paralyzed as he became lost within their fathomless depths.

  He smiled an evil smile as he met Mikel’s gaze, flashing two elongated canines and sending a shiver down Mikel’s spine. “He does work for you, doesn’t he?” he asked, holding Dirik out in front of him.

  Mikel struggled to free himself from the black void and shoved his hands into his pockets to hide their trembling, “Yes, but he is only a messenger and errand boy. He has nothing to do with the inner workings of the clinic, so I don’t see any reason to keep him here.”

  The Enforcer’s expression shifted slightly, causing Mikel to retreat a few steps back. “I will be the one to decide whether he is of use or not,” he growled, narrowing his gaze. He was about to add something else when three smaller figures came up behind him—a man and two women—all wearing the same dark navy uniform that designated them as the inspectors.

  “Are you ready?” the younger of the two ladies asked with an air of drama that was almost comical. “I am tired and would like to get this over with so that I can go home.”

  “By all means,” the Enforcer replied without taking his eyes off Mikel, “let’s get this over with.”

  Mikel swallowed hard at the harshness and terminality of the statement. But knowing he had no other option, he turned and lead the way down the hall with Janil and the rest following close behind.

  Pausing outside the first room, the room of the young boy, Mikel took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He led them all into the room, waiting for them to enter before beginning to give the basic information they usually required during these inspections.