K: The Awakening (The Shadow Chronicles Book 1)

by K. R. Fajardo

  “And what does any of this have to do with the Enforcer?” he asked, finally regaining control of his voice.

  Maya frowned and studied him closely, “You sure are taking this better than I expected.”

  “Let’s just say when you spend half your life on the streets it takes a lot to shock you.”

  Shrugging, Maya took a deep breath before continuing. “When he was here before, I grabbed his arm, well really he grabbed mine. Anyway, I didn’t think anything about it at the time, it was never my intention to link with him, but I did, and last night I started picking up on his energy. I’ve been listening for news all day, but I haven’t heard anyone mention him being here or seeing him, yet the feeling that he is close won’t go away.”

  Dirik was trying his best to sound calm, but in all actually he was a nervous wreck. “Why does it matter so much if he is here, what difference does it make?”

  She smiled sheepishly at him. “This is where it gets really weird. I … I want to talk to him.”

  “You what?” Dirik shouted, forgetting for a moment he was in a bedroom with Maya, unsure of where her crazy father was.

  Maya shushed him. “I know it sounds crazy. It’s just that, well you heard what happened when he was here, what my father did, right?” Dirik nodded his head. “Well, I need to tell him it wasn’t my idea, I didn’t want to do it, but my father threatened me, saying if I didn’t do it he would kick me and my mom out onto the streets and tell the patrols about our abilities.”

  After all these years he finally understood why they had stayed here for so long enduring all the abuse. If the patrols, or anyone, ever got wind of Maya and her mother’s “gifts” both of their lives would be in danger. With the exception of the Enforcer, anyone who was ever found to be different in anyway was deemed a threat by the Shadows and executed.

  Dirik slumped, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “And you certain he is here?”

  “Yes, I am never wrong. He is in town somewhere, although I can’t figure out why he would be hiding. Haven’t you heard anything on the streets?”

  Dirik remained silent, unsure of what to do. “Please, Dirik, if you know something tell me,” she pleaded. He examined her face; the black swollen eye, bloodied lip, and the sling on her arm. If anyone ever needed a visit from the Enforcer it was her father, he needed to be beaten and beaten bad, like he had been doing to these two all these years.

  Maya, sensing he was holding something back, placed her hand on his shoulder. “Dirik, please, I need to see him. I need to talk to him, it’s very important.”

  He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. Covering his face with his hands Dirik relented. “He’s at the clinic.” By the stars he had lost his mind completely, Jarod was going to kill him for sure now.

  Maya, however, lit up as if she had been given the best news of her life. “Are you serious?” she squealed, leaping out of the bed. Hurriedly she began pulling on her shoes and jacket. “This is great!”

  “Whoa, where are you going?” Dirik asked, taken aback by her sudden vibrancy.

  “With you, of course. Oh but we can’t tell my mom,” she said, pausing for a moment to form a plan. “Tell her you are taking me to Mikel to get checked out at the clinic.”

  “You can’t be serious! I can’t take you there. He will kill you, not to mention me.” Dirik began backing away from her. “Maya, you don’t know how he is. He nearly killed Citera last night in one of his fits, and you think you are just going to walk in and have a chat with him? Maya, he’s dangerous.”

  “Please, I promise everything will be all right.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “I know it sounds crazy, but I know he won’t hurt me.”

  He was going to continue his protest, but the door opened behind him and Lila came in. “Food is ready.” Then, spotting her dressed daughter asked, “Where are you going?”

  “Dirik is taking me to see Mikel, so he can reset my arm. Aren’t you?” she said, elbowing him.

  Lila was staring right at him, he was trapped. He could lie for Maya and face the wrath of the Enforcer or he could tell the truth and risk Maya never speaking to him again.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, looking at the bruises on both of their faces. If anyone stood a chance with the Enforcer it was Maya, and if there was even the slightest possibility he would do something about her father, then all the better. “Mikel is still too weak to come here and set it, so I figured she could get out of the house for a while and get some fresh air. I will bring her right back when he is finished.”

  Lila studied the pair. Part of Dirik, desperately hoped she would see through their lie and tell them no, but was sadly disappointed when she relented, “I guess it will be all right, but come right back, you have to be here before Sam gets home.”

  “I will,” Maya said, running up and kissing her mother on the cheek before darting for the door. “Let’s go,” she called back to Dirik.

  Why do I get the feeling that I am marching myself to the gallows, he thought taking the bags from Lila and smiling weakly as he followed Maya. At least I will get one last meal before I die.

  Once outside Dirik watched as Maya attempted to hide the evidence of what was going on in her house by tucking her arm inside her jacket then pulling the hood over her head; it was a skill she had unfortunately become adept at. Once finished she smiled at him and they headed down the street toward the clinic. She was chattering as they walked about various odd subjects—the flowers in the garden, the market place, Mr. Lark—but he was having trouble focusing on any of it, in his mind all he could see was the rage and determination in Jarod’s eyes the night before as he struggled against K and Jaron.

  “You aren’t even listening to me, are you?” He heard her say in the middle of his thoughts. “Dirik? Dirik, what are you thinking about so hard?” Maya asked, pulling on his jacket sleeve.

  “I’m sorry, I am just worried about what will happen when he sees you.”

  “Are you really that worried? Do you think he will react badly to seeing me?” she asked, then as a side thought, “Why is he at the clinic anyway?”

  “Oh, uh …” How was he supposed to answer that?

  “I’m not sure, he just showed up last night. He didn’t even want me to leave today, but Mikel convinced him that someone would miss me in the market and would come looking for me.” Dirik knew he hadn’t really answered any of her questions but hoped it would be enough as he attempted to change the subject. “So how long have you and your Mom had ‘gifts’?”

  “All my life I guess,” she answered as they continued on their way. “My mom noticed it first when I was a child, I could always tell her where my father was and when he was on his way home. Then as I got older and reached maturity, I could pick up on people further and further away, now I can find people as far away as the Lidas.”

  “Maturity?” Of everything she said, that was what he found to be the most strange. “I thought you were still a teenager.”

  He had always thought of Maya as being around Citera’s age, she definitely didn’t appear to be any older than that. She laughed at his expression. “Shhh, it’s a secret,” she said, smiling. “We let everyone think that, but the truth is I stopped aging very young.”

  Dirik wanted to ask her how old she really was, but the clinic was coming into view in the distance ahead and with it the fear of what was about to happen returned. His expression must have read like a book, because Maya, sensing his concern, reached out and took his hand. “No matter what happens, thank you for everything you have done for me and my mom all these years.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  He turned and met her gaze, smiling nervously. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  They were at the foot of the stairs, about to go up when a familiar voice called out to him, “Dirik, where have you been and what has been going on in there?”

  Instinctively he cringed as he turned to face the angry woman standing behind him. “What do you mean, Mrs. Mar
ta?”

  “Oh, don’t you play all innocent with me. I heard all that banging and shouting in there last night, and if I didn’t know better I would think you were fighting with someone.” While she was talking Dirik nudged Maya backwards up the stairs toward the door, but the angry neighbor continued to pursue them to the top. “And who do you have with you?”

  “It’s only me, Mrs. Marta,” Maya answered, removing her hood, “I was coming to check on Mikel and bring him some food with Dirik.”

  “Oh, my,” Marta gasped at the sight of her. “My dear, what happened to you?” She grabbed ahold of Maya’s face, studying it from side to side.

  “I fell down the stairs,” Maya answered with an ease of lying that Dirik envied, “I was carrying too much laundry and missed a step, then down I went.”

  “Well, be more careful next time, you could have broken your neck.” Marta returned her attention to Dirik. “Take her in and get Mikel to look at her, I saw Citera earlier, she said he was doing better. Oh and try and keep it down tonight, I didn’t get a wink of sleep with all that noise.” And with that she retreated down the stairs heading back toward the market.

  Dirik waved, calling after her as she went, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Maya giggled as Dirik rolled his eyes and the two of them turned to enter the clinic. They quietly came into the waiting area where Dirik was surprised by a set of eyes peering around the corner. “Is she gone?” Jaron asked quietly.

  “Who?” Dirik asked, looking around for whoever he was hiding from.

  “That nosey woman, she keeps peeking in through the window and knocking on the door,” he answered, still concealed from view.

  “Yeah, she went home.” Dirik answered, trying his best to suppress a laugh at the idea of Jaron hiding from Marta.

  “Oh thank the stars, I thought she would never go away,” Jaron said, stepping into view and spotting Maya. “Who is this?” From his tone Dirik couldn’t tell if he was curious or angry.

  “My name is Maya, sir.” She looked up with her mouth gaping. “I … I’m here to see—”

  “Mikel.” Dirik cut her off, “She is here to see Mikel. She broke her arm and well, you see her face.”

  “Oh, well he hasn’t come back yet,” Jaron answered, studying the two of them in a manner that made Dirik certain he didn’t believe anything he was saying. “Dirik, can I talk to you for a moment please, alone?”

  His heart was pounding, and he tried his best to control the nervousness in his voice. “Uh, sure …” Then turning to Maya he said, “Wait here, I will be right back.” Hopefully.

  Maya nodded, her eyes still locked on Jaron. Dirik followed Jaron down the hall, hesitating once in the hallway. “No, upstairs,” Jaron called back to him. He felt at any moment his heart was going to burst through his chest. Why would he want to go upstairs? There was no one up there, or was that the reason? Either way he didn’t have much of a choice and continued down the hall toward the stairs, glancing across to the room where the Enforcer was still lying in bed, seemingly unmoved from when he had left.

  He ascended the stairs, peeking in through the door and into the apartment in an attempt to see where Jaron had gone. Unable to spot him, he nervously stepped into the apartment, and headed into the kitchen where he found Jaron waiting quietly in a corner with his back to him.

  Dirik walked slowly over to the table and set down the bags before speaking. “Jaron, I’m sorry, I know that you said—” he started in an attempt to try and explain why he had brought someone else into the clinic, but instead found himself slammed into the cabinets behind him, his neck in Jaron’s grip.

  “What are you up to?” Jaron growled as he held him in the air.

  “Nothing, I swear,” Dirik answered desperately grabbing at the Full-blood’s hand as he gasped for air. “Her arm is broke and she needs to get it reset, there is nowhere else to take her. Please, Jaron, I can’t breathe.”

  “Really? Because if I’m not mistaken, Maya was the name of the girl Jarod was accused of raping!” Jaron’s eyes were glowing red, as Dirik struggled to stay conscious in his grasp. “Why in your right mind would you bring her here?”

  “I didn’t know you knew about that,” Dirik managed to say between gasps of air. “I, I …” He was fading in and out of consciousness, when a voice yelled from the doorway.

  “Jaron!” Citera screamed. “What are you doing? Stop it, please, you’re killing him.” The sound of her voice snapped him back and Dirik watched the red fade from his eyes as Jaron turned back to his usual self. “Shit,” he muttered, easing Dirik down to the floor and taking a seat in one of the chairs. Collapsing his head into his hands, he asked the only question he could think of, “Why?”

  “I didn’t want to,” Dirik explained as Citera helped him back on his feet, gasping for air, and rubbing his neck, “she knew he was here. She sent me a letter asking me to come and see her, and when I got there she told me she knew he was here and she wanted to see him.”

  “Who is here?” Citera asked, trying to get caught up on what was going on.

  “Maya,” Dirik answered grimacing.

  “What?” she screamed. “She is here, in this clinic?” All Dirik could muster at this point was a nod. “Have you completely lost it? Don’t you remember what she accused him of doing? I called him a name and he almost killed me, what do you think he is going to do with her? Dirik, he is out of control!” Citera, suddenly remembering Jaron was still in the room, added, “Sorry, Jaron, I didn’t mean it that way.” Yet Jaron, who was still clutching his head in his hands, only waved her off.

  “Listen, I know,” Dirik remarked, pinned in the corner. “Let’s go downstairs and send her away, I’ll take her home and tell her mom that Mikel wasn’t able to reset her arm.” Dirik started for the stairs, only to have Citera grab him by the arm.

  “What is wrong with her arm?” she asked quietly, already knowing the answer. “He did it again, didn’t he?”

  Dirik nodded. “This is the worst one yet.”

  Jaron sat listening and easily picked up on what they were talking about, having seen the girl downstairs and her condition. “Who?” he inquired.

  “Her father, he hits her and her mom all the time,” Dirik replied quietly.

  Jaron shook his head. “I can reset her arm before she leaves, but that is it. I fix it and she goes.”

  Happy that at least the trip wasn’t a complete failure, Dirik agreed and the three of them headed back down the stairs to the clinic.

  “Dirik, what did you bring to eat, it smells really good up there.” Citera asked as they neared the bottom, but as he stepped onto the last step Dirik stopped abruptly, nearly causing Citera and Jaron to topple over him, “Dirik, what are you doing, we almost …” It was then Citera spotted the reason for his distraction; standing halfway inside the room with the Enforcer was Maya. Jaron struggled to get around them in the narrow stairwell, desperate to stop her, but he was trapped and they all watched helplessly as she shut the door behind her.

  “No, don’t …” was all Dirik could get out before she clicked the lock into place.

  Once inside, Maya stood there motionless as the three of them waved at her through the door, not wanting to make any sounds that would let Jarod know she was there. But it was already too late.

  “What the hell is going on out there?” Jarod snapped. Angrily he sat up in the bed and spotted Maya standing silently in the room with him. “You need to leave,” the tone of his voice betrayed his struggle to maintain some resemblance of control.

  “I needed to see you,” she explained, taking a step toward the bed. Immediately he threw up his hand, signaling her to stay away.

  “You need to leave,” he repeated much more forcefully. Through the small window Dirik could see he was gripping the side of the bed, bending the metal frame, and creating a trickle of blood where the metal cut into his palm. “Now.”

  Dirik banged on the glass. “Maya, open this door!”

  All the c
ommotion brought K down the hall to join the trio staring together through the window. “What is everyone looking at?” Peeking through it she asked, “Who is that?”

  “Maya,” Dirik answered as he continued to bang on the glass.

  “And who is Maya and why is she in there?” K continued, also sounding slightly unhappy about having an uninvited guest.

  “She is a young lady whose father accused Jarod of raping her the last time he was in town, and he took quit a beating from the Shadows as a result of it,” Jaron answered. Shoving Dirik out of the way, he gave one hard push against the door and it gave way, allowing them all to enter. Dirik rushed to Maya’s side and grabbed her arms, forgetting in the moment that one was broke.

  Maya grimaced and let out a small scream as she pulled away. “Oh, Maya, I’m sorry I forgot,” Dirik apologized, “I only wanted to get you out of here.”

  “No,” K said following them in, “I want to hear about this.”

  “K, she—” Jarod began to protest, only to be cut off by K.

  “They have already told me what happened. Now let’s hear what she has to say about it, shall we?” K walked up to Maya and studied her face as she removed her jacket, exposing her broken arm.

  “W-Who are you?” Maya stammered nervously studying K from head to toe.

  “Don’t be frightened. I am a friend of his who wants to hear your side of this story, and I am especially interested in how you came to be in this shape.”

  Maya stared into K’s eyes, then looking from Jaron to Jarod, began nervously, “None of you are Full-bloods, not like the rest of us. Why are you all here?”