Awakening (The Way Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  "Yeah, but most of us don’t use them as often as they do." She shrugged. "Plus, Oliver's got this weird thing with Russian so you wouldn't understand my name if I said it."

  "What is it?" I begged leaning forward. "Please?"

  She sighed and I could see her giving in. "It's Tantsor," she said softly.

  "What's that mean?"

  "I don't think I'll tell you." She smirked standing up to leave.

  I was torn, but my common sense took precedence. "Wait, Raven, the check?"

  She rolled her eyes at me: "They'll put it on my school account, now come on. There's more I want to show you."

  “Lead on,” I sighed not sure how much more I could take.

  Chapter Twenty–Four

  I followed Raven back towards the dormitory then across the middle of the campus. She led me to the only building we hadn't been to yet.

  It was a long, two story, brick building lined with dark windows every few feet. As we walked in the main double doors, I looked around.

  "What's this place?"

  "The home of your new favorite room." She said and elaborated no further but led me across the main lobby and through another door in the back.

  "Holy…" I gazed around in awe.

  We were in a huge fitness facility with weights and machines of every kind. Elevated above us where the roof of the first floor would have been was a safety net and a huge elevated track that ran all around looping over and under itself. In the middle of the ‘roof’ was a large central square platform at least fifty yards across and elevated about ten feet over the net.

  My jaw dropped. "What is that?"

  I heard a loud explosion, saw a flash of light and smoke, and saw someone fly off of the platform and into the safety net. The guy managed to roll over to his hands and knees and crawl to the center of the net. When he got there, he climbed up a rope ladder at the nearest corner to him.

  "That-" Raven wrapped her arm around my waist and threw my left arm over her shoulder. "–is the 'Platform'."

  I felt her magic’s warmth, as her knees bent and she jumped hard. We left the ground like a bullet flying through the air. A "Woah!" escaped my lips as we hurtled for the net. I closed my eyes and felt panic as gravity took back over. We fell for a gut wrenching second, before I felt a net break my fall.

  My eyes flew open.

  Raven was grinning and laughing at me as we lay suspended in the net. "How? What? Why?" I sputtered.

  "Just jumped," She chuckled. "It's a really basic body modification spell."

  "Basic magic," I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't feel like those words should go together at all."

  "Come on," I felt the net shake next to me as she scampered up the rope ladder. "Lemme show you what this is all about."

  "Wait, but how'd we get through the net?" She ignored me and I followed her up the rope ladder.

  The guys who had just been fighting stopped talking and greeted Raven as we climbed over the edge.

  "Who's your friend?" One guy asked. He was a little shorter than me and had long dark hair with a slightly broader build than me.

  "This is Way," she smiled then added quickly. "He’s a friend of mine."

  That was awkward. I couldn’t help but agree.

  "Name's Xavier," he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, man."

  "Same," I shook his hand. "So what do y’all do up here?"

  "Spar mainly," Xavier said. "Care to take a turn?"

  Do it! Zanj seemed extremely excited suddenly.

  "What've you been doing lately?" I asked in my head pretending to consider Xavier's offer. "Haven't heard from you, like, all day."

  Figured I'd let you have some time to look around. He replied. I’ve been fiddling around in here, I didn’t like the sound of that. And I found something new. It’s time for some fun.

  "I'll spar," I nodded rolling my shoulders out. "But fair warning, I suck at holding back. Still figuring out my powers."

  "That's what's great about this place," Raven gestured around. "The wards here are stronger than the ones in the compound. Not even Oliver or Eleria could hurt someone in here."

  Yeeeessssss! I had never heard him sound so happy.

  "You're kinda freaking me out, dude." I commented in my head.

  Let's fight!

  "So who's my sparring partner?" I asked aloud.

  Xavier smirked and strode confidently a few steps away from me. "That'll be me."

  Okay, I’m gonna try something new. Do what I say.

  I followed his instructions and held out my hand in front of myself like I was reaching to grab something off of a shelf. A golden beam appeared in my hand swirling with a kind of smoke like darkness. I watched in confusion as it condensed and forged itself into double edged sword similar to an arming sword. It had a golden blade and black, broken wings for the hand guard

  I stepped back sweeping the sword in a figure eight pattern. "I'm ready to fight when you are."

  He cocked his head at me studying me. I sensed something like the air pressure rising, as he swept his hand to the side creating a column of spiraling fire. In a moment, it cleared and he was left holding a red European hand and a half sword. "Let's go."

  We advanced, at human speeds. A loud crash rang out as our blades met. I darted to the side wielding the sword like I'd been using it for years. In truth, I had only held a sword like this once and that had been five years ago. It was really hard feeling to put into words but simply put it seemed like the sword was pulling me along.

  I ducked under a high swing and swung hard at his stomach. I made contact, throwing him back a few feet. I heard the thud, as his butt hit the platform hard.

  Cheers rang out from the gathered crowd as Xavier pushed himself to his feet.

  "Wow," he grunted walking towards me. His sword burst into flames behind him and disappeared. "You're quicker than I expected."

  "Thanks," I replied automatically. I was busy being distracted by Zanj's instructions. In a moment, my sword glowed and swirled into nothing. "You're not half bad yourself."

  We made conversation for a minute but then Xavier started using big magic words so Raven hurried me away back to the dorms, before my brain exploded from the confusion.

  "So how'd you do that?" She asked as we flopped down in front of the TV.

  "Win?" I asked. "Well first, I out maneuvered my opponent and then–"

  "The sword, Way," she narrowed her eyes at me.

  "Oh well, Zanj decided to try something new and poof! Sword."

  "Zanj?"

  "Oh right," my face grew red and my mouth started spitting words a million a minute. "Um you see the voice and I were talking and decided that he deserved his own name. So we went with Zanj."

  She stared at me wide eyed for a second and then shook her head. "What does that even mean?"

  "How should I know?" I shrugged. “It just popped into my head.”

  "Lemme google it.” She laughed pulling her phone out.

  I waited for a moment and then: “So?”

  “You spell it Z–A–N–J right?” She asked, looking up at me oddly.

  “Yeah I figure.” I shrugged.

  “You named the voice ‘Angel’ kid,” she laughed hysterically.

  Did you know that? Zanj demanded. Have you been making fun of me this whole time?

  "No, you little…" I swore at him aloud then put up both my hands to calm Raven. "Sorry, sorry, Zanj is just being a jerk as usual."

  "Ooh," she sighed rolling her eyes. "I was confused for a second there."

  You're confused? How do you think I feel?

  "Wow, no need for that." Raven shot back.

  A shocked silence echoed through the room.

  Zanj and I spoke together. "Wait...can you...hear him/me?"

  Chapter Twenty–Five

  "Wait!" I jumped to my feet crossing the room. "Just, hold up!"

  Zanj was swearing up a storm as I paced the room in a frenzy.

  "Guys!" Raven
exclaimed, jumping up after me.

  Hey, no, can you hear me? For real? Like, with your ears?

  "No. Yes. Hell, I don't know!" She exclaimed. "I know what you're saying but–" she let out a growl and grabbed her head in hands. "I don't know!"

  I caught her by the shoulders. "But you can hear him?" I demanded excitedly.

  "In the loosest sense of the word," she replied. "Yes, I can hear him."

  Ahahahahaha yippie yip yip yippie! Finally, someone else to talk to that's not this boring ball of emo!

  "Hey, I can still hear you." I grunted.

  "This is too freaky," Raven flopped down on the couch lengthwise. "And did you just say, ‘yippie yip yip yippie’?"

  Shut up bird girl. He fell silent.

  "Well, this certainly complicates everything," I continued pacing the room.

  Raven shook her head. "Things just keep getting stranger, don't they?"

  I sat down hard on the floor and leaned against the base of the couch. "I don't think it’s gonna stop anytime soon."

  "No, I don't think it will." She sighed.

  So, what do we do with this new development?

  "We tell Oliver." Raven said immediately.

  "No, we don't!" The two of us exclaimed in unison.

  "What?" She sat up in shock. "Why not?"

  "Well," I glanced aside not wanting to admit I still didn’t trust them. "You see..."

  I don't trust you people. Zanj shocked me by cutting in.

  "But why?" Raven asked, as I hid my shock.

  Well, let's see. Your people tied this tool's body to a hospital bed, so in effect you tied me there, too. But then you went further and poked around in here, his head, my home, and proceeded to trap me in the depths of his very boring mind. All you people have shown, is a desire to use me as a weapon against your monsters and demons out there. So why, in Satan's red hell, would I trust you?

  The room fell silent as Raven processed what Zanj had just said.

  "You make a valid point." Raven sighed yet again. "Fine, we won't tell Oliver until we prove you can trust us. But, I promise, you can." She stood up and walked towards the bathroom muttering: "I need to wash my face.”

  Hey, can you still hear me? No response.

  "Hey Raven did you hear that?" I called.

  "Hear what?" She stuck her head back in the room for a second.

  "Zanj tried to call you," I said. "I guess you must have to be within my eyesight for y'all to connect."

  "Huh," she shrugged. "Guess we're figuring more out."

  "And, getting more questions every time we do" I sighed and she ducked back into the bathroom. I heard the sink kick on and sat back on the couch. I reached over, as I laid down, and turned off the lamp to stare out the window at the moon.

  "Zanj?"

  Yeah?

  "Why'd you tell her that it was just you that didn't trust them?"

  Because, there's no way for you to convince her that you trust her but not them without offending her. If you tell her that you trust her, but not the people she works for then she'll ask if you don't trust her judgment. And we both know you don’t, but if you tell her that, then you have no one to help you figure this godforsaken place out.

  "I...wow." I shook my head for a second. "Thank you."

  Never said that before. He said with a snarky tone.

  "You've never done something that nice before" I snipped back.

  Other than save your life.

  “Well…” I sighed. “I guess, I should be a bit more grateful.”

  He laughed. So, we cool?

  "Whadaya mean?"

  We've spent the past eighteen years fighting and hating each other. So I'm wondering if you still hate me?

  "I don't hate you," I replied shrugging. "I don't think I ever really did. You were just an unwelcome guest in the one place most people have private. But now...I don't know, I guess, I'm content."

  I guess I am too. You're actually not that bad.

  "Right back at you," I laughed. "So I've gotta ask when you...pull back? You know what I mean, when you 'take a nap" how much are you aware of?"

  Practically nothing unless you’re directly talking to me.

  "So it's not like you're watching?"

  No, your privacy is safe from my prying eyes. Zanj laughed at me.

  I was about to make a snarky comment when I heard the sink finally cut off.

  “So,” Raven walked out toweling off her face. “Anyway I can throw this at Zanj and not at you?”

  “Don’t I wish.” I laughed in reply.

  But feel free to throw it at our shared face. Zanj advised her. I’ll probably still feel it.

  “For some reason, I doubt that.” Raven laughed and then got a slightly more serious expression on her face. “But for real, Zanj, what’s it like in there?”

  Imagine standing at a window, and when you look out the window you can see everything someone else is experiencing. See every sight, hear every voice, smell every scent, taste every meal, and feel every sensation someone else is having. And you can’t do anything for yourself.

  In essence, it’s like watching someone live their life in a weird kind of first person and the only way to cut off any one thing is to cut off all of them. I just have to walk away from the window and it cuts off but at that point there’s nothing. Just my thoughts, Zanj paused for a moment. And sometimes, that’s all I want to hear.

  Chapter Twenty–Six

  Shortly after that I was laying in bed staring at the ceiling.

  So that got weird, there, didn’t it? Zanj asked.

  “I don’t want to really think about it.” I muttered back at him.

  A few minutes before Raven had left, she’d asked a pretty heavy question.

  “So do you ever wanna talk about what happened to end your last relationship?” She asked, out of no where.

  “Um, what?” I was shocked by both the suddenness and the bluntness of her question.

  "What happened?" Raven asked again.

  “You wanna tell me what ended your last relationship?” I countered.

  “He died.” She said bluntly.

  Well that’s not something you can ask her to elaborate on.

  “Trust me, I know.” I replied silently and then continued aloud. “I’m sorry.”

  “So you gonna tell me?” There was a long silence.

  "One night," I shook my head and picked my words carefully. "She and I were on this old bridge." I was still undecided on exactly how much I wanted her to know so I picked my words carefully. "I was standing up on the ledge watching the sun setting and I slipped. I went over the long way down and fell a couple yards before, all of a sudden, things got really cold. I stopped falling, got flung back up on the bridge."

  I vividly remembered the scene. "She was standing there, with her arms stretched out, frost forming around her and on me. I panicked. Zanj started yelling at me and I ran." I laughed bitterly. "She chased me for about a block before I lost her.

  After that, I made an even more stupid decision by trying to tell my 'friend' about what happened. Dude told my ‘rents, they told my doctor, who then hit me up with all kinds of medication. Told me that these 'delusions of magic' were dangerous and unhealthy. And that, 'if I was ever gonna function in society' I had to ‘stop making up fanciful escapes from it'. I believed 'em too. That's the worst part.

  After that, they told my parents it was probably a good time for a change of scenery, but I was so doped up that for the first few months of being here I couldn't go to school. I had to stay home almost twenty–four/seven to make sure I wasn't gonna run off somewhere like a crazy person."

  Raven was silent for a few beats then: "So you’ve got a thing for creepy girls, is that was you're saying?" Her voice sang with a light humor that fell flat in the face of the story.

  "Yeah," I sighed. "I guess you could say that.”

  She’d said another, awkward, goodbye shortly after that and told me she’d see me in class the next mornin
g.

  7:30 am.

  Time for school.

  Within a few minutes, I was walking across campus to a classroom on the second floor of one of the school buildings. Classroom 201 was where I had my first class: Basic Magical Theory.

  "Ok, so when y'all said 'training'," I whispered to Raven as I sat down in the back left next to the windows. "I assumed you meant like fighting, spell casting, exorcisms, and those kinds of things."

  "Unfortunately, the life of an average agent isn't half as exciting as what you've been doing so far," she replied and I growled slightly at her use of the word 'exciting' but she went on. "There's always study to be done. The better you understand your abilities, the more powerful you'll become."

  "I think I'm doing ok." I smirked. "I did beat Skylar and Xavier."

  "You think you could do it again?" She replied nonchalantly spinning a pencil between her fingers. "Not only can I attest to the fact that Xavier was holding back big time, you don't even know how you used those abilities.”

  "But he does." I disguised gesturing at my head as fixing the hair over my ear.

  "And what if someone blocked him out?" She replied lowering her voice even farther as more students filed in. "The spell Eleria used to do that, wasn't hard at all. If someone was smart and knew how you accessed your powers, they could block him out easily."

  I shrugged figuring the odds of that were slim. When would I need to fight another magic user for real anyways? It seemed like we were all on the same side.

  "Good morning class. I am your instructor for Basic Magical Theory." Eleria practically sang from the front of the room causing me to jump and go wide eyed. "You can call me Professor Pane," she giggled, "Isn't that just so much fun to say?"

  I shivered at the sound of that title and tried to focus as she went over her plan for the semester.

  "Is this the first day of class?" I whispered, confusedly. "It's November."

  "Yeah, we have multiple start times throughout the year," Raven whispered back. "Primarily because we have agents with families that come and go so often they have to be able to just pick up a class here and there. Of course, it’s also helpful for people like you."