Reborn from the embers, p.13
Reborn from the Embers, page 13
“You know nothing, Allison.” I don’t correct his incorrect use of my name, after all I’m making him angry enough. “My parents, if you can even call them that, died trying protect their other child! You know nothing of the truth.” He roars before taking a deep breath, “We are kindred spirits, kin. When you behave maybe I’ll share our story with you.” He sneers angrily before storming out of the room. I grin, ignoring his words as I begin working on the wire frame of the bed again. Kindred spirits my ass, I’m not a psychotic murderer. At least an hour passes, and I’ve almost gotten the wire free. I hear his footsteps again and curse as I fix the mattress back. He storms in, harried looking, before shoving something in my mouth and covering it with tape. I fight him immediately before he leans his closely and hisses under his breath.
“I don’t plan on killing you, but he does, so keep quiet unless you actually want to die.” He clicks my hands into cuffs behind my back before scurrying out. Who is he talking about? My heart races as I hear a doorbell followed by Salem’s voice talking to a stranger. I wiggle against the hand cuffs, furious. He needs to let me out so I can use the wire goddamn it. My ears perk as the voices get louder.
“Have you located the girl, yet?” The voice sounds angry. I hear pacing and I tilt my head trying desperately to hear more. Are they talking about me?
“No sir, the FBI keeps moving her. I’m close though.” It has to be me they’re talking about. Why is Salem lying to this mystery guy? Could it be Salem is doing the wrong thing and they don’t want me dead? I go to make a ruckus as I hear the haunting words.
“See that she’s dead within the week. The Smithsonian requires you for other jobs.” Smithsonian? Wasn’t that the place Salem said raised him after his parents died? I guess he tells the truth about some things.
“Yes, sir.” Salem’s voice sounds empty, bored even. Nothing like the way he talks around me. A door clicks shut before Salem returns. He looks like the Salem I thought I knew. He runs his hand through his hair and removes the tape, then thank god, the hand cuffs.
“Salem, please explain to me what’s going on?” I beg, desperate for answers.
“Sometimes I’m Salem, sometimes I’m Azriel, and sometimes I’m a weird mixture of both. Right now, I’m a mixture. I work for the Smithsonian; we hunt Valkyries and Witches. I was sent to kill you. Yet, I think you’d be an asset to me, and I’ve grown to like you. We’re going to disappear soon. A few more days and then no one will ever find us again.”
“You’re a Valkyrie though.” I cry.
“Yes, and no. You’re young Ali, you don’t understand but they’ve had me since I was a child. They’ve trained me to hunt my own. They’ve gifted me with a piece of darkness to keep me chained to them. Somehow that darkness has grown fond of you and I’ve claimed some control back.” He smiles as if I should be applauding or something, I don’t.
“That doesn’t sound like a gift to me. I’m not going with you.” I spit as fear tries to grip me. I don’t have time. I have to break out.
“You’ll obey or you’ll die.” He screams before storming out again. I dive off the bed and with fervid finally pull some wire free. Time to pick a lock. Escape or die. Escape or die. I take my first step towards freedom. The embers of my flame grow, inciting a flicker of excitement and... hope. I had the wire, now I just had to break the lock. I reach for the water that Salem had left for me and curse as I remember that I’ve been avoiding the water he gave me. Darkness begins to swallow me.
“TJ!” I cry as I fling myself into his arms. He wraps them around me tightly. “Please, when I find my way back to you. Don’t ignore me, don’t shut me out. I’m sorry for lying about my past but I need you in my future!” I blurt out into his chest. He pulls me back and looks at me. Pain dancing in his eyes,
“I promise, I won’t shut you out. You’ve got to focus though; I don’t know how long we’ll be here for. Can you tell me anything else? Have you learnt anything that can get us to you?” His eyes are fierce with protectiveness. His voice throaty with desperation.
“He works for the Smithsonian; even if I don’t make it now, you’ll know that they hunt Valkyries and Witches. I can’t let you guys risk it. Don’t come for me, don’t risk your lives. I’ll find my own way home to you all. TJ tell Jace I miss him. I miss you all.” Tears sprout and I wipe them away angrily. TJ pulls me back into his arms. I shake, so wrecked by my emotions.
“We’re coming for you. What’s he been doing to you?” TJ asks, as the dream changes around us, and he sits us down on a beach.
“That’s just it, nothing. He drugs me, changes my clothes like a doll, and calls me things like sweetie and darling. It’s strange. Then he hid me and lied to someone from the Smithsonian about not finding me yet. He says we’re going to disappear in a few days, and no one will ever find me again. I’ve pulled wire of the base of the bed and I’m trying to pick the lock that has me chained but it’s not as easy as it looks on TV.” I bite my fingernails before looking back at TJ who looks distraught. “Do you know how to pick locks? Can you explain it to me?” TJ shakes his head at me. I sigh, knowing it was a long shot.
“I’m sorry, I have no idea, but I’ll wake up now and google it. I’ll try and reach you again soon. We’re coming.” He kisses my forehead before he slips away, and I’m left by myself.
CLICK. “Yes!” I whisper to myself. I’d spent the entire night, after waking from TJ’s dream, trying to break this goddamn lock and finally it’d happened. My mind ticks as I plan my exact next move. The sun has filtered through the window and I know Salem will show up with breakfast soon. I silently search the room trying to find a weapon. I reach the cupboard that has stood so lonely in the corner. It’s empty save for a hanging bar that slips off the hooks. I grab it with a salacious grin, imagining pounding Salem’s head in with it. I don’t think I’d ever been inherently violent, fed from revenge and yet the thought of it now exhilarates me. I wait desperately behind the door, for the clicking of Salem’s shoes on the wooden floors. I’m growing angsty when finally, I hear them. The impending noise of death or freedom. The double-edged sword of where only I and Salem decide each other’s fate. I take a deep breath, trying hard not to hold it. I’d need oxygen for this, like everything else. As Salem walks in I kick him in the knees, the balls and then the stomach, before smacking him in the head with the pole. I have the element of surprise and that’s it. As he’s groaning on the floor, I leg it down the hallway. Adrenaline is driving me with a force I’ve never truly known. I crash through what seems to be the front door and scream as I come across the elevator. As I smash the buttons, praying they’ll get here before Salem does.
“Come on! Come on.” I yell at the elevator. Where’re the emergency stairs? Surely this isn’t fire safe! I look around desperately, the elevator wall is adorned with letters. It’s a fancy place. He has an entire floor to himself. I hear the ding and go to bolt through the door when I feel the breath on my neck. I’m too late.
“You naughty girl! I don’t do second chances.” He sneers in my ears as he places something in front of my mouth. Darkness. I didn’t want the last thing I ever saw to be this elevator lobby, but I don’t get to choose the dreadful place where my dreadful end would happen.
My eyes pry open around an endless pain. My body aches and it burns to take too deep a breath. My hands and legs are tied to the bed now, but I can’t see Salem anywhere. I whimper in fear. I’d fucked up. Tears spill down my face. I can’t think through the pain. It’s tearing at my insides. I’m dying I know it. Salem walks in.
“Are you okay, little one?” He asks calmly. I shake my head and flinch away from him. My body burns at the movement. I whimper as the pain becomes unbearable. “Now, now.” He whispers as he pats my head. “I had to teach you not to disobey. It was for your own good.” I sniffle but nod my head, so he doesn’t get angry. Does he know I’m dying? I’ve never hurt like this before; I don’t want to die. I drift back to sleep and find myself on the bench again.
“Oh Jesus. What’s he done to you?” TJ gasps. I sniffle as the pain finds its way into the dream.
“I tried to escape. I failed. It’s over.” I feel TJ wipe the tears away. The tiny tears turn into full on sobs as my mind realises that I’m dying. I don’t know how I know but I’m dying. This isn’t just pain from a bad beating, it’s death knocking on my door.
“Ali, I need you to think! When you tried to escape did you see anything that could have helped?” I shiver and try to take a deep breath, but it hurts, and I whimper. Then I remember next to the elevator buttons the letters O and M in silver.
“Next to elevators there was an O and M.” I gasp out between the sobs, trying to reign them in. Trying to stay strong. TJ hugs me and I hug him back.
“Good work. I’m going to leave now and tell them. We’ll find you. I promise.” I grip onto him tightly as he disappears, trying to keep him there but it doesn’t work.
“I’m going to die. There’s internal bleeding.” I whisper as he’s disappearing. I see TJ pale; I know his doubt that they’ll be there in time. I walk around my old campus, knowing I won’t wake up again from this dream. I walk past my old classrooms and I see all the faces of the people who used to love me. The image shifts and then I’m sitting on a grassy field, sunflowers spread across for miles.
“I guess this is where I’ll die.” I whisper and I lie there in the field and let the warmth of the sun who I had forsaken bathe me in light. I wait there for a long time. Not quite dead and not quite alive. In the middle of light and dark. Just waiting. At times, I hear a woman singing and patting my head. Sometimes I see Odin, just checking in before disappearing again. They’re waiting for me. My family. My friends. Waiting for me to cross over and join the eternal life. I think I’m ready and I stand to take a step towards the growing light around me. I stop and look back for a moment. Is it really time to go? The image begins to fade and then a rhythmic beep pulls me away.
“I’m sorry mum,” I whisper.
“I’m sorry ma’am but I can’t say for sure when she’ll wake up. She’s stable and that’s all we can do for now.” A woman’s voice says tiredly. I can relate to that level of exhaustion. I just want to sleep. I can’t though. I have to open my eyes, I know it, I’m just not ready. It’s time daughter. My eyes feel glued shut, but I push through it. I take a few deep breaths and my nose tingles from the chemical smells assaulting me. I don’t know where I was before I woke but it was blissful, maybe I should go back? Nope. Too late, wake up. You’ve got a destiny. My eyes open with a pop and I take in the hospital room quickly. I’m alive. Jace and TJ are asleep on the floor and Marci is typing furiously on her phone.
“Hi,” I croak, before crinkling my nose. I sound like a man. Her head snaps up towards me and I see relief dances around her eyes.
“You scared the fuck out of me.” She scolds, as she drops her phone and moves towards me.
“I’m alive.” I whisper, feeling numb. I can’t believe it. I survived. “How?” Tears sting at my eyes as the overwhelming feelings push against my once strong walls.
“Those two boys found you. I don’t know how but they promised you would be up there. It was the only lead we had so we stormed the building. We got him, honey. We caught him. Doctors didn’t think you’d make it. He went nuts when we had to revive you.” She’s pale and her hair hangs limp.
“I think I did die. I think I saw heaven.” I whisper before I slip back asleep, barely noticing the fear in Marci’s eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples." -Mother Teresa
I knock on the door to Marci’s office, her actual office, at the bureau. She smiles and waves me in. She’s dressed in navy suit with a satin white top underneath. Her hair dances around her shoulders as she pulls me into a hug.
“You’re looking so much better.” She admits before getting me to take a seat.
“Thanks Marci. So, last counselling session with the FBI, time to close that door.” I smile and she nods her head, almost sadly.
“I’ll miss you. I’m glad we were able to get you your life back, but I’ll miss your way of thinking out situations. The way you move through possible outcomes, it’s incredible. I want to reaffirm that there would always be a place here for you in the training program. You’d be an asset.” I shake my head.
“Marci, I don’t know what I want to do anymore. I always thought I’d work in numbers, but it seems pointless now. I’ve always done it because I was good at it but what if there is more for me out there and I just didn’t know because I closed myself off to possible experiences and growth. I’m taking some time off study, using some of that money that my parents left me and spend some time figuring out who I want to be and what I want to do. Life’s precious, I’m not going to waste it.”
“I’m glad to hear it, and glad there’s a chance you still might join us.” She waggles her eyebrows and I laugh. I think she’d be better off in recruitment, not counselling. My smile dims as I think about the words we exchanged prior to my abduction. I lean forward, clasping my hands together.
“Marci, you said there were things I deserved to know. Lately, I’ve been thinking about that. What did you mean?” I ask, and I see the apprehension pool in her eyes.
“It was hard to dig up, we only found it because we were trying to find any reason for why Salem would want to stalk you the way he was. We found a private adoption, buried, deeply. We found your adoption. Grace and James, while they’ll always be your mother and father, they weren’t your biological parents.” Marci grasps my hands as I process the bomb she’s dropped.
“Who are my real parents?” I demand as a cool sweat break out across my skin. Is anything in my life real?
“Your name is Allison Val’Kyrie. As for your parents we can’t find a trace of them. They dropped you into your mother’s arms and were never seen again.” Marci sighs. “Listen, Ali. The FBI isn’t investigating this but I am. Something doesn’t feel right. Keep the name to yourself for now. There’s probably no trouble but with the year you’ve had let’s just keep it to the chest until we find out more.” Her words make sense but as the drumming in my head intensifies, I barely have time to acknowledge them. Suddenly, everything quietens, and I glance at Marci.
“Thanks Marci. For everything. Don’t bother investigating it, I knew who my parents were and they’re not strangers that abandoned me.” Marci watches me sadly as I walk away from the bureau. My flame pushes me to go faster until I reach Jace and TJ. They both smile at me and I breathe a sigh of relief. My anchors. The stokers to my flame. Jace pulls me into his arms and I breathe him in deeply. TJ pats my arm awkwardly, but he’s kept his promise and hasn’t abandoned me.
I’m holding Helen and Dave’s hands as we cry over Linc’s memory. His brothers are at their grandmothers. I’d stayed there and told them everything minus the supernatural strands. I told them how Salem had grown obsessed with me in school, from a distance, and I hadn’t even noticed him. I told them it was his obsession with me that got Linc killed and that I’d always love him. I told them how sorry I was. When they gripped onto me tightly and whispered those special words a tiny sliver of my soul healed. My flame grew brighter.
“He would never have blamed you and neither do we. You’re always going to be part of this family and we love you.” I hugged them tightly before leaving. I pet my old dogs head as I walk out the door. He’d be happy here. I walk slowly along the streets relishing in the memories of walking with my parents, riding my bike, and even going to church. Water fights with the neighbourhood kids. So many moments that have shaped me. I walked with the knowledge in my heart and my mind that no matter what my parents love lived on within me. Finally, I reach it. Looking up at the weatherboard home with blooming flowers my heart aches. Pulling the keys out I walk inside and straight to my parents’ room. Their scent still lingers, even after a year. It envelops me like a tight hug. I can feel them here. Their pride for my accomplishments. Their love for me in general. I feel everything we had, the love and the fights, and I let it go; I let them go peacefully into the next phase of their lives. I wander around the house looking at all our belongings. I’d have to pack everything up eventually, but not today. I pull on my mum’s old cardigan, sitting by the front door, before locking the house up and heading the opposite direction of Beaumont.
You see, as the truth emerges about my identity, I start to remember the things I have suppressed. Nightmares of darkness spreading across the country have plagued my dreams since I was a child and now, with closure I know I must investigate this. They aren’t just nightmares- they’re visions. I can’t ignore the power within me. I am a genius, after all; I know when to focus on something important. Or at least, I’m learning.
I might not have foreseen my parent’s murders. I might not have foreseen Linc’s. Yet I have foreseen the darkness that is attempting to eviscerate magic. Somehow, that is my destiny.
I’ve had many names in my life, already, and I can’t tell you which one is truly mine. I can’t even tell you what any of this means, yet. I know so many things, and the truth is I might have magic to learn but not today... and probably not tomorrow.
Right now, I deserve cocktails and beaches.
Authors Note
Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don’t think I can thank anyone who gave this story a chance and read it. I’m honoured you took the time.
This is the first book I’ve been brave enough to publish and it’s been a journey to get here. I know, as a writer, there is a lot of room for me to grow and continue to improve. I welcome all feedback on this story. You can keep up to date on Ali’s next instalment and contact me by following on Instagram: char_indieauthor.
