Awakening (21 page)

“
I’m amazed that this restaurant has been here long enough to have been in existence while I was still around the last time.” I mused aloud.

“
Yeah, this place is pretty incredible. It’s still family owned and manages to keep the warmth and amazing menu year after year.” Cyril piped in. He excused himself and went to check us in.

I looked around, thankful I had dressed up a bit. I scanned Athen and loved how great he looked in a jacket. He couldn’t get it wrong. I hadn’t seen him this dressed up yet. It was pretty impressive. The hostess led us to our table right by the window, overlooking the water. The view was enthralling with the twinkling lights out in the distance as boats began making their way back to the docks for the evening.

As we were getting situated at the table, I noticed how busy the restaurant was, especially for a weeknight. There were many couples sprinkled throughout at the different tables, but the large tables seemed to be filled with mostly executives, who, I could only assume, were trying to impress their respective clients. Too bad they weren’t here with their families I thought to myself. I was thankful I wasn’t in that scene. The corporate world seemed so cold. In the far corner of the lounge, I was able to see the top of the Christmas tree peeking over looking absolutely magical. I could tell that celebrating the holidays with my family was going to be magnificent.

“
So guys, after recognizing the other type today in the hotel lobby at the counter, it made me realize how many questions I still had about this.” I scanned Cyril, Arie, and Athen’s face for some sign of resistance, and I saw none so I decided to keep on going. “I noticed that in the village you all were very protective of me. Was it the type that was up there versus down here?”

Athen grabbed my hand under the table, which I appreciated, and Arie began to fill me in as cryptically as she could without letting any of the neighboring tables overhear.

“
Yes, in the village we were extremely protective of you because before your phasing began you were extremely vulnerable. We were all so worried that we could lose you again before you had been reintroduced. Once that part was over we were able to relax a little. There is still a chance that a more developed one could still interfere with the process we’ve begun with you so we will continue to keep an eye out for sure.” Arie said winking at me trying to lighten the mood I assumed.

“
So the one at the hotel front counter, why did I not feel threatened or worried?” I asked Athen.

“
Many of them have their own agendas and are preoccupied with whatever they are set on. They could care less about us. Some, like the ones in the village, were most likely summoned to you by who we don’t know yet, but it definitely lets us know to be fully aware while we are in Seattle. There is a directive on you possibly. We need to make sure that we are always with you in some capacity until it’s over, or your process has finished. The one at the counter, however, clearly had no interest in you and is probably interested in turning tourists into minions or some such disgusting thing.”

“
Huh.” I sighed on the verge of being more confused now than before I asked the question. “In the village then, you think they were summoned? Why would I be of so much interest to anyone or thing? I don’t understand that part.”

“
As a family we can do a lot of damage. Back in Whistler, we mentioned that we chose to be good. What we mean by that is that we truly fight for the good of humankind. If a demon is there to taunt a human we try to step in to show the human the other side, the other choice. However, when one of our family members isn’t with us we spend our time trying to get them back. We are distracted, which is exactly what the other side likes to see, right? They don’t want us to be able to step in with the human world. They want to keep us chasing after our loved ones so they can continue to damage humanity. Make a little more sense now?” Cyril chided.

“
Oooh, it does. I never expected to hear that there was this level of good and evil playing in the world all the time that wasn’t even remotely controlled by humans.”

“
If one of them had gotten to me before I phased, what would have happened?” I asked afraid to hear the answer.

“
We would have lost you again. You would never have remembered meeting us in the pub that night. We would have been wiped from your memory yet again. You may have had to even start over in a new city. It just depends… Until the timing was right and the process could begin again. Then hoping that you would sense us.” Athen said in an almost whisper.

I looked up at him and caught that his eyes were brimming as were Arie and Cyril’s. I quickly grabbed my napkin from my lap and started dabbing what was inevitably about to come pouring from my lids as well.

“
Thanks for not telling me until now guys,” I uttered lowly, “ I don’t think I could have handled that too.”

“
We know, sweetie.” Athen squeezed my hand once again under the table.

I don’t think I was ever this excited to see a salad show up in my lifetime. The server began placing them in front of us. I think that was definitely all of the serious talk I could handle for the night. It would take me a while to recover from this bizarre world that I was reentering into. An underworld that wasn’t completely mine for the taking. I needed to take small, baby steps.

A chill ran through me, and everyone at the table sensed it. I was having some sort of flashback. It was déjà vu. Athen and I were at this very restaurant sitting at a table that was set for two, placed directly in front of the window with both chairs facing the view. It suddenly occurred to me why Athen loved this restaurant so much. It was the last place we were together before the attack, literally.

All of a sudden the salad that I was so excited about seconds ago didn’t seem so appealing. The level of emotions that kept creeping up on me were overwhelming. I quickly excused myself to freshen up in the Ladies Room. I needed to regain some sort of composure. I quickly made my way through the lounge, moving through the crowd of people and up the stairs where I found the right door. I beelined right to the sink and reminisced back to the night at the Pub in Whistler when I first laid eyes on Arie and Cyril. Never would I have expected in such a short time to have my world flipped upside down. I hoped that I could handle this process. I took deep breaths hoping to fill the void in my chest that wasn’t caused from lack of oxygen. As the faucet produced the constant stream of warm water, I glanced up at the mirror expecting to see the same disheveled face looking back at me as was in the pub. Instead I saw a woman who was nothing like that night. My hair fell past my shoulders gracefully, framing my face in a softer way. Even though my eyes had been rimmed with tears several times tonight, they were beaming with a radiance and beauty that was no longer of this world. I turned the faucet off, finding myself sitting on the chaise to compose myself, slowly forcing myself to fall back into the happiness of being with my family. I took a deep breath in and began feeling Arie’s energy winding its way towards me. I decided to step up the recovery process and cut her off at the door to avoid any more emotional elements thrown at me.

I swung the door open, barely missing her and fully embraced Arie. We headed back to the table, and as we passed by the piano, one of my favorite songs came rolling off the piano.

“
Wow, he certainly pays attention doesn’t he, Arie?”

“
He certainly does, sweetie. He requested it as soon as you left the table. Cosmic Love certainly is an ethereal song huh? Who knew it came over the same on piano?” She said laughing as we sat back down at our table, rolling her eyes.

“
Yah, pretty fitting. I loved playing this song while Matilda and I were snuggling on the couch daydreaming. Florence and the Machine is pretty incredible.”

I looked over at Athen thanking the heavens that everything was as it was. Like usual, my appetite didn’t miss a beat. I began devouring my salad, much to everyone’s amazement.

“
I know what I have been meaning to ask you!” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t remembered to ask sooner. “When I was on the phone with Karen I kept getting this needle-poking sensation run through my fingers. Then in person it happened ten times as bad. I knew out of the blue that she was up to something, and an image of a guy, who wasn’t Justin, texting her popped into my head. I gave her my two cents immediately. She supposedly didn’t continue down that path. Regardless, though, were the feelings that I kept getting connected to the behavior that she was exhibiting, or the choice she was about to make?”

“
Wow, Ana. It usually takes months before any sort of feeling like that comes back. Maybe it was because you were so connected to her prior to your reintroduction process. I think you actually intervened in a situation, helping her to choose the correct path. I’m amazed that you recognized that so early.” Athen looked truly impressed and kind of proud.

“
Yah, Ana, that is pretty big. Maybe we will get back to doing what we do best before we know it. I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe you already experienced the visions too. To be able to see something as it’s happening is huge. That’s an important attribute. That is one of your gifts, Ana.”

“
Really? Thanks, I guess, but will I always feel the level of pain when I’m alerted to something that is about to take place?”

“
Oh, heavens no. That is only in the beginning until your body can sense the nuances a bit more,” Athen said laughing, “We aren’t sadists.”

“
When you say I’m able to have premonitions or visions of the future how will I know what is real and what is not? If I can see things as they are now and also into the future how can I tell the difference?” I asked Arie, avoiding Athen’s eyes. I was determined not to give anything way or let my thoughts betray me.

“
What do you mean?” Arie asked confused.

“
Well, the nightmares I have been having for the last few months... How do I know those are only nightmares and not premonitions or vice versa?”

“
As time goes on you’ll be able to distinguish the difference. Often as long as you don’t recognize people or anything, you can just count on it being a normal dream. You know it’s your mind trying to sort out the day’s events or something. I would imagine if certain players kept entering your dreams you would be able to conclude that those were visions instead.”

I felt an emptiness.

“
Huh, not quite as straightforward as I was hoping. For instance, that demon we saw on the way out of Whistler was a creature I had recognized from one of my nightmares. It wasn’t good. It was part of a group. I don’t remember what they were doing though.” I was lying. They were with the hikers.

“
My hunch is that it’s a vision, Ana. If, as time goes on, you can remember what it is they were doing, it could prove really helpful. Baby steps, I know. But things will come - clarity will come.” Athen touched my hand gently, the guilt filling my heart instantly for not telling him everything that very moment. It was too painful and would lead to me explaining all of my nightmares. I wasn’t ready for that. I was afraid if I uttered anything out loud it might make it true.

“
I will keep trying.” I said attempting to push the images of Athen’s soul escaping into the clouds out of my head. I couldn’t let him see that. I’m sure it wasn’t a vision, only my imagination.

“
The good news is that you have saved a lot of people with those visions of yours over the centuries. You have helped a lot of horrible decisions from ever being made. You’ll see. Good will come of it all. I promise. Right now it’s just a bit overwhelming trying to separate the truth from fiction I’d imagine.” He winked at me. I knew he was right. The possibilities were endless. I only hoped I would figure it out soon enough.

I felt immensely better, beginning to let the excitement build back up in every cell of my body as I thought about the good that I could do in the world once I got the hang of things.

“
So what are the plans for tomorrow?” I inquired almost afraid to hear what Arie may have planned for such a short amount of time.

“
Waterfront and shopping!” Arie exclaimed, my worries quickly drifting away as I enveloped myself in the warmth of my family.

T
he sun woke me up before my alarm clock even rang, a strange sight for November in Seattle. At least Seattle was a dog friendly city I thought to myself. No way would Matilda want to be left in the hotel room all day. She’s got places to see and sidewalks to explore. I grabbed the remote for the curtains, pressing the button commanding the sheer curtains to open up. I continued to lay in bed thinking back to the night before, reflecting about how many answers lead to more questions.

I was relieved I had a night full of blissful dreams, not the nightmares that I usually expected. One dream in particular that made me happiest of all was Athen cradling me tightly. We had just made love. We were on the beach. I could still feel his skin against mine. The cool dampness that was connecting our bodies was heavenly. I was in heaven. I only hoped that a new pattern of dreaming was emerging, more positive and less creepy. The dream was so vivid, and I could feel his every touch as he embraced me. That was my first dream of its kind. I couldn’t wait for another. Being patient wasn’t my best quality. I breathed in desperately hoping to have the salty air from my dream run through me one last time before getting up.

I was listening intently for movement in the rest of the hotel suite so I didn’t get out of bed too early; when all of a sudden my bedroom door swung open to reveal Athen standing with a non-fat pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks in one hand and a Top Pot donut in the other.