Crow - The Awakening
| Crow - The Awakening | |
| Michael J. Vanecek | |
| Michael J. Vanecek (2014) | |
| Tags: | Fantasy, Fiction |
You know you've had a bad day when you are chased by a psychopath and his army of secret agents, tormented by the monsters of your nightmares, and your imaginary Elf girlfriend won't stop whispering from the shadows. All he wanted was a little peace and solitude while he cracked into super-secret government servers to search for his missing parents.
He is Steven Crow - target of violent secret agents and monsters alike for reasons he can't remotely comprehend. Loved by an Elf of his imagination who may not be what she appears to be. And going silently mad as he seeks answers to who he is and why he's being pursued.
Michael J
.
Vanecek
-
The Awakening
By Michael J
.
Vanecek
Copyright © 2013 Michael J
.
Vanecek
Published by Michael J. Vanecek
Cover Art by Michael J. Vanecek
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First e-book Edition: June 2014
Summary: Steven Crow finds himself in a difficult situation when his search for his birth parents attracts the attention of a determined, and scary, secret organization.
Chapter 1
"Mom! Dad! You're alive!" Steven stood frozen in shock in the middle of the moonlit meadow as his startled parents half turned, looking over their shoulders at him, their eyes wide. But they didn't appear like he expected them to - though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. How did he know they were his parents? And yet he just did. Something blurred his eyesight, obscuring their features as he tried to get a closer look. Was he crying? He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but they were walking away quickly.
"Wait!" he yelled. What was that noise? A loud humming sound that seemed to be felt more than heard permeated the air around him. He looked around trying to find where the noise was coming from but it was everywhere. Could they even hear him?
He glanced back at them but they were much farther away now. "Wait for me!" he yelled. He tried to run after them, but his legs felt weak and heavy. It was almost like something was wrapped around them. He looked down but all he saw was the grass of the meadow. Perplexed, he wondered how he got there. The meadow looked familiar to him, even at night in the moonlight. He looked at the landscape around him, almost certain of where he was. He remembered the place. But at the same time, the memory was elusive. It was like a word at the very tip of his tongue, and yet hopelessly absent. Had he been there before? Confused, he wondered what was going on.
The clearing, illuminated by the full moon, was surrounded by a dark forest that looked like an ominous, black wall towering up into the sky. It cast eerie shadows that seemed to have a life of their own. Out of the center of the meadow there was a stark, white pine snag sticking up like a tall, skeletal spire pointing up to the heavens. It almost glowed in the bright light of the moon. He found it all fairly creepy in the still of the night. Looking back to his parents, he saw them nearly out of sight at the edge of the forest. They turned and yelled something.
"What?" He cupped his ears as he tried desperately to slog through whatever was slowing him down. It was like wading through molasses. He kicked his feet trying to free them, but it just got worse. Scared, frustrated, and unable to run, Steven looked desperately toward his parents.
"Run!" his mother screamed, pointing behind him. He turned and saw a large dark shadow coming toward him rapidly, exploding out of the forest into the clearing and landing with a heavy thump. Startled, he tried to run but his feet got even more tangled on each other, and he fell and hit the ground with a resounding thud. The landscape was heaving and shaking now, and he fell over again as he tried to scramble up. Steven quickly made it back to all fours and pushed off hard with his feet, running toward his parents in big, slogging steps.
"Mom! Don't leave me!" Steven wiped tears from his eyes as he struggled to catch up. Why were they leaving him behind? Steven suddenly felt all alone, abandoned. She was right there. Why wasn't she trying to do anything to help?
The trees that bordered the meadow were trembling and a deep groan emanated from the landscape as it shuddered beneath his feet, threatening to throw him to the ground again. Still he pushed on, stumbling and trying frantically to get to his parents where he knew he'd be safe. He felt the wind in his face as if he was running quickly, but every step seemed to be in slow motion. He was trying as hard as he could to run as fast as he could, but it felt like he was going impossibly slow. No matter what he did, they were still far away and he just couldn't make any headway toward them.
He yelled in frustration, struggling to move beyond the futility of getting nowhere. Why had they gotten so far ahead of him? They were still yelling, waving him on. "I'm trying!" he yelled back at them. "Help! Mom!" Why weren't his parents coming to rescue him? He looked back as he tried to run and his blood ran cold at what he saw.
The shadow was approaching quickly, now looking like a large hairy monster. Terrified, he cried out to his parents. Where were they? He looked where he expected them to be, but now only saw dark forest. Did they really leave him behind? Incredulous, he looked back just in time to see the dark monster pounce on him, knocking his breath out as he was shoved to the ground. It opened its toothy mouth wide and let out a blood curdling roar that seemed to shake the ground. He screamed as the creature roared at him. Nearly overcome by horror, Steven raised his arms, instinctively trying to ward off the creature as he desperately squirmed, trying to get away. But his legs felt like they were hopelessly entangled. The monster grabbed his arms and pinned them to the ground.
Time seemed to slow as the creature drew closer to his face, moonlight glinting off its black eyes that looked like two orbs of glossy obsidian. It uttered a rumbling growl as its lips curled back. Its massive, thick canines that dripped with glistening saliva was now just inches from Steven's face. Steven caught his breath, too terrified to scream any more. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, drowning out the loud humming sound that filled the air around him as he frantically tried to ward off the demonic nightmare that was holding him down. It reared back and let loose another monstrous roar that seemed to erupt from deep within its massive bulk. Steven turned his head to the side and closed his eyes tight, fearing what would come next.
"Steven!" The voice sounded... human. "Steven!" It shook him violently. He opened his eyes and looked back up.
"Jonah?" The darkness melted away and Steven looked for the monster, still scared. Slowly he recognized where he was - his room, dimly lit by a hall light. His heart still thumping wildly, he sat up from the floor, and noticed his legs were tangled up in his covers. His godfather was holding him, helping him sit up and tugging at the tangle of sheets. Steven was crying but he was having trouble remembering why.
"You're home, Steven. Everything's fine." Jonah gave up on the hopelessly tangled sheets and sat on the floor next to him, embracing him while he woke up. Steven's godmother, Sally, briefly peeked through the door then walked into the room, picking a picture up off the floor. They looked at each other, concerned. Steven was drawing a mental blank, trying to gather his wits.
"Why am I on the floor?" Steven's heart was still thumping and he looked around as the mists of the nightmare faded away. He was home now, sitting on the slate tiled floor of his bedroom.
"You fell from your bed. I'm surprised it didn't wake you up." Jonah smiled wistfully. "Same dream?" He wiped the sweaty lock of curly black hair from Steven's face. Steven reached up and pushed more of his unruly hair out of his face. It was drenched.
"Yeah. Was a..." Steven tried to remember. The dream was fading fast. "A wolf sort of man this time."
"Not a vampire? It's usually a vampire." Jonah stood up and pulled the boy to his feet. After Steven pulled his feet out of the tangle of bedsheets, he sat down on the bed. His shoulder ached where he landed on it when he fell on the floor and he rubbed it absentmindedly.
"No. But I couldn't get away. It was really scary." The sense of anxiety was easing. He wiped tears from his eyes as he looked around again, taking in his room in the dim, warm light. Steven was feeling more wakeful now. His framed drawings hanging on the wall were all tilted and a few were on the floor. "What happened?"
His godmother sat down next to him, gathering up the sheets that were half on the bed. "Just another tremor, dear. The usual. We were coming to check on you when we heard you fall out of bed." Her soft, sultry voice was always so soothing and Steven felt even more anxiety melt away. "Now lay back down, honey. Do you want some water?" She looked up at Jonah, who nodded and left the room. Steven could hear glasses in the kitchen clink and the water being turned on. The familiarity of home was starting to sink in again as the fear subsided.
Steven lay back down. "I'm fine." No, he wasn't. His mouth was parched. He grabbed the sheets as she tried to tuck them around him. "I'm ten years old, Sally."
"You sure are, big man." Sally took the glass of water from Jonah and handed it to him. He sat up a little and drank deeply. The cool liquid felt so good, he finished off half of the glass before stopping and taking a breath. She retrieved it from him and set it on his night stand. "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah. I think so." Steven was getting sleepy again. He remembered, "Mom and Dad were there. I think. They wouldn't stop and help me." Sadness filled him now and he sighed as he pulled his covers up and laid back. He'd never actually seen his parents - not even pictures. He wiped tears from his eyes as he remembered how he felt in the dream.
Sally kissed his forehead, her blond locks tickling his cheek. "It was just a dream, honey. Your parents would have done anything for you if they could." She looked up at Jonah. This was always a tender but awkward subject. She stood up and walked toward the door.
Steven felt anxious suddenly. "Don't leave." He felt silly, but he was still afraid. Sally always made him feel secure and wanted, and that's what he really needed now.
Sally came back and gave Steven a long hug, holding his head and kissing his wet cheek. She was delighted to hear him say that. "I won't go anywhere, Steven." She pulled back and Steven looked up into her remarkably blue eyes. "Ever."
Steven smiled and hugged her back, feeling much better. He had started calling them by their names a few years ago when he learned he was adopted and started looking for his biological parents, but she was still the only mother he had ever known.
Sally got up again. "We'll be right down the hall. You try to go back to sleep," she said softly. Jonah backed up to let Sally slip by. She put her hand on Jonah's chest and looked back at Steven. "Okay?"
"Yeah." Steven was getting drowsy again. Jonah grinned and followed his wife down the hall. Steven could hear them talking about a broken plate in the kitchen as he started to drift off. He always seemed to sleep through the little earthquakes that seemed to infrequently happen in this area. He wondered why he was never awake to actually experience the tremors.
As Steven was drifting off, he remembered something that jolted him awake. Rubbing his eyes, he scooted over to the side of the bed and grabbed his ever present sketchpad and pencil. In the light of the hallway he sketched what he remembered of his parents from the briefest glimpse he got of them before his dream tears clouded their features. His sketchbook was full of similar sketches and he made it a point to draw them from every dream he had. Each drawing added minor details to the overall image Steven was trying to develop of his parents. As he browsed through them, they all seemed fairly consistent. Satisfied, and barely able to hold his head up, he put the sketchbook back on the nightstand and lay back, remembering his parents in his dreams as he faded off to sleep.
