The Awakener (6 page)

Micah knew the woman in red was close and that should bring him some comfort, but he didn’t feel it.
All of his senses were overloaded by the devastation before him. The smell of charred houses mingled with burnt flesh, all of his surroundings devoid of life and color, nothing but black ash left behind. The air was stagnant, no breeze to cool the heat from the midday sun or remove the stench. His footsteps sounded hollow crunching through the rubble. He felt desperate to find someone, anyone. He had to know something had survived, but there was nothing, not even rats to gnaw through the debris. He’d lost count of how many neighborhoods he’d sprinted through, now his pace was slow and labored. His foot caught on something, and he threw his arms out to steady himself. The idea of falling into the wreckage filled him with horror. He turned, spying what snagged him. Crouching down, he slowly lifted it up. Sadness flooded him. Brushing away the ash, he peered down at the small baby doll’s face.
This had been a child’s toy, probably a little girl.
A girl that’s gone. Buried in this...

Like being pulled from the bottom of a pool, the woman placed her hand on Micah’s shoulder, and the scene disappeared before him.
He was panting now, bent over with his hands on his knees, clamping his jaw shut to keep the nausea in check, as well as his emotions. It didn’t help—his head was still spinning.

“What was that?” he gasped between breaths.
She didn’t say anything. Slowly, he straightened, gazing at her. Pain etched the lines around her eyes, her lips turned down.

“Why did I see that?” He hoped there was a reason for that nightmare.

Her head tilted to the side and her mouth opened. He eagerly awaited her words, but as her lips formed them, no sound came out.

“I can’t hear you,” he blurted.

She nodded and continued speaking nonetheless.

He stepped closer. “I still can’t understand
—”

“Micah!” Trent’s voice boomed out from the other side of the bathroom door.
Micah jumped and spun around.
Trent’s up?
It’s probably three am
.

“What the banana balls are you doing in there?” Trent growled through the wood.
The woman disappeared.

Frustrated by her short visit, Micah threw the door open and Trent barged in.
Trent surveyed the room and then stared at him. “Who were you talking to?”

“No one,” he
responded, surprised Trent could’ve heard him through the closed bathroom doors. He hadn’t spoken loudly, or that much, and he knew his cousin was a pretty sound sleeper.

“Whatever.
I heard you talking to a girl. Were you talking online with someone or something?”

Micah’s body stiffened. “How did you know I was talking to a
girl
?”

“Ha!
I knew it! Who is she? Megan?” Trent grinned.

“How’d you
know, Trent?” He took a step towards his cousin, who was now checking out his closet.
Does he think I hid someone in there?

Trent turned around and snickered
. “Dude, what were you doing online? Do I need to talk to your parents?”

“Trent, I wasn’t on my computer.
Tell me how you knew it was a girl!” Micah shouted, annoyed his cousin was ignoring his question.

Trent cocked an
eyebrow at Micah and then shrugged. “I heard her, ok, loud and clear. So loud I’m beginning to wonder if you somehow snuck Viola in here.” Trent dropped down and peered under Micah’s bed, calling, “Viola, are you in there?”

If it had been any other time, Micah would’ve laughed at him, but his mind was buzzing.
Trent heard her?

“What did she say?” he demanded, but Trent was peeling his covers down saying, “Viola, come out
, come out, wherever you are.”

“Trent
.” Micah’s tone was firm. His cousin stopped chuckling and stared at him. “I need to know what you heard. What did the girl say?”

“Am I on crazy pills here or are you going to tell me what’s going on here?
Who is
she?
” Trent retorted.

He struggled to respond.
He supposed it was as good of a time as any to tell Trent he saw ghosts or angels, or whatever the woman in red was.

Trent huffed impatiently
. “Fine, I’m too tired for this. She said something like you did the right thing coming here, and he’ll hear me,” he paused, Micah hanging on his every word, “and it’s time to study. You’re supposed to live with the Gennaros. They’ll show you what to study.” Trent stopped talking and threw his hands on his hips, waiting.

So the Gennaros are why I’m here,
Micah thought
. I need to talk to them. But I guess it’ll have to wait until morning.

“Che cavolo,” Trent muttered, bringing Micah back to present.

“Thanks, Trent,” Micah breathed out, his shoulders relaxing.

Trent eyed him suspiciously. “If this happens again, you’re going to talk, got it?
I can’t have you turning into a nutcase while we’re here. You will freak out the ladies. Now I, for one, am going back into my room to think about Gianna’s soft lips on mine.” Trent left, mumbling, “Poor kid’s losing it. I hope it’s not contagious.”

Micah was grateful Trent acted like nothing had happened the night before, announcing he was going sightseeing with Gianna since it was Saturday.
Anxious to talk to the Gennaros, Micah was upset to learn, by the small note Caterina stuck to the fridge, they’d gone early to the markets to shop for fresh produce. Micah peeled the yellow stick-it off, crumpling it and tossing it into the trash can.

Now
what? I might as well browse Gustavo’s library. Maybe I can figure out what I’m supposed to learn.
The apartment was quiet as he made his way to the den. One solid wall was devoted to books with a built-in white bookcase and a white, wooden ladder leaning against it. Scanning, he was slightly disappointed to see they were all in Italian. Looking higher up, he was happy to discover old copies of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, both in English. Up higher still, there was a whole row of Jane Austin books and the complete works of William Shakespeare in English.

They must have gotten them through all the years of housing American kids.

Curious as to what was on the top shelf, he ascended the ladder.
Again, most of the titles were in Italian, but he gathered from the covers that they were books on philosophy, architecture, and world history. One large, cloth book was titled
Bibbia.

Looks like the Bible.
Cocking his head, he surveyed the volumes next to it, surprised they were in English. Drawn to the old, leather binding on one hefty-looking book, he pulled it out, reading the title,
The Apocryphical Book of Enoch
.

Huh, wonder what this is about
?

Tucking the book under his arm, he climbed down.
Hope Gustavo doesn’t mind if I borrow this.
He settled on the chaise and carefully opened it.
It landed somewhere in the middle.

He read aloud:

“And I saw there something horrible; I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and burning with fire.”

He paused
.
Fire?

“
‘For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?’ Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them and said: ‘Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? These are the number of the stars of heaven, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.’
”

He jumped ahead a bit
. “…
and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture.”

He stopped reading.
Is this what I saw in my vision? I saw a fire, or at least I saw the aftermath of a huge fire.

The front door opened and the Gennaros entered, Caterina coming in first.
Micah wanted to ask if it was all right if he borrowed the book, but Caterina’s eyes were darting between his face and the book in his hand. She dropped her grocery bag, her hand flying to her mouth.

“Caspita!
Is it really you?” she gasped.

Dumbfounded, he stared back at her.

Gustavo was grumbling something as Caterina whirled around, clutching his arm. “Gustavo, I think he is
the one
!”

Gustavo’s eyes peered up at Caterina and then wordlessly squinted in Micah’s direction.
A large smile cracked under his long nose. “I think you are right, Caterina! He is finally here!”

Micah set the book aside, rising to his feet. “What do you mean
,
the one
?” he asked.

Caterina bustled into the room, grabbing Micah’s hands. “We have so much to discuss.
How about some tea first?”

Micah followed them into the small kitchen.
He sat down at the square table in the bay window as Caterina put the kettle on to boil. Gustavo settled into the chair across from him, folding his wrinkled hands. After she had set out the cups and tea bags, Caterina brushed her hands on the apron she’d hastily tied on, and moved to stand next to Micah.

“Many, many years ago, Micah, I had a dream,” she began
. “In my dream, I saw destruction. I saw the world in chaos and misery. It was terrifying. Everything was burned. I found myself wandering through the ruins, crying at the horrible loss, asking why this could not have been prevented.”

Micah gasped slightly, and both sets of eyes riveted on him.
“I sort of had the same dream,” he explained, feeling bad about interrupting.

Caterina’s eyes widened
. “I knew it. I knew you would come.” Micah waited and she continued, “My dream shifted to a new place. I saw a young man with dark hair, leaning over a book, reading. He was a very special young man. I could tell in my dream because I saw angels around him as he read. It was like they were protecting him, watching him.”

Micah’s skin crawled with goose bumps.

“In my dream,” she continued, “I knew the boy was American.
He was speaking English to me. He was telling me he had a mission to save mankind from complete destruction. At the time of my dream, I spoke very little English. I remember I woke up and told Gustavo the words I had heard. He translated it into Italian for me.” Caterina glanced at Gustavo.

Gustavo cleared his throat as Caterina got up to pour the boiling water into the
teacups.

“I knew this dream she had was important.
We were still raising our children at home, but we both felt that we were supposed to do something. We decided to start hosting foreign exchange students. We have been doing it for over thirty years, waiting for the time when we would meet the young American from Caterina’s dream.” Gustavo gaped at Micah. “And now you have come.”

“How do you know it’s me?”

Gustavo and Caterina exchanged stares as she set the
teacup in front of Micah.

“We know because of what you were reading,” Gustavo answered, taking his tea from Caterina.

“The Book of Enoch?”

Gustavo smiled
. “Yes, my boy! That is your destiny!”

Trying to grapple with what their words
meant, Micah swallowed the hot tea, searing his tongue and throat. He gasped and sputtered, until Gustavo gave him a resounding thump on the back.

“I’m
okay, thanks,” Micah coughed, hoping to avoid having the air knocked out of him again.
Gustavo’s stronger than he looks
.

Caterina sat down, her eyes full of empathy
. “I am sure this is very confusing to you, my dear.” She sighed. “In my dream, I saw the book the boy read. It was a book about the City of Enoch. I told this to Gustavo. He has made it his life’s mission to learn everything there is about Enoch and his great city. And now you have come to learn from him.”

Though unfamiliar with Enoch and the city they spoke of, Micah knew they were right.
The woman in red said he was to study with the Gennaros; this must be what he was to learn about. Gazing at the elderly couple, he realized how incredible it was that this was lined up thirty years ago, long before he’d even been born.

“
All right,” Micah replied. “I want to learn everything you can teach me.”

And
, he thought grimly
, about how I’m going to save everyone from that fire.