Awakening

Chapter 11

“Hi Luke,” Maddy said with shock. “Thank you.”

She tried to clear the sound of tears from her throat so that Luke didn’t know that she had been crying.

“Is everything okay,” Luke asked.

“Yes, everything is okay. I’m just so taken back by all the love I’ve received today.”

She smiled.

“Well, I know it’s almost over, but I couldn’t go without telling you Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks again.”

Maddy hung up the phone and began to look through her father’s journals that Uncle Nolan had given her. There was so much information that Maddy had never known about her parents, and even about herself. She spent the next few days studying them from cover to cover.

“Maddy, I haven’t seen you in days,” Nana said as she rushed into Maddy’s room.

Maddy quickly hid the journals under a pile of clothes that was sitting on the bed beside her.

“And this room is a mess! Try putting up some of these clothes and sweeping this floor, Madeline. Have you never heard of a dust cloth,” Nana said.

Butch, Maddy’s dog, lifted his head up as if he were agreeing with Nana.

“Yes, Nana. I’ll get right to it.”

“Well, you can’t right now because you’ve got school in about an hour. What have you been doing up here? You haven’t really come out of here since Thanksgiving. Was it the conversation your crazy old Auntie brought up?”

“No, I’ve just been wanting to stay to myself lately. Nothing too serious.”

Nana nodded her head and gave Maddy a hug.

“Get dressed. I’ll get you some breakfast started.”

As soon as Nana closed Maddy’s door, Maddy started back reading the journals. They were all numbered and categorized by the city. The cities represented all the places they’d moved to while they’d been on the run when she was a baby. New York was number one, San Francisco number two, Toronto number three, and Omaha number four. The last book was of course the last city they lived in, Memphis.

She wasn’t sleeping much, nor was she eating. She had become so consumed that she hadn’t checked her phone in days. She was obsessed, and rightfully so. These journals were answering so many of the questions that she had had about her parents. She’d never known all of the places they’d lived while on the run. She had gotten all the way to number three, Toronto. So far it had been her favorite to read. It seemed as though they were the safest there, and they had the most fun there as well. She couldn’t remember much, but her dad had been so very descriptive when writing. It was as though he knew something was going to happen to him, so he wrote in the journals specifically for Maddy.

The most recent entry Maddy had finished reading:

June 7th, 1999

Maddy is starting to talk more and more every day. It’s crazy that she’ll be four-years-old soon. She loves her pendant now. We couldn’t get her to stop pulling it off her neck at first, but now all she wants to do is chew on it. That works, I guess. As long as my baby girl is protected, that’s all that matters. We’ve been in Toronto for 3 months now and things are starting to get easier. We haven’t had to look over our backs as much here. Christia, the witch who made our jewelry pieces, told us to come here because Toronto has a very small hunter presence. She was right. There’s also another family here just like us. They have a little boy about Maddy’s age. We were supposed to meet with them a few times, but unlike us, they’re way too paranoid. We just want to live as best we can right now. We’ve been enjoying more time watching Maddy grow up. Her mom has been resting a lot more as well. We took Maddy on her first trip to a theme park and she really enjoyed herself. She started her swimming lessons a few months ago as well. Toronto seems like a great place. Maybe this will be the last place we have to move to? We have our eyes set on this house out in the suburbs. My father gave us money to get settled, as he always does. This time we had money left from the last move to put toward an actual home and not just an apartment. I’m happy. We’re all happy.

Johann

Maddy took a deep breath, hugged the journal, and got dressed for school. As she was passing through the hallways, she could smell the sweet scent of the chocolate chip pancakes, strawberries, and whipped cream that Nana was putting together for her. It made her smile knowing that Nana was trying to make her feel better with her favorite breakfast food.

“Something smells great down here,” Maddy said as she turned the corner into the kitchen.

Grandpa was sitting at the table enjoying a cup of coffee and reading. He looked over his glasses and gave Maddy a smile.

“It was my idea, Snickerdoodle,” he said.

Nana rolled her eyes and handed Maddy a plate. She didn’t scoff them down this time. She took her time. She wasn’t in the mood to be funny right now.

“You’re going to have an amazing day today, Maddy,” Nana said. “Everything is going to be alright.”

“Thanks for the affirmation, Nana. I really needed it,” Maddy said as she swallowed the last bite of pancakes and took a sip of her cranberry juice.

“I’m off to school, guys. I’ll see you later.”

“Your backpack seems to be a bit more packed than usual,” Grandpa said.

She had packed her dad’s journals into her backpack so that she could read throughout the day, and also because she didn’t want anyone snooping in her room and finding them. She couldn’t let them know what they were, so she had to come up with a lie, and quick.

“Yeah, finals are kicking me in the a — ,”

“Okay, Madeline, you might be 18, but there will be no cussin’ up in my house,” Nana said.

She laughed, hugged her grandparents, and left for school. The car ride to school was a relief. Maddy had been cooped inside of her room for days, so finally being outside and getting fresh air made her feel a lot better. She didn’t stop to pick up Dillon today because she hadn’t talked to her in a few days. It was nice to ride in silence for once.

As she pulled into the parking lot, she drove around looking for a parking spot. The only spot was next to Luke, who coincidentally was still standing next to his car with only a few minutes to spare before 1st period. As soon as Luke saw Maddy about to pull in, he waved smiling ear to ear. Maddy tried to fight her smile, but she couldn’t.

“Hey Mad, let me walk you to class,” Luke asked as he reached for Maddy’s backpack.

“Damn girl, what you got in here?”

Maddy laughed.

“Ya knoooow, finals.”

“Nah, I don’t. I’ll never study that hard. Feels like you got some 25lb weights in here, girl.”

“You’re the one that offered to carry it. I was fine, now let’s get to class before we’re late.”

The butterflies in their stomachs’ were dancing so freely that they didn’t speak another word the entire walk to class.

“Nice of you to escort Ms. Fisher to a class I’m sure she could’ve found perfectly fine on her own, Mr. Grey,” Mrs. Strauss said as Luke handed Maddy her backpack.

“I’m she could’ve as well Mrs. Strauss, but ya know — you’re in the presence of a real gentleman — angel even,” Luke said with a smile as he walked away.

“Goodbye Mr. Grey,” said Mrs. Strauss. “Maddy welcome to class. I’m sure Dillon has your seat reserved in the back.”

She was right. Dillon had sat her foot in the seat next to her so that no one would sit by her.

“Girl, you almost had me sitting my Brian Coolidge! You know I have sensitive nostrils,” Dillon said.

Maddy laughed.

“Thanks for saving my seat, friend.”

“Sure thing,” Dillon said. “Where have you been lately? We’ve all been trying to hang out with you these past few days, but none of us could get through.”

“Thanksgiving shenanigans. Be glad you didn’t make it over,” Maddy said.

“Oh yeah, your family is nuts. I actually enjoyed my family this year. My brother surprised my mom by coming back to town on Thanksgiving morning. Her happy meter overflowed for the rest of the weekend, so I didn’t have to deal with her much. Even the ride to school this morning was decent,” Dillon said.

“How is your brother,” Maddy asked.

“He’s okay. He’s still adjusting to being away at college.”

“Isn’t this his junior year?”

“Yeah girl, but you know he’s always been used to being under my mama”

Maddy shook her head.

“Could you two please shut up,” a familiar voice said from behind.

It was Logan.

“Girl, if you don’t — ”

“Dillon, it’s okay,” Maddy said trying not to laugh.

Dillon turned around slowly in her seat keeping eye contact with Logan the entire time until she was fully facing forward.

The rest of the day was a normal one. Maddy tried to sneak in time to read the journals, which was hard because finals really were kicking people’s asses. The library was packed, so there were kids studying in some of the weirdest places. She found peace and quiet nowhere, so during lunch, she sat in her car reading. She looked up and saw Luke walking to his car. Maddy tried to hide her face in the journal when suddenly there was a knock on her window.

“I’m a guidance assistant next period, so I’m going to grab a bite. Wanna join,” Luke asked.

“Sure,” Maddy said.

She got into his car.

“Is that why I haven’t been seeing you in Dr. Prior’s class?”

“Yeah, I got switched out. I didn’t need the class, and people seem to give me whatever I want around here. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask to be switched.”

“Oh wow,” Maddy as she nodded her head. “I’m impressed.”

“I don’t know, people just love me I guess.”

Luke looked at Maddy and smiled.

“What does that flag represent,” Maddy asked. “It looks really familiar.”

“It’s the flag of Toronto. It’s where my family and I lived before we came to Memphis.”

“Wait, you lived in Toronto too? So did I,” Maddy said. “I actually just found out though. I don’t remember much from my childhood.”

“Yeah, my family moved around a lot when I was a child, but in 1999, Toronto became our permanent home up until I got here sophomore year.”

Maddy had a flashback to what she had read earlier that morning.

“Wait — ”

“What?”

“Your family moved around a lot and settled in Toronto in 1999?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said.”

“This is going to sound so crazy, but my family moved around a lot too and settled in Toronto in 1999. I read it in my dad’s old journal. He also mentioned a family that was like ours, a family that was trying to stay hidden.”

Maddy was trying to put the pieces together hoping that Luke would be able to also make sense of it all.

“A family like yours? What do you mean,” Luke asked confused?

You could hear the awkwardness in his voice as he tried to act as though he didn’t know what was going on.

“Your ring. You never take it off,” Maddy said.

“Yeah, so,” Luke responded with caution.

“Why don’t you ever take it off?”

“My dad’s best friend, Christia gave it to my dad for me when I was born. She was like an aunt to me, and my dad told me that I could never take it off, so I never did.”

Maddy looked at Luke in disbelief. It was all starting to make sense.

“Are you a Nephilim,” Maddy asked.

Luke stopped his car on the side of the road.

“Look, Maddy, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, it’s okay. Christia, she’s the one who made my pendant for me. She’s the one that told my family to move to Toronto because there was another family like mine. I think that family was your family.”

Luke sat back in his seat.

“So that’s what you were reading when I walked up on you just now? That explains why your backpack was so heavy this morning. You’re the destiny girl my parents have been talking about since I was a kid,” Luke said as he turned to look at Maddy.

“Yeah, I guess so, and you’re the super paranoid family my dad was writing about.”

They both laughed.

“Look, that paranoia is what has kept my family under wraps this whole time. You’re the reason after all these years that we moved to Memphis, you know that right,” he said.

“Oh, am I,” Maddy asked in disbelief.

Luke began driving again.

“My Aunt Christia told my parents that I had a divine purpose, and that purpose was to find you. Once I found you, we were supposed to fall in love and elevate the frequencies of the Earth. Apparently there’s an imbalance in the energies, and only beings like us can bring that balance back. There are other Nephilim coming together as well. We have all been destined for one another.”

Maddy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was all coming together though. She finally knew why she and Luke had always been so attracted to one another.

“If you’re a Nephilim, why did you date Leslie? You do know that her family has a history of hunting people like us, right,” Maddy asked Luke.

“I knew. I only dated her because I needed to get on the inside and find out what they were up to,” Luke said. “I was so happy the day I ended things with her.”

“Okay, well why does she hate me and not you?”

“Now that I know that it is you, it all makes so much sense. Your family’s roots have been planted here for years just like hers. Your grandfather was the Nephilim that Leslie’s grandfather almost captured. From that day forward, it’s literally been ingrained in her blood to hate your family.”

“My grandad? Lester Fisher? Magdalena Fisher’s husband,” Maddy ask shocked. “That’s why they both froze up when I mentioned the incident to them!”

Luke nodded.

Maddy knew what she was bringing up the next time she saw her grandparents.

“Okay, but Leslie though? Wow, we were friends,” Maddy said. “We were best friends.”

“I’m sure whatever they have going on has an age that it starts to kick in as we do. It gets pretty vicious too from what I’ve heard,” Luke said. “Leslie doesn’t know her family’s history, she’s just a mean bitch. Imagine when she gets initiated.”

“Yeah, I’m getting a large everything wherever we go because all of this is just too much,” Maddy said.

“Sounds like a plan to me. Maybe you can tell me about what you’ve been experiencing since you’re 18 now. Also, I wanna know what happened to your parents.”

Maddy turned and looked out of the window.