find out that monsters exist! For all I know Dracula is a biography! But hey, that’s okay because it’s my job to fight the really bad ones. Because I was chosen. I don’t get a say. Apparently my soul decided this before we’d been formally introduced. So no, for your information everything is not okay!” My anger added handfuls of spite into the last few words. Gabriella recoiled as if struck.
Drained, I flopped back onto the mattress. My head buzzed angrily.
I felt a hand take mine. I tried to move, but Gabriella held on tight. The charges were soon replaced by a warm sensation which flowed through my body. Almost instantly I felt calmer. Gabriella’s face moved into view. Her eyes were damp with tears. She cupped a free hand against my cheek. It felt soft. I wanted to be angry but it was getting harder to manage. Her voice was calm and soothing when she spoke.
“Alex, please believe me when I say I do care about you. Look, I can’t deny that I’m an Infiltrator or that my job was to become part of your life. But I’m not sorry, because it meant that I got to meet you and find out what a kind, caring person you are.” I stared, trying to work out if she was being genuine. Her face seemed to suggest so. “Really?” “Really.” “How can I believe you?” “Because you know I mean it,” she said staring into my eyes.
I felt something release in my chest. As if a valve had been opened and I could breathe again. She does care.
“And being a Chosen may seem like a curse sometimes,” she continued. “Trust me I know that better than anyone. But it’s also a privilege to be able to save those who can’t protect themselves.”
Her sincere words made me feel a bit guilty about my petulant outburst.
“How many others like me have you brought in?” I asked in an effort to change the subject.
“None. You were my first. I requested the assignment after the Coven made us aware you were out there. I don’t even know why.” Smiling she added, “given the way I handled it, I doubt Faru will ever let me do it again.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What did you do wrong?”
“You got away from us…from me. When we were returning you home after your Awakening. You were heavily sedated, but somehow, you managed to jump from the car and escaped. It took five hours before you turned up back home. I was frantic!”
I snapped to attention. “Wait, that’s the reason I woke up in the park! But how is that possible?”
“Your soul acting on autopilot I guess. Survival instinct. It must have felt we were a threat.”
I ran a hand along the nape of my neck. It felt sore — like the rest of my body. “I don’t understand. If the Awakening is such a big deal, why try and take me home, why not keep me here and explain, instead of being so secretive?” Gabriella drew her legs up onto the bed. “We wanted to make sure nothing went wrong. That’s why we took you the moment it started happening. It would have been impossible to keep you sedated the whole time. Then we would have two options; tell you everything, or keep you captive until we felt we could tell you. Both options were equally dangerous.” She leaned forward. “The time before and after an Awakening are critical. It’s your body’s adjustment period. Too much stress could have caused your soul to leave your body prematurely. Then you would be…lost. So I came up with a third option. Wipe your memory. Take you back home and keep you under constant protection — without your knowledge. Faru was against the idea at first, but I managed to convince him eventually.” She playfully slapped my leg. “That’s when you decided to perform your disappearing trick.”
I frowned. “How exactly did you wipe my memory?”
Gabriella looked slightly uncomfortable. “Neural manipulation or Charm as we call it is an ability some Chosen possess. I’m one of them.” “You mean mind control.” “Yes.” “Have you charmed me before?”
“Only that one time, I promise. Plus I couldn’t now even if I wanted to. Your Awakening is almost complete. I can’t manipulate another Chosen.” Once again her expression looked genuine. I nodded. At that moment, I caught the flowery scent of her hair. It stirred a memory. “You were there on the night of my Awakening.” “I was. How did you know?” I cleared my throat. “I erm, I recognise the way you smell…” Gabriella’s face broke into a half smile. “Interesting. Not in a bad sense I hope.” “No no…you smell…err good.” She laughed. “Well that’s a relief.”
Didn’t think that one through did you Alex? my internal voice chastised.
“So what was the cryptic phone call all about?” I said, in a desperate attempt to change the subject again.
“That was the second part of my idea. To drip feed you information until we you were ready for the truth. But after our conversation in the park, I wanted to do more than just that.”
“The car and clothes,” I said.
“Exactly. You get those sorts of perks once you join anyway, but I wanted to give them to you early so you could feel special. I convinced Faru it would be a benefit to your state of mind.”
Warmth bloomed in my stomach. She took risks to make me feel better. Nothing more was said for a moment. The mellow ticking of the clock filled the silence. “You have an interesting phone voice,” I said after a while. “Sorry?” “The voicemail you left me.”
Gabriella gave a chuckle. “Sadly I can’t take credit for that. Delagio, a teammate of mine did it. He loves that kind of thing. But I was there when the Skinshifter attacked you.”
I swallowed, once again reminded of the horrific creature with the evil red eyes that had hunted me down. “That thing in the woods? You saved me?”
Gabriella shifted her gaze from mine. “Yes. Plus several other times you didn’t know about. I always made sure you were safe Alex.” “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand. She squeezed back. “My pleasure.” I stared down at my hand, still clasped in hers. Without looking up I said, “I’m sorry…you know for snapping at you.”
Her smile brightened the dim room. “Don’t even mention it. What you’re going through is quite intense. I should know.” Gabriella released my hand. It still tingled from her touch.
“I have a gift for you,” she said. I pulled myself into a sitting position as she opened a drawer in the bedside table. She carefully removed a book and handed it to me. It looked old and worn and about the size of a pocket journal, but much thicker. The jacket was made from mottled brown leather. It reminded me a little of the books I’d seen in the underground waiting room. A worn string held the book closed. I pulled at it and was greeted with the aroma of old paper. The wafer thin pages fell open to show an artist sketch of a grim looking creature called a Redcap. Lots of notes had been handwritten underneath it.
“What is this?” I asked, flicking through.
“The HASEA Handbook. It contains all sorts of information about the Alliance and Pandemonians. It explains how to defend yourself against an attack, that kind of thing. Also what various creature’s strengths and weaknesses are. Basically everything you need to know to stay alive. All new Guardians get one.”
I turned the weighty book in my hands and ran my thumb over the bumpy leather.
“I’m surprised it’s handwritten. You’d think they would just mass print them or something,” I said.
“They do. This is my personal copy. It’s was handed down to me from another Chosen. It’s yours now. Think of it as an early Christmas present.” The warm feeling returned. “Are you sure?” The little half smile appeared again. “Of course. Just make sure you look after it. It’s…very dear to me.” “Thank you Gabriella, it’s great.”
I flicked through a few more pages, stopping to read a passage about how to defeat a Redcap with household items. Apparently lemon juice was like acid to these little Goblin things.
“Are you understanding it okay?” she asked.
“Yes. I mean it’s a bit weird and I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that these sorts of things exist, but I get what it’s saying.” “How good is your Italian by the way?” “Non parlo Italiano,” I replied with a grin. Gabriella tapped a finger on the tip of what I was reading. “Alex, this whole guide is written in Italian.” I stared at her. “What? No it isn’t. What are you going on about?” “Of course it is. I came from the Italian base, why would my guide be written in English?” “But that doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know any foreign languages!” “You do now. And just so you know, I’ve been speaking to you in French for the last few minutes.” My eyebrows met my hairline. “Ella, have you lost it? You’re speaking English! I can even hear your accent!”
Gabriella leaned forward, eyes bright. “My accent will be inherent in any language I speak that isn’t my mother tongue. A Chosen understands every language current or dead from both sides of the Veil. Remember earlier, you wanted to know why you could read the motto written on the Temple door? It’s because your mind translated it. Now that your Awakening has progressed, that translation is automatic. Unless you think about it, it always will be. You have been speaking it with me for the last few minutes without even realising.”
I thought of when Faru had been explaining the Latin terms for his species and how I had known what they
