Author’s Note: I had fun with this chapter

Author’s Note: I had fun with this chapter. Mind you I wrote this in VERY happy mood, which means there will be more innocence in this chapter than the other ones. After all of the things that happened in the last chapter, I decided to calm this one down a little bit. However, that doesn’t mean nothing of excitement happens in this chapter. Every chapter of The Awakening is of some importance, including this one. This chapter is more like a prelude to all of the stuff that follows in the next chapter. More importantly, I just hope that you enjoy this chapter and that I haven’t let you down.

I was much too sleepy to concentrate on taking efficient notes. Plus, I didn’t want tomorrow morning to be like earlier today. My plan was to go to sleep before twelve in the morning and find a more comfortable place to sleep at than the chair. My back was still aching from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position.

I was surprised I was even able to work on my homework until 11:05 after all the things that happened today. Antiques was supposed to close at eight p.m., but the store was so successful that Isaiah decided to keep the doors open until ten. Every hour the store got a little more crowded and working at the counter quickly became complicating. Isaiah told everyone that he was only joking about his motto being ‘buy or die,’ but everyone instantly started buying stuff anyway. I was constantly making coffee and bagging items. Having to deal with talkative and unpleasant people made working the counter even less amiable. Did they really think Isaiah would actually take out the time to figure out who didn’t buy stuff and than hunt them down?

Besides the bed in my room (which I was still stubbornly avoiding), the only place I could find to sleep at was on the floor. I sighed. It wasn’t that the carpet wasn’t comfortable; I just didn’t find sleeping on the floor with no pillows or covers very appealing.

I laid on my side. Getting comfortable enough to sleep was hard; keeping my eyes closed, and my thoughts from racing, was even harder. After what seemed like forever, sleep took me by surprise.

XxXxXx

I am standing on a cliff full of green, beautiful grass. If I take a few steps forward, I’ll be dangerously close to falling in the ocean below. My body feels weird. I realize it’s because I can feel the dew in between my toes. My hair is free of scrunchies, my feet are free of shoes, and my body is free of the suffocating hoodie and jean suit that I usually wear. I am wearing, by far, the loosest dress I have ever worn. Surprisingly, I do not feel the least uncomfortable.

“Alecia, this tune is for you,” says a voice. I’m too afraid to turn around. I know exactly who this voice belongs to. I am not ready to see his face again; Two years is not long enough for someone in denial to heal.

He stars to play a familiar tune. I hold back my tears. This is the last song he played for me...

Than he starts to sing. “When you’re in my arms, the world seems fine. It’s like I can take on the world when you’re by my side. I thought I was okay all alone, but you’ve shown me this wasn’t true; together”—

“—we’re an army of two. My angel, we’ll show them all that we’re undefeatable. Just take my hand I’ll lead the way to paradise.”

He stops playing the guitar abruptly. “Why are you crying?”

I feel my eyes and realize that I am crying. He sits the guitar on the ground. Next thing I know, he is standing behind me with both of his arms gently wrapped around my stomach.

“Tears of happiness?” he whispers. His hair brushes against my face. More tears fall from my eyes. I hold him as tight as I can.

“Daniel, you lied to me. You went to paradise and left me behind. Why’d you do that?”

“There is a way for us to be together. All of our dreams could come true. If you really loved me, you’d bring me back. If you really loved me, you’d open Aezra’s Journal and write me back into your life.”

I let go of him. “You’re not Daniel.”

“I love you to,” he replies. And he laughs at me, never letting go of my body.

XxXxXx

I woke up out of breath and with sweat dripping down my face. I had to constantly remind myself that it was only a nightmare, but it was hard for me to accept that. I could still feel the imposter’s touch on my stomach. Not even his laugh (which was still echoing in my head) was the source of my fear. For a split second I actually had a strong desire to use Aezra’s Journal just to see if I could bring Daniel back.

I sat up, wiped the sweat off of my forehead, and took in a few deep breaths. It was two in the morning. There was no way I was going back to sleep now.

Just as I stood up and decided that I would at least try to read Hunter I heard the oddest sound coming from the other side of the door that led to Antiques. First there was a faint scratching, and than there was constant meows. It occurred to me that there was a cat trying to get in. I soon found myself laughing at the thought, trying to imagine the motive behind a cat trying to ‘pay a visit’ to someone’s apartment.

By the tenth meow (I was bored enough to keep count) I realized that there was something irregular about this cat. Not only was it odd that the cat even knew that this door led to an apartment with people in it, but it was really persistent. It was almost as if the cat actually did have a motive.

I honestly found this more intriguing than scary. After all I’d seen in the past few days I couldn’t bring myself to cower at a seemingly smart cat. I didn’t even bother to weigh the bad possibilities before opening the door.

The cat confidently sauntered into the room as though it had known me its whole life. While I closed the door it smelled my bare feet, its wet nose brushing against my skin. I had to suppress a laugh. Because of the nightmare, I really wasn’t in a good mood. However, I couldn’t help but ignore my negative feelings in the presence of such a cute cat. Except for the black circles around its paws and tail, the cat was completely white. It was collarless so I assumed it was homeless.

“What’s you name?” I asked.

The cat stood up, placed his paws on my leg, and turned his head to the side. Being the cat lover I am, I nearly gushed with excitement at the sight. I crouched down so abruptly that it backed away. I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the cat, but I found no harm in pretending it was mine just for one night.

“Meow once if you’re a female and twice if you’re a male.”

I didn’t actually expect a response; thus I was in for a surprise when it looked me right in the eye and meowed twice. I tried to convince myself that this was just a coincidence, but it was steadily getting harder for me to separate reality from imagination.

“Ah, so you’re a male. Do you already have a name?”

He shook his head. He looked at me intently, and I found his unwavering attention both morbid and amazing. Until now, I’ve never had an actual conversation with a cat before...or any animal for that matter. I didn’t think it was possible. Then again, I was absolutely sure a couple of weeks ago that supernatural creatures did not exist.

“How about I call you...Angel? I think it fits you perfectly. Do you like it?”

The cat fervently nodded his head. He rolled on his back, showing an odd black symbol on his stomach. I moved to touch the symbol, but he curled into a ball, looking a lot like a roly-poly in danger. It was too much of an odd sight for me not to burst out in laughter.

Visibly irritated, the cat meowed louder than necessary and got back on all fours. My laughter subsided. Once I was completely quiet, he pointed to the stairs. At two in the morning, though, I was not able to put two and together. Angel and I stared at each other for a while. The longer we stared at each other, the more distracted I got by Angel’s twitching ears. Finally, he walked past me, towards the stairs.

“Angel, I think we should stay down here, where we’re safe.”

He stopped. For a moment I thought he was going to turn back around. Instead, he broke into a run and was soon consumed by the darkness at the top of the stairs.

I cursed under my breath and went running after angel, slightly happy that Isaiah hadn’t come back yet. Maybe this cat wasn’t as good as I though it was.

Questions

Do you trust Angel? If not, what do you think his real motives may be?

How do you feel about Antiques becoming more active? (I will explain, probably in the next chapter or the one after that, why it became so active all of a sudden. Don’t worry; I barely do stuff at random.)

Daniel was introduced in this chapter. How do you feel about Alecia’s situation with Daniel?