“Oh, uh, ok.” Hale croaked out. None of this was going how he thought it would. His mind was spinning, he had no time to get a grip on what he had experienced in the mirror or any of the changes that might have happened to himself, and he felt there was something very different with himself.
After hearing his response she smirked and they left the area. The kaleidoscope man also brought the mirror and Hale was brought into one of the vans that he had passed earlier but did not care about. Nobody pushed him or told him not to run away but nobody had to. Hale knew they could kill him, especially if they all had strange powers like the other guy which was looking more and more likely. Although, given all this and given Hale's propensity for mystery and intrigue it’s also likely that even if he was free to leave he wouldn’t. There was simply too much he didn’t understand and now knowing how much he didn’t know he couldn’t go back. This was his ticket to having everything laid out for him, at least, hopefully. This was also part of the reason why he held these thoughts close to his chest. If these people or whatever group they worked for knew he was only there to learn they might take it upon themselves to pay him for the information they would have given him freely otherwise.
Hale had thought all that and went through those paths of thought to their logical conclusions. Once he refocused on the outside world he realized that they were still walking to the vans. The vans were mere yards away from where they had been talking. Obviously, his thinking speed had increased to a ridiculous degree. For Hale, it had felt like at least five minutes had passed while he was focused on his thoughts.
The back doors of the van were swung open and the lady led him onto the sideways seats that were flush with the walls. He sat next to her and she pulled him closer, while Hale had no idea what to do as he’d never had someone come onto him so strongly. Although, the possibility of this being an act also crossed his mind but for now it seemed inconsequential what the reason was. The man that almost stabbed Hale sat across from them and he paid little attention as he pulled out a small book from one of his cargo pockets and started reading it.
“My name is Aila Crest by the way. You’ll learn more about my family as time goes on.” Aila said as she adjusted her shirt to show a little more cleavage.
A “mhm” was all he could get out as he averted his gaze and began to stare at the ceiling of the van. The man with the knife looked up and rolled his eyes.
“If I were you I would wait 30 minutes before you come to decide anything.” The man that had the knife said suspiciously.
The vagueness put Hale slightly on edge and he felt a hint of something. His consciousness seemed to queue him in that the man was keeping a secret from him. It was an odd feeling, almost like a gut feeling but almost like it came from his eyes as strange as that sounded to himself. Hale also made the connection to Aila’s comments earlier about his eyes and his interest peaked. Thinking for a moment Hale took out his phone and went to take a selfie. As he stared at the zoomed-in picture of his face he was completely flabbergasted. Hale saw his vibrant glowing violet eyes with very fine archaic and alien writing that covered the inner and outer circumferences of his iris. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what it meant, but it had no confusing effect on him as it did on others. Although, he knew nothing about that.
“Um, Aila,” Hale said as he pulled his arm out of her grip and slid down the bench to put an inch between them before he continued, “What the fuck is wrong with my eyes?”
Aila laughed harmoniously as she said, “You’re cute.” She then slid up to Hale and locked arms with him before she continued, “They’re the eyes of an awakened one. It’s what happens when you touch upon an unbound concept.”
“Concept? Unbound concept?” Hale repeated back, hoping for her to expound on her explanation.
“Well, whatever yours is, it's bound now. You’ll get it soon enough. It’s sometimes better to let people figure it out for themselves. We don’t like to taint our talent.” Aila said with a seductive, hungry grin.
Hale got that feeling again, the one that told him someone was keeping a secret from him. It was akin to the feeling of his eyes burning when he would stare at a computer screen too long but it would only last a moment.
‘Concept? Does she mean it as an actual concept? Like the mirror?’ Hale moved through the millions of questions he had and tried to find some that Aila might answer but there weren’t many.
“Where are we going?” Hale asked.
“You’ll see.” She said back.
“What will I be doing?”
“You’ll see.”
“Will I be brought back once we’re done?”
This time Aila paused for a while. She tapped her finger to her lips in contemplation until she finally answered, “You can never go back.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
This simple question sent Hale into an internal tailspin. He had no idea what to think, he ran through many simulations and theories but none of them seemed to make sense. ‘Maybe I am somehow valuable and her family that she mentioned won’t let me go.’ This was what made the most sense to Hale with his current knowledge.
Aila sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw him reading into her words so she said, “Fine I’ll give you a hint.” She got real close to his ear and spoke in a whisper, “Find your concept and focus on it. There are two things you can do with it, internal and external use. Experiment.”
Her warm breath tickled his ear and as she finished speaking he slowly moved his head away from her. “Thanks.” He said as he once again tried to scoot away but found himself up against the door of the van this time and had nowhere to go. The man across from them just shook his head as he watched this all happen.
Time passed and after another few minutes, they got to an unassuming office building in downtown Boston. The vans pulled into an underground parking lot and as Hale was shuffled through the elevator what greeted him was a lobby plated in silver and platinum, shimmering metal lined the walls. It was over the top but still kept the sleek and professional feeling of a business lobby. But as he walked down some side hallways he realized that most of the corridors were normal and not so exorbitantly decorated.
Hale followed the crew led by Aila as she went up to a desk and reported what had happened. After being given a small packet of paperwork she turned to Hale and said, “Someone will be coming to induct you. You’re under the Crest family now so you can wait in that room down the hall.”
She pointed to a room down the hall labeled 103. He opened the door to 103 and there was a small table with two chairs on opposite sides. Hale sat down as Aila sent a seductive wink his way and left. The moment the door closed Hale let out an audible sigh.
Left to his own devices in this room he finally had time to ruminate on what had happened over the past couple of hours. It may seem like he left his previous life behind at the drop of a hat but he has been and still is surrounded by people with weapons and what are essentially magic powers. While Hale hadn’t fully come to grasp what had happened he also doesn’t have a choice in the matter. Either way though, Hale wasn’t just smart but because of his theories, he was already primed to unbelievable explanations so he was taking it in stride.
After about a half hour of replaying everything in his head again his breathing finally began to steady as his focus returned to the present, he had renewed conviction to get to the bottom of all this. And that’s how Hale spent the next three hours: in silence and in a plain white room with only a white table and chairs.
Suddenly Aila walked into the room but she was no longer in flexible and light combat gear but in casual clothes that consisted of black and orange which accented her orange eyes. She walked in and dropped the folder she was holding onto the table as she sat across from him. She seemed rather distant but still had her typical sexual provocations.
“Hale Koval, right?” Aila asked honestly.
Hale was left speechless. Was she playing with him or was this some sort of bureaucratic thing where she has to pretend not to know him?
“Uh… yeah.”
“Ok. So, can you please describe your awakening?”
“Sorry, I’m confused. I already told you.”
Aila’s eyes dilated as she heard that as she cursed under her breath. “That was my sister. Just follow the procedure.” She said leaving no room for other questions.
And so Hale went and explained what had happened but kept his awakening more vague this time as he started to realize this might be more important information than he originally thought. After he was done with his story she wrote on her clipboard until she abruptly stopped and looked up at Hale. The look was like she was looking through him, sending a shiver down his spine.
“So, it’s pretty conclusive that you’re awakened. You might also hear it referred to as your ‘shattering event’ or being an ‘entangled’. It all means the same thing. Anyways, under the Covenant of Separation upheld by the Alliance of Many Forms you are no longer allowed to be a part of unawakened society. The penalty for breaking the Covenant of Separation is death. Please tell me if you understand.” As Aila’s sister got to the part about the covenant her cadence got robotic as if she had repeated it word for word thousands of times.
“I’m sorry I don’t understand. You’re telling me I can’t go back to my life? Why?” Hale said he had finally reached his breaking point and couldn’t take all this ridiculousness. He needed answers, not riddles.
Aila’s sister had some pity but also some hidden annoyance in her eyes before she said “My file says you have no family, I’d say you’re rather well off compared to others. But yes, you can never go back. It isn’t just my Crest family either. All awakened organizations, known and unknown, follow the Covenant of Separation. As for why, it’s sort of complicated. But having unawaked learn of awakened would only bring mass hysteria.”
Hale was unconvinced by that answer. He had read stories where there were secret societies of people with amazing abilities and it never made sense why they would hide themselves. Who wouldn’t want to rule the world? Hale focused on his eyes and felt that now familiar burning feeling, as if his eyes were bloodshot, that meant that something was being hidden from him. She definitely wasn’t telling him the whole story.
“Fuck. So what? It’s like Harry Potter and the wizards hide from the muggles? You can imagine why I’m not convinced by that.” Hale said back lightly, trying not to anger the not so metaphorical warden of his jail cell.
Aila’s sister put her finger to her lips, tapping them lightly as she thought deeply. This scene looked like a carbon copy of what Aila did when she was deep in thought. Hale made note of how similar the mannerisms of these two identical twins are, yet their personalities are very different, mostly because from what Hale has observed to this point, this sister isn’t a seductress like Aila.
Aila’s sister finally made up her mind and said, “Awakened give off a special sort of radiation that affects everything around them. Living things are particularly susceptible. That’s all I can say.”