The Awakened

Chapter 1

The air outside of our red Chevy Silverado was hot and thick, making it difficult to breathe. The AC was at its highest setting, however, the coolness was shortly choked out by the intense heat, making it disappear. On top of that my four-year-old brother, Jackson, was asleep. His head was laying against my shoulder making it moist with sweat, dark brown curls clung to me like glue.

 
The only logical reason for being stuck in the vehicle was so that we could make the journey from Aken's Town to Dark Lake City. A trek that would lead us to our new home. A "new start", so my parents said. The entire way from one to the other took up to two or three hours depending on how fast the vehicle moved. We'd only been trapped in the truck for a measly thirty minutes, yet it seemed as though we had been in there for an eternity.

We passed golden fields of gently swaying wheat that lined the area surrounding us, left, right, forward and back. I had a gut feeling that Dark Lake City had none of the familiar fields that I'd come to know since my life first began. The name itself sounded serene, however, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be a major change. How would the people there act, would they be rude or kind? Would I be ignored, abandoned? Would any of those things be there? I shook my head, removing those terrible thoughts from my mind.

I knew I was going to miss this place as the images of golden wheat flashed by. I'd miss all my friends, all the family I had back home. I could do little to stop it as farmland gradually disappeared from my view forever, only to be replaced by barren land covered in sagebrush with sparse trees.

My eyes fluttered open, panic setting into my stomach before I got my bounds. The barren landscape I recalled was now replaced with large pine and aspen trees as far as my silver-grey eyes could see. Darkness wrapped menacingly around the truck, the trees creating a dark canopy as they loomed above. Any view of the sun had since receded behind dense layers of pine and leaf, gradually cooling the interior of the Chevy. The window I had rolled open earlier allowed a cool breeze to float throughout the car's interior, sending a chill through my spine. My eyes scanned the surrounding forest floor dark in shadow. A flutter of black crossed the front of a tree, as a pair of yellow eyes stared into my own. Hastily, my gaze found its way back to my brother, as a sense of nervousness choked me.

 
The truck jerked suddenly as the road turned from black asphalt to a hole-ridden, dirt one. After the first jerk, Jackson awoke into a startled fit, deafening me in the process. I attempted to drown out the sound by covering my ears, but to no avail, as his startled cries continued.
"Makayla," my mother said, attempting to speak above Jackson's agonizing cries, "your brother needs to quiet down. You know your father can't focus on driving when he cries like that."

I glanced toward my mom, attempting to conceal my anger as I pulled Jackson close to my chest. He gasped for air as tears streamed down his face. With careful movements, I rocked him while petting his head.

I gently sang a lullaby to him, coaxing tiredness to take over. Over the next few minutes the crying ceased, replaced by quiet snores. I continued to rock his small form, not wishing to awake him. Slowly but surely, talons of tiredness pierced through my mind. Periodically I would jolt awake, my heart pounding, trying my hardest not to pass out. Nevertheless, no matter how hard I fought, sleep took hold of me as well.