HUNTERS 1: The Awakening

Secrets

Chapter 2: Secrets

I wasn’t able to sleep. I couldn’t fall back to sleep because my dream kept haunting me. I was trying to convince myself that I was just imagining things. That anything was possible since it was a dream. But it was all too real. Apart from the ancient couple, the little girl also ticked me off. She was real; I was sure of that since I remember playing with a girl one summer when I was young. But who she was and what her name is, I have no idea. These questions ran through my head and my sanity felt like it was being ripped away piece by piece, slowly but surely tearing my whole being apart. By the time I realized it, it was already a quarter past five. School starts at seven thirty and I have to prepare for it so I took a hot bath and changed from my boxers to my school uniform and by the time I finished, it was six o’clock and the sun was already rising. I only slept for three or four hours but the thought of my dream was enough to keep my sluggishness away. There was a knock on the door, followed by my mother’s sweet voice.

“Are you awake my little lamb?” she said sweetly as she opened the door, “It’s time for school.”

I smiled at her when she entered but she frowned seeing that I’m already awake and ready.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked with a hint of worriedness on her voice.

“I just had a bad dream,” I say trying to brush her worry off, “is sis awake?”

“Yes, she’s downstairs eating breakfast with your father. What kind of dream did you have? What did you see?” she asked a bit worried about something.

“Mom, it’s nothing,” I say trying to brush her worry off, “It was just something about an ancient couple.”

“Be specific, Zeke. What happened to them?” she asked.

Mother’s voice changed. There was a hint of worriedness and fear in her tone. It felt like she was too afraid of something, something was really wrong.

“Well,” I said uneasily, “there was a tower and an ancient couple being chased by soldiers with-”

“-silver halberds?” mother interrupted with a grim tone.

I was stunned by my mother’s reaction. How did she know about my dream? The fear was evident on her face. She was as shocked as I was about something and couldn’t believe it. What it was, I had no idea. The fear on her face quickly passed and she offered a weak smile.

“L-let’s go. Your father is waiting”, she quickly said and walked out of my room before I could react.

I was stunned about how my mother reacted. Questions quickly filled my head and my world swirled with different thoughts. Then suddenly, my body felt heavy. My eyesight quickly turned blurry. I was breathing heavily and sweat beads started appearing on my forehead. I grunted and strained my body, contracting my muscles. I kept my eyes tightly shut and grunted as the pain grew. Not again, I thought, I haven’t had an attack for more than five months. Why does it have to happen now?

The pain grew even harder and I tried to counter it. I calmed my breathing and eased myself with my back on the wall. The heaviness started to lift. I waited a few more seconds before moving. I crawled to my bathroom and tried to stand up. The pain eased up but it was still there. I tried to turn on the faucet but my arm lifted with too much force that the faucet’s handle broke and my arm hit the marble sink. I scanned my arm for bruises and was thankful that there was none.

This is my curse, a curse that runs through our family. Our bodies enable adrenaline rush to activate faster than a normal human being’s…a genetic disorder that enables us to be faster and stronger than an average human being….but for a price. We become stronger and faster, but our bodies are the same with any other human being. Our bodies cannot withstand too much adrenaline which makes us prone to cardiac arrest and other heart disorders. The doctors labeled it as “Over-active Adrenaline Dysfunction” or OAD as I’d like to call it. It’s triggered by the same reasons a person triggers his/her adrenaline syndrome: fear, surprise and excitement. This disorder is the reason why I’m not allowed to do sports, in fear that I might end up getting an attack. It’s what has been dragging me down.