Awakened: The Story of Maxwell Cain

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

                                                Cain Corporation

        Max got back to the house and found Will lying on the couch watching television.  Chloe was propped up in a recliner, deep into a book about modern robotics.  Neither of his friends paid any attention to him when he walked in, so Max just sat down on the couch next to Will.

        After Max sat down, Will finally tore his eyes from the Kung Fu film, and acknowledged him, “Hey man.  How did your class go with Malachi?”

        Max leaned toward Will and whispered, “Just watch.”

        Max turned to Chloe, still sitting in her chair, and tried to repeat everything he had just learned with Malachi.  He cleared his mind, reached toward her, and focused on the book in her hand.  The familiar tingling came quickly this time, and once Max recognized it, he willed the book out of Chloe’s hands and into his.  The book flew to him a little faster than he wanted, and landed in his hands, leaving a welt.

        The results were perfect.  Chloe shrieked, jumped out of her chair, and readied herself for an attack.  She looked over at Max sitting on the couch and saw the book in his hands.  Will was sitting next to Max laughing hysterically.

        Her face changed to a look of disbelief.  The realization of it hit her, and she exclaimed, “You did it!  You used magic!  I am so proud of you, Max.”  She ran over to him and gave him a hug.  “I knew you would learn quickly, but I didn’t realize it would happen so soon.”

        Max replied, feigning to be hurt.  “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

        Chloe promptly replied, “No, Max, that’s not what I meant.  Every wizard goes through years of training before they are able to harness their abilities.  You did it in a matter of hours!”

        Max looked at Will, then back at Chloe and said modestly, “Really guys, it’s only one spell.”  He tried not to sound like it, but could no longer hide is excitement.  He told them every detail of his lesson with Malachi.  After he had answered numerous questions, Max provided more demonstrations of his newly learned talent.  Pretty soon, all sorts of items in the house were whizzing around their heads, and his demonstrations turned into an entertaining game of dodge ball.

        As Max was levitating the next couch cushion to fly toward Will, he noticed two beady eyes intently watching them through the banister at the bottom of the stairs.  Startled, Max lost his concentration and the couch cushion dropped to the floor.  Will and Chloe both turned to look at what had distracted Max.  Will began picking up the cushions and putting them back where they belonged, looking like a guilty son who had broken the rules and gotten caught by his parent.  Chloe slowly walked toward the stairs and sat down at the bottom.  Max could hear her whispering softly to someone, but could not distinguish what they were saying.

        After a few minutes, Chloe stood up and held out her hand.  A small, fragile hand grasped hers and stood next to her.  Max saw a small, scrawny boy, no more than eight, looking straight at the floor.  The two slowly walked to the couch, hand in hand, and sat down.

        Chloe said in a very motherly voice, “Max, this is Nate.  Nate, this is our good friend Max.”

        Max tried to sound cheerful, but was a little weirded out.  “How’s it going, buddy?”

        After an awkward moment, with his eyes downward, the boy responded almost inaudibly, “I know who he is.  I hear what everyone thinks about him.”  The boy raised his eyes and looked directly at Max.  “They say he has killed many of us and has come here to kill us all.”