Awakened: The Story of Maxwell Cain

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

A History Lesson

It was well in to the following day before any of them stirred.  One by one, each of them got up and showered to get ready for the day.  Max ordered them pizza to be delivered to their room.  By the time they were cleaned up and fed, it was mid-afternoon.

Max turned to his friends who were cleaning up the pizza and said, “Shota told me some things about the prophecy I think you should hear.”

Chloe and Will stopped what they were doing and looked at Max attentively.  Chloe asked, “What is it, Max?”

Max responded, “I had a twin brother who died at childbirth.”

Will looked at Max with a confused look on his face.  “What are you talking about?”

Max sighed.  “Malachi has been keeping secrets about some things.  I had a brother who died at childbirth.  You see, maybe this fulfills the prophecy of a child born in a tragic birth.”

Will cried out.  “That’s insane!  How can you believe a single thing Shota said?”

Chloe put her hand in the air.  “Actually, I think this makes sense.  A prophecy has to be fulfilled.  I have been thinking about this part of the prophecy a lot since we heard it.  I was curious as to why Malachi did not want to go over any of it with us.  I assumed he had his reasons, and I did not want to question his judgment.”

Max was going to retaliate, but Chloe spoke first.  “Before you say anything, Max, we thought about the last lines too.  We know it says that you are going to lose someone close to you.  I want you to know, Max, that Will and I already talked about this line.  We signed on for this quest knowing one of us wouldn’t come back.”

Max wished he had given more thought to the prophecy while at the hideout.  He was so concerned about making himself stronger that he pushed the lines to the back of his mind.  He had done exactly what Malachi wanted.  He didn’t want Max to think about the details and learn what truly happened in his past.

Max said quietly, “There is something else.  Malachi is my grandfather.”

Chloe’s mouth gaped open.  “Wow.  That is surprising.  Why wouldn’t he tell you that?”  Seeing the pained looked on Max’s face, she added, “I’m sure he had his reasons, Max.”

Max cried out angrily, “That’s no excuse!  I needed to know the information, and he withheld it from me.  I trusted him completely, and this is what he gave me.”

Chloe and Will sat together in silence.   Neither knew how Max felt, and they did not know what to say.  Max stood up and turned to his friends.  “I need to go for a walk.”

He went out the door into the hot, beating sun.  He walked around the parking lot with no destination in mind and ended up by the pool outside the front office.  It was nearly one hundred degrees outside, and Max was already sweating.  He decided to go inside where it was cool, and sit in the lobby area.

It was a smaller lobby, with a seating area, and tables designated for guests to eat the morning continental breakfast.  Max sat down at one of the tables and pulled out the journal he had taken from the safety deposit box.  He hadn’t wanted to withhold this information from his friends, as they had not ever withheld information from him.  They were just as much in the dark as he was.  On the other hand, it did give him a small piece of satisfaction to know he knew something they didn’t, and he wanted to hold on to that feeling a little while longer.

He carefully untied the delicate binding wrapped around the book.  On the first page there was writing across the top that said only “Merlin,” and underneath was a large seal, similar to the seal of the Covenant.  It all came to him at once.  He recognized the seal as the one he had seen in the bathroom the day he woke up at the Cain Corporation building, and escaped.  The markings had bastardized the true meaning of the original Covenant.  The original Covenant seal was a man holding an eagle while a dove flew next to him.  It stood for a man harnessing his power, and living in peace.  The seal in the journal was an eagle flying freely next to the man with its claws outstretched trying to capture the dove.  It showed a man allowing his power to run free, and crush the idea of peace.  The thought sickened Max.