The awakening

Prologue

There she was, cradled in the middle of the floor, her horrified gaze pinned to the only people she'd ever loved. The ones who raised and gave birth to her. She was hugging her knees to her chest, while slowly rocking back and forth. She felt numb, her mind went blank. She just couldn't comprehend what happened. A sinister laughter could be heard somewhere in the background, but she couldn't tell where it came from. She slowly tear her gaze away from the horrible scene and started searching for the source of the sound. Her eyes landed on a tall dark figure. She couldn't make out whether it was a man, or a woman due to her blurry sight. But before she knew it, it was gone, and with its leave it took away her dreams as well, her hopes, her everything. The tears started streaming freely down her pale cheeks, her lips were slightly open taking in small breaths. She could feel everything shattering around her so vividly, it's as if there was this perfect porcelain sculpture and then suddenly a crack appeared, and slowly but surely, the sculpture broke down entirely. She was left with nothing.

A loud noise plucked her out of her dark thoughts, but even though she was conscious of her surroundings she simply couldn't move. And she probably dint't want to either. She had no reason to anyway. Two hands lifted her petite body off of the ground and took her away from the scene, but the image of her parent's lifeless bodies laying in a puddle of their own blood will be forever imprinted in her mind.

She was gently placed on a small surface and a voice started directing questions towards her, questions which never really got to be answered. That image started repeating itself in her mind accompanied by that ominous laughter, even more real with its every resumption.

Needless to say, nobody managed to get through to her. It was clear that her mind was nowhere near at that moment, even she was aware of that. She could feel her very being shifting to a completely different direction than what it used to be, than what she used to be. The person she was has completely disappeared in a matter of minutes, and there were scarcely any chances for it to ever come back.

Hours have gone by, hours in which the only thing she could do was think. What was there to do next? With her parents gone it was obvious that her life will never be the same again, so she settled on the only thing she could think of, the only thing that mattered to her anymore. Revenge. But for it to be done she would have to crush her every beliefs, morals, everything she ever stood for. But that was a different time, a time in which those values were not yet nullified.

I guess that's one way you can die and still be alive. But will she ever really be alive again?

***

A few days later

She was soaked in his blood, his poisonous blood. Her lifeless eyes were following the movements of two men carrying his corpse to a black car. Something still didn't feel right. The relief and happiness she was supposed to feel just didn't seem to come. But the real weird part was the fact that she couldn't feel anything at all. No remorse, no guilt, no ecstasy, nothing. It's as if that part responsible for managing emotions had completely shut down. The only thing she could still feel was this unbearable loneliness in the middle of her chest. It was suffocating.

She didn't really have the time to analyze her feelings seeing as which she was interrupted by a man in a black suit. His features were stern and cold but his eyes had a tinge of warmth, barely noticeable, but it was there. One glance in his direction and she somehow knew that he was a good man. You know what they say, children have this way of knowing when it comes to people. Although she was only ten at the time, she knew that she could no longer be a kid.

The man approached her and when they were face to face he crouched down so they could be at the same level. His eyes searched her face for any sort of reaction, but there was none. But you see, even though she didn't let anything out, he knew, he knew how broken she really was. But he was not the only one doing the analyzing, he represented just as much of a mystery for the small girl as she was for him. She was pleased to conclude that he was not regarding her with any sympathy, nor was there any judgement in his eyes. They made eye contact and a sort of understanding came between them. He decided to break the silence.

-Hey kid, you okay?-he already knew the answer to that question, but he was merely testing the waters. She shrugged as if to say 'so and so'.-It's impressive, you killed a man ten times bigger than yourself, not to mention the fact that he was a psychic. How did you do that?-He had a raspy voice, but contrary to his appearance it was rather soothing.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the foreign word but decided not to ask. She didn't care anymore. Or so she thought.

-I-I don't know. I lo-lost my control.- She stuttered, only then realizing that she couldn't, in fact, remember what had happened. Her throat felt dry. The sound of her voice sounded unfamiliar even to herself. It was as if she hadn't spoken in years. Truth to be told, in the few days that had gone by she hadn't said a single word. She frowned, being unable to understand why she couldn't remember. It was there, in the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The man noticed her discomfort but he knew better than to ask. It was neither the time, nor the place for such issues. He decided to try another approach.

-Well, we've been trying to catch that guy for 2 years now. He was very dangerous.- That seemed to pique her interest because her eyes snapped up to his face, as if silently asking him to continue.-There are more people like him out there. They shouldn't be free. They do a lot of horrible things. They're bad.-He told her, although he wasn't so sure himself of what he was saying, but we'll be talking about this later.

-I agree, they are bad.-She said in a cold tone, no trace of emotion slipping through. A new kind of emotion made it's way towards her heart, it was an unknown felling, she hadn't experienced it before, but it wasn't hard to figure its meaning. Hate. After what he did to her family, after what that lowlife had done, there was no way to deny or stop the hate that was making its way through her entire body. Being the only emotion she could distinguish clearly, she decided to cling onto it. She knew that it wasn't the smartest choice, but she was convinced there was no other. He understood the turmoil that was going through her mind right now, and an idea popped out all of a sudden.

-You could help us.-As those words slipped through his lips, her eyes widened in confusion.

-That's not possible. I'm...I'm just a kid.-He smiled warmly.

-I could train you. And one day, you'll be able to help us bring back the balance. You could help people not to go through what you've had to endure.-He said firmly, there was no trace of doubt in his voice. She felt a thread of happiness shoot through her body, but it was long gone before she managed to actually process it. She almost smiled but something held her back. It didn't sound so bad, if she could prevent anyone from ever feeling this way again she was willing to trust this stranger. She didn't have anything left to lose, so why not try.

-What do I have to do?-she asked in a hushed tone, almost inaudible. He smiled, a real smile, and stood up. He reached out his hand for her to take. She hesitated for a second. Her gaze wandered towards the lifeless body of the man she had just killed, and in that moment her mind was set. She took his hand and squeezed it as hard as she could. He returned the gesture but in a gentle manner.

-Let's go.

And that is how it all began.

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~Drea