Creatures and Legends (Wattys2018)

6: Awakening Abilities

"Should we wake her up, or let her sleep?"

I open my eyes to see the two brothers standing over me. I blink and look around. I am somehow in my room, and there are no glowing eyes around.

"What happened?" I try to sit up, but Dale's hand is on my shoulder.

"Krista, you need to rest," Thomas's voice is soft, yet firm, "You're still weak from fainting and the attack." I felt a pain in my side and glanced down. My entire torso was wrapped in bandages.

Thomas must have noticed my gaze. "Don't worry. Your attacker got off even worse than you did."

Dale laughed halfheartedly. "Well hello, captain obvious. It's dead and she isn't."

Thomas muttered something about disposing of the remaining corpse to Dale, then they both left the room, giving each other a glance I'd not yet seen.

Though I'm unable to move, I sense something different about them. They seem to be more inclusive with each other, yet worried about something. What could have changed their attitudes? Was it the fight they had yesterday? I shake such nonsense out of my head and try to remember what happened before I blacked out.

The last thing I remember was... the light... it... "He's dead and she isn't" I killed the creature in the hall... I killed it the same way Thomas had that night. I try to wrap my mind around the thought when a sudden pain in both temples stops me. It feels as if a knife is turning repeatedly without end. I scream out in agony. Dale and Thomas arrive not even a minute later, frantically asking me what's wrong. After a few seconds, Thomas seems to realize something and shouts to Dale. I'm unable to understand what he said, but they duck behind the nearest piece of furniture as if hiding for their lives. I squint my eyes closed, continuing to scream in pain, and I notice images flashing across the black of my eyelids. I can't pay much attention to them when everything, even time, seems to stop. The pain in my temples slowly ceases to exist and I open my eyes to find every single piece of furniture either against the wall or in pieces. The mirror on my vanity has broken into shards and even the door to the bathing room is cracked and chipped. I notice both boys against the wall across from me stuck behind furniture. They glance at each other with a worried expression. I'm unable to speak as they unwedge themselves and walk over to the bed, one on each side. They notice my quaking hands and Thomas takes them in his. I involuntarily relax and slowly stop shaking. Dale is the first one to speak.

"One of us should stay here with her tonight. Just to make sure she's okay and stable." I give him a questioning look, but all he returns is a small, faded smile.

The brothers share a knowing look and Thomas replies.

"I think you should, brother. I'm still hurt and it'd be better if you stayed." They both nod and Thomas lets go of my hands, exiting the room with a kind and gentle smile.

Dale pulls up one of the few chairs that weren't destroyed next to my bed. I struggle to turn my head and look at him.

"What... happened?" I ask him.

He sighs long and hard. "Do you remember how we said that you were a vampire?"

How could I not remember someone telling me I was one of the most unknown creatures in the history of our world? I nod.

"Well..." he says pausing to scratch the back of his neck, "from you being here and in close proximity to us, your powers are beginning to awaken..."

"My... p-powers...?"

"Yes. Do you also remember us telling you that you're 'special'?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, you aren't just any vampire. You're a special type of vampire. The same kind as Thomas and I, which is one reason why you were always attracted and pulled to us and this house. Only us 'Special' vampires have powers. Each of us has a specific power that is limited to only that individual. Most of the time, the powers are mental and not physical."

"Hang on. Are you saying that vampires can read people's minds?"

"Some can, but not all of them. Take me for example. My power gives me the ability to ease people; to calm them when angry or panicking. It helps but I got the short straw compared to Thomas. Anyway, not only do vampires have specific powers, we also have some abilities spoken about in the legends. I'm sure you've seen at least some of them like the glow of our eyes and abilities to defend ourselves. I can't share with you much more than that about our abilities," he pauses to think, "back to your original question: Your powers are beginning to awaken because of your proximity to us. This awakening power is going against the magic put on you when you were young. This is what is causing you to pass out whenever you use them."

I nod, trying to understand what exactly happened. It's really confusing how I can be some creature only known by the legends. How did my family not know and what is all this talk of magic put on me when I was young? I decide to save those questions for later and instead ask, "What about the migraine and the outburst of power earlier that tore apart the room?"

"Ah... I think your memories are trying to return. When that happens, it seems like the magic placed on you fights back causing your body to react by causing pain, which causes your powers to think you're being attacked from the outside. Did you see anything that seemed like a memory while you were feeling it?"

I think back to earlier and search for any signs of images while my eyes were closed. "I remember seeing certain images while I was screaming but I couldn't pay any attention to them..." I tell him. He tells me to try to figure out what they were and I do what he says. I sort through what I saw and after a while, I'm able to discern a woman standing next to me. She looks to be holding my hand and we seem to be walking somewhere. I see trees in the distance and the grass is green all around me, except the gray-tan pavement we're walking on. She begins to say something that I don't hear as I stare in horror at something standing before me. My eyes go wide as it looks at me and my head begins to hurt. I begin to back out of the memory and the pain subsides.

Dale seems to notice that I'm back from The Retrieval and he scoots his chair closer to the bed. "Well, were you able to find anything?"

I hesitate to answer as I hear a faint voice in the very back of my mind telling me to not say anything. I get the strong sense in my gut to do what it says and despite what the brothers have done for me, I lie and tell Dale that I was unable to retrieve the memory. He sighs heavily and scoots his chair back from the bed. Something seems to flicker in his eyes and he stands. He walks closer to me, leans down, and kisses my forehead softly, brushing back the hair from my face. He moves the chair to the other side of the bed, next to the window. I fall asleep, suddenly feeling exhaustion from the day take over.