The Awakening

Chapter 7: Power Surge

Amalia tossed and turned in her sleep as a burning sensation ran across her body. She did not know why or what it was, but it woke her from sleep. She shot up from her bed and wiped the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead. She had to throw off the sheets because she was so hot and went into the bathroom. She turned on the lights and splashed water on her face, sighing she looked at herself in the mirror and let out a startled squeal when she saw marks appearing and disappearing from her body. Her eyes turn into electric blue and she saw black symbol drawings crawling all over her face. The markings made intricate symbols that surprised her.

Amalia examined herself in amazement, marveling at how the marks made different shapes and symbols. She found that her senses were way more defined, and she could even see the details of the spider that sat on the tree outside in her yard. She could even smell burning flesh that must have been at a far distance which made her scowl. She felt the entire world moving and she felt connected to every living thing in the world. She fell back in surprise and stared at her reflection oddly in the mirror. What is happening to me? she questioned herself as everything stopped and she felt like herself again. Suddenly, her senses piqued again making it clear that there was a sense of familiarity outside. She came out of the bathroom and walked to the window to figure out what was pulling her to this familiarity. She peeked out into the night and swiftly hid behind a curtain after she saw five individuals walking in the middle of the street. It was beyond weird because it was the middle of the night, and it was expected that everyone was in bed.

Slowly she crept from behind her curtain to gaze intently at them and the gentleman in the middle jumped out at her, well more like the markings on his body than him. They seemed similar to hers making hers glow brighter as his markings did as well. This piqued her interest and her eyebrows shot up at the thought that he could be like her and even explain what was happening to her.

Amalia stared at the group in amazement and her eyes caught with the man in the middle wearing red. He immediately turned towards her as if sensing that she was staring at him and she quickly hid to the right of the window, feeling safer out of their gaze. She waited a while before looking back out and relief overshadowed her when she realized they were gone.

Feeling tired, she went towards her bed and an echoing scream filled the night sky. It seemed to come from Alice's manor, the group had gone in that direction, and she wondered what the sound meant. Part of her wanted to go check it out but it was too late, and she pondered what she could do.

Amalia was conflicted but still went out to see if she could help or something, but upon reaching the house she saw Jason with his death-like aura emerging from his body. She had already known the kind creatures her friends were, but she had never truly seen their forms. Jason's form sent a chill down her spine, and she made a mental note never to cross him. In a swift motion, Jason killed the guy in red that looked at her then he moved quickly onto the two at the back by pinning them to a wall with his forearm and snapping off their necks leaving their heads dangling from their bodies. She felt a sharp pain in her chest when the man in red was killed and she felt her body stagger, but she managed to balance herself.

The two that were left, she saw Alice walk slowly towards them but in a blink of an eye, she was in front of them. Her body was engulfed in flames and she touched the men making them burst into flames and their ashes flew with the wind.

She turned and ran home because she could not fathom the magnitude of the power of her friends. They did not even seem to notice that she was watching them or that she left.

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"Amalia, darling," her mother's voice danced in her ear making her jump in surprise from the book that she was reading.

"You're dazzling, sweetheart." Her father added as he came into view at her doorway.

Amalia looked up from her book at her parents and then looked in the mirror and gasped at the markings that shone brighter than they did last night. They had become bright the moment she had seen the man wearing red and she was reading all that she could to figure out what they meant. She smiled slightly and vowed to find out what was the meaning behind these symbols on her body.

"Seems like someone has you under a spell," her mother teased.

"Maybe even taken my princess' heart."

She could not answer her parents because she did not want to lie to them or even lie to herself. After all, she did not know what these markings meant. She also knew they could never accept the truth, so she just stood there and smiled.

When she got the opportunity to leave, she rushed over to Alice's place. The moment she stepped into the position the necromancer in the red stood she felt a burning sensation run up her body and the wind picked up forming a barrier around her. The markings glowed brighter and fire crawled from the earth up to her arms and water made its way into the wind barrier encircling her, but this only frightened her even more. She ventured deeper into the yard desperately trying to get help but the wind grew stronger. Her clothes melted away leaving her in bra-like clothing made from leaves and shorts also made from leaves. Her entire body was now covered in intricate markings and before she knew it everyone surrounded her with astonished expressions on their faces.

"Amalia," Alice called but before she could answer everything went black.

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"Do you guys sense that?" Jason rhetorically asked as everyone tensed up. It was long accepted that Jason was always the bearer of bad news so everyone knew to always be on high alert whenever he said something.

The sounds of an intense flame followed by the whistle of the wind flew through the manor causing everyone to jump up and run outside to see if they were being attacked again. In a fraction of a second, they were all outside encircling the sound's source and they all wore shocked expressions at the person in the bubble of elements. Amalia had some strange markings on her body and a body of wind surrounding her along with a massive fire that seemed to be generated from her body. Was she like Alice? They all wondered. Alice seemed to be the only brave one as she stepped closest to the blazing fire that shot through Amalia like a power surge and it lifted her body to the sky causing a blinding light. Alice stepped closer and called out to her,

"Amalia!"

Hearing Alice's voice she turned with glowing white eyes just to collapse, causing the fire and the wind to disappear. Tyler sighed as his hope of her being human had suddenly died just like her fire.

"Isabel, please carry her to my room," said Alice quickly.

Isabel picked up the unconscious Amalia, flung her over the shoulder, and ran quickly up the stairs towards Alice's room. She opened the door and reluctantly walked into Alice's room; she did not like it there at all. Alice was her best friend but her taste in color always unsettled Isabel. As she walked toward the bed, she scanned her surroundings, taking in the scenery that is Alice's room. Alice had a lot of self-portraits and ancient artifacts; one would think she is a collector of rare antiques. Isabel put Amalia on the bed and stared at the unconscious girl as she rested,

"What a mysterious human you are; it seems your powers were just dormant. But what does this mean? What are you? I've never seen your kind before," Isabel pondered as she walked out of the room leaving Amalia to sleep.