The Awakening

Prologue: The Second Uprising

The sky was blood red and clouded with smoke from the bombs dropped by the Capital in an attempt to stop the uprising. Grace stood with her parents far from the action in a tiny hovel on a side alley. Her mom cradled a crying baby as loud explosions cascaded around her. They had been hiding for the past two hours, for Capital drones trolled the area, shooting down any people in sight.
     "Mom, I'm scared," Grace whispered. "How much longer must we hide."
     "It'll all be over soon," her mom responded. "This whole disagreement is to protect people like him," she added as she glanced down at her baby boy. Grace's mom, Rose, looked down at her dusty sandals; the noises around her drowning out her thoughts. She reached a hand over to her husband's lap and interlocked her fingers with his. He turned a gave her a coy grin with a look of sadness in his eyes. She gazed into his crystal blue eyes through a wall of tears, knowing what needed to be done to save their child. Rose pushed herself up and pulled Grace to her feet. With her husband behind her, she motioned for Grace to follow along to the pathway outside the hovel. Lifeless bodies were scattered along the road; showing that the enemy's army had already passed through.
          Rose rocked back and forth in place frantically looking both directions for any signs of life or potential dangers. She wiped the dribble from her son's chin as she looked at her creation one last time. Rose bent down on one knee and handed the child over to twelve year old Grace.
     "What's going on Mama?" Grace questioned.
Bending forward, Rose put her mouth to the girls ear and whispered something. She took a deep breath and stood back up, speaking in a normal voice, "It's all going to be okay sweetie. I need you to trust me."
          Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. "Go to the warehouse at the end of the road and knock on the side door. Hand this piece of paper to the woman who answers. Okay?"
          She tucked the piece of paper in her pants' pocket and walked forward to hug her mom and dad.
     "I love you mama," she sniffled through muffled cries.
     "Please don't cry honey. We'll be back as soon as possible. In fact, I promise I'll see you later today at the warehouse," Rose reassured. She prodded her daughter away from her chest and held her at arm's distance. She cracked a small smile as she looked at her two children.
     "What are you doing mom?" Grace chimed.
     "Oh," Rose chuckled. "Nothing sweetie, I just wanted to get a good look at you."
          A single tear rolled down her cheek as she turned away from her children. Rose and her husband jogged down the street to go help in the battle against the capital.
Bomb shells scattered around Grace and a fierce wind blew through her long brown locks of hair. Loud gunshots fired around her and faint screams could be heard in the distance, but none of that seemed to matter now as her eyes locked on her parents. Time seemed to be in slow motion in Grace's mind as she remained oblivious to her surroundings.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two men in white armor slowly approaching her parents. She stood there quietly making sense of the situation when, to her surprise, the men dashed forwards with loaded guns in their hands. Grace opened her mouth and tried to shout but no sound was coming out. She tried once more, desperately wanting to warn her parents.
"Mom! Dad! Look out!"
Grace pleaded that in some miraculous way her parents would hear her and escape the situation. She grasped her baby brother tightly to her chest and used her other hand to cover her eyes as she feared for the worst. She heard two gunshots go off in the near vicinity. Tilting her head upwards, she peeked through a crack in her fingers and saw her parents laying in the street.
     "Mom! Da-," Grace uttered as she choked on her own words. Tears streamed down her face and she looked down at her baby brother who had fallen into a daze.
     "You're all I have left now," she mumbled as she kissed her brother softly on his chubby forehead. Mustering up her courage, Grace turned the opposite direction and began to slowly walk down the road. Bodies of innocent people lay at her feet as she trods along her path to the Warehouse.
She was all alone on these empty streets, only accompanied by the ghosts of the people who had died recently. Insensible to the world around her, she began to jog past empty shops and abandoned markets booths.
After what felt like hours of agonizing running, she approached the gray, metal building known as the Warehouse. Opening the metal gate, she began to feel woozy and hobbled her way to the door. An older woman, Grace assumed to be around the age of sixty five, answered the door in a tranquil matter. Seeing the face of another living being brought Grace to tears and she fell down into the woman's arms.
"Oh, dear," the woman exclaimed. "You must be absolutely petrified out there. Let's bring you in and I'll fix you a plate of cookies and a glass of warm milk."
Falling in and out of consciousness, Grace knew there was something she needed to tell the kind lady. Grace's eyes tempted her to fall asleep as she lay her head against the soft, woolen pillow.
"Wait," she whispered. Pulling out her mother's note, she sat up and looked around trying to see where the lady went.
          Shortly after, a much younger woman approached Grace at her bedside. She had dark skin and short, wavy hair coming down to her shoulders. She sat down by Grace's legs and pulled a blanket over the small, uneasy child.
     "It's time to rest dear," the woman said in a peaceful manner.
     "But, but I hav-," Grace started but was inadvertently interrupted by the adult.
     "This won't hurt a bit. Remember, all we want is the best for you." She pulled a needle out of her shirt pocket and stuck in it Grace's upper forearm.
     "But I, I have a note for," at that moment Grace's mouth shut and her head hit the pillow.
          The older lady walked back into the room with a plate of cookies in hand. Glaring down at Grace's sleeping body, she cracked a feverish grin and menacingly said,"Oh trust me dear. I know! Of course I know!"