Alive Again: Awakening (Book 1)

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The same second I asked about G, I began to feel my body around my heart. My oxygen supply cut off, and suddenly, the ground sort of spit me up. I got up from the ground and noticed, to my surprise, that the sun was setting over the trees. Travel which felt like only a few minutes now seemed to have been hours.

I flinched when I saw the snake coiled beside my feet transform into Delilah, breathing hard. Brandon and Maple, Beetle flattened on her back, were lowered to the ground by a branch. They stepped off beside us.

We were standing in my mother's garden. The look of my house was foreboding in that moment. I wasn't the same girl who'd left this morning. I wouldn't be that girl ever again, I realized. "What time is it?" I asked softly.

"Almost seven," Brandon answered, his eyes roaming over the backside of my home.

Beetle had unflattened himself and plumped back into a little boy. He tugged at my uniform and held up the number three.

"Three?" I asked him, looking around at them.

"When you touched Brandon's shoulder earlier, you received a high voltage shock," Delilah explained. "You went flying and hit a tree. You were out cold for a solid three hours."

Brandon changed the subject. "We don't have a lot of time. Let's get in and out quick."

Delilah rolled her eyes in the darkness.

When no one moved, he turned to look at me and made an expectant expression. "Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"Oh, right."

I unlocked the door. The house alarm went screaming. I punched in the code to disarm it and caught Brandon over my shoulder, ready to zap it to death. "Everything all right?" I glanced at his face before he turned around. I thought I heard the others snicker, as they entered behind us. "B, Maple, check the perimeter. Sting, you charge up. Delilah, see if you can find any healing things you might need around the house."

"If that's all right with you," Delilah touched my arm.

"Sure," I said.

"I'm going to grab some supplies," Brandon announced, except now it was just the two of us standing in my basement.

"Supplies?"

"We'll need some civilian clothes," he said.

"Why don't you let me round those up?" I suggested.

"No." I could tell he was trying hard not to sound demanding. "You have to write your note to your parents."

And that was the moment that every extraordinary occurrence of that day sunk in. Nothing felt normal or natural about being inside my house. I might not see it, my family or my friends ever again. It felt like there was a boulder lodged in my throat and something squeezing my heart. I couldn't quite get enough oxygen or stop the tears that fell. Was this the moment when I was supposed to tell my parents (and everything that I understood of the world, for that matter) goodbye?

"Hey." Brandon gently dropped his hand on my head. "We didn't come here so you could cry." The emotion in his voice had flatlined into something still and low, something that felt like kindness. "You're going to see them again." Time seemed to slow down just then. Brandon was staring at me, his lips moving, but the sound was obscured. His eyes were dark, but lit with electricity somewhere in the recesses. I felt like I was falling into them. He said two words, which rung through me like a bell. "I promise."

My vision blurred. I was somewhere else, staring at another boy in a different room. His expression was solemn and warm. "You'll see him again," the boy said. "I promise."

My head was throbbing now. I pressed my hand to my forehead, the vision before me dissipated. Sound found its way back into my ears and I could once again hear Brandon. His hands gripped my shoulders. I was leaning forward, nearly falling into his chest.

"Hey," he said, "Savannah, what's wrong?"

I looked back into his eyes. "Nothing . . . " I lied.

"Come on," Brandon said, once I'd steadied myself. "We've got work to do."

I followed him up the stairs, thinking What was that? 

I was nearly too out of it to notice when Brandon stopped short at the top of the stairs and turned to face me. "What is it?"

I could tell his expression was serious, though I could only see his eyes.

"I'm sorry about shocking you earlier." 

I didn't reply. Brandon disappeared into the rest of my house before I could tell him that it was okay.