THE AWAKENING OF THE CHOSEN

The Second Scar (Age 12)

"Kaleigha, hurry up now you're going to be late!"

"I'm coming mom!" Kaleigha grabbed her equipment and scurried toward the living room.

Loreal grabbed her purse and they headed for the door. Loreal screamed, startled. There was a man standing in the doorway.

"Scott tells me you have information that the council would find useful. Where is this picture that he speaks of?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about? Get away from my house!" Loreal said as she stepped in front of Kaleigha for protection.

"This does not have to be difficult, Mrs. Pinkney. The boy has to be handed over though. It is the law!"

"So, what, you can kill a child? I won't be a part of that."

"Fine, I guess you insist on doing things the hard way."

"Kaleigha, run into your room and lock the door. And under no circumstances do you open it!'

Three more men rushed inside, and she ran into her room, crawling under the bed. It was only when she heard Loreal's scream that she crawled from underneath it. Yanking the door open, she screamed " Mom!"

"A man immediately grabbed her, covering her mouth."

"Kaleigha, I told you not to come out." They had her pent down on the floor, the fear evident in her eyes.

"Find the f*****g picture!" The man holding Loreal ordered.

"We already know you work at a children's home. We know everything about you! Just tell us who he is and you will live." He lied

"I found it, boss!" The man came out waving the picture. He handed it to the man holding Loreal.

"It's true, my God, he has the markings. He is the one." He grabbed Loreal’s hair, yanking her head back. Kaleigha could feel her pain and fear, almost taste it. She bit the man's hand that was holding her.

"You little b***h!" He said, slapping her.

The man holding Loreal laughed “hold her.” He said, passing Loreal to another man, he placed his hand around Kaleigha's neck. He began to squeeze as he lifted her into the air. Loreal screamed.

"No, no!" She fought against the man holding her, but he would let go. Kaleigha's legs kicked as she struggled to breathe. Then suddenly she felt the heat burning inside of her. It was so strong she began to sweat. It was then that he shoved her to the ground as he screamed with pain "What the f**k! She burned me!" He said in awe. Kaleigha took a deep breath. And kept inhaling. Suddenly, the men began to cough as they struggled to breathe. The man that had held her neck she slowly walked over to as he fell to his knees, blue in the face.

Now his eyes bulged as she sucked the life from his body. She wanted him to suffer, and she wanted to watch as he did.

"Ka….leigha." Loreal croaked out. Kaleigha turned to see her mother blue as well. She began to blow air in her direction, filling her lungs.

"Kaleigha." She said, looking around at the dead bodies. One man moved and, without hesitation, she pushed her hand out toward him. Fire expelled from her body, the man was a pile of ashes in less than two seconds.

Kaleigha turned to look at her mom, on the floor across from her a picture lay. She walked over and picked it up. She stared at it confused as she saw the scar on her back. She reached over her shoulder, rubbing it. Another scar had appeared on her other shoulder.

"It burns mom." That was all she said before she passed out.

Loreal picked her up, carried her to her bed, and covered her. Just like before when the fire symbol appeared, she had fallen into a deep sleep. She lifted her hair and there it was, the air symbol was now embedded in her skin on her opposite shoulder blade. Any doubt she was gone. As she walked into the living room, the remaining three bodies burst into flames.

"Oh Goddess, how do I protect her?"

Kaleigha woke suddenly from a nightmare. She was breathing heavily. It seemed so real. She touched the scar on her shoulder. It seemed so vivid. "Are you good?" Vanessa asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stretched and let out a huge fart. "Oh, really Nessa! How can someone so cute be so stinky?"

Vanessa giggled in return, "Wanna smell my morning breath?" She asked Kaleigha, who quickly jumped from the bed, avoiding her reach "I had another weird dream." Kaleigha said.

"Jesus, you still have those. I thought you quit having those forever ago."

"I did, but they are back now and even weirder.'

"Tell me about it," she said, as she stripped down and hopped in the shower. Kaleigha explained it. When it was over, Vanessa got out of the shower saying "Honey you should write sci-fi novels or something because you have one hell of an imagination. Now hurry up and shower so we can go." They had both gone back to sleep after breakfast.

"Okay, okay!" Kaleigha said, stripping, she stepped into the water. Vanessa dressed and as she came back into the living room, she noticed a huge pile of s**t on the oriental-style rug. "Buddy you are gross!"

Buddy looked at her and at the pile of poop and whimpered.

"Oh, really I'm the one that has to clean your s**t up." She grabbed the paper tiles and went to pick up the poop when she noticed the wet spot on the carpet.

"Oh, really you peed too!" Buddy dropped down and covered his head with his paws. This rug is going to have to come up.

Kaleigha had just placed her hair in a ponytail when Vanessa came into the room. She looked a little weird.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but come, let me show you something."

Following her into the living room, Kaleigha froze. The huge rug that covered the floor was rolled up and now you could see four burn marks in the wood in the shape of bodies.

"What the f**k?"

"Right! Buddy took a poo and well Walaa!" She said, waving her hands towards the spots on the floor.

"How do you think it happened?"

Vanessa gave her the side-eye "Maybe it was your freaky dream." She laughed.

Before she could respond, the sound of a loud horn drew their attention.

"I should have known; it was more to the camping trip, of course." She thought to herself. She walked out on the front porch to find a brand spanking new red Ford truck with about 5 of Vanessa's friends. "Oh, I forgot to mention I invited some friends, well actually they invited me, us!" She said cheerfully, never giving her eye contact. "VANESSA!" Freaking really! Kaleigha thought. To make matters worse, she jumps in the truck with them after loading Kaleigha's jeep with their things. Kaleigha was pissed, to say the least, and they sped off before she had time to protest. “So, I guess I'm by myself here,” she mumbled. Suddenly, she heard a Yelp from Buddy.

"Buddy no, your wolf mom or other humans may get worried if you disappear. Or you may wander off and get lost. Jump in, I'll drop you off down the road." When she pulled the jeep over, Buddy refused to get out. So, guess who was going camping?

They passed the camping grounds and went about a mile past it and finally, in the middle of nowhere, they decided to make camp. They unloaded the crap out of her jeep and Buddy and Kaleigha went to duck behind some trees to pee. When she came back, it seemed that they had all paired up. Guess who the oddball was. As if Buddy read her mind, he whimpered. “Hi, I'm Avery and this is Zach.” A couple walked up to her. Avery was really short, and Zach wasn't much taller. They seemed to be the friendliest out of the pair. Jennifer and her guy Jaime couldn't quit sucking each other's face long enough to make introductions, so Avery said “that's Jen and Jaime and that's Matt.” She pointed at Vanessa's guy. Kaleigha wondered if this was the same guy she was crying about the night before. Hard to tell with Vanessa. They drank a lot of beer and smoked a lot of pot and then they really started to cut up. First, watching them try to pitch a tent drunk was funny, Kaleigha had to admit it. One moment she was doing her thing. The next minute she looked over and Matt and Zach were rolling around in the dirt. Vanessa broke them up and Kaleigha had no idea what the fight was about, but seconds later they were hugging and singing 24 bottles of beer on the wall. "Hey, where did the dog come from?" She was in her tent organizing when she heard one of them yell. Then she heard Buddy Yelp and Vanessa yelling. She came out of the tent, hands-on-hips. "Hey what happened to Buddy?" The guys were laughing while Avery looked pissed and Vanessa, concerned for Buddy and Jennifer, was completely indifferent. Buddy ran to her whimpering. "Matt threw a beer can at him," Avery explained. She caught the look Vanessa shot Avery like she didn't want her to know. Kaleigha spotted the half-empty beer can. She swooped it up. "Oh, this Beercan." She said before hurling it at Matt and nailing him smack in the center of his forehead. He yelled as he flipped backward on the log he sat on. Vanessa's eyes grew huge. "Kali!" She yelled as Matt struggled to get up holding his head. "You f*****g b***h!" He yelled and he went to charge her. Zach grabbed him as Vanessa tried calming him down by rubbing his arm. "Kali you shouldn't have done that! He is drunk, he didn't mean to hurt Buddy." Avery looked at her and said "Um, clearly he did. He threw the can first." She said, matter of fact.

"I don't know why you bought her anyway," Matt spat out. Tugging still trying to get at her

"Oh, please let him go!" Kaleigha begged. He had no idea how much she wanted to kick his scrawny ass.

"You asked her to dude. Remember Vanessa said we wouldn't like her, and you said to bring her. We need someone to-"

"Shut up Zack!" Vanessa and Jenifer yelled in unison. She couldn't even look at Vanessa. She was so fake.

"Don't shut up Zack, tell me what you need me for," Kaleigha said, glaring at Vanessa. Vanessa rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Chill Kali, you're making a big deal out of nothing." She said but never looked her in the eye.

"f**k it I'll say it b***h. We just needed a place to chill after the trip, but you're so lame I'd rather get a room." Matt snatched his arm from Vanessa and walked to his truck. He looked in the mirror. "f**k!" He yelled after seeing the red print of the beer can left.

Kaleigha was the only one that laughed. Until she noticed Buddy was not beside her. "Buddy, Buddy!" She called, scanning the surrounding area. She spotted him just before he darted into the woods. She ran after him. "Buddy please stop!" She called, chasing behind him. It was getting dark, so she didn't want to go too deep in the woods. Not to mention, her mom always said don't go too far in the woods, danger.

Buddy stopped and looked back at her, then he sprinted away. Like a fool, she chased behind him. It was weird because it felt so free running in the woods. When Buddy stopped and howled at the moon, so did she, then she collapsed on the ground laughing and giggling as he pounced on her, licking her face. Suddenly he froze. He looked around like something startled him. His hair stood up and he growled. "Oh, s**t Buddy, I can't fight a bear!" Her eyes scanned the woods. She was surprised actually at how great her night vision seemed to be. She'd never noticed it before. Something was out there, and she did the only thing she could think to do. "RUN BUDDY!" She yelled and took off running in the other direction. She hoped Buddy was behind her and just as she thought it he shot past her running like hell. She followed behind him because, well, hell just because. Her chest was hurting, and she could sense something around them. She dared to look back for just a second and screamed when she saw glowing yellow eyes. What the f**k! She thought as she tripped and went tumbling down a steep incline. She landed at the bottom in a heap. Looking up at the moon, all she could think was I should have obeyed Mom. She tried sitting up but her head. She touched the back of her head and felt something wet. She looked at her fingers and they had blood on them. She heard whimpering and tried getting to her feet. "Buddy!" She tried to call out. Stumbling, trying to get to stand. She had to get to him. He was out there because of her. As soon as she stood upright, she became dizzy. She took a few steps and paused. Her vision was blurry, so she rubbed her eyes. Then she saw it, the yellow-eyed beast coming toward her. She screamed and covered her face as it dove at her. Then suddenly something tackled it. It was too much, and her head felt like it was going to explode. She was frozen in fear and her eyes could not stay open. Her head kept spinning around in circles. "Buddy." She whispered right before she blacked out.

"Is she a rogue or not?" Someone snapped! A rogue, what is a rogue? A dude, Goddess I know like hell, he didn't think I was a dude, Kaleigha thought, fuming. Where am I? Why can't I open my eyes, she pondered in frustration.

"Not exactly Alpha Lucas." She heard a voice mumble. A warm, soothing voice. She decided she liked that voice.

"What the hell does that mean?" Another voice demanded to know. A big thunderous voice, Kaleigha thought. He sounds big, real big.

"She doesn't know who she is. Or what she is." The soft voice that she liked said. Oh, she thought they were talking about me.

"How is that even possible?" The guy that was referred to as Lucas asked.

"It's not impossible," A female voice said. Why are my eyes so heavy, Kaleigha thought?

"How come she has no scent? She doesn't smell like a rogue." The other big-sounding guy asked.

I have a scent Pal! Catch me after a run or a match. Whew I'm telling you it's not pretty. Kaleigha thought to herself.

"Well, she obviously belongs to a pack," the female voice said.

"I'm confused, River, you said she lived alone," Lucas said. Me too! Who the f**k is this River, and why does he know all my business? Their conversation was totally stressing Kaleigha out and she tried harder to open her eyes. Then suddenly she thought maybe I should just listen.

"Kali is lost. She told me she once lived in the woods." The River Guy said. She growled in her mind, I didn't tell him s**t. She thought, stalker!

"So, she ran away from her pack." Mr. Big's voice said.

"I don't think so. I think she is just...lost." The River guy explained.

"I can run more tests, Lucas, but she appears to just have a concussion. We can patch her up and return her to her humans." The female said.

"I don't feel right about sending her back into the human world without knowing her story. You said she doesn't know who she is." She wanted to hear more, but she felt herself dosing back off. "I'll inform the Alpha," Lucas said. She tried to fight it but she couldn't. When she did decide to quit fighting, something in her stirred. The most wonderful scent hit her nose and all of her senses seemed to awaken, but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared and she drifted off to sleep.

She was dreaming and she knew she was dreaming. Although she could not see herself, she knew she was running in a field with tall grass and there were flowers, wild dandelions, and daisies everywhere.

There was a boy, pulling her along. "Tori run, faster, faster." And they did, they ran as fast as their legs would take them. She felt so carefree as the wind ran through her hair. He was adorable with silver hair and a black streak in the center. They collapsed on the ground in the tall grass. And they lay there stretched out in the tall grass. She felt so happy but then he stood up and reached for her, but when she went to grab his hand,

He coughed blood, Kaleigha froze as his white shirt began to become soaked with blood, someone had shot an arrow right through his heart. She screamed, Krishna!

When her eyes opened, she flinched due to the bright light. Breathing heavily, she looked around and saw she was attached to a monitor with an IV in her arm. She saw a lady looking at a clipboard "What happened, where am I?" She asked, trying to sit up. She was hit with a wave of nausea. The lady walked over and handed her a bedpan and she vomited. She was embarrassed, but the nurse or doctor didn't seem at all bothered.

"What's your name honey?" She asked, pulling a chair up beside her.

"Kaleigha Pinkney." She nodded at her and said "I'm Dr. Arden. Do you always have those intense dreams?" Kaleigha just looked at her. "You have a concussion. We found you yesterday in the woods alone. Why were you wandering in the woods at night? Don't you know how dangerous that could be?"

"I saw something out there." She whispered. Dr. Arden narrowed her eyes at her, "What?"

"A monster."

"A monster." She laughed "Honey when you're alone at night in the woods everything is a monster." Kaleigha nodded her head and that small movement hurt like hell.

"I must sound crazy to you?"

"Nope, just afraid of what you thought you saw." She had a nice soft but sharp voice.

"I was looking for my wolf." She said, which really made her frown.

"You have a pet wolf?" She stiffened a little, almost as if she had offended her.

"No, I have a friend that's a wolf." Oh, my Goddess, that sounded crazy stupid, Kaleigha thought.

"A friend wolf." She repeated her words, causing Kaleigha to sigh with frustration.

"I hit him with my car when I ran off the road or he ran in front of me, so I took him to the veterinarian and she told me my dog, well the dog was not a dog but a wolf. So, I googled it and it turns out they are not good pets. So, I let him go but he came back and then." Crap! the water works, Kaleigha thought as her tears began to flow. She wasn't even sure why she was crying. Dr. Ardan handed her a tissue as she cried. "I brought him here with me camping with my friends that are not my friends and one of them threw a beer can at Buddy."

"Buddy?"

"Yes, that's what I call him. And I ran after him, and I got lost."

"So, you have a wolf that's not your wolf, friends that are not your friends," She smirked, "anything else you have that is yours but not yours?" She was smiling, but Kaleigha didn't find that funny at all and she did not crack a smile. She reached in her lab coat and pulled out a pill bottle. "Why did you take this Kaleigha? They were on the ground near you when you were found."

"What town is this? Can someone take me to my jeep?" She avoided the question. The doctor stared at her and Kaleigha glared back at her.

"You shouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. You're in no condition to drive."

"I have to see if Buddy has come back to my jeep." She looked at me and nodded. "How about I send someone for your jeep?"

"That would be great!" I could drive my ass home, she thought.

"Hungry?"

"Starving! Oh, my Goddess, I could eat a cow."

"My Goddess."

"Oh, my mom used to say that all the time. You remind me of her. Your hair and complexion."

Her eyes narrowed again as she looked at her. "You're of a mixed-race?"

"No, I don't think so." They both stared at each other. Finally, Kaleigha looked away saying "I was adopted."

"That's interesting."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it just is."

"You probably heard about me; it seems everyone else has." She shook her head as if she was at a loss.

"I was found alone wandering in the woods when I was a kid." The doctor narrowed her eyes and looked at her up and down.

"Yeah, I know right. Why does that keep happening to me?" She said more to herself than to the doctor. Kaleigha stared out the window, so over the conversation. Kaleigha immediately noticed the tall grass, the daisies.

"Beautiful right, like your dream." Kaleigha's head jerked back around, and she stared at her.

"I'll have the nurse bring you your food." She said and walked out of the room.