Awakening (Children of Angels) (14 page)

Although she was in fact an extremely powerful Angel, her Truth was that she was merely a human girl. Or had been, until very recently. She was just becoming used to her new identity, but her Truth was still that she was a human girl - albeit one born very unconventionally. For now, Leonara supposed, it was good that the girl did not know her full power. She could easily overpower Leonara, and any other Angel who happened to come along, once she realized her full potential. Although she had seen no signs that Mia wanted to do anything but the right thing, she could not be too careful, given the child’s parentage.

They had always assumed that an Angel Child would have been a most valuable weapon as they could be controlled by their Angel handlers, and that the Angels would be able to read their minds and know for certain that their will was done. Now, however, Leonara worried that this was not the case. With the power contained in the girl, she could
easily
conceal things, and easily betray them - just as her mother had done. It made sense now, the way they had not been able to simply
find
the girl when they had wanted to. Having always assumed the human part of her would make her weaker and easier to find, they had been baffled that they could not find a trace of her. She was simply
gone
, in the way that Angel’s souls are gone when their time is done, and they assumed she had died. Now it seemed she had been cloaking herself this entire time, without even meaning to.

Yes, her soul was a very confusing thing. And Leonara was now faced with the task of training that soul to be the weapon she was always meant to be. She would have to tell the others in her group, her family, that this weapon was not the puppet they thought it would be. No, this was a very dangerous weapon indeed - much better than they had anticipated. And at last they had her- she only had to figure out how much to tell the girl, how to break it to her without frightening her - or without her becoming too powerful for the Angels to handle.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

M
ia slept for a long time, and it was a dreamless sleep. When she
awoke after hours of darkness, it was to find that the room she was in was dark too. She sat up unsteadily, feeling out-of-sorts, almost like she had the flu. She ached all over, and yet she couldn't say if it was her joints or her muscles that were actually aching. It was just an intangible pain, and it went right through her. She looked around the room, fuzzily trying to figure out where she was. A shadow shifted slightly in the corner, and she leaned forward and squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. It was coming back to her, in pieces. That she had left home, that Leonara had needed to Read her. The pain that had set in, like shards of broken glass were flowing through her veins instead of blood. And then….what then? She must have blacked out. The pain was the last thing she remembered, and then there was only darkness.

“
Leonara? Is that you?
”
she called out softly. There was no reply, but she was certain that she had seen a movement. She held her breath and listened silently for any sound. She had the feeling she was being watched, and felt the hairs on her arms raise as she fought to stop herself from trembling. She was afraid, but could not pinpoint exactly why.
“
Leonara?
”
she called out again, slightly louder.

Mia heard the tiniest sound of fabric brushing up against something - the wall, perhaps, as whoever or whatever was in here tried to make itself harder to see. Her heart began to pound in her chest, so loud that she was sure that the other person or other
thing
in the room could hear it too. She held her breath, so that she could listen better, but all that she could hear was her pounding heart and the blood rushing through her ears. Whoever or whatever was in the room with her, it was not Leonara, that was one thing she was sure of. She sat perfectly still, unsure as she did it
why
she was doing it. Surely the other…whatever…in the room knew she was there, and so keeping herself quiet was something of a pointless exercise.

Gently and as quietly as she could, she began to ease herself off the bed. She cringed as the springs of the old bed creaked beneath her as she moved, and then gave one final squeak of relief as her weight left the bed altogether, and she stood on the floor, perfectly motionless. Slowly and gently, she edged her way along the side of the bed, to where she knew the bedside table stood. As she turned her head and squinted through the darkness, she noticed that even the alarm clock was off, so there was not even the tiny bit of light that the digits would have cast in the room. She reached out towards the table when she thought she was nearing it, slowly and gently, not wanting to knock anything over and alert the thing in the room that she was properly awake. Slowly, she felt her way along the edge of the table, and over the objects that sat there. She found the stand of the lamp, and edged slightly closer to the table so that she could extend her hand further, as she searched for the switch. She finally found it, and took a deep breath before she flipped the switch and whirled around to face the corner the unknown entity was in, snatching up the almost-empty glass of water from the table in one fluid motion as she did so. It was the best she could do in terms of makeshift weapons - broken glass was better than nothing.

What stared back at her from the corner shocked the breath clear out of her, and she slid to the floor panting. What stared back at her from the corner was
nothing
. She was completely alone in the room, but was quite certain that had not been the case milliseconds before. She let the glass slide from her fingers, not caring about the small puddle that formed when the glass rolled along the floor and settled. She covered her face with her hands, and breathed deeply, attempting to regain her composure.

“
What is it?
”
asked Leonara
’
s concerned voice, probably no more than a second later
“
Mia? What is it?
”

Reluctantly, Mia pulled her hands away from her face and looked around the room. The lights were on, the clock was plugged in, everything was as it should be. Even the glass was back on the bedside table.

“
There was someone here
”
Mia whispered.

“
Someone here?
”
asked the Angel, puzzled, as she inspected the room.

“
Someone or
…
some
thing
here
”
replied Mia with a solemn nod.

“
I don
’
t think so Mia
…
maybe it was just a bad dream?
”
asked Leonara, straightening up from where she had crouched beside Mia and turning to examine the contents of two bags she must have brought in with her.

“
No, there was
definitely
someone hiding in the shadows, over in that corner.
”
She pointed, as if somehow pointing to the place would convince Leonara.
“
I thought it might have been you - when I called out to you, they moved further into the corner, so I couldn
’
t see them properly because of the shadows.
”

“
No, I really think you were dreaming or something Mia
”
replied the Angel, not even looking at her now, instead she was busying herself unpacking the bags and filling up the mini fridge in the room.
“
I would know if someone or
something
had been in this room, Mia. Who or what would want to get in here? Think about it. Humans leave a very distinct trace, and I can tell you that the last human to be in this room besides the kind-of human that you are, is a very sweet young lady named Annabeth - the maid. She skived off here for a while,
”
she stopped and smiled, as though the pictures were playing through her mind as she recited them to Mia
“
watched a little TV, read some magazines left behind by the previous guests. I can tell you who
they
were too, if you like.
”
She smiled playfully at Mia, then turned her attention back to the bag.
“
I brought you food. And snacks.
”
she tossed a bag of crisps over to Mia, who caught them awkwardly, almost missing them completely. She had always been terrible at sports. Surely being an Angel should have some advantages, surely she shouldn
’
t be completely useless at things like that. You
’
d think Angels would be lightning-fast with super reflexes - Leonara certainly seemed to be. Perhaps, Mia thought to herself wryly, I
’
m the exception to
that
rule too.

“
Well I can certainly think of some other people or
…
things or whatever
…
.that would like to get to me!
”
she called cockily to Leonara, who had walked through to the bathroom carrying armfuls of toiletries. She opened the bag of crisps, realizing now how hungry she was. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she ached all over again, and fidgeted uncomfortably on the rug on the floor. She stood up for a moment, and flopped on the bed, eating the crisps greedily, three and four at a time.

“
Mia,
please
!
”
the Angel exclaimed as she walked back into the room with a skeptical look on her face
“
do
you
seriously
think I
’
d go out and leave you alone, uncon
…
.asleep, and with no protection whatsoever?
”
she shook her head and sighed, treating Mia like a silly little child who did not understand the most basic concepts. Which in many ways, she was. Mia was as new to this
‘
being an Angel
’
business as a baby was to the business of being a person.

So Mia tolerated the condescending tone in which Leonara explained to her how before she had even brought Mia to this place, she had placed powerful Truths on it, so that no other Angels could enter without her or Mia’s express permission. And since Mia did not know any Angels, that left only Angels trusted by Leonara to worry about.

“
What if the other Angel
’
s Truth was stronger than yours?
”
Mia asked curiously.

“
Well I accounted for that, don
’
t you worry - I am not as new to this game as you are. I have been playing it for a very very long time indeed. And I am good at it - that
’
s why I am still here, and that
’
s why they chose me to come for you. Don
’
t worry about other Truths, mine are very strong, very layered and very complex. Even if another Angel
attempted
to break through them, I would know about it, immediately - no matter where I was. And
I
am sure that none of the Truths have been tampered with and certainly none of them have been broken. It was just a dream Mia, that
’
s all it could be. It
’
s all the upset, and the worry, and the confusion. Humans are sensitive and delicate things - and sometimes, their minds play tricks on them.
”

Mia opened her mouth to argue, but Leonara gave her a stern gaze that told her in no uncertain terms that the conversation was over. The Angel had such an air of authority about her, that Mia didn't dare argue, although she did
not
believe that it was a dream. It wasn't that she was afraid of the Angel, or afraid of anything she might do - it was just that something about the way Leonara was, the way she spoke, the way she carried herself, and the way she behaved,
commanded
respect. Mia knew for sure that she had not been alone in that room, no matter what Leonara said. Still, the Angel’s demeanor told Mia that the matter was closed now - Mia silently resolved that she would just have to be on the lookout in the future.