Chapter 1
“Akaya….Akaya….we’re waiting for you!” Maria woke with a start. She had been having that dream again, that terrifying dream. It seemed to be coming more often now then before, almost every night when before it had only been coming every few weeks.
She would be running, trying to get away, trying to hide. From who or what she did not know. She would be in the woods, though nothing looked familiar. Suddenly the woods would give way and she would run into this huge field. She would continue running when the ground would suddenly give way from right under her feet. She would fall into this huge crater. She could not breathe or see anything, just blackness. Then she would feel the wind wrap all around her, and pick her up. All around her she could feel this presence. Then there would be that voice, all around her, calling to her. “Akaya…Akaya…we’re waiting for you!” It was then that she would wake up.
Maria looked at the clock. It was only 5:30, half an hour earlier then she usually got up. However, since there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep, Maria got up. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a nice short sleeve top and a pair of jeans. Slipping those on, she went over to the mirror.
Maria was rather attractive even though she didn’t think so. She was very tall and slim, though she had a lot of muscle’s, especially in her arms and legs. She was taller then most people in her class, which kind of made her stand out. She had long, straight black hair that reach down to her lower back. She was naturally tan and had slightly upturned eyes, giving her an Indian look. Her smile was very straight and white, though she’d never had anything done with them. Her canines were sharper then most too. Her eyes were very strange. For one thing they changed colors. One day her eyes would be a very light blue, almost white at time, then the next they would be a greenish yellow color. A lot of the time the color of her eyes reflected her mood. Another strange thing was the shape of her pupils. They looked more like cat eyes then human. No one had ever seen eyes such as hers and often commented on them. That’s why she usually tried to keep them hidden from people she didn’t know.
Maria brushed out her hair and put it up into a ponytail. She wasn’t much of a makeup person but she usually put a little on. Today was no exception. She put a light blue eye shadow on, and some black mascara and eyeliner. Once she was done Maria went downstairs for breakfast.
Her brother Jason was already downstairs eating. Jason was two years older then Maria. Despite that fact and the fact that Maria was adopted, the two were very close. Jason was a little bit taller then Maria, but not much considering the age difference. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. He was a football player, so he was pretty big built.
“Hey bro” she said, coming into the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“Hey, you’re up early” he replied. He finished with his bowl of cereal and was rinsing it out in the sink. Then he moved over and put it in the dishwasher.
Maria laughed a little. Usually she was the last one up, which meant she usually had to skip breakfast just to make the bus. Very seldom was she up this early. “A little bit” she said to him.
Jason started towards the door of the kitchen. “Well I’d love to stay and chat little sis, but I got some homework I got to finish. So if you’ll excuse me…” without waiting for an answer Jason left the kitchen and went upstairs.
Whenever Maria had that dream for some reason she was never hungry for a while afterwards. Knowing this Maria went over to the cupboard and grabbed a pop tart. She ate at the kitchen table. Once done, Maria grabbed her jacket and books and headed out the door. It was a nice sunny day and she loved being outside. She went out to the barn and over to the horses. She went down the row patting and talking to each one.
Suddenly Maria heard the bus coming down the road. She glanced at the clock on the wall. The bus was early. She ran over, grabbed her books and ran down the road. She got to the bus just as it was pulling away. It stopped for her and she got on, sitting with her best friend, Zoe, as she always did.
Zoe and Maria couldn’t look more different. Zoe was shorter then Maria by a head. She had blond hair that reached down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a brown color and she was rather white, never really able to get a tan. Even with there differences they got along great. A lot of there favorites were the same, favorite movie, favorite music, some of the favorite foods. Sure they argued, but they always talked it through, sometimes staying up into the late of the night talking.
“Hey Maria…Trying to miss the bus again?” Zoe said, more of a statement then a question.
Maria had to laugh. Zoe had a way with stating the obvious “No! Of course not.” She replied jokingly. She hesitated a moment then added, more serious this time, “I had the dream again.” Zoe already knew about they dream, though she didn’t know how many time Maria had it, she had a rough idea though. Maria had told her about the third time it had happened. They always told each other everything. Of course, they had known each other since 1st grade, the year that Maria had been adopted. They trusted each other with there life, there was no secrets between them. Unfortunately, Zoe could also be a little over dramatic.
“Again?” Zoe exclaimed, “Maybe it means something. I was reading this magazine…”
“Zoe,” Maria interrupted “I’m sure its nothing. I’ve just seen to many scary movies.” She said this with a little more harshness then attended. Zoe picked up on it. She quickly dropped the subject and went on to other things, like her plans for the night. Maria half listened to her, her thoughts also turning to her dream.
About that time, David, their other best friend, got on the bus, and sat down in front of them. David was a new kid last year. He was a year older than Maria and Zoe but was still in 10th grade, though no one knew why. The strange thing was, he looked a lot like Maria. He too was very tall and had pretty much the same build as Maria. His eyes were those of a cat’s also, though his coloring was different. Normally his eyes were a dark hazel, but turned a fire red at time. Maria had only seen this happen once. His smile was the same too, amazingly white and straight, with extra sharp canines. The major difference was their hair. While Maria’s hair was black, David’s hair was a very light blond, which was cut short.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” he asked smiling his amazing smile at them.
“Nothing” both Zoe and Maria replied at the same time. They both laughed at themselves. They thought so much alike it was scary.
The three of them talked the rest of the way to school. Usually about random things, but they had fun doing it. They were in the middle of making plans for the following weekend when they got to the school. They got off together, and then David had to go to his locker so he had to leave them. Zoe and Maria hung out at there locker for a little bit, before they too had to go to their classes.
All through school that day, Maria kept thinking about her dream. Maybe Zoe was right and it really did mean something. But what? There was another thing bothering her. Why had that voice called her Akaya? She knew it must be calling to her because no one else was in her dream. Could it just be her subconscious, reminding her of something she had forgotten? But she was sure she had never heard that name before. The more Maria thought about it the more confused she got.
By lunch, she was sick. She wasn’t sure why, she didn’t think it was because the dream or anything, but whatever it was, it was getting to her. Unfortunately her friends could tell. Zoe asked what was wrong and when Maria couldn’t tell her exactly Zoe insisted that she went to the nurse. David just watched her with a concerned look on his face. Maria couldn’t be sure but it looked like he also had an understanding look in his eyes, like he knew why she was sick. And was Maria just imaging it or was there a slight tint of red in his usually hazel eyes?
After lunch, Maria had History. David was also in this class and they always walked together. Unfortunately, Zoe had a class on the opposite side of the school.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Zoe asked just before they went their separate ways.
“I’ll be fine” Maria told her. She really didn’t want Zoe to worry; it would probably go away in a few hours like it usually did. Oddly enough, Maria had never gotten sick, at least not that she could remember. So really, she wasn’t worried at all.
But then she took a turn for the worse; much worse. They went into the classroom together and sat in their desks. Up on the board was the assignment as usual. Today they were taking notes and the first sheet of notes were already on the overhead projector.
It was about have way through class when suddenly Maria couldn’t breathe, she gasped for air, though none came. Small black spots started dotting her eyesight. They slowly grew until nearly half her vision was black. She tried blinking them away, only succeeding to make herself dizzy. Finally she had no other choice; she turned around to David who was in the desk behind hers.
“David” she whispered. It wasn’t very loud. David looked up at her. At first he looked confused, then that look of understanding and worry came over him again. Maria started to wonder if he had heard her. “David” she repeated, quieter this time then last, she just couldn’t get anymore sound out.
Fortunately that was all she had to say. David got up and quickly went up to the teacher’s desk. He said something to her and she nodded, though Maria couldn’t tell what he said. He then came back to their desks. He picked up both their backpacks, which were heavy-laden with books, and helped Maria up out of her desk. With his arm around her back, Maria leaned heavily on him. He led her out of the room.
By then, almost everything was black. David, who still had both backpacks on his back, picked her up like she was as light as a feather, he seemed to have no difficulty at all. He started walking a hurried but easy walk. The last thing Maria noticed, before she lost all consciousness, was that David was not walking toward the nurse or even the office, but away, out of the school.
