Awakening (The Golden Ones: Book One)

Awakening

The Golden Ones: Book One

Sarah L. Robins

Published by SLR Publishing at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Sarah L. Robins

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

~~~~

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Epilogue

About the Author

Connect with me online

Free sample of The Golden Ones: Book Two

Prologue

The beings glowed with an ethereal golden radiance. One of them, a female – tall and slender, with ebony waist length hair, and clad in billowy white gossamer robes that floated about her like a cloud – turned to the other, a male. His own slender frame carried hidden strength beneath the intricate, delicate looking, gleaming armour.

‘What do you report?’ she asked the male. Her smooth honeyed voice was strong, but the tone carried a hint of concern.

‘She is beginning to show signs, my Queen.’

The anxiety was now evident in the female’s eyes. ‘So it is as we feared,’ she spoke, with a hint of sadness. ‘She is about to come of age. Will you do as I asked?’ She looked at him expectantly.

‘Of course,’ the male nodded solemnly. ‘I will prepare now for what is needed.’

‘Thank you.’ The female smiled; her eyes held that whisper of sadness that had been evident in her voice. She clasped one of the male’s hands between both of her own. ‘You are a good friend. You must take great care.’

‘I will, my Queen. But I will give my life if it is necessary.’ He smiled gravely.

‘Let us hope it never comes to that,’ the female replied, finally relinquishing her hold on the male’s hand.

The male nodded once, pausing briefly to give his Queen a gentle bow, before walking away.

The Queen watched him go, worry etched in to her silvery bright eyes. She silently returned to her throne room, where a few other beings, glimmering with the same unearthly glow, ceased their conversations and bowed low before their Queen, as they watched her enter.

One male, not possessing the same ethereal light as the others, sat to one side of the marble steps leading up to the foot of the throne. As the Queen approached, he stood and also bowed. His eyes locked with the Queen’s for a long moment, and as she sat upon her throne, he offered her a plate of ripe fruit, taking the opportunity to whisper close to her ear. ‘Do not fear, my love,’ he said, before straightening up and resuming his place at the foot of the glittering white marble dais.

With that, the Queen dismissed her court.

***

I stood at my bedroom window looking out at the strange red sky feeling uneasy, feeling watched. I couldn’t see anyone in the garden, or the field beyond, but a small bird perched on the fence, its face cocked towards my window. Is it looking at me? Suddenly, the bird leapt in to the air as if it had been startled, but I hadn’t heard or seen anything that could have frightened it.

A moment later it was hovering like a humming bird in front of my closed window. Yet it wasn’t like any humming bird I had ever seen before. Its shiny black wings, streaked through with a pure, pale gold, were moving as if in slow motion. I stumbled back as its unsettling gaze met with mine, for the bird had startling bright blue eyes.

I sensed the world about me shifting, as if I were sinking through syrup, until I was no longer in my bedroom. Am I dreaming? I was in darkness. Nothingness. I slowly swung my arms about me, trying to find a wall, an object… even another person, but there was nothing. I began to run, slowly at first, but then I built up speed. The faster I went, the more certain I became that there was something behind me. Something malevolent; as dark as the world around me. Suddenly there were large glowing blue stones looming all around me and I began to slow down as a sense of security and protection washed over me. From out of the shadows walked a lone figure, bathed in a golden glow. Are you an angel? The light surrounding the figure seemed to have no external source. It was if he or she were radiating the sun from within. As the figure neared, I could see it was male, but the features were obscured, veiled by the intensity of the radiance. All I could make out were his powerfully blue eyes. Familiar eyes. He stopped near one of the glowing azure stones and raised one hand towards me, as if summoning me to him. I found my own hand rising of its own accord in response, and as I took a step towards this mysterious angelic being, I felt the world shift about me again.

I was back in my bedroom. Cameron lounged on my bed, his hand raised, beckoning me to him. My hand slipped willingly in to his as he pulled me down in to his embrace.

~~~~

Chapter 1

I stretched my entire body out, pointing my toes, letting my fingertips brush the wall behind my head. I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet but I could feel the warm light on my eyelids as the morning sun shone through my flimsy cotton curtains. Just lying here felt like bliss. The last remnants of a pretty hot dream about our school’s Mean Boy, Cameron, trickled through my mind, rapidly disappearing from my memory like sand through a sieve. If only he could be so nice in the waking world. Momentarily, my thoughts of Cameron were clouded by vague images that bubbled up from my subconscious. But what stuck in my head most was an image of intense, bright blue eyes. But who, or what, had they belonged to? Cameron’s eyes were more of a deep sea green, so I knew it was not his eyes I was remembering.

‘Evie baby, are you getting up?’ my mothers voice carried up the stairs.

I groaned, shielding my eyes from the light so I could open them.

‘Honey, did you hear?’ she called again, just a moment later.

‘Yes, mum,’ I called back, just for another few minutes of peace. Bleary eyed, I got up and washed.

Ten minutes later I was downstairs, dressed and ready for whatever my birthday may bring.

‘Happy birthday honey,’ mum said a little over-enthusiastically. Her warm brown eyes twinkled in her still-youthful face. Sometimes I wish I had inherited my mother’s eyes. Both my parents have lovely melted-chocolate-brown eyes, but not me. Somehow I ended up with pale grey eyes, the edges of which were sort of blue. It was like someone had forgotten to fill in the rest of the colour.

‘Thanks mum.’

I opened the card from my parents, and a smaller envelope slipped on to the table. I tugged that open and drew out a slip of paper, figuring it was a shopping voucher or something.

‘Ohmigod. Are you serious? Thanks!’ I gushed, staring at the voucher for a block of driving lessons. ‘This is perfect! Thanks mum.’ I hugged her tight before opening the few birthday cards I’d received from neighbours and family friends. There was no other family, neither here in Glastonbury or elsewhere that I knew of. No aunts, no uncles. My grandparents had died before I was born. It was just the three of us and maybe that was why we were so close.

‘I’m glad you’re pleased baby,’ mum grinned. ‘Dad’s already left for work but you can thank him later.’

We went to the local discount designer outlet two miles away, to window shop and have lunch, after which, I met up with two of my closest friends and mum disappeared off home, not wanting to cramp our style as she put it.

‘Happy birthday girlfriend!’ Jemima said giving me a hug and handing me a gift bag with ribbons streaming from the handles.

‘Thanks Jem! You shouldn’t have,’ I grinned, taking the bag anyway.

‘Here, from me.’ Natasha handed me a parcel with a card tied on top. ‘Happy birthday babes,’ she said, hugging me one-armed.

‘Thanks Tash.’ I took the parcel as I hugged her in return, and we perched ourselves on a low wall so I could open the gifts. Jem had given me a pretty make-up set in an adorable little bag that could double up as an evening purse. Perhaps I could use that tonight. From Tash I received a lovely diary, notebook and pen set. The diary and notebook had an artistic design of Snowdrops, my favourite little flowers, trailing up the front cover, winding around the spine and continuing up the back. It was pretty, and perfect. Tash had been my best friend since we were in prams, and she knew how much I liked to write and keep a journal. Plus I just loved new notebooks; loved the perfect crisp freshness of the first page. The girls thought I was weird because of it, but I sometimes – usually – preferred to buy a new notebook than something like a handbag.

We spent the afternoon shopping and then the girls came back home with me so that we could all get ready together for our evening out. They had talked me in to buying a new dress earlier in the afternoon. It was a gorgeous shade of sapphire blue, strapless, with a fan-pleated front panel and nipped in waist. I had been drawn to the colour – for some reason I just had blue on my mind – and that was when Jem and Tash had pounced and convinced me to buy it.

I had agreed half-heartedly to let Jem loose on my hair and after twenty minutes of pulling, prodding and attacking it with heated tongs, she seemed to have finally finished with me.

‘Eve, you look stunning!’ Tash said enthusiastically.

‘Totally. You’re a hottie! I’m so proud,’ Jem beamed. ‘If you don’t pull tonight, then there is something seriously wrong with the guys in this town.’

‘Hmm, I don’t know,’ I said, looking at myself in the mirror. I guess I looked okay; almost like a different person though. The person staring back at me now had my new pretty dress on, my long dark brown hair falling in softly dramatic curls, and makeup, which defined and transformed my eyes, bringing out that little ring of blue around the iris a bit more. ‘I guess I’ll do,’ I said, feeling a little self-conscious.

‘Shut up,’ Tash said, sounding frustratingly annoyed. ‘You look like a freakin’ model.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I mumbled.

‘Hey, what do you think?’ Jemima demanded our attention, thankfully taking the spotlight away from me.

Jem had put her dress on, a sexy short black number showing a lot of leg. She had straightened her naturally wavy hair before curling mine and it hung like glossy black silk down her back. The long violet clip in hair extensions, which matched her dramatic amethyst eye shadow, brightened up her all-in-black look. She stuck her bum out really far and said in a semi-sarcastic voice, ‘Does my bum look big in this?’

‘Mega,’ Tash said, knowing too well that, unlike most girls, it was exactly what Jem wanted to hear, and we all laughed.

‘Great!’ Jem said with a grin; she was very proud of her amazing curves.

Tash had her tawny hair down too, her long fringe swept across her forehead. She was wearing a little ditsy floral dress that looked sort of vintage, even though it wasn’t.

We were finally ready for our night out and dad had booked a table for Tasha, Jem and I, at a nice restaurant. He was even paying the bill, which was another surprise.

We walked in to the restaurant lobby where a concierge was waiting. ‘Do you have a reservation?’ he asked, with a hint of an Italian accent.

‘Under the name of Eve Jenson,’ I replied.

The concierge looked at his list of bookings. ‘Ah yes, a table for three?’

A seriously cute waiter caught my attention momentarily as he hurried about, stopping at a table to take an order. He must have sensed someone looking, as he glanced up briefly, catching my eye.

I looked away self-consciously. It was suddenly feeling especially warm in the restaurant; too warm for the beginning of September. I pulled my lightweight jacket off but I was still too hot and the short-sleeved thin shrug I wore, followed. I was sweltering.

‘Madam?’

‘Sorry, what?’

‘Table for three?’

‘Sorry, yes please.’

‘Madam, are you feeling okay?’ The concierge had a genuine look of concern in his eyes. ‘Do you need to sit down?’

Did I look like I was going to faint or something?

‘Eve? Are you all right babes?’ Tasha added, the same concern was reflected in her voice.

I still felt incredibly warm, even standing there in just my dress. ‘I’m fine. It’s just really hot in here, isn’t it?’ I said, fanning myself with my hand.

My friends gave each other a funny look, confirming that it must just be me. And it wasn’t the first time either. I had been getting the occasional hot flush over the last few months, maybe even longer as they were usually quite rare, but I’d had one just the other day. I remembered it well, as some random guy had taken that inopportune moment to come and talk to me, which had been highly embarrassing, as I’d sat there feeling like I was in a sauna. Stupid, annoying teenage hormones.

‘I guess,’ Tash agreed, probably trying to make me feel better. Neither of them seemed to be in any hurry to take their jackets off though.

‘Right,’ Jem added, almost as if it were an after thought.

‘This way then please,’ the concierge indicated for us to follow. He led us to a small table in a corner, which looked out over the garden and patio. We sat down and made ourselves comfortable. ‘Your waiter will be with you in just a moment. Enjoy your evening.’

‘Thanks.’ I smiled in an attempt to show him I wasn’t completely weird.

‘Are you really all right Eve?’ Tash asked; a little crease furrowed between her eyebrows as she frowned with worry.

‘I’m fine Tash. I just had a hot flush. No big deal.’ I laughed to show them I really was ok. ‘Stop worrying, you’re going to give yourself premature wrinkles!’ I still felt a little too warm, but there was a gentle breeze coming through an open French door not far away, which helped.

Turning my attention to the floor length windows, I spotted a small, black, bird hopping around outside and it appeared to be looking in my direction but it was quite far over and could really have been looking at anything. Perhaps the bustle of the busy restaurant had caught its attention. There seemed to be something strange about it’s eyes, but from here I couldn’t tell what. It just looked a little odd.

Moments later, the seriously cute waiter stopped at our table. He was young, maybe a year or two older than us, with short, dark, slightly curly hair and soft light brown eyes. The heat began to come back.

‘Hi, I’m Sam, your waiter for this evening.’ He handed each of us a menu. As he gave me mine, our fingers brushed; only slightly, but it made me jump. It had felt like he had given me a shock. Or maybe it had been the other way around. It felt like some kind of electrical current that went all the way from my fingers, through my hand and arm, and down into my stomach. It was instantaneous, gone as soon as it happened, but I think he felt it too. I could see surprise register in his eyes as he quickly let go of the menu. In my own surprise, I hadn’t taken a complete hold of it and it clattered to the tiled floor. I looked around embarrassed, trying to see if anyone had noticed. A few guys were staring at me and my cheeks burned as I looked away.

‘I’m sorry.’ Sam quickly stooped to retrieve the menu. ‘Here, I’m all…’ He shook his head as if clearing it. ‘I… um… it’s all yours,’ he finished as he handed it back to me.

I knew I was blushing like mad, but my cheeks already felt so warm that I hoped it didn’t notice. ‘Um, thanks.’

I saw Jem trying to stifle a giggle.

Sam avoided looking at me directly for a moment. I wondered if he felt kind of embarrassed too at the fact that I’d totally been caught ogling him before. ‘Can I get you ladies anything to drink?’

‘Coke please,’ Jem ordered.

‘Orange juice, thanks,’ Tash nodded. ‘Not the fakey stuff though.’

Finally Sam had to look at me again. His eyes widened slightly and he leaned a little closer than he had to the others. ‘And what can I get for you?’ His voice had taken on a slightly huskier tone than he’d had before.

‘Water please. Cold water.’ I hoped that would cool me off, like an internal equivalent of a cold shower.

‘Right. I’ll be right back with those.’ Sam wrote all three orders down and smiled at me, lingering for a moment before hurrying off.

‘Oh my god,’ I mumbled under my breath in embarrassment.

Tash immediately looked at me. ‘What was that about?’ she grinned. ‘And what was with that slip of the tongue?’

‘Right, yeah, he was totally going to say, I’m all yours you know.’ Jem laughed.

‘Oh god,’ I mumbled again. The weird thing is, I thought Jem was right. It had sounded like he was going to say that.

‘So do you fancy him?’ Jem asked. ‘It looked like he definitely fancied you, babes.’

‘No!’ I said, maybe a little too defensively. ‘Well, yeah he’s cute but that doesn’t mean he fancies me. It was weird though. I got a shock, when he handed me the menu.’

‘Like an electric shock?’

‘Kind of.’ I nodded. ‘Probably just friction from these carpets or something.’

‘Well, if you don’t want him, I wouldn’t mind making a little friction with him.’ Jem raised an eyebrow sardonically.

Tash and I rolled our eyes, unable to suppress the giggles. Jem was totally boy-mad.

‘He was cute,’ I agreed. ‘But—’

‘Nice bum too,’ Tash interrupted, making us all giggle again.

‘Want me to ask him out for you?’ Jem whispered excitedly. ‘Extra birthday present?’

‘What? No! What are we—still in school?’ I picked up my menu to quickly change the subject. Right now, I was still trying to get my dream version of Cameron out of my head, never mind the waiter. ‘Okay, so, what have they got?’

Tash and Jem picked up their menus too. ‘Fine, but if you change your mind…’ Jem muttered.

‘I won’t,’ I said, trying to concentrate on the words in front of me and not on the heat I felt simmering away beneath my skin. As cute as the waiter was, bits of my dream about Cameron kept bubbling up in to my mind and that just seemed to be making the flush worse. When it came to guys, I just had no confidence in the waking world. I’d never even had a boyfriend as such, just boys who were friends.

We sat there chatting amiably whilst we were deliberating on the menu choices. I didn’t always find it easy to make up my mind, forever getting stuck between two options, no matter what the subject was.

I could see Sam heading back towards us with his tray of drinks. His eyes seemed to be specifically on me. I quickly looked away and scanned the menu again, trying to make a decision.

Suddenly it felt like there were other eyes on me. Someone – or something – watching me. I looked up from my menu to glance in the direction from which I felt this mysterious pull, and for the briefest of seconds I saw something weird and small; like a person, but much smaller, and it was nothing like a child, but it was sort of toddler size. My skin prickled with fear. It was misty and dark and looked like it was covered all over in dark hair, save for some rags that it seemed to be wearing. My breath caught, as I practically jumped out of my seat. ‘What was that?’

‘What was what?’ Jem asked peering in the direction I was looking, but the thing, whatever it was, had gone.

The only things I could see outside now were two birds. One was a large raggedy looking bird; the other was the strange little bird that I’d seen before. It was standing motionlessly on the patio. Could the bird have seen it too? After a few moments, both birds flew off. No, of course it couldn’t have seen it, it was just my own stupid imagination. Maybe these flushes were the product of some weird summer flu and now I was hallucinating. I put my hand on my forehead wondering if I had a fever, but despite the heat I felt exuding through every pore, to my hand, my skin felt normal.

‘Nothing, never mind.’

‘Are you sure you’re all right Eve?’ Tash asked me.

‘Yeah… yeah I’m fine. I just thought I saw something… but it was nothing.’

The cute waiter suddenly arrived at our table, almost making me jump. I quickly switched my eyes back to my menu, still deciding, not daring to glance at him for fear of worsening the hot flush I was only just recovering from.

‘Coke, juice.’ He put the correct drinks in front of Jem and Tash. ‘And for you, cold water.’ My drink was placed in front of me so I had to look up to thank him. Our eyes met across the top of my menu. Something about me made Sam seem a little taken aback. He looked almost like he was nervous or something. What had I done? I quickly looked away blushing. A moment later I stole another look at him but he was looking away. He almost looked like he’d forgotten what he was doing. But then he gave his head a little shake and looked at our table. ‘Are you ladies ready to order?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I think so,’ Jem answered for us all. But was I ready? Why had I even forgotten what my choice was between? Frustrated, and getting hotter by the second, I looked at the menu again to try and make a hasty decision.

‘I’ll have the Rump Steak, well-done, with the salad and chips,’ Jem continued, unaware of my mounting panic.

Stupid, stupid, hormones!

But suddenly, Sam’s attention was only for me. I met his eyes and his hand wavered; he dropped his pen as he began to reach out towards me. His fingers outstretched as if he was going to touch my face. His eyes looked a little glazed and his lips were slightly parted. As he leaned in, it was almost as if it were happening in slow motion. What is he doing? Suddenly the heat washed over me, leaving me blissfully cool, with an amazing feeling of self-assurance. I didn’t even need to look at the menu again to know what I had decided.

Sam looked confused and quickly dropped his hand and straightened up. ‘I um…’ He bent down to pick up his pen, having just noticed that he no longer held it. He looked at his pad. ‘Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch what you ordered,’ he said, sounding a little embarrassed as he turned back to Jem.

‘Rump steak. Salad. Chips. Okay?’ Jem said a little sarcastically, sounding a little as if she were talking to someone really stupid. ‘And I want the steak well done, ‘kay?’

‘No problem.’ He turned back to me and gave me a slightly mortified smile.

‘I’ll have the Spinach and Feta stuffed chicken. Thank you, Sam.’ I couldn’t help myself adding his name a little demurely at the end as I gazed in to his eyes. I don’t know where it was coming from but I felt great. Better than great.

‘Thank you. If I can get you anything else, please just let me know,’ Sam said, once Tash had ordered too. He then hurried off with a brief backward glance at me and almost bumped in to some guy with messy black hair, but the guy moved, nimble as a cat, out of his way. For some reason he had just been standing there, in the middle of the restaurant, looking in our direction. Our eyes met and a strange quiver ran through me. I was suddenly unaware of anything around me apart from him as our eyes locked. Those eyes… His eyebrows drew down and his eyes narrowed. He didn’t smile but as my heart sped up, I couldn’t look away. I was mesmerised. A moment later he was gone and so was the strange frisson of energy I had felt in the air between us. But there had been something there; something that felt familiar, despite the fact that I didn’t recognise him. He had a face that was hard to put an age to; he could have been seventeen, or twenty-seven for all I could tell, and though I’d seen his face for only a moment, barely long enough to even register his features, I knew I would never forget those piercing icy blue eyes.

By the time we’d had our meal and flagged a taxi, I hadn’t seen the strange guy again, and it left me feeling sort of… disappointed. Aware of an emptiness inside me that I’d never really been conscious of before. I knew I’d probably never see him again, but maybe… if I did see him again, I would try to pluck up the courage to speak to him. See if I could figure out why he seemed so strangely familiar.

When we arrived at the house party, the slightly weird events at the restaurant were soon forgotten. But not the guy with the piercing eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever forget those familiar eyes, or the way my body had responded to his gaze.

The party was being held at the shared house of our good friend Tom’s older brother, Pete. It was really a party for Pete’s uni friends but Tom had invited quite a few people too.

‘Oh hey ladies!’ Tom strolled up to us, putting his arm around Jem and Tasha’s shoulders and turning to face me. ‘How are my three favourite girls?’ He looked at me, slight surprise registering in his eyes. ‘Eve, you look… wow… different.’ It sounded like he’d been struggling to find an appropriate word, but his vocabulary had eluded him.

‘Um, thanks?’ I wasn’t sure if Tom’s different was necessarily good, although the wow had sounded pretty positive. ‘Good different or bad?’

‘Very good different,’ he breathed, hardly more than a whisper and I could barely hear him above the music. ‘Very… beautiful.’ He blinked a few times as if to register that he was really seeing me properly or something.

Now I was the one to be surprised. Tom’s voice had sounded like it was, I don’t know… sort of hungry with desire or something. But I’m sure that couldn’t be right. He’d never spoken that way before, especially not to me. He was the closest thing I had to a brother. I even sometimes wondered if he might be gay and was waiting for the right time to come out, but maybe I’d got that all wrong. He was an attractive guy, even with his geek-chic style, and yet he’d never had a girlfriend that we were aware of. And it wasn’t for lack of girls being attracted to him; that was for sure. Maybe it was just shyness, or for all his appearance of super self-confidence, maybe he lacked it in girls department.

‘Oh, and um… happy birthday Eve.’ Tom grinned, looking slightly abashed. ‘I’ve got your card and pressie inside.’

‘Thanks, Tom. What have you been drinking?’ I asked him jokingly.

He laughed guiltily. ‘Nothing special.’

We laughed, but I wasn’t convinced. He definitely hadn’t been acting like himself, so if he wasn’t drunk, which he didn’t actually seem to be, what else could it have been?

Tom disappeared inside whilst we found a nice spot in the garden. A nice spot qualified as anywhere with enough room not to be jostled by: 1) big drunk uni guys, 2) people snogging or groping each other, or 3) people dangerously waving their cigarettes around as they talked animatedly and danced to the music pumping through the outside speakers. We managed to find a spot at one side near the fence and waved to Tom as he came back out with my birthday present.

‘Here you go beautiful. Happy seventeenth.’ It was a big mug that had my name on it in fat, glittery, bubble letters.

‘Oh that’s brilliant, thanks Tom,’ I said, giving him a huge hug. He held on for a little longer than normal and in the end I asked him if he could hide the mug inside for me so that I could enjoy the party without being hampered.

‘Well, here is to Eve’s birthday,’ Jem announced, raising her plastic cup.

‘Happy birthday!’ Tash cheered and a few other people joined in, raising their own cups.

I looked around with a self-conscious grin.

‘Really, where has the summer gone?’ Tash wondered aloud.

‘I have no idea,’ I replied, wondering the same thing. One thing I always dreaded about my birthday; it signified the imminent end of the summer break.

‘But it will be different this year,’ Jem grinned. ‘Here is to No More Uniforms!’

‘No More Uniforms!’ we repeated, clinking our cups together.

After we had danced to a couple of songs, a few people who I’m certain Tom wouldn’t have