Riley's POV

Mom wasn't home when I got there, which allowed me to sleep in peace. I needed to rest before I made the all important phone call to someone I hoped would be helpful. I needed to prepare myself for whatever I was delving into.

I ended up sleeping through to the next day. Mom didn't wake me up for dinner. After what had happened, I couldn't blame her.

I managed to make myself presentable before I made the call to the number I had hastily scribbled down in Casey's dad's office.

"Harry Cornwall", was the answer.

"Mr. Cornwall, you're speaking to Riley Linley. I'm a friend of your daughter".

"Amanda?" he asked.

"Yes", I said.

He seemed momentarily stunned. "How can I help? Is it my daughter? Is she okay?"

"On the contrary, I'm the one who needs your help", I said.

"What sort of help?" he asked anxiously.

"I would rather we talk about this face to face. I am in Aqua Town, someone told me you were here just yesterday. I'm really hoping you are still here", I said.

"I'm sorry Mr. Linley, but I am a very busy man", he said.

He was going to hang up, I knew. I decided to give him something to think about.

"Lands of Azuria – the book you wrote, it's about me. I am the Luca in the book. Lara is my mom", I said quickly.

There was some silence.

"How do you know about the book? How did you read it? It's not possible!" he said.

"Your daughter saved a copy. Look, we need to talk. I am the Awakener and I am not sure I want to wake up a bunch of monsters", I said.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" his tone was accusatory.

"Mr. Cornwall, I really don't have time to joke. You do remember my mom, don't you? Her name was Margaret", I said.

There was silence again.

"Mr. Cornwall?" I said.

"How do you know Margaret?" he asked.

"She told my mom – the woman who took care of me at the orphanage – her name", I said.

"Okay, let's meet at the Aqua St Claire Park at 1 o'clock. Don't be late", he said.

"I'm ready to meet now", I said.

"I'm unfortunately busy at the moment", he said.

"Okay", I groaned.

"How will you know me?" he asked.

"Don't worry, I'll know you", I said.

The line went dead before I could say anything else. I could tell he was having some doubts.

1 o'clock could not arrive any slower than it did. I left early at home and got to the park earlier than the time we'd agreed on. When I arrived, I looked around. On a bench was a man who looked around his late forties. It was Harry Cornwall. I had seen him before on the internet. I was surprised he was already there. I went over to him.

"Riley Linley?" he enquired.

"Yes", I said quietly.

I took a seat. He looked at every single move I made with a hawk's eye. His gaze was uncomfortable.

"I really cannot believe it's you. You look...nothing like I expected", he commented.

"What did you expect me to look like?" I asked, curious.

"I don't know, something different", he said.

"I expected you to be different too", I said.

He smiled. "They thought I was mad, all of them. I had begun thinking that it was all my imagination too, but here you are – proof", he said. "Can you...do you have some sort of powers? I remember as a baby you used to do...things"

I looked around. Comfortable that no one was looking at us, I levitated a rock. Levitating objects seemed to be my favorite power.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, this is real. You are him", he said in disbelief. "All these years, why didn't you say something?" he asked.

"I didn't know. You say as I baby I used to do things, but I didn't know about my powers until recently, on my birthday actually. Anyway look, I am running out of time. Whatever these Darkeners are, I don't want to be one of them. You need to tell me everything about them", I said.

He considered me. "What do you mean you are running out of time? As long as they don't know where you are, you are safe...Well, humans are safe. You...you are indestructible. No human being can stop you".

"They know. They know who and where I am. Some guy, Miguel, he knows me. He's a Darkener", I said.

Alarm crossed his face. His eyes grew in size. He stared at me for a whole minute.

"Shit. You need to get away from here. If he gets you to Lands of Azuria..." he said quickly.

"Whoa! Slow down. Tell me what the fuck is going on!"

"Um, I know as far about the Darkeners as your mother told me. They live in Lands of Azuria, a place unseen by humans. She said it levitates above Aqua Town. I don't know where they originate from. They can cross to the human world with ease, but in hibernation, they have to get permission. They look like humans, like you. Hibernation is a form of sleep, they cannot use their powers. To wake them from sleep, it takes an Awakener, you. An awakener is a special boy born to an Awakener and a human, but not just any human. I have no idea what or who chooses the human. You can wake them when you are between 18 and 19 years of age. Luckily for them, it's not easy for you to die. Once they are awoken, they "prey" on humans. Your mother called them a...a dark spirit. They suck life out of humans. You can only wake them once. Afterwards, you have to produce an heir who will wake them up. They age really slowly, thus live longer. Your mom said with every awakening they "cross borders", the curse gets smaller and smaller and they become stronger and can move beyond Aqua town", he explained.

It took a while for me to digest it all. I already knew I wasn't human, but to hear someone else other than my mother confirm it was bringing it home. But it still wasn't easy to accept.

"How did you meet my mother...Margaret?" I asked.

"We met here in Aqua town. I was here on business. I had a cottage at the east side, just outside of Aqua town. I stayed in a hotel and only visited the cottage once in a while. She came to the cottage and said she needed a place to stay for the night and that she would be gone in the morning. I was alone in the cottage, but my bodyguards were on standby. Your mom was pregnant with you. I felt sorry for her so I let her stay. A few hours later, she was in labor. It all happened so fast. I was trained in assisting a woman in labor since my wife was also pregnant, so I assisted her in giving birth. She wouldn't let me call for help. When I told her about going to the hospital, she declined. I didn't understand why. She explained about you and that she had escaped from Lands of Azuria with the help of a little boy. I thought because of the pain she had suffered, she was delusional. As if disagreeing with me, you levitated objects around you. It was amazing and scary. I don't know why I didn't run. I felt sorry for your mother and wanted to help her. I suggested taking the both of you to London, where I stay, but she declined. She said she would give you away, to protect humankind, and to protect you. She disappeared after two weeks".

I looked at him.

"If all that happened eighteen years ago, why did you write a book about it only two years ago?" I asked.

"I don't know. I had been having terrible dreams about Margaret, you and so on. I wanted to tell the world about the Darkeners, because a part of me felt like they would find you. I guess I knew that you were close to reaching nineteen years and that they would search even harder", he said.

"When your wife destroyed the books, you didn't try again", I said.

"I had no money to publish with", he said sadly.

"You didn't need money or a book", I said.

He sighed. "I was publicly diagnosed with depression and secretly diagnosed with schizophrenia. I was "mentally ill" according to a bunch of psychiatrists. Who on earth do you think would believe me? I lost hope. I succumbed to the idea that maybe they were right and I was losing it", he said.

"I..." I was about to say something when my phone rang. I ended the call quickly. It was Mandy and Harry didn't fail to see.

"How's she?" he asked, with his voice lowering in what I deduced was sadness.

"She's...she's great. She's bubbly and...nice", I managed to say and stopped myself before I went on another bout of silence in-between my words. That was a bad sign.

"I miss her", he admitted. "...and William. I just want to be able to see my kids".

"I'm sorry", I said quietly. I was at a loss for comforting words.

I wasn't good at comforting people. When Eugene broke Casey's heart I bought him ice-cream, stole his fried chicken piece, spraycan-painted Eugene's Xbox and baked a very ugly looking cake so I could write "Eugene's an idiot" on it and have Casey throw it at Eugene's face...at least a picture of him.

A ladybug decided to get onto me unexpectedly. It walked a short distance on my thigh before Harry flicked it off, lightly brushing his finger against me.

"... a woman whose blood..." I heard a screaming voice. Only, the voice wasn't Harry's. It was all in my head.

I pushed his hand away from me harshly, stunning him. I seized to hear the voice immediately.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized quickly. "It's just...I keep hearing these thing. Whenever..." I said and drifted into thoughtful silence. "Whenever Mandy is near me...and you...I..."

"What do you hear?" he asked.

"Um..." I said and brushed my elbow. "When the time comes...when the time comes you will know, she who will and...a woman whose blood... It makes no sense to me. It always gets cut off suddenly", I said.

He shook his head as if he'd heard the worst news of his life.

"What do you...?" I started and he cut in.

"She can't be the chosen one. This is not happening!" he said.

I gaped. "You think she's the chosen one?"

"When the time comes you will know she who will carry your blood and a woman whose blood will be mixed with your own", he said. "I'm only guessing here, but it makes sense. Do you hear these voices with anyone else?"

I shook my head. "It all started when our heads butted when we went for the same pencil. Ever since then it's like...when she's around I'm just...bothered", I said.

"This doesn't sound good", he said. He had a faraway look.