Her Heart or His Desire

Awakening

*Ten Years Later*

(Keegan P.O.V.)

I took one gingerly step forward after another, careful not to overestimate my strength. I clung to the bars on either side of me with desperation as I made my way to the end of the five-foot walk I had to finish for my physical therapy. Up until about a week ago, I was in a coma and the muscle mass in my body was nearly depleted.

The doctors and nurses thought I'd never wake up, the activity in my brain being minimal. But eighteen years ago, something happened and my brain started to 'wake up' as they had put it and it had renewed their hopes that I would someday wake up on my own and last week I did.

I can't remember anything from the past week and the doctors have said that is normal for coma patients, especially ones that have been asleep for as long as I have. A car accident during my childhood that had killed my whole family was all the information that I was told. All week I've tried remembering my parents, my childhood, something that would give a sense of identity, but nothing would surface.

I took another fragile step forward, walking towards the reflection of a full grown man, my reflection, and not recognizing him.

I made it to my finish line, body shaking with fatigue and drenched in a layer of sweat.

"Don't worry young sir, you're getting stronger with each passing day," the elderly gentleman claiming to be my legal guardian all these years said with gentle reassurance when he saw how weak and defeated I was feeling.

"One can only hope," I mumbled to myself.

Another half an hour of physical therapy then it was off to do more tests before they finally felt confident they could sign off on my discharge papers. It took another thirty minutes of my life but I was finally released under Mr. Damond's care.

The Damond's were family friends of my parents and when they died they had been caring for me in the hospital, fully confident that I would someday wake up and now that I was awake I was going home with them.

I rested my head against the cold glass of the car window and took in the sights. The hospital was in the middle of the city where there was a flurry of activity. People of all shapes, sizes and colors are engrained in whatever they were doing. Some looked like they were talking to themselves while others looked like they were reading manuscripts out of the palm of their hands. I scrunch my nose in confusion. Why would I use the word manuscripts instead of books or magazines? I shook my head and ignored it, thinking it must have just been something I heard while at the hospital. Once we were out of the city the sounds of the hustle and bustle subsided until it was just the music from the car radio filling the space.

We passed through a small rural village then headed up a bumpy dirt road that the jeep easily conquered until we arrived at an isolated estate. In the distance, the peaks of the snowy mountain could be seen and as if it was calling out to me I took a step forward towards it instead of the house Mr. Damond was guiding me towards.

I was introduced to the rest of the family which consisted of Mr. Damond's very elderly mother, his wife, their three adult children and spouses and their eight grandchildren among the three of them, the youngest being six years old. Introductions were awkward and everyone was either looking at me with pity, fear or like I was growing a second head. So far, the only people I felt comfortable with were Mr. Damond and the six-year old, Mandy. She had zero filters and was absolutely hilarious and after a few short days she became my favorite person to be around.

"Pops says you are trying to get stronger so I'm going to help because Daddy said I'm the strongest kid he knows, did you know I can carry two whole cartons of milk all by myself," she said in one full breath.

"That is amazing and way more cartons of milk I can carry at the moment," I said not even lying as I walked down the gravel path to the mailbox.

Even without realizing it Mandy was already making me stronger. She was one non stop ball of energy and if I wasn't sitting in the house doing my sitting regiments of therapy while she talked my ear off then she was spotting me as we did our daily walks to the mailbox. In just a few days she has helped me graduate from a walker to a cane and I couldn't be happier and was hoping that I would be using my own two feet before the month is over.

We stopped at the mailbox and rested under the shade of a tree. I closed my eyes ready for another series of random rapid fire questions.

"So when you were sleeping did you dream of eating people? Were people eating you? Oh do you know snow monsters?" she asked, looking at me eagerly for answers.

"Where do you come up with these questions?" I asked, shaking my head.

"My brain, where else?"

I laughed, "Well that makes sense. To answer your questions: no, I didn't dream of eating people and no one was eating me and no, I don't know any snow monsters. I don't think I was dreaming when I was in a coma, it just felt... like I was in a dark room with no windows or lights."

"Where are you looking for a light switch?"

"Something like that," I said, smiling at her innocence.

"How about flying? I heard you can fly?"

I looked at her confused. A few days after I woke up from my coma, I dreamt that I was in the clouds, I was like I was on an airplane with no roof. "I dreamed I could fly, yes."

"No not dreaming," she whined, "in real life, awake."

"Not unless its in an airplane sweetie," I said ruffling her bangs, "Let's go grab a snack, I'm starving."

"Yay, snack!" she yelled, forgetting all about her interrogation.

After our snack she scurried back to her parents while I went back to my own room for a much needed nap.

Dreams about flying were my more peaceful moments of sleep while the rest were nightmares. Fire and distant screams of people in distress always surrounded me in these dreams. I felt anger, fear and helplessness as I was being dragged away from the scene.

I was sure this was a memory trying to surface but anytime I tried to focus on the faces or see my attacker I'd wake up in a cold sweat and today was no different. I woke up with a loud painful roar. My chest felt constricted and the room was filled with an icy layer of frost. The cold didn't bother me and in fact it had an unusual calming effect on me instead. My body was shaking with the lingering rage I had felt moments before waking up.

I looked up and saw Mr. Damond's mother poking her head into my room and then hastily walking away.

Mandy was asking some odd and rather specific questions today and now it was my turn to start getting some answers. There was something going on that they were hesitant in telling me and it was time to start shedding some light on all the cloak and dagger s**t. One way or another I was about to get some much needed answers.

(Minka P.O.V.)

I woke up to Deianira shaking me awake.

I was having another nightmare and it was causing tremors throughout the pack house.

I looked around my room and saw the crystals from my newest dream catchers were shattered. For as long as I can remember a good night's rest were few and far in-between. I played back down and waited for my heart to stop racing.

A few minutes later my mother and a freaked out Omega came into my room with a hot cup of herbal tea. No one said anything while the Omega helped my mother and Deianira clean up the broken crystals all over the floor. Once the floor was cleaned up the Omega quietly left and Deianira and mother sat quietly on either side of my bed, worry written all over their faces.

"Well?" Deianira asked, breaking the silence first.

"It's the same feeling I get every time those crystals break. Hatred, power, greed... the essence of evil is so thick that I can still feel it even after waking up."

"Is that all you're feeling?" Mother asked, sensing I'm not being 100% honest.

"I- I feel drawn to it and I think that scares me more. Grandma Amelia said I was going to be taken over, my heart was going to be stolen... is this what she meant?" I was scared and confused. This presence was many things but never comforting in the sense that I should be drawn to it.

"Grandma was a bit eccentric in the end and talked in a lot of riddles, most of which never made much sense," she sighed, "But this could be more serious than even I was hoping it would be. Try to get back to sleep and we'll talk more about it in the morning," she said, kissing my forehead and tucking me in like I was a small child again, a comfort I will never get tired of.

When they left I could hear their worried whispering disappearing down the hall.

I was going to have to up my studies with Chris and Noel and try to create stronger crystals and maybe a few other protection amulets, I thought as I easily drifted back to sleep, this time with no more tremors.