Blood Moon: Awakening

Chapter Six

"What's happening... What's going on?" A drowsy Kris began to regain consciousness. He kept hearing voices and couldn't make sense of anything.

"It's amazing... he's waking up and we haven't lost contact..." A voice spoke around him.

"What... contact? who's what...hunh?" Kris let out a gentle breath before opening his left eye. He looked up to see a white ceiling. His eyeball rolled leftwards slowly as he saw a monitor and a drip stand. He tried sitting up but couldn't feel the right part of his body.

"Take it easy... Are you in any pain?" A soft voice spoke.

There's no particular way to explain this but Kris suddenly realized that he was looking at this person with his right eye which he knew he didn't open as he only could feel the left side of his body. He stared blankly at this man who sort of looked familiar.

"What about you James... anything new?"

"James? Who are you talking..." Kris was interrupted by the feeling of his mouth talking.

"Nothing so far.."

Kris panicked. He was confused. Why am I speaking with a voice that's not mine? Why can't I feel all of my body? Why can't I move? All these questions kept resonating in his head as he struggled to feel his body. His pulse became unstable and his heart rate skyrocketed. 

"Hold him down and apply the anaesthetics." A doctor in the room ordered. 

Kris struggled against the nurses who tried to hold him. Suddenly, he felt his right hand working against him as it tried to hold him down. 

"Stay still!" A voice growled as his hand was pinning him down with a blood-red like aura.

The nurse came closer in order to inject him.

"What's that? I can't see who said that... and why the fuck is my body holding me down! Why can't I feel this damned right hand!" Kris quavered at first before becoming frustrated. His eyes glowed red and the aura on the right hand began to dissipate, more like being absorbed by his body.

"What!" The voice resonated with shock. Kris yelled at the top of his lungs releasing a large burst of red energy sending all the nurses and the doctor flying. All except Yu, who was sitting beside him with excitement in his eyes.

Kris could feel his entire body excluding the right side of his face. He sat up on the bed breathing heavily and sweating profusely. The red energy began to be absorbed by his body back.

"Fascinating!" Yu's eyes beamed. Kris was trembling. He started having sharp, painful flashbacks, including memories that weren't his own but came to him in the first person. He held his head tight as it rang loudly before gently calming down.

"Are you still there James?" Yu questioned.

"Yeah but I feel completely restricted." James groaned as he responded.

Kris struggled off the bed and backed up with his right palm faced at Yu till he got his back against a wall. 

"Who are you? What is this? Why am I hearing voices in my head?" Kris squealed as he trembled against the wall.

"Calm down and take a deep breath. You are frightened and understandably so..." Yu tried to explain to Kris.

"ANSWER ME!" Kris yelled out cutting YU short.

Yu let out a deep sigh and said " There's no need to shout, I'll answer most of your questions when you calm down. James, do refrain from talking till he is calmer."

"Most?"

"Well yeah... it's not like I understand everything that's going on with you, but I can offer you a basic explanation."

"Oh. Okay..."

"So breathe, rest a bit, get dressed. One of the nurses will show you to the briefing room. Be sure to apologize for sending them flying." Yu smiled as he stood to take his leave. The doctors and nurses groaned as they rolled to their sides from the pain. Kris sat on the floor and tried to control his breathing and his heart rate. James’s presence began to sink deeper and Kris could now completely feel his face.

Yu was in the briefing room with Michael. Michael, who was disappointed in himself for being unable to do anything, stared at the ceiling while sulking. Yu tried talking to him but it was difficult to voice out anything. The briefing room had a very depressing mood set. Yu let out a sigh. The door opened and Kris walked in. He was greeted with a very wide room with a large rectangular table that had the capacity to take about fifty evenly spaced chairs.

"Oh thank God", Yu muttered as he pointed to a seat for Kris to sit. He noticed that James' presence was gone.

"How did you suppress the other presence?" Yu questioned.

"I don't know how to answer that."

"You couldn't see your face but from your tantrums, I noticed that you couldn't feel the right side of your body."

"It's not that I couldn't feel it, it's more of I didn't have control over it."

"Interesting. In reality, half your face and body morphed to resemble the other presence. His name is James."

"Ah...ha..."

"Alright, let me explain what's going on in very simple terms. A special force or source soldier by name of James fought a demon we had been tracking all the way from Egypt to your high school. Along the line, things escalated, the demon got away, James would have died but with your unprecedented appearance, the two of you merged. And from what we can see, you are the dominant body while he is mostly a consciousness within you."

Kris paused for a bit. That was a lot to take in, he thought. he didn't fully grasp the situation but it didn't seem impossible. They lived in a world where demons attempted to invade every now and then. So who knows what other crazy phenomenon could occur. He faced palmed with both hands, regained his composure completely and he looked at Yu.

"So basically I have...'

"A guy inside of you, yes!" Yu burst into laughter.

"Ahhh nooo, Ewww, what the fuck?" Kris grimaced.

"Why would you say it like that?" Michael reacted as he hit Yu on the back of his head.

"What? I've been waiting to use that line for a while" Yu replied, still laughing. The serious mood of the room was broken and everything seemed a bit livened up.

"Pay no mind to him." Michael hissed. He took a seat and placed it beside Kris.

"I am Michael, assistant head of the Outer Worldly Affairs and other related phenomena Division, OWAD for short, and here with me is the head of the American base, Dr. Yu Lock."

"Okay, And...?" Kris responded as he sat back and looked unbothered by Michael's statement.

"Tchh... for a guy that was panicking, you sure have quite the demeanour," Michael's brows furrowed and a vein appeared on his forehead. There was a slight pause as they both stared at each other. Kris had a belittling expression on his face, while Michael had a definite scowl on his face.

"I am going to kill this runt," Michael murmured to himself. He coughed and continued his speech.

"You've basically heard the summary of what happened to you. What more you need to know is that James is one of our top soldiers. The red source energy is amongst the top three powers we have and their cores are extremely difficult to attain."

"Red source and cores. Yeah, I don't know what that means."

"Well, you don't need to know yet," Michael was getting furious.

"Oh yeah? Well I’m still waiting for how this is going to sound like my problem. Since apparently, I don't need to know what the terms you are using mean." Kris chimed in. 

"I am getting to that you little..." Yu cuts him off and says, he would take it from there. Michael stood and moved to a chair further away. He folded his arms and gave Kris a death stare.

"In essence, we need you. You have a red source core buried within you as James. It's not something we can forego easily. The fact that a mere green source gave us so much trouble is proof that something big is coming and we need all hands on deck," Yu explained.

"Green source... Yeah, I still don't know what that means."

"It's a long story, the details will be explained soon enough. The point is, we need you."

"Need me for what exactly?"

"To join the special forces. For now, we don't even know if it's possible to get James out of you. This is something that has never happened before. We’ll run tests on you while simultaneously having you train and master this power." Yu concluded with a very strict face. The regular jovial voice was totally replaced with a deep stern tone. His presence became choking but Kris was maintaining his composure.

"What if I refuse?" He glared back at Yu. "Let's not forget that I didn't ask for this. So you can't force or threaten me into doing something I have no interest in."

"Even though you chose to be there all on your own." Michael retorted.

"Hey! Don't forget that I am the reason why your precious red source isn't gone with the wind."

"Tchh"

"Interesting. You have much spunk for a high school kid. That will be very needed if you want to master this power." Yu beamed at Kris.

"I never said I was going to..." A man burst into the briefing room cutting the conversation short. He was sweating and panting.

"She's coming!" 

Yu and Michael's eyes widened.

"Oh shit! Take the boy to subsection V.  NOW!" Michael ordered

"What's going on? who's coming?" 

"No time to explain, just go!" Michael roared. The man dragged Kris as they headed out of the room. Kris tried to free his hand but noticed that the man's grip wasn't letting up.

"Do you have a plan?" Michael asked Yu. 

"Nope!" Yu smiled with his body trembling a bit.

"Oh wow... she's literally going to kill us!"  Michael quavered.

"Well... It's been a pleasure serving with you."

Michael sighed "As it was with you." The two friends shook each other's hands.

The door to the briefing room opened gently. Two blue source soldiers fully armoured walked in and stood at both sides of the door. A fully armoured white source soldier walked in dragging Nathan by the neck. His face was all bruised up and bleeding, barely conscious. The armor turned to white energy and dissipated. It revealed a very beautiful woman with long flowing black hair and grey eyes. She wore a brown double-breasted suit. The soldier on the left walked up to her and placed a brown trench coat across her shoulders.

"Introducing the commander of the OWAD Egyptian base! Commander Elizabeth Lock!" The two soldiers roared in unison.

"Now then, It's been a while... darling," Elizabeth smiled at Yu.

"You... You won't get away with this." Nathan coughs as he tried to raise his voice. Elizabeth tightens her grip on his neck and he choked till he passed out. She dropped him and walked towards a chair. She took a seat, crossed her legs and she stared directly into Yu's eyes.

"That wasn't very nice." Yu squeaked. Then he coughed and repeated the words in a clearer tone.

"You guys had some fun yesterday. Showing the world how the standards of the American base have fallen. For the first time in years, you received a minor attack, and look at how you made a mess out of it."

"For the record, we were able to isolate the threat..." Michael tried to pitch in. Elizabeth's eyes glowed forcing him to stop dead on his tongue.

"Don't interrupt me again," she spoke gently. 

"I have seen the reports at the bureau, hence the souvenir I brought along. So when I say it's a mess. I know what I am talking about." She added. Michael gulped, and she turned her glare to Yu.

"Where is James?"

Yu scratched his head. "Aaa... He is unavailable at the moment." 

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before releasing her energy. The white energy pulsated across the entire facility, scanning it till she picked up on James's red source signature.

"Shit, I forgot she could do that." Yu thought to himself.

"Seriously? Hiding him in a room with dampers?"

"Babe... I can explain. It's not like we are hiding him or anything, the situation is very complicated."

"Not to worry, I'll see it for myself." She stretched her left hand in the direction of the energy signature. The energy that had pulsated around the facility, shrunk till it surrounded Kris. it gripped tightly on him and dragged him through walls till he broke into the briefing room. He was left suspended in the air with the energy wrapped tightly around him. Elizabeth stared at him with a bit of confusion. Kris was trembling and a bit bruised. The energy gripping him made him feel like an ant under the foot of an elephant.

"Who the hell is this?" She probed.

Yu sighed as he took a seat. "That's what I was trying to tell you. That there is Kris and at the same time, he is also James. To put it more accurately. James is now like a core in Kris's body and exists within his subconscious."

"So you are telling me that he is basically dead."

"Not... really," Yu tried to explain.

"Yu... You let this happen to our baby boy!" Her eyes glared as she roared. Her energy spiralled violently across the room. The walls cracked and the ground depressed. The table split into two and the ground began to crack open. Michael and the two soldiers she brought along fell flat to the ground as the pressure was pressing them against it. Yu set up a small red barrier around him and was struggling to resist the pressure.

"Calm down babe! He is not totally gone, we can still communicate with him!" The right side of Kris’s face morphed into James and he spoke.

"Mom... STOP! I am right here. Plus your energy is choking Kris. He is going to die." James called out.

Elizabeth calmed her energy. She took a deep breath and recomposed herself.

One of the two soldiers she brought was out cold. The other and Michael could barely get up from the floor so they chose to lay there. Yu let a sigh of relief. Elizabeth dragged Kris closer to herself. She could clearly see James' face on the right side. She placed her palm on his face with her eyes feeling heavy.

"Hey, mo.." She slapped him hard across the room before he finished; through a wall leading outside the facility before using her energy to drag him back to her. His face had swollen and although James didn't really feel the pain, Kris on the other hand had tears and mucus rolling out of his eyes and nose.

"What the hell were you thinking James! You left without permission. You engaged in a battle and didn't win. And now you are stuck in another person's body? How much messed up can your situation be!" She yelled on. 

"I am sorry, please don't hit me again." Kris cried out.

"I am sorry. Plus I had permission, Louis gave it to me. Also, since this is Kris' body, even though I can manifest, we are not in sync at all. So I can't really feel pain. He on the other hand..." James explained.

"Tchh. That damned Louis. I'll make him pay for this!" Elizabeth hissed and turned to Yu who was trying to leave the briefing room.

"Where the hell do you think you are going, Yu?"

"Nowhere really...Just stretching." He smiled as he returned to his seat.

"What do you plan on doing concerning this situation?"

"Well... Here is my proposal. We take Kris in and train him to be able to utilize the power so that we don't totally lose a red source soldier. While we are doing that, we perform tests on him and find out more about what's happening. If we are lucky, we might even be able to separate them and gain two red source soldiers."

"That's thinking awfully optimistic, even for you. Now let me ask you this. If all doesn't go well. If it doesn't move as smoothly as you imagine?"

"I'll willingly lay down my life," Yu responded. His tone was serious. There was a brief silence in the room as Elizabeth stared at him.

"You are really confident about this. Very well then, we will be taking him back to the base in Egypt. He will be under my watchful eyes." She smiled as she walked up to Yu and kissed him on his lips. She whispered something in his ears. His eyes widened. His face turned red as it lit up with a smile. 

"No problems there. So Kris do you have any objection?" Yu looked at Kris with a jestful smile.

"No sir!" he responded mid sob.

"Oh...right, you are still there." Elizabeth snapped her fingers and the energy surrounding Kris dissipated making him fall face flat on the ground.

"Fuck..." he groaned. Elizabeth took her leave with her soldiers. One carrying the other.

"She's scary... way too scary! How do you cope man?" Michael muttered.

"Well well well...that's for me to know. Alright then, We will be making all the necessary preparations to transport Kris to Egypt. We will inform his school and loved ones." Yu mentioned as he flicked his finger at Michael. He lay his back on a chair let out a sigh of relief. 

Michael perked up suddenly, "Oh... You mean I would be doing all that."

"Yes! I have plans... If you know what I mean." Yu smirked and laughed mischievously. 

"Hey, Kid? I'll need the names of your parents to inform them of what's going on."

"I don't have any. Never met them. My earliest memories begin from when I was four."

"Oh... okay... makes my job easier."

"Michael! what the fuck?" Yu looked at him with disgust.

"What?" he scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"It's okay. I do have someone I'd like to inform." Kris stated as he stood to his feet. He took a deep breath and calmed his mind. James' presence was pushed back in and his face became normal. 

"How did you...?" Yu Questioned in awe.

"I can't really explain it. It's more of I can feel strong energy at the base of my stomach. When James manifest, there is like a stream of energy flowing from the point to my face. So I just concentrated on it and pulled it back to the source."

“Fascinating. I guess we have ourselves a little genius,” Yu said with a smile.

"Very well then. You will be escorted to your home. In three days' time, we would come to pick you up and you'd be on your way to Egypt. Your life is about to change kid. It’ll be up to you to decide whether or not that change will be a good thing or a bad thing." Yu added.

Kris was escorted out of the base and to the building he lived with Mr. Darwin. The old man hugged Kris and questioned where he had been. Kris told him that he would explain everything but he needed to rest first.

AT NIGHT TIME, Kris woke up. He noticed more bandages across the bruises on his body, face, and his forehead. He shuddered at the thought of Elizabeth. She was too frightening. The swelling had reduced but it still ached and Mr. Darwin had already made something for him to eat. After eating, he walked outside to meet the old man sitting and staring at the sky.

"It's quite starry tonight Kris." Mr. Darwin expressed with a light smile.

"Yeah."

"You have something to say to me?"

“Well...” Kris began as he sat down beside the old man. "I will be going away for a while. I'll be joining this special forces thingy. They called themselves OWAD or so. I can't really remember what that stands for."

"This is random. Does this organization have anything to do with the bruises you had your body?"

"Sort of. I am not allowed to give the details, but let's just say I'll be serving the world?"

"The world? Sounds like a big deal for an uncultured brat." Mr. Darwin chuckled. Kris smiled and lay on his back and folded his hands behind his head. There was a brief silence.

"So you are finally moving on huh." Mr. Darwin voiced.

"I guess so. Who knows I might find something I'm not really looking for."

"Your parents huh? That statement brings back memories of our first meeting. When you came to me, you tried to rob me and I beat you hard. You were no more than a hungry brat being shunned by the world. But you seemed determined to find 'What you were not looking for' You had this locket that said, Happy fourth birthday Kris. Ironic how you were the furthest from being happy. We searched all those years and now look at you. You've grown all strong bold problematic and now planning on serving the world. You somehow even seem excited by this."

"Wait wait wait... You almost sound like you are going to miss me. I must be delusional or you are actually growing senile."

"Shut up brat." Mr. Darwin snarled at Kris. There was a brief silence and they both began to chuckle.

"I am going to miss moments like this with you." Kris voiced out. his voice sunk as the realization took over the mood.

"No matter what happens, Kris. Don't die. Joining these special forces will come with lots of risks. If it ever gets dangerous, you make sure you get out of there. And remember, my doors are always opened if you ever need a place to have a breather." Mr. Darwin muttered as he throws the Locket at Kris. Kris caught it and stared at it before placing it on his chest. He looked at Mr. Darwin and could see tears roll out of his eyes. The old man was smiling and then he turned away his eyes from Kris.

"Don't worry Mr. Darwin. I am going to be just fine. I'll try to visit once in a while though." Kris smirked as he turned to look at the old man. Mr. Darwin didn't utter a response. The two remained in silence for a while.

THREE DAYS PASSED and Kris was at the American base. They ran some tests on him in order to make sure his vitals were okay and stable. Once he completed the tests, he was led into a room with five chairs lined up in an M pattern. Elizabeth and her two soldiers were seated and waiting. He picked a seat and sat in silence for a few minutes. It felt awkward as no one was saying anything.

"It's about time. Start the launch" She ordered. A white light began to engulf the entire room as a timer was counting down from 10. Soon after the room was fully engulfed and everyone in it vanished with a boom warping sound.