The Reckoning By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Last night had been horrible. But we had gotten past the initial shock, and Andrew decided to call a house meeting.

"Okay, so we all know what needs to happen. We have to find a way to help Chloe control her powers in the next two weeks. Since we are pressed for time, we have to work as hard as possible to keep Chloe from dying. We are going to split into teams. The first team will research everything we can to find out anything about her new powers, how to control them, how they work, what's normal, what isn't, etc. The second team will be helping Chloe find a way to control her powers, and use them in a way that will not end up killing her. The last team will be figuring out what to do with Diane, and to see if we can get any information out of her about anything she learned in the EG that would help us or that we should be warned about. The teams are as following:

Research

Tori, Damien, Andrew, Anna, and the twins

Power Control

Arabelle, Lacie, Simon, Derek, and Angie

Diane

Mike, Caleb, Shane, Sarah, and Joey

"If we don't come up with anything helpful within a week, we are flying to Egypt to see if there are any Taltheranians we could talk to, or anyone there with any knowledge of them." We were all silent, and when no one added anything, Andrew broke us off into our groups. The researcher headed towards the library, Diane's group headed toward the offices to interrogate her, and Arabelle led our group outside towards the sports fields. Derek had clasped my hand tightly in his, and I squeezed it back in reassurance. I wasn't going to die, I was going to get through this, and we were going to be together forever. I was sure of it. Arabelle had us sit in a circle, with me in the middle. Derek came with me, and sat me on his lap. Arabelle looked like she wanted him elsewhere, but he growled, so her lips formed a tight line and she spread out a couple books and other objects to do with necromancy. There were some herbs and some candles, a lighter, some type of flower, a leather book, some kind of really old encyclopedia, and another amulet, except this one was on a silver chain, and it was green, with flecks of amber. She exhaled slowly, then looked up at me.

"Okay, Chloe, do you see anything you recognize?" I nodded.

"But I don't need any of them, I've always been able to raise or summon anything on my own." She nodded, and looked down at everything she had spread out, contemplating. She picked up the amulet and laid it in front of me. By reflex, I touched my fingers to my own amulet, fingering the ribbon, which was the only thing visible above my shirt. She saw my gesture and pulled back the amulet in surprise.

"What is that around your neck?" I pulled it out.

"It's my amulet, it's similar to that one, except the chain broke—" I was frozen in shock. My amulet had doubled in size since the last time I really looked at it, and had turned from an iridescent blue to a deep lavender. And if I examined it closely, there seemed to be a glow emanating from around the middle, like there was something dazzlingly bright trapped inside, encased in violet ice. Arabelle was staring at it, mesmerized.

"What?" I said. She blinked and shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised you already have one, and yet your powers are already so strong with it on. It's supposed to reduce them, the price you pay for being hidden from the majority of ghosts. If you're already this strong with it on, I shudder to think of what you could do with it off, if you got into one of those rages again." I flinched, remembering the other 'rage'. Derek rubbed his thumbs on my shoulders which helped subside the nervousness. The others we fidgeting around the circle, apparently just as nervous as I was. I sat up straighter in Derek's lap, and watched as Arabelle push aside the amulet, the candles, the lighter, and the herbs. She brought the two books and the flower out in front, and opened the leather one. She flipped through the pages, skimming for what she wanted. She frowned, and turned pages, and I became impatient. Angie and Lacie had started a tic-tac-toe game in the dirt, and Simon was constructing some sort of pile out of pebbles and sticks. Then, he began muttering under his breath and making hand motions, and soon enough, the pile he had erected started floating. He seemed deep in concentration (or at least constipated), and little beads of sweat were forming on the side of his forehead. He inhaled sharply, and the pebbles and sticks fell back to the earth. He refocused and kept trying, and that's when I got bored and looked away. Derek was watching me with a concerned expression, and I could only wonder what was going on inside his head. I fought off the urge to jump up and start pacing. Honestly, the waiting was killing me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like an impatient brat. I glance back over at Arabelle. She was still flipping through pages, searching. Then suddenly, she gasped, and everyone looked up, but then she frowned and resumed flipping. I sighed, and put my head in my hands. It was going to be a long day.

Arabelle finally set down the leather book, and I braced myself to listen to long paragraphs of important information, when she went and picked up the other book. I groaned and fell back on Derek who chuckled at me. I slapped him in the shoulder. He just chuckled again, so I ignored him, leaning on his chest, facing away, trying to find something interesting to focus on. Arabelle finally set down the book, and with a exasperated sigh, said

"I got nothing." We all gaped at her.

"WHAT?" I shrieked. Derek tensed, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"I said, I got nothing. No-thing, nil, nada, zip, zero, zilch, diddly squat. What ever you want to call it, it means I got nothing." I was at a loss for words. Angie conked her head to the side.

"Why not?" she demanded. Arabelle frowned at her. Derek's eye's blazed.

"You're supposed to be helping us teach Chloe how to control her powers, and you're the damn teacher! Why the fuck don't you have anything?" Arabelle looked taken aback.

"Maybe because Taltheranians were supposedly extinct, maybe because no one has seen one or talked to one or ever really heard of them in over 1000 years, maybe because all research done on them has been prized and rare, and only done or sought out by those who actually know about them and wanted to find out about an extinct race. The only times I ever heard about them was when I was with the Edison Group and—"

"You were with the Edison Group?" Derek stood up quickly, causing me to face plant into the dirt. I pushed myself off the ground and spat grass out of my mouth, and stood up, giving Derek a look. Arabelle was dead serious, and Derek was glaring at her with a ferocity I would shudder to be in the line of fire of. He gave me a sorry-ish gesture with his shoulders, not breaking eye contact with Arabelle, and continued his glare match with her.

"Let me finish. The only times I ever heard about them was when I was with the Edison Group, and that's only because Davidoff researched it when we were setting up the first experiment involving necromancers. No, it wasn't Genesis II, or Genesis I, actually, it was one of the earlier experiments, purely to see what would happen if we messed with necromancer genes. Davidoff was all for drudging up those genes and creating new Taltheranians, but the Cabals wouldn't let him, they thought it was too dangerous that early on, and as more problems occurred, even with later on experiments, Davidoff gave up hope that they would ever procure a Taltheranian. Though, despite everything, they managed to produce one, even if it was unintentional." We were all paying attention now.

"I left as soon as the killing started, though I imagine they were killing long before I found out, but I just wasn't informed of this until they thought it was truly necessary. I told them they were crazy, that they'd end up creating supernaturals with no control at all, and would accidentally kill the lot of them, but they just kicked me to the curb, seeing as I had no power compared to them, and I refused to do my insignificant job. Apparently I wasn't worth killing. So I joined up with the others here, and played my part in running the resistance. And until you showed up, Chloe, I hadn't heard anything since the labs about Taltheranians."

"Then why the hell did you volunteer to teach Chloe?" The vein in Derek's forehead was pulsing, and it looked like it was going to explode. She rolled her eyes very teenagerly like at him.

"Hello? Do you see any other adult necromancers here with us? What did you expect, a Taltheranian was just going to fall out of the sky and teach Chloe to control her powers and everything would be peachy? Or maybe that I knew everything there is to know about Chloe's new powers and I'd take her under my wing and show her the tools of the trade? What planet are you from? FYI, I didn't volunteer, Kit said I should help and I'm trying! If you'd let me finish in the first place instead of making me spiel about EG we wouldn't have this problem!" We were all gaping at her. Except Derek, he was too busy trying to figure out the language of what should have come from a twelve year old.

"Aren't you supposed to be, like, an adult?" Lacie said. Arabelle rolled her eyes.

"What, I'm not allowed to talk like a regular person if I'm over 25? Sheesh, tough crowd. But not the point. We're going to have to figure out what Chloe can do first before I can help her in any way. Otherwise, we got nothing." Derek frowned, and I probably had a similar expression.

"If I didn't find out about my Taltheranian powers until I thought Derek was dead, what are we going to do? Stab him? Because there is no way in hell that is happening!" I practically shouted. But Arabelle shook her head.

"Any type of powers, once manifested, only need the supernatural to concentrate for them to work, regardless of what triggered them in the first place. Of course, you have to concentrate on the right thing. Try something." She had everyone else back up. But Derek just stood there, growling.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Arabelle frowned.

"What else can we do? It's not like we have a manual full of instructions lying around." Derek's gaze hardened a bit.

"It's not safe. We don't know what will happen if she just starts fooling around with her powers. It doesn't feel right." I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine Derek. We don't have any other options. If I'm to learn how to control my powers in the next 2 weeks, sitting around doing nothing won't help. At least let me try." his gazed softened a bit, but this was Derek. He's not that easy to break. He turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Chloe, listen to me. The last time you used these powers you summoned billions of ghosts and tortured them while killing a spirit inside a woman's body. Which caused you to be unconscious for almost 2 days. And then, you're powers started to consume you. Do you really think I'd let you risk dying when we have no idea how to do it safely?" His green eyes seemed to pierce my heart. But this was the only thing we had, and we were pressed for time.

"Derek," I looked straight into his eyes. "Do you think I don't know that? Under any other circumstances I would agree with you, but this is all we have, and I think its our best shot at finding a way to do this safely. Just let me try." His glare lessened, and I knew I had won, but I also knew that next time it wouldn't be so easy, especially if something went wrong this time. He scowled, and walked over to where the others were standing. I took it as a cue to start trying. I turned to the stretch of grass in front of me.

So, what the hell was I supposed to do?

"Just use your senses, and concentrate on manifesting necromantic energy. It might be just like summoning, except the rest of us will be able to see it too. And you can actually use it as a weapon. You won't know if you don't try." I jumped. Arabelle. Mind reader. Right.

"Didn't you say you had nothing?" Derek was eying Arabelle with an untrusting gaze. We all looked skeptically at her. She shrugged.

"That's what I would do. But I'm just guessing. Its not actually having something, unless of course I'm right. But that has to be proven first." Derek scowled, while the others just turned back to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Focus. Okay. So what did I want to happen?

"Try making those hands again. And maybe pick something up. If you go out of control, Lacie knows how to stop you (Diane taught all the spellcasters this morning)." Again with the mind reading. I took another calming breath, and started concentrating on my hands. I felt a jolt and my eyes flew open. Nothing. Apparently it takes more than that. I could hear the breaths of the others, and their fidgeting. I closed my eyes again and resumed concentrating. This time, when I felt the jolt, I kept going. A warm feeling in the center of my palms was building, almost like I was putting my hands on top of a heater. It felt like there was some type of electric current pulsing slowly down from my shoulders, through my arms, to my hands. It also seemed to be slowly draining my energy, not by a lot, but enough to let me know that if I did too much I would pass out. I couldn't hear the others anymore, not even their anxious breathing (not that I could ever hear Derek any way). It was just me and the necromantic current surging through my arms. I felt the current begin to expand inside my body, excessively building in my head, hands, and chest. My hands felt bigger and heavier, but not in a bad way. I opened my eyes, and almost screamed.

Giant, red, pulsing hands made of energy had formed off of my arms, big enough to crush a truck. Then, I did scream, and I felt the energy current deteriorate, as I lost control, and with a gut wrenching amount of pain, the hands separated from my arms and blasted forward, exploding. But I was in to much pain to care. I looked down at my hands, which felt like my skin had just been peeled off. I couldn't tell, because they were covered in blood. The pain had me on my knees, cradling my hands on my lap, the blood soaking into my jeans.

"CHLOE!" Derek had come sprinting over, the others following closely behind. The trees nearby had lit on fire from the explosion, and Simon and Lacie were using water spells to put it out, while Angie was pulling the air away so the fire would lose its oxygen and die out. Derek pulled off his shirt, tore it into strips and started to tie them around my hands.

"Derek, you don―" He growled sharply, and continued wrapping my bloody hands in his now ruined shirt. I tried to get him to stop.

"But―"

"Chloe! Your hands are seriously damaged! We need to stop the bleeding!Just stop trying to be brave and let me help!" Arabelle nodded next to him.

"That looks really bad, we'll have to get Mike and Sarah to look at them." Derek glared up at her.

"This is why I didn't want her doing this. You're the adult, you're supposed to keep us safe, but instead, you got her skin peeled off!" Derek had finished bandaging my hands, and was standing, shouting at her. Arabelle's eyes were filled guilt, but it wasn't her fault.

"Derek! She didn't know this would happen!" He turned to look down at me. The look in his eyes scared me.

"Exactly."

Simon came up behind him.

"Bro, none of us knew that would happen. Its no one's fault Chloe's hands exploded. Stop blaming others for something no one could control!" Derek's eyes blazed, and Simon took a step back. Angie and Lacie were watching in silence.

"She knew doing anything with powers that unstable could be harmful, but she went on anyway. And I don't like it when people gamble with others' lives. Especially people I love."

Crack!

Derek's cheek was starting to turn red from the force of Arabelle's slap. Arabelle herself was the exact same shade, the fury hardly contained in her eyes. Her gaze slice right through him. And when she spoke, she was dead serious.

"I never gamble with others' lives. Don't you ever assume that I would carelessly put other people in danger without knowing the consequences! You let her try her powers too, and don't see anyone blaming you for her injury! Now stop acting like a baby and help Chloe back to the house so she can get her hands healed." Derek looked like a statue, permanently frozen in stone, the red mark on his cheek standing out, demanding attention. Arabelle walked off toward the house, not looking back, and the others followed suit. Watching them walk away, I couldn't contain my self any longer. I started crying. What was happening to us? Why was this happening to us?

Why did I have to cause everyone so much pain?

My tears to the ground, mixing with the blood already staining the grass. As I stared at it, I knew from then on, the rest of my life was never, ever going to be easy, ever again.

"Why?"

Tori's POV

I still couldn't get over the fact that my mother was a dead guy. Scientifically, Diane Enright was my mother, but in reality, my real mother was Samuel Lyle, and that disturbed me on so many levels that my entire being was crumbling from the inside out. I didn't know what to think anymore. And to top it all off, Simon was my biological half brother, Derek adopted half brother, and, Kit Bae was my father. My whole life was collapsing in on me, and I had no idea what to do.

When I woke up that morning, I was stilled dazed. No one ever told me how to cope when finding out your mother's a dead guy and your new family thinks you're a bitch. I dragged myself out of bed and threw on some sweats, and went downstairs for breakfast. Andrew called a meeting, and all I registered was that I'd be doing research on Talthe-whatevers. That was all right with me, losing myself on the computer would help me take my mind off things. I followed him, Anna, Damien, and the Twins to the offices somewhere in the middle of the house, and immediately I forgot my life crisis. I was in techie heaven! We were standing in a computer lab so modern, the closest one you could find like it would probably be at NASA or Area 51. That is, if Area 51 has a super high-tech lab (I'm not so sure, never been there). I squealed girlishly, and ran to the nearest computer. Dual monitors, three keyboards, and multiple other techie accessories I shall not name here (A/N: I'm not really a techie(yet), so I'm just going with what I have). Andrew gave us instructions on what to look for, and we set to work. I pulled up myths and legends centered on ancient Egypt and death, and all I got were the basic gods stuff and some info about Yu-Gi-Oh season six (A/N: They go to Egypt and back in time in Yami's memories and he's the Pharaoh and he doesn't share a body with Yugi anymore and they have to fight stuff. They also find out Yami's real name and that's how the beat the evil guy by sealing him away with his name (Atem/Atemu). I love it!).I broadened my search, Andrew directing me to sites where supernaturals posted information in code, and after a couple hours, we struck gold.

"I found something!" Andrew practically sprinted over, Anna and the twins on his heels.

"All I did was type in Taltheranian in Google! I can't believe it actually got me something!" Andrew just shushed me.

"Just read what it says." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, okay. Taltheranians:

A mythical race said to have lived in Ancient Egypt that had the ability to control and transform necromantic energy into matter at will. They could also raise, speak to, and control the dead and were said to have lived in clans or cults, usually small, and were pacifists and only violent when defending their clan. Though few were said to have abused their powers, but not much is known on the subject. It is said that if one was to come in to Taltheranian powers, they would have to pass a 2 week period during which they would have to control their powers or die. If they survived, they would either join a cult, or choose to live on their own, usually as a medium to help ghosts through to the afterlife. Most that chose to live in a cult were born into one, and often were forced in once found to have the power, though many resisted and were killed. Taltheranians were treated like gods and high society, until the Romans took over, which is when they were persecuted for fear that they would overthrow the Roman pharaoh because they believed only Egyptians should rule over Egypt. After that, they went into hiding, since then there hasn't been any clear evidence that they exist, or ever had existed except for stories and hieroglyphics calling them gods. Though, in 1956, a man claimed to have stumbled upon a clan of people in Cairo who were making dead people come to life and glowing giants out of thin air. Bu before he could be interviewed further, he was brutality killed, though no one ever figured out how exactly all his skin was peeled off in one piece without the use of a knife and without causing any damage to the organs except that one ventricle from his heart was missing. No other claims have been heard since then, and all there is is a freakish murder and some stories and tomb carvings." I swiveled my chair away from the computer towards the others, and gave a cocky grin.

"I guess this means we're going to Cairo?"

Diane's POV

I was free. I was finally free. I still couldn't believe that I was finally in control of my own body. I flexed my fingers and my toes and felt like doing a cartwheel, but that probably would have been hard considering the circumstances. I was sitting in a makeshift interrogation room. Chained to a chair. I could hear the murmur of voices drifting from outside the door, the group of supernaturals who had hated my guts but were now just wary and confused. I still had no idea how the hell I was going to heal the wounds Lyle had inflicted using my body. Even thinking his name made me want to blow up something, and not even in the fun way. My plan was just to stick to the truth, and see where it took me from there. The only two things that really worried me, were Chloe's two weeks to live, and Tori. Tori, my daughter. God help me. There was no way I was ever going to repair her heart. Someday, way, way in the future, I might gain her trust, but I don't think I'll ever repair the damage Lyle caused her. I hoped that someday she would come to love me as a mother, but I doubted she would ever feel comfortable around me. I heard the lock click, and prepared myself to be interrogated. God, please help me.

Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! as you can see, RBM won! But I'm still writing RTN! (even if you guys had said stop writing one of these, I probably wouldn't have unless most of you did, but only one guy said that, but I hope whoever it was reads the other one, because they seriously need a reality check.) I love writing and reading and getting reviews, and I hope you guys sens me a billion of them, because they're so much fun to read! I worked really hard, I hope you like the chapter! Read, Review, and Enjoy! (but mostly review) XD Love you guys! ~Julie~