Tales of the Fallen Book I: Awakenings Read Free

Branch. We would like you to work for us.”
    Mal tried to look directly at whatever the hell was glowing at the foot of his bed. But his eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to working status again and he felt his gaze avert itself toward the floor, the ceiling, anywhere but straight ahead.
    “Is there a problem, Mr. Branch?” the glow asked.
    “Um… Well… You, ah, know you’re all super glowy and shit, right?” Mal responded.
    “Ah, yes. I do tend to forget. It’s been a while since I’ve been around someone not used to my…condition.”
    “The glowy thing is a ‘condition’? What fucking condition makes you do that? ”
    The man flinched at Mal’s words. “I will make you a deal, Mr. Branch. I will hide my ‘glowy thing’ as you put it, if you promise to refrain from being profane in my presence.” And the light surrounding the voice began to abate.
    Mal shrugged, “Okay. I’ll try, but it ain’t gonna be easy. I came out of the womb middle finger in the air. Know what I mean?” he asked, trying to see what was forming at the end of his bed.
    “Indeed. A lovely image. Your mother would have been quite proud—”
    “Yeah, well—”
    “—provided she had lived. Right, Mr. Branch?”
    Mal laid there, mouth agape, hands twitching. This is fucked up , he thought. How the hell…
    “How did I know your mother died while unleashing you unto this world?”
    “Uhh…” was all Mal could dribble out of his mouth. His vision began to clear and he found he could look straight ahead finally. A man stood before him. A man like no other Mal had ever seen. He stood at least seven feet tall—easily as tall as the Desmond guy, but not as wide. Tall, slim, almost wispy…yet…his ice blue eyes locked onto Mal’s eyes and as Mal stared deep into them, he felt a power, an electricity that flowed directly from this man into his veins. And Mal knew instantly that this was no ordinary man…and this was no ordinary situation… Mal was lost, swimming in the man’s eyes, feeling the hairs on his skin stand up. He felt as though his tether to his world had been snapped and he was floating loose, out of control toward infinity. He had no idea where he was, what he was doing, where he would go, but he knew that whatever happened, this man would be the one to lead him. He felt the man’s voice wrap around him—a warm blanket with Mal nestled deep within.
    “Mr. Branch?”
    “Uhmm…” Mal shook his head, trying to get back to reality.
    “We have much to discuss, Mr. Branch.”
    “Call me Mal…”
    “Alright…Mal. Let’s get you fed and dressed. Desmond is here for you. I’ll leave you for now and when you are ready, he will bring you to me.”
    Mal felt an enormous shadow fall over his left side as Desmond reached out and lowered the safety rail on Mal’s bed, the metallic clank shattering the serenity of the room, bringing Mal fully back to his senses.
    “Uh… Okay,” Mal managed as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He felt Desmond’s big hands grab his arm to offer support as he tried to stand. “Who are you, by the way?” Mal asked, turning his head to the end of the bed, which now held nothing but emptiness.
    Mal shook his head again, “Ooookay. Guess that comes later, huh, big guy.”
    Desmond said nothing and proceeded to lift Mal to his feet. He felt like a newborn foal standing for the first time. But he quickly got his legs underneath him. He had questions that needed answering. Something told him things were going to be very different from now on. Very… very …different.
     
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    Mal had never really stressed about assignments before. Sure, at the beginning, but that had been so long ago. The jobs, like the years, ran together. Most of them required very little planning. Mostly off-the-cuff dealings. Mal was never really worried. He knew his tracks would be covered. Plus, he was blessed. How could anything go wrong, ever? But something told Mal he needed to focus some