Fate of The Chosen One: The Awakening Trilogy, #3

By BRANDON ROHRBAUGH

The new world is revealed in this epic finale of The Awakening Trilogy

Angels, Demons, magic, and mysterious creatures live amongst humans in this finale.

Mark awakens in the future without memory of his past. He has no idea of the events that transpire back in Rockport or Dracfort. The evil forces that were once hidden have now taken over the world and forced humans and creatures alike into hiding in this desolate dystopian new world.
Mark learns of the fate of his past choices and is faced with a new challenge in saving the world from a new and past evil. He meets new and old friends along the way on his path to fulfil a destiny.

The epic finale in The Awakening Trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BRANDON ROHRBAUGH
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215561249

Book preview

Chapter 1

That same strong-smelling candle was burning in the corner of the room like it had every other time I had been in here. Doctor Bellows had an obsession with the smell of cedar. I asked her one time why she liked that certain smell so much and she just cried; it must have reminded her of something sad in her life before the bang .

I couldn’t remember much at all before the bang happened outside. The people here just told me it was a nuclear war that nearly ended the world. They found me outside and brought me to The Sanctum, over three years ago. The Sanctum, an old underground military sanctuary somewhere in western Arizona, protected us from the deathly chemicals outside. Doctor Kane was one leader here, and he said it would take ten years for the outside to be clear of the radioactive fumes. He said we were hit with a nuclear weapon one thousand times greater than anything we’d ever seen. So that was why it took a decade for the air up there to be clean.

I was told by several people that this place was renamed The Sanctum because of me. They said saving me showed them this place was a sanctuary. I guessed I was lucky that they’d found me that day, that I was passed out on a beach in a small town in Washington state. When I asked them why they were up there, they said they were working at a facility there and were headed this way when they found me. The more I saw of this place, the more I wondered what kind of military facility it used to be. There were things down here that I never remembered knowing existed. Everything down here provided us with everything we would need on the surface. Even the lights were built to mimic the sun.

Doctor Bellows was the shrink here, and she’d been helping me to remember who I was before the bang. I called it the bang because that was all I remembered hearing before they found me. The others here told me what they remembered of that day. The sky lit up red, and dark clouds moved in around them. They remembered hearing a loud clap of thunder. The president gave an immediate speech telling people to get as far below ground as possible. I thought none of them knew the extent to which we were hit, or who it was that attacked us. All I knew was that I’d been stuck down here for three years, and I still had another seven years before we could go to the surface.

On top of all of that, I couldn’t even remember my life before. Ever since Dr. Bellows had been working with me, I’d been having these horrible nightmares. Strange things, things I couldn’t even explain. I didn’t know why, but it felt like they were connected somehow, like my mind was trying to tell me something I couldn’t yet understand.

Mark, Dr. Bellows nudged me. You look to be in deep thought there.

She walked over and sat across from me in her usual leather chair. We had met here twice a week for almost three years now and hadn’t really gotten any closer to piecing this together.

I’m just tired of having these meetings and still not being able to remember anything.

I know it’s frustrating, but you’ve made a lot of progress since we met, she confided. Do you remember when we first met?

Of course, I remembered that horrible day. When they first brought me here, they said I had slipped into a coma. They said I was so in shock from what I saw that my body had shut down. I was in that coma for nearly seven months before waking up. You might think an abandoned military bunker would be lacking modern technology, but this place had it all. They were able to do brain scans and all sorts of tests on me. After the results came back, they said I would have significant memory loss, and it would take some time for it to come back - if ever.

That first night I slept here, I freaked out and went into full panic mode. Dr. Bellows found me curled up in the corner of a locker. It took a long time for me to get used to this place and to accept this was my life now. It was hard; all I remembered was my name, and that I was lost or missing.

Look, Mark, she said, taking her glasses off. I’d learned her quirks and habits over the years, and when she removed her glasses, she meant business.

Let’s try something a little different today, she continued. In my younger years, I had a mentor who I trained under. He showed me a technique he used to help people remember things buried deep below. I never used this on anyone because I didn’t fully believe it, but I think we need to take a new direction with your case.

Can’t hurt, I uttered, playing with a loose string sticking out of the couch.

I want you to sit back in your chair and close your eyes.

I sat back and closed my eyes, listening to her calm voice.

Great, now I want you to put your arms straight out in front of you, the palms of your hands facing each other.

I did as she instructed even though it sounded ridiculous. I was willing to try anything at this point.

Good job, now imagine there are magnets in each hand. Feel the power of them in your palms. They’re growing stronger; wanting to come together. Great job, they’re almost together, now imagine them getting even stronger. The connection between them so great; they need to meet.

I could feel my mind slipping out of consciousness. My hands felt like they were moving on their own.

Great job, Mark, she said as I felt my arms fall to my sides.

I was awake but asleep at the same time. It was an eerie feeling, like an out-of-body experience. Her voice could be heard, but was distant, like she was talking to me from far above. I felt like I was falling away from my body.

Now, I want you to picture the beach they found you on three years ago. Feel the gritty sand between your fingers. Smell the musty water. Taste the salt on your tongue. Are you still with me, Mark?

Yes, I answered her, seeing and feeling exactly what she was describing.

Great, she said calmly. Now, sit up, look at the area around you, what do you see?

I could see the beach in my mind. It was dark outside, the moon bright and full. I looked around, the sand was covered in red. I felt my heart pumping faster and could see something moving in the water.

Mark, what do you see? the distant voice asked again.

Something is in the water, I whispered back to her.

Is it fish? she asked.

I looked closer at the movements in the water. It was like a rogue wave moving in a distinct pattern. The object moved closer and closer as I stood there, staring into the darkness.

Mark, is it a fish?

I walked toward the slow-moving wave, water to my knees. I could feel the bone-chilling water on my skin. The wave stood tall; a few feet taller than me. It just stopped and hovered in front of me, like it was waiting for me to react. I reluctantly reached my hand out toward the standing wave.

It’s water, I whispered. It’s just standing in front of me.

I reached forward, feeling the cold water on my fingers. A shape formed in the wall of water - a face.

Someone is in it, I whispered.

Mark, I want you to go back to the beach.

I ignored the voice and watched the wave turning shape. Leaning closer to it, I watched it change in front of me. The wave got smaller, shrinking down, and then a girl stood in front of me.

It’s a girl, younger than me, I whispered, feeling my heart race faster.

The girl had black hair covering her face. I leaned in closer, squinting to get a better look as she lunged forward at me, revealing her face.

Help me! I shouted. The face of a hideous creature stood in front of me.

Mark, Dr. Bellows shrieked. I’m going to count from one to five, and when I get to five, you will be awake. Do you understand?

It’s going to kill me! I can’t move, please help me! I screamed, feeling like I was shackled down.

The hideous creature moved its face toward mine. Its rotting flesh dripped from its face. Its pure black eyes, like an endless darkness, stared into my soul. The sharp teeth, hundreds of them, drooled red ooze.

One, you’re feeling yourself waking up, Bellows said. Two, you can feel your arms and legs getting stronger. Three, the light is turning back on.

It’s right on top of me! I shouted louder. The creature extended its long tongue across my face.

Four, my voice is getting louder. Five, you’re awake. Open your eyes, Mark!

My eyes shot open, frantically looking around, I was back in Dr. Bellows office. I quickly fell to the ground in fear. Catching my breath, she leaned down to touch my shoulder as I quickly stood up and ran for the door.

Wait, Mark! she called after me as I ran down the hallway.

I quickly ran through the cafeteria to an old dumbwaiter in a backroom that no one used anymore. I opened it and crammed inside, closing it, I pulled the rope. Pulling myself higher, the lift rose as high as it could go. I paused for a moment before opening the small door. I slid out of it and sat down in my chair. I had found this place two years ago while cleaning out the cleaning closet behind the cafeteria. The lift could only go here and back down to the cafeteria, but it was my private room. Of course, they gave me a nice room down in the living quarters, but I liked the privacy up here.

From what I could tell, this room was right above the cafeteria, and right under the floor above it. So, it was kind of like a secret room in between two floors. It was small, only about six feet wide by six feet long and six feet tall, but just enough for me. I had managed to cram a few chairs, an old radio, and some other small stuff into the lift a while ago. I had come up here almost every night since I woke up from the coma. Sneaking out of my room after ‘curfew’, I would just come up here and think, try to remember who I was, or where I’d come from. I had to have a family out there wondering what had happened to me. A mom, a dad, maybe a brother or sister.

The only person who’d known about this place, other than me, was my roommate Felix. He swore he wouldn’t tell anyone about this place if I continued to give him my dessert, which we got once a month. I didn’t know what it was about the pudding, but Felix loved it. I’d snooped around this place a good bit, and I thought it safe to say that this place wasn’t just an old, abandoned bunker. It was like they’d been preparing for the end of the world for a long time. Most of the Sanctum was closed off to us with no clearance, but I had peeked behind doors as they were shutting. You needed a key card to get into the off-limits areas, but they’d taken us on tours to other sections. I had seen entire rooms of fresh growing vegetables, and testing rooms on equipment I’d never seen before.

Felix was a tech junkie and could hack into anything. One time, we’d hacked into the sprinkler system and nearly washed out the entire cafeteria. Of course, it was by accident, but we were just trying to have some fun. We both ended up losing our leisure privileges for three months, but it was worth it. Seeing the face on some of the leaders was priceless. After that, Felix was pretty hesitant about doing anything. He swore they were watching us at all times, and that we had to be on our best behavior. I never cared for the rules and kept testing the limit. When you’re stuck in an underground bunker for three years, you need to find ways to have fun.

I didn’t remember how old I was, but the doctors said I was around nineteen based on the tests they’d done. Technically, I was an adult, but I didn’t feel any different from when I’d come here three years ago, aside from the obvious physical changes to my body. Despite being an adult, they still wouldn’t give me any kind of clearance. I was still a liability to them until I matured more.

Felix had given me an old laptop that he’d brought with him from the outside world. He was given a new one to help with some security coding, or some tech jargon I didn’t understand. The laptop was bulky, dusty, and the screen was cracked. But it was filled with videos and movies I had never seen. Had being the key word as I had now seen them all a few times each. I especially liked the sitcom shows and would watch those shows’ seasons repeatedly. I always put myself into the shows, like I was somehow a part of their families.

I didn’t remember my own family, so putting myself into those shows, as silly as that sounded, helped me stay sane. I guessed I just felt like I was trapped in this place, and that somehow there was more for me on the outside, like someone or something was calling to me out there, and I didn’t know how to respond. Or I was just the delusional, mentally ill kid they’d found on the beach three years ago.

Chapter 2

The smell of smoke forced me to open my eyes. Sitting in front of me was a cupcake with a single candle burning on top of it. I began blinking a few times before sitting up. Felix was sitting in his bed across from me with a big smile on his face. He had always woken up before me. He had a strange routine every morning that he never strayed from. Maybe it had something to do with our room being next to Alexandra’s. He always made sure he was out in the hallway just as she was leaving her room.

Happy three years, he said, taking a picture of me with a polaroid camera.

What are you talking about, Felix? I grunted, blowing the flame out.

It’s officially been three years since you woke up from your coma, he replied. You don’t even want to know what I had to go through to get you that cupcake.

I rolled over and closed my eyes. The last thing I wanted to think about was how long I’d been in this dreadful place.

Hey, Mark, Felix said with a shaky voice.

What is it now? I asked, turning to him.

His face had turned pale white, his eyes wide. I sat up and noticed he was holding the picture that had just printed from his camera. He held out the picture as I leaned up to grab it. I wiped my eyes so I could see straight. Grabbing the picture from him, I scanned it, and looked for what he seemed afraid of.

What’s wrong? I laughed. "I know I don’t look the best in the morning, but you don’t need to give me the you look like you’ve just seen a ghost face."

He walked over and sat next to me on the bed, pulling his feet off of the floor. He pointed just under the bed in the picture. I looked at it closer, fainted blue dots like eyes seemed to stare back from under the bed. I cautiously got down on my knees, lifting the blanket, nothing but dirty clothes and a few books were under the bed.

It’s probably just a flare or something from the light, I said to him as an intense burning on my leg came over me.

What is it? Felix jumped in fear.

I sat back, feeling the back of my leg. My tattoo, the mysterious wolf tattoo, was burning my leg. My mind went blank. I felt the urge to close my eyes as a thought entered my mind. Thick snow was falling everywhere. It was dark, a full moon was all that lit up the snow around me. I could just make out those blue eyes in front of me. I remembered what I had seen in my hypnosis the day before and began to panic. Just as I was about to open my eyes, a wolf stepped out into the moonlit snow. White fur, blue eyes, it just stared at me before turning back into the snow.

Mark! Felix yelled as I opened my eyes.

I’m okay, I whispered; the burning had subsided.

What the hell was that? He demanded an answer.

I don’t know, I can’t explain it.

I’m late, he suddenly switched gears, jumping out of bed.

He quickly got dressed and ran out into the hallway before turning back to me, we’ll talk about this later.

I lay back in bed wondering what just happened. That wolf, I felt connected to it. Dr. Bellows had said the tattoo was probably me being a rebellious teenager, but I didn’t think that was it.

I reluctantly got out of bed and searched around for a clean pair of clothes. We had to do our own laundry down here, but I usually waited until the last possible minute to do it. You could say I was a procrastinator when it came to doing the laundry, but it just grossed me out. I must have had a great mom before the bang, one who did my laundry. I often lay in bed and just thought of her, wondering what she was doing right now. Did she think of me too?"

A sudden knock at the door made me jump as I buttoned my pants.

Yea? I said, walking toward the door. I’d been trying to get them to let us have peepholes on our doors. Sometimes, you didn’t want to answer the door depending on who it was.

Open up, Mark, a stern voice said from the other side of the door.

I knew instantly who it was based on his voice. He had one of those strict-sounding voices where when you heard it, you immediately snapped to attention. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy, and in the three years I’d been here, I’d never seen him so much as smile.

I quickly opened the door before he could speak again. Good morning, Sir.

He peered into the room, staring at the mess on my side. Felix was a neat freak, and he literally took a piece of tape to make a line in the middle of the room. He did that so I wouldn’t make a mess on his side of the room. Not that I was a disgusting pig, I just organized my stuff in a certain way.

Dr. Bellows said you had an interesting breakthrough yesterday, he said, remaining in the hallway. She said you seemed upset.

We did a hypnosis, and I just didn’t know how to handle what I saw, Sir.

We aren’t going to have another violent episode, are we?

No, Sir, I replied quickly as he turned to leave the room.

Get that room cleaned up, he yelled back from down the hallway.

The violent episode he was speaking of was a misunderstanding. I was still adjusting to this place, and some of the other guys here were harassing me about not remembering who I was. It got serious, and I hit one of them with a metal tray. The punishment system here was intense. I had to spend a week in the hole for doing that. It was a small cell in a lower floor where you had to think about what you did. I almost lost my mind in that cell. Anyway, I was on my second strike now after the sprinkler hacking Felix and I did. Colonel Carson told me that strike three would end badly for me. Whatever that meant, but I had been trying to follow the rules for the time being.

I slowly headed for the cafeteria as breakfast was about to start serving. We were allowed three meals a day and a snack: no more and no less. The leaders here said we could all survive forever down here if need be, as long as we stuck to the plan set forth. There were roughly 150 of us ranging in all ages; young and old. I was currently in the young adult wing of the Sanctum, and we ranged from 13-21. That, of course, created drama with all the teenage hormones floating around here. The leaders had all of us commoners on a strict diet and working routine. So far, the only job I’d been able to do was when the Dust Buddies needed an extra member for the day. I’d been asking for more work to keep busy but hadn’t gotten an answer yet.

I walked into the cafeteria where the same kids were at the same tables they always were. It was like what I would imagine high school to be like, with everyone in their own little groups. We were given extensive training for certain jobs that the Sanctum needed to function on a daily basis. I didn’t really fit in with any of the other young adults here, but I gave their groups names to make it easier to differentiate. You had the Tech Junkies like Felix who worked on the computer systems here at the Sanctum. The Mad Scientists who study with the real scientists here, and they weren’t allowed to tell any of us what they were working on. The Army Brats worked security, and kept us safe from the hazardous gas outside, while the Band-Aid Brigade worked in the health field and the Dust Buddies cleaned the Sanctum top to bottom. The Spice Rack, cooked us food and then you had me, who did not fit in with any of those groups.

I wouldn’t even want to choose any of them if I could. I knew I had to pull my own weight here but didn’t ask to come here - I was forced to come. That sounded ignorant since they’d saved my life, but I didn’t get to see this nuclear war come. I had no memory of anything on the outside. It just didn’t seem right that I was down here, and my family was up there.

Over here, Mark, Felix yelled, like he did every morning. Yes, I sat with the tech junkies, but only because Felix was my roommate.

I nodded to him before getting in line for the food. The cafeteria was the biggest room we were allowed in. It was an immense room with several tables, couches, and screens that played the same movies over and over again. Over the years, this place had really come alive. The scientists that worked here had built several cool things I had never seen before. Like Arthur, who was an interactive A.I. projection, who can help you navigate the Sanctum. Felix and I had tried to get him to tell us more about the restricted areas, but the back-end security firewalls were impenetrable, as Felix put it.

I got up to the counter and scanned my wristband to let them know I hadn’t eaten yet. They then began putting the food on my tray, which was mostly ready-to-eat meals packaged before the bang. Stuff like chicken pieces, chili and beans, and spaghetti. They then give us a fresh fruit or vegetable they grew down there. They didn’t tell us exactly how they make this unless you were with the mad scientists who grew it.

I sat down at the tech junkies table where Felix was, as they were talking more coding algorithms.

Hey, Mark, heard about your session with Dr. Bellows, Ron said from across the table.

I nodded at him as I ate the flavorless spaghetti. I guessed I should have thought of a better name for the cooks, because spice rack would make you think this food was flavorful.

Any closer to getting a field? Ron asked, obviously trying to start a conversation.

No, Colonel Carson and the others don’t think I’m ready.

You’ll get there, Mark, I believe in you.

I nodded to him again before pushing my tray forward. I couldn’t stop thinking about that wolf I saw. Dr. Bellows told me before if my memories ever came back, they might be jumbled up. My mind could be playing tricks on me. But I felt my leg burning, the wolf tattoo - I felt it. If I told them that, they would put