Hello once again! I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far. I apologize for the delay between chapters, but my schedule is quite hectic, and makes finding the time to write a bit difficult.
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Without further ado:
Natural Awakening by Chuck S
Chapter 5 -- The Beginning
"Parker, what has gotten into you, young man? You have never caused any trouble before!" My mom said with a disappointed look on her face. Rarely had I given my parents any cause to be upset with me, and in my opinion, today was no different. It really wasn't my fault.
It was the first day of school, and I managed to wind up in the principal's office. I was seated in front of the desk with my mother sitting beside me, and the principal glaring at me from behind his desk. My mom wasn't really angry, just disappointed, which was even worse. Though neither of them were particularly happy, I felt like I had done the right thing.
"Parker, as a prominent player on our football team, you are expected to serve as a role model for all of the other students. Do you think your behavior today lived up to those expectations?" The principal asked.
Hearing his question made me feel angry. Had he been listening to a word I, or anybody else that was there had said? Apparently not.
Like I said, it was the first day of school. Football camp had gone well, and the team was really looking forward to the season ahead of us. Waking up that morning, I wasn't particularly anxious or anything. I had already gotten my class schedule, but there was always that bit of first day uncertainty. Would I like my teachers, would they like me, what was the work load going to be like with practice, and so on.
The day started off normal enough. Zach picked me up and we rode to school together, then we went to one of our normal hang out spots in the school's quad. We had been sitting at a picnic table just chatting before school started when we heard a commotion down the hall. That's where my day went south.
Rounding the corner, there were two guys I didn't really know picking on Alex. They had knocked the books he was carrying to the ground, and were pushing him around. The entire time they kept calling him a fag. He looked to be close to tears, and wasn't putting up much of a fight. I knew that I needed to stop this before Alex got hurt.
"Hey guys, you've had your fun. Why don't you leave him alone?" I said as I walked toward them.
"What Parker, are you sticking up for this fag?" One of the guys asked.
"I don't know if he is gay or not, but that doesn't give you the right to treat anyone this way. Just leave him alone guys." I answered.
Alex had started to pick his books up while his two assailants were distracted by me, however before he was able to finish, the other one had turned around and shoved him. Since he was leaning over to pick up a book, he lost his balance and fell to the floor.
"Parker, I never took you for a fag lover. Maybe you're a fag too!" The first guy said as he started walking toward me.
"Maybe you are just trying to compensate for something by picking on someone smaller than you. Were you born with a tiny little..."
My sentence was cut off as he tried to throw a punch at my face. Sure maybe I had goaded him a little, but what he was doing was wrong, and he just wouldn't leave after I asked nicely. I really didn't want to fight but he was giving me no choice but to defend myself. My powers instantly flared, and it was like his fist was moving in slow motion. I was easily able to side step his punch, then connected to his jaw with one of my own. I could feel the magic enhancing the strength of my punch, and I consciously pulled it back for fear of what would happen if I hit him full on. Even then, he dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Seeing his friend go down only served to enrage the second guy who had been laughing as Alex tried to get back up. He came running at me and made to tackle me, making me laugh a bit. He was trying to tackle someone who's job was to avoid tackles. Again, his movements slowed to a crawl. I grabbed his shoulders and raised my knee to his abdomen. Between his momentum and me pulling him into my knee, he instantly had the wind knocked out of him as my knee struck the area of his diaphragm. He too fell to the ground, though he remained conscious.
Without bothering to give a second look to either of the guys, I walked to Alex and offered him my hand once again to help him to his feet. It seemed like this was happening a lot lately. Alex got up and dusted himself off, then we started picking up his books.
"Thanks Parker, I really appreciate it." Alex said, looking somewhat dejected.
"Happy to help Alex. Those guys were assholes. I'd do it again if I..." Again I was interrupted.
"Mr. Bridges (that's my last name by the way), I need you to accompany me to the office. Of all the people, I can't believe you would be fighting." A teacher said with disappointment.
"Don't worry Parker! I'll be sure to tell them what happened." Alex said.
"Thanks Alex." I said, turning to follow the teacher.
As I walked toward the teacher, both of the bullies were still on the ground. The first was still out, and the second was holding his abdomen and groaning. I was trying to hold back, but was still surprised how much force must have been behind those blows.
We walked to the office in silence, where I was greeted by the principal himself. The teacher told the principal that I had been fighting, and I never really got to tell my side of the story. Before long, my mom arrived, bringing us to where we are now.
"Parker, as a prominent player on our football team, you are expected to serve as a role model for all of the other students. Do you think your behavior today lived up to those expectations?" The principal asked.
"Sir, nobody has let me tell my side of the story. I know fighting is wrong, and I wasn't looking for a fight. Those two guys were bullying Alex. I asked them to stop, when one of them swung at me first. All I did was defend myself. I don't understand why I'm the only one in here." I answered.
"Well Parker, the other boys aren't here because they had to be sent to the hospital. I assure you, they too, are in trouble. There is only one problem, we have security cameras, and part of your story isn't quite the truth."
"Sir?"
"Lets just watch the video. Security cameras don't lie Parker." The principal said as he turned on the tv in the corner of his office. He already had the video queued up and ready to go.
Pushing play, you could see the two bullies picking on Alex. A couple of seconds later, I entered the frame. You could see that there was a verbal exchange before the first guy walked up to me. Just when I was expecting him to draw back to punch me in the video, something else happened.
His arm hadn't even moved an inch from his side before I had laid him out. On the video, his movement was almost imperceptible. It clearly looked like I had thrown the first punch. I didn't understand. I saw him draw back and swing at me, but the video... the video.
"Look Parker, I understand. It was a heated moment, and you felt threatened. However, the video clearly shows that you took the first swing. I'm sure it happened very quickly, but we can't overlook this I'm afraid."
"I'm sorry. I felt like he was going to punch me. I don't know what to say." I said dejectedly.
"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to suspend you for the rest of the week, including the football game Friday night." The principal said.
"I understand." I said.
I felt bad. Not for helping Alex, but I felt like I was letting the team down now. I just don't understand what happened. I saw him swing at me. Maybe it had something to do with my powers. There was only one way to find out, and tonight I would try to get some answers.
The ride home was awkward to say the least. My mom wouldn't even look at me. I would occasionally look over to her to see if I could read what she was thinking, and that's when it happened. Almost as if looking through a fog, I began to perceive her thoughts. Not everything, just what was on the surface.
"What am I going to do? Parker has never done anything like this. He sent two kids to the hospital, and it all happened in nearly the blink of an eye on that video. It was almost scary."
Interpreting her thoughts wasn't quite like she was talking to me, it felt more like I could picture things, feel hints of emotion. Knowing that she felt scared of me really upset me. It is possible that I misinterpreted what she was thinking or feeling. Suddenly, her thoughts focused into a clear action of swerving and slamming on the brakes, but it hadn't happened yet. I could sense it, and it felt so real, but I was able to tell that it wasn't. I realized that this is what had happened earlier with the bully, and I just reacted instinctually.
Then it did happen.
A car ran a red light just in front of us and my mom did her best to avoid hitting them, but I could tell it wouldn't be enough. I reached out and tried to push the other car away with magic, but I could feel something pushing back. I couldn't stop the other car. Before I had a chance to brace for the impact, we collided with the other car. The noise was so loud, between the impact, airbags going off, and my mother letting out a scream. Then suddenly there was silence. It was so quiet. It was eerie.
I don't know if I had hit my head, but I felt dazed. I looked over to see my mother slumped over the steering wheel, with blood slowly starting to ooze down her forehead. It took me a moment to get my bearings. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement from the other car, and I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
Climbing out of the mangled metal of car in front of us was a half rotten human corpse. I'd say it looked like a zombie, but that doesn't really do it justice. It had no hair. What skin it did have was a rotten gray, and in places you could see yellowish bone where there were holes in the skin. Where there should have been eyes, there were only two vacant spaces that let you glimpse into the hollow space inside the skull. There were clumps of dirt here and there that really gave it a fresh out of the grave vibe. It had a tattered suit on, that once looked like it was someone's Sunday best, but now couldn't really even be called rags. Obviously it had been buried in this suit. There was one other significant difference from a zombie you would see on TV, the smell. Its difficult to describe the smell of a rotting corpse. Lets just say the smell alone was nauseating.
The corpse turned its eyeless gaze toward me and it began to stride toward me. For whatever reason, I looked around. Surely someone else had to be seeing this. Had to be seeing this monster brought back from the dead. Looking around, it was as if time had stopped for everyone in the world around us. They stood frozen in time. Some were in mid stride as they were walking, I even saw one guy stuck in the middle of using his steering wheel as a drum set. Looked like it was a really good song, but I had other things to think about.
I reached for the door of the car, but it wouldn't open due to the damage from the crash. I focused my strength and tore the door from its hinges. I pulled myself from the car and turned toward the corpse as it slowly made its way toward me.
"Think, Parker, think!" I said to myself. "How do you kill something that's already dead?"
Fire. Fire sounded good I thought t myself. There was only one problem. I hadn't been able to control fire yet, but I also hadn't even tried. I focused on exactly what I wanted to do, and felt my power swell within me. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. When I opened my eyes, there was a concentrated ball of flames in my right hand. I drew my arm back and lobbed the flame toward the corpse.
The corpse burst into flames. Or, at least I thought it did. Flames surrounded the corpse for a moment, then began to fade. The remnants of skin that had been there were now gone, the clothes burned off. Standing in front of me now was a skeleton with small charred areas of bone. All remnants o flesh were now gone. Not only did the fire not appear to even slow it down, now it smelled like burnt rotten flesh.
"Think fast, think fast, think fast!" I said to myself.
The corpse began closing the space between us more quickly, I didn't have much of a chance to think, as its skeletal arm slammed into me, sending me flying into the twisted metal of the wreckage. I knew right away that I was really going to have to focus. This thing was dangerous, and it was trying to kill me. I slowly climbed back to my feet with a small groan. Magic apparently doesn't dull pain. I looked up as the skeleton was once again striding toward me. I really needed a new strategy, since fire had worked so well.
"It's a skeleton. Maybe I can just break it." I thought to myself.
I began focusing on strengthening my body. I turned toward the skeleton and felt my senses ramp themselves up. This time, as the skeleton swung at me, I was ready. With my senses its movements had slowed. I grabbed the arm and was able to rip it away. I then brought the arm down to my knee and snapped the bones in half. I drew my fist back and punched the skull as hard as I could. The skull turned to dust, and the rest of the bones fell to the ground, no longer held together by magic.
I quickly glanced around to make sure there were no other creatures, and seeing none, I rushed over to my mother, who was still unconscious in the car. Her face was now covered with blood, and her breathing had become shallow. She was as pale. She wouldn't last much longer.
I reached out to her with my mind to see if I could find a way to help her. I'm not sure how, but I could tell that she had a head injury, as well as less serious internal injuries. I remembered that my father, the magical one that is, said that I could do just about anything if I really focused on what I wanted to happen. I closed my eyes and pictured being able to heal her.
"Please work. Please work!" I cried as tears began to stream down my face.
I raised my hand to her forehead, and it began to glow. I continued to focus on healing the injuries I had detected. I felt myself becoming tired. I quickly began feeling drowsy, then everything went black.
"My Lord. I have news." A man said as he kneeled before Maleagant, the leader of The Dark.
Maleagant was a tall slender man who appeared to be in his early fourties. His hair was dark brown with signs of gray moving in. He wore all black. Not robes, but slacks and a button down shirt. There was just an air of power about the man, and he commanded the respect of his followers.
"What news do you bring?"
"It's the boy sir. He is strong. Very strong. He used no less than six types of magic during my encounter with him today, including something unheard of. He was able to heal his step mother of what should have been a mortal wound. He has to be the child of the prophesy, the child we have been hunting."
Maleagant rose from the chair he had been sitting in. They were in the study of Maleagant's home. The walls were lined with bookcases that contained all kinds of various books on magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. There was a fireplace that sat cold, and empty, given it was the middle of summer. Prominently placed in the room was a wooden desk behind which Maleagant had been sitting.
"Interesting. Tell me, how did he fare against your necromancy? I make the assumption that you didn't hold back?"
"No Sir. I put my full strength into the corpse I raised. Unfortunately, he defeated the corpse, and quite quickly too. He literally ripped it apart and smashed it into dust."
"Interesting, very interesting." Maleagant said. "Have we ascertained where the boy resides?"
"Not yet my lord, but we should have that information soon."
"Good. Now, I think you have some work to do to in order to make up for today's failure."
"Yes sir." The man said dejectedly.
The man remained on his knees while Maleagant closed the distance between them. Once he stood before the man who remained kneeling in submission to his superior prowess, Maleagant reached down and unzipped the fly of his slacks. Reaching into his pants, he was able to pull out his substantial cock that would put most men to shame, even though he was only half hard. He rubbed it across the lips of the man knelt in front of him, watching as a drop of precum became smeared on his face.
"Get to work, you worthless piece of trash! You had better not waste a single drop!" Maleagant warned.
The man quickly took the large member into his mouth and began to pleasure the man that he worshiped almost as if he were a god. While this was supposed to be a punishment, he reveled at the opportunity to please his lord. While he may have not been able to beat the child he encountered earlier, he certainly could prove his worth to his lord while on his knees.
I woke up feeling quite lightheaded. The last thing I remembered was seeing my mother dying right before my eyes. While she may have been my step mom, I loved her as my true mother. She had raised me, taught me right from wrong, and always had been there to guide me when I went astray.
Slowly my eyes began to focus, and I could see that I was in what looked like a hospital room. Simple white walls, some medical equipment next to the bed I was in, and next to the bed there was a chair. I was surprised by who I found sitting in the chair. Alex sat in the chair, with his head resting on his palms. His eyes were closed, and he was taking slow rhythmic breaths. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for me to wake up.
I knew I was a bit banged up from the accident and my encounter with the creature afterwards, but I really wasn't sure how I ended up in the hospital. I felt stiff and tried to stretch some, but that was a mistake. Immediately pain flared throughout my body, causing me to let out a groan.
Hearing the groan, Alex's eyes fluttered open and looked into my own. I could see concern within them as he leaned forward and placed a hand on my arm.
"Parker! I'm glad you are awake! I heard you were in an accident and that when paramedics arrived on scene you were unconscious. I came to check on you as soon as school was over. I'm so sorry this happened to you, it's all my fault. If I had stood up to those bullies, none of this would have happened. I'm just glad you are going to be okay!" Alex said very quickly.
"Alex, it's okay. It isn't your fault." I said, trying to reassure him. "You couldn't have predicted that something like this would have happened, but I don't think it was an accident."
"What do you mean you don't think it was an accident?"
I proceeded to tell Alex about the details f everything that I could remember. I included being able to experience what was about to happen before it actually happed, the fight with the skeletal creature, but I didn't remember much after that. Just my mother.
"Oh god Alex! What happened to my mother? Is she okay?" I said, suddenly filled with worry about her condition.
"She is going to be fine Parker. They said she only had minor bumps and bruises. Her side of the car apparently took the most damage, and they were really surprised that she wasn't hurt much wore."
"Thanks Alex, I'm glad she will be okay." I said gratefully.
I thought back to my fight with the skeleton, or zombie, or whatever it was. I really needed more practice. If they had found out who I was, it was only a matter of time before they came after me again. I wish there was someone who could teach me. I felt like I was just fumbling through all of this magic stuff, with nobody really there to guide me.
"What is it Parker?" Alex said with concern. "You look like you were really lost in thought there for a second.
"It's just that I feel like I barely survived my encounter with that creature today. I got lucky. I really need to find some place to practice and start to really figure out what I can do."
"I may know just the place." Alex said with a hint of excitement to his voice.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Once again please feel free to send me an email at ascouter4@gmail.com
Thanks for reading,
Chuck S