This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to any real person or place is just a coincidence. This work will contain descriptions of sexual activity. If this offends you or is prohibited, please stop here.
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Natural Awakening - By Chuck S
Chapter 2 – A Flicker
I quickly sat up on the side of the bed, with my heart feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest. The dream I had was so real, so vivid, and I knew without a doubt, that it was the same dream I have had before. This time, however, something was different: I remembered the dream. There was something more though, and I can't quite explain it. It felt like there was a new depth to my being. When I woke, I was more than the boy who had fallen asleep.
I could suddenly remember more of my previous dreams, and they all were very similar. The eagle, the mountains, the cabin, and the family. I could remember the scene changing with the seasons. The beautiful color of the leaves in autumn before the trees became barren, the landscape covered by a blanket of glistening white snow. I had traveled this mountain range countless times in my dreams. One thing was different about this time though, someone had seen me as the eagle and spoken to me. They even called me by name. Somehow I was certain, that had never happened before.
I took some deep breaths to slow my heart rate before glancing at the time on my phone to see it was just before noon. I stretched before getting dressed to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of the day. Walking down the stairs, my phone went off with a familiar ring tone. Zach had sent me a text asking if I was dry yet, and if I wanted to go to the mall. I quickly typed a reply, and he said he would pick me up in just a few minutes. I quickly pulled on some shoes.
A couple of minutes later a honk from the driveway alerted me to Zach's arrival. Walking outside I saw Zach's SUV sitting in the driveway. In the back seat were Nick and Mike, the passenger seat sat vacant. I hopped into the front seat and buckled my seatbelt as Zach started to drive away.
"You know, this is a pretty sweet ride Zach." I said, now that I've had the chance to sit in it and look it over a bit closer. Sure it wasn't brand new, but his parents wanted him to have a reliable car. "So where is Grant at anyway?"
"His lame ass has to finish a couple of assignments that he waited till the last minute to start. At least he knows once football camp starts, he wont have time to work on them at all." Nick said with a laugh.
"We can't all be super students like you Park!" Mike said, then changing the subject added, "My shoulder still really hurts from you tossing me by the way."
"Sorry Mike, I was scared." I answered.
I didn't say anything about his super student comment, it was partly true. I have several assignments for my AP and honors classes. I had them all knocked out within the first two weeks of summer vacation. Some would say I'm an overachiever, personally, I just wanted to be able to enjoy as much of my vacation as I could without the projects looming over me. I certainly didn't want to have to crunch them all in the last week like Grant was stuck doing now.
A few minutes later, we pulled in to the local mall. Walking in to the mall, we were acting like complete idiots, horsing around, joking, and laughing. Normal teenage boy stuff. We decided to start in the food court since it was lunch time and we were all hungry. Walking in to the food court, we could appreciate the various smells from the different restaurants wafting through the air. In the center of the food court were tables and chairs grouped together, with all of the restaurants on the outer perimeter. There were a couple different fast food choices, a pizza, place, a Chinese place, and a sub shop. Overall, there was a pretty good selection, and we all were able to find something that suited our appetite.
I decided on a couple of slices of pizza and some water. Turning away form the counter, I saw that my friends had already claimed a table and had started digging in. Walking toward the table, I glanced around, and saw that the food court was pretty crowded. There were other teens around our age, adults escorting younger children, and employees from various shops taking their lunch break. I sat down at the table and started enjoying my pizza.
"So are you excited for camp Park?" Nick asked with his mouth still full of food.
"Yeah, I really am guys. I have a good feeling about the team this year. We're going to kick some serious ass!" I answered as I took a drink of my water.
"Going to finally get a girlfriend this year Park?" Zach asked me, causing me to literally spit out the water I had just drunk. The question really surprised me. I had never had a girlfriend, and to be honest, there weren't any girls I was interested in. Conversely, there weren't any guys I was interested in either. I hadn't really given it much thought. Sure I could see that certain girls were pretty, and certain guys were very handsome, but none of them did anything for me. I can't say that I'm asexual, because I do have sexual needs, and I have a great relationship with my right hand. I just don't have any fantasies about anyone in particular. Of course they don't need to know that.
"Oh fuck off Zach, it isn't like you have ever had a girlfriend." I retorted.
"Yeah I have!" He answered.
"Dude, that girl Sarah in the seventh grade that you dated for a week doesn't count loser." Mike said, then added "None of us have had a real girlfriend, but we're on the varsity team now. Girls will be flocking to us."
We all had a good laugh about the idea, but the subject quickly changed and we finished our lunches shortly afterward. We looked through various stores in the mall, window shopping more than anything. We did buy some clothes, but the entire time, I couldn't help but think about the conversation we had earlier. The other guys always talked about girls they thought were hot, about their boobs, their asses, and so on. I wondered why I didn't have these thoughts about anyone. I decided I wasn't going to let it get me down, and whatever happens happens I guess.
Once we had finished up, we walked toward the mall's exit. Walking outside, the summer afternoon heat blasted us, and I couldn't help but to think about how hot it was going to be during camp next week. I didn't mind the hard work honestly, but we would be sweating our asses off. Walking down the sidewalk toward the car, a couple other teens were walking toward the entrance, when one of them tripped on the curb and fell right in front of me. I reached down to help the guy who had fallen back up.
"Are... Are you... okay?" I managed to ask through my stuttering. Looking up at me was another teenage guy with dark brown hair that was short and neat, and piercing blue eyes that looked like they could see straight through to your soul. He was slim. Tall and lanky, really. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't be certain. All I knew is, I could feel my heart fluttering in my chest. I had never felt anything like this before. He was beautiful, and I was speechless.
"I'm okay, thanks." He said, taking my hand and getting to his feet before dusting himself off. He looked into my eyes once again with a bit of a sheepish expression on his face that I found extremely endearing.
"I'm Parker, happy to help." I said, introducing myself, happy to have found my tongue.
"I know who you are Parker." He answered somewhat shyly.
"You know who I am?" I asked.
"Everyone knows who you are." He said, "You are going to be the star receiver on the football team, and you're really smart too." After finishing, his cheeks turned bright red as he blushed, feeling he had gone a bit overboard.
"I don't know about being a star, I just work really hard and give it my best effort, that's all. You go to Citrus Hills?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm in the same grade as you. We even had a couple of the same classes last year. We haven't really talked or anything before though. I'm Alex by the way." He said, extending his hand, which I shook.
"Good to meet you Alex. We're just leaving, so I guess I'll see you at school." I said.
"Okay, thanks again Parker!" he replied enthusiastically.
A couple of minutes later we were aboard Zach's SUV on our way home. The three of them were talking about who knows what, but I was just staring absent mindedly out the window, watching the scenery go by. I was experiencing new feelings that had me confused, and that I couldn't really describe.
"You okay Park?" Zach asked looking over at me. "You've been staring off into space for a while now. You even missed Mike accusing you of being all googly eyed over that guy at the mall."
"I'm okay, and Mike, go fuck yourself. I did not go all googly eyed over him. I don't even know him." I said, secretly longing to learn more about him. This was something I had no experience with. I had never been so taken with someone. I don't know what it was about him, but I wanted to know more.
"He was such a clutz. That's so lame how he fell over the curb. Maybe he needs glasses so he can see where he's going." Mike said laughing.
"Shut up Mike! You act like you haven't ever tripped over a curb or done something embarrassing. Hell, just two weeks ago I saw..." I said before Mike interrupted me.
"Okay, okay okay. You're right. I've done plenty of stupid shit." He said.
"Oh, you don't want me to tell the guys about two weeks ago? When I saw..." He interrupted me once again.
"No! Nope, they don't need to hear about that!" Mike said.
He had invited me over to his house to chill one afternoon. When I got there I just walked in, which was customary among the five of us, besides, he knew I was on my way. Walking in, there was nobody in the living room or kitchen, so I headed back to his bedroom. Opening his bedroom door, I found him lying on his bed with his boxers around his ankles, penis in hand, beating it for all it was worth. Now it's pretty safe to assume that just about every guy jacks off, but what was more embarrassing was what his index finger of the other hand was doing, as he slid it in and out of his hole, moaning the entire time. He heard his door open, and came to an abrupt stop, before starting to stammer various excuses. I just laughed and told him to put some clothes on.
I'm not sure why I was being so protective of this guy I hardly knew. Being on the football team, we were fairly popular. Sometimes, that fact got into Mike's head and he could be an asshole to those further down on the social ladder. I really don't like when he does that, so I try to call him on his bullshit. A few minutes later the short ride back to my house was over, and the guys dropped me off. I waved as they pulled out of the driveway. Walking in to the house my cell phone dinged and I saw that I had a new message on Facebook from someone who wasn't on my friends list.
Opening the message, I saw that it was from Alex, and immediately became excited to see what he had sent me. I opened the message and read what it said eagerly. It turns out that when I had helped him up at the mall, I had set one of my bags of clothes down and had forgotten it. He was trying to figure out how to return it to me. I was embarrassed that I had become so distracted as to forget about my bag of clothes, but at the same time, I was excited at the prospect of seeing Alex again. Before answering his message, I sent him a friend request. Then I asked if he would be able to either drop the bag off, or just wait and give it to me at school. He quickly replied that he would be happy to drop it off, so I sent him my address. Luckily it wasn't very far out of his way, apparently he lived just a couple of streets over.
I had a couple of chores to do around the house, so I figured I would get started on those while I waited for Alex to come by. I started by taking out the trash, then putting away the clean dishes that were dry. I had just started running the vacuum when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, I saw Alex standing with my bag in hand. Once again, I was immediately drawn in to his blue eyes that were accompanied by a brilliant smile.
"Hey Alex, want to come in?" I asked somewhat nervously.
"Sure." He replied.
I stepped out of the way and let him in before closing the door, and leading him to the living room.
"Thanks for bringing my bag, you can just set it wherever. I can't believe that I left it there." I said laughing at myself.
"Hey, it's no problem. I can't believe that I was such a clutz and tripped over the curb."
"Can I offer you something to drink? Water, tea, or some soda?" I asked.
"Sure, I'll take a water if you don't mind."
"Okay, be right back." I said, getting up and walking in to the kitchen. I grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet and fixed two glasses of water for us. I was feeling quite nervous being around Alex. I didn't know much about him at all, but being near him caused something to stir within me. He had said that we had been in some of the same classes last year, so maybe that's why he seemed familiar, but we hadn't had much interaction at all.
Walking back in to the living room, Alex was looking at various family pictures on the wall. There were many pictures of me growing up that I found somewhat embarrassing, pictures from different trips we had taken, other relatives that live out of town, and so on. He let out a small laugh looking at whatever picture he was looking at. I found his laugh to be cute and endearing. It brightened my mood to hear his laugh. I was able to see the picture he was laughing at and was a bit embarrassed. The picture was from my fifth birthday. Somehow I had become covered in sticky cake frosting, and I mean covered. The picture featured me in the bath tub, naked, still covered in frosting. Sure I was just five at the time of the picture, but still! It was embarrassing to have a classmate see the photo.
"Oh God, I'm going to go die now." I said walking up to Alex and handing him one of the glasses of water.
"Don't be embarrassed, it's a cute picture." Alex said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure everyone has some pictures that they find embarrassing." He added with a chuckle.
I led him over to the couch and we sat down. We placed our glasses of water on the coffee table that was situated in front of the couch. We made some small talk about nothing in particular. Somehow, we got on the topic of my adoption.
"So, you are adopted?" He asked.
"Yeah, something happened to my birth parents when I was very young. We aren't sure what happened. We've tried to look into it, but haven't been able to find anything. Anyway, I was quickly adopted, and my parents have taken good care of me ever since." I answered.
"I'm sorry. That kind of sucks, losing your real parents." He said apologetically, with genuine sympathy in his voice.
"I honestly can't really remember anything about my parents, and I'm happy with the family I have. Sure, I wish I knew more about my birth parents, and their background. It's kind of weird that there wasn't any other family around that could take me in either. But, like I said, we've tried to find out more, with no luck."
"That is weird that there weren't any other relatives." Alex said.
Alex reached for his glass of water and accidentally knocked it off the edge of the table. Before it could hit the ground, I instinctively reached to stop it, but it was out of my reach. That's when something weird happened. The glass just stopped. It just stopped right in the middle of the air, floating. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow I knew, that I was doing it. Somehow, I was causing this glass of water to be suspended in the air. I leaned forward and grabbed the glass and set it on the table.
This is the second time that something weird like this had happened that I could remember. The first was just earlier today when I flung Mike across the yard when they attacked me. I'm strong, but not strong enough to throw someone over six feet away from me. I don't know what was going on, but it was weird, and I had no control over whatever this was.
"What the hell was that?" Alex asked, awestruck.
"I... I don't know." I stammered.
"Did you do that?" he asked.
"I think so. I'm not sure how, but I think I did it." I answered. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. I don't know what it is."
"That's so cool Parker! Maybe you are like telepathic or something." Alex said with excitement in his voice.
"I.. I don't know. Please don't tell anyone about this. It's weird, and I don't know what it is or how to control it."
"I wont tell anyone, I promise. It seems like whatever it is just came out instinctively. I wonder if you search for it within yourself if you can find it? I bet if you really try and practice, you can find whatever this is and learn to use it." Alex said.
I was surprised that he wasn't freaked out honestly, because I was a bit freaked out. This isn't normal. People can't make things hover in the air. It just doesn't happen. I sat here for a moment in deep thought, and suddenly I remembered. Weird things like this have happened all the time throughout my childhood. I could remember things floating in the air, but I never realized I was the one making them float. I remember being able to lift things that I shouldn't be able to lift. Every time was by instinct, in a moment of panic, or a quick reflex reaction.
"Are you okay Parker?" Alex said with genuine concern written on his face.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just thinking." I said.
I stood up and walked around the room, running my fingers through my hair. I thought about what Alex had said. Was this an ability or power or whatever hidden inside of me lying dormant, waiting for me to find it? I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling I had when I stopped the water. It's like I could see a small flicker of a flame coming to life within me, just waiting to be fed. Focusing on the flicker caused it to start to solidify and grow brighter until there was a bright light that started to fill my entire being. Whatever it was, I could feel it coursing through my veins, and I felt like I could do just about anything I wanted.
"Parker, I'm not sure what you are doing, but it's kind of freaking me out a little bit." Alex said with bewilderment in his voice.
I opened my eyes and found that I was floating several inches off of the ground as if suspended by wires. Needless to say, this surprised the hell out of me and I completely lost focus. I immediately fell the few inches to the ground and lost my balance, falling to the floor with a thud.
"Are you okay Parker?" Alex asked, standing up and offering me a hand up.
"Yeah I'm okay. Not sure exactly what happened there." I said, taking his hand and getting back to my feet.
I could still feel this new strength, ability, power, whatever it was inside of me. Now that it had been awakened it seemed like it was here to stay. Obviously this would take a lot more practice to get any sort of control over. However, this isn't something people can know about. What would you do if someone starting floating or levitating in front of you, or could make objects levitate? It would freak you out right? I'd have to be very careful to keep this under wraps.
"Alex, I know you said you wouldn't tell, but you've got to swear to me that you wont tell a soul." I said seriously, looking directly into his blue eyes.
"I swear I wont tell anyone." He said, then added, "You have to let me help you figure this whole thing out. I mean I'm the only one who knows, so I can be there for you or whatever." He blushed once again as he finished, but he was right. I would need someone to help me through everything.
"Thanks Alex, I appreciate it. If you don't mind, I need some time alone to think about all of whatever this is." I said.
"Sure, no problem. I'll see you later then I guess." Alex replied.
I led Alex to the door, and thanked him once again as I showed him out, closing the door behind him. I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch and just more or less stared off in to space as I thought about these new developments. When I woke up today, my biggest concern was how well I would do during football camp next week. You could almost say that my world had been flipped on its head. To be honest, I was scared of the possibilities. When I was focused, it literally felt like I could do almost anything I wanted or could imagine. There was a tremendous depth to whatever this was, and I felt like it would be very easy to lose control.
I must have been sitting there for quite a while, because the front door opening brought me out of my stupor as my mom walked in.
"Have a good day sweetie?" she asked.
"Yeah, it was okay." I said, trying to sound as normal as I could.
"I'm going to get changed, then would you mind helping with dinner? I had a long day at the office today." She said.
"Sure Mom. I'll get it started while you change."
I got up and walked in to the kitchen and started gathering the various ingredients that we would need to fix dinner. I started to chop some vegetables and pictured in my mind how they needed to be chopped. I instantly felt a flare within me and the knife began chopping exactly how I had pictured, all on its own. It felt so natural to just let it happen, but I couldn't just use this ability so nonchalantly. I quickly stopped picturing the knife cutting the vegetables, and the knife clattered down on to the cutting board.
"Great! This is going to be harder than I thought." I thought to myself. If simply picturing something happening caused whatever this is to come to life, I was going to have a really hard time keeping it under wraps.
I picked up the knife and began chopping again, but this time I was doing the chopping. Soon my mother returned to the kitchen and we were able to get dinner prepared just before my dad got home. I had to focus on not letting this ability or whatever it is flare up.
We sat down to eat at the dining room table. While most families I know rarely use their dining room table, my mom has this thing about the family eating dinner together. She thought it was really important to spend at least those few minutes together each day. As we ate, there was idle chat about how our days had been and so on. Of course there was no mention of the events of my day. Once we were done eating, I helped clear the table and set in on doing the dishes. Once I was finished with the dishes, I decided to head to my bedroom. It had been a long and eventful day and I was feeling really tired.
I stripped down to my boxers and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked exactly the same as I did this morning, but I felt so different, like my entire life had changed over the course of a single afternoon. I climbed in to bed and pulled the blankets up and quickly got comfortable. It only took moments for me to fall asleep.
Once again, I was the eagle. This time, I wasn't flying. I was perched in the same tree that overlooked the cabin. It was evening. I could see the moon rising on the horizon, and the first glint of stars shining in the quickly darkening sky. Glancing around, I didn't see anyone around, but I could see light emanating from the cabin, casting a gentle glow on the trees that surrounded it. I could hear crickets chirping, and occasionally an owl would hoot in the distance.
Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and the man who had spoken to me emerged. He turned and looked directly at me before walking slowly toward me.
"Hello again Parker. I'm glad you have returned, I have much to tell you, but little time to do so." The man said as he came to a stop a few feet away from the base of the tree, still looking up at me.
"I can tell you are different from when you visited this morning. Stronger. Much stronger, but still weak. You are slowly awakening. I'm certain you have many questions, and I will try my best to answer what I can. If you think the question to yourself, I will be able to hear it." He said.
"Where am I?" I thought.
"We are in a remote mountain range. For safety, that is unfortunately all I can tell. You." He answered.
"This dream feels so real." I thought to myself.
"That's because it isn't a dream at all. You are actually here, just in a body not your own. Allow me to explain." He took a seat on the ground in front of the tree then continued. "You have magic Parker, and very strong magic at that. We don't have time tonight to get too far into that topic but I can tell you some. You are here by what is called Astral Projection. While your body may be sleeping, your consciousness has traveled here through magic. While right now you may not be in full control of your projection, soon, as you get stronger, you will be able to travel here at will."
"I can feel that your powers have started to awaken, and you must be extremely careful Parker." He continued. "We have enemies that will stop at nothing to get to you if they learn of your location and true identity. For your safety, it is better that you don't know about your past and who you truly are yet. Once you learn to defend yourself, and are able to control your powers fully, perhaps then I can tell you more. For now, it seems that you have a basic understanding of how to access your powers, but only with practice will you be able to control them. However, a word of caution. Using your powers does not come without a cost. Using your powers will drain your energy, leaving you feeling fatigued. Continued use of your powers can even begin to drain your life force."
"I can tell you that because of who you are, your magical reserves are vast, well beyond what most magic users can even dream of, but we all have our limits. I suggest that you don't test these limits yet. Magic can be traced, and large amounts of magic can draw a lot of unwanted attention. For now, keep it simple, and I wouldn't recommend using your powers in public. That is all the time we have for now, your projection is beginning to fade." He concluded.
"One more question before I go. Who are you?" I thought.
"Parker, I am your father." He said.
End of chapter 2.
Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to keeping more of the story heading your way.