Jack could not believe the confidence this feeling gave him. The second the door opened at his thought, things started to click into place for Jack.

He had been a nerd among nerds for all his life. Reading every fantasy story he could get his hands on. That is how he knew.

I've got magic..  

And so Jack smiled. He had no idea what the extent of his magic was or how to really use it. But the emotional response was there.

Jack's thought process had sped up again, recalculating the odds of success to their plan. With this new development, Jack was sure the cards were in his favor. He just had to hope it worked.

Bryan got out of the car and carefully helped the girls out of the back.

After some awkwardly rushed stretching, the trio then scurried around the front of the car to Jack as they had planned. But they all took pause when they saw Jacks face.

What stopped Bryan and the girls in their tracks was the smile on Jack’s face. It went from ear to ear, and that his eyes had turned even further gold than in the car.

Jack met his brothers stare and nodded. Slowly but confidently he turned toward Jimmy and his posy.

Bryan had to hitch up his step to catch up with his brothers confident steps as the girls backed off as they had talked about, staying close, but well out of the way.

Bryan tried to be like stone, with a light smile, he tried to match jack.

But between the way his brother was acting, and walking towards a man that could throw cars armed with nothing but a little dagger, his façade was wavering.

Coming to a stop, they waited.

By now, Jimmy had taken notice of them and was headed in their direction. With only four cars distance between them, he and his posy came to a halt. 

Jimmy looked like the cook who had just caught the mouse that was plaguing his kitchen.

If anything his expression resembled Jack’s wide grin, but on Jimmy, it just made him look like a villain out of one of Jack’s fantasy books.

What stood out the most was his eyes, bloodshot, with illuminated  ring of red just barely visible around the edges.

His group was comprised of six other frat guys from the party the night before. Bryan recognized one as Jimmies almost twin that chased him away last night. The other four, he didn't think he had the 'pleasure' of meeting just yet.

All of them were still wearing the same shirts with the Greek letters that made it so easy to tag them as frat brothers. Two of them had ripped off the short sleeves of the shirt, to show off their tattoos. One had a shaved head that really screamed que ball with a barbed wire tattoo wrapped around one arm and Chinese lettering on the other shoulder. The next had a faux hawk with the sides shaved bald, a half sleeve tattoo Jack couldn’t make out from the distance on one arm and the Greek letters from the shirt down his other.

Que ball was the only one that looked almost as ruthless and strong as Jimmy, but the others physique’s still looked like they could rip Jacks head off. The finial one was absolutely the stereo type of a frat guy, his shirt wasn’t a t-shirt like the others, but a polo shirt with the same logo. With gelled hair that somehow made it through the night and a face and body that could be in an Abercrombie add, he could have just walked out of any 90s teen movie. For what it’s worth, he looked very uncomfortable with the situation.

Bryan had to stifle a laugh In seeing the group, the fear fading away just for a moment.

Are these guys for real? People like this really exist in California?

Sure, he’d seen the movies but they were just movies right? Totally satirical and made up for entertainments sake. He couldn’t believe it. The crew standing in front of him was living proof.

“So you idiots survived eh?” Jimmy opened up. “And Rachel too, what are you doing with these guys? The rest of the guys and some of the other girls from last night are at a house close to the bottom of the hill. You should come with us.”

Rachel put on a defiant look, knowing this wasn't something Jimmy hears often, “No thank you.” She firmly stated.

You could see the anger start to bubble behind his eyes as he clenched his fists, “I really think you don’t understand the mistake you’re making.” Anger rising even further, “Get over here now!” Jimmies rage seemed to go 0 to 100 in a second flat.

How quick he was to anger made Jack's thoughts swim, wondering if it was a side effect from the red rings around his eyes. He was a dick but not that quick to anger the night before.

“No!” Rachel screamed, now holding Sara’s hand and backing up a few steps.

Jimmy had had enough, and barked out an order to his friends, “Go get her boys.”

The muscle head started forward first, with the tattooed guy’s right behind them.

Seeing it was his turn, Jack started the show.

“No.”

It was stated so calmly and simply, caught off guard by his nonchalant reaction, the posy flinched and looked to Jimmy.

“If you want her, come get her yourself.” Jack cooly continued. His glowing eyes never left Jimmies own. He knew it was a risky idea, but somehow he felt he could handle it.

Bryan stood ready as he could, having pulled at the dagger as soon as they started advancing, but was now starring at Jack.

What on earth is he thinking! We just saw this guy throw a car and now Jack is goading him like he’s the bully.

Jack was on a roll, he couldn’t believe what he was doing but fought hard not to show it.

Where did this new found confidence come from? Just from knowing he had magic?

This wasn’t him, this was like one of his characters from the stories and games he loved so much. He didn’t know where it was coming from, but he liked it, so he went with it. But he had to focus, the more he thought about it he could feel it slipping through the cracks.

Jimmy snorted at his taunt, “Fine by me then, clear out boys.”

Jimmies posy retreated quickly like they had heard the tone before.

Taking a few steps forward, jimmy shook out his arms and rolled his neck. He looked like someone from the ironman contest about to pull a truck. Or a small car…

Without warning, he lunged to his left and grabbed a smart car that he had been standing next to like it was a baseball and hurled it at Jack and Bryan.

Bryan let out a cry in fear, but Jack kept quiet and as he saw Jimmy lunge had raised his left palm up to face the oncoming car. “No,” Jack shouted, voice obviously strained.

With Jack’s command, a shimmering field appeared in the air and the car stopped in midair. The shimmering field quickly attached itself to the car, visibly making the whole car shimmer like a golden disco ball.

Jimmies eyes went wide with fear and amazement. No one ever stood up to him since elementary school, for someone to have the audacity to do it now that he was so strong blew his mind.

Jack's own surprise was evident on his face at first but he quickly doned his mask again. All the while he kept focus on maintaining the field. The car shook but maintained its height in the air. With fierce concentration, Jack still couldn't help the excitement from bubbling up. It was something he had always dreamed of. His grin from earlier returned.

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“Do you see that Bryan? And look at his face!” He exclaimed, sounding like a kid at Christmas. “That is bad ass!”

Bryan was torn, he didn’t know if his brother had gone crazy or was back to normal.

What was normal now anyway?

Either way, this wasn’t over just yet.

“Yea it is,” Bryan said trying to sound excited for him but failing. “But can we focus a bit here?”

Jack realized that Jimmy and his posy where still there and had to be dealt with. Looking over at the posy, he knew the fight had gone out of them. They were certainly not expecting any sort of resistance.

All of them stood with a slack jaw, starring between Jack and the hovering car. Jack smiled, and put his hand back up. They all flinched back, but unbeknownst to them jack was now struggling a bit.

The ice water and tingling he had felt before was waning having held the car in place so long. Starting to freak out on the inside, he thought of something one of his characters from D&D back in middle school.

Letting the car drop, with his mind he pushed the car toward Jimmy with all he had left.

He watched it go just as he fell to his knees and his head felt like it was split in half. As the car flew, Jack started to collapse. The girls rushed forward to help him from hitting the ground.

The smart car rolled twice in the air, hitting the ground with the crunch of breaking plastic. It cart wheeled another two times and slid to a crunching stop, a foot from Jimmies feet. All the fluids the car had held, started to seep out onto the asphalt making a puddle at his feet.

Bryan, not believing what he saw, feeling the levity brought on by his brother, or maybe finally cracking under the insanity of the past 12 hours or so, bust out laughing himself.

As it hit him he couldn’t help himself. Having not seen his brother drop to the ground next to him, he stepped forward with the same confidence Jack had showed he shouted his taunt, “Ball one! Care to try again?”

All the while menacing Jack’s knife like he was prepared to throw it.

Jimmy turned tail and ran, as did the two cronies of his that hadn’t already run away scared back to where ever they came from.

Once Jimmy and his crew where out of sight, Bryan finally turned to Jack and was surprised to see him on his knees, being attended to by the girls.

Bryans face and spirited dropped the ground as he jumped to Jacks side. “Are you alright?” he asked with concern laced through his voice.

Jack looked up, eyes still gold but far less than before. He pondered a smart as remark for a minute but his headache had a different idea. “I’ll live, how about next time we don’t taunt people when I’m down? And a baseball joke? Really?”

Bryan realized his foolishness in and instant. If Jimmy had continued, they would have been in deep trouble. With a touch of shame that was very unlike himself, Bryan apologized. Profusely.

Jack smiled as he weakly replied, "Lesson learned, no worries. Besides, it was an epic end to the show."

Bryan was mildly confused by what ever Jack ment by show. But even though he still had not fully processed what he just witnessed, his stomach pulled him from his thoughts.

Thinking back, other than the granola bars in the car he and Jack hadn’t eaten since an early dinner the night before.

Jack, hearing his brother’s stomach from where he had crumpled, he managed a smile. “Just help me to the car right there, we should have enough food for a decent breakfast at least.”

The girls nodded in understanding, now feeling the pull of morning hunger themselves, they found their bodies had ignored letting them know about it due to their already eventful day.

Bryan replaced Sara as he and Rachel helped Jack get to his feet and lean against the nearest car.

Jack slid down to the ground carefully, bracing himself against the tire. Afterwards the girls plopped down facing Jack and the green rusted sedan that now formed the back of Jack’s chair.

Bryan brought the backpacks over from where the girls had dropped them to go help Jack. Sitting down next to Jack, he started through them looking for something that would pass as breakfast.

In Jack’s bag he found the stash of granola bars and started passing them out with a bottle of water each.

“Jacks only got two more waters and two Gatorades, and I’ve got three water bottles myself left. We should try to make them last.” Bryan noted. Magic was new to him, but camping and survival was not.

The others looked to each other and nodded as Bryan took out the trail mix that was going to end up being the bulk of their roadside meal.

The direness of the situation seemed to set in, no one spoke as they munched down the snacks and sipped the water.

Bryan was the first to break the silence, “Well since no one else is gunna say it I have to, what the hell was that Jack?”

Jack looked up from his handful of trail mix and sipped his water bottle. Looking to Bryan he opened his mouth to explain but found he couldn’t find the words.

What had it been?

It was like something had takin hold of him. That icy coolness that had run down his spine and into his arms, how was he to explain it? Now that the ice water feeling was gone, he started to doubt himself.

Was it really Magic?

Other then knowing that it seems to react to his emotionsback could explain the magic. Without anything else to say, he just looked to Bryan and shrugged, “No idea. It started in the car, I didn’t even pull the door handle myself. I just looked at it and it magically opened.”

Judging by everyone’s vacant glares, he decided he should go on explaining as best he could, “I guess it really started when I was thinking of what we should do. It was subtle then, just in the front of my head if it matters. I saw flashes of all the different actions we could take and the results they would bring. That’s how I knew we had to confront them.”

“So that’s why you were so confident when you got out of the car? You already knew he was going to through the car and that you would somehow stop it?” Sara butt in.

Jack looked to her, he hadn’t realized she was paying that close attention to him. “No” He answered, “I had no idea that brute was going to hurl a smart car like a kid throws a stone.”

He chuckled a second to himself but everyone else still seemed put off by this. “I knew that any other way we went about it, running no matter which direction was going to end rather… badly” He trailed off.

Eyes wide, Rachel though she had put it together. “So you can see the future?” her tone was almost excited yet in absolute awe.

“No nothing like that I don’t think,” Jack confidently stated. “I’ve always had a knack for strategy in all the games I’ve ever played. A lot of times you have to be 2 steps ahead if you want to win, so you have to imagine all the possible outcomes and be ready for any of them. I think that’s more along the lines of what happened.” The confidence slipped towards the end of his words, realizing his inner geek was showing strong.

If anyone cared, no one said one negative thing about it as he peered over the group.

“Your eyes, the gold rings are fading again. It was there when you got out of the car, but it was worse when we came to your side. It’s unnatural, and… disconcerting.” Rachel chimed in. She reached in her purse Bryan had also at some point fished out of the bags for her and tossed him the mirror to look for himself.

"I wouldn't say worse, just brighter." Sara chimed in, embarrassment evident in her tone.

Catching the mirror, Jack opened it up and held it up to catch light. Opening his eyes wide to better see, he saw what she meant.

The gold rings where slowly fading, even as he watched in the mirror. But to him, it wasn’t disconcerting, it was exciting yet mysterious.

He liked it.

Sara squirmed a bit as she finished her handful of trail mix. “I don’t think it’s disconcerting, I like the way it looks.” She smiled at Jack, something he returned and nodded his head in thank you to.

“Besides, mine did it as well right? Last night?”

Bryan and Rachel nodded solemnly, hardly imaging all had happened the night before. It seemed that everyone’s thought went back to the previous night’s events with the meteor crossing into the atmosphere.

The shaking and rumbling of the earth they could all still feel if they closed their eyes and thought about it. The countless bodies that now littered the lookout point, it all seemed surreal to them all. As they all finished their munching, it seemed they all had the chills from their own thoughts.

“So what do we do now?” Sara asked, her voice shaking with uncertainty.

Jack sighed, shaking himself from his thoughts. What to do? He and Bryan where three thousand miles from home with no family any closer than further south on the east coast.

Their parents! His thoughts wandered toward them again for the first time since earlier in the morning.

Are they safe? Did they never wake up?

Worst case scenarios ran through his head so fast he had to shake it to keep himself from the horrors.

Well that's one hell of a downside.

See his parents deaths like that even knowing that it was just a scenario still disturbed Jack.

I've got to get handle on that ability really quickly. That would drive me nuts.

Bryan had an idea of what his brother was thinking, “Well, we have to make it back to our parents in New York.” There was no question of this for him, it was his first and foremost concern. He wouldn’t let it show but he was far more worried about them then he was willing to show to Jack, he decided late last night that he had to be strong for his brother through this.

He is the older brother after all.

He had to take care of Jack, it’s a foreign concept to him but now that he felt if he had no idea how he had not in all the years growing up with Jack.

Jack nodded in agreement, and turned his gaze to the girls. Sara and Rachel both looked as fearful as Bryan felt. “What about your parents, you said they were a ways away right?”

Rachel’s brow furrowed at that, “You were passed out when we talked about that...”

Sara’s ears turned red in embarrassment  Had he heard what she said about him last night? If he did he hadn’t let on that he knew. No, he couldn’t have heard she decided, and tried her best to bury her embarrassment.

“Hmm I guess that’s why the memory is so fuzzy, I must have been half out or something.” Jack surmised.

Rachel thought a moment a then started in, “Well, like I said, our parents are about two hours away. Without a working car though I have no idea how long it could take to get there. They went to our cabin on Mount Baldy for the weekend together. They don’t even know we are here.”

The last bit it seemed she was saying to herself for she reeled back at the thought and started tearing up again.

Bryan was quick on the up take and knew Jack would agree by just meeting his eyes and giving a short nod. “Well, that makes it easy,” he declared, “We’ll go to them.” Bryan scooted over to put an arm around Rachel.

She seemed hesitant for it to be him, but quickly accepted the comforting she knew she needed.

Jack slowly nodded to show his agreement to the girls. Sensing the girls worry over their parents, he scrambled to find something comforting to say. “I’m sure they are safe where they are. If this Mount Baldy is anything like the mountains we have at home, it will be far more secluded from idiots like Jimmy.”

Both girls seemed to take heart in that, Rachel’s tears faded and Sara nodded managing a small warn smile.

Jack had to almost squint at Sara, as the sun finally peeked over the hilltop.