Luke woke up, feeling as though his body felt lighter. Like the pain that he knew had knocked him unconscious had never happened in the first place. He used his elbow to prop himself up noticing that no pain lingered, that he felt not only lighter but primed to move. He jumped to his feet, not feeling dizzy in the slightest. He worked up the nerve to look at his reflection in the mirror as he still vaguely remembered the chaotic image that was his reflection just before passing out.
He prepared himself for the worse, for the inevitable return of whatever his mind created before. However, the reflection he saw in the mirror was himself, though sweatya and a bit disheveled. He took a long calming breath and began pulling his shirt off and that's when something did finally look out of place. The mark that previously seemed to look no more than a terrible bruise or cut now could be seen more distinctly. It now more resembled a faint tattoo that seemed to seep into his skin. He pressed his hands to the mark and it felt warm to the touch more so than his typical skin temperature.
Though he knew he should be scared of the mark, he couldn’t help but think he had seen it somewhere. That's when a memory hit him. He had been a child at the time no more than six or so. His mom had brought him to a waterpark with Ben, it was a distance from their small town but it being Luke's birthday his mom went all out. She had woken him up early that morning and had told him their plan. He had been swimming as a kid but never had the chance to play at a waterpark. They had picked up Ben and made the two hour drive to the park.
When they had arrived his mom had told him that she didn’t care for the water rides and stuff but would let Ben and Himself run around the play area. They were just old enough to be able to do some of the smaller stuff without parental guidance. The day went super well untill Luke and Ben decided they wanted to help his mom cool off. She hadn’t been too happy covered in water but had taken the initiative to wear a bathing suit under her clothes. When his mom had feigned annoyance with them and then took off her shirt to reveal her bathing suit Luke noticed what was a mark on her back, one that now he could not erase from his childhood memory. His mom rarely left her back uncovered and now he knew that something strange was going on because the same mark he remembered as a six year old boy was now tattooed into his own flesh.
The realization made him take another deep breath. He didn’t know what this meant. The mark was too similar to a tattoo in the way it sat on skin but still deep enough to look almost like a birthmark. He ran his fingers over the design two P’s connected together but going in opposite directions. It really captivated his full attention, so much so that he didn't hear the voices approaching the door that led into the locker room
Two young men walked through the door and gave Luke a look as he was covered in sweat with his hand tracing a mark on his chest. Not particularly the best way to find someone upon entering a locker room. Luke quickly covered the mark, but gave them a quick nod, “Hey fellas, sorry I went a little hard in the gym, was seeing if I could see a good chest pump.” The two boy’s didn't seem to care, nodding in return, “no worries man, odd to see someone in here at this time of day we were about to get ready for our practice.” Luke looked at them a little odd, “Practice? Wait, what time is it?
The two boys looked at Luke again with a little unease, probably thinking that he was on drugs or something. “It’s 3pm, school has been out for about half an hour now. Wait aren’t you on the wrestling team. Your guy’s practice was canceled today on account of the basketball team needing the space. I am assuming that's why you were working out, unless you thought you guys still had practice at four. Sorry if you missed the memo. You're good to shower though”. Seeing Luke was still half undressed, his shirt in his hands.
Luke, still processing what they had told him, took a minute to respond, putting his shirt back on as he talked,” Oh yea just wanted to get a quick lift in since there wasn’t going to be practice today or tomorrow. Big meet on Wednesday. I'll just head home and shower.” Luke walked past the two boys who gave him a look in return that said they didn’t believe what he said and were a little weirded out by Luke acting funny. He paid it no mind. Grabbed his bag and decided to head home.
The air was cool on Luke's skin on account for him still being covered in sweat. He walked briskly on the sidewalk taking the usual street home. His footfalls were the only sound that he processed as his mind was elsewhere. Not only had he had that weird incident in English but he somehow passed out on the locker room floor for the remaining day. That was a not so insignificant loss of time in his mind. Never had he had something like this happen. It started with that weird dream, his mom acting funny, school being a little odd and then passing out. He couldn’t help but think he needed some sleep and the sooner the better.
His brisk pace had him on the street in no time, his mind still going over the day's events. As he walked in the door an empty house greeted him. A note on the kitchen table from his mom letting him know that she would be home later in the night tonight and that there were leftovers in the fridge. Luke thought about food, but what he really needed was a shower and then a little nap. Climbing the stairs his body responded in an unusual way he practically glided over the stairs, not thinking much about it he continued to his room down the hall. He stripped down, grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom.
Turning on the shower to let it warm up, he took a look at himself in the mirror. He wouldn’t consider himself vain but will all of these times looking in the mirror today some might think otherwise. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, the same freckles that were on his skin since birth hadn't moved, his scars from being an adventurous kid were all still there. The mark was the only new addition within the last 24 hours and was the most prominent by far. He had no idea if it was some fluke that it resembled the same one his mom had. Maybe she would think he was being a bit rebellious but got the same tattoo as her. As quickly as thought that came he knew that he wasn’t ready to talk to her about it.
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He didn’t want to dwell on it more than he had already and jumped in the shower letting the warm water roll over his body, easing some of the tension he hadn’t known he was carrying from the events of the day. He sat under the water and allowed it to relax him to the point he could feel himself almost dozing off. The chaotic day was taking more of a toll than he thought. Turning off the shower and toweling himself off he went to his burrow and grabbed some sweats. Throwing the comfortable clothes off just added another sleepy layer to his over exhausted brain. He thought about food but quickly dismissed it and instead found himself laying in his bed staring at the empty ceiling. This last all of 30 seconds before sleep fully consumed him and he fell asleep.
—-
Luke found himself waking up feeling like he had slept in way too late. He immediately knew that his little nap was far longer than he wanted it to be. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing the grogginess from his eyes he finally opened them fully to see that far more light was coming into his room than he thought possible, until he looked at his phone to not only see two missed calls from Ben, but that it was 6:30 am the next day.
Luke sprung out of bed, threw on some jeans and hoodie, and sprinted downstairs. He half expected his mom to be waiting to for him to berate him for sleeping in too late, but then noticed there was another note on the kitchen table letting hiim know that his mom had worked late and was going to be asleep when he got up for school.
He managed to find himself a quick powerbar, and filled a cup full of orange juice to take with him on his walk. He sprinted out the door and took off at a casual space. He knew he should have given Ben a ring back, but knew that he would see him as soon as he got to school. Low and behold Be was waiting for him sitting on one of the benches outside the school as Luke crossed the street to walk towards the main entrance. “Luke, where in the hell have you been? I called you twice, and even looked for you everywhere after you ditched our class together.” Though Luke knew it looked bad, he was a little irritated with Ben’s attitude about it all. “Listen I am sorry that I didn’t give you a call back, I started getting the worst migraine of life, and ended up going home early. Dont worry about it.”
Hearing the grumpiness of Luke's voice Ben seemed to back off the attitude with his response as he got up and started walking next to Luke into the school. “Listen, I am sorry that you had a rough day yesterday, I won't bug you about it, just remember practice is canceled today on account of the big meet tomorrow, just don't go to the gym and hurt yourself we need you tomorrow.” Ben then walked off to go talk to some other people leaving Luke alone.
He felt bad that he gave Ben a half truth response and was a little rude towards him. He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened yesterday, and to him it had seemed to be a normal day so far. He would apologize to Ben later, but he wanted to get the day started hoping like hell it wouldn’t be a repeat of yesterday.
Lukes’s day was by all means normal, he had found Ben prior to their class together giving him a brief run down of the migraine and then heading home to sleep it off all night. Ben accepted his apologies without so much of a retort as being his closest friend he knew things happened. They managed to get through their class together and get on with the rest of the day. Luke felt as though the day before had been almost just a dream, and nothing more as today was a day like any other. Simple without any weird things going on.
As the day ended he walked himself home per usual. He made it to the house and walked inside to see his mom in the kitchen. A smile on his lips as he smelled the scent of his favorite food filling the small kitchen. His mom had made a little feast. Steak, green beans, mashed potatoes, and what looked like a blueberry cobbler still in the oven baking away. “What's the occasion mom, it's not like it's my birthday?” She looked almost sad as she answered, “Well I wanted a good night's meal with my son. Is that so hard to imagine?” Luke gave her a little look but walked up to her and gave her a quick hug. “No mom, I love the idea, let me throw my things upstairs and we can eat together, maybe we could find a movie to watch too.”
Rebecca smiled at her son as he went upstairs, a small tear slowly falling down her face that quickly faded before more could come. She finished setting the table as Luke came back into the kitchen. “Alright lets eat!” She said with enthusiasm. Luke didn’t need to be told twice and started piling on his plate. The night continued in the same way the day had gone. Simple a day like any other.
Luke made his way to his room after giving his mom a hug, and thanking her for making his favorites. They had watched a family movie together with Luke eating half the cobbler she made himself. He was stuffed. He did his usual bedtime routine, taking a quick glance at the mirror with his shirt off. He almost second guessed himself but managed to look at his reflection which surprised him. The mark that had seemed to be so foreign to him yesterday looked almost gone now. All his worries about the following day and the weird stuff that had happened to him seemed to be a dream at this point. Maybe he had really been sleep deprived. Today was normal and he could only hope that tomorrow would be the same minus a hopeful victory at the wrestling meet.
—
Luke drifted off to sleep that night ending a day as normal as a 18 year old could hope for while in the Neverworld Sean was slowly whittling down the protections that resided over the pocket world Rebecca and Luke called home. The process was lengthy and took a lot of control of essense. Bryan had been meticulous with his protections. Thankfully Sean had the ability to do so without too much trouble knowing his old mentor well enough. The bridge would be the next part though and that took complete and under control of one's essence. Most of the time it took someone advanced in the control of essence within a void space like a pocket world but Bryan had given Sean the directions in case there was ever a need to bring Luke or Rebecca through .
He hoped the boy was living his life as normal as he could to give Rebecca her wish, though a part of him knew it was not necessarily a kindness as she should have been preparing him to leave instead. He wouldn’t question her too much as he knew what it was like to love a child, but the kid hopefully would learn quickly or struggle would be all he could hope for, for his future.