The world was engulfed in a never ending sea of black.An abyss the likes of a black hole. There were no sounds, no smells, and nothing to see. Luke looked around, even trying to move his body. Nothing seemed to change. It was as if he was trapped in endless darkness unable to break free from what must be a nightmare.
“You cannot escape your fate, the darkness has already claimed you as its own..You are a descendant of the power, and you were created to bring balance back to the fold”
The voice echoed in the depths of Luke's mind, it felt as if his soul would tear. Every fiber of his being was shaking with fear. The fear felt as though it would control him, he could do nothing but give in to the darkness. Luke Tried to talk but he was overcome by some immense power, and he still could not free himself from the darkness that threatened to strangle his very sense of self.
The voice broke through his inner turmoil,” They will come for you, those that were once hidden. If you can not control the power in the end it will consume you, and you will be destroyed by it and everything that was destined to be will be for naught.”
Just as fast as the darkness came, it disappeared. Luke was left laying in bed stunned at what just occurred. While his alarm to wake up signaled he wasn't dreaming anymore. He was left shaken by the dream.
“What the fuck was that?” Luke thought to himself. Getting up stretching, and turning off the alarm. Luke couldn’t help but wonder, “I must be going crazy, maybe I've been hitting the gym too hard lately.”
Walking over to the bathroom, Luke turned the light and what he saw in the mirror took him by immense surprise.
Luke was above average height, being roughly 6 feet tall. Normal looks with brown hair, and brown eyes. He had always been muscular, but in the past month it was as if he gained another 15 pounds of muscle. Seeming as though his bulk wasn’t huge but his muscles were more chord-like as if he had been training for years. That wasn't what caught his immediate attention this time. Looking at himself he saw an even newer change. Sitting directly over his left chest muscle was an imprint as if someone had burned a mark into his flesh. It was foreign, almost alien like. A line that curved into two P’s in opposite directions. It looked red and raw as if both bruised and burned.
“Luke, you better be out of bed! Hurry up or you will be late to school.” His mom yelled from the kitchen. His mom yelling was exactly what he needed to break him from the trance the weird mark on his skin had him under. All he could think about was that dream, and now this mysterious mark. However, playing it off as a bruise. His mind, playing tricks on him from having such a profound nightmare.
“They will come for you… if you cannot control the power, you will be destroyed by it”. Were the words that left such an impression he couldn’t fully shake himself from it. Shaking his head, “It was only a dream, it couldn't be real, I will have to figure out this whole mark later, maybe my mind is playing tricks on me and I’m seeing things”. Luke said laughing out loud.
Luke threw on a pair of jeans, a hoodie, grabbed his bag and ran down the stairs. Luke's mom was casually walking around the kitchen, hair up in a bun, and the smell of pancakes filled the kitchen.
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“Honey you need to stop growing, you're emptying the house of all the food, so all I could think of to make was pancakes since you ate all the eggs already. How does one consume 12 eggs in four days! I am going to have to get a second job just to feed you.” She said with fawn annoyance a smile playing slightly on her lips.
Luke couldn't help but appreciate his mom. She had raised him his whole life single handedly doing everything in her power to provide the best life she could for him. Luke had never known his father, and everytime Luke attempted to broach the subject with his mom she would become very emotional and explain that he had to leave us and it was for the best. Luke never pushed the subject, so as to not upset her, but always wondered how someone could leave him and his mother like that.
“I know mom, this past year has been crazy. Last wrestling season I weighed 165 lbs, and now I am wrestling at 220.” His mom looked at him with a sad look, “It must be your father's genes, he used to train all the time and was considered strong in our circle of friends.”
Luke sat at the table and attempted to look busy studying for the test he had to take later that day. He never knew what to say when his mom actually brought up facts pertaining to his father. He sat back and ate his breakfast while studying in silence. He couldn’t help but wonder if his dad looked anything like himself as he was now.
Twenty minutes went by until his mom finally spoke again, “ Hey before you leave for school I wanted to let you know that I should be able to make it to your wrestling match tonight after work. Shannon is supposed to cover for me tonight at the hospital, so expect me to finally be there to see all the progress you have made. While you may look like you have grown and have tapped into some of your latent genes to grow your muscles I want to see you compete again!”
Luke tried to look excited, but his mom always tried to make it, yet she had missed every other match this season. He wasn’t upset by that fact, he knew that she was busy and that she worked hard to provide for both of them being the single parent she was.
“It’s alright mom, I understand if you can’t make it, but I will look for you as always!” He tried to say with as much enthusiasm as he could with the negative thoughts still lingering in his mind. This morning not going the way he had hoped after having such a horrific dream.
Luke had actually forgotten that he had a big match tonight. Wrestling had been so easy this year. He had actually gone undefeated as it was. It must have been all the muscle he had gained. He missed the challenge, but winning was always nice. He thought to himself, “Tonight should be a win, and after that I will need to figure out what happened with my chest, and what the fuck the dream was about” Problems for later he thought the most immediate issue being how he was going to have to explain how he had seamingly gotten a tattoo burned into his flesh when he went to weigh in later that night. He would chalk it up to dropping a weight on his chest or something. His coach wouldn’t ask too many questions when it came to Luke as he was an all star this year.
Rebecca looked at her son, seeing his growth exceed those around him so much in only a year started to worry her. He shouldn’t have grown that fast and it could only be one thing she had feared. He shouldn’t have his power, yet she couldn’t deny what she was seeing right in front of her own eyes. This world her husband created seemingly being for naught as his growth could only dictate he needed to leave sooner than later. She had been watching him more closely lately, trying to discern anything unusual, any marks and he hadn’t complained about any weird dreams that she knew of. She let out a big sigh she didn't know she was holding. She shouldn’t worry he was just growing up and maturing. Maybe it could be chalked up to the young man in front of her actually maturing instead of the alternative “Alright honey hurry up and finish your food. You need to head to school so you're not late.
Luke got up from the table, quickly put his dishes away, gave his mom a quick hug, and walked out the door headed toward school.