Here is chapter 15 for those of you still reading this twisted story from my imaginations. I hope you like it
as much as the others before it. This is more of a cerebral part of the plot line but important to understand Andrew more than you already do. I appreciate the feedback I’ve been getting from those who have been leaving comments and those who have joined the site and PM’d me. Thank you again for reading the story and I’ll have the next chapter posted as it comes to me.
The silence and darkness were a welcome change from the fire in my blood until that sensation faded. I was adrift in darkness, weightless with no sense of direction. Things slivered and whispered in the darkness. I could feel indescribable caresses along my skin under my clothing. The stagnant oily taste of the air as I breathed; and the air smelled of rotting corpses and other sickly sweet scents I was unable to identify. The darkness was so profound that I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what resided in the space around me. There was no sense of time passing here; even my perfect Time Sense from that sphere wasn’t working. That worried me because it meant that I was in a space in which time was a meaningless construct. Most people even many Mages see time as a line flowing in one direction, a theory call Linear Time. To most this is true, however as you learn and work with Time Magick and your understanding of time you realize that it is an artificial construct created to allow people of all kinds to understand what is happening.
My spine crawled under my skin as felt some kind of hard chitinous tendril slither up my leg before it withdrew. My heart was racing as I tried to understand what was happening and where I was. I had a theory that I didn’t want to accept as it meant that I couldn’t get myself out. I reached out actively to sense what was around me with Magick and that is when I realized there was no connection to it. I could no longer feel my Avatar, the connection was there but no magick. That cemented my theory about where I was. Todash Space. The space between spaces where Cthulhian nightmares lived. Now I was glad that I didn’t have the option of shedding light on the situation. I was stuck here for how long I wouldn’t be able to tell as the Tellurian’s rules had no effect on that which existed outside of it. The only advantage to being stuck here was the same disadvantage; they had all of eternity to find me and I would be stuck here without changing. I was going to be stuck here until someone on the other side could figure out where I was and how to get me back from here. All I had to do was hope my sanity remained intact while I was here.
When you exist in a timeless state where nothing and everything is happening at the same time it is difficult to know anything for certain. I’m not sure if I had, am having or will have the thought that I now know how Schrodinger’s Cat felt about the box, but at some point in every when and no when the thought happened. I tried to focus on Sindee and my friends but thoughts and memory are fleeting in eternity. I believe that Hell would have been a better place to be stuck than in this dark nothingness that followed no rules or rhyme or reason. In order to protect my sanity I started to go over the events of my life in order from my youngest memories to my recent experiences. I was thankful that I had cast a Mind Magick spell on myself that gave be perfect recollection from that time forward as well as enhancing those memories I already had.
I drifted there lost in my memories for and indeterminate frame of reference. Going through my memories wasn’t helping as I lost sense of order in them as there was no frame of reference for time here and my mind was adapting to that fact despite my efforts. I worried that my memories weren’t real, that I only imagined everything; that my life was nothing more than a dream in a timeless place. The thought of that possibility filled me with a dread far worse than the whispers in the darkness ever could have. I mentally gripped the image I had of Sindee and held on for dear life, using that as a mental focus.
I focused on the memory of her eyes and the last time I had seen them. The silver flecks inside the grey storm cloud irises. From there images flowed to me or time we had spent together. If this was a dream that never happened I wanted to hold onto it anyway. Then the image of her coming into a hospital room passed through my mind. Then there was an image of her in a white gown, hair pulled up tight into a complicated braid, then the image of her in a green dress standing in the summer evening. The image of her in a sapphire dress under the moon and stars was next. An image I didn’t remember came next; she looked older and was walking with a dark haired young woman through a park talking. After that an image of her younger, dressed in jeans and white shirt. The shirt was stained red with blood flowing down her right side from a wound in her shoulder and chest. Then an image of her fighting some kind of magic user passed through my mind. The images flashed in an ever changing menagerie of possibilities from her with children and grandchildren running around and playing to her alone and angry at the world to her teaching medicine; images of her as a Mage, a Vampire and other things. Then an image formed of her pale, eyes closed and features completely relaxes; peaceful as seen only in death.
I began to hate myself for leaving her alone, with me gone and unable to protect her from the world I exposed her to. I was determined to be the first person to find a way back from Todash. I was not going to wait to be rescued; I was going to find a way out of the space between spaces if it killed me. I was a Mage and just because no one has accomplished something before didn’t mean it was impossible. It just meant that no one was smart enough to think their way around the problem. I tried to think about what Todash was and wasn’t when I hit the proverbial wall of my limitations. It’s is almost impossible to focus one anything this when you perceive an eternity and a moment as the exact same thing. When time doesn’t exist in a place it fractures your sense of the real.
And that thought gave me what I needed to work up a way out of Todash. I told you a while back or was it that I’m going to tell you about how reality works. Reality to most beings is consensual as it is formed by what the Consensus of those in it believe. No one believes in dragons anymore therefore they ceased to exist and any skeletons found are written off as being dinosaur fossils. For Mages reality in conceptual as what they can imagine and conceive they can create with enough power, skill, knowledge and will. I knew what I could attempt to do but thankfully I didn’t have to worry about time. I started to speak to the whispers in the darkness, telling the entities stories of Magick and Avatars. When the whispers quieted I knew they were listening so I spoke more of the planes of existence describing scents and sounds and how this felt and tasted. I spoke nothing of visual descriptions as there was nothing to see her in darkness and they would have no point of reference for the descriptions. I just continued to speak for as long as my voice help out, encouraging the listens to pass along my tales to everything else in this purgatory I find myself in. I didn’t know if this would work but I had to try something. I did everything I could to bring most of the laws of reality to this place leaving out the concept of time so that I would not need to worry about if having its effects on me causing me to age or to starve as the body wasn’t being supported in a physical sense.
I didn’t stop my talking, whispering, pushing the information out to the denizens of this pitch black nothingness that surrounded me in fear that if I stopped talking I would forget the idea. If I forgot what I was doing and why in this place it would be as if nothing had ever happened with no concept of time everything I worked to change would cease. There was no way to say how long I was speaking or what was said to push things to the point I needed and wanted. All of a sudden I felt as though I had never lost my connection to Magick and speaking aloud what I was doing to keep the sensation real in the mind around me as well as my own, I tapped into the magick and used Correspondence, Spirit, Life, Prime and Matter Spheres to yank myself back into the Prime Material Plane from where I left. As there was no sense of time the Time Sphere was useless in Todash. I felt fire along my skin, ice in my veins and though it is hard to describe the best words to convey the feeling is sandpaper on my brain and the inside of my skull as I pulled myself through. I hit something solid and felt gravity and that alone made told me I was out of Todash. Then I blacked out.
I awoke staring at a star filled sky. I was surrounded by trees and mountains as the rain fell upon me skin. I just laid there letting the sound of falling rain and the feel of the water on my skin slowly bring me back into a linear reality. After an eternity and a moment of which I had no idea how long each was I needed to readjust to the flow of time. After the rain stopped I managed to sit up against a rock. I opened my eyes to see the clouds traveling past and the evening sky clearing as the sun set over the ridges bring darkness and a star filled sky. I rested to regain some peace of mind, however it wouldn’t last. I needed to find out where I was and even more importantly when I was since there was still something wrong with my sense of time. My stomach took that moment to growl reminding me that the human body had limitations that I once again had to pay attention to. I drug myself to me feet and started walking toward the east as toward the west and the setting sun I saw more and higher peaks. It took me a few hours to find a mountain stream which would serve for water and a way to get my stomach filled. I crouched on the side of the stream looking into the crystal clear water trying to spot a large fish swimming near me.
I was crouching there for what felt like forever but was not really more than an hour when I spotted this huge trout in the water moving toward the edge nearest me. I reach out with Life magick and had it swim towards me. When it was right near the side and out of the currents I used matter to raise the fish out of the water then used forces to cook it instantly. I felt drained from such simple spells almost right away; I needed to replenish my body and my reserves of quintessence or primal energy to what they used to be soon. The food would help but I needed to find a way to replenish the quintessence. I continued to travel slowly on foot through the mountains for a couple of days. I had some food and access to water but I needed to find civilization soon or I would be in trouble. I stumbled out of the trees into a small town on the afternoon of the third day. I was walking towards a small diner when I collapsed on the side of the street from exhaustion, last thing I felt was my head hitting the sidewalk.
I opened my eyes to the smell of strong coffee and the sounds of classic rock playing overhead. I was sitting in a booth inside the diner; across from me was a sheriff deputy. She was blonde with it tied back in a ponytail, had bright royal blue colored eyes and wore little make-up. She was sitting there staring at me from across the table sipping from a steaming mug like the one sitting in front of me. There were clouds in the sky outside the window so I didn’t know the time, “Hello,” I said to her.
“Hello sir, how are you feeling after the bump to your head?” she asked in reply.
“I have a headache but that’s to be expected. I think I passed out from a lack of proper food and rest. Can you tell me where I am?” I asked her.
She smiled which was nice but nothing compared to Sindee’s before answering. “The coffee and a couple of Tylenol may help the headache. The food here will handle the second part. As for the where; welcome to Wolf Lake, Wyoming.” She took a breath and continued, “Now I gotta ask, if you don’t know where you’re at how did you get here?”
“I don’t quite remember. Around three days ago I woke up in the mountains out there and saw the sunset. I saw that in the west the peaks got higher decided to head east as the fastest way out of the mountains. I walked my way out of the mountains to collapse on your street out there.”
“Well stranger, do you have a name or do you not remember that either?” She asked.
“Forgive my manners,” I reached out my hand across the table. “My name is Andrew Graves, and do you have a name Deputy?”
She reached over and shook my hand, “Jacqueline Depree, most people call me Jaq Mr. Graves.” My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly again. She let out a soft chuckle incongruent with her hard edged deputy appearance, “Sounds like you haven’t eaten a proper meal in days. Doc said he’d be here in a few minutes to check you out from hitting your head and then we can let you eat. Maddie back there is the best cook you’ll find anywhere.”
“Well Jaq, that sounds like a positive endorsement if I ever heard one,” I reached for my back pocket to get my wallet when I realized it wasn’t there. I grimaced and looked at her, “You didn’t happen to find my wallet or phone on me by any chance?” Not that I was expecting her to have them because if memory served they were sitting in the new house on a small table in the basement.
“Sorry Mr. Graves but that would be a no.”
“Call me Andrew; Mr. Graves is too formal for this setting and the fact that you have me calling you Jaq.” I grinned, “I was hoping for a different answer but not expecting one. I’m gonna have to pass on Maddie’s cooking until I can get ahold of someone who can wire me funds for a bus ticket or flight home.”
The doctor took that moment to arrive. In walked a man right out of an old television show. He looked to be around fifty or so, stood about 5’7” and was a little soft and round in the stomach area. He was dressed in gray slacks and a wrinkled white shirt and tie. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back but a few strands were loose on the sides. He wore his stethoscope around his neck and carried a small back bag. “Hello Deputy Jaq, is that the stranger you called me about?”
“Yeah Doc, he just walked out of the mountains and passed out on the street. Cracked his head pretty good in the fall but seems coherent enough,” Jaq told Doc.
“I better check him anyway just to be on the safe side.” Doc walked over and set his bag and paper on the booth’s table and pulled a chair over. He sat facing me as he opened the bag. I looked at the date on the paper to see how long I’ve been gone as he started checking me over. He used a scope to check my pupils for signs of a concussion first which made checking the date difficult until my vision cleared up. I sat patiently through the physical exam as he made sure I’d done no permanent damage to myself during the trek through the mountains. He stepped back after completing the exam which is when I finally saw the date on the paper. It said July 2nd which was fine, but the year was the problem. In reading the last two digits it said 08 and I thought I had been gone for almost a century before seeing it was 2008. I was 3 days before the night that changed my life forever, the night I Awakened and lost most of my family.
The Doc started asking me questions about how I got out into the woods, where was I from and so on. I had to answer that I didn’t remember to most of the answers because my history wouldn’t match up to the reality. The Doc suggested that my memory loss would most likely be temporary and likely a result of whatever trauma put me out in the middle of nowhere. Jaq offered to get my lunch but I offered to do some cleanup or repair work around the place for Maddie to pay my own way. Maddie told me I could wash dishes and take out the garbage for my meal, so that’s what I did. The food was probably the best I’d had in forever.
Jaq had waited while I ate and made a radio call. Around the time I was finished another sheriff’s deputy came in with some paper and an Ink pad. “Going to get your prints and run a search for them, see if we can maybe find more information to help you with your memory Mr. Graves.”
I couldn’t exactly say no, that I didn’t want to know where I came from or how I got here. The only thing that put me at ease is that at 16 I hadn’t been fingerprinted for anything so nothing would come up when they ran the search. “Thank you deputies, I’m starting to wonder if my name is even Andrew at this point. Hopefully you find something.”
After I ate and cleaned up for Maddie to pay for my meal, I walked over and picked up the doc’s paper and began reading it. It was the same article I remember seeing on my way through Cheyenne when my family headed to the mountains. I sat down and tried to figure out a few important items. First was how I got to here in this place and more importantly, this when. I knew that as far as anyone knew traveling back in time and changing the past were never heard from again. This is assumed to have many possible reasons. My personal favorite among these theories is Branching Universe Theory. In this model of time every choice creates multiple timelines, a branch for each possible choice and all these branches have their own branches as more choices come up. We perceive only the timeline for the choice we made, but there are duplicates of us experiencing the other choices we made. Thus a Mage going back and changing anything ceases on this timeline and switches to another branch of reality.
I came to a decision that I might regret but I had to at least try it. Jaq came back shortly before the diner closed and told me that nothing came up from the prints. She explained that it just meant that I hadn’t been arrested or printed or professional reasons such as law enforcement or military service. Since I had no record she offered to put me up for the night since locking me in a cell would be wrong to do to anyone not under arrest. She set me up in her mother’s Bed and Breakfast in town. I meditated that night instead of sleeping, opening myself to the Quintessential energy that existed everywhere in the world, drawing it in to recharge my deplete reserves as I had some serious ground to cover if I was going to do what I felt needed to be done.
Come morning, I got up with the dawn and took a quick shower. I didn’t have anything but the clothes I was wearing to put on so I did so. I walked down the stairs and smelled something good coming from the kitchen. I walked into it and asked the woman in there if she needed assistance with anything. When she replied in the negative I headed outside and went to the sheriff’s office down the main street. When I got there it was to see Jaq sitting at a desk searching on the computer, “Any luck finding anything else about me?”
“Sorry Andrew but no. When I search for Andrew Graves I get an Actor and a District Attorney. You are too young and look nothing like the actor and D.A.s are printed and in the system just like cops.” She said the last pointing to the paper with my prints on it.
I reached out with Matter to ink used in printing me and accelerated the decay of the ink a paper so that they would be gone by that evening. I didn’t like doing it as Jaq had been nothing but respectful and helpful to me since I stumbled into her town, but I didn’t need a set of prints floating around that boredom might prompt her to pull out a file and run them again. Being the Fourth of July this town planned to celebrate in small town style with a community event at the local park that evening and that is when I would be heading out. When everyone was distracted by the night events I’d slip into the darkness and leave with me as just a memory.
It was a wonderful celebration for the holiday and I may have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so distracted with my plan. All the townsfolk showed up for the celebration, everyone wore their summer clothes and there were your farm girl fantasies all over the place. Jaq showed up to the party looking nothing like the deputy she was. Jaq was wearing a twilight blue linen dress that stopped halfway down her thighs showing off her long slender legs. Her hair was hanging loose like waves of blonde sil framing her face. She was wearing a pair of cowgirl boots that looked custom made for her that just accentuated how long her legs really were. In meeting up with her and dancing for some of the night I round she was 5’10 or so and could have been a model. I respected her even more as she chose to protect people instead of living off her looks. We spent the better part of the night dancing and she talked to me about her childhood in this small town.
I felt relaxed and at peace with her as we danced. It was a nice way to spend the evening, in the arms of a beautiful woman dancing. It was a sensation I missed and when she leaned in and we kissed I realized that I needed to get out of there soon. I was letting what I felt and missed cloud my judgment. When we broke the kiss I spoke up, “Jaq, I can’t do this. It feels somehow wrong. I don’t know why, maybe I have someone waiting for me or it could be something else. I wish I knew or that we met when I had my memory.” I stepped back away from her and headed into the shadows outside of the celebration area.
On I made it into the tree line, I headed deeper into the woods and mountains until I was too far away to even see the light coming from the celebration. I focused on Correspondence and Life spheres and focused on my own DNA to give myself a direction of travel by locating the presence of a second, or I guess the original version of myself. With correspondence it is possible to learn to travel great distances instantly, however this is not something I could risk. If you don’t know your target location perfectly you could wind up in a tree or underground or any number of other unpleasantness happening as a result of the spell. I chose a different approach and use the Life sphere for my next effect. I had always loved wolves and had studied them even before knowing that werewolves and other things existed. I altered my physical form to that of a wolf, keeping my mind intact and human by tying in the mind sphere. I bound time around myself to allow me to move faster and go longer than anyone else could have. I started running on all four legs headed toward where I sensed my other self.
I ran for the rest of the night, racing to get where I needed to be. I stopped at streams and rivers only long enough to drink and continue running. I tapped into the primitive side of my own mind when it came to eating as hunting wild animal and eating raw wasn’t something I felt comfortable with in my consciousness. I managed to choke down a couple of rabbits and a squirrel as I traveled. I was moving towards the cabin quickly when I came out into a clearing in the woods where there were deer grazing. I jumped as a loud bang rang out and the head of the deer closest to me exploded into a cloud of fine red mist. I turned quickly and spotted the hunter aiming his rifle at me to protect his kill. I jumped sideways left and landed poorly as I wasn’t used to fighting with four legs. I landed on my side and continued to roll that way until my feet were under me again. This clumsiness saved my life as the next shot hit the ground where I was trying to land missing me by a hair. I got back to my feet and using all the speed of my magick I charged the hunter. He was swinging his rifle in line with me as I ducked under it at bit down onto the arm holding the trigger housing. Warm blood flowed slowly into my mouth as he screamed. The rifle fell across my back and hit the ground. I released the hunters arm and reared back on my hind legs using my weight to knock him to the ground on his back. I bared my teeth and growled at him. He froze in place, staring with eyes full of fear. I padded over to the rifle he dropped and grabbed the strap in my teeth. I lifted the rifle the strap and dragging it across the ground I dumped it into the stream where the deer were drinking before he fired the shot that scattered them. I trotted back over to the wounded hunter and placed my forelegs on his chest. I moved my head down so my mouth was inched from his face and neck. I bared my teeth, colored red by his own blood and growled directly in his face. He pissed himself before passing out from the fear. I did a life scan on him using magick and saw that he would be fine and come to in about ten minutes or so. I left him there and continued along my path. I doubted he’d ever hunt again and wouldn’t be shooting at defenseless animals any longer. I’m no vegetarian and ever understand hunters, but I wasn’t big on being shot at as we’ve discussed before. I finally made it through a fight without injury so I was elated and had gotten my second wind. I traveled faster than previously and came to the area around the cabin just a night fell.
I laid myself down under the trees and brush outside the clearing around the cabin to rest. I kept my mind and senses alert even as I rested my tired body. I released the spell holding me in the form of the wolf. I cleaned myself and my clothes before resting. It was getting late when I saw the monster of my nightmares for the past 5 years drift out of the darkness to appear outside the cabin. I had to decide now if I was going to alter my future and past here and now. If I changed the past I could create a time space paradox and cease to exist, or I could ensure that the self-fulfilling prophesy occurred exactly as it was supposed to. It was not as easy a choice as one would think. On one hand I could save my family, causing myself to possibly never fully awaken to the potential of a Mage. Allow myself and my family to live out our lives blissfully unaware of what may have happened this night. I would however lose Sindee forever as our paths were unlikely to cross after this, I would most likely simply cease to exist in this world and any other in my current form. Simply destroyed by the fact that what created me never happened. Or I could ensure things happened the way they did and should again and simply find something to do for the next five years until I could rejoin my friends after I disappeared into Todash. That would force me to let my family be killed, to allow my father to suffer the loss when I could do something to stop it right here and now. Allow my younger self to endure what I went through all over again. However doing so would allow me to be the man I am today, would allow Sindee and I to come together and have the future together that we were trying to.
It was the hardest choice I ever had to make and I knew what I wanted to do, but I also knew from visions and dreams what the right thing to do was. I reached out with Prime and Mind Magick and practically shouted to myself and my Avatar that they were in danger and need to wake. Then I disappeared into the night to stop myself from doing what I felt like and letting what was right unfold. I spent the next five years traveling the world as only a Mage can. I learned a few new languages and studied the arts of swords in Japan and Europe during this time. I learned Krav Maga in Israel over the year I lived there. I traveled and learned and read as much as I could over that period of time to keep me from trying to return to Vegas earlier and creating a Paradox. I figured if I was going to be fighting a war I needed to prepare myself.
During the travels I went to Stonehenge, getting special permission to walk among the stones themselves. I meditated at the alter Stones on the morning of the Summer Solstice and I’ll tell you that Stonehenge is a Node of such immense power that it may be a gate or bridge between all the planes. I used my knowledge of finance and investing to make money and opened accounts around the world setting up homes and safe-houses all over. I made some contact and allies for the future, not all of them above board but you take what you can get when fighting a war. I used Life and Time to keep aging from affecting me during this time away.
I traveled to Hawaii to purchase some land and a beach house on one of the smaller islands in a secluded location at the start of the last six months before needing to head back. I took flying lessons for fixed wing aircraft while there and planned to continue the lessons for rotorcraft and other vehicles in the future. I headed back towards the continental states two nights before my disappearance were to occur using a false identity I had been using over the last few years. Once I landed in Vegas I took a taxi out to M resort and checked in using the same ID. I got a good night’s rest there and checked out early in the morning settling the bill in cash and walking out into the fall morning. I walked to where the house was built and parked myself in the mountains just outside the back of the home to wait for that night.
The evening came quickly and I could feel the power building and being drawn into the ritual I had crafted. I took my time to carefully draw enough magick and slide myself into the spell being crafted so that I could time this right. As the spell built towards conclusion I saw the glow and felt the energy spike as the Node formed. I used Correspondence Magick to step into the place that I had just disappeared from. As the bright glow faded I stood in the basement of my new home surrounded by friends and allies who had no idea what had really just happened.
The Node had formed perfectly and that’s what had drawn me into Todash as it was a bridge similar to Stonehenge, while not nearly as powerful. I didn’t just knot our plane and the Magick one but all planes connected to the Tellurian. I created a Node, but also a crossroads of sorts. It still required the ability to travel through planes under your own abilities but it would be easy to do from here. I did by accident something unintended and useful at once. Everyone relaxed some once the rituals magick faded and the flow of power from the node became a constant steady pulse.
As everyone settle down and cleaned up from the evenings events we headed upstairs for drinks and ordered some pizza to get some food to replenish our bodies from the expenditure of power. Arthur came over to me while we were eating and whispered in my ear, “I know what happened to you. Your mind was different at the end of the ritual and the change was sudden, shifted while we were all blinded from the glow. Come see me when you can and we’ll talk about what happened.” Needless to say I was stunned at the revelation of just what he could do as I felt no Magick from him beyond what was flowing into the ritual. Now I really wanted to know what he was as he had said he was once a Mage and was now something else.
The rest of the evening was relaxed even though there was no furniture in the house yet. We were using camp chairs to sit and the counters for our drinks and food. We were all talking about the future and the coming war. Arthur spoke up as we were discussing the Ascension war and what it meant for everyone here, “The Ascension War must remain a secret to the general public but must also be focused upon by all the supernatural beings because the is another war being fought that must remain hidden from all but those on the front lines of it. Andrew, you and your friends and allies are needed to take my place in the Ascension War here as my friends and I are fighting the Hidden War. I cannot and will not tell you about what we are fighting as the fewer people who know the more advantage we have in that war. We will continue to aid you in this but it’s your fight now.”
Everyone grew silent after this and the mood shifted to somber instead of celebratory of our night successes. We all had a lot to think about considering what has been revealed to us. The mood died down and we all decided it was time to head out and take the time we needed to think about what we were going to need to do for the foreseeable future. There was a knock at the door just as we were cleaning up to head out. I found that strange as we hadn’t moved in yet and were out away from most of the city population. I walked over and opened the door to a disturbingly familiar face. “Hello Mr. Graves, it’s nice to see you again after these last few years.”
“Good Evening Deputy Depree,” is all I got out before words failed me. There was Jaq standing before me as beautiful today as she was that night I left here at the celebration. Her hair had grown longer and was loose down her back; her blue eyes had a hard edge to them. She was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red silk blouse, and was wearing the same black boots she had on that night. Clipped to her belt was the badge of a Deputy US Marshall instead of a small town sheriff.

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This is my first story written and posted. I checked spelling and grammar but may have missed some things. This is based loosely in White Wolf Games old World of Darkness for my inspiration and is just a start or the many ideas I have to continue on with. There is no actual sex in this chapter but the ending sets up for the start of the next chapter. Please let me know what you think of the story as a whole and of the writing style as well. Please be constructive not just this sucked or it was great. Let me know what you actually think. Thank you
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If I told you Mages truly existed you’d probably laugh at me or think I was crazy. You’d want to lock me up and throw away the key if I told you they are around us here and now, not just legends of the past. Mages do exist, and they are here in the world with us today. I should know, I’m one of them. Now when I say Mage I sure the first though to come into your mind is the Harry Potter novels and movies or the old cartoons where you have people in old laboratories surrounded by strangely labeled jars like eye of newt and bat wings. Where that kind of magic is in the world and there are a few hedge wizards among you mortals, that’s not true Magick. My name is Andrew and I’m going to give you a glimpse into the reality of a true Mage.
I wasn’t born a mage, like everyone else in the world I was born mortal and had a pretty average childhood. I grew up in a small tourist town at the Jersey shore. I did well in school, but I always got in trouble for being a dreamer so my grades weren’t the greatest. Like any other kid I dreamed of being everything from an astronaut to soldier, Knight of the Round Table to any other thing I could imagine. I was about 11 when I first started to notice weird things about the world around me. There were times I knew for a fact that I wasn’t going to get home before dark and would therefore be grounded for a week and rushed to get home. Even though there was no way for me to get home in time I’d get in just in time. As a kid I just chalked it up to rushing and luck and forgot about it. Around the time I turned 13 my mind was becoming sharper than ever. I could read a book once and remember everything in it, and even understand college text books for classes my brothers and sister were having difficulty with.
I’m going to tell you a little about my family because it’s important that you understand a little more about me and them before I explain my Awakening. I came from a large family, my parents of course and 4 siblings. I had 2 brothers both older and 2 sisters, one older the other younger. At the time of my awakening my mother was a stay at home mom, she was one of the nicest people. She would help anyone who needed it however she could. My father was engineer with a government contractor. He never spoke of what he did at work, but you could tell he enjoyed it. My brother Matt and Jake were both in college. Matt was studying Medicine and Jake was working for a PHD in Computer Sciences. My older sister, Arica, was a senior in High School and one of the most popular girls. What set her apart is like our mother she was kind to everyone, and didn’t allow bullying or rudeness to people just because they were different. I was just past 16 and an avid reader, my favorite books were about time travel and other Sci-Fi themes. I was also a science geek, playing with Chemistry sets and learning anything I could get my hands on at that point. Then there was my younger sister, Jamie. I hated the idea of a younger brother or sister when my parents told us they were having another child. I was wrong about how I’d feel. Jaime was a living contradiction. She was a proper young lady when we went out to dinner or movies and a real tomboy when we were out playing in the woods or at the park. She was 8 when everything in my life changed forever.
Now that you have a short history about me and know some of what’s going on I’ll explain what an Awakening is and then we’ll get on with the story. For most people reality is what it is and they can’t do anything to change it. The truth about Reality is this, for the average person Reality is Consensual, meaning what the majority of the world believes is true. In the past people believed in Dragons and Wizards and Monsters. Nowadays most people don’t, science says they can’t exist so for the average person they don’t. Some mortals come to understand that there are more things in the world than science has explained. Some consider themselves lucky and others are haunted by the knowledge that they live in a world surrounded by monsters and knowing that they can do little except survive and pray the monsters don’t notice them. Mages learn of this greater reality, but they also learn that they have the power to change reality by force of will. Learning what you’re capable of as a Mage however comes after this Awakening. Every Mage reaches their awakening differently, for some it’s simply their mind coming to an epiphany realizing the greater truth of the world, for others it’s violent and mind shattering. I fell into the latter category.
It was 2 weeks after my 16th birthday when everything in my life change forever. It was the July 4th holiday and my family took a vacation together to celebrate my Birthday and the holiday together. Being that we lived in a tourist trap we left the area for the Holiday. We were staying at a hunting cabin in the mountains. We had been there four nights when my life changed forever. There had been a string of murders in Cheyenne’s newspapers when we passed through, 5 dead in as many weeks. The murders were ritualistic and the papers were reporting a serial killer. As we were heading a couple hundred miles north-west to the cabin and the murders were all listed in the city we figured we’d be safe. We couldn’t have been more wrong. It was after midnight when I was startled out of sleep by a noise downstairs in the cabin. I first thought it was one of my brothers grabbing a late snack but I could hear both of them snoring across the room. I slid quietly out of bed to check on the sound out of curiosity when I heard a loud thump and my mother scream from the stairway. My brothers both came awake and to their feet as I was running out of the room to see what was going on. What I saw as I came to the stairs is burned into my mind forever. My father was on the floor bleeding from his scalp with a cast iron pan on the floor beside him. I started to run down the steps to him when I heard my brothers and sisters reach the railing and gasp. That’s when I saw my mother and the man. The man was about 6’2” , had long dark black hair and eyes so pale blue they were looked white in the firelight. He was holding my mother by her hair with one hand, and the other was hidden by her body as her back was to us. I saw my mother being hurt and like any overconfident teenager I charged the man thinking I could make him release her. I hit him in the ribs with my shoulder and knocked him away. He tripped over the coffee table and was forced to release my mother. As he fell and she landed I noticed that the front of her nightgown was stained with blood and I moved to help her. There was a strange Glyph in blood on her chest as I helped her up and pushed her towards my Brothers who came to the bottom of the stairs when I rushed the guy. Unfortunately, in my haste to protect my mother I forgot about the guy. He grabbed me from behind and spun me to face him, grabbing onto my neck when he did so. I knew he was going to kill my entire family and that I lost my chance to stop him when I went to help my mother. I heard my brothers coming at him he picked me up by the neck on handed and figured they’d be able to stop him and save the others. I was afraid to die but glad my family would live. Then he looked directly into my eyes and his face changed. His pupils expanded to where they filled the entire eye except for a blood red rim around it. He waved the hand not holding me and my brothers were stopped in their tracks.
In a low almost whispered one that just had the sound of evil flowing through it, “You’re the one I sensed. I am going to have your power for myself.” He reached out toward my chest with his right hand and as it touched my chest I felt it passing through my skin as though it wasn’t there. I screamed as the pain became pure torture and forced my mind to accept that his hand was passing though me like I didn’t have skin and bone. As his hand reached my heart I felt an oily darkness slide through my body. I didn’t understand how I felt or knew any of this but it was there in my mind. I grasped for the knowledge that I knew I never read or studied and tried to pull it into me and fight the feeling or being smother by this oily darkness. It was then that I felt the third presence within me. This one was bright and strong, the darkness not able to cover it. It was joined to me in several places and I felt a power coming from it. It was fighting and pushing back the darkness within my body.
A strange voice sounded in my mind, “You must fight this darkness if you wish to live, accept what your mind is telling you is impossible and fight!!!!” and then the voice was silent as I felt the brightness and energy seeping away from me.
I realized that if I gave up, this man would kill me and then kill my family. I opened my eyes and stared into his. Choking as I said to him in a growl from his hand around my throat, “I will not let you hurt my family!!!” I reached deep into myself for that brightness and just pulled as much of it to me as I could. I shoved the power out of me at this monster, for he was no normal man. There was an intense flash of heat, light and sound as the world shook around and I blacked out. My last thought was that I failed to stop him.
It was hours later when I started to wake up, I could feel rain falling on me and assumed that it was all a dream and that my brothers pulled one of their pranks. As I opened my eyes and stood up, I saw that the Cabin’s upper floor and roof was gone and the walled were crumbling and splintered. There was charring on the edges all the way around. I realized that something had happened last night. I looked over towards the kitchen and could see me fathers leg sticking out from behind the counter. I ran over to him and checked for a pulse. He was alive but he was breathing shallow and there was still a lot of blood around his head. I grabbed the dish towel and wet it placing it against the wound. I checked the drawer for the CB to call for emergency services for him and looked around for the rest of my family. I found Matt still unconscious laying on the floor under where the stairs were. He was breathing normally but looked like he hit his head. I looked to where I last saw Jake and moved over to him. I could tell he was dead before I got to him, his head had be twisted around so far. I started to look for my mother and sisters. I found my mother and Arica quickly. My mother was slumped against the wall by the cabin’s door in a pool of blood. And Arica was outside the cabin with burns all over her body. It took me longer to find Jamie and she was the hardest for me. She had been thrown 50 yards from the cabin into the trees and rocks. When I found her almost every bone had been broken and I wouldn’t have recognized her except for the necklace she always wore, even when she slept. I carried her broken body back to the cabin to find Matt awake and taking care of our father. A few minutes later the Flight for Life helicopter landed outside of the cabin and a couple ranger vehicles arrived via the service roads. The Flight for Life people took my father right away while 1 of the medics stayed to take care of Matt and myself. I kept pushing the medic away as I searched for the man that started all of this. I found his body a tangles mess near the natural gas tank the cabin used for the fire and cooking. He looked as if someone had reached into his body and ripped him apart from the inside. I was numb, physically, mentally and emotionally as I wandered around the disaster that had taken most of my family away from me. When one of the medics approached me again I swung at him and yelled for him to stay away. The Cops that arrived while this was going on tackled me and the medic sedated me.
While I was unconscious, my mind kept replaying what happened that night in the cabin. I still didn’t understand why it happened but I knew that the world was far different than I knew. Somehow that monster had reached his hand through me like the flash wasn’t there and I somehow fought back. I had to know what happened. Every time it played through however I saw the bodies of my family and felt crushed. I awoke in a hospital bed; there was an officer by the door to the room. I pushed the call button for the nurse. An older woman came in past the officer. He made no move to stop her.
“I see you’re finally awake,” she stated with a forced smile. “You had us worried there for a while”
I tried to ask for water but my throat was very dry and soar, it came out sounding like growl. The older nurse turned to face me and I pointed to the pitcher of water. She picked up the cup with the flexi straw and moved it to my lips. “Sip the water slowly; you haven’t had anything to drink in the last few days because you wouldn’t wake. We put you on an IV for fluids and nutrition.”
I took a few sips of the water and let it sit in my mouth before swallowing it. I managed to whisper, “what’s the date?”
“It’s the evening of the 10th and you’ve been here since the 6th. You’ve been asleep the whole time. Now that you’re awake, I need to notify your doctor and the officer there needs to speak with you when you are ready,” the Nurse replied.
“Send him in please,” I stated hoarsely. She left and sent the officer in. When he came in he told me he needed to call the detectives in charge of the case in to see me. While I was waiting for the Detectives the Doctor came in. Her name tag said Dr. S. Grey, she was about 5’1” and 100lb. She had shoulder length read hair, and beautiful gray eyes. Dr. Grey looked to be in her early 20s no older than 24. She looked over my chart and rechecked my vitals. I asked after my father and Matt. She told me that my father had been flown directly to a trauma center and that Matt went to join him two day ago when I showed no sign of waking. She would contact the trauma center to let them now I was awake and to check their conditions for me.
The Detectives arrived about 15 minutes after the doctor and nurse had left and asked if they could get a statement from me about what happened. I told them what I remembered about hearing a noise and then my mother’s scream. Running downstairs to try and help and about body checking the guy. Then I told them about him grabbing me by the neck and picking up. After that I told them I didn’t remember much, it was all strange like a dream. That I didn’t know what happed as I passed out while he was holding me. I left out the strange sense of what was going on and his hand passing through me because I didn’t fully understand what happened and didn’t want to get locked up for being crazy. They told me the officer on the door was for my protection and privacy as the guy was the serial killer that had been in the papers in Cheyenne. They put the officer there in case he had an accomplice and to keep the media away. They explained that what I remembered of the next day was accurate. Stated that the explosion was caused by a lightning strike to the gas tank outside and were amazed that anyone had survived it according to the arson investigator. I was out of the hospital and going to the trauma center to my father and brother the next day. We were there for another week before my father was released and we returned home. My father became distant and withdrawn and Matt stopped talking to me and went back to school. He and my father would talk on the phone but he wouldn’t talk to me anymore. I noticed immediately that the world seemed more real to me, I could sense things before they happened sometimes, I always know the time. I went to the school counselor upon returning as they wanted to make sure I was ok to return to class. I went to the adult education center and arranged to complete my classes and graduated 3 months into the school year. After that I went to work full time and started to put money away. Over the next 18 months I put away around 10 thousand dollars. During this time the strange sense I had of the world kept getting stronger and I noticed more things about what happed around me. I noticed that when I drove I always hit green lights and that my mind and body were getting stronger. On my 18th birthday I drove away from my home. I left a letter to my father explaining that I couldn’t stay there any longer as he had completely withdrawn from me as well as Matt, and without my mother and the girls I couldn’t live there any longer. That was 3 years ago, since then I have found a teacher and learned about True Magick and have gained in power quickly. They say that power corrupts, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I won’t say I am totally incorruptible but the way I came about my power makes me think before I abuse it. I have used it to make enough money to live comfortable as an investment broker and I am moving to my new home. I drive into Las Vegas, NV on my 21st birthday and can’t wait to have some fun.
I see the signs for the Green Valley Ranch Casino as I’m driving down the freeway and decide that’s a nice enough place to stay. I pull of the freeway and head to the Valet. As I get out of my car and hand the keys to the valet I see a vision of beauty from the past. She is standing alone so I walk over to her, “Dr. Grey?” I ask.
She turns and looks me over, she slowly looks me up and down. I should probably describe myself now as a lot has changes since I started explaining everything and this is where you need an Idea of my appearance. I’m about 5’10” around 190lbs of toned muscle. I have short back hair and green eyes, like a dark emeralds. I dress fairly well; right now I am in black slacks and a forest green silk button down shirt. She finishes looking me over and says “I’m sorry, but how do you know me?”
“Granted, I was only 16 at the time, but I didn’t think I was that forgettable. You on the other hand have only gotten more beautiful. I’m Andrew Graves, you treated me after the incident at the cabin in the mountains.” I tell her. And the compliment wasn’t just idle. She was still only 5’1” but in her heels she came to about 5’7”. She still looked like she was in her early 20, time was being very kind to her. Her hair was now down to her waist and was more of a copper-red that practically shined. She looked to be about 110lbs now, and it showed in her curves. She had a heart shaped ass that was shown off to great advantage by the tall heals and the body hugging dress she was wearing. It was a deep green almost shading to black that ended at mid-thigh and showed off her silky legs. The neckline dipped in front to show off her incredible cleavage and B-cups that I couldn’t see before because of the loose scrubs she wore for work. She was a walking dream come true.
“Of course I remember you, it was such a tragedy what happened. I’m sorry again for your loss.” Was her response with a sad look.
“It’s alright, it was years ago and I’ve learned to live with it.”
She smiled and my heart started beating faster, “I didn’t recognize you because you have grown and changed since we last met, for the better as well. You’ve grown into quite a handsome man Mr. Graves.”
“Call me Andrew please, no need to be so formal Dr. Grey” I replied. As I spoke I infused my works with a little Magick to spark her desire for me, and to influence her to want to spend time with me.
“Certainly Andrew, and it’s Sindee. You aren’t my patient anymore and no need to be so formal.” She flushed as her desire started to heat up within her.
“Would you join me for dinner Sindee, I just arrived in town and would enjoy the company?” I didn’t infuse the words with anymore Magick; I just reached out to her mind to read the surface thoughts as I waited for her reply.
“I’d love to Andrew, let me just call my friends and let them know I’m changing my plans.” She stepped away and made a call on her Cell phone. As she thought about the call I say several women in her thoughts as she talked about changing plans. When she started talking about meeting an old friend by chance, images of her and I entwined and sweaty in a bed were passing through her mind.
As she put the phone away I stepped up to her and offered her my arm. As she put her arm through mine I told her, “we just need to go by the desk so that I can check in, then we’ll go get that meal.” We started up the escalator and headed for the front desk. “How long are you in Vegas for Sindee?”
“I’m actually living here now, moved down shortly meeting you. I came down here to do more good than I could in that small town hospital. How long are you planning to stay?”
“I’m an investment broker now and am moving here. That’s the reason I chose a Casino this far out. I figured I’d be closer to looking for real estate for my home and maybe an office.” She smiled upon hearing that. I got checked in quickly and had my bags sent up to the Suite I checked into while we went to get dinner. We spoke and got caught up on what we did over the last few years. During the talking I used a little more Magick to enhance her Sense of taste and the pleasure centers of the body using the aspect of Magick dealing with life. I only increased these senses a little for now but kept the connection opened between us so I could change the effects as the night went on. We finished the meal and I invited her to my suite for a night cap. We left the restaurant and headed for the elevators together.

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