Post by Doug Ramsey on Aug 17, 2010 17:55:49 GMT -4
Life was normal for Doug Ramsey. All-American blond haired, blue eyed, sophomore in Salem Center High School, a closet geek, computer nerd, and generally a nice and decent guy. Smart, cute, even a little shy, he had a few more admirers, both female and male, in his class than he'd ever have the courage to discover. Yes, to be honest, it was easy sailing for Doug Ramsey, an only child, to practically coast with honors straight through the rest of high school, and then off to Empire State University and New York City, probably to become a systems analyst, work 40+ years, and retire after marriage and putting 2.5 kids through college themselves.
A normal teenager, a normal life, a normal future.
That is, until about two weeks ago. Then, the weird things began. Strange and vivid dreams, about the Xavier Institute on Greymalkin Lane in the outskirts of Salem Center. He was tutoring some cute Jewish girl from Chicago in computers. And then there were classmates-- the tall lanky guy from Kentucky, the Cheyenne girl, the Vietnamese girl, a soccer player from Brazil, a blond Russian, some rain forest princess, and a redheaded Scottish lass. He'd never been a student there, and yet... he knew this place. These people.
The dreams got really weird after that. A mechanical alien. Flying people. Psychics. Super strength. The mythological palaces of Asgard. Everyone had powers, including him. He... wow. Of all the powers in the world to dream of having... Doug dreamed of... being able to talk.
Kinda made sense, in a... dammit, was that Freud or Jung?... kinda way. He was shy, so, in his dreams, he could talk to anyone. No matter what language, no matter what computer program... he could understand it, and even respond.
The first week was full of strange and wacky dreams. There was one night, he dreamed about someone who was like God, if God were a clueless temper-tantrum inclined fashion retard. As much as one might be inclined to mock something as ridiculous as that, Doug remembered dying in that dream.
At the end of the first week, Doug dreamed of being in some far off place, defending some bird boy. There was a gun. Doug leaped to save the life of the redhead.
He died in that dream, too.
The next dreams were even weirder. He was the second most powerful person on the planet. A 16 year old boy. His "power" was the same as the week before, but he was using it like he had practiced it his entire life, in ways he never thought of the week before. He served a King, a mighty Emperor who believed in him, trusted him, whom the entire world knelt in fealty to.
Well, almost everyone.
His life this time was very different. Instead of being a liability, he was respected. No, actually, he was feared. At his word, people lived or died. An entire city in the rain forest died because he said so.
It was a decision he would come to regret the rest of his life. The rain forest princess was enslaved, her people slaughtered, by his command. She was a constant reminder to him, although he tried to forget her by diving deeper into his work.
It was then he met her. She was a caterer, of all things. But her spirit, her soul, was pure as the driven snow. He had never met anyone like her. It was love at first sight.
Then, last Saturday, the last dream he had...
She came for him. The rain forest princess. She was the heart of the earth, fury, fire and vengeance. For all his power, he was nothing beside her.
He died again.
Now, here it was a few days later, this feeling of funk refusing to leave him. He might have brushed the strange dreams off as too much TV, or eating the wrong things before going to sleep, but the weirdness crept into the waking world. It was enough to convince him he was going crazy, only...
His power, in his dream...? He really did have it. It wasn't in his dreams, it was happening now. Any language he heard...? He understood it.
Something happened. Something associated with this place.
He snuck out of his parents' house, and had a taxi drop him off at the bottom of Greymalkin Lane. The hour was late, and it took nearly an hour to climb the long sloping hill up to the secluded Institute. The large iron gates stood in silhouette under the moonlight.
Well, it's now or never... Doug mused, stepping through the walkway beside the drive.
A normal teenager, a normal life, a normal future.
That is, until about two weeks ago. Then, the weird things began. Strange and vivid dreams, about the Xavier Institute on Greymalkin Lane in the outskirts of Salem Center. He was tutoring some cute Jewish girl from Chicago in computers. And then there were classmates-- the tall lanky guy from Kentucky, the Cheyenne girl, the Vietnamese girl, a soccer player from Brazil, a blond Russian, some rain forest princess, and a redheaded Scottish lass. He'd never been a student there, and yet... he knew this place. These people.
The dreams got really weird after that. A mechanical alien. Flying people. Psychics. Super strength. The mythological palaces of Asgard. Everyone had powers, including him. He... wow. Of all the powers in the world to dream of having... Doug dreamed of... being able to talk.
Kinda made sense, in a... dammit, was that Freud or Jung?... kinda way. He was shy, so, in his dreams, he could talk to anyone. No matter what language, no matter what computer program... he could understand it, and even respond.
The first week was full of strange and wacky dreams. There was one night, he dreamed about someone who was like God, if God were a clueless temper-tantrum inclined fashion retard. As much as one might be inclined to mock something as ridiculous as that, Doug remembered dying in that dream.
At the end of the first week, Doug dreamed of being in some far off place, defending some bird boy. There was a gun. Doug leaped to save the life of the redhead.
He died in that dream, too.
The next dreams were even weirder. He was the second most powerful person on the planet. A 16 year old boy. His "power" was the same as the week before, but he was using it like he had practiced it his entire life, in ways he never thought of the week before. He served a King, a mighty Emperor who believed in him, trusted him, whom the entire world knelt in fealty to.
Well, almost everyone.
His life this time was very different. Instead of being a liability, he was respected. No, actually, he was feared. At his word, people lived or died. An entire city in the rain forest died because he said so.
It was a decision he would come to regret the rest of his life. The rain forest princess was enslaved, her people slaughtered, by his command. She was a constant reminder to him, although he tried to forget her by diving deeper into his work.
It was then he met her. She was a caterer, of all things. But her spirit, her soul, was pure as the driven snow. He had never met anyone like her. It was love at first sight.
Then, last Saturday, the last dream he had...
She came for him. The rain forest princess. She was the heart of the earth, fury, fire and vengeance. For all his power, he was nothing beside her.
He died again.
Now, here it was a few days later, this feeling of funk refusing to leave him. He might have brushed the strange dreams off as too much TV, or eating the wrong things before going to sleep, but the weirdness crept into the waking world. It was enough to convince him he was going crazy, only...
His power, in his dream...? He really did have it. It wasn't in his dreams, it was happening now. Any language he heard...? He understood it.
Something happened. Something associated with this place.
He snuck out of his parents' house, and had a taxi drop him off at the bottom of Greymalkin Lane. The hour was late, and it took nearly an hour to climb the long sloping hill up to the secluded Institute. The large iron gates stood in silhouette under the moonlight.
Well, it's now or never... Doug mused, stepping through the walkway beside the drive.
