Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Six Years Later:

The children had been warned to stay away from Comet Creek, and Crater Lake. Naturally, that was the first place they chose to explore. Young Michael Trent and Laura Lake rode their ten-speeds along the main highway leading toward the undeveloped woodland area.

Comet Creek flowed in a zigzag fashion down into Crater Lake. The area had been so named because legend held that the ancient Native American tribe, the Tekamah, believed that a spirit was cast down from the skies, after rebelling against the gods. 

Scientists were able to prove that a piece of a comet did impact the area ten thousand years ago. Many Tekameh elders passed the story down by word of mouth, generation to generation.

They believed that many Tekameh braves had gone to see where the outcast spirit had landed, as a test of their manhood, or worthiness to lead the tribe. Some never returned, others had, bearing bizarre stories of evil spirits.

One was that the animals refused to populate the land near the crater. Another tale was told that braves had simply gone mad, or become possessed by evil spirits. Yet another warrior spoke of waters that had burned gold.

Eventually, the Tekameh braves had written the evil spirit story on some cave walls, where the alleged golden water spouted from. The creek was thought of as bad medicine, or poisoned.

For eons, the Tekameh refused to drink water from the creek, believing it to be cursed. They would travel miles away to get food and water from other 'cleansed' sources. The Tekameh had been removed and relocated from their ancestral home in the 1800's. No one knew if any pure blood Tekameh still existed.

Today, Michael and Laura splashed around near the creek's edge, watching the current run swiftly into the lake. Parts of the creek were shallow, allowing anyone to easily cross over to the other side.

Laura picked up a handful of the yellowish substance below the creek’s surface that had mixed with the sandy sea floor. She rubbed it and examined it closely, allowing the sun’s rays to reflect off of it.

 It seemed to sparkle, drawing her in.To a more educated observer the mineral resembled simple phosphorus, or a form of sulphur. No one to their knowledge had ever tested the minerals, some of which clumped together to form rocks. To a curious 11-year old, they might as well been gold nuggets.

“Mikey, look at these cool rocks!” Laura excitedly showed her best friend. “Its like they glow or something.” Mike was unimpressed. “Cool.” He said absently as he scoured the creek for fish, finding none. Laura would not be swayed.

“I think that they’re magic rocks.” She boasted. “Yer butt!” Mike scoffed. “They’re just rocks.” Laura snorted. “Are not!” Mike ignored her as he moved a bit further along the creek towards the deeper section.Laura grew bored and disgusted as she crossed the creek and wandered up a small incline.

She continued to rub the rocks between her fingers, and some of the yellow mineral left residue. She smelled it, and it had absolutely no aroma at all.The precocious child climbed up a slimy embankment and spied a cave entrance, partially hidden behind overgrown foliage and boulders.

 “Awesome!” Laura yelled at her friend, a good distance below her. “Mike! Check this out! A cave! ”Now that got his attention. “No way!” He called back. “I’ll be right there.” Laura had already grown impatient, and climbed down into the dimly lit cave. She could see several feet into the darkness, but it quickly blackened.

 Laura carefully skirted to the right side of the cave.She hugged the walls, because the cave’s center seemed to dip into a ‘V’ rock formation. Laura wasn’t careful enough. She lost her footing, and fell clumsily into the cave’s center.

 She landed face first in a shallow pool of the yellow minerals. “Owwww!” She yelped, as she felt something rip into her leg. A sharp rocky outcropping had torn a gash in her leg just above the ankle and behind the shin.

Tears formed in Laura's eyes as the stinging injury began to ooze blood. "Mikey! Mikey!" Laura yelled. "I'm in the cave and i'm hurt!" She tried to crawl forward but slipped into a congealing pool of the yellowish liquid.

The pool at the bottom of the cave floor was barely six inches deep, yet it was enough to cover Laura's legs and her skinned elbow as she rolled over in it. Laura coughed repeatedly as she attempted to stand up.

The tough ten year old was able to get to her knees before the dimly lit cave seemed to spin around her. Immediately, she fell backwards at the edge of the pool of yellowed mineral water. Everything went black.

When Mike finally found her, Laura lay motionless, her body sprawled alongside the cave wall. "Laurie!" He dashed toward her prone form. "Laurie! Are you okay?" The horrified boy yelled. He dragged her up upon more solid ground.

Laura was drenched in the odorless, slimy liquid. Mike helped his friend to sit up as Laura's big blue eyes fluttered open. The pupils appeared to be surrounded by sharp bright golden yellow rings.

"Laurie?" Mike gasped. "My leg!" Laura croaked, "It burns!" She instinctively rubbed it, and her hand was covered with a reddish orange filmy residue. "I must've passed out!" She said worriedly. "How bad is it?"

"You got a nasty slash and some blackened bruises." Mike replied. "Can you walk?" His hands had been soaked in the yellow mineral water as well. "I think so." Laura responded bravely. He helped her to her feet.

Mike glanced down at the cut and stared briefly for a moment. "No broken bones." He muttered. The gashed area began to puff up. "We better get you home before it gets infected." Laura took one wary step and collapsed.

She fell right into Mike's arms. "I can't Mikey! You'll have to carry me!" MIke blushed. "Carry you? All the way back home? What about the bikes?" Laura tried to ignore the pain lancing through her frame. It seemed to be subsiding a bit to her.

"We can have your parents come by and pick them up." She replied. "Okay, but you're a cow!" He teased. "Am not!" She snapped. "Are too!" He joked, happy that his friend was doing better.

Mike effortlessly picked her up and carefully carried her through the cave entrance. He then set Laura down on a flat clean boulder above the creek. Before they left the area, Mike hid the bikes behind some bushes near the cave.

To his surprise, Laura felt really light, as Mike dashed through the heavily wooded area toward the Trent Farm. To him it was no trouble at all carrying Laura the three to four miles back to their property.

Laura felt dizzy, but overall, much better as they zipped past the horse corral and onto the Trent's front porch. Mike placed her on the porch swing and felt as if he hadn't really broken a sweat. Laura's head hurt much more than her leg.

"Mike, check my cut. I'm afraid to look." Laura whined. He reluctantly complied. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. "What? What's wrong?" Laura nearly cried. "It...looks...fine to me." He couldn't hide the amazement in his voice.

"I'm serious Laurie...the cut is almost healed." She risked a glance at it to verify his observation. The gash had closed, stopped bleeding, and had left a small yellowish brown scar in its place.

"It doesn't hurt anymore either." Laura exclaimed with relief. "Boy, were you lucky." Mike shook his head. "You're gonna still get in trouble for gettin' hurt." He added playfully. "Not if no one knows." Laura's eyes sparkled...literally.

"Will you keep my secret?" She pressed her hand with his. "Yeah." Mike replied warily. "Your Aunt Wanda is still gonna see the scar." He reminded her. Laura gasped as she checked out the leg again. "What scar?"

Mike's eyes widened. "Wow! That is awesome! The scar's gone, too!" Laura still had a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Aunt Wanda is coming by to pick me up in a couple of hours. Do you think we can have your dad pick up the bikes before then?"

"Sure, if he's not too busy." Mike responded. With that, Laura reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Mikey!" She smiled appreciatively. "Whoa!" Mike wiped the kiss off of his face. "Yuk!" Laura playfully hit him in the shoulder.

That night Laura slept uneasily as bizarre, inexplicable nightmares made her toss and turn all night. The children didn’t see much of each other over the next few years. They traveled in different social circles. Laura tended to hang out with the ‘undesirables’, or misfit people.

Mike grew more and more popular among the jocks, motor heads, and laborers. Most of his friends were sons and daughters of electricians, machinists, and construction workers. Mike figured that he’d have to learn all the trades to help his parents run the farm.

Laura had become more of a lone wolf among her classmates. She’d spent a good amount of her time reading articles on the Internet, and tended to socialize with the nerds, Geeks, and Goth kids. Though Mike and Laura both attended Falcon Claw Middle School together, they rarely ever spoke to one another. Laura noticed some subtle changes as she grew older.

She found that she could run faster, jump higher, and swim longer than the other kids. Laura rarely became ill, and her decidedly average school grades improved every year, until she finally managed to join the Honor Roll, making her Aunt Wanda proud.

The young stepmother did her best to raise Laura into a mid teenaged young lady. The independent minded Laura proved to be quite a challenge to her conservative aunt. One day, just short of her sixteenth birthday, something dramatic happened to Laura.

She’d been unusually happy, after acing a test, and coming in first in a track meet. Laura started jogging, just like always, and suddenly discovered an amazingly fast burst of speed. She had inadvertently passed her Aunt Wanda’s townhouse.

Laura was soon running so fast consistently that she opted to leave her bike at home, and stopped taking the bus to school. She felt a bid weird, but quickly got used to her new ability. Laura was zipping home on a particularly nasty rainy day, when her visual perception shifted.

The raindrops surrounding her seemed to hang in midair, they resembled transparent circles. A sparrow appeared to have stopped flapping its wings, and debris caught in a silent wind floated steadily before her. Laura was about to scream, when she slowed to a stop.

The world around her returned to normal. The adolescent girl gazed at a mile indicator sign on a deserted highway. It read: Falcon Claw, 17 miles. "What?!" Near panic, Laura forced herself to calm down and assess the situation logically. Don’t freak out! Don’t freak out!

She encouraged herself to reverse her route, traveling much more slowly. Laura started jogging along the highway, incrementally increasing her speed until she began passing trucks and cars at quite a clip. Fortunately, she only encountered a few vehicles.

In moments, she was sliding to a stop on the porch of Aunt Wanda’s townhouse. Laura was simultaneously thrilled and scared. Now that was not normal! Do I dare tell Aunt Wanda, or keep this a secret? She struggled with the idea for a few minutes.

Laura decided to conceal her unusual abilities for now. Once she’d gotten used to it, she came to depend on her hyper speed, though the visual perception shift still frightened her. She completed all of her chores with amazing speed.

Laura was never late for classes, important appointments, and did all this without growing tired. Other powers soon followed her hyper speed and she cautiously adapted to them. She was painting the roof on her Aunt Wanda’s General Store, and clumsily fell off the two-story ladder.

Laura landed in a heap, three stories below on a solid granite walkway without any injury or even a scrape or bruise. No one witnessed the miracle and Laura’s confidence in her abilities grew exponentially.

Six Years After the Cave Incident:

Every time she used an ability, or a new one manifested itself, Laura took more and more chances. Now seventeen, Laura had grown into a beautiful young lady, though socialization seemed to elude her.

Along with more typical adolescent problems came the tendency of Laura to accidentally get involved in other people’s business. She involuntarily found herself mixed up in any number of strange occurrences within the farming community. There were reports of local illnesses.

Laura seemed to sense an undercurrent of something not entirely normal about the immediate area surrounding Falcon Claw. A few of the town leaders began to request environmental studies of the water, soil, and air nearest to the former Arax Chemical Plant, which was now owned by Randolph Rowland, one of the wealthiest men in America.

The studies hadn’t produced anything conclusive, yet Laura wasn’t convinced. Enter Tim Servo, a self-proclaimed geek, computer whiz, and borderline genius. A classmate of hers, Laura immediately befriended the misfit. He in turn, harbored a severe schoolboy crush on her.

The free-spirited Laura had decided to use her special abilities to investigate the area on her own. Six full years after the exposure to the yellow mineral, she’d been able to conceal her powers...barely. One boring evening, Laura decided to test some of her new qualities.

What would be a good challenge, that if I fail, I won’t be killed, injured, or caught? Laura considered all the options. I need to tell someone...to trust somebody! She sighed and could only think of one option. I’ll demonstrate my bizarre behavior to Tim.

She was now seventeen and could make her own important decisions. Maybe he can figure me out...it’s not as if anyone really listens to Tim when he talks, she observed sourly. He only had two friends...me and Shana Springbrook.

Laura punched up his home number on her new cell phone. Though Laura had passed her driver’s test, Aunt Wanda still made her beg to use the car, which got old really quick. "Hi Tim, whatcha doin’?." Tim, to say the least, was shocked to hear from the object of his affection.

"Is this thee Laura Lake, Lab Partner extra ordinaire?" Tim joked after he’d gotten over his initial surprise. "Hey Tim, I wonder...can I come over?" Laura asked far too sweetly. Tim stared blankly at the phone.

"Hello? Earth to Tim..." Laura prodded. "Uh...yeah...sure." He replied calmly, though beneath the surface, Tim could feel his heart beating faster.

Regaining his composure, Tim resorted to sarcasm. "To what do I owe this distinct pleasure? Did you fail your Trig Exam? Or blow your Lab Report?" Laura snorted in an unladylike manner. "Nope, I aced them both. Tim I wonder if you could time me as I jog over?"

Puzzled, Tim agreed. "You’re going to jog the four miles without stopping?" He was very skeptical. "Are you entering a charity marathon?" Laura swallowed and steadied her nerves. "No, I’m just curious as to how fast I can run." Tim shrugged. "Very well, I can extrapolate your average speed by multiplying..." Laura cut him off as her eyebrows rose.

"Now Tim, you should know better than to use multi-syllable words like ‘extrapolate’ around me. It makes my head hurt." She quipped. Tim folded his arms. "Let me put it another way. It’s six-fifteen now. If you leave right away, you ought to get here around seven o’clock." He challenged.

"Okay, I’m on my Aunt Wanda’s driveway." Laura glanced in every direction, making sure that her unconventional escape would go unnoticed. "I’ll use the timer on my laptop. That should suffice." Tim offered. "One, two, three..." Laura counted. "When I snap off my phone, start the timer."

"Gotcha!" Tim readied the laptop. "And Go!" Laura clicked the phone shut. Tim started the timer. Laura zipped into hyper speed, this time expecting her visual perception shift. It came. The whole world surrounding her slowed to a near stop. Above her, a crow seemed to hang in mid-air.

Water droplets from the humidity in the air halted before she blew through them. Cars appeared to crawl as she passed them along the highway. Just that quick, Laura recognized Tim’s parents neat red brick bungalow, near the semi-busy downtown area of Falcon Claw.

Laura shuddered to a stop, scattering debris and causing a huge vortex of dust to form around her. It dissipated rapidly. To the average passerby, she seemed to solidify out of nowhere. Laura waltzed onto the porch and rang Tim’s doorbell. He opened it and gawked, snapping the laptop timer off.

"Holy crap!" He exclaimed as Laura patiently awaited her invite. "That’s incredible! No human can run that fast." It was now six-eighteen. She hadn’t even broken a sweat. Tim escorted her in, purposely keeping his distance from her. He closed the door and gaped. "How?"

"I don’t know." Laura whined. "I just can. I’ve been able to run at high speed for a few years now. I’m a freak!" Tim rubbed his thin chin. "There has to be some logical explanation..." Reality was starting to set in. Laura felt like crying, but resisted the urge. Tim had already begun to analyze her.

"No one will ever talk to me again if I reveal myself to anyone else." Laura folded her arms across her ample chest, and began to pace the length of the Servo’s family room. "Promise me you’ll keep this a secret, Tim...I trust you." He nodded absently, and decided to tease her.

"Relax, Wonder Woman, no one really likes you anyway." He sparred. Laura’s eyes briefly flared yellow. "Said the number one geek at Falcon Claw High." She returned the barb. Tim smiled. "You are correct, my mutant friend." He continued to ride her. "I’m number one for a reason." Tim said proudly.

"Mutant? Is that what I am?" Laura didn’t care for that particular label. "Quite possibly." He replied. "We see mutations in cells all the time, birth defects, blonde hair instead of black, blue eyes instead of green, etcetera. You get my point." Laura was beginning to calm down a bit.

"What am I supposed to do now?" She inquired. Tim couldn’t resist, as he motioned for Laura to sit on the black leather couch. "You can join the circus, win the Olympics, get your name in the Guiness Book of World Records, or even get a job with the Post Office." He continued to taunt her.

"Thanks a lot, Tim." Laura said with mock anger. "Should I tell Aunt Wanda? Go to the doctor? I mean how do I get rid of them?" She was becoming panicky again. "Them?" Tim’s eyes widened. Laura had let it slip that she had developed more unusual abilities. She sighed with disdain.

"I wasn’t sure how much to..." She choked on the words. "I can also leap for amazing distances, and I’m very strong...supernaturally strong, and I can see through solid things if I concentrate." Laura admitted. That was all the abilities she could remember having. "Whoa! Multiple mutations!"

"Uh...Tim...can we not use the "M" word so much?" Laura asked half-seriously. "Anyway, Laura, this could be your chance to become popular." Tim added. "There is an upside, you know. You can become fabulously wealthy." Laura shrugged. "I don’t really care about money."

"Good girl!" Tim applauded. "That’s your first step to becoming a super hero." Laura snickered. "And I suppose you’ll want rights to the comic books, TV shows, action figures, and blockbuster movies?" Tim nodded. "Of course." She was all seriousness again. "Now what do I do?"

"I know what you can’t do." Tim stood up and began to pace the room with his hands behind his back. "You can’t go to the doctor, because they’ll just turn you into a lab rat.

You can’t let it get out until you’re at least eighteen, because the government would take you away from Aunt Wanda and try and turn you into some kind of nefarious super weapon, either for their own devices, or for sale to the highest bidder. Didn’t you see Terminator or Bionic Woman?"

Laura sneered. "I must have missed those while I was trying to get a life!" She teased. "Mock me now, missy, but one day the truth will out, and you’d best be prepared for it." He warned. "They might consider you a babe of mass destruction."

"I don't want to be a lab rat, be popular, or become the female Terminator! I just wanna be me." Laura whined. "Let's see your head." Tim sighed and climbed atop the living room coffee table, because Laura was a few inches taller than he.

"When did you discover these bizarre abilities?" Tim grilled, as Laura had completely captivated his attention. "It wasn't something that happened overnight. In Middle School I won a Meet because I could swim so fast." She replied.

"I also took first place at a Track Meet freshman year." Laura continued. "Just recently, I discovered the other abilities." Tim went back to pacing. "Have you ever been sick? You know, colds, flus, and the like?"

Laura shook her head and her long black hair flipped over another shoulder. "I can't recall the last time I missed school or anything for being ill." Tim stopped. "I know a little about medicine and genetics based on all of the books i've read, and perused on line, though I'm hardly qualified to make any medical assessments."

"If you don't have any headaches, nausea, dizziness, or have grown a third leg or third eye in the middle of your forehead, you should be alright." Tim concluded. "At the first sign of any odd symptoms, you get your ass to a hospital, okay?"

Laura nodded and kissed Tim on the cheek. She enjoyed watching him redden. "Thanks buddy, I'm calmed down now!" She smiled warmly.

"For all we know, your super Wheaties abilities will just wear off one day."

"I hope so." Laura sighed. Tim sat contemplatively. "Are you sure that nothing unusual ever happened to you when you were young?" Laura strained to separate her confused memories. "There was this one time that I was injured, and my body repaired itself." Tim’s eyes widened. "Bingo!"

Laura related her story about the incident at the Tekamah Caves. She’d almost completely forgotten about it. Tim committed the story to memory. He would write it up later on his laptop. Laura didn’t know at this point that the self described geek had been following illogical, unscientific stories as well as common facts.

"I'll have to give it some thought, but I think that you're onto something." Tim commented at the conclusion of Laura's story. "Such as?" She prodded the boy genius. "This occurence is not without precedent." Tim added vaguely.

Laura patiently awaited further explanation. "There have been reports in the media about people with unique or unusual abilities cropping up all over the scientific community." Tim watched as Laura's face brightened and her hair lightened.

"Most experts dismiss these claims, but I believe the Shadow Government is behind either the mutations themselves, or covering it up, similar to the Air Force Project Blue Book conspiracy." He stared as Laura developed yellow circles around her normally green hued eyes. His distraction did not go unnoticed.

"Are we talking UFO's, Black Helicopters, and Area 51 here?" Laura scoffed. Tim had expected her sarcasm. "Yes, that's exactly what i'm talking about. The possible next evolution in humanity...meta-humans."

"Meta-humans?" Laura repeated. "Well, that sounds better than mutant." Tim nodded. "Human, but enhanced in some ways." He defined the term. "Yet, your story about the Tekamah Caves would appear to fly in the face of a natural genetic revolution." Laura wasn't sure how she felt now.

"Can't we just get rid of them...meaning my abilities?" She asked hopefully. "I'm not sure if that's possible." Tim scowled. "We'd need to do research. I have a file on my hard drive that details 'unusual genetic occurences'. I can start there."

"Thanks, Tim." Laura rubbed her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked. "No. My eyes are burning." Laura closed them and opened them several times. He gasped as her bright green eyes appeared to glow suddenly gold. "What?" She asked warily.

"Uh...unless I miss my guess, you're about to mutate again." Tim backed away slowly, grabbing his camera phone and pointing it at Laura. "Tim?" She was about to cry, when two beams of golden light lanced out of her eyes, setting the edge of the coffee table on fire! "Eeeee!" She screamed and quickly closed her eyes.

Tim put out the fire with an old pet blanket located near the couch. He waved the smoke away from his face as Laura whimpered. "I'm sorry!" Mrs. Servo had smelled the smoke and came rushing downstairs. "What on Earth?"

"Uh...sorry mom!" Tim apologized as he grabbed a white deodorant candle from a shelf and threw it on the burned edge of the table. "Laura and I were playing around, and I knocked the candle over." Tim's lie was brilliant, Laura praised.

"For God sakes Tim, be careful!" Mrs. Servo chastised him before joining them in the living room. "I'm sorry...have we met?" She waved some smoke away. Laura gingerly opened one eye a crack. The burning sensation had stopped...just in time.

"No, I'm Laura Lake. I attend Tim's school." She sheepishly extended a hand and Mrs. Servo took it. Laura remembered to use a fraction of her strength. She would have to learn to control these bizarre powers for as long as she had them.

Mrs. Servo politely left the young people alone after being reassured by Tim that there would be no more horseplay in the house. Behind Laura's back Mrs. Servo winked and smiled at her son, giving him the thumbs up at his choice of girl.

Tim reddened. Laura rubbed her eyes again. "That was close!" She remarked. "You're not kidding!" He collapsed back into the easy chair. "Great lie, Tim. I'm impressed! Thanks!" She praised, embarrassing him further.

"That would likely be the first of many more lies." Tim grumbled. Laura was depressed, suddenly realizing the magnitude of her situation. "How old are you again?" He prompted. "Sixteen. I'll be seventeen soon." Laura replied.

"Is that important?" She was perplexed. "No. It just tells me that the next two years of your life will be critical." Tim commented. "You must remain hidden." Laura sighed loudly. "I refuse to simply hide, Tim. These were supposed to be the happiest days of our lives."

Tim nodded. "I understand. You also need to see the bigger picture here." Laura cocked her head, allowing her now sandy brown hair to flip across her shoulder. "Meaning what?" Tim stood and began pacing again.

"Laura, the world is such a mess today." He began solemnly. "Terrorism. Rampant crime driven by greed or lust for power. Corruption running wild at every level of government. Wars. Starvation. Disease. Evil tends to win over good."

"Thank you Doctor Doom." Laura snapped sarcastically. "The world has always been a mess, Tim. History shows us that fact time and time again." He slowed to a stop. "Yes, but you have been given a gift. Don't you see?"

Laura's eyes began to glaze over, not due to a mutation, but the deep thoughts that Tim had laid out for her. "You mean that I'm some kind of a Messiah?" She asked skeptically. Tim shook his head.

 "No, i'm not particularly religious. I pride myself on being logical and scientific." He added. "Nevertheless, your abilities defy logic. I guess what i'm getting at is...perhaps you were given these powers for a reason?"

"We can debate that all night Tim." Laura countered. "I know. We have to learn more about you." Tim said. "Meaning, how you're put together. What caused the mutations, etc." Laura didn't care for where the young genius was going with this.

"What's the plan?" She prodded. "First, research and development. I think that you should follow up on this Tekamah Cave incident. Can you find the caves again?"

Laura nodded. "I think so. I haven't been back there since the event. I know it's near Comet Creek which flows into Crater Lake. The yellowish liquid ran near the base of the hill and reversed its flow toward the back of the caves."

"Good. It's likely that there's an underground spring or something. It bubbled up from below the lake, i'd bet." Tim considered. "You're certain that it wasn't sulphur?" Laura had mentioned that the liquid had no smell at all.

"I'm sure. I guess that i'll be spending Spring Break in a musty old cave." She remarked sourly. "When can you go?" Tim rubbed his thin chin. "This is a journey that you must take yourself." Laura frowned. "Meaning that you're scared?"

"No." Tim chuckled. "I can be of more use here, researching...your DNA." He quickly yanked one of Laura's multi-colored strands of hair from her head. "Ouch!" She yelped, and began rubbing the spot. "It's all in the name of science, honey." 

Mike Trent had grown into a good sized athlete. He had developed problems of his own, however. He and Laura weren’t close at the moment, yet she could tell something was going on with him. Mike tossed and turned all night, the nightmares had become relentless.

Tonight he envisioned his biological parents driving the family car. His view seemed to be from the back seat. The car was speeding, careening over the debris strewn road. Mike glanced behind him through the rear window. A black van was chasing them, and beyond that, the skies had darkened.

The twister snaked down from the heavens, like the finger of God Himself had stirred the amber waves of corn, ripping them from their roots. His mother was in the front seat screaming. A big lake seemed to be on fire to his right, the sky had become a sickly green to his left.

Mike was about to turn to his parents, when the rear of the car became airborne. The back door of the sedan was ripped open and torn off. He felt himself being sucked out into the air by the tornado’s vortex. The car appeared to disintegrate before him. Mike felt like he was sailing above the fields.

He watched helplessly, as the black van following them burst into flames, and he suddenly landed in a ditch filled with a slimy yellow liquid. A small wave of yellow engulfed him and then everything went black. Mike woke up yelling.

He sat up in his bed, soaked in sweat, and breathing heavily. This happened to him several times over the subsequent years. Each time, his foster parents assured him that the nightmares were caused by something he ate, or perhaps something he’d seen on TV. Mike was skeptical. It seemed to him that he was reliving the past.

There had been several tornadoes over the years, but none of them came close to the devastation wrought by the twister swarm that had thrust Mike into their world. The Trents had told Mike about his true origin when he turned fifteen, and they judged he could handle the truth.

They also told Mike of Laura’s tragedy that same day. Were the events somehow linked? He often pondered. Marion had always said that things happened for a reason, and they considered themselves blessed to have saved both children from uncertain fates.

link to chapter 3: Explorer