Falls on Deaf Ears - Book 1

Simon's POV

I awoke to the sun blasting into my face and squinted my eyes as the rays nearly blinded me. I was having a weird dream, but I decided to analyze it later. There were more pressing matters for me to worry about than some silly dream. As far as I knew, a few dreams have came true, but nothing this intense. I was just too unsure of the dream at that point. In short, I saw a couple of kids trying to fend for themselves against an unknown monster that I have never seen before. I didn't even know who the kids were for that matter, either. I began to wonder about that dream more, but the sun has been trying to blind me just as it rose over the distant hills.

Reluctantly, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, trying to get them adjusted to the intruding light that disturbed my sleep. I am, by no means a morning person and this was a rude awakening, yet my nagging thoughts about some things I have observed in the past 24 hours have been bugging me to no end. I tried to consider alternatives on how to approach discussing such things with my hosts, but I could find no real solution or approach, other than being direct and to the point.

I groaned as my thoughts accelerated and I hated it when they did that. "Oh, shut up, brain and let me awake up some," I muttered to myself, still rubbing my tired eyes.

I looked around the room, taking in how neat it looked and well kept for a guest room. The room itself had an off-white look and appeal to it, but what captured my attention was how the trim was set up. The trim appeared to look like a dark oak wood stain, accenting the room quite nicely. The window was also stained in the same color as the trim. The carpet appeared to also be a slightly darker shade of the off-white color that was on the walls. The room also appeared to be slightly spacious, with two dark oak dressers and a closet that had who knows what inside of it. I had to wonder how often the guest room was used, but I pushed that thought aside as I stood, stretched, and yawned at the same time.

Still feeling tired, I slowly made my way to the door when the realization hit me that I was naked and a guest in the Wyatt's house. Chuckling to myself, I walked over to the foot of the bed and pulled on my boxers, then my pants and shirt, and headed out the door. I was searching for the bathroom when I noticed how silent the house was. I half expected to hear the boys chattering off in the distance and breakfast being made, but decided to put those thoughts aside to take care of my morning business.

As I finished up in the bathroom, I found my way to the kitchen to find it empty and inactive. I thought it was strange considering it was only 8 in the morning by the clock on the stove. I remembered Barb telling me to be awake at 8 for food, yet, the kitchen looks like as if no one had been there for a day. I began to wonder about the sparse kitchen as I felt a bit disappointed, but then decided to check on my boys. As I re-traced my steps back towards my room, I walked towards the next-door down from my room and reached to open the door. I pressed my ear against the door to listen for any noise, but heard nothing and was beginning to feel a bit concerned. I immediately swung the door open and swiftly walked in, only to find it completely empty. The bed appeared to be left a mess, as if someone woke up in a hurry. Suddenly, I felt a tight knot in the pit of my stomach and ran out the door and turned towards Will's bedroom. When I approached it, the door appeared to be slightly open, so I immediately pushed it open and walked in, only to find the room in the same shape as the previous. I began to worry more and raced towards Ben and Barb's room, only to find it in the same shape as all the others. I fell to my knees sobbing wondering how I could not have sensed anything during my sleep, which I normally do.

I spent several minutes in tears before my knees told me they were hurting and needed me to get off them and on my feet. My mind raced several thoughts at once, but I didn't care. As I got to my feet, I raced towards the front door, but the clock on the stove caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It now read 4 in the afternoon and I wondered how in the hell did time change so fast. I began to worry more and quickly put my shoes on. I opened the front door and was greeted with a gruesome sight; blood was everywhere, the sky was dark, but not nighttime dark. I ran out the door as fast as I could. Something about the scene was looking too familiar and I wondered why.

I rushed out the door, looking in all directions and being fully on guard for anything that might attack me. Everything had been quiet and no one was making a sound, only the wind. Off in the distance was a small explosion, similar to what I had in my dream, but not overly so. I decided to walk towards the noise and the scenery was starting to become more and more familiar as I saw the park off in the distance. It was then when realization finally hit me; I was living the dream!

My heart began to pound as I became nervous. I took off in the direction of the park as fast as my legs could take me. Once I reached the park, I stopped and looked around, but found nothing and crouched down to catch my breath. After being like that for a few minutes, I suddenly heard a roar and several screams, which caused me to immediately straighten and stand up fully to the sight of the very same boys in my dream fighting an unknown monster. I really couldn't see who they were, but they appeared to be in some sort of defense mode and were holding their own against the vile creature in front of them. I began to wonder what I should do to help, but before I could move, I saw my own twin boys appear out of nowhere with Will, Tyler, Barb and Ben.

I began to shout, but it seemed like my voice had no effect as everyone was focused on the monster. The monster appeared to be dark red skinned with huge bat-like ears and wings that looked almost dragon-like. Its razor sharp claws looked to be the same length as an elephant's trunk. What happened next appeared in a blur. I saw a bright white shining locket on both of the boys who were fighting the monster and it appeared as if it was being destroyed. I should know this as I had just done the same thing before I went to bed, however the creature was also wearing a locket as well and I wondered why.

During the next few moments, my twins, Barb, Ben, Will, and Tyler were busy attacking the monster with everything they could think of and it was having no effect. The two unknown boys were too shaken up to attack the monster. I figured it had to be the inexperience of fighting or the first time seeing such a creature. What happened next surprised me was the fact that the Monster then took the shape of a normal human after the lockets dimmed and dispersed into the bodies of their owners. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The man then opened his eyes and they were white, pure white. He had short white hair and appeared to look into his 60's, but I was sure he was much older. Suddenly, a huge power surge came from the old man's body as he laughed and thrust his palms forward, sending a huge wave of black energy in the path of the boys and everyone else. I wanted to run, shout, scream, do something to get everyone out of the way, but couldn't. I was forced to watch in horror as the black energy enveloped everyone, then finished in what appeared to look like an atom bomb going off, followed by a huge explosion.

It seemed like I was immune to the explosion as I then witnessed a woman in her 30's suddenly appearing with an older woman and the kid I saw before I went to bed, Chad. The woman searched the area of the explosion and immediately saw the man standing and laughing. After a second had gone by and the woman screamed so loud, it probably woke the dead.

The old man began to speak, "Yes, your boys are dead! I guess I gotta hand it to my twin brother for destroying the locket once and for all! Now, before I send you into the afterlife, any last requests?"

I watched as the middle aged woman fell to her knees in tears as the other two looked helpless. She then looked up with a tear-streaked face, "MURDERER! YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!"

As I was watching, she stood and disappeared. At least it was what it looked like to me, but the next moment, I saw the old man up in the air, followed by the woman directly above him. She delivered a killing blow to his head, sending him racing towards the same spot he took off from. When he hit, the ground shook and a loud thundering sound followed. The woman slowly flew back to the ground with tears still streaming down from her face as she looked into the crater with a satisfied, yet painfully hurt look. She stayed like that for a moment then turned her back. As she began to walk, she jumped in shock as the old man appeared directly behind her with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"That was good, but not good enough!" The old man spoke with crude humor in his voice as he pushed a blade thru the woman's back, causing it to stick out through her stomach. Blood poured out of her wound and some trickled down through her mouth.

I watched as Chad and the older woman were watching in horror, rushing to the aid of the stabbed woman, but they were immediately swatted like flies and were sent flying off in the distance. I didn't even see any movement from the old man. He was too fast and too powerful.

"Now where were we, before we were so rudely interrupted?" I heard the old man say to the woman he was still pushing the blade through. "Ah yes... before I rid this planet of the filthy pests and populate it with a race I recently created, any last words?"

In my mind's eye, I wanted to run and help, but couldn't. I could only watch the scene unfold, up until she looked directly at me.

'HELP ME!' I heard in my mind as if she was sending a telepathic thought.

'HOW?!' I sent back to her.

The old man then noticed me and looked at the woman. "CURSE YOU!!!!!!!!!" I watched as he let loose all his energy, enveloping the woman with him, disengaging her body. I tried to run, but I wasn't fast enough as the wave of power hit me, causing me to disappear forever.

---

A blood curling scream filled the Wyatt residence as Simon awoke; drenched in sweat, from his 'nightmare' he was having, causing everyone in the house to wake up almost immediately. Simon was panting heavily, searching the room and feeling his body to check to see if he was still there.

Just then and almost at the same time, everyone in the house simply poured into the guest room Simon was in, nearly causing him to jump out of his skin once more.

Simon barely managed to catch his breath so he could finally speak. "Holy fuck! Give me a second heart attack, why don't you!" It took Simon a few moments to realize he verbally said 'fuck' in front of his boys and everyone else. "Sorry" he muttered under his breath.

The room was beginning to light up to a cloudy morning, causing Simon to glance out the window in a panic, followed by a sigh.

Ben was the first to speak, "All right boys, go wash up while I help my beautiful wife prepare breakfast for everyone."

Barb shot Ben a dirty look, but it looked playful enough to mean 'I'll get you later' kind of look. It was amusing as it caused several giggles from the boys and Simon as well. Barb shifted her glaze to the boys, causing them to scamper back towards their rooms to get dressed as they were half-naked with only shorts so they could have a word with Simon.

"Sorry if I woke everyone, that was some nightmare." Simon sighed, still thinking about what he had dreamt about.

Before Barb or Ben could speak any further, a shadow formed in the room, surprising Simon, but Barb and Ben were not too surprised and Simon wondered why.

As the shadow took shape, Simon could make out the form to be Chad. "You've got some timing showing up like this, Chad."

Barb and Ben looked at Simon in surprise as Barb spoke first, "You know him?"

"As of last night, yeah." Simon replied, still staring at Chad as if he waited for an answer. This gave Simon a small answer from Barb and Ben's reaction and decided to ask the question later on, how they met Chad. He knew there were more important matters to deal with first. Simon had always called his visions, 'dreams' since that sort of sounded better, but only to him.

Chad was all-serious as he walked towards Simon, without saying 'hello' to anyone. "I see you had a vision that could come true."

Simon's eyes widened at this. "How is that possible? I..." He bit his tongue before he could say anything further and looked towards Barb and Ben then back at Chad.

"We already know, Simon." Barb responded to the look Simon was 'giving' them before he told them a secret of his that he so closely guarded during the past 4 years of his life.

Simon looked towards the ground in shame. "Then ya must think I'm sort of a freak, but it seems that I'm not alone here in that matter either."

Ben was about to respond, but Chad stopped him by speaking first. "Allow me to explain." Chad coughed to clear his voice before continuing. "I apologize for my manners, but time is short and some sort of explanation is needed for Simon and both of you as well." Chad paused as Barb and Ben exchanged looks. He continued when they returned their attention back to him, "Let's move this to the kitchen before the boys start wondering why they don't smell food." This broke the mood to somehow cheer up everyone, causing a few rounds of giggles among the adults. Barb and Ben immediately retreated to the kitchen as Simon stood, but still held the covers across his abdomen to cover his nakedness as Chad was still in the room.

"Sorry" Chad apologized, flushing a bit of red on his cheeks as he realized Simon was naked and turned around to give the man some privacy. "Don't worry, I won't look." This gave Simon his cue to quickly put on a pair of shorts and pants so he could be decent enough to walk through the house. Chad wasn't done speaking as he added, "Although, I've seen you naked before, so why the modesty?"

Simon nearly fell on the bed in embarrassment, but quickly shrugged it off as he watched Chad turn around with a silly grin across his face. "I see you are lightening up a bit. Don't worry about it too much, but we have a lot of work to do."

Simon wondered about Chad's response, but quickly pulled on his shirt he wore from yesterday over his well-toned chest. Simon kept himself in good shape with some moderate workouts when he could and mostly paid attention to what he ate. As he walked towards the door, he craned his head slightly to see if Chad was coming, but found the teen to be still standing where he was. "You coming?"

Chad grinned and showed some of the boyish behavior teens normally do when they wait for an adult to ask them to walk with them or go somewhere. Simon smiled inwards as the duo made their way to the kitchen.

---

As Simon and Chad entered the kitchen, Barb and Ben were busy preparing breakfast that featured, eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. Simon wanted to help, but Ben was kind enough to tell him they had everything handled. Reluctantly, Simon headed to the kitchen table to sit, followed by Chad.

Barb and Ben were listening closely while they were both busy with breakfast preparations while waiting for either Simon or Chad to start the conversation. Barb had made sure there was freshly poured orange juice on the table as well as milk and sugar for the coffee drinkers. Ben was at the stove preparing to start cooking the eggs and bacon. The toast would come later. Barb and Ben were quite good at multi-tasking, whether they were doing one thing and listening to another or something else, they still managed to do it. It was one of their natural abilities, something that many people admired and whished to have.

Simon turned to Chad after he had a sip of coffee, which was sitting on the table for him. "So, what's the big deal with what you have to say?"

This brought Chad out of his daze. He was silently wishing he were a normal kid again, but he also knew he had a duty to perform and immediately got down to business. "Before I begin, I'll make sure everyone is on the same page here. Simon, as you were led to believe that Barb and Ben were Wizards, they are not. They, like me, are... no... was part of the Guardians Council a long time ago, before the lockets were formed. In other words, their existence has been a secret to prevent the Elder Guardian's twin brother from finding them. It seems that these two hold an important secret that no one else but the Elder Guardian knows about." Barb and Ben exchanged looks and nodded to Chad so he could continue. It was the council, giving him permission to explain whatever he needed to explain to Simon. "They have a gift that no other Council Member has: the ability to bring a person back to life." This caused a round of gasps, but Chad wasn't finished and continued, "The ability comes at a price. It's probably just rumors, but I do know such an ability exists and is a closely guarded secret. Now, as far as any other abilities these two might have, they have almost all the skills and knowledge as an Elder Guardian, which sort of puts them almost toe to toe with the Elder Guardian himself." Chad took a gulp of orange juice as Simon did the same with his coffee. Once again, Chad continued, "As for you, Simon, all your abilities are deeply buried, except for the fact that you get visions of possible futures. That is rare and there are several people who have this ability, including the Elder Guardian. It's up to you to tell what happened, but for some reason, the Elder Guardian's visions were clouded; however he directed me to keep a watchful eye on you. It appears his decision was correct. Anyway, as for your hidden abilities, some are dormant, while some are active. You are another example of Barb and Ben; your ability, as we witnessed last night, destroys the lockets, but does not destroy the person who is bound to the locket."

Simon looked at Chad with a puzzled expression. "I've heard about such things when I was a youth, but it's apparent that I forgot all about it. All I know of the lockets is that if the user destroys his or her own locket, he/she also dies."

"Correct, but last night you proved many of us wrong. As a test, you destroyed the Elder Guardian's sister's locket with ease and she claims to have felt no ill effects. She also says she doesn't feel any different, but when she did her normal training, it was obvious her abilities had improved. The bad news is, her sibling's lockets were also destroyed. It's not bad news but it could mean that if you were to destroy the Elder Guardian's locket, there is a chance his twin brother's locket could be destroyed in the process as well."

Simon wondered about what Chad had said. "Does this 'sister' have a twin?"

"Yes." Chad replied. "The strange thing is, her locket is still intact. This could be a positive thing for us."

The adults spent a few moments in silence before Simon spoke, "My dream told me otherwise."

This grabbed Chad's attention and he stared at Simon in the eye. "How?"

Simon went on to explain all the details that happened in his dream, or vision as Chad called it. This took a while and during this time, the house was quiet, as the boys were no longer making any noises in the back. Barb and Ben suspected they were eavesdropping, but ignored it as they listened to Simon. When Simon was finished, everyone was silent up till the boys entered the kitchen with worried looks across their faces.

Barb and Ben exchanged looks and nodded, but decided to serve the breakfast that they made. As everything was laid on the table, everyone ate and was well satisfied with their cooking. Not a leftover was left behind, not a word was said at the table, except for the occasional burps and several giggles, followed by some playful dirty looks from the adults.

After the boys spent some time helping Barb and Ben clean up, the boys eagerly sat at the table waiting for whatever. This made Barb and Ben slightly nervous as they tried encouraging them to go play, but Simon's vision somehow caused everyone to become interested.

Chad broke the eerie silence that existed after breakfast and cleanup. "I guess everyone knows. There's no hiding it now, especially from them." Chad spoke as he thumbed in the direction of the boys. "There's no easy way to approach this. I think what Simon foresaw was the Elder destroying his own locket. This is the only explanation for the glow that I could think of, unless of course, the Elder destroyed both lockets." At everyone's puzzled looks, Chad continued, "Well, the Elder has two lockets. One is his own, while the other is sort of the master locket. It was forged by the original founder and this is around Barb and Ben's time. Somehow, I suspect their memories from then were locked away to further protect their secret should anyone stumble upon it. The only way to get their memories back is to locate the Founder Guardian. No one knows how or where he is, but there are clues that lead the path to him." This caused a round of gasps. Chad let out a heavy sigh and continued, "Sadly, the clues exist in the Guardian's Glade and those without a locket aren't very welcomed. If anyone were to know of Barb and Ben's existence, it could start a war; therefore the Elder provided fake lockets that are similar to what we wear. Hopefully, no one in their right mind would think twice about questioning who you are, as the lockets that were forged are to show that the two of them are the Elder's closest cousins and his elite task force. It's the best we could do. Sadly, the boys have to stay here for their own protection, as well as you, too, Simon. I'm pretty sure that Barb and Ben could pick up some of the clues if they quickly become familiar with the Glade, which I'm sure could happen."

"That's rather risky, don't you think?" Simon queried.

"Some risks are worth taking. Even you should know that." Chad replied of Simon's big risk of taking his ex wife to court, which he obviously knew.

"Heh, here we go again..." Simon paused as if he was waiting for a response, but started again, "Never mind that, this is a much bigger risk!"

"Well... the whole planet is at stake, or so you said. The Elder gave me some say in this matter, so I am making this decision based on what I have seen."

"What? Wait a minute here..." Simon was a bit taken aback at what Chad just told him.

"Oops... I guess I said a bit too much." Simon sighed and glared at Chad, causing him to plan his next form of explanation. "Look, I may be 14, but my IQ is higher than Einstein's."

Simon interrupted Chad, "In other words, you're a geek in a kid's body?"

Chad smiled a bit at Simon's remark, but frowned when he secretly wished he really were a kid again and not have to worry about the Elder and others rushing him around doing their errands. Simon picked up on this and moved his chair in next to Chad. As he sat down, he gently placed his arm around Chad.

"Look, I've seen that look all the time. I know you just want to do the things every normal 14-year old wants to do with their lives." Simon paused to let the words sink in, causing Chad to look at him with a questioning look. "I know this because I've seen that look on my own kids' faces when they didn't want to go to their mother's. That's a long story for another time, but you obviously know all the juicy details.

Chad let out a small laugh while some tears rolled down his cheeks. "Well, maybe not everything, but more than enough to know the basics and then some."

Simon sighed and nodded his understanding. "I don't blame you. You are who you are and that is something that cannot be changed, unless you really want to change. From what I understand, you aren't familiar with the meaning of 'fun'." Simon looked at his sons, who were sitting from the opposite side of the table and smiled as the boys got an idea of what was going to happen. "Boys, why don't you two show Chad the meaning of what 'fun' is all about." Simon paused and watched the expressions on Will and Ty's faces as he didn't include them till he started again, "You can include Will and Ty as well."

This caused the excitement level to rise considerably in the house. Barb and Bill were enjoying listening to the story as it was fascinating to them as well as finding out 'how' the boys were going to 'teach' Chad what 'fun' was all about.

Chad protested claiming he already knew the definition of 'fun'. Simon knew well enough that the boy was clearly in over his head when his twin sons started going over what they should do first with Will and Ty.

In a swift move, Simon placed his hand over Chad's chest and a green glow formed underneath. Suddenly, the locket appeared then shattered into a million pieces as Chad watched in horror and surprise, followed by amazement and relief.

"Go have fun!" Simon spoke to Chad and the boys as he removed his hand from Chad's chest. Chad's relief turned into a frown as he looked down at his chest, no longer seeing the locket. "Oh, that would have slowed you down."

Just as Simon was going to explain why, the boys simply shouted, "HIDE 'N SEEK!"

Barb and Ben looked at each other then towards Will and Ty and nodded, giving them permission to play the twin's game. Simon made a mental note to ask them about it later, but decided to relax some and enjoy the show. The twins approached Chad and pulled him up to his feet so they were all standing.

"How do I play this game?" Chad nervously asked the twins.

"It's simple! Normally, we'd find a place to hide in the universe, but I suppose the planet will have to do!" Julian spoke.

"You can teleport to anywhere in the universe?!" Chad asked with surprise in his voice.

"Yep! We can! Will and Ty said they can too, but not as far as us!" Alex spoke up, causing Chad to switch his stare from Julian to Alex.

"But how do I pl..." Chad started as the twins grabbed his hands and teleported out of the room. Will and Ty followed behind them a second later, leaving Barb, Ben, and Simon alone in the house.

"Well, I wanted to tell my boys to go easy on Chad. Guess it's too late!" Simon spoke out loud to no one, causing Barb and Ben to giggle. A few seconds later, all three adults heard voices in their heads, 'We'll be easy on him! Don't worry about us! Chad will have loads of fun!' This caused the adults to shake their heads in disbelief.

"Oh dear, that poor boy doesn't know what he's gotten himself into." Barb finally managed to speak after a few moments of silence.

"Don't worry, Chad is in good hands." Simon chuckled.

"So" Ben began, "What Chad spoke of earlier, the mess you were into with your ex, what exactly did he mean by that?"

Simon let out a heavy sigh, "I suppose there's some time before the boys get tired, or Chad gets tired first." Barb and Ben smiled at this, so Simon continued, "I always knew someone was watching me, but I never thought it was Chad. I mean I knew all about the Guardian Council and stuff, but I'd never imagine they'd send a kid to watch things. Anyway, this all began 4 years ago at the time of my divorce."

Barb managed to pour more coffee into their mugs so Simon could continue filling them in on details of his past.

---

Four Years Earlier —

Simon had just left for home from work on this nice sunny day, looking forward to their first family vacation. It had been too long since they had a real vacation and Simon was hoping things would turn for the better as he knew his marriage was a bit rocky, but he was sure a vacation and change of scenery would do them good. He had taken off work early, hoping to surprise his wife.

As Simon drove home in his grey BMW 3s, he began mentally planning the vacation out down to possible things to do and so on. His daydreaming while driving was slightly dangerous, but he managed to barely focus as his excitement levels were elevated.

Once he arrived home, he parked the car in the driveway and quickly made his way into the house. Once in, he headed straight for the kitchen, only to hear some moaning. He was getting worried that his wife might have hurt herself, but once he arrived into the kitchen, he was slightly taken aback.

Simon entered the kitchen to find his wife riding on top of another man on the kitchen island. "What the fuck is happening here?!" Simon shouted, startling his wife and obviously, another man Simon hadn't seen before.

Jeanna Berry was a woman in her late 20's with blond hair and hazel eyes and looks that would cause men to stop and stare at her everywhere she went. She was quite well known in the modeling industry as a model and manager for an agency that made celebrity clothing. She was quite stuck-up before she was married to Simon, but somehow, she had changed to fit his lifestyle. Her parents were rich and she had almost everything she could dream of. However, this was a cover for who she really was. Jeanna was really a scientist, specializing in the paranormal. Simon never knew of this, maybe because he couldn't read her mind, or maybe his powers were only still developing, or so he thought.

As Jeanna and the unknown stranger both looked at Simon with crooked grins across their faces, this caused Simon's anger to rise considerably.

"You, mister, have 5 seconds to leave this house, or else!" Simon boomed that caused the house to shake somewhat.

The stranger still hadn't lost his grin; instead, he gently rolled Jeanna and himself around then slowly peeled away from his married lover. As he stood up, he revealed a broad frame that indicated he worked out a lot and slowly made his way towards Simon, cracking his knuckles. In comparison to Simon, the stranger almost looked like an incredible hulk, as to Simon's much smaller, but well toned frame.

"Or else what? You'll throw me out the door? If so, you and what army?

Simon didn't budge as he knew the man was a mere mortal and he knew that if he was any other man, he would have been so dead in an all out brawl with the stranger.

"Last warning!" Simon growled.

The stranger kept moving slowly till he was standing within an arm's length of Simon. "I'll give you your 5 seconds to get out."

"So be it." Simon pulled back his fist and lept forward, plunging the fist into the man's stomach, sending him flying across the kitchen and smacking against the wall, leaving a huge dent from his massive shape.

Jeanna's mouth was gaping open and she suddenly had a concern for herself as she started scrambling to gather her clothes on the floor and try and attempt to flee. Simon caught this and decided to let her go. He knew that it was against the law to hit women and no matter how badly he wanted to slap her for that, he just couldn't do it. He however told himself, 'If she was any other man, I'd have done the same to 'Bluto' on the wall.'

---

"...And that was only the start of my problems with her." Simon sighed and took a breather as Barb and Ben listened.

"If you thought her having an affair was bad, wait till you hear the next part."

"Hold up" Ben stopped Simon from going further as he had a question, "You mentioned you couldn't read her mind then, why was that?"

"I'll get to that in the next part." Simon smiled as he took a sip of coffee before he began finishing his story.

---

Simon's POV -

The next day, I became worried as I hadn't heard from Jeanna as I might have scared her off, so I continued my life as if nothing had happened. Sure the twins asked about their mother, but thankfully they were at the day-care center when I flung 'Bluto' to the wall. I didn't need them seeing that nor did I need them seeing the mess in the kitchen. I had to pick up the twins from the babysitters as I had told the day-care staff that neither of us could come pick them up due to 'personal problems' as it wasn't a good time for them to be home.

When I entered the kitchen after I woke up, I was quite surprised to find the mess all cleaned up. I thought I was dreaming, so I pinched myself on the cheek for extra measure just in case, but that hurt. The next thing I did was call the babysitters. I wanted to make sure the twins were okay. I wasn't sure what I was feeling at that moment, but it was a feeling that someone was in danger and I should have trusted my instincts at the time.

When I dialed the babysitter, all I got was their answering machine. I felt panic and fear rising in my body fast, I rushed out the door, hopped into my car and sped towards the 'sitter's house. Considering the way I drove, it didn't take long and thankfully there were no cops looking for speeders. When I got there, I could tell the house had a dark aurora around it and that alone told me something bad had happened. As I walked to the door and knocked, it was partially open and I helped myself in. I spent several minutes looking around the house, calling the sitter's names and my son's, but the house was quiet and I nearly gave up when I noticed a small shadow move. I formed a defensive posture, but the shadow posed me no threat with it's giving off a non-hostile presence.

As I relaxed a bit, I started hearing words in my mind and thought I was going crazy.

'We can help you find your boys, but in return, you must help us. This journey could take quite some time, but first, you must re-discover yourself, to prove yourself worthy to us. We know you have a lot of questions for us, but to start, we've unlocked your ability to read minds, as it was laying dormant since your birth.'

I was strangely confused, but since the figure made no advancements on me, I decided to play their 'game'. I really didn't believe such powers existed then, so I tried not to believe they existed, but that didn't last long as I began to hear random thoughts from random people when I was out in public. I decided to try and attempt communication with the being, hoping for the best if any.

'Who are you? How can you help me? Do you know where my sons are? How is it I can hear you in my mind?' I wanted to ask more, but the being stopped me from continuing.

'In due time, you will learn of everything you ask. For now, you must learn this new ability. Yes, we know all about your boys' abilities and they are ok, for now. You must make a choice; it will not be an easy one at that.'

'What choice?!'

A few moments went by and there was silence. I wasn't sure what to do. I was frustrated. I was angry. I wanted to cry and run to the cops to report my boys missing, but their lame 24-hour missing persons rule kept nagging in my mind. I really wanted to change that rule if I could, but I was powerless to do so. Reluctantly, I left the place and closed the door and slowly drove home. What annoyed me the most was listening to the other driver's thoughts of me driving so slow. I had wondered where they were coming from. I realized this when they were passing me and looking directly at me with dirty looks. I simply flipped them the bird and received amusing reactions, which sorta lightened my mood for the evening, but changed nothing. I was alone. My wife cheated on me. My boys were missing or kidnapped or my wife took them without letting me know.

I thought for a few minutes, as I parked the car in the driveway, about the situation and decided that I really couldn't blame her for running scared like that. I lived my life in solo for 6 months. 6 months of nothing. The cops were no help. The FBI was no help. I even tried bounty hunters and PI's, but they were no help. I was stumped and lost, trying to figure out how my wife could simply disappear off the face of the planet in an instant. I nearly committed suicide the day before my wife showed up. I had a vision that day, right before I filled my head full of lead. It was a slight chance of hope and I wondered if I was dreaming it, but I was wide awake and it was my first real vision. I never went through with killing myself. I decided to wait an extra day to see for myself if she showed up like in my vision. I figured, 'what's the harm, I've got nothing to lose'.

The very next day, I waited and waited till it was almost bedtime. I had just finished my nightly cup of tonic water when my wife suddenly showed up at the front door, dressed in a lab coat, which was out of the norm for her. She somehow forced her way into the house as I clearly remember changing the locks on the door. I was slightly taken aback by her appearance, but I had so many questions, yet the night was drawing to an end and soon I'd be fast asleep. Yet I fought the sleep and kept my stare upon her. I wasn't sure why I was feeling sleepy, but I didn't realize it that my thoughts had betrayed me. I should have paid attention better.

I began to re-focus myself and felt the wave of dizziness passing over me as if it were water being poured on me. At that moment, I heard her thoughts. Those thoughts have haunted me for as long as I could remember and still do.

As she was staring down at me with a wicked grin, she thought to herself, 'You are a remarkable specimen! I cannot believe there is someone like you out there. Too bad our children have to become lab rats in my little laboratory. Too bad you can't read minds to see were they are, because I have always had a specialized metal plate in my mind that allows my thoughts to not leak out, unless of course, I'm thinking out loud like this. Still, it's time I took you to an alternate lab for my superiors to study. They wanted my children, but I told them I'd give them the next best thing; you, my dear husband. Oh and once your dizziness passes, its sweet dreams for you. Aren't sleeping pills wonderful?'

I began to feel a powerful wave of sleep overtake me as I tried forming sentences, but nothing came out. She finally began to speak as her grin grew as well as her ambitions.

"Ah hello dear, how are you feeling? What? Surprised to see me? Yes, I know you have many questions for me, but of course, you won't have the chance to ask them! It's too bad, you're about to become a lab rat to a team of dozens of scientists!"

This caused my panic level to rise to tremendous levels, which also caused the serum she had injected in my blood to flow much faster. My thoughts began to drift to why and how and when did she inject the serum. As I finally realized when, I must have heard a faint rattle in the house overnight, but I ignored it as it was some critter outside. She must have slipped in the house and poured something in my drink and waited for me to take a sip of it or two. But no, I took the whole damn thing. No wonder I couldn't control my abilities. I knew I was helpless. I couldn't do anything. I then saw waves of men enter the house from both sides of my wife. As I began to drift off, I worried about myself and where I'd be, then my thoughts drifted off to me spending time with my boys at the most personal spot only known to me: my parent's old summer house.

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To be Continued...!

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Author's Notes:

Dear readers, I apologize for my lack of activity here and on the forum. Life has been busy and no its not a girl or boy. Just in the process of moving and building a house. I did have a chapter ready to go, so hopefully I can somewhat get it out and ready!

So, Simon has related his past to Barb and Ben. What will happen next? How does Simon find his boys? Yes this is a cliffhanger, but only more so! A flashback with a double cliff and another cliff on top of that too....hmmm I wonder if that's possible... Ah well! Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!

~Hammy