A Return Home

[Abel Bellefonte]

“Oh, my life is changing everyday, In every possible way. And oh, my dreams, it's never quite as it seems, Never quite as it seems. I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more.”

Abel stood on the edge of the lake, looking out over the water. The first rays of morning light were just peaking over the mountain tops. The light reflected off the water, casting rainbow colored prisms of light all around. Abel smiled and closed his eyes as the light of the sun reached him and enveloped his body. Chills ran up and down his arms as the heat sank into his skin. He sighed and inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh mountain air. The smell of wet moss, wild flowers, and fresh rain washed over his senses. With each inhale, his thinking became clearer, more focused. Up here there were no random thoughts to distract him. He was blissfully alone. He could clear his mind and think free of noise and interruption.

His thoughts quickly turned to school and his family. He had graduated last year. Only a few months ago actually. The very day of graduation he left Kalispell, Montana. He was finally free. Or so he had thought. He had moved to Seattle. His desire for the big city life, greater than his fear of what it would mean. Only a few days into his new life, things began to go awry. His abilities became overwhelmed. There was simply too much “psychic noise” for him to handle. Every day he was constantly bombarded by random thoughts or emotions. His blocking techniques were rendered near useless against the sheer overwhelming amount of static in the city.

After only a few short months, it became unbearable. Abel felt himself slipping into madness. He resigned the fact that he was not yet ready for the big city life. So he returned home. Today was to be his first day back at The Academy. Abel sighed as he released his final calming breath. The sun had risen well above the mountain peaks. It would be time for class in just a few short hours. He turned, soaking up the image of the lake, the forest and the mountains and the peace they brought before heading back down.

 

“I've asked myself, How much do you commit yourself? It's my life. Don't you forget. It's my life. It never ends (It never ends...) Funny how I blind myself. I never knew, If I was sometimes played upon. Afraid to lose.”

Abel flipped the light switch and watched as the big overhead gymnasium lights began to turn on. Each one made a little pop noise they did. Out of all the places in The Academy, the gym was one of his favorite places to be. Abel’s track pants made a swishing noise as he walked forward onto the floor mat. It was a large, black rubber padded mat that covered a goodly portion of the gym. It was most often used for tumbling and other various floor routines in gymnastics. Like the other Bellefonte children, Abel was expected to partake in various sports and school activities. Gymnastics was Abel’s sport. He had been an avid gymnasts since he was old enough to walk.

Abel took his place at the far end of the floor mat and took his stance. He wanted to get a good practice in before class. He hadn’t had the opportunity since he had left. Taking a deep breath, Abel rushed forward, running and lunging into a basic triple front handspring. He landed on bent knees, standing out of the jump. He smiled as he felt the adrenaline kick into his system. He spent the next hour working the floor. The sweat was pouring off his face as he finished his routine with a front handspring, step out, round-off back handspring, step out, roundoff back handspring, full twist. Video

“You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful, it's true. I saw your face in a crowded place, And I don't know what to do.”

After practicing his floor routine, Abel headed to the locker room. He had brought his bag with him from his apartment. Class was set to start soon and he needed to shower and get ready. He sighed as the warm water washed over his skin. Steam quickly began to fill the room. One of his favorite little rituals was a hot, steamy shower. The water seemed to wash away his worries along with the dirt and sweat. Any moment of peace and quiet for Abel, was a favorite moment. All too soon he ended his shower and quickly dressed for the day. He had to prepare himself for his first day back at The Academy. It was sure to be taxing. He smiled at himself in the mirror. A forced smile, but one none the less. Maybe things would be different. He was taking college courses now. He would be with an older, more experienced crowd. He did his best to place himself in a positive mindset as he left the locker room.

“Woe is me, all summer long I was happy and free. Save my soul, the board of education took away my parole. I gotta go back, back, back to school again.”

The Academy was still mostly empty as Abel made his way through the building. It was still fairly early. He did happen across a few students here or there. They smiled and nodded as they passed each other in the hall. Abel emerged out into the courtyard and looked up to the sun. He let the warmth wash over him again. Again the courtyard was mostly empty. There were a few people about. Abel walked over and took a seat on one of the empty benches and began to rummage through his bag. He pulled out his iPod and his class schedule. He read over his schedule as he allowed his music to take him away to a world all of his own.

[Seiji Lockard]

The day started off like any other day for the twenty-four year old that went to college at Bellefonte Academy and worked there as the Side-Effect Specialist. He got up pretty early today; which was a bit odd, but he knew it had to be because he went to bed earlier then he normally did the night before. He shuffled out of his bed and moved to feed all of his snakes that were in his room. He went over to his personal freeze and microwave he kept under his bed, pulling them out enough so he could use them. He pulled out a nice big rat for Ghost and mice for the other three. Having to heat them up in order to thaw them so his snakes were not eating frozen rodents. Sometimes he fed them live, but he preferred to do that once and a while and had it as a special treat.

Once everyone was fed he got into the shower as his snakes worked out who was going to be hanging out with their master for the day. They all liked to switch between whole would be Seiji's companion for the day; even if poor Ghost could not go with his master when he had school, he still liked to be a part of the discussion. Either way, Seiji let them work it out amongst themselves as he got all cleaned up. Having no need to shave his beard since it took him a while to actually grow facial hair, so all he had to do was maintain it. Brushing his fluffy back hair and then moving to get dressed for one of the warmer days in Kalispell. Seiji slipped into a pair of grey cargo pants that had nice deep pocket that he liked, and then putting on a white short sleeved button up shirt made out of a thin and see through fabric that had him wearing a white undershirt as well. Completed with white socks and a pair of black all-star converse, he was ready.

"Who is coming?" Seiji asked, knowing that there was no way he would be able to leave the room without one of his snakes joining him. Akiko; his 1.2 ft. female Scarlet Kingsnake slither on over to her master. Seiji bending down and allowing her to slide into one of the pockets no is pants. He even left his backpack a little open in case she wanted to go in there. I'll be back later. Seiji informed his entire snake with his mind and headed out after making sure everything was locked up. He had a few classes today and no work to do at the very moment. That could easily change with a phone call, but today seemed like it was going to be a very laid back sort of day.

Proceeded towards his classes; he was still really early so figured he and Akiko could do a little bit of some sun bathing, Seiji being a little on the lighter side from time to time figured sun would do his skin some good. It was nice to just lie in the grass and soak up the sun, with a snake resting on your stomach and doing the same. Yet, Akiko didn't remain there as her attention was grabbed by a man sitting down on a bench. The very small vibration coming from his headphones let Akiko know that this male was distracted by music and felt like she could have some fun. Where are you going? Seiji asked Akiko as he felt her body slither off of him, but she didn't answer him as she worked her way with ease through the grass, up the bench and positioned herself to be sitting next to the man. She would stare at him for a moment, before deciding to just try and slither on up into his jacket to see what was going on up under there. Surely the man would feel the weight of something having attempting to sneak its way up under what he was wearing.