CHAPTER ONE
"Nikolas! Time to get out of a bed!" I heard my mother call to me from downstairs.
"Ugh" I grunted, as I rolled over and looked at my alarm clock. It blinked with a green glow. It showed 9:00 A.M., but felt more like 6. I rolled back over and closed my eyes.
"I know you heard me young man. Breakfast, downstairs, now" I heard her say inside my mind.
"Alright! Alright!" I called out. I hated it when she would go inside my head.
I headed down the stairs slowly and strolled into the kitchen. My mother was cooking a large breakfast and the table was already set.
"Where's dad? I thought he was supposed to be home early this morning?" I asked.
"His plane arrived a little more than hour ago. He should be walking through the door any moment. He better hurry though, or you'll be late for you're first day of camp" said my mother.
"Ugh" I groaned. "Do I have to go mom? What if instead of camp, I just stay in my room all summer and sleep. You won't even know I'm here...except for when I need food" I sarcastically begged.
"No Nikolas, you're going, and you're going to like it. Trust me, I went plenty of times, and I loved it"
"Yeah, because you met dad there, that's why you love it so much" I mumbled
"I heard that. Your father saved not only me, but every camper at that camp. Without him it probably wouldn't even be a summer camp anymore, just some old run down overgrown forest" my mother said sitting next to me at the table.
"Oh god, that'd be such a travesty" I said while rolling my eyes.
"Nikolas..." said my mother sternly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know! The famous and powerful Razputin the Psychonaut! The hero of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp"
"The one and only" I heard my father say as the door opened. He could hear the whole thing in his mind even in the driveway. He was pretty powerful in the psychic sense, and I've had to live up to that my whole life.
"Hey dad" I said as he entered the kitchen. He gave a long kiss to mother, then planted one on my cheek. "Ugh dad" I said whipping it off on my sleeve.
"Who's ready for the first day of the most amazing camp in the world?" asked my father.
After a long silence, I finally spoke. "Oh, am I supposed to say me?"
"Nikolas, I don't have to be psychic to know you're hesitant to go to Whispering Rock, but I assure you once you spend a couple days there, you'll love it" my father said with a pat on back.
"How was the mission darling?" asked my mother.
"Long, non-stimulating on my awesome psychic brain, but China was nice" my father said picking up some breakfast.
"Alright Nikolas, you better head up stairs and take a shower. You still need to pack and we're leaving here at 10. You have one hour, you hear me, one!"
I got up to head upstairs, but my mother stopped me. "Wait!" she said. I turned around to see her using her telekinesis to levitate my unfinished glass of orange juice in front of me. "Finish your juice."
I gulped the last of it down, then tossed the glass in the air. My father, without even looking up from his food, caught it with his mind, and gently lowered it into the sink. To some people this would have been amazing, to me, well, I had lived my whole ten year life around that kind of stuff.
I ran upstairs jumped in the shower and scrubbed my body and scalp. I got out brushed my teeth, combed my dark hair, and put on fresh, clean clothes. I hesitantly began packing for the hell I was about to endure. My father told me about how the circus was terrible and he couldn't possibly have stayed there any longer, but I couldn't imagine summer camp would be his first option. After packing all my clothes and other essentials, I lugged my suitcase down the staircase.
"Oh, perfect! I was just about to come get you. It's almost 10, meaning it's time to go" said my mother meeting me at the bottom of the steps.
"Go put your suitcase in the trunk. I'll go see if your father is ready" she said, opening the front door and ushering me out.
"It's locked" I said as she shoved me along.
She closed her eyes, held out one hand towards the trunk, and the other to the temple of her forehead. I heard the slight pop of the trunk lock unlocking, and then it popped open by itself.
"There you go. Raz, sweetie, it's time to go! Ugh, that man can never be on time" complained mom.
"Lili, honey, the day is still young. We'll get there" dad said planting a small kiss on moms forehead.
We got in the car and headed off on our road trip to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. Mom and Dad reminisced on their first time meeting the whole ride there. Something about a meat flower and dreams, but I didn't pay too much attention. With both my parents being Psychonauts they always had some crazy psychic story.
"Oh, honey, that reminds me of the time we..." my father started to say.
"Oh my god, we've been driving forever and we're like in the middle of nowhere. Seriously the last sign of human life we passed was what looked like an abandoned gas station a hundred miles back. Where are you people taking me?" I asked fruastrated.
"They don't train the Psychocadets just anywhere. They have to pick just the right place" said my father.
"Yeah, well, where is that? Mars?"
Oh, ha-ha, very funny Nikolas. Why don't you just enjoy the view then" said my mom.
What, the trees? It's been trees, and trees, and oh, more trees for the past hour. I couldn't even spend the night in the tent in our backyard, what makes you think I'll survive in the middle of the woods?"
"Because you're an Aquato and an Aquato never quits, never gives up, and never dies without a fight" said my dad.
"You'll be fine sweetie. They've upgraded a lot of things since we've been there Raz. Look, they even have a talent show now on the stage in the main lounge! Oh, how fun! Nikolas, maybe you can sing a little song. You have such a lovely voice" my mother said turning in her chair to face me.
"God, kill me now" I whispered under my breath.
"We heard that"I heard, as both my parents voices echoed in my mind simultaneously.
We drove for a bit longer before we saw a sign reading 'Whispering Rock Summer Camp - Next Right'.
"Oh we're here! It's a little exciting being back after so long" my mother said fidgeting in her seat.
We turned in and parked the car in a circular parking lot. We got out the car, and immediately I wanted to get back in. There were other children being escorted into the camp with their parents. Some eager and excited, others like me, trudging along behind their parents.
"Look how much they extended the parking lot. There must be a lot more campers now-a-days" my mother said looking around.
I sighed heavily and turned my head, only to catch the eye of someone staring at me. It was another boy who I couldn't tell if he was excited to be here. Half of him read yes, but the other no. He stood about my height, maybe a bit bigger, long blonde hair, and pale skin. He gave me a small smile and head nod, to which I gave a small forced smile back.
"Oh look, you've already made a friend! See, you're going to love it hear" my mother said obviously seeing the encounter I just had.
"Mom, stop" I said, hiding my face in embarrassment. I heard a small laugh come from the boy. "Great, we're not hear for one minute and already she's embarrassed me" I thought.
My father glanced over in my direction, obviously hearing what I had just thought. I mouthed the word 'sorry' to him and grabbed my suitcase out the trunk of the car. We proceeded up the trail until a large we stopped at a wooden building. It was the main lounge/check in center.
"Oh, wow, look how much bigger it is now Lili" said my father
"Come on Mr. Mopey, let's get you signed in" my mother said with a light shove on me towards the door.
Once inside, I saw there were two lines. One to sign in the boys and the other for the girls. It looked larger on the inside then it did from outside. It had a large cafeteria like hall with a stage at the end of it. It had a camp store with assorted trinkets, none of which looked like anything I'd seen before. It also had a separate kitchen and some stairs that led to a second story. I was last in the line of boys with five ahead of me. I noticed the boy talking to the check in counselor was the same blonde haired kid I'd seen in the parking lot. After a bit more talking the counselor said next, and we all moved up in line. Finally, it was my turn.
"We'll hey there camper" the counselor said, a little too spunky. "And what's your name"
"Nikolas" I said flatly.
"Oh, here we are! Nikolas Aquato son of the famous Mr. Razputin Aquato. Sir, it is an absolute honor to meet you! This is so forward but, do you think I could maybe get an autograph?" asked the counselor taking out a pen and pad.
"Oh my god, you're kidding me" I sighed.
"Oh course! Anything for a future Psychonaut" my father said signing the paper and handing it back.
"We'll Mr. Nikolas, you're the 12th and last boy to check in. You're in cabin one. Lunch here starts at 2, dinner at 6, and we'll have the camp orientation meeting immediately following. Today is mostly a free day. You can hang out with other campers, go swimming, explore the camp grounds, watch tv in the lounge upstairs, take a nap, anything you feel like today. Use your time wisely though because tomorrow at 7 A.M. sharp is basic braining.
"What, 7 in the morning? It's like school all over again" I groaned.
"Oh, trust me, Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp is a thousand times more fun than any boring old school" the counselor laughed loudly.
"Doubt it" I thought. My father gave me a small nudge, confirming he had heard that thought.
After the counselor gave me a map of the camp ground and my Whispering Rock Summer Camp T-shirts, we headed to where the campers stayed. It was just four small wooden cabins, two for boys, and two for girls, and a large tree with a fort looking structure at the top. We headed into the cabin with a large one painted on it and looked around. The room was bare, save a ceiling fan, a small rug in the center of the cabin, and three bunk beds. Being the last boy to check in meant I was last pick of which bed I wanted, so I was forced to choose the bed farthest from the door in the back. I had to take top bunk as well because someone named Joey had already claimed the bottom by writing his name in purple chalk on his board.
"Here's the chalk to write your name on your little board. What color would you like?" asked mom
"Green" my father and I said at the same time. I gave him a glare.
"What? I didn't have to read your mind for that. Green has always been your favorite color.
I wrote my name on the chalk board at the foot of my bed to claim it as mine and put the chalk back in the cup it came from on the windowsill.
"Well son. You're here. Try at least to good time" said my father.
"Alright" I said, looking at the floor.
"Well we better go. It's a long drive back and we're on a plane to Russia tomorrow. Don't forget to wear your Whispering Rock T-shirt tomorrow and clean underwear" said my teary eyed mother.
We all walked back to our car in the parking lot, I said my finally goodbyes, gave them each a hug and kiss, and waved goodbye to them as they drove off. I began to head back to my cabin when I heard my car honk a couple times from down the road. A finally goodbye. I gave a small smile and then a heavy sigh.
"Alright, let's try to make the best of this" I whispered to myself. Just then I heard some girl scream from off in the distance and heard her voice yell "oh my gosh, I think I saw a snake!" My face went from small smirk to full hate in seconds.
"I'm going to die here" I muttered.
I walked back to my cabin to find there was a boy in there already lying on his bottom bunk.
"Howdy there, names Clayton, but everybody back home calls me Clay" he said with a thick country accent. He was tall and muscular, probably worked on a farm I was betting. At least he smelled like he did. He had light brown hair and wore a brownish tan cowboy hat with cowboy boots. He also wore a button up plaid shirt and blue jeans with a large belt buckle. He had large dark brown eyes and he was chewing on what look like a piece of straw or hay.
"Um, hi. I'm Nikolas" I said.
He got up and shook my hand. His hands were rough and strong; definitely worked on a farm or something.
"I don't reckon I've ever seen you round these parts before. You new to this rodeo?"
"Uh, yeah, first time"
"Well shoot, you're going love it here. You'll learn cool new tricks and stuff to show to yer ma and pa back home. They'll be amazed and all the stuff you can do with your brain" Clayton said.
"Oh, I bet" I said, not wanting to let anyone know I was son to the famous Razputin Aquato. Unwanted attention is the last thing I wanted to deal with at this camp.
"Have you gone and met and of the other folks round here?" asked Clayton.
"No I haven't, you're the first person I've met" I responded.
"Well, how about that. If you ever need anything, I'd be more than happy to help" said Clayton
"Thanks. That means a lot Clayton" I said with a small smile.
"Shoot, it ain't no big thing. Well I'm headed down to the lake to get some swimming in before lunch. You're welcome to come if you want"
"Oh thanks, but I'm good"
"Alrighty, see you later Nikolas" he said walking out the screen door.
There was about thirty minutes until lunch, so I had to occupy myself with something. I decided the best way to pass time would be to sleep it away. I cuddled into my bunk, which was surprising soft, and fell asleep.