Authors Note: This was written a few years ago on LJ. I wanted to get my stories into a place that was more organized and have a better chance for others to read them. I have changed them slightly and corrected as many errors as I could. These are not betaed, obviously, so all mistakes are mine.
Chapter 1: The Carnival
I can't believe she said yes!
I can go to the carnival, but she hates the carnival. She thinks the people are scum and beneath us. Ma did protest, but all I had to do was give her my 'puppytrelli' face and she gave in. Of course she had to control everything.
One- I must take the limo. Hate taking the limo! I would rather cab it there like everyone else, but it will score points with my friends, so win there.
Two- The driver will be our chaperon while we are there. That's fine with us, we can easily ditch him in those over baring crowds.
"Thanks, Ma." I give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you!"
I grab an apple from the counter bowl as I race up the stairs, two at a time, to my bedroom. I flop down onto my unkempt bed and text my friends, Mike and John, that I can go and will be picking them up in a limo. They're psyched!
Devouring the apple, I plan out my outfit, cargo Khakis and my favorite red hoodie with a plain white t-shirt under it. Scurrying off the the bathroom, I take a shower, then I spend the next hour fixing my hair and getting dressed. Don't look at me like that... there will be girls there.
"Ma! Ma, I'm leaving!" I call out to her as I come bounding down the stairs. My search finds her asleep on the couch in the sitting room, empty wine glass hanging off her fingers. I quietly go to her, rescue the glass, grab the afghan from the top of the couch and lay it across her. Leaning down I lightly brush her bangs to the side and give her a kiss on the forehead. "Bye" I whisper in her ear.
As quietly, I leave her, but pause once as I hear her mumble something, then go to the limo. The driver opens the door and I climb into the spacious, leather coated back seat. We go and pick up Mike and John and head for the carnival. My friends have never been in a limo before, so I just lean back and watch them touch and play with everything and let my mind wander.
I am so lucky to have them as friends , they keep me grounded and knock me down a few pegs when I start acting too much like a Petrelli. If it wasn't for Mike and John I may have ended up stiff like my older brother, Nathan. My face falls when I think of him and I stare out the window. Nathan would have loved to have taken me to this carnival, just the two of us. I can see it, playing the games, watching the shows. Nathan nudging me toward a pretty girl, whispering advice in my ear. My mouth forms into my crooked grin at that thought.
"Pete! Peter? Earth to Peter Petrelli!" I'm brought out of my haze by John shaking my leg.
"What?" I say with a smile to show that I'm not mad at them for bugging me.
"Hey, is there a bar in here." Mike asks with a smirk.
I put on my sternest face and with a deep, authoritative voice replay. "Yes, but you will not go near it. I will not be responsible for serving minors alcohol." We sit silent for a second and all burst out laughing. "Naw, dude, seriously. Ma, would have had Driver take all that out." I open the chest and show them that it was, indeed, empty.
I feel my phone vibrate against my chest in my shirt pocket. As I look at the text I chew the inside of my cheek. Why is Ma texting me now. She always needs to keep track of where I am. I give a snort when I'm done reading. I close the phone and replace it in my pocket.
"She wants me back home." I tell my friends. Of course they argue with me. I don't want to go home. It's ingrained in me to always obey my mom, but now it's effecting my friends. She didn't give me a reason why she wants me back. I grin, "What text message? I didn't receive any message." We cheer and slap hands. I didn't realize the limo stopped until the driver opens the door. In the back of my mind I felt an uneasy feeling creeping, but shook it off as nothing.
My senses are attacked as we step out of the limo. The sounds of the carnies barking their entertainment and the kids laughing and squealing for food drift to my ears. The smells of the freshly roasted peanuts make my mouth water. I feel my heart beat faster as everything, the sight of all the flashy attraction and people, excite me like I've never felt before.
I feel a tug at my arm as my friends pull me through the front gate further into the carnival. I'm just in awe, staring at everything and everyone. We pass by a family dressed in red costumes and the little girl smiles at me and waves. I return the smile and wave back as I see her blow me a fiery kiss. I stumble into Mike in shock.
"Hey! What the..." Mike yells at me pushing me back.
"S...sorry, Mikey. Did you see that? What that girl did? She blew fire at me." I point towards the family.
They both look back. "That little girl?" John says disbelieving.
Mike laughs and pushes the back of my head to move me on. "Dude, it's an illusion. All this stuff isn't real. Just mirrors and strings and chemicals."
I comb my hands through my hair in frustration. "yeah, your probably right." I force a laugh, but take one last look back. All three family members were now blowing fire into the crowd that has gathered. I shake my head and turn back to my friends who I see have a big lead on me, so I jog up to meet them at the ticket booth. I reach them and slap down forty dollars and tell them to get as many ride tickets as they can.
As they get the tickets I roam around with my hands deep in my pockets. My eyes fall upon a throwing game and watch a guy try to show off for his lady friend. I chuckle to myself as he goes 0 for three shots. The man starts to get mad and yells for 3 more balls and again he goes 0 for 3 shots. The carny says he was so close that time and suggests he try again. The lady just wants to leave and try another game, but he wants to try again. I tilt my head and watch the carny this time and notice every time the man throws a ball the carny's hand move slightly.
"Weird..." I say under my breath.
"What?" Mike slings his arm around my neck as they stir me towards the rides.
"Oh, nothing." they wouldn't believe me anyway. Not after the fire girl.
This was the best time I had ever had with my friends. We road every ride 3 times, stuffed our faces with hot dogs and cotton candy and drank a gallon of soda till we were sick. We never could shake the driver, when ever we thought we did, I caught a glimpse of him always just within sight of us.
It was getting really late and I checked my phone for the time. 15 messages from mother! She must be worried sick. I look up at the guys and they are discussing going into a mirror maze next.
"Hey, guys. I'm going to check in with my mom. She left me a ton of messages." I hold my phone up.
"Yeah, sure, that's fine. Just hurry we want to go in there." they point to the maze.
I press her speed dial, she's number 1 of course, and it rings only once and she picks up.
"Peter! Are you okay?" She sounds frantic. "Answer me, boy."
I'm taken aback by her sudden mood change from worried to angry within seconds.
"Yes... Yeah, ma. I'm fine. We're having a good time here. What's wrong?" I try not to sound worried by her, but I have never heard her like this. She has always been cool and collective. I've always compared her to a Vulcan, showing no emotions.
"What is wrong, young man, is that I have been trying to get a hold of you all evening!" Yup, she's pissed.
"I'm sorry, ma. It's really loud here. I didn't hear my phone. I just looked at it for the time and saw your messages. I called right away. I swear." There must be some other reason she's acting this way.
"You get back to this house this instant. You hear me? NOW!." She hangs up and there is silence.
I stare at my phone for what seems like an eternity. I'm shaking from head to toe; tears on the verge of forming in my eyes. Mike and John must have noticed me and came over, each putting a hand on either of my shoulders.
"Pete? What's wrong?"
"You okay, man?"
"I need to go home..."I say barely over a whisper as I pocket the phone.
"Oww. Just one more thing. We want to do the mirrors. Plus,you can't go home like this." John pleads. Trying to do my 'puppytrelli' look.
He gets a little chuckle for the effort. "Okay, we do the mirrors and we go. Capiche?"
They nod and we head over to the mirror. I bring a hand up to my head and rub my forehead. I'm not feeling to hot right now. I brush it off as worry over my mom and enter the mirrored corridor a few second after Mike and John. "Wait up, guys." I call after them.
I try to follow their laughter and foot steps, but every sound is echoing off the mirrored walls. I come out into what must be the center of the maze. It's a rounded area with all different shaped mirrors. I wipe away a trickle of sweat that ran down my face. Either the mirrors are moving or I'm getting dizzy. I close my eyes, trying to make everything stop spinning. I hear laughing and crying, screams and lovers' kisses circling me. My head feels like it's going to burst. I shout for it to stop. I open my eyes hoping that seeing nothing there will help.
In every mirror I see different images. Different people, different scenes. I recognize Nathan and Ma, but they seem so much older. There is me, but I'm an adult. In the scenes strange things are happening. Nathan was flying and some woman was shooting lightning from her hands. A girl about my age falls from the top of a Ferris wheel and I see her heal and walk away.
The images fade and the room goes black.