Chapter 1: In the Beginning
Summary: Dakota Stevens was a normal teenager...until now.
Author's notes: The idea for this story came to me after hearing about a few books by L.J. Smith. I tried to keep it loosely based on her books without completely ripping her off. This story is sort of a mix between the Dark Visions Trilogy and the Night World series. The night people have followed the same set of rules for centuries, but some strange things have been happening within the past few years...Humans have been gaining special powers/abilities. The Council has decided that they will be included in the secret society, and therefore follow the laws. The laws being...
Never let humans find out about their existence.
Never fall in with a human.
* * *
Dakota Stevens drew in a breath of sharp cool air and surveyed the white trail ahead of him. Huge bumps rose in the snow and a large drop off, perfect for a good long jump, appeared some fifteen feet down. A grin pulled hard at the corners of his mouth and he almost shivered with the thrill.
He lived for this.
Shooting down the mountainside with his friends, dodging trees, and jumping into the air. As soon as snow hit the ground he would get a shiver that ran through his whole body. He yearned to test himself, to challenge his nerves, to fly through the air with nothing between himself and the ground. He never remembered a time in his life when he had not been well acquainted with the slopes. His snow board was apart of his body. Every winter he and his friends would get up at an ungodly hour and be the first on the slopes. They would stand at the top of the Colorado mountains and absorb the glory of God's creation.
Not another soul could be seen on the slopes, and the stars were just now fading from the sky. It sent the blood pounding through Dakota's veins and he loved it.
He had always felt held down, as if something deep inside wanted to break out, like a caged animal. At times on the slopes he felt that he could fly, if he could just reach for something. He did not know exactly what he needed to reach for, but he felt it, and he wanted it. One day he would grasp it and then no one could hold him back, all the world would be his to explore.
One day.
He did not know exactly what day, but it would happen one day.
"You ready for the slopes bud?" A female voice asked.
Dakota turned and felt his face warm as his eyes stopped on Julia Robinson, the snow angel. He knew it sounded corny, but every time he happened to look in her direction, that was what she reminded him of. His knees trembled and he felt his tongue grow thick in his mouth. It seemed ridiculous, he had known her since before they could even walk, but he felt that way just the same.
Finally, he cleared his throat. "'Course I am, you ready Jules?"
"Sure, I bet I can beat you down." She smiled.
"Is that a challenge?" Dakota asked.
Julia nodded. "But we'd better make sure Alex can get down too, this is a black diamond." She waved her gloved hand at the other boy sliding near them.
His nose had turned red and his teeth chattered a bit, "Speak for yourself Jules, y'all are gonna eat my dust as I cruise down this baby hill." A self assured grin took over his face.
Alex had moved to Colorado when he was nine, but had picked up snow boarding very quickly, almost as quickly as he picked up girls. Even at nine Alex had been somewhat of a ladies man.
"Alex, you're not in Texas anymore, there is no dust." And with that, Dakota flew from their spot on the hill. His board crunched onto the snow and he nearly disappeared down the slope.
* * *
Julia and Alex glanced at each other and then sped off after their friend. The wind cut their faces as they whooshed past the trees and skimmed over bumps.
Far ahead, Dakota seemed a blur of black and blue.
Despite the cold, Julia felt sweat rolled down her back. She bent down to try and catch up with Dakota. The wind froze her cheeks and nose. Dakota grew larger as she neared him. Just as she passed him up the drop off appeared in front of her. In the heat of the race she had forgotten about it and she did not see the rock at the tip of the drop. The nose of her board hit the rock and she toppled forward head first toward the snow. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dakota reach out to steady her. Julia shut her eyes waiting to land on her head.
* * *
A tingle had started in the pit of Dakota's stomach and worked it's way to the tips of his fingers and back of his neck as he watched Julia loose her balance and flip over. The tension built up like a thousand tiny ice crystals, little balls of energy, bumping and jolting all together, trying to force their way out of his body.
As he cleared the jump he reached out, somewhere in his mind a voice cried , "Stop her from falling!"
And then, all the little balls of energy burst out from his fingers and literally stopped Julia in midair.
He hit the ground, slid to a stop, and stared up at Julia who hung suspended in the air by millions of invisible balls of energy. She opened her eyes and looked down, then at Dakota, who still had his hand up. He still felt the energy shooting through his body, warm and fast. They continued to stare a one another. The realization of what they at least thought had just happened.
A puff of snow showered off the top of the mound as Alex jolted to stop.
"Wow, Julia's flying!"
"I'm not doing this," Julia said.
Alex looked at Dakota. "Put her down," he said.
"How do you know it's me?" Dakota asked. "It could be you."
Alex pointed to Dakota's out stretched hand.
Dakota sighed. "I guess you're right. But how on earth did I do that?"
"This is all fine and dandy boys, but I would appreciate being let down-slowly," Julia said.
"Well, if I knew how to let you down, I would," Dakota retorted.
"Just let your hand go down, very slowly," Alex suggested.
In other instances, Dakota would have asked Alex why he thought he knew so much, but under the circumstances he decided to try the suggestion out. He licked his lips and, after making sure that they had no other observers, motioned downward with his gloved hand.
Julia floated to the snow; just like a snow-angel. She righted herself and stared at Dakota.
He took off his glove and stared at his hand. It looked the same as it had that morning, no weird colors or anything, only his normal hand. He was a freak! This morning he had been perfectly normal, and now...now he did not know what would happen. He would probably end up under a microscope in some crazy lab, or in the circus or something. Everyone would think he was a freak. And what about his parents? And what about Julia? But his doubts about her crashed to the ground as she tackled him onto the snow.
"This is so cool! You're like...Superman! I always saw you as sort of a Superman, but now you can be the world's Superman!" Suddenly, she realized that she was sitting on top of him. She looked up at Alex who stared at them with his nose wrinkled. Julia pushed herself back up and held out a hand.
For a moment Dakota could only look at it. He really had not expected her to react the way she had, and he felt altogether confused. Why did she understand everything? He did not know whether he should be completely annoyed or wonderfully relieved. Finally, he reached out and took her hand, but then he did not know what to do. One could not simply go about their business after an experience like the one he had just had. He had to do something else, but what?
Dakota slid off to the side of the slope into the trees and out of sight.
Alex and Julia followed silently.
They came out onto a little hill with a rock. Behind, the trees hid them completely, but in front, they could see the most magnificent scene. Across the little white valley covered in tiny pine trees, a mountain rose to cover nearly everything. The rising sun outlined it making it appear heavenly, ethereal.
Julia glanced at Alex, and when she realized that he would not say anything she clamped her own mouth shut. When Alex Crammer thought no words needed to be said, no word needed to be said. But then, Dakota spoke;
"It's amazing what a little bit of light can do to a seemingly ordinary object." He glanced back at his two friends, then slid over to the rock and sat down. His lavender eyes concentrated hard on something at Julia's feet. She looked down and watched as a small gray lump seemed to grow bigger. The snow rolled off of it as it emerged. In other parts of the snow more gray lumps rose. Finally, a bolder rose from the white powder.
Julia watched as it floated maybe two feet above the ground toward Dakota.
It dropped. Dakota rubbed his head. It felt like working a muscle too hard. He trembled with slight fatigue but smiled at his accomplishment.
"It's a little harder than I thought," Dakota said. "But hey, at least now I know it wasn't just temporary."
Alex grinned. "Well hey, something like this doesn't happen everyday. You can't just go about your business when you've had an experience like this man. Let's go celebrate, brunch is on me!"
"Sounds good," Dakota said. He never argued when someone offered to buy him a meal, and Alex was not a penny-pincher.
When they cleared the trees Julia hopped onto the slope. "Beat ya down!" She yelled.
"Be careful this time!" Dakota laughed.
/Dakota, we'll talk later/
Dakota looked at Alex. He had just spoken, but not out loud.
/Alex?/
Alex nodded, acknowledging the communication.
/Later./
