Accidental Awakening Read online

  Guardians

  — Book 1 —

  Accidental Awakening

  Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  www.damienledoux.com

  Purple Spekter™ Press

  Copyright © 2018 Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the Author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  KDP Paperback ISBN-13: 9781980949367

  Kindle ASIN: B0799B6KWM

  WORK OF FICTION

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  EDITIONS

  Paperback

  1.2 | April 28, 2018 | Paperback Publication

  Kindle

  1.2 | April 28, 2018 | Updates with Paperback Publication

  1.1| March 8, 2018 | Initial Typo corrections

  1.0 | March 3, 2018 | Kindle Launch

  Dedication

  Book 1: Accidental Awakening is dedicated to Ron St. Germain, my personal superhero mentor, without whom I would not have found the characters and super powers to tell this awesome story.

  The Guardians series is dedicated to all LGBTQ youth and young adults everywhere who have struggled to love themselves, or struggle to love themselves today.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Notes

  1 | When Dreams Become Nightmares

  2 | Junior Year at Portsmouth High

  3 | Bullies and Distractions

  4 | Family Camping Trip

  5 | The Day Everything Changed

  6 | Web of Lies

  7 | Organized Chaos

  8 | Altered

  9 | Testing the Waters

  10 | Life and Death

  11 | No Thank You

  12 | Answers

  13 | Darkness Rising

  14 | Normal is Upside Down

  15 | Return to the Source

  16 | More Unanswered Questions

  17 | With Us or Against Us

  Guardians will continue in…

  If You Enjoyed this Book…

  About the Author

  The Purple Spekter™ Shop

  Acknowledgements

  My husband and handsome hero Tim, for his constant encouragement and willingness to share in this part of my life. I truly appreciate your support as I jockey between our lives, work, and several novels. I love you, through all of time and space…

  Transcriptionist

  My amazing sister-in-law, Joanna Ledoux, took audio recordings of chapters and scenes from long drives I made and diligently transcribed them for me, saving me hours of work.

  Editing

  My husband, Tim.

  Beta Readers

  My team of beta readers who pre-read the novel and provided feedback and suggestions to strengthen the story. Thank you.

  Victor Freeman

  Gea Kuil

  Contributors

  These fine superhero supporters added something to the story, such as an idea, a character, subject matter expertise, or simply shared their thoughts with me about something I was working on.

  Andrew Rowe

  Ron St. Germain

  Author’s Notes

  On Book 1, Accidental Awakening

  I originally wrote the first version of Accidental Awakening as a longer prequel to the Guardians series. As the power-origination prequel story grew beyond twenty thousand words and took on a life of its own, I realized it was important to dedicate more time into building the characters and crafting a solid super power system that would carry through the series with error-free accuracy and ease.

  Thus, I changed my plans and converted the prequel to Book 1 of the series—which is what you are looking at now. As such, I made sure Book 1 focused on Quinn and Blake’s power origination story. It ends when the next book needs to pick up and carry their story forward. Book 1, then, holds a different structure than the rest of the series.

  On Chronology

  I believe you may be accustomed to reading the chapters of a book in order with the expectation that each chapter chronologically moves the story forward toward its climax and resolution. That being said…most of the time, Quinn and Blake’s story lines run in parallel chronology, but occasionally, a subchapter may take place at a different point in time. When it matters, I’ve been explicit about it. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter.

  On the Guardians Series Novels and Cliffhangers

  Although this book has an ending, it is part of a larger work and isn’t meant to stand alone. Thus, I’ve decided the book has a sufficient ending many would consider a cliffhanger ending.

  To be more unclear: My writing style is inspired by the J. R. R. Tolkien sense of a book series. The primary books are not separate books only related by a series or collection, but rather the characters and stories in each book are part of a larger story that spans several novels.

  On Making these Superheroes More Enjoyable

  Let's be honest for a moment: extra stuff can be cool. That's why I created free, bonus content for you to enjoy on my Web site about the Guardians series. It contains additional details about characters (spoiler free) and the unique places Quinn and Blake visit, such as the Orgonon Reactor Core.

  You can access it here: http://damienledoux.com/the-guardians-series/

  On Findeing Typohs?

  If you found a typo, please let me know. Despite the many editing passes and multiple sets of eyes, typos, like nasty gremlins, creep into the text. It’s extremely frustrating but with your help, we can eliminate all typos, everywhere—or at least in my novels. Use the contact form at the link below to submit a typo or other textual error. Thank you so much for helping me improve my stories!

  http://damienledoux.com/typohunters/

  1 | When Dreams Become Nightmares

  Quinn

  QUINN TRIED TO SPEAK, BUT the words caught in his throat and refused to leave his parched mouth and dry lips. Startled, he willed himself to cry out, but his voice failed him.

  Indiscernible shouted words echoed around him, but he couldn't put them together or make sense of what was going on.

  He felt unusually cold and realized he was lying on his back.

  His eyelids were stuck shut, so he worked them open by wiggling the muscles around his eye sockets. A terrible bright blue light flashed in Quinn’s eyes and a searing pain blasted through his sixteen-year-old body as it inexplicably convulsed. He couldn't see what happened, but he thought he had just been electrocuted. He felt hot and unusually agitated, like the time his finger slipped against the metal prong of a plug as he pushed it into the wall; electricity surged through his hand and left his fingers feeling numb and tingly at the same time.

  Someone on his left—or so he thought—shouted loudly.

  Suddenly, his back spasmed and arched upward as his body reacted to another blast of hot pain tearing across his chest. This time, his eyes popped open and he saw white lights in front…no, above him. At the same time, his lungs filled with air and his heart pounded in his chest.

  “He’s back,” someone said.

  Then, as mysteriously as he had awoken, everything went black.

  ❖

  The morning sun warmed and dried the beach sand as the ocean pulled away and approached low tide. Overhead, seagulls chirped and rode the rising thermals as they hunted for crabs and other low-surf delectables to feast on. Too many humans had fed bread and other foods to the scavengers, and as such, the birds tolera
ted the presence of humans on their beach far too well.

  Quinn, lying on his back, propped himself up on his elbows and looked around Ogunquit Beach. To his left, morning joggers made their way up and down the beach. Older couples passed through their section of the beach, either hand in hand or chasing after one another as they joked and laughed. A young gay couple had set up their beach umbrella about twenty feet from him, and one of them applied sunscreen to their skin while the other found suitable music to play on their portable speaker. Behind him, the wave-ravaged sand dunes hosted tall grasses and nesting birds like the brown and white piping plover and the white and black least tern.

  Quinn looked to his right and smiled. His boyfriend, Keegan, lay next to him on their shared, multi-colored beach blanket. He was napping on his stomach; an intentionally placed T-shirt draped over his head kept it from burning in the hot sun. The sunscreen on his back and legs glistened in the sunlight and made Quinn smile.

  You're so damn sexy, he thought. I’ll never know what I did to get you to notice me, but I’m so happy you did.

  An odd itch on his left arm drew his attention away from Keegan. When he tried to move his right hand to scratch his arm, he couldn’t lift it from the beach blanket. Panic set in when he realized he couldn’t move his ankles or his left hand either. They seemed to be restrained, but he couldn’t tell how. A sharp prick in his left shoulder made him cry out.

  “Keegan! Help me.”

  His boyfriend didn’t move. Instead, the beach faded away into blackness.

  Keegan, please…

  ❖

  Quinn’s throat felt dry and scratchy again. Through his closed eyelids, the bright white light he saw told him the sun was probably overhead, and he had fallen asleep on the beach.

  Crap. Did I put on enough sunscreen?

  He tried to raise his hand to shield his eyes, but something held his hand in place. He realized his wrists, ankles, and now his torso were still tied down.

  What the heck?

  He blinked in the bright sunlight and opened his eyes, only to discover the bright afternoon sunlight came from a window to his right. He attempted to clear his throat but had no saliva to wet his mouth. He looked down and saw he was wearing a hospital gown. White hospital sheets covered him to his stomach and the bed rails of his hospital bed were both raised.

  “What?” he said in soft surprise, his scratchy voice barely above a whisper.

  “You awake?” a familiar but also scratchy voice to his left asked. Quinn’s head snapped left to look for the voice, but instead he saw the foot of an identical hospital bed on the other side of a beige curtain he wanted to pull back, but couldn’t. The voice belonged to Blake Hargreaves, his best friend.

  “I just called for Nadia. She’ll be here in a second.” Blake’s voice sounded just as hoarse as his own.

  “Who?”

  “The nurse.”

  “Where are we?”

  “The hospital.”

  “Why?”

  “We got sick or something after we left that cave-thing we discovered, remember? I woke up about an hour ago. Don’t say too much about the cave-thing though, the armed guards are just outside the door.”

  “The who?”

  Quinn remained confused as the golden-oak stained door on the other side of the room opened and a black Dominican woman in purple scrubs popped in. Her hair was tightly braided in rows from front to back and finished in a low bun at the base of her skull, just above the back of her neck.

  “He’s awake,” Blake said.

  “Oooh, this is good news, Mister Blake,” a strong, accented voice said. She walked toward the foot of Quinn’s bed and stopped, regarding him with a wide smile.

  “Can you untie me now, please?” Blake asked.

  “Greetings, Mister Quinn,” the nurse said, ignoring Blake’s question. She looked Quinn up and down, her face serious for a moment. Then she looked at something over his head and smiled again.

  He looked up and saw a massive monitor over his head, displaying his vitals and other information.

  “You are a very lucky healthy young man today,” she said, eyes darting across the monitor. “I am glad to see you have improved.”

  “Can you pull the curtain back, please?” Blake asked, his voice still scratchy.

  “Yes, I can do that for you, Mister Blake.” She pushed the curtain back toward the wall, removing the obstructed view between them. Quinn made eye contact with his best friend, who lifted his head from his pillow and winked at him.

  Okay, so you look fine, but…

  “Why am I tied up?” Quinn asked, his hoarse voice betraying panic.

  “You were restrained for your safety when you were brought into the hospital.”

  “Why?”

  She stopped looking at Blake’s monitor and met Quinn’s gaze. “My name is Nadia Nyongo. I have been your primary day nurse.”

  “Have been? How long have I…have we…been here? And, why are we tied up?” Quinn watched as Blake plopped his head back on his pillow.

  “That is not for me to tell you.” Nadia discreetly rolled her eyes to Quinn’s left, and he looked at the door. Two armed, muscular-looking guards in black clothes—who looked like they could be in the military—stared back at him. Each held some kind of rifle in their hands.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  “When Doctor Madison comes in, she will tell you what you need to know.”

  “I want to see my parents.”

  “Please, wait for the doctor, Mister Quinn,” Nadia said. “I will tell her you are awake. She will tell you what you need to know.”

  “But I just want to…”

  “Please, Mister Quinn,” Nadia interrupted, raising her hands in surrender. “Let me get the doctor.”

  Quinn took a deep breath and glared at Nadia as she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

  “Where the hell are we?” Quinn asked, looking at Blake.

  “Fuck if I know. They told me I’d have to wait for you wake up. But the doctor’s sorta cute, so there’s that. Do you have to pee yet?”

  “No, why?”

  “Oh, well I did when I woke up. They made me use the duck.”

  “The what?” Quinn looked at his friend quizzically.

  “That plastic thing,” Blake said, nodding his head toward the portable men’s urinal hanging on the side of his right railing. Quinn didn’t see one hanging from his bed rail.

  “Oh. Did you see those guards?”

  “Yep.”

  “We’re in some kind of special wing of the hospital, I bet,” Quinn said. His mouth finally started to make saliva and he swallowed. “Like a secure wing or something.”

  Blake chuckled. “We watch too much T.V.”

  “We have to be! We’re being guarded. Do you know anything about what’s going on?” Quinn asked his best friend.

  “All I know is we’re still in Rangeley. The doctor popped in about a half-hour ago, but she told me she would talk with both of us when you woke up. And then, there’s the guards, the creepy guy in the black suit, and Nadia. And the nurse who helped me pee, who you’ll probably think is cute.”

  Quinn chuckled. He knew at some point he’d have to pee, but he couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t let him use the toilet. “So, you don’t know why we’re tied up?”

  “They said it’s for our safety.”

  “Uh-huh,” Quinn said, staring at the leather and cloth restraints on his wrists.

  Someone knocked at the door and it opened. A middle-aged, brown-haired woman of modest height and weight, wearing heels that clacked on the laminate tile floor, a blue dress, and a white doctor’s coat entered the room. A stethoscope hung from her neck, and a blue pen jutted out of her coat’s right breast pocket. The words Rangeley Medical were embroidered on the left side of the jacket, but her ID badge—clipped to the lapel of the coat—had flipped backwards, preventing Quinn from seeing her name.

  Nadia followed her into t
he room.

  “Hi, Quinn. Glad to see you’re awake.”

  “Finally, we can get some answers,” Blake said. Quinn looked at his best friend with curiosity. Usually, Blake’s short temper caused him to fly off the handle in anger, but Quinn felt more impatient than his friend seemed. Maybe whatever was in the IV bags they were hooked up to mellowed him out.

  “Why are we here?” Quinn asked. “What’s going on?”

  The doctor smiled. “I’m sure you both have lots of questions. My name is Doctor Amy Madison. I’ve been in charge of your care since you arrived on Sunday.”

  “What day is it?”

  “Today is Thursday. Do you boys know where you were this weekend?”

  We’ve been here almost all week?

  Blake answered the doctor. “Yeah, we were camping with his family at the Wood Lakes Campground on Quimby Pond.”

  Dr. Madison studied him for a moment and nodded. “That’s right. At some point on Sunday morning, you were found by campers or hikers outside the campground. Both of you were unconscious and were transported here by ambulance. Shortly after you arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, you both went into cardiac arrest. We were able to resuscitate you, but it wasn’t easy. When your hearts stopped, we had to defibrillate you. The first time, something unusual happened.”

  “Like?” Quinn asked. The emergency room?

  “Oddly, you both went into cardiac arrest within seconds of each other. Two different sets of emergency room doctors worked on each of you. That's a miracle in itself given the time of day and the small staff we have here. Two different sets of equipment were used to defibrillate and save your lives.”