Luminosity - The Beginning (Book 1) - 1. Chapter 1

They were two united in Ymuno â. One was kind and one was strong and they both shined brightly together on the plains. One died in the preservation of his people and the other wreaked terrible revenge. -ancient tome

Prelude
Twm appeared. His skin was hot…very hot. He dragged his body down the bank of a gully and collapsed to the ground in a state of near exhaustion, having expended himself like never before. And there he slept, sucking in the radiant energy from the sun above and the ground below.

Chapter One
Henry was a freshman at the exclusive prep school his father attended twenty-five years earlier. His full name was Henry August Adams III. He hated his name for its pretentiousness. Did his family think they were Tudor royalty, Henry III of Woodside, California? What a ridiculous name. Part of the problem was his introversion and sometimes unbearable shyness. A more outgoing kid would have joked about his name. His long-deceased grandfather WAS Silicon Valley royalty, having started an early tech company that evolved into the world's predominant computer processor and hardware manufacturer. Nothing stays static, and while his family were still major shareholders of the original company, his father had successfully diversified the family wealth into social media and other up-and-coming technologies. They were rich, exorbitantly rich, but everyone was rich at this stupid school. He hated his life.

Henry didn't like school. His father thought he needed to develop independence, get out into the world, and make valuable social contacts. He insisted that Henry become a boarding school kid. Most of the students lived on campus. Two months into the term, he had no friends and spent his free time in the library or at the track or cross country courses. He was a decent student, particularly since he didn't have much else to do but study, but the only thing Henry liked and that he was any good at was running. He was on the cross country team, but no one noticed that as a freshman, he was kinda good at it. The fact is, no one ever noticed him. Henry was retiring, rarely making eye contact or engaging with anyone. The coach hardly knew he was on the team; nevertheless, he enjoyed running, primarily because it was his chance to run the many trails surrounding the school and get away from his classmates and teachers. Although not particularly competitive, Henry tracked his times and noticed that his running pace had improved significantly lately, and it seemed to get easier. Puberty, evidently, was working wonders on him.

While running along one of his favorite ridge trails one afternoon, he saw a bright flash of light east of the school campus, followed by a mild percussion that swept through the surrounding areas. Returning to the campus, the entire school was abuzz. Rumors ran rampant. Had it been a nuclear experiment gone wrong at Lawrence Livermore Lab or some UFO phenomenon, the government was keeping 'hush, hush.' All kinds of excitement, but like anything else, most of the campus would forget about it in a day or two. High school kids usually have short attention spans. Still, it was strange.

The days droned on. Except for Henry's daily runs, he was bored to death. He went to classes, taking seats toward the back of the room or lecture hall and never engaging with other students or the teachers. Meals were stressful, particularly at the beginning of the term. Eventually, he found one of the outcast tables, where other kids like himself ate while ignoring each other. There wasn't any physical or mental bullying at the school, although Henry sometimes wondered if being tormented might break up the monotony of his existence.

The school had a total enrollment of around two hundred boys and girls, and two months into the term, everyone was familiar with everyone else. There were the 'cool kids', the 'not so cool kids', and the 'ignored kids', the group Henry belonged to. There was little interaction between the groups, but at least they were familiar faces, and they all fell into the rhythm of school life.

On Monday, a new student walked into the dining hall. Henry and the other students couldn't help checking him out. He was flawless. His body seemed to glow with vitality, and his stunning looks and self-confidence demanded attention. Girls and boys alike couldn't help admiring this image of adolescent perfection.

The boy paused at the entrance to the dining hall and calmly scanned the faces of the student body. The 'cool kids', particularly the girls, tried to hold his gaze as he continued his inspection.

Henry and the rest of the 'ignored kids' group discretely observed the new boy, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Much to Henry's surprise and discomfort, the new boys' eyes fixed on him, and he appeared to smile subtly. Henry quickly averted his eyes to his sandwich and thought, 'This can't be happening. Why would this boy look at me? I must be imagining it.'

When he looked up, he saw that the new boy was being directed by, 'Ms. Popularity', Amy Schultz to one of the 'cool kids' tables. Henry was both relieved and somewhat disappointed. He was sure now that he had imagined the smile.

The new boy wasn't in Henry's classes or dormitory. Maybe he didn't board, which was just as well since he didn't need the frustrating distraction, although he was bored out of his mind, and any diversion should be welcome—time for a run.

As the days passed, Henry looked forward to chance sightings of the new kid during meal periods. He was usually escorted by two or three of the 'cool kids', but would occasionally break free and sit at one of the 'not-so-cool kids' tables. He was the center of attention everywhere he went, and Henry could tell he wasn't even trying. The new kid was relaxed in a reserved, confident sort of way. It annoyed Henry. Henry attended this school for months and had no friends, while the new kid showed up and, after a few days, was already the most popular kid on the campus … AND HE WASN’T EVEN TRYING!.

The new kid approached Henry's' ignored kids' table on the fourth day of his arrival. All eight of them were petrified. None of them had social skills, and the thought of interacting with the premier 'cool kid' was frightening. The new kid approached a vacant chair and said," Hi, I'm Tomas. Do you mind if I sit with you?".

No one spoke. Ignoring the awkwardness at the table, Tomas took a seat and, in a genial voice, addressed the girl to his right. "I'm new to this school and trying to get to know people. What's your name?"

Blushing bright red, which only emphasized the retiring girl's ruddy complexion, and after an awkward pause, she stuttered, "I…I… I'm Cynthia Walsniac".

Smiling, Tomas responded, "It's good to meet you. I think we have World Literature together. What do you think of Mr. Lawrence? I think his lectures are amazing".

Relaxing, Cynthia replied, "I think so too, but sometimes he talks too long."

Tomas chuckled. The rest of the table joined in the laughter while Cynthia glowed in the affirmation.

Tomas went around the table effortlessly, drawing out each of the teens with relaxed, good-natured small talk. They laughed, chattered, and got to know each other for the first time. Henry was the one exception. When Tomas pointed out they had no classes together, Henry only responded, "I hadn't noticed." Tomas paused for an instant but pivoted by asking another kid if the chocolate pudding was any good. The kid made a distasteful reference to diarrhea, bringing everyone at the table to uncontrolled laughter. That is, everyone but Henry. Feeling particularly isolated, he thought, 'time for a run'.

Over the next week, an amazing thing happened. The 'cool kids' would sometimes hang with the 'not so cool kids', and the 'not so cool kids' would hang with the 'ignored kids'. Less often, the 'cool kids' would have exchanges with the 'ignored kids'. Neither of these groups was comfortable with each other, but it did occasionally happen. Henry didn't interact with anyone.

Henry went to his cross-country practice five days a week. Running was his only refuge. He was on the 'C' team, which meant he was in the last group to set off for training runs on one of the designated trails. He would usually drop off the back of the pack of five or six boys and run a different, quiet, and often more demanding trail. He was much faster than the other 'C' team kids and could easily rejoin them toward the end of the run.

On Tuesday, after his afternoon classes, Henry changed into running gear and headed to the track for his usual practice. And there was Tomas, standing by the grandstand surrounded by the entire team and Coach O'Brien.

Henry's heart beat a little faster. As much as it pained him, he must admit he was attracted to Tomas. When alone in his room, his mind would drift to the teen, and Henry would fight to redirect his sexual energy to another more suitable object of fantasy. It rarely worked. And now he was on the team, and Henry would see him, up close, five days a week. He hated his life—time for a run.

To Henry's dismay, the coach decided Tomas would run with the 'C' group on his first day to understand his pace and fitness. Henry had no doubt the new kid would be spectacular. He decided to follow his usual plan and drop off the back of the group and go for his regular solo run.

The group of seven started out heading to the popular 'forest loop'. The 'forest loop' was a mostly flat course of about four miles and was considered one of the easiest routes. Henry took up his regular position about ten yards behind the pack of boys. These days, he found the group pace agonizingly slow. He thought he could walk faster than this. He could see Tomas running efficiently ahead in the middle of the pack. As he expected, Tomas had a light and graceful running gate. Obviously, he belonged with the 'B' runners, maybe even the 'A' squad. As much as he enjoyed watching the stunning teen run, at the same time, he was compelled to get away from him and took a connecting path to his favorite 'ridge trail' route.

The 'ridge trail' was rated 'demanding' with challenging uphill sections and technical descents. Henry picked up his pace. His respiration was strong, and his body was feeling good. He was alone and feeling content.

His relaxed state was suddenly disrupted by the sound of light footfalls approaching him from behind, and he knew who it was before he saw him. Tomas was a good runner. He pulled up beside Henry and smiled, much like Henry imagined he did the first time in the dining hall.

Why was this boy, this beautiful boy, bothering him? What could Tomas possibly want from him? All Henry could think was, 'I have to get away…I have to get away.' He picked up his pace. Tomas may be fast, but he was confident he was faster. His respiration smoothly increased as he easily accelerated. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tomas falling behind by ten, twenty, and finally forty yards. Suddenly, as if by magic, Tomas was at his side again with that seductive smile of his. Henry pushed harder. He was running faster than ever, and Tomas was beside him, matching him stride for stride. The discouraging thing was that while he was exerting himself, Tomas wasn't breathing hard.

Before Henry knew it, he approached the head of the trail that led out of the woods and down to the school's football field and oval track. Looking back, Tomas was gone. Henry wondered, 'Did he finally get tired and fall off the pace?' Reaching the grandstand, he noticed he was the only one there. The coach was sitting in the first row of the grandstand and seeing Henry shouted, "Adams, WTF, did you cut the course or just quit?"

The coach didn't expect an answer, so Henry mumbled something and returned to his room for a shower and snack. He checked his running watch. Looking at it again to be sure, Henry decided his watch must be broken. The watch said he'd run the challenging eight-mile loop at a four-minute and twenty-five-second pace. That was impossible. The track guys couldn't run that pace for a mile on the oval, let alone on the hilly 'ridge trail'. Too bad his watch was broken. He had run faster than ever and was curious about the real-time. He uploaded his run to the school's Final Surge account for review later. If his watch's GPS worked, the coach would see he hadn't cut the course. He doubted the coach cared enough to check since he was a lowly 'C' level runner.

Henry headed down to the track for practice the next day after classes. He hoped Tomas would decide he didn't like track and drop out, but sadly, he was warming up for the afternoon run with the rest of the team. The coach called the team together.

He began," I've got a few things I want to straighten out before today's long run." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a running watch and handed it to Tomas. “This watch is for you. Wear it on your runs until you get one of your own. If you have trouble working it, ask me or one of the other boys to help you. Yesterday you arrived back just behind the 'A squad', so I'm bumping you up to A's today."

Tomas took the watch and put it on.

In a slightly stern tone, the coach said, "Adams, I don't know how you did it, but your Final Surge entry says you ran something close to a world record yesterday. You're either cheating or your watch is broken. Stop fucking around!"

Henry melted. He blushed bright red, and his entire body slumped. The rest of the team shifted their attention to the afternoon run. Looking up, he saw Tomas intently staring at him.

Fighting back a tear, Henry thought,' god, I look like a complete loser. At least I won't have to worry about Tomas bothering me anymore.' Time for a run.

He was the last to leave the field and start his workout. He felt he needed an extra long run today. As he set off, he realized that, surprisingly, he wasn't tired or sore from his efforts the day before. About four miles into the 'Ridge trail', an intersecting trail led into a state park and followed a stream for ten or twelve miles to the coast. Another trail meandered back through the park and exited at a road not far from the school. Henry had never run this route or anywhere close to the distance, but today, he needed a challenge.

He ran into the park and smoothly descended the lightly groomed trail with the calming sounds of the stream to his left. The embarrassment from earlier melted away, and he soon found himself in 'the zone'. The exertion of his lungs and legs was exhilarating. He felt he could run all day. This extreme long run he planned for the day didn't seem as intimidating. His watch indicated he'd covered nine miles already. The pace calculation was evidently still broken. He had already ordered a new watch. He wasn't planning on syncing any of his runs until the new watch arrived. He repeated the mantra 'enjoy the run,' 'enjoy the run,' and that's what he did. That is until he heard familiar footfalls approaching him from behind. Henry thought, 'How did he find me, and why is he following me.'
Tomas pulled up beside Henry and gave him the now familiar, friendly, and seductive smile. Henry thought, 'I outran him once; I can do it again.'

So he ran faster. The two of them reached the end of the downhill trail with the view of the Pacific Ocean breakers across California Route 1. They took a short trail to the right, which connected to another trail heading uphill and back to the school sixteen miles away.

Henry had never run so hard or so far before. Despite the effort, he felt exhilarated. His heart was pounding, and his breathing was comfortably labored. Tomas was calmly running beside him. He pushed himself harder. He felt his pace increase, but strangely, at the same time, his respiration and breathing relaxed. Although uphill, the running was nearly effortless.

Tomas spoke, "Let yourself go. I am here if you get into trouble". So he did. It was easy. He realized that the trees and shrubs were slightly blurred if he looked to the sides. He thought, 'Can I be running that fast?'. Henry had dropped Tomas, and he was on his own. He began to feel nervous, fearing a trip or slip at one of the turns. Henry was sure he couldn't control a fall at this speed and realized he didn't know how to slow down safely. He began to wobble; he would fall and probably kill himself. Just as he began to tumble, he felt something engulf his body and smoothly slow him down until he found himself standing in the middle of the trail, staring at Tomas.

"That was excellent. It will become more comfortable in time."

Henry was stunned. After several seconds, He exclaimed," What do you mean? What just happened!"

Tomas explained," You are going through a change, and I am here to help you with the transition."