Thunderstruck Ch. 05

The next morning I awoke to the sense that something was wrong. The house seemed to be filled with anger, anger broadcasting from one person and directed towards me. The discomfort of the strong emotion had my mouth dry as I stood up, my mind scanning the house to try and find who seemed to suddenly hate me. The thoughts were coming from downstairs, in the kitchen, and now the rage was slowly being interspaced with jealousy. Focusing more I could pick up brief flashing images, little more then lightning flashes, only half glimpsed but enough for me to piece together.

"Dad," I muttered to myself as I finally pieced together who it was that was directing such hatred towards me. The quick flashes of his thoughts showed the events of last night, he must have been peeking at the doorway while Becca and I had sex, but I was confused as to why his anger was directed towards me alone, excluding Becca completely. Then the growing jealousy made sudden sense, bringing a wry smile to my face. He hated me for having fucked my younger sister but was jealous of me at the same time; he was lusting after his own daughter and saw me as a competitor.

Sitting down on the edge of my bed I tried to push my father's sudden rage out of my mind, delving into his thoughts, trying to grasp any of the fleeting flashing images. It was difficult, his emotions pushing my tenuous grasp on his thoughts aside until I finally figured out how to deal with the torrent of feelings coursing through his mind. I had been trying to grab onto one thought and hold it steady only to have his rage push me aside but once I let myself go with his emotions, allowing the thoughts to change with the speed of his anger, I found myself able to slowly begin to alter them. It was like bodysurfing in white water rapids and my forehead was covered in sweat, my breath coming in deep gasps as I finally began to take control of my father's thoughts.

I could feel the dull pain that came from using my power too much beginning to build in my head but tried to ignore it, focusing on my father's anger filled thoughts. I couldn't just erase his anger, that would probably have given me a migraine for weeks, but I instead focused on the feeling of contentment he felt as I pulled an image of Debra into the forefront of his mind. I slowly increased the feeling of happiness, a sense of well being, that was found only in his co-worker's embrace until his mind was longing to be with her, his anger towards me now pushed far back in his mind. Although I hated to do it, I projected a mental image of Mom into my father's mind coupling it with a gnawing feeling of unease, a discomfort that was associated with being in our house, until it had grown strong enough to force him to leave.

I sat there, gasping for breath as if I had just run a marathon through the desert, long after I heard the front door slam shut and a car speeding away. Standing up I noticed my body was completely drenched in sweat and I felt exhausted, the dull throbbing pain in my head telling me I had overextended my thoughts as I slowly made my way downstairs. As I stepped into the kitchen I saw my father's half empty coffee cup next to a piece of paper, a few hasty words scrawled across it. Sitting down at the table I slowly read the note he'd written to my mother:

Kristina, I can't stay here anymore. I'm in love with Debra and must be with her for my happiness. I won't fight the divorce and you will be well provided for but I can't... just can't live here any longer. You won't see me again, Dan.

"Bye, Dad." I sighed softly, thinking about how much this would change our lives and what I had done to our formerly happy home. I hadn't meant to hurt anyone, definitely not to ruin my parent's marriage, but it had just happened that way. I'd have to be more careful, I promised myself, I couldn't just toy with people's thoughts without thinking of the consequences. As I sat there I heard a door open and footsteps along the hallway upstairs, pausing briefly at the bathroom before continuing towards the stairs. Stretching my mind out, wincing at the sudden shooting pain behind my eyes, I sensed my mother as she came down the stairs, wondering idly where my father had gone to so early. They usually had breakfast together before he went off to work, a ritual that they had faithfully followed since before either of us kids were born.

Trying to work through the now shooting pains in my head I began altering my mother's thoughts and emotions, trying to lessen her sense of loss as I projected a mental image of our family without my father. I barely had enough time to increase her feelings of resignation and acceptance to his leaving us before Mom entered the kitchen, her soft cotton nightgown clinging to her shapely body.

"Morning, Mom." I greeted her, my mind withdrawing from hers as I tried to focus through the horrible pain that seemed to ricocheting around in my skull.

"Hello, Sweetheart," She paused, kissing me on the forehead before walking over to the coffee maker. "You're up early, Sean. Did you see your father?" she asked curiously as she poured herself a cup, moving over to sit opposite me.

"I... I couldn't sleep, I've got a splitting headache," I told her truthfully as I slowly pushed the note across the table. It took her a few seconds to realize what it said, her eyes growing large in disbelief as she read the simple few lines written there. "I'm sorry, Mom." I told her softly, seeing a mix of emotions flickering across her face, her knuckles turning white from the tight grip she had on her coffee cup. "I'm really sorry, Mom," I repeated, my hand covering hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"It's..." Mom started to say, before raising her hand to her eyes and wiping away a tear. "I had a feeling this was coming, Sean. I know it's terrible to say but I had a feeling he was having an affair. Our marriage... our marriage had lost most of its magic a long time ago but it's... it's still hard to have it just end like this."

"I know, Mom." I reassured her, moving over to stand behind her chair, my arms wrapping around her shoulders, hugging her as she slowly began to cry. I knew my adjustments had taken place, her reactions and emotions seemed only a fraction of what they should have been for having a 24 year long marriage end suddenly. She didn't cry long, her hand patting mine as I held her as she lifted her head and looked at me, her eyes red rimmed from her tears as she gave me a weak smile.

"I guess you're the man of the house now," She told me, trying for a joke but missing completely.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said with a small insincere laugh. "I think you should go back to bed, Mom. Try to get some sleep and we'll deal with this," I say, motioning towards the note as it lay there on the table, "later when we're all feeling better."

"That's... that's a good idea, Sean." Mom told me, standing up and kissing my cheek once more before she moved to the door of the kitchen. "Thank you, love." She told me simply before she turned and went up the stairs.

I sat there for a few seconds more before picking up the note and tucking it away in a cupboard so that Becca wouldn't find it until I'd had a chance to make a few minor but necessary adjustments to her reactions. Just the thought of entering another person's mind then seemed to increase the pains in my head as I swallowed a handful of aspirin and headed back to bed, hoping that the headache would be gone by the time I awoke.

The sunlight streaming in through the window and beating on my eyelids woke me, the pain having receded to a small throbbing sensation at the base of my skull. Sitting up I noticed that it was approaching noon and as I was slipping into a pair of jeans a knock came at my door. I toyed with the idea of stretching out my thoughts to find out who it was but the ache in my head stopped me at the last second. "Yeah?"

"Sean?" Becca asked, opening the door a crack and slipping into my room, shutting the door behind her as she moved over to me. "What's going on? Mom's still in her bedroom and won't answer the door. Is something wrong?" My younger sister asked me, looking at me with large worried eyes.

"Yeah, kind of," I told her, wincing inwardly as I once again stretched out with my mind, slipping into her thoughts effortlessly. "Dad's left. He's moving in with one of his co-workers." I told her matter of fact-ly, quickly scrambling through her thoughts and emotions to lessen the impact of this revelation. "He's been having an affair for a long time now, I guess," I told her, pushing the sadness and anger she felt at his abandonment down as I tried to increase the feeling of optimism towards what this change could mean. "He left this morning and probably isn't coming back."

"Oh... oh," Becca stated somewhat stiffly as she sank down on the edge of my bed her mind racing to comprehend all that I just told her, "How's Mom holding up?" She asked after a few seconds of thoughtful silence as I slowly withdrew from her mind.

"She was pretty shaken this morning," I admit truthfully as I finish getting dressed. "I wasn't feeling well so I came back to bed but I'll try to check on her now." I assured my younger sister as I moved towards the door.

"You weren't feeling well?" Becca asked; a small impish grin on her face as she followed me into the hall. "Are you sure I didn't tire you out last night?" She asked as she turned and walked back down the stairs, swaying her hips in a teasing manner.

I smiled at the memory of the previous night as I stepped down to my parent's, my mother's, door and knocked softly. "Mom?" I called out softly, my mind stretching out slightly to tease her thoughts, determining if she was awake or not. "Mom, can I come in?" I asked, sensing from her thoughts that she was awake as I opened the door slightly, peering into to the bedroom. She'd drawn all the shades, leaving the room dimly lit, my eyes taking a few seconds to adjust enough to pick out her form as she sat at her dressing table, a small book held in her hands.

"Mom?" I asked when she didn't respond, moving into her room as I walked over to kneel beside her. "Are you alright, Mom?" I asked, my hand covering hers as she stared at the small book, a photo album that I didn't recognize.

"I'm fine, Sean." Mom answered finally, looking down at me as I knelt at her side, closing the album and tucking it away in a drawer. "I was just... just thinking about what is going to happen now. It's all going to change."

"Only for the better, Mom," I assured her, my mind slipping into her thoughts as easily as it did Becca's. I could feel the vertigo of her worry caused me to pause for a brief second before I began trying to draw upon reassuring thoughts and memories, projecting them into the swirling vortex of her concern. "It'll be okay," I told her softly as my mind began pushing her gnawing worry to the back of her mind, replacing it with a more hopeful outlook. "Trust me."

"Thanks, dear," Mom told me smiling as she leaned over, kissing me as she stood up, "somehow you always make me feel better." As she moved over to the closet I noticed that she was still dressed in her nightgown, the thin cotton only highlighting her shapely body as she moved around the room. "Do you have any plans for the day?" She asked me, glancing back over her shoulder with a smile as she saw my eyes on her body.

"Well, Becca told me about some sort of school fair happening today," I said rather nonchalantly, not really sure if that was what I really wanted to waste an entire day going to my former high school. "I was kind of thinking about stopping by and seeing what it was like. It might be fun to see some of my old teachers again. Why what'd you have planned?" I asked after a few seconds of thought.

"I guess I've got to call a lawyer," Mom stated somewhat sadly as she began to pull clothes out of her closet and placing them on the bed. "I don't want to but I guess I've got to start the... the divorce proceedings." She told me as she lifted her nightgown off over her head, smiling slightly as she saw the shock register in my eyes as she stripped naked in front of me. "One positive thing that may come out of this mess," Mom told me as she stood there completely naked, letting my eyes run over her shapely body for a few seconds before pulling on her clothes, "we'll be able to spend more quality time together." The sparkle in her eye told me exactly what the emphasis had meant as she finished dressing. "I've got to make a couple of phone calls but I'll be heading into town in a little while if you want a ride down to the school fair." Mom suggested with a slight smile as she walked out of the darkened bedroom.

"I've got to get my own car," I mumbled to myself as I followed her out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. The cold shower seemed to push the dull ache in my head down to just a minor discomfort that I felt whenever I turned my head to quickly. I was feeling a lot better after my over exertion this morning but I still wasn't too anxious to use my powers too much, the memory of the splitting headache making me keep my thoughts to myself.

The school fair was almost as lame as I had thought it would be, each class having set up small pavilions or booths to sell whatever they had, trying desperately to raise enough money for a field trip or some other nonsense. I ran into a couple of people from my class which just served to remind me how much I had hated going to school here.

I was sitting by myself on the lawn, leaning back against one of the trees that dotted the High School's lawn waiting for Mom to come back from the lawyer's when I spotted one of my old teachers. "Ms. Lewis?" I called out as I hopped up to my feet and hurried across the lawn.

Ms. Lewis had been my math teacher when I was a senior and I had spent most of the year staring at her body rather then focusing on the Calculus she was trying to teach. Ms. Lewis was in her early forties with long dark hair and the most amazing set of tits I'd ever seen. The rest of her body was good but her breasts were amazing, large and round, every teenaged boy's dream. She had always been pleasant to me but not overly friendly, nothing that singled me out from every other guy in the school that lusted after her so I was kind of surprised when she suddenly smiled at my approach. "Sean? Is that you?" She asked with a smile as I came up next to her, her large brown eyes running over me quickly, "It's been ages, how have you been?"

"I've... I've been good," I replied, smiling back, forcing myself not to stare at the ample cleavage her light summer dress was displaying. "Are you still teaching?" I asked just to have something to say as I fell in step with her as she walked across the lawn.

"Oh, yes," Ms. Lewis replied, "I'm still here." She said with a wave at the large stone building of the school. "Still teaching math," She replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "But I'm curious. What have you been doing since you graduated? I haven't seen you around town. Did you go away to school?"

As I told her about going away to college and what I had majored in, I couldn't resist probing her mind ever so slightly, the painful throb in the back of my head forgotten at the sight of my beautiful ex-teacher. At first I was unable to see even the smallest flashes of her thoughts until she started laughing at some lame joke I had made. As she began to laugh my mind was able to slip easily into hers, slowly deciphering the flickering images of her thoughts. I almost couldn't help smiling at this latest discovery. All I needed to help enter someone's mind was a strong emotion like fear or laughter, they didn't need to be drunk like Mom and Dad had been. The subject only had to be slightly distracted by their emotions to let me into their thoughts.

I was so elated at this new development that for a few seconds I didn't realize what the flickering images flashing through Ms. Lewis' mind were. As we walked across the lawn of the High school I suddenly realized the she was thinking about all the times in class when she had deliberately teased me with her body, flaunting herself to see my reaction! At first I was mad that she had spent an entire year teasing me but then the possibilities of the situation occurred to me. Forgetting my pledge to myself not to use my powers anymore today, I began forming mental pictures and projecting them into my former teacher's mind. At first her mind rejected my suggestions, trying to push my thoughts aside until finally they began to take root. I smiled as her mind began to accept the image of her teaching me in nothing more then her panties, the excitement and danger of the situation increasing each time the image flashed through her thoughts. "Well, I'd better be going," I said as I withdrew from her mind, knowing the thought I had planted would keep cycling through her head until she saw me again, "my Mom's here."

"Are... Are you going to be around this summer?" Ms. Lewis asked me as her eyes ran over my body once more as I headed for my mother's car.

"Yeah, I'll be around all summer," I answered with a smile as I climbed into the car next to Mom.

"Then I'll... I'll see you around," Ms. Lewis called out, waving to me briefly before turning back towards the school fair as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Who was that?" Mom asked me curiously as she drove towards home.

"Oh, just an old teacher I haven't seen in awhile." I replied as I leaned my seat back, closing my eyes as I tried to ignore the renewed throbbing in the back of my head. "How'd the meeting go with the lawyer?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Good..." Mom replied, the tone of her voice saddening at the thought of her impending divorce. I felt like an ass for bringing it up but was too tired to try and alter Mom's emotions at that moment. "Your father had already called him and told him he wouldn't contest anything. That he wanted me, us, to be well taken care of. The papers... the divorce papers should be arriving tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Mom." I told her softly, laying my hand over hers as it rested on the steering wheel.

"It's alright, dear, it's for the best." Mom said with a slight smile as her fingers entwined with mine, holding my hand as she drove, "It's just hard to have it end so quickly. To realize that it's really over."

We were quiet for the rest of the ride home, each lost in our own thoughts until we pulled into the driveway. As I started to open the door, Mom's hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Sean, I wanted..." She began softly, her large brown eyes filled with emotion as she looked at me, "I just wanted to say thank you."

My response was cut off as she leaned towards me, her mouth covering mine in a loving, passionate kiss. "Mom..." I breathed as her lips left mine, my mouth still filled with the taste of her lip gloss.

"Shhh," She silenced me with a smile as she pressed a finger against my lips. "Don't say anything, Sean." She instructed as gave my face a loving caress before climbing out of the car and walking into the house.

I couldn't help the guilt I felt over destroying my parent's marriage as I walked up the stairs towards my bedroom, but the promise of what may come, the promise conveyed in that kiss seemed to lessen my misery and got my mind to thinking about what life was going to be like from now on.