Reincarnation: Origins

Chapter 16: Confrontation

Lucien opened his eyes to....a ceiling. Clear, white ceiling.

Not just any ceiling, but his bedroom's ceiling. Back at his old life.

"N-No...no" He shot up in a frantic bolt of sluggish and still-asleep limbs. He looked around, everything was still as he had left it the day he got smushed by that truck. Tripping to put on his slippers, he leapt out of the room to meet his parents.

"Lucieeeeeen!" His mother called up from the kitchen, causing him to falter in his path. He wasn't sure what was going on here, but a nagging feeling in him knew something was wrong.

He peeked into the kitchen to see his mother wearing the same "kiss the cook" apron she had worn the day he died. His cheeks paled as he struggled to choke out a single word.

"Mom.." He ran into her, giving her a hug he had very much missed. "I've missed you so much..."

"uh...okay? What's gotten into you all of a sudden." Her eyebrows were arched in a worried crease. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

She dropped the spatula she had been holding. "hun, you saw me last right, but i've missed you too. I guess?" She gave a small smile.

"You don't understand. I got hit by a truck, and got transported to a whole new world, and something about a forest keeper. Oh my god." Lucien wheezed, tears threatening to spill. Yes, Lucien the 17 year old junior was about to cry from homesickness.

"Honey, breathe. I have no idea what you're talking about but maybe we can discuss more in depth after your chores are done?" She raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the island in the kitchen. Atop the marble surface was the keys to the very same car he had died in.

"Alright..." He murmured. If the very same truck was going to hit him again, he has a new thing coming. A new route. He gave a reassuring smile before sweeping the keys into his hands, tossing it in his up and down before leaving the kitchen.

The jingle and klinks of the metal on plastic and metal could still be heard a couple of seconds later when Mr. Sobel  peeked his head into the kitchen.

"Is he gone..."

Mrs. Sobel sighed. "My baby looks so distraught." She whirled on him, bombarding him with an accusing, hardened glare. "You better know what you're doing, Luka."

"Trust me Soelle. Things may seem crazy now, but I just hope this works." He reached and gripped one of her hands, breakfast long forgotten, "come with me."

His eyes practically begged her cooperation. Soelle Sobel sighed and gave in, allowing herself to be tugged away by her insistent husband.

~~~

Lucien ignited the car, whitened knuckles gripped the steering wheel with enough force to engrave the outline of his fingers. He had been sitting in the parking lot for about 10 minutes now, trying to encourage himself to push the accelerate pedal.

Shit. He couldn't do it. God and the heavens above knew he tried.

"What am I doing" He hissed to no one in particular. "It's just a car that you've driven many times before. What's one more time gonna do"

Yes but the last time, you died.

With a determined grimace on his face, he eventually drove off, arguing with himself the entire time. 

He tore out of his internal dialogue at the squeal and honk of a rapidly approaching semi. Lucien glanced at the mirror to find the offending vehicle as color drained from his face. The damned truck that had crushed him was back. 

Slamming a foot down, he furrowed his eyebrows and focused on weaving in and out of the maze of evenly-spaced cars on the street. Like hell he was going to die again. After swerving sharply to the right and banking left, he knew it was only a matter of time before he makes his first mistake...god forbid. 

Cars and their angry drivers honked after him as the truck bore down even more on him. Said mistake happened sooner than he'd have liked. He'd turned down a narrow way, desperate to escape from the vehicle. Just as his car sped towards the opposite end, the menacing shadow of another gas guzzling machine blotted out the exit.

There he was sandwiched between building wall and trucks. He did the only thing a normal human could do...gave a sigh of defeat. He was still on his adrenaline rush for the despair and hopelessness of the situation to kick in.

As if the trucks were coordinated, both sped down at him, perfectly leaving a hot mess of gasoline, shredded and warped metal, and fire. 

~~~

Soelle grimaced at the sight. "Luka...really? Trucks?"

Her husband grinned up at her, scrolling down the site that he had been pondering over for the past couple of days. "Yeah, we should definitely get one."

Soelle placed her hands on her hips. "This can't be the only thing you dragged me here for."

"ah...you're right." Mr. Soelle gave a nervous chuckle. "It's about Lucien. I made sure to send him back in...in the only way i know how."

"Luka. this is our son. What if it fails? So many things can go wrong..."

He sighed and stood up, facing away from the glare of the screen to his wife. "All he has to do is choose."

"But why him. I bet you could have found tons of other candidates with the kind of work you do"

"no..no. Lucien was perfect. We've set him up well with only minor inconveniences."

Soelle leaned into the comfort of her husband. "Oh i just hope you're right. You make it sound easy."

"If anything goes wrong, i can always goin myself and assist him." Soelle could hear the reassuring and confident smile in his voice. 

~~~

Lucien lurched up from his slumber, bumping into Lune, who gave an indignant half-awake groan before rolling over and muttering something about chainsaws and wood chips. With furrowed brows, he turned to his sleeping team mates. What he saw could not have been a dream. it couldn't. It felt so...so real.

"What the actual hell is going on..."

A/N: Sorry for the late update...ples bookmark this cause i'm gonna continue writing it...it's fun >->

also...let me know if there are errors and the like. I'll attend to them asap :D