--===Marcus's Power (7 of 16)===--
 
-===Marcus's Power===-
 
-=Chapter 7=-
 
It was the next day that Marcus decided to tell Mouse that he had to leave. He
feared the tears that would come from his beloved, but never the less, it had
to be done. Jesse had stayed the night in his bed, he knew that did not go
unnoticed by Mouse. Marcus did not know how to approach the one he loved so
long, to tell her he was leaving.
 
When Marcus awoke that morning, he immediately packed his bags. He wanted to
make his goodbye's as short as possible. After that was finished, he then
started downstairs. Marcus walked slowly with his hand in his pocket and his
head bowed. He hated what he had to do. But it was his destiny and he knew
this like he knew the sky was blue.
 
He saw Mouse and Kathy sitting behind the counter in the kitchen. They saw the
look on his face and immediately knew that something was wrong. They had
learned to love AND learn him over the last few years. Jesse and Kasey
followed behind him. Jesse knew that this was hard on him, but there was no
other way.
 
He sat the suit case he was carrying down on the floor and looked at them.
Marcus then did something that was totally unlike him. He reached up and took
his shades completely off. Mouse could tell by the look in his eyes and the
suit case on the floor that he was leaving. Tears welled up in her eyes. 

"I have to go. There is no other way.... And no, I can't tell you why or where
I'm going." Marcus said in a low, sad, but yet serious voice.
 
Kathy was about to put up a motherly front and tell him that he would do no
such thing. But she saw the look in his eyes and just broke down into sobs.
Marcus just walked over to her and held her tightly. She calmed somewhat, then
just looked at him with sorrow in her eyes and kissed his cheek.
 
"WHY! Why do you have to go?!" Mouse suddenly screamed, tears rolling down her
face.
 
"I promise I'll be back. I don't have an exact time.... But I'm not going to
let you guys out of my life that easy." Marcus said in that same low and
tender voice.
 
"I love you..." Mouse said as she ran into his arms and gave a powerful
embrace. Marcus hugged her back and a single tear rolled down his cheek. It
was the first time he cried in a half decade. The sorrow he felt was immense.
 
"I have to go...." He said, letting her go. His eyes swept over Kathy again.
 
"Take the car and come back to me safe." She said as she reached in her pocket
and pulled out a set of keys. She walked over to him and placed them gently in
the palm of his hand. Then she gave him one last hug.
 
Marcus then picked his suit case up and headed for the door. He did not look
back from fear of his will breaking. Marcus slipped his shades back on as soon
as he turned his back. He wanted know one to see the emotion he felt. That
walk to the front door was probably the longest walk of his life.
 
Jesse and Kasey was only a step behind when he walked out in the semi warm
air. Marcus walked over to the fully restored '68 Mustang. The car looked
brand new. 'Kathy always did have a taste for the classics' Marcus thought
with a slight smile. This smile was not a happy one though. It was a sad one.
 
The three of them got in the car, Kasey rode in the back, while Jesse rode
shot gun. Marcus started the car and could feel as well as hear the power of
the machine. He backed out of the drive way, taking one last look at the
house. The house where he spent the best years of his life.
 
Jesse could sense Marcus' sorrow and said "Don't worry, if all goes well, you
will see them within a year or less. It depends on how fast you build your
skill." She said this with a low and gentle voice that said 'I love you',
without speaking it aloud.
 
Kasey said reassuring things to him as well, but he really did not pay that
much attention. His mind was on the two women he was leaving behind. Then he
came to the thought that he was going to be the best Shadow Knight in the
shortest time possible. He remembered reading something about how perfection
should not be rushed though.
 
Marcus drove down the road trying to make the thoughts of his past give way to
thoughts of the future. He knew that he was in for one long drive. They would
have to stop at a motel before the night was over. They drove for hours
without speaking to one another. All three of them were thinking of something
or another.
 
They drove on and on for hours. In fact, close to six before Jesse said
something. "Marcus, I think we should stop and get some rest. Besides, I have
to call Shain to make sure that he will accept us." She said with a slight
frown.
 
"Have you ever tried to talk to him with telepathy? It seem's to me that it
would be easier." Marcus asked with a curious expression. Whether or not he
liked it or not, the darkness of when he left his most loved women, was
quickly diminishing.
 
"Yes, it would most certainly be easier.... But I haven't the power to reach
him that far away." She said with an apologetic smile.
 
"Is there anyone in the world that can do that?" Marcus asked more than a
little curious. If he was to be as powerful as she said, he thought he might
have a shot at it later on. He did not get his hopes up though. His past scars
of rejection prevented that.
 
"There are quite a few Shadow Knights in the world that can do that. Even some
of the rogues and outcasts have accomplished this feat. But they say it was
very difficult to do so." She said, smiling at Marcus' obvious thirst for
knowledge.
 
Marcus then slipped into deep thoughts of the possibility of power. He also
kept in mind the old saying that 'Power implies Responsibility'. With that in
mind, he made a vow to himself that he would not let the power he had or might
receive go to his head. That would be the worse thing that could happen.
 
They pulled into a town that was about sixty miles from their destination and
Marcus pulled into a Holiday Inn to get them some rooms. He never really
thought about money until then. He was completely broke. He guessed that he
would PERSUADE the manager to let them stay there for the time being. Marcus
really did not feel guilty when it came to using the power to get the
necessities of life.
 
Marcus found out that the more he used his power, the easier it became. He
found that out with the manager of the motel. He wondered on the way to his
room if he would be better at the telekinesis if he tried it. He had acquired
a room with two beds in it. He did not know how comfortable the three of them
would be in one bed.
 
Jesse and Kasey followed close behind as he walked to his motel room. They had
very little to say to one another for some cause. When they arrived in their
room, Kasey just flopped down on the bed, as if the trip had exhausted her.
Jesse walked immediately to the phone and picked it up to call her brother
Shain collect.
 
Marcus just sat down on the other bed, to see what news Jesse would tell. She
got through to him but the only time she did not say yes or no was when she
said hello. That was mostly what she said. "Yes Shain...... No Shain." Like
that. It would have irritated him, but he scolded himself quickly for eaves
dropping.
 
Finally she just hung up the phone and turned to Marcus. "He asked me to hold
off a couple of days on coming back." She said with a slight frown.
 
"Why would he tell you that?" Marcus asked with an equal frown. He was just as
anxious to get there as Jesse was.
 
"He is trying to reach a peace agreement with a band rogues. They call
themselves the Dark Knights. Shain said they had been at war for months with
them. He is hoping for a peaceful agreement. If not, there will be war." She
said this with a look of dread.
 
"Why don't he want you there? From what I've seen, you are pretty damn good at
telekinesis." Marcus said with a gracious smile.
 
"I used to think that as well, but apparently Shain does not think so..." She
said this with a sad look to her beautiful face, and Marcus was pretty sure
that if he could see her eyes though the shades she was wearing, they would
show the true depth of her sadness.
 
"What's all this talk about telekinesis? I've never heard of it." Kasey asked
with quizzical eyes. She had the curiosity of a cat, that much was for certain.
 
"Well, I'm sure that Marcus would be more than happy to give a demonstration."
Jesse said this with a devilish smile as she looked on Marcus. "Besides, I
want to see if your any stronger than the last time you tried." She then added.
 
"I guess I could give it a shot." Marcus said in a low and focused voice.
 
Marcus then put all of his focus on a lamp. He could feel the familiar
tingling sensation start to rise. The lamp was brown and ceramic. Marcus
imagined a hand that reached out and grabbed the lamp. It immediately started
to rise from were it sat. Then it lurched from the table pulling the cord from
the wall. It just sort of hovered by the ceiling then.
 
"Very impressive, Marcus." Jesse said with a rather predatory smile.
 
"That's nothing." Marcus said in a low mumble as he held his concentration.
 
Then the brown ceramic lamp that was hovering near the ceiling, burst into
tiny pieces. Very, very small pieces. Marcus let go of his concentration right
after he shot the blast of energy to destroy the lamp and they were showered
in glass. None of them got so much as a scratch though, because the pieces
were so small.
 
Jesse had a look of awe when the lamp exploded. Kasey on the other hand, had a
look of shock. She had never in her life seen such power. Marcus' face matched
Kasey's. He never seen, let alone did something that powerful. The thought of
himself doing that unnerved him more than a little. The real kicker was the
dizziness did not come this time. That told him that he was capable of much
more.
 
"Do you feel dizzy?" Jesse asked, coming to his side.
 
"No, not in the least.... What does that mean?" He asked looking at Jesse with
a frightened and curious face.
 
"Your strength is building it's self at an accelerated rate. I thought you
would learn faster than most... But I never dreamed it would be this fast!"
She said in a hushed whisper.
 
"Kasey, what's wrong?" Marcus asked. She was just sitting on the bed with her
bottom lip quivering. She was almost frightened to death.
 
Marcus dove inside her mind and gave her commands that all was normal, that
she should not be frightened. It took only seconds to do this. He then scolded
himself for trying to show off. Her mind was immediately calmed when Marcus'
command kicked in. The fear was replaced by a look of curiosity.
 
After he fixed Kasey, Marcus sat down on the bed, his hands were trembling
ever so slightly. This was not from exhaustion though. It was from a mixture
of fear and exhilaration. For the first time, the feeling of what real power
might be dawned on him. And he did not know what to think of it.
 
Jesse could sense his torment and slid closer to him. She laid her head on his
shoulder and said "You should be proud... There are not that many of our kind
that learn so fast. At this rate you will be the strongest." She said in a low
and loving voice.
 
These words did little to comfort Marcus. All his life he wanted to be normal.
He thought that he had a shot at it with the Shadow Knights, but now he
realized that he was going to be sat above the pack. He smiled a cynical smile
when he realized that most people would kill to get in his position. With a
sigh he stood up.
 
"I think that I will take a walk. I'll be back in a few hours." Marcus said as
he started towards the door.
 
"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Kasey asked as she stretched out on the
bed in a very sexy position. At least Marcus thought so.
 
"That's a very tempting offer, Kasey," Marcus said with a coy smile, then
added "But I have to clear my thoughts. A walk will help. Maybe when I get
back we could..." Then he walked out the door.
 
The moonlit night felt good to Marcus. He always did like the night better
than the day. Marcus did not know it was the same with all Shadow Knights. He
started his walk out of the parking lot. If he remembered right, there was a
Wal-Mart super center not far from were they were at. So he started his way
for it. 

He tried to push most of the thoughts of power out of his head. It all seemed
so strange to Marcus. One day he was a shy and withdrawn boy. The next he
found out that he was to be the strongest Shadow Knight in existence. All of
this had brought on two different emotions. The first was exhilaration,
because he was to be the best at something. The second was severe nervousness,
that was because the power Jesse said he possessed was a little scary.
 
He walked down the road in the semi-small town with a brisk stride. Marcus was
starting to push the thoughts he didn't want out of his head. But when
succeeded, there was more that popped up that he did not want. Like the
thought of Mouse and Kathy. They was the two woman that had saved the last of
his sanity in those darker years. How did he repay them? He left them crying
when he left.
 
There was not that much traffic left on the road he was taking. Marcus was
glad of that. The reason being, he still did not like people looking at him.
He kept his stride steady as the thoughts raced through his head. He was
almost to the store that he wanted. He had decided on the store because he
wanted to practice scanning abilities on the people in it. Marcus thought that
would take his mind off the Zone.
 
Marcus reached the store rather quickly. He walked into the cool air
conditioned store and it felt good after the walk. He walked towards the back
of the store. He scanned people's thoughts along the way. The reason he walked
to the back of the store was because he wanted to work from the back and then
to the front.
 
The store was filled with quite a few teenagers. Most of them were girls, the
ones that were not, was a teenage boyfriend of one of the girls. Marcus
scanned people with casual ease. It was much easier than the first time he
done it. Their thoughts both interested and frightened him. Marcus once heard
that the human mind was a virtual trash can. He soon found out that the theory
was not to far from the truth. Not to far at all.
 
This was not so with some of the people he scanned though. Some of them were
quite nice. Marcus was having a good time reading people's memories and fears.
Some of the fears were quite silly. Marcus noticed that most of the teenagers
in this store had never experienced real fear, as he had.
 
After Marcus became bored he started to make his way towards the front door.
That's when he noticed a man that was standing near the check out line. This
man had shaggy red hair that looked as if he had not washed it in a week, and
short beard. His clothing was normal enough though. This man was just staring
intently at the check-out girl. Marcus was about to scan his thoughts, but the
man did something unexpected.
 
He pulled out a gun and pointed it right at the cashier. The gun went off with
a mighty blast and the bullet went right into the cashier's stomach. She held
her stomach as the blood seeped through her fingers, then just fell to the
floor. The man then turned to the rest of the store and screamed "EVERYONE
DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!"
 
Marcus was in complete shock at first. But for some reason, that shock was
starting to be replaced by a blinding rage. Marcus's rage was overwhelming him
so much that his tight clenched fists at his sides were trembling. The
thoughts of his past experiences in foster care were starting to flood back.
The sight of the girls blood had started that.
 
The man with the gun looked directly at Marcus then. "ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF!
DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!" he screamed
 
That's when something happened that Marcus had never done. A huge blast of
telekinetic power shot from Marcus like a cannon ball and struck the man. The
man that had the gun literally flew through the air about thirty feet,
slamming against the wall with tremendous force. He then fell, fell to the
ground with a thud.
 
A wash of dizziness ran over him then. But that only lasted a few seconds. He
walked over to the cashier that had been shot. She was just laying there
holding her hand over her stomach. The shirt she was wearing was soaked
through with blood. The girl was about his age. Marcus did not know why he did
what he done next.
 
Marcus went down to his knees beside the girl and pulled up her shirt just
enough to see the wound. The girl did not try to stop him for some cause.
Marcus could see the sweat that had broke out on her for face. He then looked
down at the bullet wound she had. His face had grown pale then.
 
Then without thinking he placed his hand over it. Marcus could feel the warmth
of the blood that was seeping out and he could here her moan in pain. Marcus
wished with all his heart that there was something he could do. That was when
the strangest thing happened. Marcus had done what he done next by instinct
alone.
 
Marcus felt the power build throughout his body. It made him have a tingling
sensation all over. The power then started to focus in his arm. He had never
felt such power as he did just then. The power started to completely focus in
his hand then. It suddenly left his hand and shot into the bullet wound the
girl had. He felt it leave him in a rush and that was when a wave of dizziness
washed over him. It was all he could do to sit up right.
 
Marcus removed his hand from the girl and watched through a cloud of dizziness
as the wound started to close and heal itself. Marcus noticed, that he
himself, had broken out in sweat. He watched this wound start to heal and
suddenly felt very tired. If he could have curled up in a ball and went to
sleep, he would have.
 
But he knew that he had to get out of there and quick. Marcus knew that the
police would be there soon, but he did not know if he had the strength to
change their thoughts. That little move he did on this girl had taken more
than a lot out of him. He looked down at the girl and seen that she was quite
cute. She had red hair and a few freckles on her face.
 
She was looking at Marcus with a look of awe. She alone knew what he did.
Marcus literally staggered to his feet. He was very weak. "Tell no one." He
said to the girl before he started towards the door rather quickly. He was
trying to fight off the wave of dizziness he felt. He started off in a slow
jog towards the door.
 
When he was glad when he reached the outside. The spring air felt good and
cleared some of the dizziness, but not all of it. Marcus thought that he
should try to run it off, since the police was no doubt on their way. He
started off in a slow jog down the road. The dizziness would not let him run
full speed. Even though he felt weak and dizzy as he ran, he could not help
but to chuckle at the situation he put himself in.
 
He was well down the road when he realized the dizziness had not let up. What
he really wanted to do was stop and lay down. But that was out of the
question. The motel was only about another mile down the road, so he had to
keep going. So he kept going at that same slow jog.
 
He was about give though. It was starting to become clear that he was not
going to make it. Marcus was about to just sit on the side of the road when a
blue car pulled up beside of him. He stopped and looked to see who was in the
driver's seat. It was that same cute, red head, freckle faced girl from the
store.
 
"Get in. Hurry up!" The girl said and leaned over to open the door for him.
 
Marcus was all to happy to comply. He walked slowly over to the car. It looked
like a stiff breeze would blow him over. He sunk down onto the seat and
thanked what ever gods there were for this ride. Marcus was positive that if
he kept going the way he was, that he would have passed out on the side of the
road.
 
The girl still had the same look of awe on her face as she looked at Marcus.
She put the car in gear and started off down the road. Marcus looked her over
carefully. She was wearing jeans and judging by her arms she worked out. She
did not have a lot of muscle, but what she did have was toned. she kept
glancing at Marcus then back at the road. Her face had an odd smile on it.
 
"How did you... What did..." She could not even get the sentence out, she was
so flustered.
 
"It's best you don't know." Marcus said in a cool and low voice. His dizziness
was starting to let up somewhat.
 
"I'll decide what is best for me," She said in a smile. "Now tell me what you
did and how you did it." She added.
 
"I don't know how I did it." Marcus said truthfully.
 
"For some reason I don't believe that." She said with a wry smile.
 
"Could you just drop me off at the motel down the road?" Marcus asked in a low
and tired voice.
 
"No, we're going to my house so I can change and me and you can talk. My name
is Crystal by the way." She said with confidence that Marcus thought was a
rarity for teenagers.
 
"My name is Marcus. Look, I have friends at the motel and they will get
worried if I am not back." He said with a slight frown.
 
"You can call your friends from my house. I REALLY want to talk to you about
what happened." She said as she watched the road.
 
"Very well." Marcus said, not feeling like arguing with the redhead named
Crystal.
 
She just nodded with a smile and continued driving. Marcus' head was spinning
with ideas about what to do with this girl. He thought about giving her a few
convincing lies, but that really wasn't his style. He was not for sure whether
or not he should tell the truth. Marcus knew that Jesse would disapprove. Then
he thought of changing her thoughts around after he got his strength back. But
he decided against that because he was the one that revealed his power to her.
 
His mind was also spinning with the fact that he had actually healed someone.
Jesse never told him that Shadow Knights could do that. She would have told
him if they could. This was yet another power that set him beyond the normal
for Shadow Knights. This sort of power made him nervous and excited at the
same time. Marcus wanted to ask Jesse about it when he seen her again. 

"Here we are." She said as they pulled into a driveway.
 
It was most defiantly not a rich neighborhood. Judging by the size of the
house, Marcus guessed that it could not have but one bedroom. The paint on the
outside of the house was chipped and wore by the weather. Marcus knew that she
had to live by herself, because a family could not live in a house that was so
small.
 
Crystal looked at Marcus and said, "I know it ain't much, but it's mine." She
said this with a small smile.
 
Marcus just smiled back and got out of the car. They walked up to the house,
all the while Marcus was thinking of what to say to her questions, when she
started shooting them at him. There was so many things that he could tell her,
but didn't want to. Marcus was positive that Jesse would disapprove of this
little meeting.
 
"Come on in and make yourself at home." She said after she unlocked the door.
 
Marcus walked into the house. Unlike the outside, the inside looked quite
nice. Crystal was obviously a stickler for neatness. "I'm gonna go take a
quick shower. You wait right here. OK?" She asked Marcus with a twinkle in her
eye.
 
Marcus only nodded and took a seat on her sofa. The dizziness was almost
completely gone now. What ever he did at the store took allot of energy, that
much was for certain. Marcus wondered if Jesse would be worried about him yet.
He knew that he should call her, but he was not about to search Crystal's
house for a phone book. He did not want to be rude by going through her stuff.
He would just wait until she gets out of the shower.
 
Marcus then came to the conclusion that it might be best if she forgot what
happened today. He could mess with her thoughts a little bit and she would be
better off. Marcus didn't really want to do this, but it would be better than
telling her the truth. He sat on the couch wondering how he built enough power
to make that gunman fly thirty feet. He knew for a fact that the man had to be
dead as hard as he hit the wall.
 
About ten minutes later, Crystal walked back into the room. She was a sight
for sore eyes, that was saying the least. She was wearing a pair short cut-off
blue jean shorts and a tank top that just barely covered her breasts. She
certainly had a knockout body, that was for sure. She then walked over to
Marcus and took a seat besides him.
 
"Now would you mind telling me what-" She was suddenly cut off by a mind lock
that Marcus put on her.
 
He could see the terror in her eyes when he placed the mind lock on her. This
made him feel a little bad, so he removed the terror immediately when he dove
into her mind. Marcus routed around until he found the memories of what
happened that day, then erased them. He found this very easy to do. While he
did this he thought that he might as well have a little fun. He placed the
emotion of lust as well in her mind.....
 
When he withdrew from her mind, he looked at her with a devilish smile. Her
breathing had deepened and Marcus could see her nipples poke through the tank
top she was wearing. She was also starting to rub her thighs together. All of
this, along with her flushed face, told Marcus that he placed the emotion
right.
 
"Is anything wrong?" Marcus asked, playing coy.
 
"I don't know.... I feel....." She started and trailed off. Her hand then
strayed between her legs to rub her crotch. She then moaned lightly as her
other hand massaged her breast through her tank top. 

Marcus watched this with lustful eyes. Crystal would have seen just how
lustful his eyes were if he was not wearing his mirror plated shades. "Would
you like me to help you?" Marcus said placing a hand on her thigh.
 
"Oh, God yes!" She said and jumped to her feet and started to strip her
clothes. She removed the tank top with one swift motion and then slid the
shorts and panties down as well. Crystal then gave Marcus lustful look.
 
Marcus stood up slowly with a coy grin and started to undress. But apparently
he was not fast enough, because she ran over to him and ripped his shirt open.
The buttons flew every where. She stripped off of him and then pulled his
pants down to his ankles. After that, she promptly pushed him down on the
couch.
 
"Don't move!" She said with a husky voice and straddled his hips.
 
She moaned rather loudly as she sunk down on his manhood. She started by
rocking her hips up and down slowly. But it only took her about ten seconds
for her to for get about slowness. She then started bucking rather fast. She
was moaning loud and digging her nails into Marcus.
 
Marcus could tell that she was approaching climax. But so was he and that made
it alright. She was riding faster and faster. Then she stopped every muscle in
her body tensed up and her face was one of pure ecstasy. Marcus could her
inner muscles start to squeezed and milk him. That was what set him off. He
shot his seed deep within her.
 
After she her climax passed, she just fell limply on his chest. She was passed
out cold. 'Pleasure overload' Marcus thought with a coy smile. 

He then slipped out from under her and grabbed his shirt. As he looked down at
the sleeping beauty, he was proud that he could save her life. After he was
fully dressed he started for the door. All the while wondering about the new
power he learned today. Marcus wondered if Jesse would know anything about it.
He had about a three mile walk ahead of him, so he would have plenty of time
think.