1986-

Bobby Benson sat at his window. He looked out at the clouds roaming below, letting

his mind drift in memories. Sometimes he saw something that could have been if he

could change the past. It seemed better than the present.

He heard voices, and dismissed them at first. He was in his castle and was the only

one with a key. No one else should be wandering the featureless halls, many

stairwells, and rooms placed where the doors weren’t always present. He listened to

make sure he hadn’t really heard anything.

Someone exclaimed they were tired of wandering around without a sign post.

Bobby stood. His green spark washed away the old shirt and jeans he wore and

replaced it with the light blue suit and twelve-pointed star he favored for his other

face at the moment. His withered arm filled out with muscle as his body changed just

as easily as his clothes.

He flew down to where he had heard the voices. Maybe someone had wandered in

from the street. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen. He directed them to where

they had to go, sometimes helping them with money or transport if they needed it.

He thought he had closed up the doors leading to the outside over the years. New

ones seemed to open on their own while he wasn’t looking.

He found three girls arguing over which direction to go. He stood in the hall and

listened as they tried to figure out where they could stay for the night.

The argument gave him the gist of their story. He knew a lot about being an orphan,

and trying to live on your own. These girls could go back to their orphanage and try

to get adopted, but they all wanted to be adopted together. He could see that being a

problem for prospective parents.

“Excuse me.” Bobby smiled so they wouldn’t freak out at his standing there. “The

door is that way.”

“Who are you supposed to be?” The oldest girl stepped in front of the other two. She

was slim and blond. She might be as old as thirteen, but Bobby had no idea.

“I’m the owner of this place.” Bobby crossed his arms. “Who are you three

trespassers?”

“We’re not trespassing.” The youngest, a black nine-year-old with hair pulled back

into a ball at the back of her head, peeked out from behind her older companion. “The

guy outside said we could find a place to live until we had something better.”

“Really?” Bobby shook his head. “Guy with a cigar and a beige coat?”

“Yes.” The middle girl nodded. She had a hand on the youngest girl’s shoulder. She

was close enough to the oldest girl to be a sister, except she was carrying a little more

weight.

Bobby should have known that Nobody was behind this.

He had his fingers in everything. Why would he con some kids to enter Cain’s castle?

Of course the same thing was how he had become the Mark in the first place.

“So you ran away from home.” Bobby hadn’t had a home before he took over for

Cain. He still remembered walking the street with the hope he wouldn’t be frozen by

the time the sun came up.

“It was just an orphanage.” The eldest spoke up. “They didn’t really care about us.”

“So you decided to break into someone’s home and squat.” Bobby frowned at the

three of them. “So you don’t want to go back.”

“You can’t make us.” The youngest glared at him. “We won’t go back.”

“I can make you,” said Bobby. “And if I take you back, you will stay. Threatening

kids is what I do. Come with me.”

“Why should we?” The oldest held her younger companions back.

“I’m going to give you a space while I think about this.” Bobby wondered if he was

doing the right thing.

He wasn’t mentor material in his own estimation. Maybe he should carry them back

to the orphanage and let someone else take them off his hands. He walked along the

similar corridors until he found a large door. He pushed the door open on a meadow

full of tall grass. Trees stood in the distance under the clear sky.

“Where did all this come from?” The middle girl held out her hands as she stepped

on the grass.

“It comes with the building.” Bobby whistled. He watched the grass. Swaying grass

told him that his summons had been heard.

A gopher lifted out the ground. He looked at the group with ears twitching. It

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chattered quietly to itself.

“I’m trying to decide if I should keep them.” Bobby held out a hand. “What do you

think, Spiffy?”

The gopher dropped into the ground and tunneled over to where the group stood. He

came out of the ground and stood on his back legs to grab the hand.

“This is Spiffy.” Bobby picked up the gopher. The beast looked as big as a lion cub.

“I’m Eleanor,” said the eldest girl. “This is Carrie.” She pointed at the middle girl.

“And I’m Monique Teckina Natasha Brown,” said the youngest. “But you can call me

Money.”

Spiffy stretched out his head to sniff Money. Then he headbutted her as he dropped

to the ground. He ambled a few feet away and sat on his haunches. He chittered at

her.

“Why did he do that?” The girl rubbed her forehead.

“He wants you to chase him.” Bobby smiled. “He wants to play.”

“I’ll chase him all right.” She ran at the gopher, turning into lightning on the way. She

missed the animal as he sank into the ground in a cloud of dirt. A furrow led away

through the grass.

They crossed the meadow at high speed. The older girls stood shocked at their

adoptive sister flashing through the grass in bursts of lightning. She still wasn’t faster

than Spiffy who taunted her by bursting out of the ground and then diving under

again like a dolphin in the ocean.

“How is she doing that?” Eleanor looked up at Bobby. “She doesn’t have

superpowers.”

“Spiffy must have loaned her part of his.” Bobby shrugged. “I imagine he gets lonely

without someone to play with him.”

“You have a superpowered gopher?” Eleanor looked at the lightning in the grass.

“He belonged to a friend of mine.” Bobby shrugged. “I took him in when my friend

died.”

Bobby didn’t think they wanted to hear how his friend had been pulled into pieces

before she could activate her spark and defend herself.

“Will he give us powers too?,” Carrie asked. She brushed back her hair with her

hands.

“I doubt it.” Bobby smiled at her. “Hey, you two. Play time is over.”

“Ahhhh!” Money paused. “Really?”

“We’re going to eat.” Bobby waved her in. “I’ll bring you back something, Spiffy.”

The gopher chittered at him before sinking into the ground and burrowing away.

“Let’s go.” Bobby pulled the spark Spiffy had planted from the girl with a brush of

his hand through her hair. “Leave your stuff here. Spiffy will protect it.”

“Are you letting us stay?,” Carrie asked. She took their belongings and made three

piles next to the door.

“Depends on how dinner goes.” Bobby smiled at her. “Spiffy likes you and that’s a

good sign.”

“What’s a bad sign from Spiffy?,” Eleanor asked. She kept herself between Bobby

and the other two girls.

“He rips your arms off.” Bobby gestured for them to go first through the door. He

smiled to take the sting out of his words. “Don’t worry. He hasn’t done that in years.”

“That’s comforting.” Eleanor looked at her sisters. Their expressions said let’s go

ahead. “We don’t have a lot of money for food.”

“It’s on me today.” Bobby closed the door to Spiffy’s room and led the way toward

the outside door. “My treat.”

“Why?” Eleanor led the girls like a mother duck.

“Why not?” Bobby knew she was trying to protect her sisters. Being paranoid about

a stranger with a gopher just seemed like good sense to him.

He remembered his last day before becoming the Mark. He should have been more

paranoid when he talked with Cain.

“Come on.” Bobby opened the outside door. “I’ll let you get your gear back after

dinner if I decide you can’t stay.”

“Spiffy loves us.” Money protested as they stepped outside.

“Spiffy bit a man’s leg off out of spite.” Bobby closed the door after them. “Don’t

think he wouldn’t do the same to you.”

“Out of spite?” Carrie shook her head. “I don’t believe that for a minute. He’s totally

tame.”

“You keep thinking that.” Bobby led the way down the street. Buildings reached into

the sky all around them, but he steered them to a small diner between two other

buildings. He smiled when saw the sign still hadn’t been fixed. “I hope you’re ready

to chow down.”

“We can’t repay for anything like this.” Eleanor examined the place as Bobby walked

to the door.

“It’s on me.” Bobby opened the door and waved them to go inside. “I have a tab.”

“What’s a tab?” Money asked as she walked inside the diner.

“The restaurant keeps a tally of your bill so you can pay for a lot at the same time.”

Carrie pointed her to the bar stools that lined an ancient counter.

“Let’s use the big booth in the back.” Bobby led the way through the tables and

booths to a booth designed for eight people to sit in a circle.

They sat down. Eleanor sat between Bobby and her two sisters. He didn’t know what

she thought she could do to protect them if he wanted to do anything, but he let it go.

“It’s the Mark.” A waitress with streaks of gray in her dark hair walked over in a red

shirt and black skirt. A glove covered one hand. A big knife was in a belt sheathe at

the small of her back. She smiled at the girls with genuine warmth. “And I see you

brought some kids with you this time.”

“Hello, Cassie.” Bobby smiled. “I need three specials and a reading.”

“Don’t know your own mind?” Cassie smiled as she shook her head. She walked off.

“Coming right up.”

“What did she mean?,” Carrie asked.

“This is the first time he’s asked for advice,” Eleanor said.

“What are Specials?,” Money asked.

“They are meals that have set items on them for a cheaper price.” Carrie brushed her

hair with a hand. “So we all eat the same thing.”

“Sounds like the orphanage cafeteria.” Money frowned at the thought of that.

“This is much better than any cafeteria.” Bobby looked out the window to one side

of the booth. “Cassie has the best food ever.”

“Then why aren’t you eating?” Eleanor raised an eyebrow at his not ordering for

himself.

“I already did.” Bobby smiled back at her. “What I’m getting is not on the menu.”

Cassie returned to the booth with a big serving tray. She placed three plates on the

table before handing Bobby a folded piece of paper. He opened it and read the

contents before putting the paper away in the breast pocket of his jacket.

“Which one?,” Bobby asked.

“Don’t be a jerk.” Cassie shook her head. “No one can tell you that.”

“This is exactly what I wanted.” Eleanor examined the plate of salad, yogurt, and

toast. “How did you know?”

Carrie picked up her triple hamburger with an eye roll. She took a bite and smiled.

“This is better than the orphanage.” Money dug into her pieces of chicken.

“I’ll bring you your drinks.” Cassie tucked the big tray under her arm. “Come by any

time.”

She retreated to the kitchen.

“What did the paper say?,” Eleanor asked as she put dressing on her salad.

“None of your business.” Bobby smiled at her.