Marcus

Chapter 1: Imagine

"What was that?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know. What was what?" Speedy answered
The two troublemakers were in their school's gym. The gigantic gym with white cement walls was the perfect playground for Marcus and Speedy. That particular moment, Marcus was staring up at the bald eagle that was painted on the back wall of the storage room. With his 10 year old overactive imagination, he stared at it in fear.
"That. You didn't see that." Marcus was seeing something that Speedy was not seeing.
"I don't fucking know what you're talking about." Speedy said, sounding just as annoyed as he always did.
"The eagle blinked! It did it again!"
The two best friends ran out of the room screaming. This was after school when the boys had some time to spend together, but this did not happen often. Speedy usually went home almost right after school. Marcus would have liked his made up adventure to last a little longer, but it was too late and the day had ended. Marcus hated this time of day because when the darkness outside began to loom, he had to be on his way home and that meant homework.

"Get in the car we gotta go." Marcus' mother said.

"Thank God it's Friday" said a voice in Marcus' head once he was in the car.

"Fuck yeah!" Marcus said quietly to himself.

"What was that?" Marcus' mother asked.

"Nothin."

"Ok."

Marcus folded his hands under his chin and rested them on the edge of the car window. As they drove along, Marcus imagined a creature jumping across different objects along the side of the road. Sometimes it would get behind, other times he would be so far ahead Marcus couldn't follow it. Marcus was fully aware of the fact that this creature was indeed real. He knew this as a fact because he was the one who imagined it and brought it into reality to keep him company on long rides.

Once they arrived home, Marcus grabbed his things out of the trunk of the car and he ran inside to find his sister Jazz almost ready to leave for bowling. Terrence, Marcus' brother, was still in his room, but he was getting ready at the last moment.

"Wait, it's Friday. That means bowling night!" Marcus said.

"Not for you, you have homework." Mom butted into the conversation like the unwelcome interruption she was.

"He can finish it when he gets home." Luckily Marcus' sister, Jazz, came to the rescue.

"His track record on that has not been very great." Mom said.

"Don't worry, his homework will get done tomorrow... RIGHT!" She said with assertiveness. Her glare was enough to take down a whole army of walking dead. Marcus nodded his head vigorously.

"Let's go. Go get changed from your school clothes bud." Jazz said. Marcus ran up the stairs to change. He opened his door and his stuffed animals stared at him.

"Don't worry guys. I'll be back. Keep things running smoothly when I am gone." Marcus said this as he closed his eyes then opened them.

All of the animals on the bed were now animated. They moved and spoke as regular beings. One of them named Sherbet who was head of security spoke up. "Hold on, we have a tip that Shadow might have learned of your routine in going to the bowling alley every Friday night, but we can't pin his actual location yet."

"What are we going to do about this, Sherbet?" Marcus said.

Sherbet answered, "We can't track him if that's what you are asking. We can only let you know about it and hope he does not show up and cause trouble for you and your family. Shadow's like a vampire, he doesn't show up in cameras, reflected surfaces or anything, but you already know this. There is also news of kids your age missing from home and summoning things like Sprites and letting them loose. They are causing complete chaos that nobody knows how to deal with."

"Shit, that's the last thing we need."

Not wanting to keep his siblings waiting, Marcus quickly changed into jeans and ran downstairs out to the car. Almost as soon as he got into the car, Jazz drove off and turned the music up to its max volume. His brother Terrence was in the front seat. They went along singing along with FlorIda Georgia Line and many other country artists until they quickly arrived at the bowling alley thanks to Jazz's crazy driving. The music abruptly stopped when they parked in the parking space.

"They should be here." Jazz said before she went over to find her friends' car. Her friends would join the three siblings in the games to come. Once everyone got out of their cars, Marcus was struck by fear and horror by what he saw in the parking lot.

"Fuck!" Marcus said.

"Fuck what?" Jazz overheard him.

"Nothing."

"Wow."

Shadow was there. He was Marcus' own creation who turned against him. Shadow was completely invisible if he didn't want to be noticed, but he turned visible for only Marcus to see. Marcus made his way to The Shadow. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, calm down the profanities. There are children present." A young kid about Marcus' age walked from behind Shadow. "You created me with the ability to make imagination real and for this fortunate soul it will be real forever. He will be able to see everything that makes life amazing. Reality for him won't just be something he lives in. He won't be tied down anymore."

"This isn't a good idea, Shadow." Marcus looked worried. "Imagination is built on a foundation of a specific amount of control. Creatures aren't meant to be controlled by more than two people. Those two people are  the person that created them and me because I keep the balance. It's not just about people getting left out, it's about the very energy that flows inside the realm. The more power that is given away, the less there is to keep the boundary from merging into reality. You and I both know that can be detrimental."

"Why do you get to have that privilege. You're leaving out so many deserted souls to be trampled on by the ruthless shitstorm of reality. Give them a break. Let them have a turn.

The kid spoke up, "I can handle it. I'll take care of it really good for you."

"Oh shut the fuck up!" Marcus said. He snapped his fingers and the boy was gone.

"What did you do?!" Shadow snapped at Marcus.

I sent him back to his family, he doesn't need this."

"Marcus, what are you doing out here? Get your ass in here and get your shoes." Terrance called from the door of the building.

"By chance you didn't erase the kid's memory did you?" Shadow ignored the interruption

"Yes, dumbass, I did."

"Well, that was rude. You know, payback really is a bitch, Marcus!" Shadow shouted across the parking lot.

Marcus walked In the bowling alley ignoring the insignificant threat made by Shadow.

Jazz met Terrence and Marcus at the door and asked them what took Marcus so long.

Terrence answered, "He was just standing out in the middle of the parking lot."

Jazz stared at Marcus in confusion. "Weirdo." Was the only word she said.

The bowling began. Marcus got his shoes and ran to the lane they were playing in. They played for what felt like eternity. As usual Marcus was one of the losers. Terrence didn't really enjoy bowling, so he didn't play very many games. The whole time, Marcus tapped his feet to the beat of music. His favorite part of the night was when almost everyone was out of the building and it was just his sister's friends and his siblings inside the building. The night ended with Marcus losing. The one thing in Marcus' mind that stuck was how Shadow was turning kids into something that would eventually destroy them and the universe that they were introduced to.