The Giftless.

chapter 1

Let's just be clear here. I never wanted these stupid gifts anyways. Yeah, it sounds cool in theory. Or in comic books, but in reality, it's a curse. At least for me it is. I wanted to be normal. Giftless. Like my parents. Like my best friend. To them I am. They think that when I turned sixteen, I woke up average like them. I had prayed I would, but I was given a power. An insane amount of power. The irony wasn't lost on me. The one kid in Harbor-Dale who didn't want powers, got the scariest ones. 

So I hid them. At least I tried. I really did. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of it too, until The Grind got robbed. 

It was my third day on the job, and I was closing up with my manager, Court. He was in the back doing inventory, when someone showed up at the door. I hadn't finished cleaning out the coffee makers so I figured there was no harm in making them a cup. But that's not why he came. He was Gifted. One who had decided to use his powers to be a dick head. 

"Hey there, little guy" he said as he lifted me by my throat. I was struggling to breathe to make any noise at all, but I couldn't. All I could do was grab a hold of him and try to loosen his grip on my neck. But he was strong. More than strong. This guy was basically the Incredible Hulk. 

I thought back to the night of my birthday. It was six or seven months ago at this point, but the Gifted never forget their awakening. The Awakening is when your gift is revealed to you through a dream. I could see every way my power could be used. And it was terrifying. They called me "The Taker". With my touch, I could take a Giftless Mans life force. Turn them into dust. With a Gifted man, I could take their life force and their power. 

I didn't want to. I really didn't. I wish their was another way. But I felt my own life draining from my body. So I grabbed his neck. And I concentrated. But it wasn't working. Nothing was working. I kept concentrating but still he held me there. I got enough strength in my legs to kick him in the junk and he dropped me. I grab him by the neck again and squeeze as hard as I can. And that's when it happens. 

His eyes open wide and his neck begins to shrink in my hand. I can feel his power surge through me. I could literally feel myself getting stronger. My muscles were physically growing. I could feel his life-force merging with mine. I could see his life flashing before my eyes. I had instant access to his memories. It was like watching a movie on fast forward, but I retained everything. 

"Noah?" I heard my name faintly in the distance. I looked up into the sky and felt a burst of life. There was a bright light that surrounded me and then darkness. 

I woke up to Court sitting over me. His blue eyes were focused with worry. He smiled as I made visual contact with him. 

"Jesus Christ!" He lifted me into his arms. I felt groggy like I'd just woken up but something made me hold on to him.

"So you're happy to see me?" I laughed. 

He looked at me and felt my forehead, feeling my entire face for a fever. I felt a flurry in my stomach. Butterflies or something. Yet another awakening. 

"Yeah I am! There was some crazy light and you just dropped into this pile of dirt. I thought..." he trailed off. His smile returned as he stood to help me up. "I'm just glad you're alright, Mars." 

Mars. His nickname for me. There was another Noah at The Grind. Noah Martin. And since I'm Noah Marshall, Court took it upon himself to bestow on me this Nickname. I rolled my eyes when he said it but I still smiled. I had gotten the brooding loner boy act down pretty well. I didn't want to break character. 

"Where did all this dirt come from anyway?" He said. Which brought me back to the fact that I had just killed a guy. My stomach did backflips, and I lost my lunch. 

"Woah, OK man." He came back over to my side and held me up by my sides. He patted my back as I spit onto the pile. 

Earnest Amir Hollo. That was his name. The man I had reduced to a pile of dust had one kid. A son named Tanner Alexander Turner. The mother was a nurse named Hayley Marie Turner. She was beautiful. The long dark brown hair and the almost icy blue eyes. She and Earnest had never married. Hayley hated Earnest. Earnest hated Hayley. His final thought was that she'd be happy about the fact that he was dying. 

I could see all of his hits. Every place he had held up with his strength. I watched him get shot exactly seven times. None of them penetrated. This man was indestructible. And and then suddenly that was all gone. It was just Earnest.

"Mars," Court said. "Mars? Are you okay?" 

"Y-yeah." I stood up straight. "I think I should.."

"Go, yeah!" He said, ushering me out of the door. "I'll take care of all this. Take it easy, Noah. You're kind of creeping me out." 

"You and me both." I smiled and walked to my car. I sat in the seat and suddenly felt paralyzed. Someone will look for him. He's a real man who's dead. I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like thousand pound bricks were falling on it. A panic attack to beat all panic attacks. I began to cry. I was a killer.