Chapter 3

Tracy continued to do her best impersonation of an octopus. I was shocked at how grabby she was. We kissed a little but when she went to my nether region, I had to stop her.

“Tracy, please! Stop!” I begged. “I’m not ready for this.”

Tracy stopped and looked me in the eyes. “Why, Betsy, don’t you love me?”

I was starting to panic. “Yes, but I don’t think we should do this here. Your parents might come back.”

Her hand went back between my thighs. “Don’t worry about them, baby, they’ll knock first.”

I was torn. I was getting very turned on, but at the same time I didn’t want my first time with Tracy to be in her parent’s boat, sneaking around and in a hurry. I grabbed her hand and pulled it away. “Tracy! Stop! I can’t do this right now.” I pulled away from her and scooted back to the edge of the couch. Pulling my knees up to my chest in a sitting fetal position, I began to cry.

Tracy came to me and took my hand. “Hey, honey, I’m sorry. What’s the matter? We used to do this all the time!”

Wiping my eyes, I looked at her sadly. “You and Brian did this. I’m Elizabeth, remember? I can’t just do what I used to do, Tracy. It doesn’t feel right. I feel like you're, I don’t know, using me.” I continued looking down, and added quietly. “Did you ever feel that way about me, Trace? Did I ever force myself on you?”

She looked at me sympathetically and said. “Maybe once or twice, but you always stopped. I’m sorry, Betsy, I never thought about how you might have changed as a result of your transformation. You really are a girl, inside and out.” She smiled sadly. “Does this mean we’re through?”

I responded immediately. “No! I just want our first time together to be special, that’s all.”

“This isn’t exactly our first time, you know.”

I hugged her “It will be. For me, anyway. C’mon, let’s go back up on deck!” I grabbed her hands and pulled her up.

As we went back up, we saw the sheriff’s boat pull up to the boat with Raul and his buddies. I laughed as they put the cuffs on the three numbskulls and transferred them their boat to the Sheriff’s. The deputies were shaking their head as they tossed the boat, finding what I assumed were various illegal substances. They also pulled out a couple of weapons that looked like pistols. I couldn’t help but smile as they towed the offender’s boat off to the impound lot. Served them right, the jerks.

We stayed on the lake for another three hours. The sun was just about to go below the horizon as they pulled the boat out and we got underway. Tracy and I had changed back to our jeans and tops. I had a bit of a burn, even with all of the sunscreen, and my tan lines felt different from my old pattern, which I guess was to be expected.

I thought I had been very good. I had stayed out of the minds of Tracy and her parents, and felt much better about myself for doing it. I didn’t feel like a prowler. After running into the Shadow King, whoever he was, I wanted to stay as far away from minds as I could get for the time being.

My thoughts were interrupted by Tracy. “Do you want something to eat, Bets?”

I was very tired, but wasn’t quite ready for the day to end. “Sure, Trace. Wherever you want to go is fine with me.”

We ended up at a little seafood place outside of Ann Arbor, off of the interstate. It was pretty well known around the area, and surprisingly we got right in, with only a ten minute wait–well, I might have had something to do with that. Hey, I was hungry.

We all ordered the Surf and Turf, and got iced tea all around.

We talked about the day’s events, and Tracy reached over the table to hold my hand. I pulled away a little bit. Mrs. Moore looked at me and said with a smile “its okay, Betsy. We know you and Tracy are still an item. You don’t have to hide anything from us, honey.”

This caught me by surprise. I knew that Tracy had told me they knew, but I thought she was joking. “I guess I didn’t know how you would react. I didn’t want to push our relationship on you, since my change. I guess I can’t help it that I still have really strong feelings for Tracy.”

Mrs. Moore continued. “We know, Betsy, and Jeff and I have discussed it. You are still the same person on the inside, and we loved you before, and nothing changes that now.” Mr. Moore nodded his head in agreement.

“I’m not quite the same person inside” I added. “I look at things a little differently than I used to. I guess I don’t think quite the same way due to all of the mental changes I’ve undergone. I no longer think like a boy would, so I guess your daughter is safe from greasy teenage boy hands.”

Mr. and Mrs. Moore smiled. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I excused myself to go to the restroom, and Tracy came with me. “I need to call Agent Morgan, Tracy. I’ve got to get to the bottom of what’s happening to me.”

“I understand, baby. Call him.”

I dialed Agent Morgan’s number on my phone, and he picked up on the second ring.

“Morgan.”

“Agent Morgan, this is Betsy Braddock. Can you talk for a minute?”

“For you? Anytime, Betsy. What’s up?”

I talked in a horse whisper to avoid anyone hearing me.” I think some more abilities are manifesting themselves, and I really need to tell you about what’s been going on.”

“Is it bad?” he asked.

“I don’t know. That’s just it. Can you see me tomorrow? I know it’s Labor Day, but…”

“But nothing. I’ll be at your house tomorrow morning.” He paused. “How about nine o’ clock?”

“Okay. I really appreciate you coming out, Agent Morgan.”

“And I appreciate your calling me. So many people in your position tend to distrust us in the government, and shut us out, then get into trouble because they try to do too much on their own.”

“I don’t trust the government, Agent Morgan. I trust you.”

“Thanks, Betsy. Don’t worry about anything; we’ll get to the bottom of whatever is troubling you. Good bye”

I disconnected the phone, and felt better about the rest of the evening. I didn’t want to have to bear this alone. Whatever or whoever this new entity was, I was not gong to face him alone.

I ended up getting home at ten o’clock, and was quite ready for bed. Mom was waiting for me.

“How did your day go, Betsy?”

”Great, Mom. I had a really good time. How did you and Dad make out?”

She sighed. “Well, he agreed to let me be the judge of your wardrobe. He has had no experience with a girl, and he thought he had to be Mr. Protective. I told him that you weren’t an ordinary girl, and could take care of yourself, and as for fashion advice, I told him if he wanted to give it, he had to spend a week in dresses!”

Giggling, I replied, “It worked for me! Seriously, Mom, thanks for backing me up. It really hurt when he said I looked like a stripper. I’m not like that.”

Hugging me, Mom said “I know, sweetie. I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

I hugged Mom back and asked her another question. “Mom, I have something else to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“You know Tracy and I are still…involved.”

“I suspected as much, Betsy, and it’s okay with me. I know this transition was difficult, and the way you and Tracy stuck together, well it was kind of obvious.”

“What does Dad think?”

She got a grin on her face. “Oh, I suppose he’ll come around. He doesn’t like to think about it.”

“”Mom, I called Agent Morgan tonight. I had an incident the other night and today that I need to tell him.”

Mom looked concerned. “You’re manifesting more abilities?”

I bit my lip. “Yes. The other night, I was kind of practicing to see what I could do. I can read minds, Mom.”

“We knew that already, Betsy”

“No, Mom, I can read minds all over the world! I was in the President’s head, Mom. I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to know what is going on with people like that. I could read the thoughts of these creeps at the lake, who wanted to drug Tracy and me. I mean, that’s good, but I don’t want to be used to read some dictator’s mind. This will get me into trouble.” My eyes brimmed with tears.

Mom held me. She talked to me in a soothing tone, that only a mother can take.” That’s not everything, is it?”

“No. I touched minds with someone evil, Mom. Someone who scared me to death. I don’t think he’s human” I trembled at the thought of the sight of that terrible face.
“Who was it, honey?”

“He called himself Shadow King. He was just the worst looking thing I have ever seen. I saw him again today in a dream, or it may have been a dream, I don’t know. He knows something about me, Mom. He tried to do something to me today while I was asleep, but I was able to fight him off. Something is wrong, Mom. This thing is real!” I buried my head in her shoulder and cried. I didn’t want these abilities. I just wanted everything to go away.

Mom held me as Dad came in. He didn’t say anything as I cried. I think Mom motioned for him to sit down. About five minutes later, I had calmed down. Mom asked me to tell him what I told her. I did, and Dad thought for a couple of minutes, and then spoke.

“I don’t think you need to tell Agent Morgan about the extent of your telepathy, Betsy. He may mean well, but abilities like yours could easily be misused. Always have a hole card. The extent of your telepathy is your hole card. You need to tell him, however about this Shadow King. He must be a high order telepath to be able to communicate with you from such a distance. Do you know where he was?”

“Egypt, I think. I seem to be able to know where people are, and how they are doing. I also have the ability to do this…”

I concentrated, and produced the glowing around my hands. They came out to a point, like before. I thought they looked like knives. My dad reached out to touch one, and as he did, pulled his hand away in pain.

“Damn! That hurt! Do you feel that?”

I looked at Dad with disbelief. “No. I don’t feel anything. Did it hurt?”

“Yes it did. Very much. My hand is still numb. Interesting, though. Let’s not make the glow again for a while, okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

Dad gave me a lot of advice on what to talk about and what not to talk about. It was decided that I would not tell Agent Morgan about anything but Shadow King, and let the rest remain secret for now. He wanted to see how they handled the information about another telepath. Having settled on a course of action, I went up to my room and went to bed.

I was spared any dreams that night. I don’t know if I was getting better at subconsciously controlling my powers or if black and creepy wasn’t looking for me. I was up at eight and got cleaned up for Agent Morgan’s visit. I don’t know what was up with me, but I couldn’t bear the thought of someone seeing me without having cleaned myself up first. What a girl I was turning out to be.

Agent Morgan was knocking on the door at nine o’clock sharp. I answered the door in my morning workout gear, a pair of yoga pants and a tank top/sports bra combo with trainers. It was very comfortable, and fit like a glove. I wasn’t going to exercise in a sack, after all.

“Hi, Betsy.” He greeted me, consciously avoiding looking any further south of my neck. I smiled. He was cute when he tried to be all chivalrous.

“Come on in, Agent Morgan.” I greeted cheerfully. “Have a seat.”

I called Mom and Dad down from their room, and they greeted Agent Morgan as well.

“Please, folks, call me Hal, okay? I figure we’ll get to know more about each other in the coming weeks, so we had just as well be on a first name basis.”

“Fair enough, Hal.” replied Dad. “I think you’ll want to listen to what Betsy has to say.”

I proceeded to give Hal the lowdown on what had happened with Shadow King. He listened with interest at the prospect of another telepath.

“I don’t know how he found me.” I lied, following the plan, but he was scary, and very evil.”

“I’ll run a database search on this name. And you also said you heard the name Amahl?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it. I think he was Egyptian.” I added.

He looked at me suspiciously. “How do you know that?”

I knew he was a beginning to suspect I had more power than I was letting on, so I gave him a little suggestion. “I don’t know, maybe he told me.”

He looked a little blank for a second. “Yeah, maybe he told you. Okay, let me get on this, and I’ll let you know what I find. I’ll show myself out.”

After he left, Dad looked at me and commented, “All right, what did you do to him? There was no way he was going to let that go so easily.”

I gave him an embarrassed smile. “I just gave him a little suggestion to get him to go along with me. It’s something else I can do.”

“You had better never use that on your Mother or me, young lady.” He cautioned.

“Don’t worry Dad; I don’t use my abilities on my family. Some things are better left not known or done. I’d rather have the punishment if I do something wrong.”

Dad gave me a hug. “That’s my girl. You keep that attitude, it won’t matter how powerful you become, and you’ll always be grounded in reality.”

That was something I never thought of. With my abilities, I could have anything I wanted, just by influencing someone to give it to me. I didn’t want that. What fun would life be if you didn’t have to work for what you got?

Agent Morgan called his data team contact, Gerardo Herrera.

“Jerry? I need you to run a check on a couple of names.”

“What do you have?” replied Jerry.

“One is anything you have on a Shadow King, and the other is an Egyptian by the name of Amahl, no last name. They could be connected.”

“I’ll get on it right away, Hal.”

Thanks, Jerry. I appreciate it”

Jerry started his search for the names that Hal had asked for. In the giant database, once the term “Shadow King” had been entered, a notice went to the computer of a systems analyst in Homeland Security. She then sent an encrypted email to a computer in Cairo, Egypt. Amahl Farouk was waiting for this. Someone in America was looking for him, and since he hadn’t made his presence known in the United States, that meant that the child had made contact with the government. He would soon know who this person was. He smiled an evil, sadistic smile. He now knew where to start.

I woke up Tuesday morning ready to get back to school. I wasn’t really worried about people’s reactions. Brain seemed a lifetime ago. I was just Elizabeth Braddock, high school junior. I was confident in my abilities to handle pretty much any situation that might come up. I chose a pair of jeans and a nice tunic top with some comfy sandals for my first day. I didn’t want to completely “girl out” just yet. Some light makeup and I was ready to go. I kissed my Mom and Dad goodbye and left.

I picked up Tracy, and we got to school early enough to be introduced to my new circle of friends. I hadn’t had much to do with anyone from school since my illness, and I was more like the new girl on the block, even though I knew everyone that I knew before.

Tracy and I got a lot of stares as we walked in to the building. My transformation wasn’t that much of a secret, so I didn’t know if the stares were for the weird “boy/girl”, or if people were checking out the two hot chicks walking in. The thoughts I was picking up were a little of both, and more than one person actually wondered if I still had my male “appendage”. I sighed, wondering if I was going to be thought of as a “she male’.

I leaned over to Tracy and told her what I had discovered. “A lot of people here think I’m a…she male”

She looked shocked. “No way! You leave school as Brian and come back as Betsy, and you wonder why they think that?”

Smiling, I playfully punched her in the arm. “You know what I mean! How am I supposed to explain that?”

Rolling her eyes, she looked at me like I was a complete lunatic. “Screw ‘em. Let ‘em think what they want! You know the truth, Betsy, and If that doesn’t work, Jedi their asses!”

She had a point. I didn’t want to go nuts with the mind tricks, but that would be a solution.

I went to the office to make sure everything was okay with my registration. It’s not every day that a complete transsexual–that’s what I was, I guess–walks in to school. I was in a small community by Ann Arbor, and the school was fairly sedate and open minded. A lot of kids had parents who taught at the University of Michigan.

The principal, Mrs. Kaufman greeted me warmly. “Hello, Betsy! It’s good to finally have you back for the first time.”

Smiling back, I replied “Thank you, Mrs. Kaufman. I guess I couldn’t have put it better myself. Is everything okay for me to start again?”

“Okay and ready to go, Betsy. Your parents took care of just about everything, and your test scores were sufficient to put you ahead so you won’t have to repeat your sophomore year, which I’m guessing was a relief.”

“Oh, it so was. I wasn’t looking forward to having to do that year again. I would have been bored to death.”

“You should be good to go, and good luck to you this year.”

Shaking her hand, I thanked her. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Kaufman.”

I found Tracy by my locker. I had the same one as last year, so that much was the same. We were just having a good time talking about the coming day when I was interrupted by a vicious pinch on my bottom. I screamed and spun around. “OWWWW! What the heck?”

I didn’t have to look far for the culprit. My old friend Bob Franklin was standing there with a stupid looking grin on his face. “So Braddock, was I so scary that you had to resort to changing sexes to avoid taking me on?”

Tracy stepped in immediately. “No, you jackass, she was so ashamed that you were a male that she renounced her sex to avoid being lumped in with a complete ass clown like you.”

The kids in the hall laughed at that one. Bob didn’t know what to say. He was, after all a moron.

“I should go to the principal right now and turn you in for harassment! Don’t ever touch me again, you miserable creep” I shrieked, making as much noise as possible to maximize his torture.

Tracy joined in the fray. “God! You are such a complete waste of humanity, pervert!”

He was beginning to realize he was overmatched. “You bitches are all alike…”

He backed into Mr. Donaldson, the football coach, who grabbed him by the shoulder. “Now that’s not nice, Mr. Franklin. Apologize to the young ladies.” Bob winced as Mr. Donaldson applied pressure to his shoulder pressure point.

“But Coach, Braddock isn’t…”

“Isn’t what, Mr. Franklin? Happy to be groped in the hall? I suspect not. Apologize, Mr. Franklin.”

“I’m sorry, I won’t bother you again” he said quietly.

“Good boy, Bob, now go away.”

Bob left and I went to Mr. Donaldson. “Thank you, sir. I don’t know what got into him.”

“You’re welcome, Betsy. I think it’s a shame what happened to you, and I’m glad you’re making the best of it.”

Looking up at him, I replied, “It’s really not bad, Mr. Donaldson. I enjoy my life now. It’s like my old life was just a dream.”

Looking somewhat surprised, he asked “What do you mean?”

“My brain is completely different as a result of my change. The doctors said my…my electrical thingies?”

“Synapses?”

“Yes! Synapses! They were completely rewired, and the hormones and chemicals did the rest. I think it was a blessing, truthfully. I would have hated to be a boy trapped in this body. That would have been terrible.”
He nodded his head. “I can imagine. Well, you have a great day, Betsy.”

I probed his thoughts. Poor kid, can’t admit the truth. Must be miserable.

Whatever, I thought. I was happy, and that was all that mattered.

This was going to be wonderful…NOT!

My first day was surprisingly without incident. Most of the kids just accepted me for who I was. That was a big relief. I only had to modify the thoughts of one particular individual, who shall remain nameless. He had a thing for girls with something “extra”, and he thought I was one. I gave him a little suggestion to avoid me at all costs.

I went to Ozawa’s Dojo after school. Sensei Ozawa was glad to see me, and bowed to me. I returned the bow and followed him to his office. It was decorated with several beautiful bonsai trees. It was evidently a hobby of his.

Sitting at his desk, he motioned for me to sit as well.

“Tea?” he offered.

“Yes, please”

He poured the fragrant liquid for me and himself. We sat there in silence for a few moments, savoring the tea. Finally, he spoke.

“I sense you have much power, Betsy. You channel power not from this world.”

I almost spit my tea on the floor. “W-what? How did you know?”

He gave me a slight bow. “I am not without talents myself, young one. I sensed great potential in you from the first day you walked into my dojo. I have been waiting for you to bloom for years, and now you have. It is time for you to learn to control and use your gift. And I am here to guide you. If you want to learn, I will teach you.”

“But, how do you know these things? I haven’t told anyone.”

He tented his hands in front of his chin. “As I have told you, I am not without my gifts. I have been called many things, many names. My gifts lie with magic and the mind. Your power is of the mind. Your source is of the shadow world.”

That was too weird. “The shadow world? As in Shadow King?”

This registered on his face “You know of this one? The ruler of that world?”

“I accidentally contacted him when I was practicing with my powers. He’s bad, right?”
“Yes, child, he is. But you have the means to defeat him. You must simply learn to channel what you have.” He paused, taking another sip of his tea. “Will you submit to my teaching?”

“Yes, sensei, I will”

He clapped his hands. “Good! Finish your tea. We begin today.”

What had I let myself in for? This couldn’t be good.

~o~O~o~

Amahl Farouk found who he was looking for. Elizabeth Braddock. Living in the Detroit, Michigan area, specifically Ann Arbor.
She was a recently emerged Metahuman. This would be great sport. But he couldn’t just kill her. No, that wouldn’t do at all. He must torture her first. Take away all she holds dear, then finish her himself. But how? What would be the best way? He wouldn’t get his hands dirty yet. He had associates for that. Men and women who hadn’t been unleashed on the world yet. He had paid them well to stay invisible. This would be a job for one of them. Yes. This would be a job for one in particular. And he knew how to help him.

He paged his secretary. “Malik, get me Cain Marko. I need him here as soon as possible.”

His laughter echoed through the halls.