Chapter 16

Tuesday. Heather was the first.

While Melinda was in the shower, Heather pulled the blankets and sheets from Melinda's bed. She took Melinda's clothes from the dresser and dumped them on the floor. She then made sure her mother knew that Melinda had not picked up her part of the room. Melinda was not allowed to leave the house until she cleaned up the mess.

When it looked like Richie was going to get there just ahead of her, she picked up a rock and threw it at him. It hit him on the calf and made him stumble just enough for her to overtake him.

That day, she took Jason for her own pleasure, and made Richie fuck Melinda senseless.

Wednesday. Richie was next.

He placed an anonymous call to the Haven police department claiming a child was being beaten up by her parents at the Sovert household. The police took a better part of an hour to be convinced by repeated statements from both the parents and children that no abuse was taking place.

When Richie saw Jason reach the intersection first, he gave chase and tackled Jason just short the gate, giving Jason a vicious punch to the gut before heading inside.

That day, Richie made Heather and Melinda sixty-nine the entire time, with occasional pauses to suck him off. He made Jason just stand off to the side and masturbate.

Thursday. Jason succumbed next.

Under the cover of darkness, he crept into his parents room and took the modem back. After hooking it up, he broke into the computer system of a local landscaping company and altered their schedule. Their first job was now tearing up the front yard of Richie's house bright and early at seven in the morning. He then broke into the Haven Water and Sewer department computer and convinced it that the Soverts were three months behind in their water bill. Someone would be over at six to dutifully turn off their water.

So as Richie was forced to help his mother deal with backhoes and bulldozers overrunning their yard and driveway, and Melinda and Heather had to deal with no water for a shower until the parents convinced the water company to turn the water back on, it allowed him to make it to the house first.

Jason decided to show how "responsible" he could be with the power, and made no one do anything particularly embarrassing. But he did keep Melinda extremely horny the entire time without allowing her to so much as touch herself for relief. Just to even the score with her for Monday, that's all.

Friday. Melinda has her turn again.

Melinda had no elaborate plan. She simply sneaked out of the house while it was still dark, leaving behind a note for Heather. In the note, Melinda offered a deal: she would go easy on her big sister that day if Heather covered for her with Mom for leaving the house early.

Unfortunately for Jason, Melinda did not see the day before as merely a means to "even the score". She did to him and Richie what Jason had begged her not to do on Monday. Despite the fact that she limited it to using their hands, they were not at all pleased. Neither was Heather, as she was made to lick Melinda's pussy the whole time. Melinda dismissed Heather's complaints afterward. After all, Heather had said she liked it anyway, so what was the big deal?

And Melinda was not at all grossed out watching Jason and Richie.

Friday night.

Jason lay on his bed, brooding. Darkness slowly settled on the room as the sun went down, until the computer monitor was the brightest light in the room.

He had his internet back. He never put the modem back in his mother's dresser after he had used it earlier in the week. When his mother had tried to take it back, he had pushed at her with the power and forced her to relent. He had control of her for no more than a minute, just long enough to make her change her mind. When he had released her, however, she had backed away from him with a frightened look on her face.

She avoided any contact with him ever since.

He could not get out of his head what Melinda had made him do. It didn't matter to him that it was really similar to what Richie had made Melinda and Heather do, or that it could have been worse (she could have made them do exactly what Melinda and Heather had). Like a lot of boys his age, he considered it to be "different". It was okay for girls to go at it. But not boys. That's "different". Girls that did it were "hot"; boys that did it were "fags".

He had spent several hours now trying to devise a scheme for getting to the house first, but was not having much luck. The house had been right. He was the only one that could handle the power. He was the only one that would not abuse it.

There was a soft knock on his door. Surprised at this, he didn't reply at first until the knock came again, more insistent. "Uh, come in."

Jason's father open the door and stepped quietly inside, his face drawn and somber. Jason sat up quickly. "Dad? What are you doing home? I thought you were on call."

"I had someone cover for me," he said in a soft but crisp voice, closing the door behind him. "I need to talk to you."

Jason tensed, but otherwise did not react.

Henry stepped over to the bed. "Your mother is very upset, Jason. You know anything about it?"

"Uh... well, we've, uh, not exactly seen eye-to-eye the last few days, Dad," Jason admitted sheepishly, though he was sure he was not telling his father anything the man did not already know.

"This goes beyond that. Something badly frightened her yesterday, and she's still upset by it."

Jason said nothing.

"I can't get Audrey to talk about it without her breaking down into tears."

Jason bit his lip. "I, uh, didn't know that," he said flatly.

Henry's face hardened. "Jason, if you know what's going on, I want you tell me. Now."

Jason's mind raced. "Well... we argued about the internet."

"Yes, you connected it back up again without permission."

"I'm sorry. But... but I worked it out with her."

Henry regarded his son with an even gaze for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was short. "Jason, I don't like leaving the office in the middle of important work. So I don't expect to stand here and have you refuse to tell me what's going on when I ask it of you."

Jason's heart pounded. "I know, Dad," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. He did not want to use it again. He hadn't wanted to use it on Mom. Now he felt a twinge of guilt over that, though not nearly as much as he might have felt at the time he did it.

It was getting easier for him to wield. First he stopped second-guessing it beforehand. Now the sting of actually using it was wearing off. He was more afraid of getting in trouble for it than anything else.

Henry continued to look at him expectantly.

"Dad, I really don't have anything else to tell you. I swear, I don't. I mean, yeah, she looked really upset after we argued about it, but..."

"What did she tell you during your argument?"

"That, uh, I could keep the internet on."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why, Jason? Why did she say that? She had no intention of letting you have it back before that, and I sincerely doubt she would let you have it back after you stole it back from..."

"I didn't steal it!" Jason objected.

"Don't talk back to me, Jason," Henry said, his voice rising, his eyes cold. "Now, I let Audrey handle these things because I know I'm not at home as often as she would like."

Jason bristled a little as he detected in his father's tone of voice that this actually suited the man just fine.

"But something strange is going on around here when she decides to let you have it back after you disobeyed her."

Jason sighed in exasperation and just shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. She let me have it back. End of story."

Accept that, dammit, Jason thought vehemently, though he stopped just short of trying to use the power on him. Yet he was close to doing so. He already knew he was being more sharp with his father than he ever had been.

It didn't matter. He always had the power to fall back on if his father got too pissed.

I'll do it, Dad, he thought vehemently. Don't push me. I won't let you stop me. I'll do it.

"And what if I chose to take it away from you again?"

"But... you won't," he said in a small voice. "Right?"

Henry paused, his gaze still even and steady. Finally, he sighed through his nose. "No, I won't," he said quietly.

As Jason looked at his father's face now, he thought he saw fear flicker in them for a brief instant.

"Jason, it's very unlike you to disobey your mother so much. This has to stop. I can't be home to referee arguments between you and her."

Now Jason could hear it in his voice. The man was afraid of him! Jason was at once elated and haunted by this idea. "So... is that it?"

"Yes, I suppose it will have to be," Henry said neutrally. He turned towards the door.

"Dad, wait!"

Henry stopped and turned, silently regarding his son.

"I need to ask you something." Jason paused. When his father did not object, he continued. "What exactly do you do over at the hospital? Does Haven really have that many neurological patients?"

Henry paused a long moment. "Research, Jason," he said in a low voice.

"Research? On what?"

"How certain brain disorders and procedures can affect behavior and personality. I, uh, can't tell you any more details than that," Henry said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Non-disclosure, legal stuff like that, you see."

Jason nodded slowly.

Henry turned away. "Remember what I told you, son. I don't want to have to talk to you about this again."

"Okay, Dad."

Jason watched him go.

After the door closed, Jason rubbed at his face and uttered an exasperated sigh. Behavior and personality research. Was his father recognizing what Jason had done to his mother? Or was he just guessing?

But did it really matter? His father wasn't immune to the power. Jason could keep his father at bay if he needed to do so. He'd only use the power when he needed it. He didn't want to control someone...

(then she never wanted to get away)

... all the time. Just a little here and there...

(Easier to stay... Easier to cope)

... or... or maybe... maybe keeping someone under longer was better. Not for too long. Maybe those brief little bursts were bad, but keeping it longer was okay. After all, people get used to things eventually, right? And Jason knew not to abuse it. Who better than Mara would know that?

(that's when Mara Lake died)

Jason shuddered and turned over onto his side, and tried to think about something else for awhile.

Sandra fought to quell the rising tide of depression that began to surge shortly after she finished her meal, when the controlling fog slowly lifted from her mind. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and to stop herself from sobbing. She looked at her son as he finished up his own meal.

"Um, Richie?" Sandra asked tentatively.

Richie looked up. His face was still sullen and angry. "Yeah?"

Sandra swallowed. "I'd... I'd like to go out tonight."

Richie paused. "Oh yeah?" he asked with a small smirk. "Do tell."