Distilled Thoughts of a Dangerous Mind

The average person uses only about ten percent of their mind. Many of wondered what would happen if we learned to control the rest of the brain voluntarily. Some say the ancients were in touch with the powers of the mind we have forgotten to use. Maybe not everyone forgot...

James was a normal student at a university he rather not have came across. He hated his classes even though he chose them. He hated his professors and teachers. Most of all, he hated being unnoticed by everyone. Well, maybe not everyone. John had been his friend for a long time and didn't ever think of ruining their friendship just for some attention so it was at least bearable.

It was eight o'clock. The alarm clock was sending its piercing ring through James' room. He had thirty minutes to fix himself up and get to class. He was always late and wondered why he never bothered to set the alarm a little earlier. Luckily, he was good at sneaking in and since his teachers didn't care or even notice he was off the hook. James opened his eyes and slapped the clock tot he floor causing the alarm to stop. He was always tired and debated of whether or not to go to class today. It wouldn't matter if he didn't. Teacher never took any role or noted anyone absent, and John would be there taking notes for him. He couldn't do that. He rather not have his friend doing notes for him like that.

Groaning and sighing, James pushed himself up and sat the edge of his bed. Different sounds began making their distinction in his mind now. He grumbled and took in a deep breath then exhaled and finally stood up. The air felt stale and cold but it welcomed him none the less. His dorm was the size of any other, which usually meant it was tiny as hell but since he had no roommate it was accomdating. James ruffled his dirty blonde hair and walked into the bathroom clicking on the light. He didn't look like he should be up at all but then again, he always looked like that. Some clothes were in the middle of his floor but that was fine. He only did his laundry on weekends. He glanced the clock on his floor and read the numbers to himself, "Eight fifteen...shit." Time always seemed to be running low when he needed it.

Looking for his toothbrush he grabbed his glass and filled it with water as part of his normal routine. He'd left the toothbrush right on the sink but now it looked like someone might have taken it. That's all he needed; some dumbass stealing his things when he's sleeping. It happened to most of the students and he wouldn't be surprised if it happened to him too. Who would want a used toothbrush? Tired and now agrivated, he closes the door to the bathroom and locks it so he can take his shower with peace at mind.

He was late again. As if that was going to suddenly change. He cracked the door open a bit and peeked inside. The teacher was rambling while scribbling something on the board. It sounded like sixth grade history. James opened the door just enough for his body slide through and closed it without a sound. John was sitting in the back as usual and signaled for him. James crouched a bit and hurried his way next to John then set his notebook down and opened it as if to look like he'd been there the whole time.

"Will you ever be on time?" John whispered to him. James grinned and shook his head then replied, "Not unless something happens before eight." John grabbed some papers and set them on James' desk then continued to scribble down some notes. James looked at the papers and sighed. It was the notes he missed. He picked them up and looked over them then handed them back to John. "I rather not use you as my friend. I was late, it was my fault so you don't need to watch out for me. Whatever notes I miss I'll just hope I know them," James said. John raised an eyebrow and looked at him. The long moment of silence seemed out of place then James noticed the teacher had stopped rambling and went back to her desk. They had both missed the assignment.

James was beyond relieved to get out of the class. John seemed to act the same way. It was mid-day and neither of them wanted to look at the time for a while. John was thinking of asking out Sabrina again even though he's been shot down every time. James couldn't help but laugh at that. "You must really love her or something," he said. John grinned and replied, "Yea, something." James yawned and cringed as his stomach made a slight rumble. John blinked and looked at James uneasily, "You gonna be all right?" James nodded and looked around, "Just extremely hungry...let's get a bite to eat." John nodded in agreement as they walked towards the nearest restaurant.

"So, do you believe in what the teacher said?" John asked out of nowhere. James looked at him confused in response. John took the hint and repeated what he had heard earlier, "The average person uses around only ten percent of their brain. You think it's true?" James took a moment to think about this. If people only did use ten percent of their brain then what exactly did the other ninety percent hold? James scratched his head and looked at John, "I'm not sure...I mean, what happens to the rest of our brain if we don't use it?" John shrugged, obviously not knowing the answer and now more hungry than when they started the conversation. James pointed to the Burger King straight ahead and looked at John, "Want to eat there or walk a little bit more and get something at Kentucky Fried?" "Here is fine for me, no need to walk longer for food I don't need right now," John replied.

Burger King was their usual place to eat but they never decided to eat at one place for a whole week. James stepped inside and already knew what he was going to order and just waited for John to make up his mind. John was looking the menu over every time they came in even though he ordered the same thing all the time. John finally decided on what he wanted and ordered. James told the guy at the counter what he wanted and to put it on one receipt. The guy punched in the numbers and handed them each their own cups for their choice of beverage at the machine. James grabbed the tiny piece of paper with their number on it for their orders then stuffed it in his pocket remembering that they were order number eight. He then took his cup to the machine and pushed the button for Pepsi with his cup under the nozzle. Satisfied with the amount of cola he steps aside and takes a sip as John fills his cup. "Dammit, I forgot ice!" James mutters to himself. Finding it easier than splashing the cola all over the place he pushes the button for the ice and grabs a few pieces that fall then puts them in his drink. Taking another sip, he looks around for a place to sit and notices there are more people in here than usual but that was fine since they could walk back to his dorm and eat there while watching a movie or something.

James didn't hear John speaking to him as he turned around and collided with him. The drink slipped out of James' hand and fell to the floor as he reached his hand out in a hopeless attempt to catch it. He froze. The drink had spilled out but the cup was still airborne. He wasn't touching it and John noticed immediately something wasn't right. James dropped his hand and watched the cup fall to the ground just as if he had dropped it. Most of the people were now looking in their direction but not from the spectacle with the cup but more of how much cola he had spilled on the floor. James bent over and grabbed the cup then looked it over as the guy called out their order number. How did that happen? James couldn't find out how the cup had stopped in the air. He looked for spider webs or some other explanation but found none. John had grabbed their food and was now looking between the cup in James' hand and James himself. "How did...," John began but couldn't find out a way to finish it. James shook his head and shrugged. "I'll refill my drink and we'll discuss it at my dorm. They can clean this up," James said. John felt a little bad about just leaving the mess but then again, it was their job to keep the place clean. Besides, there were other things they needed to do. More strange things.

The way back to the dorm was silent between the two. James had nearly dropped the cup again from not watching where he was going a few times. John was deep in thought about how he could've seen something like that. Their next class was in a couple of hours which gave them a good amount of time they could use to figure out what had happened. James was in his own world when John broke the silence between them by saying, "You ever heard of some kind of power called psionics?" James thought for a moment and shook his head, "Nope. What is it?" John took a moment to think of how phrase it. "Well, it's like using your mind to move objects or other things of that nature," he explained. "What about telekinesis? You heard of that?" John asked. James shook his head again, this time while John was looking at him. "I read about it somewhere once and it said that it had something to do with being able to move objects with only your mind and even the most skilled with that ability have a hard time doing it." James waved his hands around, "Whoa! Wait a second! There are other people that can do what I just did but better?" John nodded and continued, "Yea, but the thing is you don't hear from those people after they've been known for what they can do. It's probably some high security government thing but then again it's probably not. I think it's best we don't discuss this in public and don't even try to make things move unless you're alone." James sighed and nodded, "Yea, yea, I hear ya. How about you just go back to your dorm and search up more about this...uh...'ability' and take some notes on it then show them to me in our next class." John blinked and smiled, "That's a pretty good idea! Let me have my burger and I'll be on my way!"

It was only an hour ago since James had stopped the cup in the air and now he was sitting his dorm staring at the same cup. He was trying to move it once more but he decided to only try after he'd drank the contents it held. He couldn't figure it out. He wasn't even thinking when the cup fell except for it not to fall. Maybe that was the trick. James focused his eyes on the cup and put each hand on either side of the cup without touching it. "Move," he said, to nobody in particular. It didn't budge. James narrowed his eyes and acted as if pulling the cup towards him, "Move!" Nothing happened. He didn't get it, he tried everything he could think of to try and make it move in one direction or another. Everything he's tried was a failed attempt. He hoped John was getting somewhere with his research on those psionic powers he was talking about.

It was still a while before class and James decided to try again and again until he was too tired of trying. He placed his hands a foot away from the cup on each side and took a deep breath. This was a new attempt, maybe it would work. James stared at the cup and began think of it moving to his right hand. He strained a little harder and noticed he was getting a small case of tunnel vision from staring at the cup so hard. The next thing he knew the cup slid across his desk and went right into his right hand. James gasped and backed away from the desk then stood up and looked at his hand. His tunnel vision had went away and there were no marks on him or any type of string that may have accidentally found its way around his fingers or the cup either. The cup was the same normal cup and there was nothing new about it except its change in areas on his desk.

John was probably still checking out what he could find on his computer so it was best not disturb him now. James looked at the cup and wondered exactly how close he had to be to move it. Having a power like this might prove useful one day. He outstretched his right arm and opened his fingers towards the cup which was about five feet away from him now. Who knew, maybe he be looked upon as some sort of leader. Now he was just fantasizing. He repeated everything he did last time and starting thinking of the cup once more.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! There was a loud knock on the door which caused James to jump. Some idiot probably has the wrong dorm again. Aggrivated, he turns around and walks to the door then cracks it open a bit, not to keep them from seeing inside but more as a way of saying they weren't wanted inside. "What is it?" James asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. A tall male was almost towering over him. He seemed like a giant compared to everyone. "Uh...is there an extra mattress in your room I can borrow?" the guy asked. James growled, "No, now go away." He tried closing the door but apparently the guy's fingers were faster than him and the door failed to connect with the frame. "Are you sure?" the guy asked again. "Yes, I'm sure, now go away before I get pissed," James said. He was already pissed, he just needed the other guy to know. The guy stood there for what seemed to be an eternity with his fingers still between James' door and the wall then he finally lowered his hand and shrugged, "I guess that's fine." James didn't even bother to say "bye" or anything and slammed the door shut as hard as he could. The walls shook slightly but that was it. He turned his attention back to the cup and raised his arm once more. He tried concentrating on it but the anger inside him kept boiling and heating up. It made him so mad that some random dumbass would just ask for a spare bed, as if anyone had a spare to hand over. He stared at the cup and felt his upper lip twitch then the next thing he knew, the cup had suddenly burst into flames. James blinked and walked over to the still flaming cup trying to examine it. It wasn't anywhere near warm in his room and the cup made of some hardened plastic. James grabbed the blanket off his bed and threw it on top of his desk to smother the flames. After a few moments he lifted the blanket and looked at the remains of the cup. It was charred and warped with drips of dried plastic on the desk as well. How could there be that much heat in such a smal amount of time? Did he do it? James put the covers back on his bed and sat down in his chair staring at the cup and deciding to just wait until his next class before he tries anything else.

John was in class way before James was, which was normal, but as James came in he didn't bother to sneak in at all. He just walked straight over to John and sat down as the professor stared at him the whole time. "Good for you to join us at this time," the professor said. James nodded and didn't say anything. The class finally resumed its routine schedule after the professor had turned back to the board and began scribbling down notes.

John couldn't wait to tell James about what he had found. He opened his backpack and pulled out a few pages with various information covering each one. James took it and looked at the names of all the powers then read the descriptions while the professor rambled on about something he didn't care for. "So, did you found out anything else by yourself?" John asked in a whisper. James flipped a couple pages then set them down and looked at John. "I learned that if I don't control my powers something bad could happen soon," he replied and turned back to reading the pages John gave him. John was a little mythed at this and didn't know what to say next. He decided to let James read the papers and they'd talk after the class was over.

James read through the descriptions it gave of telekinesis. Some of it was right but the rest was just a load of crap. The tunnel vision thing was true, he just never noticed it the first time. Having to concentrate was true and exceptionally hard. Saying words and trying to get the object to move was completely false. He flipped the page and skimmed through the descriptions of pyrokinesis. This must've been what happened last time. It was a strange power and a very uncommon one. It could be accessed in various ways as well. Anger, fear, concentration. That was something he'd need to control more than anything. There were also some various powers he didn't quite see eye to eye with. Astral travel or remote viewing where the person can over a huge distance by staying in one spot. Something about being able to turn invisible and even a doppleganger technique that sounded interesting. The only way he'd be able to control his powers is if he practiced harder on them. After all, practice makes perfect, right?

James put his pencil down on the desk and hovered his hands over it slightly. He may not know how to keep making something move but even a little is good enough. He stared at the pencil and acted as if he was spinning it slowly and, amazingly, the pencil did the same. John must've noticed this for he was now staring at the moving pencil on James' desk. It didn't slow down or even speed up but it kept spinning until James moved his hands away. Almost like he shut it off. John was now too involved with how James did that to even think about listening to the professor. James thought about making another fire but that'd be getting himself into bigger trouble than he wanted so he decided to just practice on his telekinesis for the time being. The rest of the class was very interesting to say the least. James made four people's pencils fly off of their desks from across the room and even tipped the professor's mug over. Maybe he was already learning to control this new power of his. He still felt like he had to try something bigger, something harder for a person to lift even with their hands. John was now reading back over the notes he'd given James to see how much he could figure out. "Let's go to the parking lot after class," suggested James. John looked at him confused and shrugged, "I guess that's O.K."

James rubbed his head and looked for an old crappy car that might suit his purposes. John was following right behind him and skimming through the same note as before. There were a few cars for him to choose from near the end of the lot and he happily chose the closest. John lowered the notes and watched James closely then adjusted his glasses on his nose slightly. The car was a Ford and James had always secretly disliked them for they always broke down on him no matter what. He lifted his hands and held them out in front of him looking as if he'd push the car over standing eight feet away from it. That was the idea he was thinking of. "Whoever's car this was they better hurry and drive it away before I do this!" James joked then lowered his head and began forcing himself to concentrate. John took a step back and watched as the car slowly began to lift from the side James was at. The car kept lifting until it rolled over itself making a horrible grinding noise and James leaned back as the car rolled back over and onto its tires. The glass was shattered now and the roof of the car was scratched and dented too.

The owner of the car was going to be pissed at who did this to their car. John knew that much but he didn't know exactly what James was wanting to do next. "Now watch this!" James said and gritted his teeth then jerked a bit as the interior of the car began to smoke then violently burst into flames. Smoke was billowing out of the small car at a huge rate and John was now worried that someone might come by and spot them here knowing what happened. James was grinning as the bright orange and red light shined upon him. There was an explosion from the front of the car and John tripped backwards over himself. James wasn't being careful at all. He moved closer to the car and melted the tires in the process. The flames looked like they were going around him and not even touching him at all. John lifted the notes and began reading through what he could before the pages ignited in his hands and fell to ashes quicker than he thought possible. James looked sternly at him and walked right up to him, "We don't need notes anymore..." John blinked and looked at his hand which wasn't burnt at all but he had felt the heat from the notes going up in flames.

James quickly died the flames out and grabbed John by the arm then almost dragged him back to the dorm. John was more than frightened now if James could cause the car to catch fire that easily and even blow the engine. Nobody gave them a glance on their way to James' room. They were all curious as to what the smoke was from now. Once they got in James sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. "It's starting to hurt when I use the powers now," he said and began holding his head. John looked at him and noticed a small trickle of blood going down his chin from his nose. James must've just noticed it as he wiped it away with his arm. After a few minutes James stood up and walked to the bathroom to get a drink. John looked around the room and noticed the cup that was the cause of all this now melted and deformed. He'd somehow tapped into pyrokinesis shortly after the incident. James stumbled out of the bathroom and almost collapsed onto his bed apparently exhausted. John wondered how much a psychic power could wear down a person after its use and decided to just ignore the question. "You need some rest. I'll be back tomorrow and we'll talk about the fire," John said and turned the walked out of James' dorm leaving him there to sleep and regain his strength. James had other plans instead of talking tomorrow.

The next day came quickly enough for John. Everyone on campus was talking about the strange fire from the car. Nobody knew who it was or even how it got started. That was good. John didn't want James to use his powers anymore, they'd cause more damage than anything else if he kept it up. John came to James' dorm room and knocked on the door, "James? You in there?" He waited a few minutes before he knocked again, this time a bit harder. "James! Wake up! You missed the first class completely!" John yelled. There was still no answer. Maybe he wasn't there. John shrugged to himself and began walking away when a loud crash echoed through the hall and sent wooden pieces everywhere. John dove to the ground and looked back behind to see that James' door had broken itself off the hinges and slammed into the wall at an extremely deadly speed. The fear in John set in again and he quickly rose to his feet. He had hoped this wouldn't have happened. He should've told James about it. About the people who use their powers too much and either die or can't control them in the least unless put on some special kind of medication. It wasn't any kind of normal method of getting them to take it either. It was some unknown drug that was used very secretly and no pharmacist had ever heard of it either. John had done extensive research to find out as much as he could and there was nothing more on it.

The door pulled itself free of the wall and hovered in the air in front of John and now several other people. Without warning, the door went horizontal and shot the opposite way of John and slamming into a few people until connecting them with the wall. James stepped out of his room and leaned against the door frame looking like he was in extreme pain or very pissed off. The people that were crushed by the door and wall weren't moving at all and John took a few steps back as James stepped into the hallway. John was about to say something when James just looked at him and sent him flying down the hall causing the back of his head to meet with somebody's face. Both of them went down without a delay. James grabbed his head and cringed in pain as he felt a massive headache tear through his brain. He dropped to his knees and screamed as the headache continued. As it continued, the walls around him began to curve and crack inwards as if a big invisible bubble was pushing on them. The floor did the same as James screamed causing him to sink down slightly then suddenly it was all quiet.

James stood up and breathed heavily as he noticed what had happened around him. There was so much power in him. He felt it and knew he was power hungry but that wouldn't stop him. He looked at the nearest person, which happened to be the same guy who asked for a spare mattress the other day, and just grinned. "What? You think you can scare me with those cheap tricks?!" the guy called out. James narrowed his eyes and watched as the guy spontaniously burst into flames burning away at his insides at an incredible speed. The man went screaming to the floor and stopped moving soon after. James swiped his hand behind him in the air setting the hallway aflame to keep any person from interfering with his take over. Some policeman must've seen the rukus from outside since he heard the sirens already. The sprinkler system activated shortly after and James put up his own heat barrier causing the water to hiss away and steam the place up. He needed to get out before he accidentally killed himself.

Outside, the cop had gotten out of his car and was radioing in for some help when the wall blew open sending bricks and debris everywhere. The car was taking all the hits luckily, until a stray brick found its way into the cop's chest sending back quite a few yards. James stepped out of the hole and looked around for something to use his powers on. Something that would show how powerful he was. The part of his brain where his powers had been locked away had now completely taken him over. The cop coughed up some blood and rolled over on his side catching James' attention. He grinned and lifted the cop into the air then pulled him over the car in mid-air and slammed him down onto it sending glass out that hadn't been smashed by the bricks and crushing the roof of the car down to the floor. The car was now curved up into a strange "V" shape with the cop now in the pit of it. Something in James' brain begged for more. He looked around and saw that there were now a couple more police cars heading his way as well as a fire truck.

James quickly ran into the middle of the street and held out his arms causing the cars and truck to come to a dead stop jerking the people inside. With ease he chooses a random car and watches it explode into a fireball of twisted metal and debris at the blink of an eye. The other wanted out now. James couldn't have that. He quickly locked the doors and shut the open ones crushing one cop's hand. Another sound caught his ears now. It was some other vehicle behind him. He took a quick glance and noticed it was some random civilian swerving straight towards him. They thought they would be a hero. James let them come at him and grinned then jerked his head forward causing them to speed up and slam straight into him. James didn't move from his position. The car collided as if it had hit a wall, crumpling and crushing in on itself. James looked at the distance between him and the car and noticed it was only an inch away. He quickly turned his attention back to the police cars and chose yet another one to destroy.

He slowly curled his fingers in his palm making a fist and at the same time watched the car crush itself in. They were all using the radio now. James watched patiently until they were finished then caused each radio to crumble itself. This bored him now. He lifted his hands to the air and sent the rest of the cars and the truck up into the air only to have a horrible landing. A few crashed into the campus behind him while the others landed nearby not leaving a survivor in any of them. A shot rang loud in the air through all the metal being crushed and James knew what it was all too late. The bullet zipped through the air and cut into his leg spraying blood behind him. The pain was all too real for him. James collapsed and held his leg then focused on the wound. He quickly cauterized it with help from his pyrokinesis and turned his head to see who had shot him. It was John. He had found the cop's gun from the early vehicle. He was also bleeding a bit on the back of his neck.

John wasn't sure what had got over him but he wasn't going to let James kill anymore people. He squeezed the trigger and fired another shot only to have the bullet stop mere inches from James' head. He fired a few more and watched each one stop before they hit and then turn a bright orange as if being heated up. John knew what was going to happen and ducked too late as the bullets ripped back through the air at twice the speed they were fired from. One bullet cut through his arm and another through his leg. He was in too much shock to notice the pain right away and aimed the gun once more at James. James narrowed his eyes and bent the barrel of the gun around then crushed it closed.

More cars were heading near him. James heard them well before he saw them. Some were vans this time. They stopped a ways back before getting too close to him and groups of men in armor and shields piled out of the vans. James smirked and walked towards the group of men that acted ready to take him on. This was going to be too easy. Suddenly a burst of fire from their guns appeared and James lowered his head as every bullet stopped in front of him. He wasn't about to be shot again. After they stopped he lifted his head and sent the bullets right back to their hosts taking out a few of the men instantly. He heated the shields of the others causing them to drop the big hunk of metal with a loud clang. John ran up behind James and reeled his arm back to use the gun he had as a melee weapon on ly to be thrown back and hit a tree hard enough to knock him out.

James lifted his right leg and slammed his foot against the ground sending a massive energy towards the group of men in armor and erupting it beneath their feet. Heated asphault and rock shot up into the air like lava taking out the rest of the men. Something hit his shoulder. James looked at saw a dart embedded into his skin already injecting its contents into his bloodstream. He reached up to pull it out when another nailed him in the small of his back. His power was fading. For the first time he felt the blood underneath his nose and right before he blacked out he realized there was blood comign from his eyes as well.

James awoke in a white padded room with one door covered in the same padding with a tiny glass visor near the top. He was weak. Something had drained his power almost completely. He was back to his original senses again. He could think for himself once more. As he stood up he noticed he was wearing white patient scrubs too. Was this some kind of sick joke? A voice came from within the walls. There must've been speakers under them. "Ah! You're awake!" the voice said. James was still dizzy and weak but needed answers. "Where am I?" he asked. The voice was all too happy to answer him, "You're in our private facility for the specially gifted! You're here because we heard a police transmission of some kid being able to stop cars and lift them up and all sorts of shit. It wa for the best that we put you down." James shook his head not able to comprehend much. "We injected you with a special chemical that stabilizes brain waves and numbs down your body completely...like a tranquilizer for your powers," the voice continued. "We were lucky to have our snipers hit you from the distance we were at. I was afraid you had caused too much damage and let too many people see you use those powers." James looked through the glass visor and into a white hallway with other doors just like his lining the walls. "You won't be going outside anytime soon," the voice said. They must have had cameras in here as well. James pounded on the door and tried forcing it open with his mind but only the padding had made an impression.

"My staff will be looking after you to see you're taken care of properly and don't even think about escaping. We have so much security in this place I can't even remember most of it," the voice told. James listened and tried setting the door on fire but it was quickly snuffed out. The door must've been made of some special material to keep people with his powers in. "What about my parents and friends? They'll notice I've been gone a while if you don't let me out!" James exclaimed. "We know. We've already taken care of that. According to them, you died in a car accident not too long ago. Guess which car it was." James shrugged. "You remember that car that seemed to have hit you?" the voice asked. "So I died in a car that looks like it hit nothing?" James asked back. "Not exactly, before reporters and news crews came we arranged your destruction to it's appropriate accident. You came into a head-on collision with a police car causing a massive pile up and sending other cars into the campus you went to," explained the voice.

"John saw more than anyone and knows about these powers though." There was no answer. "Did you hear me?!" James yelled. "Yes, I heard you. Who is this John you mentioned? Did he go to the campus with you? Is he still alive?" James felt his heart stop at that last question. He isn't sure that John was alive or not. "I'm not answering questions! I don't know if he's alive or not though..." The voice seemed like he knew that was going to be James' answer and replied, "Oh, alright then. You better make yourself at home here because you'll never be leaving. Meet some new faces while you're at it. The one thing you don't want is to be lonely here...it's horrible to stay here and not make new friends." James shook his head and beat on the door as hard as he could. "You can't get out unless it's time for your meals. I guess I've given you a good summary of what goes on here, we make people like you understand and control their powers completely...but we never let them go."