Tiger Stripes and Lightening Strikes

26: Fallout

After her meltdown, Sebastian had ushered Santana and Mason back to his apartment. They sat in his tiny living room, dotted across the cramped couches. Thin, broken blinds were pulled down over the windows, not that there was anything other to see than alleyway beyond. A single lamp was lit in the corner of the room, filling it with yellowed light.

They were sitting in silence, their expressions grave with existential crisis. The only noise was the creaky floorboards of his upstairs neighbours and the distant wailing of city traffic. They'd been sitting like that for a while, each wrapped up in their own little worlds. Sebastian could practically see the distress buzzing out of them.

"What are we thinking?" Sebastian broke the silence. Their glassy stares lifted to him.

"It was Komodo Dragon venom that killed my grandpa," Santana whispered so softly he had to strain to hear her. "There were no signs of forced entry, according to the case report. He would have opened his door to me any day."

"We can't know for sure-,"

"You must be the Komodo dragon beast," Mason cut Sebastian off, his own expression blank with shock. "It's not a coincidence that both Santana and I can heal like this. Abilities we only discovered after the attacks began."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Sebastian warned him.

"We're the ones attacking our families," Mason's voice gained a tremble of emotion. "The beasts from the video, if we can completely rearrange our bodies to look like that, the it makes sense super healing would be a byproduct." He sat forwards in his seat, running a hand back over his short hair. "We're murderers."

"What?" Santana's voice cracked.

"Mason, slow down," Sebastian lifted placating hands. "What are you talking about."

"Can you heal too?" Mason blurted, turning to face Sebastian.

"No," Sebastian replied shortly. Mason ignored him, striding into the kitchen and rustling through the drawers. "Mason, tell us what you are thinking."

"It's not a coincidence that Santana and I can heal like we do," Mason repeated himself, rifling through all of the drawers and cabinets. "The creatures that have been acting like weapons of Jason's vengeance, the beasts, they must be able to rebuild their bodies rapidly to change shape. That's how they've been hiding."

"What?" Sebastian's face crumpled.

"We are the closest relatives of Diddy and Maxwell. I think somebody used us to get to them. It's why there was no forced entry," Mason continued his ramble. Santana scooted forwards, her complexion growing paler with every word he uttered.

"Dixon... his daughter hasn't been found yet," Santana murmured. "My grandfathers notes repeatedly highlighted that."

Mason paused, pointing a finger at her. "That must be it," he agreed. "She must be a beast too, but she was taken because she is young."

"Taken? Taken by who?" Sebastian asked. He could barely believe what he was seeing. Mason was ransacking his kitchen like a mad man in a dessert digging for water. All the cabinet doors and drawers were left ajar. "Mason-,"

"Found it," Mason straightened up, brandishing a glinting knife and turning to Sebastian. Sebastian was on his feet in seconds. "You must be able to heal like us to. You were the closest to your dad."

"I can't heal," Sebastian told them firmly.

Mason pushed the knife towards him. "Prove it." His stare was unwavering. There was no doubt. No uncertainty.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Sebastian took the knife. He placed the cool steel of the blade against the pad of his thumb. His heart rate sped up. Santana clambered to her feet, moving around to get a better view. With a flick of his wrist, Sebastian made a clean cut.