Tales Of The Telekinetic

Filming: "Musings From The Outsider"

When they were younger, Matt and Andrew were inseparable, cousins or not. Sure, Matt thought his older cousin was a little strange, but he ignored it, he loved Andrew too much to see his flaws. As the years went by, they slowly parted ways, Andrew wilting, and Matt growing stronger in their social lives. Matt envied Andrew's perfect grades, his seemingly perfect manners, the way he could blend in sometimes, sneak out of the picture. Andrew longed for Matt's social life, his confidence, even his philosophical humor that slightly annoyed everyone. Andrew wanted his Aunt and Uncle to take him in, to help his dying mother, to see the truth about his father. Matt knew nothing about Uncle Richard, only knew Aunt Karen had health issues and couldn't leave the house. Matt wanted Andrew to hang out with people more, hang out with him, ditch his secluded ways. He only saw his cousin as a burden, as a curse that everyone he hung out with could pick on him about. He never saw the hidden signs, and the very obvious ones that indicated abuse. 

When they got to the rave, Matt knew Andrew would only drag him down, hurt him, make him look like a joke. He wished he could change Andrew, go back in time and figure out how Andrew got to where he was at in his mind. Andrew held him back, limited Matt. He never knew that night that the roles were about to reverse. No one saw it coming, no one would've predicted it. 

After the rave, after they had all gone into the cave and had gotten powers, Matt felt heavier in a way he couldn't describe. Everything inside of him had changed, everything had shifted, built up, creating more pressure inside of his body and mind. It hurt, made him feel hated, made him feel like whatever was in him was rejecting his body, slowly destroying him. He hid the ongoing ache from Andrew and Steve, never said anything, never mentioned his soul feeling split open at night, the pain that only drugs could get rid of. He never told anyone why he broke his powers, why he did so many drugs, why he crashed down the path he did. He wanted them back now, craved the ache of whatever had been inside of him. 

Andrew said he had felt the opposite. Lighter, more free, more alive. Matt scoffed to himself when Andrew told him that, go figure his wallflower cousin would be more attracted to the alien bullshit that had been put inside their bodies, that made them SPECIAL. He felt jealous, depressed, angry. He didn't want Andrew to use his ability, not just because of the "Redneck Asshole" incident, but because of his own blind rage and his straight up jealousy. Matt had asked Steve how he felt after the rave, and Steve had said he felt quiet, like everything inside of him was still, unmoving. When he died, Matt was horrified at the connection, that those words, that feeling, had sealed Steve's fate. So now, in wake of this, he limited Andrew even more, yet tried to understand him and why he wouldn't talk about the night with Steve, the very last night with Steve. 

Andrew was an enigma Matt could never decipher, and that scared him. 

Andrew had never been easy to talk to, always quiet, wanting to be alone or just wanting to play video games in silence. With powers, he was more open, but it never fooled Matt, Andrew was still Andrew. 

The night of the Seattle incident, Matt's mind was opened to what Andrew had gone through. Uncle Richard turned into Asshole Richard, and Matt realized his mistakes had also been the cause of Andrew going over the edge. He was a ticking time bomb, and Matt had just made him explode. 

Andrew's death would forever haunt Matt for a number of reasons. 

One, it was his COUSIN he had killed, his older cousin. Two, Andrew shouldn't have gone that way, Matt should have helped him more instead of limiting him. And three, The strange ache in Matt's body was gone. There was no pain, no suffering. Just silence. Matt hated the silence. 

Afterwards, he spent eight years on the run, just trying to get by, accidentally becoming a hero in multiple European countries. He never went back to Seattle or Tibet, never brought up anything about his past, and he was a loner. He was like Andrew, running and running, trying to find a way to fit in, to blend in. He finally understood his cousin and his mysterious ways of life. 

For eight years, he was a nomad, never staying longer than two days in each place, flying away faster than light, sometimes even going into a state of hyperspace. He never thought about that word again, it reminded him too much of Andrew, of Steve, of home. He hated being filmed, would never take a picture, didn't really look at any kind of computer. 

In 2020, he walked into a small Chinese restaurant for dinner, making sure to keep himself invisible, unnoticed. Until, that is, he saw the TV. News from Seattle that the Apex Predator was alive and well. And he wasn't alone.

Matt was horrified to find the ache had returned, his brain in chaos, and he somehow was able to walk out and fly. He flew to Seattle and he saw Andrew. He also saw his new arch enemy, a man dressed in all black with a mask on, his suit half metal, half fabric. Matt tried to reason with a broken, newly resurrected Andrew, but nothing worked. However, he got a free lifetime stay at the giant building that the strange Man in black owned. 

Matt hated this Man with a passion. 

He was a wraith, a ghost, a figure of death in Matt's eyes, only capable of human destruction. Matt couldn't see the similarities between this Man and himself, how they both wore false masks at times, how they were interconnected. Matt wasn't the only one who had killed a "rouge" relative. The Man was secretive indeed, but what Matt could dig up on him was nothing short of confirming his worst fears. This demon was no one to be messed with. 

Matt watched one night from afar as the Man and Andrew met in the main living room for a night of beading, a routine the two of them had shared since Andrew arrived. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary, the two men singing to a cartoon show while they strung beads in a very specific order. When the show ended, Matt believed the beading was over, the conversation was done, and they would leave. However, that was not the case this particular night. Andrew tied up his last bracelet, put on his arm, and layed his head on the older man's shoulder without saying a word. The Man continued his beading, the rhythmic clack of each bead heard throughout the oversized room. For a while, nothing was said, and Matt started to wonder if he should leave, slowly getting up. He turned around when he heard talking, shook his head, and sat down again, hiding behind the same wall once more. 

"Do you think if I hadn't gone back to Seattle.... Matt would still like me?" 

The question hit Matt like a bus, his mind rethinking the last year and a half. Did he still love Andrew? Did he even like Andrew anymore? The Man took a minute to respond, his voice sounding older and more destroyed than Matt had ever heard it. 

"I don't know, Drew. He doesn't seem to like anyone these days, you saw how he was yesterday at the Needle. Apprehensive. Pissed. Angry at you, as always. Some people just never change, all you can do is hope they see the error of their ways." 

Andrew nodded and Matt took a moment to once again question himself. Why was he so harsh on Andrew? Besides that terrible feeling in his body, what was holding him back from loving his cousin? He figured it was probably his stubbornness, and how much alike he was to his cousin. He wanted that spotlight Andrew had, wanted Andrew to bend to his rules, to stay safe, to keep others safe. He took a pause, pieces melding together in his brain, making only one thing clear. Andrew's way of thinking, as twisted as it was, could be considered right. Andrew never hurt the innocent, never destroyed something that wasn't clearly in his way, he always rebuilt the city after a fight. He was kind to those who loved him, and only sought his sick forms of revenge on those who had hurt him in the past. Matt knew now, he was one of those people. He had hurt his already broken cousin so much, and he had been blindly doing so. The only path he saw in his mind was one where he fixed things with his cousin. 

He stayed a moment longer in the quiet before standing up again, making his footsteps loud and clear as he walked down the dark hallway to his room. Tonight, he could rest, but tomorrow, he will finally fix things with the person he once considered to be his best friend. 

He only hoped Andrew would be just as willing to forgive as Matt now was to change.