The Matters of Power

Chapter 45- The Guerra Family [END]

I can't seem to find the energy to pay attention to the classes today. Even though I was able to get back home and stealth my way onto my bed successfully, the morning news had reported what happened last night as some street gang vandalism and the police's arrest of a good number of the strays that they caught during the 'vandalism'. For some reason though, they never did report on J.J's death but I guess it would look bad if some kid had died during a 'vandalism' strike. The atmosphere is gloomy at school, where no one seems really chatty today and all can really talk about is the events of last night. By lunchtime, the once crowded cafeteria turns into a classroom if it was on a testing day. It was fortunate that I managed to hide most of my injuries from everyone, but Carl is having trouble hiding a large bruise on his left arm from Payton, who is starting to get suspicious of his participation. Nobody from Swift Cross has tried to talk to me yet, not even Quarter who seemed to take J.J's death pretty bad with Oscar and Talia. By the end of the school day, I feel relieved to be outside from the suffocating mood but I hear Yan approach me once again. "Hey..." he's just as depressed as everyone else. "Listen, I know what happened last night hasn't gone easy for any of us. I just... never thought that the Guerra Family was gonna be reduced to nothing after all that, especially from a rebellion from one of their own. Anyway, I got a message from Oscar during Lunch that he's willing to invite us to their new hideout they found so fast, and I was wondering if you want to come too. It's not that far, just a distance away from The Mara's Place." If he's willing to talk to us after what had just happened, then that means either he has a strong trust in us, or he has something serious to discuss. "Sure, I'll bite. Let's go now while we still can."

Sometime later, at the Guerra Family's new hideout...

I never thought that their new place would be extremely well hidden in plain sight, considering that they chose one of those old-fashioned theaters that doesn't get much traffic out front. We find the Guerra siblings in what is considered the backstage offices, organizing boxloads of stuff. "Oh? Hey there, didn't think you would come visit us so soon. Could you give Oscar and I a hand? We'll give you snacks for your effort." After a significant amount of time organizing furniture and folders, we all sit down on the couches and munch on saltine crackers and juice boxes. "Thanks guys. I hope you're doing well after what happened, but the Guerra Family ain't doing so hot." Yeah, they're barely holding on trying to create this place as their new hideout. "We ain't gonna hold it against you if you don't want to associate with us anymore, but don't sell us out as it is. Also, Oscar and I have to talk to Marcus for something very important, so I would like for you to let talks privately Yan. Please." He's initially concerned about leaving me alone with them but decides to trust them and leaves the room as he puts the lock on the door on his way out. Finally, Oscar leans forward with a serious face, "Marcus... who gave you that crystal on your wrist?" I was taken aback from that question that I never thought I would be asked. "How do you know about this? How can you see it?" He says nothing initially but pulls down the right sleeve of his shirt to expose a large purple crystal that is like mine, except it's grey. "This. This... thing that I was given. I never thought I would've met another person with powers like mine, and yet here we are. Did that Corvanez fella give you this?" I nod. "My God. And here I thought it was pure coincidence that you would have it. We have a lot to talk about, do you want my short or long version?" I think about it, then realize that my Psychometry ability can be used in this situation to save us both trouble.

I extend my hand, "We got a third option. I got an ability that's called Psychometry, which allows us to check on our memories, sorta like those flashback uploads from those sci-fi movies. It's obvious that we don't have the same powers, but if you want, we can learn more from this than just words." He looks skeptical about my explanation and hesitates on whether or not he should willingly accept my Psychometry ability. Finally, he leans forward and grabs my hand fiercely that we lock in place. "Screw it, let's do this." Just like last time with Carl, I feel lightweight all over my body and can sense the memories flooding in from his hands, my eyes being obscured by light...

*Current perspective: Oscar Guerra*

My past doesn't matter, everything that happened before all of this doesn't mean anything to me, not anymore. Ever since our so-called 'parents' just up and ditched us for some extra bucks in their life, we've been out on the streets for what feels like years. Everything that we have been able to do was because of survival, not out of greed or some malicious goal, and we have nearly paid dearly for our mistakes. When we somehow reached San Anton, it was like we knew that we could have a chance of prospering instead of barely surviving each day with the skills and life lessons we learned. Not even a month into establishing our hideout was when we got a strange visitor, followed by a ton of what looked like bodyguards. He introduced himself as Howard Corvanez and talked to us as if he knew about everything that had happened so far in our lives, but we were still reluctant to talk to a person so suddenly that had just strolled into our hideout we had chosen carefully because it was so hidden. He then challenged us to a fight under the threat that he would've made sure that we would never find a day of peace, except he didn't personally fight us but told a menacing man with sunglasses to do so. We fought harder than we had ever done before, but the man had completely beat us at our game and before we knew it, Talia and I were badly injured on the ground, where I had to use the rest of my strength to stop the man from taunting my sister who just brushed me off. I was sure that right then and there that we were either going to die or be hauled off to some other dark place at Corvanez's mercy.

Instead, he stops right at my feet and opens up his prosthetic hand to show a red crystal that sines dimly. He gave me a proposal upfront: We establish a 'family' using the hideout that stands to pay a 'fee' for them every few months and can continue to live in relative peace, as well as get supernatural strength so that we can defend our family. I was extremely skeptical about his deal, but I knew that he wasn't giving us much of a choice and I was somewhat drawn to the crystal. In the end, I agreed to his proposal and seemed somewhat satisfied, then drops the crystal near my shoulders where I felt an excruciating amount of pain and blacked out to wake up hours later to find myself in a makeshift bed with Talia passed out watching over me. Since then, I found out about so many abilities that the crystal gave me while we grew the Guerra Family. Superhuman strength, sturdier body, faster hand-eye coordination, the ability to turn my body into pure muscle for a limited time, all of these abilities I have used sparingly and have kept secret from the other members so they wouldn't be in any more danger than they already were. Now that the Guerra Family has to start from scratch again, I no longer feel that I'm obligated to follow Mr. Corvanez's orders now, and see to it that he pays dearly for what has happened, to all of us. And yet...

*Current perspective: Marcus Fernandino*

My head feels heavy from knowing about all that, I guess the weight of one's past can affect me in more ways than that. "Oh hey, you're finally awake." Talia gets my attention as she plays with her phone. Fortunately, Oscar also wakes up and we see that we were asleep on the couches. "Nearly scared me to death, doing that Psychosis thing or whatever it is that you said it was. The second you shook hands both of you just slumped forward all of a sudden and nearly broke the table, and I thought you were gonna be out for more than 30 minutes." Hearing this, Oscar chuckles. "Wow. I thought we had strength powers, but it's amazing how you have psychic ones instead and have used them in ways I never thought I would. Maybe it's just me, but I wish I could have known sooner about your body transformation so that I wouldn't have been so harsh on you because of your appearance. By the way..." He leans in closer with a serious face, "I saw that you went to the high school where that man went in his youth. If you want to know more, I overheard from one rich businessmen one day that Mr. Corvanez had placed a sort of time capsule underneath the floor tiles of his classroom that was the closest to his locker. I wish I could've gone there for myself, but I always dedicated my time to the family and didn't want to leave San Anton for any reason. But maybe you can find it and see what secrets he kept away for so long that nobody thought to dig it up." Hearing this, I can't help but feel anxious for the possibility that I might be one step closer to understanding Mr. Corvanez's true nature and purpose in this game.

I thank Oscar and Talia for their time soon after and leave the room just as I see Yan hanging around the door and stops me. "Oh hey, took your sweet time. I'm gonna head on in if that's alright with you, just want to clear some things up." I nod and leave, but Yan stops me again before I can get moving again.

"Leaving so soon? Are you sure you don't want to hang around a bit more?"

A small smile leaves my lips as I turn around to respond, "Sorry man, I gotta get some stuff done."