𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜(𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚎)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

song of the chapter: hayloft by mother mother

"my daddy's got a gun, you better run."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"It's quite extraordinary," my father went on. "What you were able to do entirely on your own. There were only four people in that room. You, me, and my children. My soldiers were watching that entire area for anyone else who might've come with you, and they said you were utterly alone. I actually thought you'd come with a team. I didn't think you'd be brave enough to meet me by yourselves. But then you single handedly disarmed me. The two of you managed to steal back your hostages. You had to carry two men--not including my son--out to safety. How you managed to do it is entirely beyond my comprehension."

      I realized then that he had no clue about Kenji's ability. So we could either sell out Kenji and Adam, or take the fall. I glanced at Juliette, seeing the same realization crossing her mind.

"You called me a stupid little girl," Juliette recalled. "You said I was too much of a coward to defend myself."

"I was planning on returning to the capital," he sighed. "But it's clear that my work here is not finished. Your people are making things infinitely more complicated and it's becoming harder and harder to simply kill all the civilians. Well, no, actually, that's not true. It's not hard to kill them, it's only that it's becoming impractical. If I were to kill them all, I wouldn't have any left to rule over, would I?"

"What do you want from me?" she demanded.

"I must admit, Juliette--I'm thoroughly impressed," he smiled. "You alone were able to overpower me. You had enough foresight to think of taking my son hostage. You caused an earthquake to save the rest of your team. I see now that my son was right. You could be invaluable to us, especially right now. You know the inside of their headquarters better than anything Aaron is able to remember."

"He's been here?" I questioned, not able to stop myself. My father put his hand up, silencing me.

"You two could help me destroy all your little friends," he realized. "You could tell me everything I need to know. You could tell me all about the other freaks, what they're capable of, what the strengths and weaknesses are. You could take me to their hideout. You would do whatever I asked you to do."

"I would sooner die," Juliette spat. "I'd rather be burned alive."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," he mused. "I think you'd change your mind if you actually had the opportunity to feel the skin melt off. Just ask Aurora."

He traced the burn scars on my arm as he said the words. I glared up at him, feeling my lower lip trembling.

"I am not unkind," he swore. "I certainly won't rule it out as an option, if you're really that interested." She stared at him with a blank expression. "Yes, I didn't think so."

     The front door opened, and I tensed. My father turned to the door and smiled, standing up.

"Aaron," he greeted. "Come in and say hello to our new guests." Aaron stepped into the room. "You kids remember each other, right?"

         He stared at the bruises on Juliette's neck, his eyes soon moving to the wound on my head. I saw a flash of anger, but he quickly reeled it in, careful not to show the emotions in front of our father.

What's going on? I heard. I looked to my brother with furrowed eyebrows at his voice in my head.

"I've had them collected for us," Dad announced.

"For what?" Aaron wondered. "You said you didn't want her--"

"Well," he started. "That's not entirely true. I could certainly benefit from having her around, but I decided at the last moment that I wasn't interested in her company anymore. I like the idea of setting things right. Of putting order back into the world. And I was waiting for you to arrive so I could show you exactly what I mean. This is what I should've done the first time. Are you listening? Pay close attention. Are you watching?"

        He tugged a gun out of his jacket pocket, and shot Juliette in the chest. I shrieked, her blood spraying everywhere, getting all over me. She was catapalted backwards, falling to the floor.

        My father laughed, saying something I couldn't make out before he slipped out the door. I rushed to the girl.

"Fix her!" Aaron screamed at me.

"I can't touch her!" I reminded him, my eyes wide with desperation.

        The girl was gasping for air, twitching as Aaron tried to keep her alive. I didn't even process the fact that he was touching her.

"Take my hand, Aurora," he ordered, his voice breaking.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

        I clutched onto his hand and he put his hand on her chest. I gasped when she started healing, my eyes widening as I turned to my brother.

        She gasped as the wound fully closed, then collapsed back onto the floor. Aaron sighed, wrapping her up in his arms.

"How did you--" I began.

"I can take people's powers," he explained, sighing deeply as he held her to his chest. "Borrow them."

"You didn't bother to tell me?" I wondered, narrowing my eyes.

"There was a lot going on," he defended, his tone calm. "I'm going to put her to bed, okay?" I nodded. "Then, I think we need to fix your head up."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," I whispered.

"After you're feeling better, do you think you can bathe her?" he asked me.

       She may have been healed, but she was still covered in blood. Hell, I was still covered in her blood. I nodded.

"Of course."

        He picked the girl up in his arms and walked up the stairs, going into his room. I sat with my thoughts, wondering where Bianca was.

       I felt so nauseous, like I would vomit if I even opened my mouth. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and my head was so light.

        Aaron came back with a first aid kit and sat me down in the kitchen. He held my head steady with one hand, dabbing the blood away with the other.

"What did you do to anger him this time?" he asked, putting the bloody towel to the side. 

"I saw Mom," I mumbled, staring at the ground. He lifted my head back up, pouring disinfectant onto a cloth. "And then I yelled at him."

       He fell quiet for over a minute, cleaning the wound as I tried not to wince from the stinging pain. I had to avoid making eye contact with him, because I knew I would burst into tears.

"You really didn't prepare me for that," I said quietly. He sighed, shaking his head.

"I warned you, I said you wouldn't want to see her like that," he recounted.

"Yeah, well," I began, not sure where I was going with it.

"I was right?" he guessed.

I glimpsed away, not wanting to admit that. I decided I had to change the subject before I started to cry.

"He has Bianca," I mumbled, hanging my head.

"You hate Bianca," he recalled with a shake of his head.

"Yes," I agreed. "But she doesn't deserve whatever he's gonna do." I recalled something from earlier, and perked up. "I heard you thinking. Earlier." He nodded.

"I remember once when we were very little, we could speak to each other through our thoughts," he informed me. "Eventually, we stopped. You were very young, I don't expect you to remember. I thought I'd try again."

"That's incredible," I mused, glancing up at him. "Like sibling telepathy."

"Yes," he said, a smile playing his lips. "Very incredible."