The Brewing Storm

Storm

9.

Back at my apartment in New York, my gaze remained locked on the Siberian Husky, as it sat staring at me with a mischievous grin. I frown, and tilt my head to the side, only to find that the mutt copied that movement too. I turn towards Eugene, who has positioned himself on top of the counter. I fold my arms across my chest "Seriously?"

"In my defense"Eugene holds up a finger, scooping the remainder of his soup and shoveling the content into his mouth "I was left unsupervised" I turn back to the small dog, and stare, as it positions itself comfortable on my sofa in my apartment.

"I got you a gift" I grunt, dragging my eyes away from the dog, and into my bag. No matter where I go, Eugene expects me to return with a gift. Mostly, I bring him back a ring, because he knows how much I love them, and will probably end up stealing it from him, but he doesn't mind since I bring back his favorite items of food too.

"Here" I throw a packet of cookies in his direction. His eyes light up, and he dives right into them "I also got you-"

"Keep the damn ring" He groans, spitting half of his cookie into my face. Wiping it away, I slip the new ring onto my finger, and jump up on the counter beside him. I look down at my hands. They're shaking. Almost uncontrollable, as I hide them under my thighs. I can feel Eugene's eyes following my movement. I open one of my cupboards, and stare up towards the bowls.

"Are you kidding me?"I growl towards my twin, pulling a bowl down from one of the top shelves, and turning to face him. My face, or at least, my painted eyes are displayed at the bottom of the bowl. A way of encouraging kids to eat their cereal so they can see what superhero they have collected by the end of their meal.

"It was a good piece of decoration!" Eugene holds his hands up in surrender "I have one of you all" When I search through the rest of the cupboard, I find my brother kept his word, and has five other bowls, one each for my fellow Avengers. I take the each of Eugene's bowls from my cupboard, and drop them into the trash. Eugene doesn't object, instead, he asks cautiously "How are you feeling?"

A question asked by millions of people every single day of the year. But the way he asked it, I know exactly what he's talking about. "I'm just glad it's over" I sigh, digging my fingernails into my legs in attempt to stop my hands from shaking "How was your business with Matt?"

"Eris, we're twins. Created by the same particles from somewhere in this Godforsaken universe, so don't lie to me and then change the subject" Eugene jumps down from the counter, and stands in front of me, placing his hands on my legs "How are you feeling?"

Constant flashbacks follow my every movement. Nightmares haunt my sleep. My face is plastered all over New York. I'm not good. I'm not happy. But I'm dealing with it. I sigh, before eventually whisper "I'm coping"

He moves away, eyeing me suspiciously, but says nothing "My business with Matt was okay, I managed to get out a lot-"

"Clearly" I grunt, glaring towards the mutt lying on my sofa.

"Turns out these 'products on the loose' are nothing but human experiments, belonging to the one and only Michael Anthony" I close my eyes, and groan.

Eugene and I have had a run in or two with Michael Anthony. A total psychopath, who believes he is doing good in this world. But he's not. The only thing he is doing is creating havoc in the streets, leaving the rest of us to clean up his mess. Luckily enough, he's kept his distance from us in the same way we've kept our distance from him. "Merda" I whisper, running my fingers through my hair "Don't tell me you're involved with this now?" He says nothing, I roll my eyes, and turn away from him "Eugene..."