Zero

Chapter 37

Molly's POV

"Oh my God," Sierra gasps out as she and the other three 5SOS boys come running into the room. Sierra goes right for Luke, throwing her arms around his neck as she hugs him tightly. He just holds her, his shoulders relaxing a little. Calum makes a bee line for me, pulling me against his body. I take a deep breath, just breathing in his comforting scent.

"So what even happened to you two? Were Maxima and Vengeance holding you hostage, Luke? And Molly had to come save you?" Michael's eyes are bright as he waits to hear about the fight.

"Not exactly," Luke trails off, wincing.

"I-"

"Are they both dead now? Like with Mercury? The bastards both deserve it," Calum spits out, "After what they did." Luke starts to violently shake. He takes his arms off of Sierra and shoves them under the blanket on his bed, hiding the red energy that was undoubtedly about to start swirling around them any second now.

"No," Michael jumps back in before either Luke or I have a chance to try to explain the situation, "When I got up and went to use the bathroom earlier, I heard Owens telling some cops that they found Maxima's body, but didn't find Vengeance. She said that whoever Vengeance is must've switched clothes with Luke since when they got there, he was in Vengeance's outfit."

"You've got to find him, Molly," Ashton encourages, "He's the one that stabbed you, isn't he?" Tears are slipping down my brother's cheeks now. Ash, Cal, and Michael are all oblivious.

"Shut up!" I yell, startling all three boys, "Just stop, okay? You guys-"

"It's me," Luke cuts in, his voice breaking as he stares at his lap, "I'm Vengeance. He didn't switch clothes with me to escape or anything like that. I was in Vengeance's clothes because I'm him. I'm the monster that stabbed Molly to try to kill her. I'm the reason she lost the pregnancy." The three boys stare at him in shock, unsure of how to respond. 

"But you-" Michael cuts himself off, looking lost.

"You don't have powers," Calum reasons, still squeezing my hand tightly.

"Yeah I do," he admits, his head hung in shame as he pulls his arms out from under the blanket. Luke's red energy is shining brightly, casting a faint red glow on everything around him. The three boys all gasp softly, making Luke wince again.

"H- how?" Ashton squeaks out, "How do you have powers?"

"I got mad at Molly and left to go to a bar to drink. After a while, I was wasted and talking to this guy. I mentioned being Molly's brother, and he told me about Maxima. He took me to see her. Once she learned that Molly was alive still, she wanted to use me to hurt her. She figured out a way to give people powers, but only if they were in extreme emotional states. I agreed so she boosted my anger, thus taking control of me essentially, and gave me powers."

"How'd you get uncontrolled?" Calum's tone conveys his nerves.

Luke sighs, still looking at his lap, "If you experience a big enough shock, you snap out of the extreme emotional state and regain control of yourself. My shock came from stabbing Molly."

"I just need a second," Calum says softly, turning away. As he starts to walk to the door, Luke breaks down sobbing again. Calum stops, but stays by the door, clearly conflicted on what to do. My heart starts to ache as an idea pops into my head.

"I can make this all go away."

"What?" Sierra inquires. All five people look over at me, confusion and curiosity on their faces.

"All of it? Like my powers too?" I nod in response to Luke's question, my throat tight.

"How?" Ashton adds.

"The same way I tricked Inferno into thinking he killed me way back when he had you guys as hostages. I can just go back and make it so that Calum never ran into Blaze and found out that she was me."

"But then we'd never know you're still alive. Can't you just go back and make it so Luke doesn't get mad at you?" Michael reasons.

I shake my head no, "If you guys find out I'm still alive, Luke gets powers and we end up here, one way or another. The only way to prevent this is to make it so you never find out I faked my death."

"You'll die if you do that," Calum speaks up, staring at the floor, "You died when you had the clone of yourself for Inferno to kill. This would definitely kill you."

"Yeah," I agree, "But it would be fine. You guys wouldn't know. I'd already be dead to you and would've been for five years. This way though, Luke doesn't have to live with powers or the guilt he feels from stabbing me, and I never lost the pregnancy. It would all just go back to normal."

"But we'd lose you," Luke repeats, "We wouldn't know it, but we would."

"Zara would know," Michael adds, "And so would Felix."

"No," Calum says definitively, "You're not doing this Molly. We can all work through this. We aren't gonna lose you again for it though." I nod, biting back a smile.