Little lion man

Chapter One: Good Things Fall Apart

I've always had the so-called "gift". The one that allowed me to speak with the dead, and feel their darkest desires. I was about four and a half years old when my affinity for the dead and the dying first showed its ugly face. My father, always the gentle soul, understood just how terrified I was of my power. I mean, it's pretty hard not to be terrified with the whispered urgings of vengeful spirits wishing to kill always lingering in your mind.

The spirits, though all unique individuals when they were present, always seemed to have one thing in common. They all hated my mother. For the longest time, I didn't know why. To me, she was just my mom. She wasn't the best mother by any means, even at the time. Of course, I had no reason to believe she was anything other than good, despite what the spirits said. After all, she was my mother. She couldn't possibly be evil.

"Weep for yourself, my man,

You'll never be what is in your heart"

My twin sister, on the other hand, had more of a connection with the living world than I did. Mother was always so proud of her psychic abilities, which allowed Amber to lift objects with her mind, and sense what others were thinking. Yes, my sister had such strength back then. Even now, despite her disbelief, she has the strength to face anything. If only she would use it.

Another year passed, and looking back on it now, things were clearly strained between my mother and father. I should have seen it coming, what happened next. Then again, I was a child, and children, despite what's right in front of them, always manage to find the light in the dark, the good in the bad.

Turns out the spirits might just have known a thing or two more about my mother than I did at the time. My father tried his best to get us all to safety. Despite his best efforts he barely managed to get out alive with Liam, my older half brother, in tow. After they were gone, my mother shifted her anger towards my sister and I.

"Weep little lion man,

You're not as brave as you were at the start"

Amber, being the brave soul she was back then, tried to use her powers against our mother. That was what made Mother really snap. After she had knocked amber out, I stood protectively over her. Well, as protectively as I could at five years old.

In the end, after I tried to stab my mother in the leg with a knife left on the ground after her fight with my father, she knocked me out as well. She locked us both in separate cells. Of course, this didn't stop us from communicating silently via Amber's powers.

"Rate yourself and rake yourself,

Take all the courage you have left

Wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"