The Devil Within

Chapter 10

Ethan's POV

"There are certain triggers to Damien's appearance," Dad started, sounding like a researcher sharing his findings. "First, he would most certainly appear, if we talk about your past and your mother." I get the general sense that they'd been observing my symptoms closely. I wonder if the times that Dad spent holed up in his study was because of me? Now that I think about it....weren't the books lined up on the shelf of his study all psychological related texts?

 "Another trigger is your own emotional state. In times of distress or extreme anxiety, he would surface, as what you've been through last night," Dad said. "According to medical journals, they seek to carry the heavy emotion that the main personality is feeling."

I thought about it for a moment. When Damien surfaced, it felt like my heart could leap out any minute. A second of blinding pain, and then I would lose consciousness. It was like being....swallowed into darkness. Not the kind of cold, deep darkness though. It was more like a warm palm covering my eyes. 

It was like lulling me to sleep.  

"He showed me a dream before. You were there, Dad. As a cat. And you kept telling him to go to sleep." 

"That...was a real memory. Damien surfaced without warning or any signs. He bolted out of the house and when I tried to stop him, he forced me to shift." He scratched his head absent-mindedly. "I hadn't known you had that kind of ability. Anyway, Austin wasn't there at the time, so I really sniffed my way to find you," Dad was a little embarrassed. "Fortunately, my sense of smell hadn't faded with my age when I morphed." 

"Into a cat," I said.

"Goodness, yes. It's the same one you used to like too," Dad sighed. "He appeared to be strolling through the park. He was acting...a bit off...like he was looking for something, but I never found out anything from him."

I gulped. In my dream, I ran with an inhumane speed. Not from anything, no. It was simply for the thrill of the wind against my hair, the feeling of freedom that welled in my chest. The feeling resonated strongly within me.

"So what happens when he appears? He can't be just walking around casually right? With that weird colored eyes-" 

Wait.

"My h-hair...my eyes," I stuttered. Black hair. Very pale icy blue irises. 

"It is your ability too." 

"To change appearance as an ability....that's a little pointless isn't it?" 

"Your most important ability is not your freaky hair and eyes," Austin cuts in, again surmising my life's tragedy with a few blunt words. "It is the ability to identify other people with abilities. Then Damien goes after them and takes it."

He just perfectly described what would be the ideal perfect villain of the third rate cheap film I was envisioning the whole time. A big bad powerful villain, going around stealing abilities then using it for his own evil motives.

"Takes it. As in, take more," I repeated stupidly. Although that was what they'd said earlier, that I had a Class Zero ability, it didn't immediately come across to me as something I would actually use. Of course, it made sense if I had more than one ability, then I must've stolen it from someone else. But the thoughts were so surreal it was almost like a bad plot twist. A estranged mentally unsound youth with an overpowered ability to plunder abilities. 

"Yeah, which leaves you with about more than six different kinds of abilities," Austin continues. "Six, including the one you took from your classmate yesterday. Steve, was it? Yes I'm pretty sure it was Steve Maddens"