The Devil Within

Chapter 6

Melanie's POV 

Austin stepped out of his car, looking really, really pissed. He walked straight to Damien but stopped a few feet away away, glaring at him. The fact that his brother now had a head full of black hair and blue eyes failed to surprise him in the least. He doesn't miss the small patch of blood on his shirt though, and that seemed to softened his expression into a frown of concern. 

Damien stared back at him defiantly. I stood awkwardly by the side, looking at the brothers while they held their glaring contest. Austin drops his gaze first, to the large cracks on the road, and his eyes followed the trail of cracks all the way to the field, which looked as if a meteorite had landed squarely in the center. It was a solid proof that the madness earlier was real and thankfully, over. 

''Are you responsible for this?'' Austin asked accusingly. Damien rolled his eyes and pointed at his own head, sticky dried blood and all. Austin doesn't look convinced. 

"He didn't do this," I said, which startled him. Austin seemed to have forgotten that I was there. He looked at me sheepishly, scratching his head and breaking into an easy smile. "Opps, didn't see you there, are you alright?"

I nodded at him. He sighed, relieved, then looked back at Damien like he wanted to say more but he held back. 

"We can talk later. Let's get in the car. before anyone sees us." Austin said to us, looking around.

"No, catch me," Damien said, before his eyes rolled back and he fell forward. Austin lunged forward and caught the unconscious Ethan by his shoulders with firm hands. It looked like a conditioned reflex, seeing that he barely blinked. "Damn," he grumbled under his breath. 

Austin lifted him like a sack easily and carefully dumped him in the backseat. 

"Erm.. you want a ride home?" Austin turned to me, after slamming the door to the backseat. 

I nodded and got into the passenger's seat wordlessly. Throughout the ride, silence hangs over us like a mist. I turned back every now and then to check on Ethan. Five minutes into the ride, I gasped softly. Ethan's black hair slowly changed into a light shade of brown, like the colour was retreating back into his roots. Austin saw this peculiar scene through the rear-view mirror as well, and he shrugged. It seemed that he was used to seeing it. 

"Kinda freaky," he said, finally breaking the silence. "Were you scared?" 

I wondered if he meant the earthquake, or his brother who was lying unconscious at the backseat. 

"Not with him around.," I said.

"Huh," he says with a shake of his head. "I thought he would scare most people. Did he say anything to you?" 

I looked at him. 

Damien said....he made Ethan forget. 

He's a mind manipulator. 

Austin sighed at my pointed gaze. "I guess he told you about us, huh?" 

I nodded silently, a slight uncomfortable feeling in my throat starting to bubble. 

"He said...you made Ethan forget," I said softly. 

Austin cursed on the spot. "For the record, he is the one responsible for the memory wipe," he said defensively. "I can only influence their emotions, not wipe them clean." 

"Oh," I said dumbly. "I didn't know that." 

"Of course, you got to promise you won't tell anyone about this." Austin says, taking his eyes off the road off a second to check the rear view mirror again.