The Shatters: The Silence Chronicles

Chapter Two: Moving Truck: Part Two

My family returns another couple of hours later, my parents congratulating all my five siblings about another great defeat. Adam limps from a quickly-healing gash in his thigh, and Alison slips off her mask.

"Did you see when I—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know. You took the guy by the neck and threw him to the next street."

"And then Austin shot the blast of water, and—"

"Yes, and—"

"Oh, hey, Arianna." It's Alice, my oldest sibling. Apart from a few scratches, she's in good condition.  She leans over to give me a tight squeeze, her short brown hair tickling my neck. "How was your day?"

Austin is one year younger than me and Alice is in second-year university. Austin can control water, and Alice can force others to make promises.

My parents, Abigail and Alfred Collins, have powers that are helpful for parenting. My father has the same power as Alice, so he can force us to do our homework or complete a chore without going back on our word. Our bodies physically force us to do the work until he releases the promise. My mom, Abigail, can find the location of anyone in the world, which is helpful if she wants to catch Alison sneaking out.

"For the last day of summer, not bad," I respond, watching Mom take out the cotton pads and disinfectant. "Never finished playing tennis, never finished choosing a TV show to watch, and never finished my snack."

"Ooh, I am taking that!" Alec exclaims, swooping in and grabbing the bowl. "I swear, mortals eat like freaking insects."

"Language!" My father calls from across the room.

"I said 'freaking', Dad!" Alec yells back. "That's not bad language!"

Austin leans upside-down over the couch, and hands me his phone.

"Do you want to see a video of the burning building I doused with my water?" He asks, a massive grin decorating his face. "I doused it in record time. Those firefighters didn't even stand a chance against me."

I roll my eyes. "It's not a competition, Austin."

"It's not a competition, Austin," he whines, mimicking me in a nasally, witch-like voice.

"I can hear you. My hearing isn't that bad," I respond, crossing my arms to look at him. I take the phone all the same, distant chatter of Alison'c conversation with Adam flowing into my ears. Something about Shatters.

Shatters are similar to supers, but typically have different morals. They have the appetites of humans, not supers, and are much rarer. They always have two powers in addition to their enhancements, whereas a super usually has one but can have up to three powers. I don't know much about them, because most pretend to be supers.

"Alec took the video in the air. It's kind of shaky because he was battling a Dorcha with the other hand," he explains, and presses play. The Dorchas are a local group of anti-supers that my siblings have a bitter rivalry with.

A Dorcha sets a red-brick building aflame. The fire soon spreads throughout the whole building. Alec, who's filming with a perfectly steady hand, calls for Austin. Of course, with my "pathetic" mortal eyes, I can't detect shakiness in the videos like my super relatives can.

Austin sweeps in casually, riding on a freshwater wave. His hands glow with a familiar blue light. His dark navy mask makes his azure eyes stand out, even from far away. I can barely remember what his eyes looked like before his abilities. Whenever a super starts developing their powers, their eyes change to the colour that represents their powers. Mine are still the original Collins brown.