Of Solar And Dark (2018)

21 [E]

Edward Kenning

"This has got to be a joke, right?" The words ache in my throat, scratching against my airways as they emerge. The truth stares at me glaringly bright but it feels like I can't accept the truth for what it is.

I'm not... a weapon. And neither is Teddy.

But are we? Two days ago, I would not have believed it if someone told that there was a group that fought against the Resistance and that they would recruit me. Still, the facts that look me in the eye at the moment feel to heavy for me to completely understand.

"My father was a soldier. He left my mum and then he died." I'm so used to telling Teddy this that it sounds natural leaving my mouth. Still, I detect the lack of confidence as I say it and the way my words tremble.

"That's what your mother told you." Martha says immediately, eyes glazing over with an unexpected shade of desire.

"An-and it's not like the facts are realistic. If you're my sister, why did I never hear about you?" My tone is pierced with exasperation as I pull my gaze towards Martha's features. She looks ready to cry with a trembling lip and tears glittering at the corner of her eyes.

"Our father had to keep us away from each other. The way he made us resulted in an unforeseen outcome. If we were too close to each other, one of us would have been neutralised by the other."

"That's crazy." I shake my head, tangling my hand through my hair, "If that's true, why in Atlanta have we not neutralised each other? How would we even know?"

Martha laughs shakily though her tone is devoid of amusement, "Our powers just started acting up because we're hitting the age where our bodies start to recognise our powers. I haven't been close to you long enough for our powers to neutralise each other."

"You expect me to believe all this nonsense? You just tell me that I'm your brother and we're strange weapons and expect me to say that they're truths?"

"Edward," The look on Martha's face grows serious and suddenly, she's pulling her hands over mine, a wistful, pained stare sculpturing her features, "Atlanta is dying because of us. You need to believe me or there's no way we can save this planet."

"What can we do? I don't even know what our powers are or- or how we're going to control it." Tears begin to swell in my eyes and the slow dribble of the droplets is unavoidable.

"The genes that our father implanted into our embryos allows us to have some control over solar and dark energy. Notice why the moon cycle has been affected? We have been unconciously affecting the dark energy which affected the moon's cycle. The crack in Atlanta's ground? We affected the solar energy being reflected off the surface of Atlanta and the amount being absored. The heat caused the land to expand which resulted in the rupture."

It all starts to make sense now. All the strange phenomena that has been happening recently, circulating around me- around Martha.

"I've been in contact with our father through an artificial relationship. That's the only reason I know all this. That night when the two of you went to intercept the prophecy? I went back to his lab and searched through his research plans to find anything that would explain how to control our powers."

"Did you find anything?" The hem of my sleeve traces the trail that the tears have left along my face but as hard as I try to wipe them off, they don't dry as fast as I would like.

Martha's hands go slack against mine as she struggles to lift her gaze to meet my eyes. My heart sinks like an anchor descending to the deepest depths of the ocean when I realise the shimmer in her eyes are gone. The agony present on her face is more than sufficient to blink out any shimmer of hope her tears hold.

"There's no known way to control our powers, Edward. The only way to preserve Atlanta is to neutralise each other and- and-" She cuts herself off, a half-supressed sob leaving her lips as the control over her emotions evaporates.

"What is it? What does it do, Martha?" I make a grab for her hands but she's refusing to look at me as she chokes the rest of her sentence out, unfiltered by the dense sobs that rend her lungs.

"It- it means that one of us must die. Only one of us will be neutralised, leaving the other free to tear Atlanta to shreds."

I clasp my hand over my mouth but it doesn't feel like anything I do is enough to quell the tight feeling knitting in my chest, the overwhelming urge to break into louder sobs.

I am overcome.

A few minutes. We sit in the room where our cries subside, where the light blinks down at us innocently, as if the fate we are doomed to remains a secret between Martha and I.

Finally, I speak.

"You said that we weren't close for long enough ti neutralise each other. How do we speed up the process and know which one of us has been neutralised?"

"Our father's lab. There are chemicals and experiments there that can be performed on us to speed up the process and find out which one of us has been neutralised." Martha answers, her voice soft with despair.

She doesn't want to do this.

Neither do I.

That's when it strikes me like lightning.

Teddy. What about him?

"Teddy." I say, my heart aching as his face floats into my mind, "What about him? He's a weapon, too."

The kinetic movement of sorrow flashing across Martha's face echo with the anguish that submerges my lungs and I have to breathe in deep, to stop the flood of emotions that struggles to bury the question far beneath my skin.

Even if one of us is neutralised, what about Teddy?

Word Count: 1020 Words

A/N: Inserts shameless promotion for my other book here- The Higher Define has been added to the official wattpad Dystopian Apocalypse account's 'Hidden Gems' reading list! But really, I'm so excited and hyped up over it! (:

I hipe you like this chapter- feedback is highly encouraged and greatly appreciated!