Silas' POV:
I watch Andrea Velazco collapse, and my scream is caught in my throat. All I can do is stare at her body as Lincoln calls 911, and I cannot even hear what he's saying.
I'm completely frozen.
"Silas," I hear Atticus say, his voice soft and echoey. "Sit down, you look like you're going to pass out."
I push his hands off of me. "Stop it, I don't need to sit down," I mumble as little black spots form in my vision. "I'm fine."
"Silas," I hear Atticus say, and I feel his arms around me as I fall over, unable to keep myself standing. "Shh, it's going to be okay..."
When my eyes flutter open, I'm still in the living room, and there's police officers, including Jared, Atticus' work partner.
"Silas!" Lincoln exclaims, touching my face. "Here, drink some water."
I push the cup away, my head pounding as I sit up and look around. There's blood in the carpet, and I'm suddenly hit with the overwhelming urge to vomit, so I get up and run to the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet, sweat dripping down my face.
"Is he alright?" I hear Jared ask, and I turn and see that Atticus is talking with other cops while Jared and Lincoln watch me.
"I don't know... maybe we should take him to the doctor?" Lincoln whispers, and I glare at him.
"Lincoln... you're a doctor," Jared points out.
Lincoln pauses. "Maybe we should take him to my office so I can at least have my materials to preform a check up?"
"No," I snap, getting up and stomping to the fridge, despite the cops trying to mark our home a crime scene. I grab the orange juice and pour it into a cup, missing at first and dumping it on the counter and my hand. "Fuck!"
Lincoln is looking at me worriedly and Atticus has the same expression, though he keeps looking back at his police buddies to respond to their questions.
"We need to talk with him. He's got Mistacesemia, he'll know more," one of the officers whispers harshly to Atticus.
Atticus doesn't sound happy when he responds. "We were all here. He doesn't need to be briefed... anything he has to say, you already know. He is not in the state of mind to respond right now," he growls, and I decide to act like I can't hear him as I sip my juice.
It burns as I swallow because of course my throat is raw from throwing up, and orange juice has to be acidic as all hell.
"Fine, but we need-"
"Not tonight. Andrea committed suicide, we don't know why. She mentioned something called 'The Onyx' and said she wasn't supposed to make national news. She also pointed out that it was six thirty and someone was going to die, but I have no clue who."
A voice that I've grown to hate rings out. "Her sister," Darrel the Douche calls, walking down the hall and clutching his arm. "Some bastard broke into the department, shot me, killed Melina, and then I got the call that Andrea Velazco was dead at your place."
Jared winces. "Ouch, you got shot?" he asks, and Darrel nods.
"Whoever broke in didn't want to kill me, or else they would have. I think their only goal was to get in and kill Melina..." Darrel looks right at me. "Was it one of your Mistacesemia buddies? Revenge for Melina breaking in and Andrea trying to murder you?"
I want to kill this man.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I ask, and Atticus sets his hand on my shoulder to try to calm me down, but I shove it off. "First of all, I don't have any friends! Second, I'm not a vengeful person, and I have never tried to hurt anyone, and from what Melina said, I don't even think I would have tried to hurt Andrea!"
"Did she kill herself or did you use your powers and pull the trigger?" Darrel asks.
I let my energy run through my fingers, the blue and grey hues swimming above my hands. "I launched you across a room once before. Do you want to experience part two?"
The cops all touch their guns, but Atticus steps in front of me.
"You are not going to be throwing anyone," Atticus says, and I put my hands down. "We can't stay here tonight, with it being a scene and none of us feel comfortable."
Jared cuts in. "You can stay with me. I've got a guest room," he says, and Atticus thanks him.
"Lincoln, I'm going to pack us bags. Get Silas to the car," Atticus says, and before I can argue, Lincoln grabs my arm and drags me to the car.
I sit in the back seat, and Lincoln sits beside me, opening his arms to embrace me. Even though I barely move, Lincoln hugs me tight and rubs my back.
"It was my fault," I whisper. "Why didn't I call her sooner? See if I could help her? She's has... had, Mistacesemia and she was like me... why didn't I do more to help her?"
Lincoln squeezes me tighter. "It wasn't your fault, Silas. How could you have known?" he asks, and I know there's no way I could have known anything, but I still fee helpless.
All I can see is the terror that lived in Andrea's eyes before she killed herself; I know she didn't want to die. There was something bad about her life, and it has something to do with this Onyx group. Something so bad that she would rather take her life than face whatever was going on, even though she was horrified.
"Melina was right. She wasn't a killer," I say as Atticus joins us in the car and puts the bags in the passenger seat.
"What are you two feeling for dinner?" Atticus asks. "We can grab something for Jared, too."
I can't believe he thinks I can eat right now. "You choose, Lincoln," I say, putting on my seatbelt. "I'm not that hungry."
"You still need to eat," Lincoln insists, but I don't bother responding. "Please?"
Maybe sadness makes me really hungry.
I've literally inhaled two plates of fried rice and three egg rolls.
"Not hungry my ass," Atticus mutters, and I glare at him, pulling his plate of noodles toward me and taking a bite aggressively before I hand it back to him.
"You're not as hot when you're pissed," Jared tells me, so I steal his fortune cookie.
Lincoln drags his food closer to him. "I'm not insulting you," he says, and I don't want to upset my boyfriend, so I leave him alone.
When we get into bed, I have Lincoln sleep in the middle. No part of me wants to be sandwiched tonight, because I'll probably have nightmares and wake up to go vomit.
By three in the morning, I realize I'll be getting no sleep until I have answers. I slip out of bed, planning to steal the car and head to the file place that Atticus works with, but of course, I have no idea where it is or how to get in.
"Where are you going?" Jared is standing in the hall, looking me up and down. "It's three."
"Why are you up?" I retort. "It's early."
Jared shrugs. "I haven't been able to sleep. I'm curious as to what this 'Onyx' group is, and I want to find out there's anything about them."
"Andrea mentioned something about files before she died... do you know anything about that filing place where Atticus was digging shit up?"
Jared grins. "Yeah, give me a sec," he says, dialing a number on his phone. "Hey, Avi. I know it's early, but I need you to open up the file place. Some shit went down."
He leads me to his car and I get in, and we drive toward the city of Hillsboro.
"Coffee?" Jared offers, driving through a Starbucks. "Avi will kill me for waking her up this early if I don't get her coffee."
I hum. "What kind of friend is she? Who gets up at three for someone?"
"She and I fucked around for a while until we both realized we're gay and cried to each other after neither of us came," Jared responds, paying for our coffees. "Hence the three iced coffees."
"Glad there's an explanation."
We go to a massive building and Jared walks through the front door. We're both briefed by security guards and a young woman walks out, taking her coffee and leading us to a room that is filled with cabinets.
"What're you looking for?" the girl, Aviana asks us. "I'll know what section you should start in."
"The Onyx. Anything under Onyx," Jared replies and we find ourselves in between a bunch of cabinets that start with 'O'.
We search for hours, and it's six in the morning before we find something.
"Here!" I exclaim, both Aviana and Jared rushing over to me. "The Onyx: an anti Mistacesemia group that was founded in 1944, just before the end of World War II. It was founded due to the population of people with the malfunction who were gaining power and binding together... they were the ones who found out how to use Hemlock flowers in the cuffs that officers use on us, in order to stop us from using our powers."
"Okay, so some evil group wanted to hunt you guys. What about the new regulations?" Jared asks, sitting down on the bottom step of the ladder we've been using. "They protect you guys."
I read further into the file, and I find something from 1993. "Uh... in 1993, the group pretty much disappeared, well, it seems as though it was more of them going underground so they didn't get into any trouble. It seems as though, to me, it was organized and they went under to preserve themselves. I don't think an angry group like this does easy. Plus, something like this that flows through generations of people? There's probably members who keep it on the DL."
Jared nods slowly. "And Andrea Velazco confirmed it didn't die off, didn't she?"
"Yeah... she said that she wasn't supposed to make national news. What if she was part of the The Onyx, against her will."
"They hate Mistakes," Aviana points out. "Why would they pull her in?"
I put down the file and sit beside Jared. "Think about it. The only way to destroy the strongest metal on Earth is with the strongest metal on Earth. No doubt the easiest way to kill Mistakes is to have someone else with the malfunction carry out the murders. They would just need leverage on the person and boom: you have a killer."
Jared snaps to attention. "Her family. Andrea's family never answered our calls, except for her sister who lived far from her. The Onyx may have been holding them hostage, and from the sounds of it, if Andrea failed, they'd kill them."
"Which they did... when she killed herself. She failed her mission... so they took her family."
Jared, Aviana, and I sit in silence for a long few minutes.
"We don't even know where to start. We don't have a lead. Hell, they don't even have a founder written down!" I exclaim, realizing that we may have a good theory, but we have no concrete proof.
Jared sighs, and Aviana groans, sitting down on the floor.
"We need more. I can contact other filers," Aviana says, getting up and running off.
She turns the corner, and we hear her scream bloody murder.
Jared and I leap up, but before we can do anything, a sharp needle digs into my neck and I fall unconscious, darkness clouding my vision.