Noah had not set foot in his own house for almost a year. It had not changed much since then. The walls still pressed down on him, laying a weight he could not hope to carry upon his shoulders. It nuzzled close to him, welcoming him back after months of separation. The corridor squeezed around him, made narrower by the spurts of darkness radiating from his arms.
He walked down the front hall, his mind wandering to all the memories that had happened in it. The happier times, when the world had only extended as far as his parents' car would take them. The times when he, En, and Derek would lick raw cake batter beneath the table. The times, a little later, when Marie and Hayden would also join them, and they would run through the long grass outback together, hiding from each other behind stalks as tall as them.
All that joy. All those giggles and tears that had been destroyed. By him.
A shuffle and a flash of white skirted into the dim corridor. Noah reached down to stroke Buttercup's sleek fur, much to her pleasure.
"Hey, how're you doing, kitty?" He weaved his fingers through her thick coat. "I don't think white suits you." As he petted Buttercup, blackness spread into her fur, leeching onto every fiber like oil in an ocean. The cat purred contentedly, rubbing her head against his leg.
Noah smiled to himself in the dark, an uncomfortable tingle bouncing in his chest. He could not quite identify what it was, but he knew he did not like it much. It did not sit well with what ran through his blood and cycled through his body. The two just would not agree.
He continued his journey deeper into the house, making a point to step around all the metal trinkets littered everywhere. They had not been there before. Noah toed a small and shiny car, watching it roll soundlessly down the hardwood.
He came to a stop before the smudgy basement door. The marks were visible under a yellow glow cast by the lights in the atrium. Something tugged at Noah from behind the door; something that belonged to him, something he missed, and something that he really, really wanted back. His fingers hovered over the golden knob, twitching ever closer with each breath.
"Step away from the door," the voice made him flinch, a cool, commanding tone that turned his blood to ice. She had the same fire in her eyes, the same angry tilt to her eyebrows, and the same firmly set lips.
"Vienna." Noah breathed his sister's name in a gasp. He took a step away from her, then another and another. Until he reached the atrium and had his back pressed to the thin screen that barred the way outside. A draft of hot night air wrapped itself around him, stifling him.
En's short hair danced a furious wave around her neck, following the movement of the little metal objects she suspended in the air. "What are you doing here, Noah?" she growled, anger pinching her acne-scarred face.
He gulped, words trying to make their way to his throat but falling back down halfway. She was right. He had no right to stand in this house again after all that he had done to them. But, instead, a shaky smile turned his mouth up. "You can't do anything with those, En."
The ornaments, as if insulted by his words, wavered in the air, liquefying and merging into one solid mass. A dangerously sharp and pointed mass, suspended just over his jugular vein.
"Oh." Noah coughed at his own stupidity. How could he have forgotten? "Hello, Derek."
His brother did not even deem in necessary to look at him, standing in the shade of the left stairwell, hand fisted. Derek's lanky figure distorted in and out of focus. The pit of Noah's stomach burned with an angry sensation. It pleased the thing in his blood and, for just a second, the shadows around them jittered. A spell of thick tension fell over the siblings, sucking the summer night air of its warmth.
It all snapped when footsteps drew closer to them from the upper levels. Three sets, each taking their time, nearing more out of curiosity than urgency.
En's bright eyes flicked to Derek, sending a silent signal. Noah watched, mesmerized with twisted amusement, as her expression lost its intensity and she let the pointed mass of objects drop. He followed it to the floor, where it broke up into smooth metal spheres, rolling safely out of sight.
All previous hostilities gone.
"Where have you been, Noah?" En asked softly, just as three figures crowded the upper terrace. One recognized him, two did not.
"Noah?" Hayden's face opened with surprise. "Where were you?"
The same question, but from a different person with different intentions. It made Noah sick, made his blood twist and writhe within him. Why did his real siblings have to be so hateful? Why could they not be like the others? What was wrong with them? What was wrong with him?
Noah's hands curled together almost out of instinct. His nails pressed into his palms, too short to do any damage. Blackness rolled in from every shadow in the atrium, an angry supercell of darkness that took all the oxygen in the air with it. His siblings fell to their knees one by one, gasping for breath they would never get.
The spite returned to En and Derek's eyes. They set upon him identical looks of utter abhorrence, while the gazes up on the balcony bled helplessness. Karen, Vince, and Hayden were not meant to be dragged into this, but Noah could not control his powers that much. The tendrils of darkness leapt out of him, taking on a will of their own.
Just a little longer.
En attempted to grasp for some object to throw at him, but she could not make anything out in the dark. Derek tried to meld the metal on their clothes, but he was too focused on trying to breathe.
Just a little longer.
Hayden's hand tightened on one of the balusters, the knuckles flashing white. Noah made out Karen and Vince in the back, panic flooding every rigid part of them. A blood-stained bandage was wrapped around Karen's leg. It should have stopped bleeding by now, but the mark would always remain. Twisting, barbed vines curled along with her hair, a beacon of her fright.
Just a little longer.
What was taking so long?
Noah swallowed a sob down. He could not stand this any longer. He hated the sight of seeing people suffer at his hands, hated that it was him inflicting this hurt. He cast a shadow over himself, unable to let them see his weakness or the way he bit his lip to keep it from trembling.
Just a little longer.
The hem of Noah's shirt came into his view. It was a shade of black darker than his shorts. It would need just a hint of extra colour to lighten it enough to match. Now, where could he find that small amount of pigment?
Ah. Vince's hair. It was golden blond, a nice shade, really. Even with no light, the hairs glistened along his jawline.
Noah contemplated a bit more, aware that his siblings would need to breathe very soon. He tugged his fingers in the air, a yanking motion directed at Vince as all the shadows poured back into him.
His siblings drank in grateful gulps of air. They coughed and sputtered, tears leaking from their eyes.
His siblings were so distracted by it that they did not notice Colton's bright signal—a flash of lightning, or what could easily pass off as one.
It was done.
Slowly and cautiously, Noah melted away into the shadows. He retreated outside, before anyone could see how his eyes had lost their whites and dripped liquid charcoal.
~🐍~
Karen struggled to grab a hold of air. It seared her windpipe, racing through to her lungs in a painful wave.
Noah. So, this was Noah? He had done something to the air and the space around them that had left them all reeling. It seemed to be affecting her and Vince the most, leaving her on her hands and knees and him with fists in his pale hair.
It took a tugging at her scalp to break her out of her stupor. Hayden added a curled vine to an already growing pile. Where were they coming from?
Another tug at her hair. Oh.
"Are you done being dazed?" Hayden inquired, continuing to examine her hair like he was looking for lice. "I could help you with that."
Karen opened her mouth to refute that she was fine, only to get a blast of icy water right into her nose. She buckled over, reciting all the curse words she had accumulated over the past few months.
Derek gasped, "Karen!"
"I'm proud of you," Vince smiled, though it appeared thin, clapping her shoulder. From his pallor, she could tell that he was not really okay. Vince's lips parted, releasing a heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and with a start Karen realized that it was not pale just because of the dim light. His hair was actually white.
"Vince, your—"
He cut her off. "Are you all right? Karen? En?"
En and Derek came to sit on the steps on either side of them. They twitched almost nervously, tapping their fingers against the hardwood. Hayden was the only one who appeared normal.
"I hate to interrupt your moment," he began calmly.
"Then why are you interrupting it?" Karen snapped, infuriated by how calm he could be. They had almost died and he had the audacity to act like it was nothing.
"This is important," he said, then paused. "Where the hell is Marie?"
Clearly Hayden was the only one who noticed because the blood drained away from En and Derek's faces right then. Realization dawned on them all.
Noah had come to take Marie.
~🐍~
The tears would not stop falling. No matter how many times Noah wiped them away, his fingers would always come back stained black. This had never happened before. Sure, his eyes had been getting all weird whenever he used his powers lately, but the inky tears would only last a couple of seconds.
The pickup bounced and a loud clank sounded between the two front seats. A crate of mason jars sat secured to the driver's seat. The labels on it read 'peach', 'raspberry', and 'strawberry'.
"Did you go to the farmers' market?" Noah asked.
Colton cast a quick glance down to the crate before looking back at the road. "I think it's pretty obvious."
This did not deter Noah. "Did you get anything else? Yasha said we ran out of maple syrup."
"In the back." Colton pointed.
The truck jolted again, this time creating noise in the seat behind them. A sealed wooden box was wedged between the front and back seats, tipping dangerously to one side. Buttercup curled on the seatbelts, her fur blending with the shadows. Next to the cat was Marie. Her light hair spilled onto the leather seat, her eyes shut in undisturbed slumber.
Noah hoped she did not wake up until the end. For what he recalled, she was an extremely heavy sleeper, violent sleep-kicker, and a grouch when she awoke.
"Are we going to the warehouses?" he asked quietly, noting the usual turns they were missing. They should have been going in the other direction.
Colton tapped on the steering wheel, speeding up to pass a changing traffic light. "No, further than that. To the..." he trailed, searching for a word, "...asylum, I guess you could call it."
A tremor ran through Noah. He detested that place and all of its grimy walls and endless rooms. The way it sat miles and miles away from the city and crumbled with age. The "therapy rooms", filled with old devices thought to "cure" mental illnesses.
A string of anxiety wound around him, crushing him with its tightness. "Colton," he whispered, catching his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were still black and gold, still bleeding ink. "I think, I'm not sure but I think, my powers are getting out of control. Ever since he gave me that injection thing, I've had a harder time controlling them. It's almost like," he looked at his trembling, soiled fingers, "the powers have a mind of their own. Like they're eating me alive. I'm...scared." For a frantic moment, the edges of his vision blurred. "Colton," Noah's voice came out in a thin whimper. "Tell me I'm going to be okay."
But, Colton did not meet his eyes. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed ahead, hands tight on the wheel, lips pressed together in a firm line.
Just like that, the world collapsed around him. The darkness grabbed for him, closing itself around his fragile heart. And he let it. Noah crumbled in on himself right there in the passenger seat, unable to stop the sobs.
~🐍~
Vince sat inside the cupboard, shoulders cramped due to the tiny space. His legs stretched out onto the kitchen floor and the light bulb's heat radiated far too close to his head.
This was where Marie resided for the most part of the day. This was him trying to get a look at things from her perspective. This was it not working.
Hayden leaned against the oven across from him, laying his feet on Vince's shins. "What revelation has descended upon you?" He crossed his arms, the morning light casting white bars on his face and making the scar on his cheek look deeper.
"Absolutely nothing," Vince replied, easing out. He rolled his shoulders to relieve the knots. "I don't know why you're so nonchalant right now, though."
Hayden shrugged. "It's Noah. I doubt he'd hurt her." He opened a cabinet beside the oven, pulling out a box of almonds. "Besides, it won't take that long to find her. Derek's good at that tracking and stalking stuff." He offered the nuts.
Vince took a handful, releasing them to float upon the air. "I don't wanna rain on your parade, but I have a hard time believing Noah was alone."
"It doesn't matter," Hayden frowned. "What's the point in stressing over it? Let's not talk about that."
"He stole the cat too."
"Of course he did. Didn't I say not to talk about it? Tell me about yourself instead." A smile escaped his lips along with a snicker. "How's your white hair doing?"
Vince groaned, burying his face into his knees. He could not believe that his precious beard had turned so bleached it was impossible to keep it. He had to shave it off, but poor guidance from Derek had left him with a gash on his chin and his dinner in the sink. "Is it going to stay like this forever?"
"Probably. I don't know." Hayden tossed an almond up, catching it between his teeth. "Noah's powers are a little complicated because really, there's no such thing as darkness. It's just the absence of light. So, basically, his power is to block light. Which would explain why he could steal your hair colour since colours are just the refraction of white light. I'm just confusing you, aren't I?"
"Yeah, Hayden, I don't recommend using your brain so much." A little laugh found its way next to them. "It'll pop." Karen placed herself beside Vince, a bun keeping her crazy ringlets up. She snatched a floating almond before Vince could move it out of her reach.
"I see you're alive and well," Hayden noted, examining her leg. He made a face, prodding around the red spot where the bandage once was. "Does it hurt?"
She shook her head. "It never did." She tucked her knees under her chin, spinning almonds on the tiled floor. "So, back on track, tell us about yourself, Vince?"
"Oh, yes," he smiled with more relish than he should have, "I had quite the childhood companion. I remember when Anna-Maria bought you a Furby and you cried because it scared you. You cried whenever we watched The Lion King too. And The Land Before Time and Bambi and Charlotte's Web. In fact, you cried all the time." She also fell asleep after bawling and Vince recalled that it was usually on his shoulder. There were many a times when the pair would be found somewhere in Anna-Maria's house, sprawled over each other and deep in a nap.
Karen rolled her eyes. "What about the time you got our soccer ball stuck in the tree and couldn't get it out because you were too short?"
"You were shorter than me."
"Oh! And remember when Anna-Maria made you wear one of my dresses and you looked so cute??"
Vince's cheeks burned. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone!" He peeked at Hayden who was quietly dying of laughter. "Don't tell anyone else!"
Hayden's shoulders shook. "Aw, man. I wanna see you in a dress now, Vince."
"I can vouch for him," Karen grinned, "he'll look great."
Vince angrily scooped a handful of almonds into his mouth. He would never, ever wear a dress again. He promised himself this much. He was not a child anymore and it would just look strange on him.
He caused a breeze to flow over them in order to cool his flaming face.
"And," she smiled, "I'm really glad we had our powers since the beginning. I don't think life would have been the same if we were just ordinary kids."
"That's funny of you to say," Hayden muttered.
Vince raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
Hayden gaped at them, mouth slack and eyes wide. "Wait, you mean you don't know? En never told you?"
"Told us what?" Karen shuffled forward until all of their knees were touching. A knotted vine crawled out of her bun and Vince fought the urge to pluck it out.
"That our powers aren't natural," Hayden murmured, casting a glance around them, like he was making sure no one else would hear. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Someone put them in us."
~🐍~
Marie's view of the world differed from the average person's and this had nothing to do with her societal opinions. She literally saw the world differently. Whereas most people were amazed by all the vast varieties of colours, she could only discern shades of what she was told was 'grey'. Marie's world was a plethora of 'lighter' and 'darker', nothing more, nothing less.
So, when she regarded the man before her, his dark hair and light eyes, she could only admire how sharply the shades contrasted. It was not that the world was boring to her, just less exciting compared to everyone else's. That did not stop her from observing the beauty in everything because if it was all she would get, why not enjoy it?
"I thought you were a pizza man," she said.
Yasha Valievna shifted on his spot in the window. "That was all part of an elaborate cover story," he shrugged, "and it turns out I'm bomb at making pizza."
"What were you trying to cover?" Marie asked, her monotonous gaze sweeping over the room. It was stone-walled, littered with files and cabinets. The curtains were torn from their hinges and laying in a pool under the windowsill. A single sofa, upon which she sat, was the only piece of actual furniture. There was a plate with toast and a jar of jam next to it on the floor.
Yasha interlocked his fingers, placing his palms on his knee. "Our superior wanted your help. Someone's going to kick the bucket soon, but we need to keep them alive for a little longer." He totally evaded her question.
"You want me to slow down their death?" She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "That's inhumane. I can only heal for so long, eventually time will catch up."
"It's all right," he said with a smile, "you'll help us for as long as you can." He stood, dusting his chinos. "I think you should watch your back while you're here. And..." he paused, a furrow in his brow. "You don't have to stay. We don't lock our doors."
Marie spoke when he was already across the room, a thin whisper. "I don't want to go back yet. That house is too full of lies."
Yasha came to a full stop. "Why so?"
She trembled, reaching down to pick up the plate. "They all keep so many secrets and act like nothing's wrong. The truth is, everything's wrong. The cat, the house, the basement, Noah, us."
"You're quite vocal about this, aren't you? Why tell me?"
Marie dipped a piece of bread into the mason jar, pulling it out with a nice, dark stickiness on it. "I kind of trust you. The others don't really notice, but I see the way you and Colton look at us; almost like you know us." She enjoyed the organic raspberry flavor for a moment, wishing the bread had been white instead of brown. "So, what'll it be Yasha? Will you keep secrets like En and Derek? Or will you tell me: who are you two?"
He smirked, arms crossed. "We're cousins, Colton and I."
Marie sighed, blowing at her hair. "For some reason, that doesn't satisfy me at all."
"Well, the answer you're looking for isn't always what you want it to be," he said, finally turning to leave for sure. "Oh, and Marie?" Or not. "Don't go into the east wing on the second floor—it's flooded."
The familiarity of the statement struck her oddly close to the heart. So, of course, that was exactly where she went.