Warning: Mild Gore, and mind fuckery at its finest.

Oli's P.O.V


What am I doing?

No matter how much I tried to come up with something…I couldn't. I didn’t mean for that question to become my every thought…but it had. I was currently perched on the railing on the front balcony, gun in my hand as I watched the sunrise. Yesterday had been exhausting and very…confusing for Austin and I; I still couldn’t wrap my head around what had occurred. A bitter part of my instinct was telling me that this wasn’t something he could control, or something he could learn to cope with; the same part was telling me to run as far away as I could. But reason over powered those thoughts, all in all, I had been around these outbursts more than once, and I hadn’t been hurt.

As I kicked my legs back and forth, I stared off into the tree line; watching the sun rise was beautiful in itself, but seeing the way the sun ignited the trees only made it surreal. Everything I had ever taken for granted was something sacred to me nowadays. I often pondered if my parents were alive or not, but in all reality I had no way of knowing. Tom and I never spoke about this subject; I think it was too raw and painful for either of us to utter a word about. We didn’t even speak of Jona, Lee, or Vegan; Matt refused to bring them up either. The one time I mentioned something about them he muttered, “Traitors.” and left the room in a huff. Something’s are better left unspoken I suppose.

A low buzzing noise started to make a presence as the sun reached its rightful place in the sky, obviously, curiosity caused me to investigate. I hopped off the railing and back onto the porch, noting how the noise grew a bit louder. I walked over to the small porch swing and removed its cushions, and was astonished when I saw a small handheld radio. I slid the gun onto the swing before sitting down myself and fiddling with its dials. After several frustrating minutes, I received what I had been searching for; a signal.

“This is an emergency broadcast system; all survivors are asked to report to the nearest town to receive government support. Stay on high alert for clouds of gas, these do contain poison. Be careful of the water that you drink, reports of acid laced water are becoming more frequent.” Same old, same old, I thought to myself as I turned the knob a few clicks over.

“This is the Division of Homeland Security, with an important news update,” I relaxed back into the swing and slid the gun into my lap as I listened to whatever the radio had to spew at me. “Citizens are being advised to stay on high alert as we continue our search for Austin Robert Carlile.” I gasped in shock, and turned the volume up as high as it would go; they couldn’t be serious!

“He is described as being approximately 6’4 tall, 170 pounds, with tattoos on his arms, chest, and neck. He has dark hair, with brown eyes. If you see this person please report it to government officials immediately. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous; do not attempt to approach him.” I shut the radio off quickly, and laid it back behind the cushion.

‘Should I tell Austin about this?’ was the reoccurring thought that came into my head, but I didn’t have time to weigh it over before the porch door swung open.

“Mornin’ Oli,” Matt grumbled as he stretched.

“Mornin’ Matty,” I offered with a small wave, he hopped up on the railing and eyed me curiously.

“You’ve been up all night?” he questioned with a frown, I nodded my head.

“Yeah, house doesn’t guard itself you know…” I sighed.

“Uh…you do realize we basically decided against doing that, since Austin…ya know…and its cold out here Oli. Tom would be furious if he knew you’ve been out here all night.” He shook his head at me,

“Nah, he would be fine. We haven’t really talked much lately anyways…” I whispered awkwardly as I fiddled with the rifle in my lap.

“That’s probably my fault, if I hadn’t been so stupid…” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I grunted and waved a hand at him;

“Matt, you had no way of knowing. I’m just glad your okay, I couldn’t live without you, mate. In these circumstances especially, I can't stress that enough.” He smiled and closed his eyes,

“Oli?” he inquired, I grunted in acknowledgement.

“I heard the radio.” He stated coolly, but I felt my gut lurch forward.

“You did?” I questioned, biting my lip in a nervous fashion, which was something I had picked up from Austin.

“Yeah…with Austin being the way he is…we shouldn’t tell him. It would probably upset him even more, and I know he gets really frustrated since he can't do a damn thing about it…I feel so bad for him.” Matt clasped his hands together and took a deep breath as a look of pain flashed on his face.

“I know this is hard,” I stood up from the swing and stretched out my back, “but don’t talk that much. You just started getting better; I don’t want you tearing those wounds open again. As for Austin, he will be okay…I've been watching him like a hawk as of late. Though I do worry about him a lot…” I jumped up next to Matt.

“It’s cause you like him.” He cooed, and I felt my face heat up.

“Wha-What? I never said that!” I groaned, earning a laugh from the drummer.

“Oh it’s so obvious though!” he poked me in the side, which caused me to flail out and almost fall of the railing. He cackled like a mad man,

“Oh shut up, Matt! What about you and my little brother? Huh? You two are getting awfully snuggly!”

I wiggled my eyebrows as his face shot a horrid shade of red, he pushed me back and I lost my balance. Before I fell the short distance to the ground, I grabbed onto his shirt and dragged him with me; we both hit the ground with an ‘oomph’.

“Oh it’s on now!” he shouted as he pinned me down and started poking me in the sides, I tried to push him off but he was to strong.

“GET OFF OF ME PICKLES!” I cried, and I mean it, cried, I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even see straight.

“Nah! I think I’ll keep torturing you!” he grabbed my side again and I screamed,

“Stop! You’re killing me!” I whined, trying to pry him off of me but he pinned my arms down.

“Not yet!” he replied with a laugh, before doing it again.

“Enough!” A loud agitated voice halted Matt from doing anything else, he quietly climbed off of me. Austin was standing on the porch with his arms crossed, clearly pissed, his red eyes were a dead giveaway. He descended the few stairs down to the grass and towered over Matt who’s eyes widened in response.

“Next time he tells you to stop doing something, you do it. You hear me?” he growled, when Matt didn’t say anything he grabbed him by the shirt.

“I said…did you hear me?” he grunted in his face, as Matt nodded his head.

“Good,” Austin retorted as he let his shirt go and offered me a hand, I declined it.

“I know you can't help it sometimes...but you can't be an asshole to my best friend.” I seethed as I got up and offered Matt a hand, he gladly took it.

“Oli, it’s not worth it,” Matt tiredly replied, but I stood firm.

“Austin, I care about you and everything but I don’t want you talking to my family like that, he and I were rough housing. It’s not like he was trying to kill me…” Austin shook his head.

“Well maybe next time you two are, ‘rough housing’ you shouldn’t scream ‘Get off of me!’, 'Your killing me!' or ‘Stop!’. But yeah, I’ll try to keep my instincts under control next time, cause you know I'm so great at that.” He muttered as he brushed past me and Matt and stalked off into the wooded area. I sighed,

“Matt…are you okay?” I questioned, as I turned my attention back to him.

“I'm fine; really…maybe you should go talk to him, Oli. Tino is probably still asleep, and he really just needs someone there for him. Not like he isn’t capable of handling himself...he’s just scared.” He ran up the few steps and grabbed the riffle before handing it off to me.

“Thanks, Matt.” I nodded as I clutched the gun to my chest and stalked of in the direction in which Austin had gone. I squeezed my way down the narrow path towards the stream that we had gone to yesterday. Austin was nowhere in sight, so I stepped over the small water front and sunk further into the forest.

“Austin?” I called out, but got no response. I sighed, before calling his name out again, but it was still quiet. In fact it was too quiet. A bad feeling pitted in my gut as I walked further into the forest, but I stopped as I heard voices.

“Look, we don’t want to hurt you…we just need to talk…” a man’s low voice pleaded,

“As if, why is it so dire that I turn myself in? Is it because you’re afraid of what I can do?” my stomach churned as I heard Austin pipe up, shit he had been caught.

“You don’t understand the severity of the situation, Austin. You’re far too powerful for your own good…you’re going to hurt people.” The man tried to reason with Austin, but it didn’t seem to be working. I heard leaves crunch behind me so I turned around quickly, I was relieved when it was only Matt. I put a finger to my lips, and he seemed to get the hint because he quietly came to stand beside me.

“You came into contact with the Nuclear Waste when you were young; your father exposed you to it in small doses to see what affects it could have in non toxic doses. It altered your physical state and mind to where It uses the brains full potential, despite what we are aware that you can do, we fear you can do worse. Your unstable, anyone who survives the acid will gain full brain potential, and be able to do un-human things. Only one in a million people can survive any contact from the acid…and most of them have been killed; you’re the only one we are aware of as of now. Your father is the reason this all started to happen! He shouldn’t have been messing with things that were over his head!” Matt grabbed my hand warily, and I gave him a concerned look.

“Do you think I…I can do something too?” he questioned quietly, I shrugged.

“I don’t know…according to him…yes,” I whispered in turn. When I turned to face the direction of the voices I accidentally stepped into a rat hole. I unintentionally yelped as my foot sunk into the earth.

“What was that?” the man’s voice bounded, “Go check it out!” I shot Matt a scared look which he returned; before I could even move, soldiers were surrounding us.

“Sir! We found two more people!” one of them called back, he saw me grip my rifle.

"Drop the gun!" he screamed, holding his assault rifle level with my head, I did as told.

“Bring them here.” He commanded, and I felt myself being hoisted out of the ground by someone’s arms and dragged into a clearing. Austin stood in the center, in a defensive position as soon as Matt and I came into view. A tall bald man stood in front of him with his hands up,

“No need to get upset.” He told Austin who only grunted.

Matt sunk to his knees as soon as they released his arms, but something didn’t look right; he looked zoned out. His eyes were focused on nothing, but he stared directly in front of him; not blinking or moving at all.

“Venit.” He muttered under his breath, before anything else could be said I saw the men’s shadows stretch until they were completely severed from their bodies. Austin’s eyes were as red as they were earlier in the day, but he watched the shadows as If he was amazed. The dark figures formed a circle in the middle of everyone, some of the soldiers staggered backwards and raised their weapons, some watched in horror.

“What are you-“ the bald man was cut off by Austin laughing hysterically but it didn’t quite seem like his voice, it was too dark. Matt grinned and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply before he re-opened them, I gasped at what I saw. In place of their usual color they glowed an iridescent yellow, he growled.

“Aggredior!” he screamed. As soon as the words left his lips the cluster of shadows morphed into sections before forming into what resembled a pack of wolves. They were black like shadows, yet they still maintained a hollow appearance, and in place of a normal mouth, there were white jagged lines that vaguely looked like a child's rendition of teeth. Their ‘mouths’ moved at a rapid speed, as they closed in on the soldiers who began firing off rounds. Austin was beside me in an instant, he swooped me off the ground and into his arms before walking a few step backwards; as if on cue, the shadows pounced onto the men. The soldiers screamed as they were literally ripped limb from limb by the beings. Matt still sat in the center of the circle, staring off into the distance as If nothing was happening around him. When no more movement came from their bodies, Matt stood up and faced us, his eyes were still yellow but the color was faintly going away, he smiled before lifting his arm to the left and then to the right, calling out, “Revenio!”

The shadow wolves once again returned to the center and formed a ball before morphing into the ground and intertwining with Matt’s shadow, the drummer fell to his knees, holding his head between his hands before collapsing on the ground.

“Matt!” I called out, hopping out of Austin's arms and rushing to his side, I turned him over and laid his head in my lap.

“Guess I'm not the only freak of nature.” Austin grunted as he sat down in front of me, his eyes and voice had finally returned to normal. In place, he looked confused, scared, and relieved, all in one. I turned my nose up as the stench of blood filled my nostrils,

“Matt, wake up!” I slapped him in the face, not even thinking about the injuries that had happened to his mouth. He shot up like a dart,

“Ow…” he whimpered, clutching his hand to his jaw,

“I'm sorry…are you…okay?” stupid question on my part, of course he wasn’t fine!

“Never better.”

Right, like that was true.


-*-

“Okay…so what your telling us is that Austin can control elements now, and Matt speaks some weird language and can fuck with peoples shadows and make them kill their owners? And that you heard that if you survive the acid you get weird abilities? And that Austin's dad and mine are responsible for this? Lastly, you expect us to believe this?” Tino tossed his hands up in the air as Tom stared at us in disbelief.

“Uh…yeah.” Austin added with a nervous smile,

“Okay.” Tino replied in all seriousness, Tom nodded his head.

“So…Austin's the only one they haven’t killed…well besides Matt?” he raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his hair, which had grown to almost match mine.

“Yeah…apparently…and I have a theory.” Austin clasped his hands together,

“And that is?” I asked him curiously, he smiled.

“Well…remember when you ask me why I picked you all up and I say I don’t know? That it was some sort of urge?” we all nodded,

“Well what if it was because I somehow knew you guys were like me…what if you all are the one in a million people who can survive the toxins?” he bit his lip and gauged us for reactions.

“Well…that’s a possibility...We can't prove it though, you heard that guy! He said only one in a million people can survive that stuff, if we were to test it and it wasn’t true…one of us could die.” I whispered the last part, not fully wanting to admit it myself.

“I know…but I think it could be true...” Tom agreed as he stood up and walked the short distance to the recliner where Matt was sitting, he plopped down in his lap.

“So do I…it would account for a lot of things…our somehow other worldly bond being one of them.” Matt chimed as he reclined the chair to give Tom more room.

“Then I say we test this theory.” I spoke up, and everyone’s eyes fell on me. “I’ll do it, find the chemicals…and I’ll do it. It’s the only way we will know for sure.”

“No way Oliver! I'm not letting you do that!” Tom cried out, a pout on his face, I shook my head.

“Oli…” Austin stood up, before sitting down on the couch with me, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“You’re not doing anything of the sort…it’s not worth losing you.” He practically begged but my mind was made up.

“Okay.” I replied, but it was as a lie. I was going to figure out what was going on, and I was willing to risk my life for it. At that point, I had nothing to lose.

Notes

Have a super long chapter! and some explanations!

The latin words are the following:
Venit- (means come)
Aggredior- (means attack)
Revenio – (means return)

So basically let me do a run down for you to clear out any questions you may have.

1/1,000,000 people can survive the acid at any dose and level, anyone else will slowly be eaten away before dying off. (Matt is proof of this as he nearly swallowed a mouthful of acid and was only left with burns, and for his super quick recovery)

Austin's dad and Tino's were part of the task force for security of the underground nuclear facilities, while Tino's dad was in on the testing of Austin, it was primarily his dad who did it. Hence why they have disappeared, but i will not let the rest of that information go just yet.

Every power is different, and there will NOT be a bunch of people who can use them, as most of them have been hunted down and executed by the government out of fear.

Austin has more abilities than anyone else who will come into contact with the toxins as he was slowly exposed for many many years.

The reason for the nuclear meltdowns is still unknown to them, but the reasoning will come later.

if you still have questions, ask away. I know this may seem confusing at first, but it will all fall together in the end.

PLEASE LEAVE SOME FEEDBACK c:

xoxo
Siren