(Working on a name)

Zeke came home to his sister tied up in a bathtub with their dad beating her.

I tried.

I tried not to feel it. But the pain kept coming like a tsunami. With each blow I felt more blood trickle down my back. I wanted to stop but I also knew it would be worth it. The more pain I felt the more I could feel later. Too much and I’d die like any other person, but Brock knew he was doing.

One more hit to the head and everything went black. To be honest, I was grateful. The pain seemed to sleep away as I did. This wasn't normal though. I haven't blacked out in months. At least not from Brock anyway. I get into a lot of fights. Mostly because I have a hot head. But hey, don't insult me if you aren't ready to take a punch. Anyways, something was wrong and I knew it. My healing skills are too strong to let me black out.

“Zeke,” At first I didn't register who it was, “Zeke! Come on, wake up.” Ah, it was Kit.  

I cracked open my eyelids to slowly get used to a bright light shining above me. I got my eyes open and saw Kit to my left. I noticed we were still outside and the “bright light”  was the Sun. I took in a deep breath in the smell of Kit’s vanilla perfume flooded my senses.  I looked at her and studied her face. She had beautiful emerald green eyes  and a face that made me want to punch most guys our age for staring. Her hair was dyed purple and flowed like a gorgeous river.  she smiled and my heart skipped a beat.  But I could tell that she was upset with her eyes filled with worry.

“Are you okay, Zeke?” She asked that she grabbed my hand, ”you haven't done this in months!”  She didn't know about the fights.

“Yes, I am fine.” I didn't feel well, but I didn't feel like making her upset either, “You know I heal pretty fast.”  I was trying to reassure her.

“I know. Just. You freak me out. What if  Brock hits too hard?” She asked this with a very worried tone.

I looked at Brock, who was leaning against a tree on the side of a clearing we were practicing in. He had on his face.  It annoyed me because I knew what was coming. He had a smart mouth that could get ahead of him sometimes.

“Just trust him, okay?”  I said giving her hand a squeeze, “and what's up with you?” I looked at Brock, still smirking, “ What, do you love knocking me out?” I asked even though I knew what he was really smirking about.

“No, but seeing you two lovebirds making googly eyes is making me want to knock myself out.”  He made a strange looking “disgusted” face. “When are you going to grow a pair and ask her out anyway?”.

My face flushed. Was it really that easy to tell I liked Kit? I looked  at her and she turned her head, trying to hide her own blushing. I had known Kit for about a year now. We met as seniors but now we are out of school. Brock I had met six months ago at a mini mart. I was getting a box of cereal when he bumped into me. He instantly knew I had a sixth sense. It was his ability. He could see what abilities others had. Since then we were best friends. BUt, his power also came with the unfortunate sense of others emotions. And mine were pretty strong for Kit.

I knew she like me back, but the fear of rejection was strong in me. I had never even kissed a girl! What was I supposed to do when I was up against every other hot guy out there? I didn’t actually want to kiss anyone but Kit So basically, I was screwed. A lost cause. I look over at Brock with a death stare that said “Shut up. Now”. His smirk when away fast. I might not be the biggest guy, but even in this week state Brock didn’t want to mess with me. I stood up and brushed some dirt off myself.

I think Brock saw I was feeling confident with him. “Can I go back to beating you now?”. He quickly added.

I chuckled a very joyless chuckle and looked around. Yep. Nothing had changed. The shadows had though. By the way they were positioned, I guessed I was out for about an hour. Breathing in again, I smelled the pine of the trees. Nothing could be seen through their thickness. This was good for practicing because nobody saw us either. Even though Brock could sense more emotions if anyone came close, we couldn’t exactly practice in the middle of a street. So, this clearing was all we had. I liked it. It was so quiet and away from all of the stress of life. Plus, we could talk about anything we wanted and have a great time out here. It was everything I wanted.

I didn’t live in the best house. My family was torn apart and I wanted to run away most days. My dad would come home everyday and start yelling about something. Most of it was stuff nobody would even notice. Like a crooked picture or a moved TV remote. Now, I don’t like to say I hate things, but, I hated him. Or, at least disliked him very very much. He also. . . Hit my sister. Thinking about that made me so angry. I decided that yes, I do hate him.

Power or not, Brock saw that I was angry and backed a bit further into the clearing. Kit, however, turned and threw her arms around me. She put me in a tight hug. All I could - no - all I wanted at that moment was to unclench my fists and hug her back. As I did I calmed down and just stood there. It was a solid forty-five seconds before she whispered in my ear. “What’s wrong, Zeke? You can tell me.” I pulled out of the hug thinking about my dad again.

“I’ll tell you later.” I said staring at the ground, mad at it for some reason.

“Tell her what?” Brock butted in from inside the trees.

“Nothing. Let’s just go.”

I might have loved it there, but something felt really wrong at that moment. I felt guilty for leaving my sister alone. My dad doesn’t get home for another hour, but you never know who could break into a small apartment. She was only fourteen and she could handle herself, but as her big brother I felt it was my job to be there for her. She knew about my ability but my dad didn’t. That’s why I never lashed out on him. I did my best to protect her. I always took the beating if I could. But, if I hit him with my sixth sense - which was energy - I would kill him. I knew I wouldn’t be able to contain myself with him.

“Okay. Come on.” Brock started walking in the direction of his car. He was parked on the side of a road about a half-mile away. Kit and I walked a bit slower so we could talk.

“Zeke, are you okay?” She held my hand as we walked. That calmed me down a lot and made me a bit happy.

I looked over at her. She always had a beautiful smile on her face. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about my dad and Brit. . .”

“Oh.” Her voice went quiet and she squeezed my hand a bit harder, “I’m so sorry, Zeke. I wish there was something I could do. I’m really sorry.” I heard her voice quiver and stopped walking.

“Kit. There is something you can do.”

“What do you mean?” She was confused. I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she thought about my sister.

“Just be here for Brit and I.” I wanted to tell her that she could just kiss me and all my problems would be solved. But, no one is that lucky.

“I will. I promise I always will.” I could tell that Kit felt a little better knowing that she comforted me. She was a bit emotional, but I loved that about her. It showed that she really cared. And that was more than anyone does for me these days.

“Good. Come on, we need to catch up to Brock.” I hugged her then took her hand and started walking forward a bit faster.   

When I got home I noticed that there was a new car in a resident parking spot. Did we get a new neighbor? I walked up the stairs to the second level where we lived. I got to the door and went to pull out my key, but there door was already unlocked. The strike plate on it was broken. My senses went haywire. Many questions went through my mind. What happened? Did my dad come home early? Did someone actually break in? Was Brit okay? That last question kept pounding in my head. I figured there was only one way to find out. I conjured small energy sphere in my hand and opened the door quietly. My ability allowed me to form energy into almost anything I wanted. I wasn’t too powerful, but it would definitely leave a mark if I hit you with it.

I walked down the short hallway and turned into the first room. Brit’s room. She wasn’t in there and there was no sign that she had been for a while. I left the room and walked past the kitchen. Everything was so quiet. I didn’t like that. Brit was a loud kid when dad wasn’t here. Thinking about him made me angry again. I felt my sphere growing. I willed myself to calm down. If I didn’t I might destroy anything around me. My dad would have a fit about that.

Walking past my dad’s room, I peeked Inside but saw nothing. Crap. Where the heck is Brit? I started getting really worried. Then, I heard a noise coming from the bathroom. I moved carefully but fast to the noise. I threw open the door and the smell of alcohol took over my nose. What I saw horrified me. My sister was sitting in the bathroom with a gag in her mouth, bruises all over her arms and face. My dad was standing over her with a belt in his hand.

He looked at me and I could tell he was drunk again. That would explain the broken door. And the smell.

“What the hell is that?” He asked, pointing the belt at my hand. At that moment anger took over me. I didn’t care anymore. He hurt my little sister. Bad.

“Your punishment.” I said this with an  unemotional tone.

“And what the hell are you tal-” And he was gone. The sphere hand grown to the size of a basketball before I willed it into a fireball. My dad was gone. I threw it at him when my anger reached its peak. I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t control it.

I looked at my sister and quickly got the gag out of her mouth. She wasn’t conscious. This only made me more mad. I put her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry and brought her to the couch in the living room. Going back to the bathroom I saw my dad’s lifeless body on the floor. His shirt was charred and there were burn marks across his chest from the fire I created. I didn’t feel any remorse. He looked pathetic lying there. I hated him.

His body was limp when I kicked it. Again. And again. I kept kicking him, trying to get all my anger out. It wouldn’t go away. The image of my sister sitting in the bathtub with him standing over her kept flashing through my mind. I brought up my foot to stomp on him.

“Zeke!” Brit woke up and had wandered to the bathroom. “What are you doing-” She saw our dad on the floor. Her face when white. “What did you do!?”

I didn’t know what to say. She looked scared. “Brit, listen to me. He. . . He was hitting you. He gagged you and threw you in the tub. I got angry. I didn’t mean to,” I was trying to sound guilty about it. But, I couldn’t get the tone out, “I don’t regret it Brit.”

“You killed him! Our dad. You killed him. How - how could you?” She sounded so afraid. Of me. I didn’t want that.

“Brit, I’m so sorry. You have to believe that I didn’t mean for this to happen.” I put a pleading look on my face and studied her for any sign of sympathy. There was none. She didn’t even look afraid anymore. Just numb. “We have to go. Now.”

I turned to my dead dad. He didn’t even deserve that title. He was just dead. That’s it. I threw him in the tub and knelt down to focused all my anger into turning him to dust. After that, I let the water run. I didn’t care if he clogged the drains. It’s where he belonged. Looking back at my sister - who was expressionless - I told her we were leaving. I grabbed her hand and she followed without saying a word.

We walked past the kitchen. Through the hallway. And down the stairs outside. I knew that we had a little over a month until any one came to our apartment for rent. And way less time until his worked noticed he wasn’t showing up. I took out my cell phone and called Kit. Her and Brock were the only ones I trusted right now. I had a death on my hands. And didn’t know how I’d react when I actually said it aloud.

After a few rings she picked up. “Zeke? What’s up?”

“I can’t explain right now. But you have to trust me. Get Brock and come pick Brit and I up. Be quick.” I didn’t know what else to say and I knew that I was probably freaking her out.

“Oh, okay. But you better explain when you’re back at the house.” Kit crashed at Brock’s place since school ended. Her parents didn’t fight her on it. They just let her go without even saying goodbye. And Brock, he was in and out of foster care till he graduated a year before us. After that he was on his own. I guess we were all just a bunch of outcasts in this world.

I hung up after agreeing to tell Kit what happened. Brit was sitting on the curb in front of the apartments. I sat down next to her and out and arm around her in an attempt at a side hug. “Brit, you have to tell me why he had you in there. What happened?”

At first she flinched. Like she remembered something that she didn’t want to think about. Then, “He uh, he came home drunk again. Het hit the front door pretty hard on the way in,” Her eyes watered up and I told her it was okay to cry. She did. “I was watching TV and went to shut it off so he wouldn’t yell at me. But, he noticed. He got so mad that I was trying to hide that from him. And that I was watching TV instead of cleaning the kitchen. He started hitting my face and when I went to run, he caught me and dragged me to the bathtub. The last thing I remember is the gag being out in my mouth and him taking off his belt to hit me.” She want bawling by the end of her explanation. I wanted to kill him all over again. I know how bad that sounds. But it’s what I wanted right then and there.

I told her to hold still. I didn’t know if I could heal her after turning the dead man to dust. That took a lot out of me. There is only so much I can do before I run out of stamina. And if I try to use energy at all, I have to go all the way through with my plan. If I don’t, it will come back at me. But I had to do this for Brit. She was the only real family I had left. Our mom has never been in the picture. And our grandparents died long before we were born. There was nothing for us but each other.

I put both my hands on her cheeks and focused everything I had on healing the damaged areas. I did the same with her arms. It made me so tired, but it was worth it when I saw that her bruises went away. After I healed her, we sat there for a few minutes in silence.

They pulled up next to us and Kit got out of the car. She almost ran over when she saw Brit’s expressionless face and wrapped her in a hug.

“What’s wrong Britney?” She seemed to ask that question a lot but I didn’t mind. It showed she cared. And she also called my sister Britney. Nobody called her that unless they were being serious.

“Kit,” I didn’t want Brit to talk right now. “She doesn’t need to talk right now.” I moved my eyes from Brit to Kit and she knew I said that for a good reason.

“Okay,” She used a sympathetic tone and looked Brit in the eyes, “Go sit in the car, hun.” Brit nodded and wiped her eyes with a sleeve.

When she was in the car I stood up and gave Kit another long hug. A trend that seemed to be making its way into our group. We all got in the car and without a word being spoken, we drove back to Brock’s house.

My mind drifted back to the clearing and how I had blacked out. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m not sure what went wrong but it was the least of my worries right now. I had to take care of my sister. We pulled into the driveway and went inside.

Brit  and I sat on a couch across from Kit and Brock. They sat on a loveseat on the other side of a coffee table. Brit looked down at the ground. She had so much despair in her eyes. I saw that Brock knew something was seriously wrong. He stopped me before we got in the house and told me the he had never seen this amount of depression and confusion in a young girl. I saw it in her eyes before she started staring at the ground. I didn’t want this for her. She saw me, her brother, standing over the dead body of her father. She saw me turn him to dust and drain him down a bathtub. I knew that would scar her for the rest of her life.

“What happened back at the apartment? Why did we have to come get you out of nowhere?” Brock sounded worried for once in his life.

“He’s dead. I killed him.” That’s all I could say. Nothing else really wanted to come out of my mouth.

“Zeke. Who was it? Was it your dad?” This was Kit. Her voice was soft and comforting.

“Don’t call him that!” I stood up and and almost knocked a vase off the table. I screamed but Kit looked as calm as could be. “He’s not my dad. And I disown him as my father.”

Kit stood up as well and held onto my arms. “You have to tell me what happened.”

I looked at her then sat down. “He hit her. I couldn’t take it any more. I didn’t mean to. I was just so mad. I don’t know what to do. . .”

“Everything will be okay.”

“How, Kit? How is anything okay?”

“Do you trust me?” This question surprised me. Of course I trusted her. But until now I never thought about how much.

“Of course.” I repeated my thought and wrapped an arm around Brit. She put her head on my shoulder and started crying. “Everything will be okay. I promise.” I whispered this to Brit. Kit and Brock probably heard it as well. “I won’t let anything hurt you again.”  

Reviews

[Adelle]

I liked it eve though its not my favourite topic! Its very deep and even though I´ve never been through such a situation I feel like I can relate to th echaracter. Keep it up! Looking foward to seeing another chapter and maybe later some more happy moments!

[OutThere]

Thank you so much Ill take that into consideration!

[OutThere]

Tell me what you think please