Chapter Text
You
As long as you can remember, it has just been you and Grandma. She has raised you from the time you were very young, after your mother passed away. You had no other family—your mother had been her only child—so Grandma took you in. She keeps you near her at all times. You’re rarely allowed out of the house, and when you are, she watches you like a hawk. She homeschools you, cuts your hair herself, and even has her doctor friend come to the house to treat you when you aren’t feeling well. Grandma says it has to be that way, to keep you safe. She says if anyone sees your patterns, they’ll know what you are, and they’ll try to hurt you or kidnap you. So it’s just been you and Grandma for the last eight years. You think that’s just how things will always be. Until the day Caleb walks into your life.
It’s a rainy afternoon when they knock on your door. Grandma tells you to go to your room, but you sneak out onto the landing to peek through the gaps in the banister. She opens the front door and two people walk in—a middle-aged man and a boy a little older than you.
“Josephine, this is Caleb, the boy I called you about,” the man says as he puts a hand on Caleb’s back.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” the boy says, bowing respectfully towards Grandma.
Grandma gives him a soft smile, “It’s nice to meet you too, Caleb. Why don’t you sit on the couch while I talk to Mr. Dimitri?”
Grandma and Mr. Dimitri go to sit at the dining table while Caleb starts walking dutifully toward the couch. As if sensing your gaze on him, Caleb stops and turns in your direction, catching your eyes between the railing posts. As he stares at you, you feel drawn to him as if by gravity. Slowly, you scoot halfway down the stairs, making sure Grandma and Mr. Dimitri can’t see you. Caleb matches your movements, crouching down as he climbs up to meet you, his eyes never leaving yours. He stops one step below you, and you’re mesmerized by the violet galaxies of his irises, one eye partly hidden behind his dark brown bangs. He smiles at you, and it feels like the sun shining on your skin after the clouds part. You both turn your attention toward the kitchen as Grandma and Mr. Dimitri begin to talk.
“Dimitri, why did you bring him here? I told you not to. I can’t take in another child. You know I already have my granddaughter to worry about,” Grandma says, her tone admonishing.
“Josephine, he has nowhere else to go,” Mr. Dimitri says. “You know we can’t let him live with a civilian family; he might have seen something when his parents were attacked. The doctors said he lost most of his memories in the attack, but we don’t know that those memories are completely gone. If those memories surface and he starts telling people about what happened that night…” Mr. Dimitri doesn’t finish the sentence; he just sighs.
Grandma inhales deeply through her nose, then exhales in a loud puff. “There aren’t any other hunters who could take him?” she asks.
“Philip and Leon have relocated to the Arctic, and everyone else is either actively hunting or they don’t have room for a kid,” Mr. Dimitri replies, his voice turning pleading. “You’re the only one who has a safe, reliable home situation. Besides, I bet your granddaughter is so lonely, considering the way you keep her locked away. Having a brother around her age would be good for her, and Caleb can help you keep her safe.”
You duck as low as you can when Grandma turns her gaze up towards your bedroom. Luckily, her eyes pass right over you and Caleb. She looks back down at her hands on the table, pulling her lips between her teeth in a flat line as she thinks.
“Jo,” Mr. Dimitri says softly, reaching to cover her hands with one of his. “You aren’t going to be around forever. She needs someone else in her life, someone who can take care of her when you can’t anymore.”
You could see tears in Grandma’s eyes, but she blinks them away. “Okay, you’re right. This will be good for all of us,” she says softly as she stands.
Mr. Dimitri stands too, pulling Grandma into a hug. “Caleb!” he calls, and Caleb quickly slinks back down the stairs, “Come here, please.”
You crawl back up to the landing to watch from there.
Caleb enters the kitchen as if he had been in the living room the whole time. “Yes, Mr. Dimitri?” he asks politely.
“How would you like to stay here with Ms. Josephine?” Mr. Dimitri asks.
“I have a granddaughter about your age,” Grandma adds before Caleb can reply. “She’s very precious to me. You can be her brother and help me keep her safe. Would you like that?”
Caleb smiles brightly, like the sun peeking out from the clouds again.
“Thank you, Ms. Josephine. That would be great!” Caleb answers cheerfully, his head subtly turning to search for you on the stairs.
“Please, call me Grandma,” Grandma says, pulling Caleb into a hug. “We’re going to be family, after all.”
You’re too young to put a name to the feeling that overcomes you at this statement, but your heart beats so loudly you can feel it in your chest and hear it in your ears.
You watch as Caleb and Mr. Dimitri bring in a large suitcase and some boxes. You can only see the labels on two of the boxes— “Books” and “Models.” Once everything is in the living room, Mr. Dimitri bends down to say something to Caleb, too low for you to hear. Caleb nods, then Mr. Dimitri says goodbye and leaves.
“Well, Caleb,” Grandma says brightly, clapping her hands together. “We can unpack your things a bit later. Would you like to meet my granddaughter?”
Caleb nods enthusiastically, his eyes darting quickly to you, “Yes, ma’am!”
You quietly sneak back into your room and sit down on your bed. You pull at your baggy shirt sleeves, making sure they cover the stripe-like patterns on your upper arms. You don’t hear anything else until Grandma is outside your room, knocking gently and calling your name. “Can I come in? There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Yes, okay!” you reply, your voice coming out a little shaky. You try to calm your heartbeat and put on a surprised expression when Grandma opens the door. You don’t have to fake the way your eyes turn into dinner plates as they land on Caleb.
“This is Caleb. He’s going to be living with us from now on. You can think of him as your big brother,” Grandma says, stepping into your room with her arm around Caleb. “Caleb, this is my granddaughter, your new little sister.”
You introduce yourself quickly, giving a nervous bow, your eyes fixed on the floor.
Caleb steps closer to you until you’re staring at his shoes. “Hey,” he says softly, giving you a gentle wave to bring your attention back up to him. “I'm Caleb, I'll always be by your side,” he says with that smile that made you forget everything else.
“Why don’t you show Caleb around the house?” Grandma asks. She gives you a tight smile as she shivers, “Brrrr. You should put on a sweater first; it’s pretty cold in here.”
Her eyes flick to the wall where you had about a dozen jackets and sweaters, all to cover your patterns in various types of weather. Even at eight years old, you understand Grandma’s subtext—you aren’t allowed to let Caleb see your patterns.
Grandma watches you put on a sweater before she backs up out of your room. “I’m going to go get dinner started. You two get to know each other, okay?”
You both nod at Grandma, “Okay!”
You hear Grandma go down the stairs while you and Caleb just stare at each other. He’s still wearing that smile that drew you in, making you feel as though he was pulling you towards him.
Caleb is radiant like the sun as he gives a slight chuckle, “You wanna start the tour here? This will be my room, right? It’s a little girly, but I can fix it up with some of my models.”
Your jaw drops open as you stare at him, too shocked to say anything.
“Relax, I’m just kiddin’. I know this is your room, Pip-squeak,” he says, his smile softening as he rubs the top of your head.
You’ve seen brothers and sisters on TV and read about them in books, but you don’t know if the way Caleb acts is normal. You haven’t really interacted with boys your age, other than the son of your doctor, who came along with his dad sometimes when you had check-ups. The boy, Zayne, is a few years older than you and Caleb, and you only ever talk to him when Grandma and his dad are discussing your medical assessments. He’s very different from Caleb, though. He doesn’t smile or laugh the way Caleb does—Zayne is much more subdued and serious in his mannerisms.
With only those examples to go by, you aren’t sure if Caleb is acting normally or if he’s being mean to you on purpose. His warmth towards you makes you think he’s just innocently teasing you, but you still feel a little hurt. You’re more annoyed than anything, though.
“Caleb,” you whine, “That was mean! I’m not a pip-squeak! You’re just too tall!” You give him your best pout.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he apologizes, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “But you’re still going to be my Pip-squeak. I’m not being mean, I promise.” He holds up his pinky finger to you. “And I’ll never lie to you.”
You recognize this gesture from TV—a pinky promise. You look at Caleb warily as you hold out your own pinky, twining it with his. “You better not,” you say.
— — —
Caleb
After you give Caleb a tour of the small house—the three bedrooms, bathroom, living room, kitchen, attic, and backyard—you go back into your room to wait for dinner. Unsure what to do, Caleb decides to go to the kitchen to see if Ms. Josephine needs any help. It feels wrong for him to call this stranger “Grandma”, but he figures he might as well get used to it. He decides to pretend she really is his grandmother; he’s never met his grandparents, so it isn’t a stretch. But he’ll call her Gran instead, so it feels less official.
He doesn’t know what to think about you, though. When he looks at you, he feels like you’ve stolen his Evol and are pulling him into your orbit with your gravity. Even now, as he climbs down the stairs, he stares toward your closed door, wanting to run back to you. Just being near you helps settle the pain he felt churning under his skin since the attack. When he patted your head and touched your pinky, the sounds from that night went away. It was as if your touch could turn down the volume on those memories. Memories he isn’t supposed to have.
At first, it wasn’t a lie—his memory was completely gone when he woke up in the hospital. Slowly, the memories came back. Of his parents, his life, his past, and then the “accident.” That’s what the adults called it, though he knew it wasn’t a simple accident. They didn’t give him any details, not wanting to influence his memories or traumatize him.
He remembered walking home from the movies with his mom and dad, holding each of their hands in one of his. There was a scream from an alleyway as they walked by, and his parents froze instantly. They dropped his hands, turning to look toward the scream. The alley was too dark to see much, but he could make out a large, dark figure pushing a smaller one against a wall.
His mom turned toward him, panic on her face. “Caleb, stay here. Don’t move, no matter what,” she said gravely.
In a flash, his parents pulled swords from thin air and ran down the alley. The large figure turned to face them, and the smaller one—a young woman—got away, running towards Caleb and out of the alley. His parents reached the dark figure and raised their swords to slash at it, but three more figures jumped out from the shadows before they could strike. Caleb didn’t think; he just ran into the alley, trying to get to his parents before they were surrounded. He sent his Evol at one of the figures, throwing it several feet away with his gravity. His parents turned to look at him as he approached, their eyes going wide with terror. The distraction cost them; two of the figures slid their hands across his parents’ stomachs, cutting through fabric and leaving behind bloody gashes in their skin. The alley was too dark to see much, but Caleb could make out the figures’ eyes glowing yellow as they turned to glare at him.
“Caleb, run!” his parents screamed at him as they lifted their swords for another attack.
Caleb got closer, using his Evol to throw another one of the figures—monsters, he thought. The first monster he’d thrown had recovered and run back, but Caleb didn’t see it in time, his focus trained on his parents as they slashed at the two monsters who had attacked them. Sharp, searing pain bloomed across his chest and the top of his head. He touched his chest and felt warm blood start to trickle down his skin. In an instant, his parents had surrounded him; his mom touched him to inspect his wounds while his dad fended off the monsters.
There were only three monsters now; the two his parents had been fighting were gone, with only some glowing crystals in their place. His mom helped Caleb walk over to the alley’s wall and pushed him to sit down. She kissed his forehead and said something into her watch before running back to the fight. His dad was barely fending off the monsters, his white shirt now drenched in blood. Caleb’s vision started to blur as he watched the fight. He tried to summon his Evol toward one of the monsters again, but he was too far away and too weak. He kept trying, pushing as hard as he could, until his body felt like it weighed a ton and his vision went black.
When Caleb woke up in the hospital, he was screaming, but he didn’t know why. His doctor told him there had been an accident, but Caleb couldn’t remember anything. He didn’t even remember his own name at first. He spent several weeks working with various doctors, healing his wounds but also trying to regain his memories. Things trickled back slowly—his name, things he liked to do, other random memories without context, like snapshots in a photo album he’d never seen before. Every night, Caleb would wake up in a cold sweat, screaming from nightmares he could never remember. They moved him to a room away from other patients because of the noise. His doctors gave Caleb various medications to try to ease his sleep, but nothing worked. Eventually, Caleb remembered his parents, their faces, their names, their voices. He remembered past birthdays, vacations, and holidays, and their weekly movie nights. Other memories started to fill in the blanks in his mind, until the only one missing was that night.
He only had one visitor—a man named Mr. Dimitri, who said he was a friend of Caleb’s parents. Mr. Dimitri was nice. He gave Caleb plane models and brought him his favorite type of apples. He talked to Caleb about all sorts of things, but he would always circle back to the accident. No one would tell Caleb what had happened, not even Mr. Dimitri, but Mr. Dimitri tried harder than anyone to determine if Caleb remembered anything. Once, Caleb said he thought he might be remembering something. Mr. Dimitri had gone pale, and his expression turned angry. Caleb decided then that he wouldn’t tell Mr. Dimitri if he ever got back his memory of that night.
Then, one night, it happened. Caleb woke in the middle of the night, but this time he remembered the nightmare—his parents, the monsters, the pain, the blood. The nightmare ended with everything going black and his parents’ screams. Caleb convinced himself that it was just a nightmare—monsters weren’t real. His parents didn’t have swords; they didn’t know how to fight. They had been just a normal family.
Caleb had that nightmare every night. Sometimes multiple times a night. The more he dreamt it, the less he found himself screaming when he woke up. After a while, Caleb would only groan and whimper in his sleep. That’s when he realized it wasn’t just a nightmare. Everything was too real, and the details never changed. The wounds he received in his nightmare matched the ones from the “accident” perfectly. The adults probably didn’t want to tell him what had happened because they couldn’t admit that monsters were real. Or maybe they didn’t even know what had really happened themselves.
Mr. Dimitri seemed to know, though. When it was time for Caleb to be discharged, Mr. Dimitri argued in the hallway with the doctors. He thought Caleb wasn’t ready to go home—he didn’t even have a home to go to—and he insisted Caleb couldn’t leave until they knew whether he would remember that night or not. The doctors explained that it would be impossible to predict. The loss of that memory was likely due more to a trauma response than the injury to Caleb’s head. With enough therapy, the memory might come back, or it might never surface. Begrudgingly, Mr. Dimitri took Caleb away from the hospital. He told Caleb he knew of a family that he could live with, a grandmother and a little girl around his age.
Though Caleb was always smiling and putting on a cheerful front, none of his smiles were real after the attack. He couldn’t find anything to be happy about. Not until he met you.