Joe knew it. But he didn’t want to admit it. Mandy was their sister. Ever since his own awakening, he had felt it. Even though he knew it, he still went out
her. After a month of dating though,
they decided they were better off as friends.
“Joe.” Nick interrupted his thoughts. “Kevin has feelings for Mandy.” Joe was speechless. “We can’t tell him that she’s our sister. At least not now.”
Joe replied
“No. We have to tell him. What if he starts to get serious? We can’t let him marry his own sister.”
“But it’ll
make things worse. He’ll die at this
rate!” Nick was worried.
“Why didn’t
our rings work Nick? Yours worked fine
on me.” Nick took out Kevin’s ring. It was blood red. He tried washing it with the rain but it
wouldn’t turn back to silver.
“It’s
tainted.” Nick said. “Dad told me before he passed away that this
could happen.”
“Well what
are we supposed to do?” Joe asked.
“Not
we. Only me.” Nick said.
“Dad said if this was to happen, then that means Kevin’s talent is
different. It’s not the same as
ours. His talent is so strong that his
body can’t handle it. Not in this
condition. Dad said it might sound
selfish but I have to transfer some of his talent into me. He said that only I can be the one who does
it because my awakening came first.”
Joe looked
at Kevin. “I can’t believe he has to
lose some of it. It’s not fair.”
“I know it’s
not but it’s the only way to save him now.
He needs this ring.” Nick took
off his ring and put it in his own hand next to Kevin’s ring. “We don’t have time left to regret.” Nick said and took Kevin’s hand into his
own. “There’s more to life than just to
live.” At that moment, there was a giant
flash of light and everything froze except Nick. He winced.
There was pain coming from his left ring finger. On it was a mark where his purity ring was
supposed to be. He tried to touch it but
it caused more pain.
An image of himself came and stood
next to him. It was his Other. It said “Why don’t you just tell Joe that he
can be a part of this too? That you
don’t have to be by yourself.”
“I don’t want him to suffer.” Nick replied.
“Are you sure you’re not doing this
so you can look better in front of your brothers? When they finally realize that you took this
on by yourself, they’ll hate you for it.
Mom will hate you for it.”
“I’d rather suffer by myself than
live the rest of my life seeing my brothers die. He gives me all I need along with my
brothers. Any type of torture will not
change me.”
“Fine.” His Other laughed. “You had your chance.” It grinned and then disappeared.
Everything started moving again. The rain.
The wind. Kevin started moving
too. “It worked.” Joe said.
Nick nodded in agreement, pretending that nothing had happened.
Mandy sat up and looked at all three
of them. She was confused. “What’s going on?” She said.
“All I remember was Nick telling me to stay put.”
Kevin woke up. His hand went for his head and he groaned a
little. He sat up and saw Mandy. “Mandy.”
He said and gave her a hug. She
hugged him back. They let go and stared
at each other. Kevin looked into Mandy’s
eyes and kissed her. The kiss felt
wonderful. It was different than
anything he had ever felt. Like his
whole life, he had been living for this very moment. And this feeling that he had, the one he
can’t explain to anyone, the one that he felt on rainy days, this was the
feeling that started it all.
