Chapter 14

Responsibilities

Virgo POV

Fire. Ice. Telepathy. Telekinesis, phasing. Wind, water. Future sight, super speed, super strength. Emotions, illusions, teleporting, sonic blasts, leeching energy, stealing senses.

Powers and abilities flooded my every thought, plaguing my ability to think consciously. Whatever power someone asked for, I gave them. After the fifth child, my mind turned to auto-pilot. A week passed, and I had granted over two hundred abilities, to children younger than sixteen. Few of them had the mental faculties to grasp the full potential of what they had asked for; merely grasping at anything that would possibly give them an edge over an opponent.

This lack of imagination could have been a very good thing; there would be no experimentation. Whatever the child knew about his current abilities would be all that he would ever know. It was those that had imaginations that were dangerous. Chris, Mike, Adeli and Delia were the most creative of the two hundred-plus, but they seemed to be the most responsible. They would not cause any problems.

I realized my mistakes too late, too late for my conscious mind to take over again, removing the ability before it became ingrained too deeply in the child's mind. Once it was there, they would always be able to use it, even if I removed the physical changes that made it safe; it would just be much more dangerous to them.

This boy was asking for things he could not comprehend, but I gave it to him anyways. By the time I realized what I had done, it was far too late.

Adeli POV

We were gaining far greater control over our abilities. We had learned how to over-take a vampire, using another vampire's mind as a filter; of course, the first vampire had to be a willing one, such as Edward.

We also discovered that vampires were the only living beings that were out of our grasp. The Quileutes and other humans were putty in our hands, regardless of their own wishes. Of course, they all thought that what they were doing was their own conscious choice, but that was merely the smallest, lightest touch of our powers. If we wanted to, we could make people do things that would normally horrify them, and they would do it; even fully aware that they did not want to. We were like…Puppet Masters. That, however, only extended to one person at a time, possibly two. Only with simple actions were we able to ensnare an entire roomful of people.

The greatest part, of our new-found powers, was that we could know our werewolves' minds as well as we knew our own. They had requested to be brought into our permanent link, desiring to be as fully connected with us as we were with each other. Of course, we gladly obliged. We all had our own thoughts, but there were no secrets from each other, as it should always be with soul-mates.

We were telepaths, in all but name; there was no real name for what we were. Telepaths could not permanently form links that permitted thoughts and feelings to flow freely, with no focusing on the link, between four people. Of course, telepaths could also broadcast their thoughts over great distances…oh well, those are the tradeoffs. I thought nonchalantly.

"What power are you going to receive?" We heard Virgo ask someone in the other room. We recognized the voice instantly, horror washing through us. Before we could act on any of our impulses he said, "I would like to be able to copy other people's powers." No! We screamed silently, cursing Virgo for not stopping the instant our voice left our heads. We jumped at the boy's mind attempting to force him backwards, away from Virgo, but by the time we took control, it was far too late; she had already given it to him.

We felt the odd sensation of being copied, probably how every cell in our body feels as it undergoes mitosis. The four of us felt like we were being enlarged and then split, sent off into another dimension. We had just been copied.

This boy was unstable, far too immature to have any ability at all. He resorted to violence whenever something did not go his way and he had been knocked unconscious more than five times, in the past three years, due to his erratic actions.

Unfortunately, as Virgo had told us all, his powers were now a part of him, and he would never be rid of them. There had been no change to his body; that we had seen in Virgo's mind as she granted him this bestial ability. His power was to subconsciously understand the minds and abilities of others, and then make alterations in his own body to accommodate them, granting him the powers he had just learned to understand. He could gain infinite knowledge as he absorbed all that was in a person's mind, if it related to their powers; in our case, every thought that we had had since obtaining our abilities.

Virgo snapped up to attention, being controlled by Delia. My thoughts forced themselves into her brain, while Collin and Brady held Aaron, the boy, still with their thoughts. Virgo, remove his power now! I ordered, Delia making her re-approach Aaron. I knew that it was impossible for her to remove his powers, but I still had to try.

It is…not possible… I could erase his mind of them, but that…Would not last for more than a few moments…As his mind would quickly…Reabsorb your powers, or others. Her thoughts came slowly, straining against the hold that we held over her. Granting those abilities must have taken their toll on her, if we can keep her subdued so easily. I said silently, all six of us hearing it through the link that remained intact between the four of us, at all times. Aaron seemed terrified, knowing how he was being held by Collin and Brady, but being unable to do anything against it. Virgo was just numb.

Adeli, Aaron wants to say something. The three boys thought to us, their minds still perfectly synchronized. Okay, let his thoughts wander, but keep his body still. I replied, the boys moving towards him to physically restrain him. They would be safe from his power because their minds were perfectly protected by my sister and I; no mental attack would so much as touch them.

"I swear that I won't do anything! I promise I won't try to steal other people's powers anymore; I just wanted to be able to choose from several things, if I need to. I…" he trailed off, his pupil dilating. He slowly turned his head towards Rosalie, his mouth moving slowly. Her hands reflexively went to her stomach, guarding the baby against this boy who could not harm it if he took a jack-hammer to her stomach.

Crap, wrong again! I thought as we attacked his mind, which was no longer his own. He transformed into a giant wolf, one of the Quileute kinds, and slashed at Collin and Brady, throwing them through the wall. "Collin!"

"Brady!" We both cried at the same time as we ran towards our boys, gashes streaming blood down their chests. Our minds worked overtime, flashing through different scenarios that could potentially save them from any permanent harm. We chose none of them; acting on instinct instead.

Delia took control of their minds and consciously synchronized all of their bodily functions, keeping the boys alive whether their bodies wanted to die or not. I split off and retook control over a dazed Virgo, leading her over to us like a lost puppy. Her auto-pilot state made it incredibly easy to take information from her, and then use her to fulfill my plans.

I extended her hands, putting one on each of our boys' chests. She then healed the gashes, leaving no trace but the blood, and then healed any broken bones or internal injuries. The blood fell into a deep void in space, opened quickly and harmlessly, as Delia checked over the boys' vitals. Once she was positive that they were perfectly fine, she woke them up and I receded from Virgo's body.

This whole exchange took place in little more than ten seconds, but it was enough for us to miss the horrendous fight that had occurred behind us.

Michael POV

Fire flashed above my hand, like a nervous twitch. I knew that something bad was going to happen; I had seen Aaron Clevrel enter the house, getting into line behind the others waiting for powers. I had known, but done nothing to prevent it. My fire flickered and trembled as though it was anxious to burn something, reflecting my own nerves and desires.

I loved fire, it reflected my personality perfectly; I would help people, but I would also harm them, if they told me to. I had very few convictions, except to my brother and close friends. The harm also happened accidentally, a misplaced word here or there, tripping and crashing into someone. None of the destruction I caused accidentally was my fault, just like a fire flicking and ember from the fireplace to a shag rug.

Fire is uncontrollable once it is released, its movements controlled by the wind, which are controlled by God, or whatever power is controlling all things that are determined by chance. I believe in God, and so I believed that it is him who is in control. Being a physical manifestation of fire, I now felt that controlling force, driving me to do something that would be uncontrollable, completely unpredictable; it wanted me to attack Aaron, burn him to cinders before anyone knew what was happening.

I saw Edward eyeing me as I thought that, but we both knew that he wouldn't be able to stop me, short of killing me himself, which would be the dumbest thing he could do. He nodded in agreement with my thoughts.

I denied the sudden compulsion to kill Aaron, even though it went against every instinct that I had. It scared me, this desire to kill him for no reason. I should have listened to it; I would next time, without question.

I watched Aaron approach Virgo, ready to receive his powers. The drive to kill him suddenly spiked, and I almost submitted, but I did not want to let go of my humanity, to become the wild force that I embodied. She placed his hands on him, and I saw their mouths move, but I could not hear the words; the desire to kill blinded all of my senses, except for sight. My vision became tunneled, focusing on Aaron; my target.

"Michael, don't." Edward said, suddenly right next to me. My tunnel vision widened slightly, taking in more of the room. I was slowly regaining control over myself, the desire to kill him receding back to a buzzing in my head. "There we go. Just keep cool." He said, sitting down in a nearby chair. I could tell that he was going to stay right next to me, regardless of the danger I posed.

I was distracted by a sudden yelling from the twins, and then Aaron and Virgo being pulled to attention by invisible ties. I knew something was wrong, and the urge to give in to the force that drove fire was more powerful than ever. "Michael! Calm down, focus on Chris." Edward said as an icy hand rested on my shoulder.

I focused on the energy being sucked from around the hand, causing everything to be cold. The hand was softer than any vampire's could be, so I knew that it was Chris, only my sensitivity to temperature allowing me to feel the lack of heat. The chill spread throughout my whole body, causing my sight to return from the red that had invaded it, my muscles relaxing from their attack positions. The desire to kill vanished entirely.

Within seconds, Collin and Brady had gone to grab Aaron with their hands, which I found odd. "I swear that I won't do anything!" Aaron whimpered, answering why they had to hold him physically. He trailed off from the rest of his sentence, and his eyes suddenly went wide, staring at Rosalie's stomach. "Crap!" Edward muttered, dashing forward to grab him.

Aaron exploded, however, sending Edward, Collin and Brady through different walls, Edward the only one unscathed. A giant wolf stared down at the rest of us for only half of a second before all of its hair fell from its body. The skin turned grey, gaining a stone-like appearance. His eyes turned blood-red as he rose up on two legs, shrinking back down to human-size and shape. Wings exploded from his back, breaking some furniture and hitting approaching Quileute wolves.

Aaron was naked, but that was the least of anyone's concerns. Staring at all of us was a pure vampire, just like Cain had become.

He lunged forward, faster than any other vampire in the room could ever hope to move, and attacked the nearest person with blood. Before we could blink, he had latched onto the unfortunate boy's neck, and drained all of the blood from his body.

That killed me, convincing me to release my inhibitions and give in to the fire. My molecules excited themselves to light-speed, faster than even Aaron could now move. I was in front of him, my fist crashing through his chest. He exploded into flames, smashing through another wall. I contained the fire from spreading, but hurled another ball of flame after him. It hit its mark, exploding into a blinding nova-worthy blast. It did not burn anything but Aaron, however.

My molecules slowed down as the desire to impulse to kill Aaron faded, which meant that he was gone. The fire killed itself at my command, revealing nothing but melted earth; no ashes, nothing but hardening, liquid dirt.

I was not surprised at my actions, finally understanding why I felt the need to kill Aaron the moment he walked in the door; he was a danger, and the force that controlled all things left to chance, the motions of fire, was telling me to remove that danger before it fulfilled its reputation as dangerous. If I had obeyed the command that would have caused an open candle flame to leap from its wick, fluttering across the space to land on Aaron, possibly burning him, sending him to the hospital, none of this would have happened. If I had obeyed the guiding hand of fate, that boy would not have died.

I would obey, without hesitation, next time.

I hope that none of this was too confusing. I felt the need to get in a few POVs here, as well as develop on Michael's character. He's not majorly important, but he's definately not just scenery. Both sets of siblings will be quite important, although not as important as Virgo (obviously). Again, if there are any questions, please ask. All reviews are welcome, especially constructive critisism.