The Calling

ELEVEN

Silus

My leg radiated pain where my mother shredded my tendons above my knee. She continued moving her claws slowly and intentionally, digging through my muscles down to the bone. I wondered briefly if she intended to break my leg right at the knee. It didn’t matter if she did; I would heal. I was immortal like her and my father. The pain was a rather delicious little feast. I guessed it was for her as well, as I could feel her powerful aura intensifying as she glared at me.

“Mother, I honestly don’t know who you mean. I haven’t met anyone. Well, there was the receptionist.” I smirked.

She raised her eyebrows with interest. “Did she cause this little power surge within you?”

My smirk deepened, and I matched my mother’s dark stare, letting my own glamour fall. “I’d say that you could ask her, but she’s dead now.” I laughed.

Kadasha growled angrily and ripped her fingers out of my leg, shredding it completely and leaving my skin hanging, blood pooling on the floor.

“WHO IS SHE, SILUS?”

I knew who she meant. I had felt our tie break for the briefest moment when I touched Elara. The silence and peace I felt before The Void seeped back into me. For a moment, I had been in total control. I used the power surge from my mother to wrap a shadow tendril around my beer from the other counter and move it to me. I took a drink, finishing the rest of it. My mother knocked the bottle from my hand, and it shattered against the wall.

“SILUS,” she growled, the shadows around her like black fire, consuming my home.

“It doesn’t matter. She’s dead,” I said flatly.

My mother reeled back in rage and slammed shadows into the furniture in the room, breaking my couch and TV. She shattered the lamps around the room and the old record player. The piano by the window exploded into wood shards.

I watched with boredom as she threw her tantrum. Moments later, there was pounding on the door. All three of my brothers called my name. Kadasha looked at the door and then back to me before vanishing in a cloud of shadows.

Rolland kicked the door in and was the first to barrel in, with Merrick and Dexter right on his heels. The three of them stood in my doorway, staring in disbelief at the destruction of my home. One of the large windows was cracked. Rolland ran over and grabbed my face roughly. He looked me over, checked my eyes, and his face was full of concern.

Dexter crouched below me, looking over my leg, worry creasing his perfect features. I could hear Merrick on the phone already, probably calling our father. I wished he wouldn’t worry our father. I wished they would leave.

“What happened?” Rolland asked.

I just shrugged. “Can you get me a beer, beefcakes?”

I smirked at him.

Rolland raised his fist to punch me, but Dexter grabbed him. “Come on, Rolland. He’s clearly already been through it tonight.” Dexter pulled his arm further away from my face.

Rolland glared at me and then at Dexter before walking out of the room. I could hear his heavy steps pacing in the hallway as he tried to calm down.

I laughed out loud. “He just makes it too easy.”

Dexter rolled his eyes and went to the fridge, grabbing me and himself a beer.

Merrick appeared in front of me, and Dexter handed me the beer.

“What happened, Silus?”

Calm and collected, like always, I thought to myself. What was it like to be this in control all the time? How I envied my eldest brother some days.

“It was just a visit from my dear mommy,” I said, taking a drink from the beer.

“Kadasha? She was here?” Merrick asked, panic flashing for just a moment across his cool blue eyes.

“She came to visit. She was very upset about your last receptionist.”

Merrick sighed and shook his head but looked into my eyes, and I could still see love there. Even with how awful I was. Even after I had murdered people. It was an accident… but I had still done it. He looked at me with those loving big-brother eyes. I shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

That warm feeling crept in again, and I wanted desperately to hug each of my brothers. I wanted to allow myself to feel human for just a moment. But that wasn’t possible. I wasn’t like them, and loving them made me weak. If Kadasha knew I loved them, she would have even more reason to destroy them. I didn’t want to know the pain of a world without them. They were the only ties to my humanity: them and my ever-doting father.

I heard a noise in the hallway and turned just as the door to my apartment was opened. My father stood there, looking around at the destruction. He lowered his head to fit under my door and entered. He walked with a cane, and his steps were slow and careful. I could see him heavily leaning on the weight of the cane. His hair had become dull and gray. He kept it short. His beard had grayed too. His once deep golden eyes were now just pale yellow. Those eyes met mine, and he quickened his pace to look me over.

“What happened?” he asked as he looked me up and down, his eyes resting on my shredded leg.

It was healing already, but slowly. Pain contorted his features when he saw the injury.

“Oh, Silus,” he whispered, emotion thick in his voice.

“I’m fine,” I said with a cold tone.

I stood up and moved to the other side of the counter, bringing my beer with me to take a long drink.

I could feel all of their eyes on me, and to make matters worse, my mother’s little power surge was rushing out of me, and the portals were opening with the creatures trying to fight their way through. I chugged the beer down and threw away the bottle. I could feel my clarity slipping and my desire to harm my family was just under the surface. There was a deep hunger settling over me.

My mother had given me just enough control that I tested the limits, and now I would pay a price.

“I’m honestly fine. You should all go,” I whispered as I inched my way around the corner, dragging my useless leg.

Rolland came around the bar silently and lifted me up into his arms. I struggled to break free of his grasp, but he was just too strong. Exhaustion washed over me, but I didn’t want to give in.

I smirked up at Rolland as he carried me toward my bedroom. “My sweet prince charming.”

I could see his temper flare, but he said nothing. He kicked the door of my room open and dropped me on the bed.

“Ow. Mind the leg.”

“Oh shut up, Silus. It’s already healing.” He said, and I could feel him roll his eyes in the dark.

He flipped on the lamp by my bed and then stood there uncomfortably. I patted the bed next to me.

“Want to cuddle?”

He raised his fist to hit me but caught himself and just walked out of the room. Merrick, Dexter, and my father came down the hallway and into the room. They all looked so concerned.

“He’s fine enough to pester Rolland,” Dexter said.

“I suppose that’s true. You good, Silus?” Merrick asked.

“I’m fine. Honestly. Mother barely harmed me.”

“Son, are you sure?” my father asked, coming forward slowly.

He seemed so frail compared to the presence he used to be. He came to my bedside and brushed my hair back with fatherly tenderness. It made me want to hurl. The darkness was creeping through the room, tangling around me. Any warmth I held for my family was fading.

“Please go,” I whispered as I looked over to the far side of the room where the creatures were reaching through and calling my name.

My father looked at me with a sorrowful gaze and then glanced to the corner of the room, where I knew he saw nothing—just a normal lamp with a chair. He sighed and turned, shuffling away. My brothers shifted their focus to helping him down the hallway, and moments later, I heard them all leave the apartment. I was finally alone.

I shut off the light in the room and let the darkness have me.