Jesse watched Trevet slowly move up the stairs as though he was in a trance or perhaps seeing a ghost. Following Trevet's gaze, Jesse found the large window that had opened a few moments ago. David could be seen guiding a shorter man toward the area where Jesse had seen the person walking down the wall. If David was up there, it meant there were stairs to that area, which meant the person in his care was the sixth of the group.

"Is Trev okay?" Valencia whispered.

"I'm hoping so," Jesse whispered back, "he paled badly when he saw the person up there with David."

"Do you think this is something to do with the sensation he has been feeling in his chest?" Tania asked.

"What sensation in his chest?" Jesse frowned.

"He has been standing in front of a wooden wall and rubbing his chest for the past few days," Tania said, looking up at the viewing window, "it looks like David noticed it as well. Trust him to look into it."

"Harvey has seen all of this and hasn't moved to intervene," Oran muttered, joining the group, "do you think he is okay with whatever is going on?"

"Yes," Cara whispered as she walked past the group to the stairs, "I need to go; I'm needed."

"Everything okay?" Oran asked, turning to walk briskly with her, "do you need me?"

"No," Cara stopped turning to her twin, "but Breanna might."

"What are you not telling me?" Oran narrowed his eyes on his twin.

"I'm going to sort something out," Cara said, "what needs to be done may not meet your expectations or allowances, and you may make the situation worse."

Oran sighed, "Fine. If you need me, call."

"Promise I will," Cara hugged her brother, "now go pay attention to the group."

Clutching his chest where the weird ache had been since arriving in this house, Trevet strode down the hallway toward the panel in the wall he had dubbed the "panel of torture". Over the past few days, he was drawn to this specific spot to stand in this particular place. The ache in his chest seemed like his heart was squeezing into a ball of pain, reminding him of a loss so profound it could shatter him, but he could not remember what he had lost that he should be in so much pain. Seeing that window open, finding that David had found another part of the house they knew nothing of was not surprising. It was seeing the person standing next to David that had ripped open the wound he never knew he had. Another part of him, something missing but never knowing what it was, a brother or could it be his twin?

In the passageway leading to the wall panel, Trevet stopped walking. Gasping for air, he bent from the waist, resting his hands on his knees, forcing himself to breathe evenly and his heart to stop slamming into his ribs.

Two sets of feet could be heard on the stairs. Straightening slowly and watching intently as first David and then a shorter man, a similar version of himself, appeared. Everything was ... identical. Their features. Their build, but they had slightly different heights. Trevet breathed out slowly. He had always worried something was wrong with himself because he was the shortest in the family, but he wasn't.

"Tamhas," Trevet whispered as a memory filtered through this mind, "where have you been?"

"Thank you for saying my real name. First, I was in Darcia's clutches and then here," Tamhas whispered, "I know you were told I was dead."

"We were," Trevet nodded, "I never believed it."

"Is that your name that was used?" David asked.

Tamhas nodded slowly, "I could never find its meaning."

"It means "twin," Trevet said quietly, "you and I are twins."

"Who is the elder?" Tamhas asked

"I am," Trevet said quietly, "we have much catching up to do, brother. I need to ask. Why didn't you let us know you were alive?"

"I was a child," Tamhas said, "I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but as time passed, I didn't have the heart to destroy whatever you and our parents had been able to build without me. You are right. We have a lot to catch up on. Do you like hot chocolate?"

"Love it," Trevet smiled as he followed his brother, glancing at David mouthing "thank you" before disappearing around a corner in the passageway.

David descended the stairs to the cave. At first, he thought it was empty, but then he spotted a lone figure sitting on a rock a little way from one of the exits of the cave. Walking across, David realised Breanna probably didn't know who was approaching her, so he cleared his throat.

"What you got there?" he spoke softly, knowing she could hear him.

"The list of triggers for everyone," she sighed, "I'm sitting here because I don't want to look at that," she pointed in the general direction of the tech area.

Looking over his shoulder, he found the large metal object they must have discovered when he was with Tamhas.

"That doesn't look like something good," he muttered, "what is it?"

"Darcia had a device like that in her madhouse that extracted abilities from her subjects," Breanna said mechanically, "we don't know what that one does. Not yet, anyway."

"Maybe Tamhas can help," David sighed, sinking onto a damp spot on the rock, "he is Trevett's twin brother, who has been here since he was a baby, raised by Betty and your father. He was one of Darcia's first experiments, and Trevet and his family thought he was dead."

"Both Jesse and yourself are getting really good at summarising a lot into a few short sentences," Breanna grinned at David. "It must be why Trevet was standing in front of that panel for the last few days?"

David nodded silently, watching Breanna work through the list and frown every few moments.

"What's going on?" David whispered.

"Trigger list," Breanna said absently, "there are not many that have non-emotional triggers. I'm trying to put a team together for the extraction, but the triggers cannot be emotional."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"How many people?" David whispered again.

"At the moment..." Breanna looked down the list, "five."

"That is not a lot," David whispered, intrigued that the quieter he spoke, the clearer Breanna seemed to hear him, "I need to check on Trevet and Tamhas. I'll be back in a few moments."

Breanna nodded absently as he walked away.

Glancing up, Breanna watched David walk away. She couldn't understand why he was whispering to her, but she knew something had been off with her abilities. She heard the trees creak across the grounds of the house. Everything seemed louder and more intense. Her sight. Her hearing. Her taste. Her touch, and don't get her started on her smell. She could find a cheese scone in a bakery.

Looking down at the list of names, she sighed heavily. She would have to be highly creative. The five names on the list had triggers but not the emotional kind. She supposed if they were triggered, it would not be on an emotional level. Seeing the abilities of the five in question for the extraction, she realised her plan would need a lot of thought and perhaps more creativity than she could muster.

"Breanna," Jenkins called quietly, "I hope you don't mind an interruption."

"No problem," Breanna smiled at the whispering man, "why are you whispering?"

"I noticed earlier you winced a lot when people spoke," he said. "I'm guessing your senses are intense and sensitive at the moment, and your sleep pattern is all over the place."

"How did you know?" Breanna narrowed her eyes on the man.

"It's what happened to me when I first got to the house," Jenkins smiled "it makes you feel disorientated and cranky."

"Then I guess you do understand me a little," Breanna nodded, "you were looking for me for a reason."

"Yes," Jenkins said, "earlier, you said something about wanting to know the connection between the ability extraction machine and the equaliser."

"I muttered that," Breanna's eyebrows rose as she spoke, "what did you find out?"

"Not much," Jenkins shrugged, "but I did find out that the Admiral and Tamhas were working on specifications that would make this machine work in tandem with the equaliser."

"Really," Breanna frowned, "how does that work?"

"I'm not sure, but I thought I'd let you know what I know," Jenkins sighed, "any decisions?"

"The list is short," Breanna sighed, "but I must be creative about the extraction. Five people ... not many options."

"Very true," Jenkins nodded slowly, "you should speak to Harvey about options. He was in the military, and I'm sure he could shed some light on a little creativity."

"Thank Jenkins, I will do just that," Breanna smiled as he walked across the sand toward the stairs. "Creative options," Breanna looked around, "I just need a beach chair, umbrella and a pitcher of alcohol, and I'd be at the beach. Couldn't be more creative than that."

David strode down the passageway toward the kitchen. The sound of raised voices drew his brows together in a frown. Quickening his pace, he stopped in the doorway, taking in the twins. Trevet stood at the kitchen counter, sipping his cup. Tamhas lounged at the kitchen table, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

"Problem?" David looked between the two.

Both shrugged, simultaneously refusing to meet each other's gaze.

"First fight?" David nodded in understanding, "is there any hot chocolate left?"

"In the pot," Tamhas pointed toward the stove, "help yourself."

Moving into the room, David poured some chocolate into a mug and waited for the tension to subside.

"Where do I find the knife to cut the tension?" he asked after a moment.

"Funny," Trevet glanced at David, "Tamhas knows how to use that monstrosity of a machine we found and knows the connection between that machine, the equaliser and what happens to anyone near them."

"That's fantastic," David said, "so what is the problem?"

"He doesn't want to share the information," Trevet snarled.

"There must be a reason why he feels that way," David looked between the two once again, "so what is the problem?"

"The reason is stupid and selfish," Trevet said, draining his cup, putting it in the dishwasher and leaving the kitchen.

"Stupid and selfish," David repeated slowly, watching Trevet leave the room before turning to Tamhas and raising his eyebrows, "explain why he has his panties in a bunch."

"He is unreasonable," Tamhas said, "I tried to explain to him that the combination of the adaptor module and the equaliser have not been tested yet."

David nodded, "He requested to run a test on himself, and you told him "no"."

"Yes," Tamhas sighed, "I'm not testing something unknown on my brother."

"Understandable," David said, "who will you test it on? Yourself?"

"We haven't decided on a test subject," Tamhas shook his head.

"Haven't decided... "David sipped at this chocolate before he spoke without thinking. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, and not all of it had a good outcome, "do you have any kind of abilities that head toward telepathy?"

Tamhas shook his head, "Not that I know of."

"Let me tell you about our family," David met and held Tamhas's gaze, "Trevet's family."

"Is this going to be a lecture?" Tamhas leaned back, sighing heavily.

"I'm not your father, so no lectures, but there is something you have to understand," David pushed away from the counter, ambling toward the kitchen table. "When it comes to the stability, functionality and basic humanity in our group, in our family, we make decisions together, and no one is a guinea pig. The fact that Trevet offered to be tested means that he feels strongly about the pain others in the group are going through."

"I get that, but it still comes down to the point that I have to watch him being tested on," Tamhas said, "I could not bear that."

"If not him, then who?" David asked, placing his cup on the table, "one of the family will find the equaliser, and one of them will be tested on."

"I really hope not," Tamhas said, "I'm not sure what will happen when they do."

"That is something that needs to happen," David said quietly, "one way or another. We cannot go and save those other experimental subjects if we don't know what is happening to each person."

"How do you know anything is changing?" Tamhas stood as David moved to walk away.

"Out of character behaviour," David said, "tension between those who have never been at odds with each other. Plus, we know each other. We understand difficulties new or expanding abilities have not only on the person experiencing them but also on those around them."

Tamhas sighed heavily, "That would be the equaliser," shaking his head, he propped his hands on his hips. "It's causing the issues; without adding the adaptor module, everything will keep unravelling."

"What will keep unravelling?" David frowned at Tamhas.

"Darcia's restrictions on the enhancements," Tamhas said, rubbing his hand over his forehead. "We have come to understand the restrictions she placed on the enhancements are unravelled by the equaliser to a point where they can level up on their own. The higher you are when getting out of the facility, the quicker they unravel."

"Where does the adaptor module come into everything?" David asked.

"The adaptor module stabilises the new levels," Tamhas said quietly, "well, that is what the amendments were to do, but the Admiral was gone before we could test the machine."

"We need to tell Breanna this before anyone puts themselves in harm's way," David said, leaving the kitchen and striding down the hall. "They may not even know they are around the equaliser... Fiona."

"What about Fiona?" Tamhas asked quietly.

"She hears frequencies," David closed his eyes, mentally seeking out Cara, "Cara cannot pick up any of Fiona's thoughts."

"Not good?" Tamhas narrowed his eyes on David.

"Not at all," David said, "Cara will keep tracking her. We have to chat with Breanna and tell her exactly what these two machines do."

"I ..." Tamhas stammered, stepping back, "I can't do that."

"Do what?" David stared down at the edgy man.

"Be in her presence," Tamhas gasped, "there is too much resemblance."

"We all know that feeling," David nodded, "the difference is we face our fears, and we get to know Breanna for who she is. Not what she looks like. You're coming with me; we are telling her what you know. We're doing it now before our family gets hurt."