A loud hum of engines surround the building.

I guess this is where it ends.

"Come out!!"

A Gruff, aggressive but familiar voice shouts from outside.

There is nowhere left to run anymore. We tried so hard, but there is just nowhere to run to.

How long has it been? probably just a few weeks but it feels like years.

I feel a gentle touch on my shoulder, a calming and assuring voice.

"It's alright to be afraid, there is no need to be angry, just leave everything to your big sister"

Slightly assured I look up and nod back at her. Her gentle and assuring smile doing its best to hide the worry buried beneath. Luna, my sister, her hair tied in a rough knot, with countless stray strands, tucked behind her ears.

I feel a pang of guilt. Her hair, for which She would take what would feel like hours in the bathroom to care for every morning, now completely unkempt and ignored. We didn't have the time nor leisure for personal grooming.

She takes my hand and helps me up, we slowly move towards the exit of the abandoned building that has been our shelter from the cold winter wind outside. The bright car headlights pierce through the darkness, hurting my eyes as we leave safety behind and stride slowly into the cold urban air. No other tall building nearby to block the cold wind as it sends a shiver down my spine as my body tries to warm up. 

It takes a while for my eyes to adjust as I peer past the assuring shoulder that is my sisters, to look at the dark, hard to see figure, silhouetted in the darkness by the bright headlights behind him. The city lights that would have dotted the horizon now invisible and non-existent due to the light polution in close proximity.

A commanding voice speaks from behind him. "take care of this quickly before we have to step in."

He nods slightly and steps forward to reveal a familiar face.

"Come with me quietly, I can make sure that everything is alright again." the man speaks. "These people won't mistreat you, they just want to get to know you a little better and I just want my son back"

Dad,

I want to call out to him but can't bring myself to do it.

I want to tell him that it's not luna's fault.

I caused all of this.

I keep quiet, everything will be alright, sis will take care of everything, I assure myself.

"what about me? your daughter? Can't you just let us go? He is here with me willingly, can't you just leave us alone" Luna asks hopefully.

I can hear the tremble in her voice, a seed of doubt is planted in my mind.

Will everything be alright? am I a coward for leaving this to my sister?

Mom always said that I should grow up and look after her. 

Thoughts of my mother strengthen the growing feeling of guilt causing a stabbing feeling in my chest.

My thoughts are quickly interrupted by a reply "I don't have such an unfilial daughter, now give me my son back!!" He snaps at her angrily and starts to step forward aggressively.

Luna stands between me and him defensively and shouts for him to stay back. 

"Don't make me use the power against you!!'" she shouts threateningly yet unconvincingly.

Still, father freezes on the spot. not because he is afraid but because against his will he Is now unable to move.

This is the power.

Tether, that is the name my sister gave it. The power to hold things together.

"Release me this instant!!" Dad orders in a commanding tone.

Although dad is frozen the people behind him start moving forward threateningly. "You won't be able to hold us all down forever" The voice from earlier speaks.

"You will have to let go sometimes." he continues "when you do we will be right back in this current situation."

he is interrupted as dad speaks.

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"Leave this to me as you promised!!" 

Then directing his voice at luna. "I wish we had never adopted you" he spits in a disdainful tone.

"It's all your fault that our family is being torn apart!! He continues in a regretful tone.

The shock of this news reverberates through my mind as my father unfreezes and is able to move again.

The gentle hand on my shoulder tightens and pulls me closer.

"It's alright," I hear her whisper.

"you are still my little brother."

"don't worry about it.'

"No need to feel anger in my stead."

I snuggle up closer to her warm body, trying to escape the cold air all around, trying to escape the cold world around.

Bang!!!

A loud noise tears through the night, drowning the sound of idling engines, shocking my eyes back open and bringing my mind back to the present.

A look of fear.

I have never,

ever seen my father with such a look on his face.

The gentle grip on my shoulder slackens.

My father looks on in shock, seemingly conflicted on whether to rush forward.

"looks like part of you still cares" I hear luna weakly utter beside me.

I feel more of her weight pressing onto me.

My hand feels something wet.

Is she crying?

"It will be alright, big sis" I work up the courage to say.

As I raise my face and hand to brush the tears off her face, I notice a red stain on my hand.

A small stream of blood on the side of Lunas lip.

Her face still gently smiling down at me as she suddenly coughs and gasps for air.

Realization starts to dawn on me as I lose the strength in my legs.

"Why?!!" I hear my father shout.

An emotionless and commanding voice answers his question.

"I'm not risking more danger to me and my men for more family drama" 

completely shocked I collapse onto the ground, my sister falling on top of me.

I hear her short gasps for breaths, She tries to say something but can't gather the strength.

I'm a coward. I was supposed to look after luna, but now she always looked after me and now she's hurt.

It's all my fault, this thought keeps loops in my head as I blank out becoming oblivious to my surroundings.

Anger builds.

"come to father" "you can't do anything for her" "leave her" "let's go home"I hear my father trying to call me over.

It's all my fault, I utter silently.

IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!!! I shout out louder.

She's hurt and it's all my fault!!

I feel a harsh grip on my wrist. dad has walked up to me and tries to pull me away from luna.

"calm down kid, let's go home," He says as he forcefully tries to pull me away.

Only then does he realizes that he cant pull me away.

He cant move me.

"Let my son go!!" "don't drag him into this!!" He shouts at luna who is still gasping for breath, fully convinced that she is unwilling to let me leave.

Her gasps seemingly taking more strength out of her every time.

"Don't" she manages a whisper towards me.

"It's alright... like this..." she manages to gasp and cough.

No!!

Helplessness!!

It's not alright!!

Fear!!

This is wrong. why is it like this?

Anger!!

Why can't you leave us alone!!

Calm!!

It isn't my fault.

Determination!!

This is all your fault!!

I hold my hand out and touch Luna. She stops moving, Stops gasping

She is frozen in place.

She becomes unchangeable, immutable, tethered to a single moment in time.

It will be alright,

I mutter to myself in self-assurance.

In calm anger, I get up off the ground. forcefully prying my hand out of my father grip, as he remains kneeling on the ground. His face is shocked as this time realization finally dawns on him.

"This is all your fault!!! " I growl towards the crowd of men now surrounding us.

Standing in at the front of the crowd, The gun still in his hand, the leader with the commanding tone orders me to get out of the way.

"I don't want to hurt you. We only want the girl" he states, still with a cold emotionless tone.

When I don't react, he moves forward to push me out of the way but ends up frozen in place.

Still on the ground, as the shock subsides my father utters "It was you" 

"It wasn't luna,  It was you all along"

"she was just covering for you"

Realizing their mistake the surrounding men move to point their weapons at me, only to also freeze halfway in their movements. 

"Don't worry father!" I speak in a disdainful voice. "I'll make sure she survives to never forgive you."

I point towards the leader and he suddenly disappears.

A loud bang and rip tear the air and space where he used to be.

A loud sonic boom echos around, breaking the windows of the cars nearby, as air is forcefully parted and then rushes back to fill the missing space where he once stood.

By all means, everyone in a large radius around this location should have died, torn to shreds by the sudden storm, vacuum and plasma formed from the violent movement of air. Even the city hidden on the horizon would not have escaped this fate.

Luna wouldn't want me to be so cruel.

So I tethered everything in place. only letting the noise echo into the distance to state my point.

I turn towards the crowd.

"This power is controlled by emotions"

"Sister taught me only to use it out of fear so that I might not hurt anyone"

"Regretfully you forced me to use it out of anger, and I have never felt so strong before."

They had misunderstood this power. They seemed to think that it was to stop people from moving. the truth is that I can tether anything to anything else. Usually, I would just tether their muscles to the ground they stand on. Luna is the only one who knew about this power until the accident with mom which she covered for. she helped me understand and control it.

To save luna from bleeding out I tethered her to that point in time. she was frozen till I could find medical help.

To the leader, I was far more cruel.

I tethered him to a single point in space and time.

He was ripped away from earth into space, at a speed close the that of light. The tether will wear out in about 24 hours.

By then, if he is still alive, the solar system will have left him behind to float in the space between star. for a few seconds as he runs out of breath he will have time to regret his decisions as his body fluid boil off into the vacuum of space. his body to never return.

finally, I utter the words that everyone in the world had heard by now. The words that everyone heard in their dreams after the first powerful one revealed himself.

Words that I now finally understand.

"you were warned."

"This is my threat."

"More will follow."