(Zack)

"Stay here," I whisper to the dogs. "And stay quiet."

They lie on the ground, resting their heads on their paws, and I look at the wall surrounding my parents' mansion. My visions usually take place three or four days before the actual events, so today's the absolute latest I can put an end to this. It's the third night after.

Praying to whatever powers actually exist, I jump over the wall, landing in a low crouch on the other side. After checking to make sure no one's around, I take off towards the building itself, hiding behind flowerbeds and hedges.

It takes me almost seven minutes to reach the wall to the servants' wing without being detected. Curse my parents and their security. It's never made me feel safe in the first place.

As soon as I'm at the wall, I scale the pipe for the rain drain. It's strong and sturdy, and can handle my compacted weight just fine.

As soon as I'm at the third floor, I reach out and grab the windowsill, pulling myself over and dropping down, keeping my legs bent. I probably can't be seen from the window beneath, but best to make sure.

Slowly pulling myself up, I peek through the window. No one's around. With a simple telekinesis, I've opened it from the inside, then haul myself up and through it.

What I'd give to become unseen.

Footsteps catch my attention, and I quickly push off one wall and onto the opposite, before stretching myself across the hall, my back against the ceiling. I'm barely tall enough for this. Six months ago, I probably wouldn't have fit across this hall.

Thank goodness I had a minor growth spurt during the summer. I just hope I get more, because I don't want to be on the short side forever.

I watch as one of the chefs enters his room, and after making sure everything is clear, I land on the carpet in a crouch. Listening for a moment, I make my way down the hall and around the corner. A bad feeling fills me, and I feel my eyes widen.

Rushing forward, I reach the twins' room and throw open the door just as their parents go to open it. They look at me, stunned, and I quickly turn my gaze to the twins, who are lying on the floor, just like… just like..

"NO!" I scream.

The next thing I know, I'm cradling Luca in my arms, sobbing again. I'm doing that a lot lately. He can't be dead. Luca can't be dead. Why did his parents have to do this?

It takes me a few minutes to realize that I'm not alone. There are other people here. My parents. Luca's parents. Cops. They're all blurry. No, my eyes are filled with tears.

It takes me a moment to realize that there's a familiar mind here. But it wasn't here before?

Lifting up one arm, I wipe my face with my sleeve and look down into Luca's pained eyes. He's alive. He's alive!

I pull him against me, crying into him. I'm not going to let anyone hurt him again. Never. They'll have to kill me, first.

Someone talks me into letting the EMT's check out Luca. They put him on a stretcher, and I go with them to the hospital. The cops want to talk with me, but my parents don't let them.

A couple of hours later, I'm sitting in Luca's temporary room in the hospital. He's got his right arm in a sling, and I know his chest is wrapped. There are some bandages around his head, too, and I know he's got more all over his body under the pajamas my parents brought for him to change into after the doctors finish.

His parents really did a number on him. The doctors are amazed he's even alive, and he doesn't even have any broken bones.

Like me.

Luca's a tough little fucker.

He's also scared. I climb onto the hospital bed and cuddle him, and he calms down.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to him. "I should've stopped it. I should've stopped it. I shouldn't have let it happen. I should've been faster. If I'd been faster, it wouldn't have happened."

Luca sniffles, cuddling against me, and I hear footsteps drawing near. My father. Luca tenses up, the hand he has on my arm stiffening.

"It's my fault more than yours," Father says. "I knew what they'd done to the twins, Zack, and didn't put a stop to it. Any other servants, and they'd have been gone."

Yeah. That's why I didn't put a stop to it. But their own father was that important. The head butler of the house. The one servant I couldn't get rid of.

Otherwise, I would've.

"We need to talk," Father says.

"I'm not coming home," I say, and Luca immediately fills with fear.

"Your mother and I have acquired temporary custody of Luca," he says. "And based on how you've been acting, we know you want to keep an eye on him. Either come home, or don't see Luca again."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I'm just going to get arrested," I mutter. "I attacked a police officer."

"According to the security footage," Father says. "You were stopped by security, they grabbed you, you reacted out of self-defense. Then, when the police showed up, you fainted for a couple of minutes. The officer then decided to start patting you down while you were unconscious, and when you woke, his hands were at your waist. You reacted without seeing him. It was self-defense against a perceived child molester. They decided to not pursue it."

More like you paid them off, I'm sure. Just so that your name isn't tainted.

"I bet the store's going to push for me to be arrested for shoplifting."

"They have no evidence you did," he states. "I had a word with their CEO about the incident. You're not getting into trouble."

Right. I forgot you know their CEO. I bet a friendly chat is all that was needed to clean up the mess.

"So when are the men in the white labcoats coming?" I ask, causing Luca to feel confused.

"Never," Father says, walking to the door. "We'll talk about that when we get home."

"You're not hurting Luca."

"I don't understand this," Father says. "Four days ago, you didn't care about anyone. Then you shove one of your victims out of the way of a car and try to rescue, then become extremely protective, of Luca. I know you had your issues with Braden, but you flat-out ignored Luca, and always had."

"Luca's too innocent," I say quietly. "Too… too Luca. He needs protecting."

Luca shrinks down, hugging me as best he can with his injuries. He's confused, but he knows I care for him. That I'll protect him. He likes me more than he likes Father.

"What about his parents?" I ask. "I didn't-didn't-"

"No," Father says. "You didn't kill them, though you did get them pretty good."

"I… I blacked out," I say. "I don't… I don't remember hitting them. I just-I saw Luca, and then… I was crying onto him. He was dead. Luca had died. But now he's not dead. He came back. Maybe I was wrong? But Braden's dead. I know he's dead. I heard them say he's dead."

Dad keeps talking with me until I calm down, though I guess I fall asleep at some point, because the next thing I know, I'm in bed at home, changed into pajamas, and Luca's curled up next to me, holding his stuffed bear under his good arm.

Both dogs are on the bed, too. Someone found them at the wall, probably.

I stay like this until Luca wakes up, then show him my bathroom because he needs to pee. When he finishes, I piss, then we head downstairs, the dogs following behind us, Luca clinging to my side.

Through breakfast, I can tell Father wants to talk with me, but not with Luca around. When we finish and some staff clear away the table, I take Luca and the dogs outside, then start throwing a ball around.

After a few minutes, I encourage Luca to do it, too. After a few throws, I take a step back and look at my parents, who are watching. They shift uncomfortably, then walk over. The door's already been replaced after I threw Father through it with my telekinesis.

"Zack," Father steps forward, glancing at Luca, who's become absorbed in throwing the ball with his good arm. He giggles when the dogs return and give him the ball back. "About the other day."

"So your guys don't wear white lab coats?" I ask. "Are they in black suits, then?"

"No," Father rubs his temples. He seems exasperated. I wonder why the fuck that would be. He should be more worried about being thrown by psychic powers again. "Zack, we've known about your abilities."

"And how the fuck would you know that?" I ask. "You've never-"

"When you were a baby," Mother interrupts him. "Your powers were active. Once you started school, things calmed down. It was almost as if you had noticed that others did not possess powers and stopped using them. That, or they had faded."

I don't remember ever using them when I was that little, and I can't see a reason for why they would have faded. I only noticed them a few years ago, when puberty hit me.

"You're telling me I had psychic powers as a baby?" I snort, even though I can tell they're being honest. "What did I do, blast you around every time I was upset?"

"Sometimes," Father responds.

"You also projected that you were hungry," Mother said. "It made figuring out what your needs were easy, but it wasn't comfortable, having you in our heads like that. We were grateful when the powers seemed to go away. How long have you been using them?"

"They came back when I hit puberty."

"You're actually going through that?" Father blinks several times in astonishment. "But you're still short!"

Mother smacks him in the back of the head.

"I'm only late on the fucking growth spurts," I state. "I'm actually an early bloomer, which means I'm perfectly fine, Father. So I'm not being sold to some lab or something?"

"No," Father says. "You aren't."

"And don't worry about your father's comments about height," Mother says. "Your biological father was only average in height."

"I thought you said you didn't know who he was?" Father asks her quietly.

Was Mother… she was… oh, wow. Before they met? Really?

"Not at first," she says. "He could've been one of several. However, I can tell who his father is now. He was the man who brought me to the hotel you and I met at. It does make me wonder about Zack, and if he inherited these things from his father."

They're talking as if I'm not here. Fucking assholes.

I turn back to Luca, who's staring at the dogs. Max has the ball in his mouth, and Luca's hand is covered in dog slobber, and I realize that he's only now realized that. Luca is a massive clean freak. Almost as much as I am, though I can handle playing with the dogs.

Does he realize he's barefoot in the grass?

Ignoring my parents, since it seems like they're off in their own little world, I walk over to Luca and pat him on the head before pulling the ball from Max's mouth.

"Stay," I command the dogs, then throw the ball as hard and as far as I can.

Max and Gold want to chase after it, but I gave them the command to stay, so they stay, though it's getting hard for them to not take off. If I wait too long, though, they might forget about the ball.

"Fetch," I command.

Both dogs take off at once, and I pat Luca on the head with my clean hand.

"You're going to be fine," I promise him. "You're never going to be hurt again. I'm not going to let you."

He gives me a hug as he does his best to subtly wipe the dog slobber off on me. I do the same to him.

Maybe he'd miss me, too, just like the dogs.

I bet my parents treat me like shit because of the hell I put them through as a baby and toddler.

The dogs return and I wrestle the ball from Max, then put it away and take Luca inside. We both need showers, so I grab some clothes from his room and take him to mine.

"I'll be in here," I tell Luca. "If you need anything. Just go in there and shower. Or take a bath. Whatever it is you do, okay?"

He nods, then gives me a hug before grabbing his clothes before entering my bathroom and closing the door. I sit on my bed and lie back, petting the dogs that jump up onto it. The dogs and Luca are the only ones who'd care if I died.

Would anyone else even notice it?