Indie had watched in stunned horror when Jay had been slapped. Then he watched in anxious apprehension when the little boy was sent away. Now, he sat quietly, his eyes wide in anticipation. Things around him were happening fast and he couldn’t hold onto his thoughts as they ran through him like hoofbeats. Mr. Reid waited until the door was shut entirely, and they heard the click of the lock, before continuing.

“You four do not appear to have any talent, whatsoever, but you must, or you would not be bonded with your brother in a self-contained pool. I have been tasked with unlocking that power, which, I will be honest, is not pleasant for any of us.” Reid drew in a deep breath, pursed his lips, and studied the folder in front of him.

“Indiana, it says here that you are closest with Alexander.”

“Yes, sir.” Indie nodded and remained rigidly still.

“Can you yourself do anything unusual?” Mr. Reid asked brusquely.

“No, sir.”

“You don’t sometimes see things happening before they do or be able to answer a question that no one has said aloud?” the man prodded.

“Never, sir. Only Rat.” Indie gave a gentle smile and shrugged.

“That name doesn’t exist here. Cease to use it immediately.” The heat in Mr. Reid’s voice caught Indie off guard. “Nicknames are for infants and are powerless in nature. You will each assume an alias eventually, but for now you will continue to use your full, given names.” He scanned the row of brothers and stopped on Jay.

“James, my notes state that you are, and I quote ‘Intelligent, ruthless, ambitious, driven and angry’. How do you defend those descriptors?”

“I agree with ‘em.”

“Them.”

“Sorry?” asked Jay.

“You agree with them. You all have an abhorrent colloquial accent that I will do away with.” Indie frowned and started to wonder what they had gotten themselves into. What Jay had gotten them into.

“Well, I have gathered enough preliminary information that I suppose I will begin the briefing. Please pay attention as I will only explain these things once.” He turned to the blackboard, erased what Ms. Glynnis had written, and drew a line across the board. He wrote two words above the line and two words below it.

“I will reduce this to the barest of all explanations. You’re uneducated in these matters and it is imperative that you comprehend all that I will relate. Now is your chance to ask questions and I will determine if they are pertinent and may be answered.” He met each of their eyes briefly before continuing.

“The first fact to learn is that we do not call the tricks ‘magic’. It is arcane.” Indie smiled to himself thinking about how he had always shied away from calling his brother’s gift magic. It seemed cheap to put such a plastic label on what was unknown and yet real.

“Secondly, you have all been exposed to arcane since you were born. Every single human encounters it and often, if not in the know, they brush it off as one of several things. Some think they can see spirits; some more scientifically minded people think the things they experience might be illness of some degree.” Reid pointed to the board, above the line.

“This is a representation of the baseline amount of arcane that all humans have. Every person is divided into two parts, roughly equal in nature that together we call ‘vim vitae’. Above this line is light or lux vitae, below is dark or umbra mortis. We have equal balance, as humans. If you can access that equality and manipulate it willingly, you’re connected to the arcane and you’re no longer mundane.” Jay raised his hand tentatively. Mr. Reid nodded to him.

“Alexander uses somethin’ cold to do his tricks. What does that mean?” Jay asked.

“He accesses his umbra mortis current with a natural ease that is actually…” he paused and then pursed his lips. “It is dangerous. Umbra is the dark half of a human’s life force and it tempers the lux, or the light. Too much tempering and the individual could die.”

“But he ain’t never been sick,” Jay protested. Reid glared at him and Indie saw his elder brother had been cowed. “But he has never been sick,” he amended. Reid nodded his satisfaction and turned to the side to show the words as he talked. He pointed to the words above and then below the line.

“That is simply because he found a new source of lux vitae, or light.” He raised a hand and gestured to Indie. The brothers all looked to Indie, who blinked in surprise. “Let me continue.”

“Lux is the life a person has. The amount of time you have on Earth is determined by this part of you. The more lux vitae a person has, the longer their life will inevitably be.” Toe raised his hand.

“He was takin’ Indie’s life to keep himself alive?” he asked. The accusatory tone of his voice made Indie bristle. His brother was a child, hardly more than a baby and he knew that he could not be hurting Indie on purpose.

“Yes. I’ve briefly assessed young Alexander and I have determined that his lack of understanding and skill was the only thing that kept Indie from ever falling seriously ill.”

“He did, though. Not that long ago, he was real sick.” Jay said aloud. Indie glared down the table at him.

“It wasn’t his fault, Jay. You know that! He’s just a kid.” He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair, feeling the unfair attack on his brother in a deeply personal way. Mr. Reid looked at Toe and stared at him without blinking for a moment.

“Ahh, I see,” he murmured, clearly having just rummaged through the twin’s mind. “Yes, if he only recently learned how to control his telepathic ability, that would require a great deal of lux. He solely uses his umbra, which…” Reid shook his head, stopping himself. “No, I can muse on this later.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“He healed me.” Indie finally said, feeling as though his brother needed an advocate as he himself wasn’t present.

Indie thought about how he had explained a river of hot lightness that he suddenly broke into to cauterize the wound in Indie’s mind. As he thought about the events, how painful it was for him and Rat he saw Reid’s eyes grow wide.

“He himself felt your pain. That isn’t a normal bond in any way. Have you always felt drawn to your brother?”

Indie thought about that question. When his mother told the brothers that they would have another sibling, the initial feeling was shock and then he himself felt excitement. He would be able to be a big brother, an elder sibling to guide someone else. When the youngest was born, he was indifferent initially. Babies do not need older brothers to make it in life. But when his youngest sibling had been moved into the room that they all shared finally, Indie volunteered to share a bed with him, and willingly took him into the fold of his brotherly love. It only took a few nights of their co-sleeping before Indie felt the undeniable affection of a life-long attachment.

“No, but as soon as—” Mr. Reid held a hand up.

“Yes. I saw. And I understand now. He was already reading your thoughts then. I suppose his mother was the first mind he could read, which would mean that he connects through touch.” Mr. Reid rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“This is actually a very simple thing to explain to you, Indiana. Your bond is formed, deep and real. But it is reinforced through contact. You often feel less if he is gone for a long time. He often feels distressed if he can’t sleep near you. His abilities might even be weakened from being away from you.” Indie immediately thought of the night that Jay had invited the small boy to sleep with him to give Indie a break. He hadn’t been able to keep his things hidden all night. Indie looked at Mr. Reid and blinked again, unsure what to say.

“I just thought we…” He shrugged lamely and felt a hollow emptiness forming in his chest. “I just thought we loved each other.”

“You do, which is probably how the bond was seeded. He is overly familiar with people, which is how he forms his bonds.”

“He isn’t genuinely a nice kid, is what you’re saying.” Jay said with a derisive snort.

“No, James. I’m saying that somehow he has an innate and uncontrollable ability to form these arcane bonds and his human nature of being kind, genuine and innocent foments the connection. Simply stated: his nature draws in people so that he can, unwillingly, use their life force.”

Indie felt his mind reeling. He rejected the ideas that Mr. Reid was describing, even as the pieces fell into place. His brother was a child. A gifted, special child but he was genuinely a sweet kid. He loved with his entire being. He was not a malicious monster that was out to kill. But Reid made him out to be sinister in nature.

“Indiana, you misunderstand me. His very nature is inviting. He is not play-acting to draw in victims.” He smiled and scoffed. “Not yet.”

“You’re going to help him control this…this thing?” Indie pleaded, his voice rising.

“Yes, of course. He is here to learn to use his gifts to their potential and to control them.” Mr. Reid assured him. “But you will all be uncomfortable while he learns, as the bonds between you five make a web that when one string is tugged, the others feel the tension.”

Indie felt his heart speeding up to match his increased breathing. He didn’t want his brother to be seen in such darkness. Rat was a good, kind child; Indie knew it with his entire soul.

“The light and the dark are a balance, Indiana. If he doesn’t balance them, he is tampering with darkness that he won’t be able to control. But he said he was able to access his own lux, which I’m sure felt immediately better for you. Were you better that same night?” Indie nodded.

“He said he healed me,” he repeated. “With his hot light.”

“Yes, that makes complete sense. He was able to access a stored vault of lux, something that itself is rather interesting, and give you the lux that he was holding in excess.” Mr. Reid paced in front of the board, gesturing with his hands.

“If he healed a dark spot in your mind, that is likely a siphon he placed there, again, unintentionally, and he was slowly sipping on your life. He himself probably didn’t even know that he felt any different. When he healed the lesion, I’m sure you both felt horrible pain as he severed that siphon.” A manic gleeful grin split his face. “I’m amazed you didn’t die, Indiana. It’s spectacular that he can leech so covertly.”

Mr. Reid’s opinion on the matter seemed to differ from Indie’s own. He was uncomfortable with any aspect of the child being described in such disparaging ways. His eyes roamed the room as he refused to meet the man’s gaze. Tears threatened him and he drew in a deeper, sharp breath. Mr. Reid nodded once and turned back to the board.

“We strayed a little, I’m afraid. This will take time to accept, and we are not unaware of the shock to the system these facts can be. None of you are completely ignorant of the arcane, however, and so we do expect more from each of you. You will never do what your brother does, but you will be trained to become Nightbound nonetheless. Your bond has ensured your status, so in a way, you have him to thank for you being here.” Indie knew that Mr. Reid wanted them to take what he said seriously and at face value, but to Indie it felt like a sarcastic comment, and he crumpled a little more under the weight of the situation.

“Nightbound are the elite of the arcane world and becoming one requires a special procedure. We will have to be sure that you are all prepared as the Conversion is irreversible. My job as your sponsor is to sign off on your learning. I think you will catch on rather quickly, as the things you will learn are simple customs and rules, which you will immediately put into practice.” Indie’s mind was swimming again, and he felt the dizziness from before wash across him. Was his brother trying to use him to do something? He let out a small gasp and realized he was just holding his breath. The room felt airless.

“I’m going to be sick…” Indie said just before he leaned to the side of his chair and dry retched.

What’s happening to me, Rat? He tried to call his brother, hoping he could help him but all he got was a soft reverberation of his own thoughts.

“You’re going through withdrawals, Indiana.” Mr. Reid said in a hard, matter of fact tone. “The walls here dissuade arcane permeation.” He looked between the brothers. “Anyone else feeling ill?”

The twins shook their heads and Jay just cocked his head slightly.

“I feel thirsty, like the room might be too hot,” he admitted and shrugged one shoulder.

“Yes, slight withdrawal. Joseph and Benjamin must be satellite bonds, then. You are just reinforcement of the web, lucky for you. As I said, this will be uncomfortable for you all.” He put down the chalk holder and picked up the folder.

“I’ll go now, as I can see you’re unwell. I’m not so cold as to try to keep you from resting during this period.”

As soon as the doors to the study closed behind Mr. Reid, Indie burst into tears, the hot sobs bubbling out of his chest in angry gasps. His brothers all stared down at his uncharacteristic behaviour and got up to crowd around him. He felt himself getting dizzier the longer he sobbed and only belatedly realized he was having a panic attack. He gasped and choked on his own breath. His vision dimmed. He fainted and was caught by Two, who laid his head gently down on the table in front of him. The three brothers exchanged wary glances and only Jay had anything to say.

“What the fuck is goin’ on with him?” The sentiment was shared by all conscious parties.