CHAPTER 2

When the Sun Sets

            Pete was never one to have nightmares, but when he did, it was usually related to that night fourteen years ago. He was only a toddler at the time, but he remembered it well. It was the night that his father and brother disappeared.

            As Pete suffered from energy deprivation, he took a trip down memory lane. It was his and Allen’s third birthday, and his father had finally returned home from a mission. Pete remembered him as an irregularly tall man with short brown hair and the most brilliant blue eyes. That was how he looked naturally, but being the powerful Kinetic that he was, he was able to alter his appearance through biokinesis so that others couldn’t recognize him. As the secret hero who’d helped bring the end of World War III, Leone Gallaway had dark brown hair and emerald green eyes, just like Pete.

            He was a very kind man, and every time he returned home to the old country house they once lived in, both Pete and Allen became the happiest boys in the world. It was no different on the day of their third birthday. It was nearing sundown, and Gallaway walked through the kitchen door.

            “Father!” Pete cried, hopping down from his booster seat and racing to his father’s side. Allen somehow beat him, grabbing onto his father’s left leg seconds before Pete attached himself to his right.

            Pete looked up, beaming, and for a moment, his father seemed anxious. He was looking at Pete’s human mother who was about to light the candles of their cake. Right when Pete noticed this, his father smiled and returned his gaze to the two boys.

            Happy birthday, my little men!” he cheerily sang as he bent down and took them in an embrace. He rubbed Pete’s head, and Pete could remember how incredibly warm it felt to be surrounded by his father’s arms. “How old are you today?”

            “Three!” Pete exclaimed. He’d hoped that his brother would join in, but Allen hadn’t made a sound. He looked over, confused, and Allen had stopped hugging their father.

            That was when his mom’s voice broke in. “The sun’s about to set.” She emerged from behind Pete and bent down to pick up Allen. He seemed to cling to his mom, as if he was afraid. She looked down at their father. “You could’ve come sooner. Do we have time to light the candles?”

            Pete looked back at his father just as he wrapped his strong fingers around Pete’s waist and lifted him up off the ground. Pete beamed and threw his arms around his neck, glad that he finally had his father all to himself.

            “There’s no time,” his father said. “I’m sorry, Holly. Come, let’s put them to bed.”

            As a halfblood, Pete was pretty intelligent at three years old, and it seemed as if all his life he knew what the dreaded B word meant. They were always put to bed before the sun set, but Pete knew that it wasn’t because of him. There was something wrong with Allen, and every time he was left alone in the dark, he was mean and set things on fire just by looking at it. Once, he even hurt Pete when they were playing. He had a scar on his left ankle to prove it.

            Pete watched the kitchen disappear as they hurried out of the room, the untouched cake and presents calling out in fear of being left alone. That was the last time he ever saw a birthday cake. After that day, his mom didn’t allow celebration of any kind.

            When they finally reached their bedroom, Pete was set down on his bed while his father searched for his pajamas. Across the room beside Allen’s bed, his mom was preparing his brother’s medicine.

            She gasped and stepped away from the prep table. “I forgot to blow out the candles,” she said. “Quick, get Al’s medicine.” And then she hurried from the room.

            Pete frowned. He didn’t remember seeing the candles lit, so why had his mom run away?

            He threw the thought aside and watched as his father hurried over to the medicine table. He was really strange in the ways that he walked, and Pete always liked watching him move. Sometimes he was slow like his mom, and other times he was super quick, like a blurry smudge of black flashing across the room. That’s how he was this time, moving so fast that he disappeared for a brief second only to reappear with the medicine in his hands.

            Pete looked to Allen, wondering if he’d become mean yet, and he was staring out the window with his frightened blue eyes. Whenever Allen became mean, he never showed any type of emotion at all, so at the moment they were safe.

            Pete smiled with relief and decided to help his father. He jumped down from the bed and walked over to his dresser in search of his pajamas.

            Suddenly, Allen released a high pitched scream.

            Pete spun around.

            “Father, look!” Allen cried.

            In the center of the room, a dark figure had appeared out of nowhere. It was a cloud of black, wispy smoke, and when the smoke faded, a man with long black hair was revealed. His back was facing Pete, and he seemed to be dressed in pirate clothes.

            Pete gasped and shrank back.

            Their father didn’t pause in preparing the medicine. “Yes, I see, Allen,” he said. “The sun is setting. It’ll all be fine. Don’t—”

            The stranger threw a type of crystal dagger into their father’s back, and the esteemed Leone Gallaway sucked in a breath of air. He dropped the syringe and caught himself against the prep table.

            Pete and Allen screamed, but there was nothing they could do except hide. Well, Pete wanted to hide, because he was the smart one and knew it was stupid to go up against a guy that’d taken down their father, but Allen wanted to be brave.

            As Pete watched from his hiding place beneath the bed, Allen jumped onto the stranger at the exact moment he grabbed onto their father’s shoulder. A second later, the three of them disintegrated into black smoke.

            That was the last time anybody ever saw them, until now.

                                                                  *     *     *     *     *

            Pete woke with a start, breaking free from his nightmare and returning to the world of the living. He half expected to wake in a dark lair filled with cobwebs and the stench of the living dead, but even in a world where aliens ran amuck amongst oblivious humans, his life was never that exciting. He’d been moved to his mom’s overpriced condo and was sitting on the couch in the living room. By the looks of it, the sun was about to set.

            Ignoring his injuries, Pete glanced around him, searching for the person who’d brought him back home. Fortunately, it seemed like Pete was by himself. The condo was quiet, and the only presence he could sense was his own.

            He released a held breath and allowed himself to sink into the couch.

            His body hurt. Nearly every muscle and joint ached, but even still, he considered himself lucky to get away with unbroken bones and intact skin, not to mention his life. Pete had been so sure that his brother was going to kill him. Allen truly had done nothing wrong, and then Pete jumped in and tried to poison him.

            I did this to myself, he thought. I know for a fact that Al had nothing to do with the war. He was innocent, and as an emotionless Kinetic, he had every reason to attack me. But still….

            Pete remembered the murderous look in his brother’s eyes, that cold, hollow glare that ensured that the Kinetic was going to attack. It was terrifying. After fourteen years of being separated, Pete had barely even changed, whereas Allen had become a monster. 

            Where were you all this time? Pete wondered. Where’s Father, and why did we have to meet like this?

            Pete couldn’t deny that he was surprised his brother was alive. He was supposed to be dead, and now he was walking around Manhattan with an unbelievable amount of power. He was dangerous and feral, a terrified beast relying on impure instincts—but even still, he couldn’t be all that bad. He’d taken Pete back to his condo, hadn’t he? He’d spared Pete’s life, and even though he’d nearly crushed him and taken most of Pete’s energy, he was able to see past his Kinetic veil and do what was right rather than what logic demanded.

            Pete’s stomach groaned, rudely interrupting his train of thought. He tried to stand up so he could see if there was anything quick to make in the kitchen, but a violent pain ruptured from his right thigh.

            “Dammit,” he hissed. He fell back onto the couch and had to slide down his jogging pants to see what’d happened. But of course it looked perfectly fine. There were no bruises, no bumps or internal bleeding—he could only assume that the muscle was torn, or maybe the bone was fractured. Pete didn’t know. What he did know, however, was that his career as a long distance runner was temporarily put on hold.

            “Dammit, Al. I could deal with a broken arm, but this?”  His school team had a track meet next week, and if he placed well in enough of the races, he’d make it to the state finals. People were depending on him, and now he could barely even stand on both legs.

            “I guess it’s my fault,” he muttered. “Again.”

            Pete’s nose itched. He sighed and looked up, and then when he saw who was standing directly across from him, he shrieked.

            “Holy mother of—”

            Unconsciously, he leapt to his feet, only to cringe, trip and nearly fall because of his lowered pants. Leaning on his healthy left leg, he pulled them up around his waist and limped towards the far end of the couch.

            Pete’s body and mind produced contradictory responses. He knew that this was only his brother, that they were family and Allen most likely wouldn’t kill him, but seeing his eyes, staring into those vibrant blue pits, hollow and devoid of all humanity—it was like gazing into the depths of Tartarus.

            He looked different this time, stranger, more alien. He was a little taller than Pete, his hair was crimped and ten times darker, and his skin was a healthy golden hue like their mother’s. Of course, they were twins, so their faces were nearly identical, but Pete and Allen couldn’t be any more different. Pete was clean and mostly wore t-shirts and track suits for comfort, and Allen was… well, he looked incredibly dirty, and the ratty clothes he wore reminded Pete of the Chinese hanfu. Where the hell had he been all this time, and had he just climbed out of his grave? Pete wouldn’t doubt it.

            “Whoa there, Al,” Pete said. “I know we’re both psychopathic murderers, but I don’t wanna hurt you. So just calm down, okay?”

            His brother narrowed his eyes. “I’m perfectly composed. You’re the threat.”

            Pete gritted his teeth. Instinct told him to reach into his jacket and pull out his throwing knives, but Instinct was dumb and didn’t know what he was up against. If Pete did anything at all to threaten his brother, he was screwed.

            They stared at each other for a moment, quiet, wary. Who would be the first to move? Would Pete actually be stupid enough to neutralize his brother? He needed to, oh how he needed to, but the maddening sirens that rang in the back of his mind were only the cries of his Kinetic half. Danger, danger, defend yourself, you can’t die! But this was his brother, this was Allen Glass, and it was more than obvious that he’d received a sufficient amount of Kinetic DNA. 

            He’ll kill me, Pete thought. If I do something, this time he won’t hold back.

            Dammit, we’re getting nowhere with this. I have to… I need to…

            His left leg couldn't hold out any longer. A sharp pain shot from his thigh to his toes and back up again, and Pete collapsed onto the arm of the couch.

            "Shit!”

            Now his arms were struggling to keep himself upright. He couldn’t take this anymore. Pete was overwhelmed, beaten down by the bigger dog, and fighting against fate would only make his situation more painful. So he gave up. If his brother killed him, fine. He’d always told himself that the only acceptable death was at the hands of a powerful Kinetic.

            Pete sank to the floor, tired and overwhelmed, and allowed his eyes to fall shut. He didn’t understand how or why any of this was happening, but it was, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the truth.

            “Do you surrender, Brother?” Allen asked. He was closer now. Pete opened his eyes, and Allen was once again standing across from him. “Will you tell me now why you resurrected me?”

            Pete frowned. He’d nearly forgotten about that last part, about how Allen was supposedly dead before now. Was that even possible? Were Kinetics allowed to have the ability to raise others from the dead? It didn’t matter. Even if they could, Pete wasn’t the one to resurrect him.

            Pete waited a moment before he replied, watching his brother to ensure that he didn’t plan on attacking.

            “I don’t know, Al,” Pete muttered. “Do you really think someone like me would be able to do that?” Allen narrowed his eyes. “And anyways, what’s so wrong with being alive? You should be grateful somebody even considered helping a monster like you.”

            Almost at once, Allen seemed to regain his human emotions. He faintly gasped, his bright eyes grievous, then he hugged his arms over his chest in a sign of discomfort and turned away.

            “I don’t want to be alive,” he whispered. “I was never supposed to exist in the first place.”

            Pete was surprised. He was already so accustomed to his brother’s emotionless self that seeing him so… so pathetic was baffling. At first, he didn’t know how to respond. This was still Allen, after all. His younger twin had always been sensitive to many things despite his bipolar Kinetic half.

            Finally, Pete decided what he needed to do. He returned Allen’s gaze with a glower. “Listen up, Al. I’m not joining your pity party, got that? I don’t care if we’re siblings, I don’t care if your life was terrible or if death was excruciating. You’re here now, you’re alive and strong and you know there’s a reason for it. You know that, I know you do.”

            Pete was aware that his words were harsh, but he also knew Allen’s type and how difficult it was to deal with an inseparable beast that couldn’t be tamed. Besides, Pete was only repeating what his best friend Kaia had told him. Pete’s life had never been terrible, but knowing that any day he could wake up as a monster was pretty trying on a kid’s mind. If it wasn’t for Kaia, Pete wouldn’t be alive today.

            Allen looked horrified. He was his typical self again, afraid and timid and weak. “You’re so cruel,” he breathed. “Why are you so cruel to me?”

            Pete narrowed his eyes. It killed him to say these things to his fragile little brother, but he had no choice. “It’s for your own good, Al. You and me—we might as well be spawns of Satan, and there’s no getting past that. Now, I know I don’t have it as bad as you do, but… but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Ten years ago I used to be a relatively normal human being. Now I hunt Kinetics in order to satisfy some freaky desire I can’t get rid of.” Pete pursed his lips and shrugged. “I don’t know why I’m like that, but I accept that I am, and life has been a whole lot more enjoyable since then.”

            There were only a few features that Pete possessed that might qualify for monstrous characteristics. He could see a Kinetic’s aura, he had impeccable fighting instincts, and his desperation to stay alive usually went to the extreme. Besides this, his remaining characteristics that could be considered Kinetic were also rather human. He was stronger and faster than the typical person, and his addiction to addictions was a trait that any John Doe could possess. His only real problem was the maddening desire to kill Kinetics. Every time he saw one, his skin itched until he either devised a way to kill it or satisfied himself with another of his addictions.

            Allen seemed to swallow his grief. He released a shaky breath and turned around so he could completely face the living room window. “I’d accepted my fate on Ecual, at least when I was with my beloved. And then she was murdered, and I’d planned to meet her in the afterlife, but…”

            Pete was taken back. “What? You were on Ecual?”

            Ecual was the faraway planet where Kinetics were said to have originated from. Nobody knew what it looked like or how long it’d take to get there, or even if the place was still inhabitable, but it’d always been considered one of the great mysteries of the universe. Another mystery, a more recent one, was the fact that Allen Glass was actually able to fall in love.

            He has a girlfriend, Pete thought. A dead girlfriend, but still. I don’t even have one of those and I’m not that bad of a guy… I hope.

            Suddenly, Pete was miserable. Not only was his brother more powerful and most likely grew up with their father, but he was able to find somebody who loved him despite all the bad things that came with a Kinetic-human relationship. Pete would kill for one of those. Of course, Kaia knew his secret and liked him despite everything, but Pete wanted real love. He wouldn’t even care if it was with another guy. All he wanted was genuine, unconditional acceptance.

            Allen glanced back at him with a frown. “You have no reason to be jealous, Brother. You still have a friend-girl who loves you very much.”

            Pete scowled. “I’m not jealous, you damn demon. Why would I be jealous of you?”

            Allen weakly smiled. “You forget that Kinetics can sense human emotions, and at the moment, I can clearly understand their meaning.”

            “Screw you, I don’t care what you think.”

            Allen faintly laughed. “Are you certain that’s how you feel?”

            “Of course!”

            He laughed again, louder this time. Pete ignored him and turned away, disgusted by his condescending attitude.

            Allen came closer and sat cross-legged on the ground before him. “Listen, Brother,” he began, his smile perfect and glorious. “I’ve decided that you’re right—there is a reason why I’m alive again, but I need help to figure out why. If you promise to help me and protect me from this strange world, I’ll heal you.”

            Pete looked at him with an arched brow. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

            Not only was it a bit presumptuous for him to say something with such aggravating confidence, but Pete had yet to come across a Kinetic with that kind of ability. It might’ve been possible to heal somebody on Ecual with some kind of freaky alien medicine, but planet Earth had its own rules and limitations.

            Allen nervously smiled. “Err… I’m not sure what you mean by ‘kidding,’ but yes. I can assure you that I will repair the damage that I guiltlessly caused—but only on that one condition.”

            Pete narrowed his eyes. Guiltlessly? This bastard would actually admit something