24

PEDRO HENRIQUEI WAS THE BEST AT CHILD'S PLAY AND EVERYTHING IN HIS LIFE. But when it came to his little brother, things had started going south.His little brother wasn't much older than him yet he could already hold himself up, walk, and talk with authority, but that was just the beginning.He was also the type of boy that wouldn't let you get too close until you proved to be worthy of having him as your friend. His personality was very hard on anyone who got too close, even before he learned to use his voice, his eyes, and his power over others. His name was Pedro Henrique and at five years old he was starting to grow into his powers. He couldn't control them all of course because he still needed people around him to tell him how they felt.That day, he was playing outside of his house, in an area that was filled with bushes where children like him were usually allowed to play alone."Pedro…" his mother called out in a worried tone. She was standing right outside the door, looking out through the glass panels. Her face was stern. She wore a worried look, "You need to stay inside this instant. Your father is coming home early, and if we don't go back then you'll know what happened, so please behave yourself, okay?""Okay mamá," Pedro responded in an innocent tone of voice. But deep down he knew that it really wouldn't be okay, not after last night. He didn't want anyone knowing that he used his power against people, no one else understood his power besides his parents."Pedro," a second voice said, "We're going to miss daddy coming home, let's go get some milk from the store while we wait."Pedro's older brother Diego came running to grab his hand and drag him away from his hiding spot.Pedro knew he couldn't let his brothers find out about it though, not now, when it was his secret.So, instead, he followed along, trying desperately to keep a smile plastered across his face.It wasn't until later that night, when he was finally alone, that he allowed himself to scream and fall on his knees as tears streamed down his face. That was when he first realized how dangerous it all was, that he couldn't hide his power anymore, and his brothers weren't safe with him either.After he stopped sobbing, he stood up and looked over at the clock hanging by his bedside table, he'd only been asleep for four hours. He knew that he should probably head downstairs to eat breakfast, maybe make another cup of tea. He turned away from the table and headed towards the bathroom instead to take a shower. He took his time, washing away the dirt and grime from yesterday's activities from the day. When he got out of the bathtub, he wrapped a towel tightly around his body and walked over to his closet to pick out the clothes he needed for the day. He grabbed his school uniform which consisted of blue button ups and brown shorts.The only other thing he had to put on his outfit, was the pair of red and black striped socks that Diego gave him as a gift when he turned thirteen. They made him look like a superhero, but he never actually wore them. Instead he tucked them underneath the bottom of his pants, he didn't exactly see the need to show off. He picked out some simple dark jeans with white stripes along the leg holes, black sneakers with red laces and some light-colored socks.With nothing left to do, except get dressed, he went downstairs to join his family for breakfast.As usual, the three siblings sat eating together while watching TV. His little brother, Pedro, liked his favorite cartoon series, Spiderman. His younger brother, Diego, liked Star Trek. Pedro loved Star Trek more than most other kids his age since it was his favorite, but he knew his older brother, Diego, wouldn't care too much about such a nerdy thing. The three of them talked about how good it was to have their dad home, and how great it would have been to have him home all week long. Their father had taken up work abroad recently, so he had been absent more often, but he promised that he would come back soon and spend more time with them and the rest of their family, especially the twins.After breakfast, they both cleaned up the dishes, and his brothers each went their separate ways to do whatever they wanted.Pedro decided to go exploring the neighbourhood to get rid of some energy that had built up. It had been awhile since he spent any time outside. Once finished with chores, he changed out of his school clothes and headed out to explore.Pedro had always been fascinated by nature, ever since he could remember. When he was young, his mother and he always traveled to places around town that were surrounded by trees and grass.They were almost like private parks. It was something his brother didn't understand why they couldn't live there instead.But, even in those days, his mother didn't allow anything that contradicted their traditions, and it was better to have a normal life outside of their small village than to follow blindly their traditions. So, he tried living within the rules, without questioning them. Now, after years of traveling the world, it seemed that all he wanted was to be able to explore, to experience different kinds of cultures and languages.His interest in nature was something that came naturally to him. He wasn't quite sure why, but whenever he felt the urge to leave the town he simply took a step forward and it was as if everything was going to magically happen.It was strange how easily it happened. The more he thought about it the more he found himself wanting to do it again and again, just to test how far his power would let him go, to learn new things about the world around him.Pedro was curious enough to start taking classes, to learn different languages and other things. He wanted to study everything possible, but his mom and brother said no. They told him that he was too young to think about such things, but he was stubborn. He knew that the way that he did things, and how he acted, might cause someone trouble eventually, so he decided to ignore his parents wishes. He knew that they only meant well, and maybe someday he will stop doing these things to himself.He was about halfway home when he suddenly felt something pulling at his feet. It was a sensation like being pulled backwards, causing him to lose his balance.He stumbled backwards and fell flat onto his stomach. For some reason, this felt familiar, as if it were something that happened before. But before he could ponder what could be happening, he was brought back to reality when he heard a loud snap coming from somewhere nearby, and he began hearing voices yelling. As fast as he possibly could, Pedro jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could towards the source of the noise.He reached the scene and immediately noticed that there was blood everywhere, it was coming from the body lying crumpled on the ground. Pedro looked at the corpse and gasped. He quickly knelt down next to him, but even through the dirt covering the corpse he could still tell that it was his brother who was lying lifelessly on the ground. His little brother's eyes were wide open, staring ahead blankly, with a look that could be described as pure terror written across his face. A trickle of blood was seeping from a cut on the side of his face, which Pedro carefully traced with his fingers. It looked pretty fresh, like someone had just sliced into the flesh and left the wound alone. Pedro sighed in relief and wiped away the blood that was trailing down his little brothers face, before he lifted him up in his arms and carried him back to their backyard.When he stepped foot outside he saw his parents fighting with two strangers, who appeared to be armed. The stranger was holding a gun and his mother was struggling to hold her own against him.Pedro set down his dead brother on the lawn and quickly grabbed a baseball bat that he kept beside him as a weapon whenever they were outdoors. Then he threw the bat and watched as it hit the man in the shoulder. It knocked the gun out of the mans hand, which caused his mother to collapse to the ground and gasp for air.Her face was covered with scratches and bruises, and she was clutching her chest with her free hand. Pedro walked up to her and knelt down in front of her.She was breathing heavily and looked like she was struggling to speak.

"Mamá, are you alright? Can I help you stand up or something?"he asked with a slight worry in his voice. She looked up at him with a look of pain on her face and shook her head."I'm sorry, kid, but I can't let you get close to me. This isn't how I wanted this to end,"