Mara didn't say anything.
She stood outside the door, looking at her three sons.
Kane noticed the way her hands were shaking.
"Mama?"
She looked at Kian.
"Come inside."
None of them argued.
They followed her into the room and sat around the small table.
Mara closed the door.
Then she locked it.
Kade looked at Kane.
"That's never a good sign."
Kane gave him a warning look.
Mara sat opposite them.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Kian lowered his eyes.
"I don't know."
"Try."
"I was scared."
Mara waited.
"The boy grabbed me. Then..." Kian swallowed. "I wasn't there anymore."
"Where did you go?"
"I don't know."
Kade leaned forward.
"You disappeared."
Kian shook his head.
"No. I didn't."
Kane frowned.
"Then what happened?"
"I don't know."
Mara closed her eyes for a moment.
She had hoped this day would never come.
Kade looked between them.
"Mama, you know something."
Mara opened her eyes.
"Yes."
The room became silent.
Kade sat up.
"What?"
Mara looked at each of them.
"When you were born, I knew there was something different about you."
Kade blinked.
"Different how?"
She hesitated.
"You were born during a storm."
Kade frowned.
"Lots of babies are born during storms."
"Not like this."
Mara reached across the table and took Kian's hand.
"When you were born, your eyes were already open."
Kian looked at her.
"All three of you."
She looked at Kane.
"Red."
Then Kade.
"Blue."
Then Kian.
"Green."
"I thought it was strange," she continued. "But I told myself it was nothing."
Kane leaned forward.
"And now?"
"Now I know it wasn't nothing."
Kade looked at Kian.
"So we're mutants?"
Mara didn't answer immediately.
That was enough.
Kade leaned back.
"Wow."
Kane frowned.
"That's all you have to say?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know."
Kade looked at his hands.
"Does this mean we can do cool stuff?"
Mara's expression hardened.
"No."
Kade stopped smiling.
"It means you have to be careful."
She stood and walked toward the window.
"People are afraid of mutants."
"Some people," Kane said.
"Some is enough."
She pulled the curtain closed.
"Your father was a mutant."
The boys looked at her.
They had never heard her say that.
Kade was the first to speak.
"We have a father?"
Mara's face changed.
She immediately regretted saying it.
Kane noticed.
"What happened to him?"
Mara looked down.
"He left."
"Why?"
"I don't want to talk about him."
Kade frowned.
"But—"
"Not now."
The firmness in her voice ended the conversation.
Kian looked at Kane.
Kane gave him a small shake of the head.
Leave it.
That night, the boys slept together on the floor as they always did.
Kade couldn't sleep.
He stared at the ceiling.
"Kian?"
No answer.
"Kian."
"I'm awake."
"Can you do it again?"
Kian turned toward him.
"I told you. I don't know how."
"Try."
Kane opened his eyes.
"Leave him alone."
"I'm curious."
"You're always curious."
"That's because I'm interesting."
Kane sighed.
Kian sat up.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Think about what happened."
Kian closed his eyes.
He concentrated.
Nothing.
He opened them.
"See?"
Kade thought for a moment.
"Maybe you need to be scared."
"I don't want to be scared."
"Then maybe angry."
Kane sat up.
"Stop trying to make him angry."
"I'm helping."
"You're annoying."
"Same thing."
Kian smiled despite himself.
Then something strange happened.
For less than a second, his body seemed to blur.
Kade's smile disappeared.
"Kian?"
Kian looked down at himself.
"What?"
"You did it."
Kian stared at his hands.
"I did?"
Kane reached toward him.
The moment his fingers touched Kian's shoulder, Kian flickered.
Then he was suddenly standing beside the wall.
All three froze.
Kade jumped up.
"How did you—?"
"I don't know!"
Kane stared at the place where Kian had been.
"Do it again."
Kian tried.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
He sighed.
"I can't."
Kane thought about it.
"Maybe it only happens when you're frightened."
Kade nodded.
"Or when somebody touches you."
Kian looked at him.
"That's worse."
Kade laughed quietly.
"Imagine somebody trying to shake your hand."
Kian smiled.
For a few minutes, they forgot about everything else.
They experimented.
Kian tried jumping from one side of the room to another.
Sometimes nothing happened.
Sometimes his body flickered.
Once, he disappeared for almost two seconds and reappeared beside the door.
It wasn't control.
It wasn't even reliable.
But it was real.
Eventually, Kane stopped.
"We don't do this outside."
Kade frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Mama said so."
"Since when do we listen to everything Mama says?"
"Since she started looking at us like she's afraid we're going to disappear."
Kade's smile faded.
Kian looked toward the kitchen.
"Do you think she's scared of us?"
Kane shook his head.
"No."
"Then what?"
Kane thought about it.
"She's scared of what might happen to us."
Neither brother answered.
The next morning, Mara took them somewhere they had never been before.
A small clinic stood at the end of an old street.
The sign above the door read:
DR. ELIAS MORROW — GENERAL PRACTICE
Kade looked at the sign.
"Why are we here?"
"Because I want someone to look at you."
Kane frowned.
"Is he a mutant doctor?"
Mara looked at him.
"How did you know?"
Kane shrugged.
"You wouldn't bring us here otherwise."
Mara almost smiled.
"You're becoming too observant."
Inside, an elderly man with silver glasses looked up from behind his desk.
When he saw the three boys, his expression changed.
He slowly removed his glasses.
"Three of them?"
Mara nodded.
Dr. Morrow looked at Kane's red eyes.
Then Kade's blue.
Then Kian's green.
"Interesting."
Kade looked at him.
"Is that a good interesting or a bad interesting?"
The doctor smiled.
"I haven't decided yet."
He examined them one at a time.
Their reflexes.
Their eyes.
Their hearing.
Their pulse.
Nothing about their bodies seemed completely abnormal.
Until he reached Kian.
"Stand here."
Kian obeyed.
Dr. Morrow held up a small metal object.
"Touch this."
Kian did.
Nothing happened.
The doctor frowned.
"Again."
Kian touched it.
Nothing.
Dr. Morrow looked at Mara.
"You said he disappeared?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Only seconds."
The doctor nodded slowly.
"Abilities sometimes appear before the child understands them."
Kade leaned forward.
"Can you tell what ours are?"
"Not yet."
Kade looked disappointed.
"Then what's the point of being a doctor?"
Dr. Morrow laughed.
Mara shook her head.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. He's honest."
The doctor sat back.
"Listen to me carefully."
His voice became serious.
"What your sons have may not be dangerous by itself."
Mara relaxed slightly.
"But people can be dangerous."
She looked at him.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that if someone discovers what they can do, they may not leave your family alone."
Mara's expression changed.
Kane noticed.
"So we keep it secret."
Dr. Morrow looked at him.
"Very secret."
Kade glanced at Kian.
Then at Kane.
"What if we don't?"
The doctor looked directly at him.
"Then one day, someone may decide your abilities belong to them."
The room went quiet.
Mara stood.
"Thank you, Doctor."
As they left, Kane looked back through the glass.
Dr. Morrow was still watching them.
Kade walked beside him.
"Do you think he knows more than he's saying?"
Kane looked at the clinic.
"Probably."
Kian looked between them.
"Should we be worried?"
Kane looked at his brothers.
"No."
He paused.
"Not yet."
Across the street, a man stood beside a parked car.
He had been watching the clinic.
He watched Mara and the three boys walk away.
Then he pulled out his phone.
"Yes," he said quietly.
"I found them."
He listened.
His expression became serious.
"No. All three."
A pause.
"Exactly as you described."
He ended the call.
Then he looked down the street after the family.
For the first time since their birth, someone outside their family knew the three boys existed.
And that secret would not stay a secret forever.