The storm had not stopped.
Hours had passed, yet rain still hammered the world outside.
The wind howled through the darkness.
Branches scraped against windows.
Thunder rolled across the sky like distant artillery.
Matthew's eyes suddenly opened.
For a moment he didn't know why.
The room was dark.
Silent.
The kind of silence that only existed in the middle of the night.
He sat up slowly.
His body felt heavy.
Exhausted.
Everything that had happened earlier replayed inside his head.
The bathroom.
The transformation.
The necklace.
The mirror.
The black eyes.
Nothing made sense.
He rubbed his face.
Then froze.
Zeven's bed was empty.
Matthew frowned.
The blanket had been thrown aside.
The window beside the bed stood open.
Cold air drifted inside.
Rainwater dotted the floor beneath it.
Matthew stood immediately.
"Zeven?"
No answer.
The room remained silent.
His heartbeat quickened.
Without wasting another second, he climbed through the open window.
The rain was freezing.
Within seconds his clothes were soaked.
Mud stuck to his shoes as he crossed the backyard.
"Zeven!"
The wind swallowed his voice.
Lightning flashed overhead.
For a brief moment the entire yard became visible.
Then darkness returned.
Matthew kept moving.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not yet.
Just...
Wrong.
Then he saw him.
Standing near the edge of the property.
Motionless.
Rain poured over him.
Yet Zeven didn't move.
Didn't react.
Didn't even seem to notice it.
Matthew slowed down.
The sight made his stomach tighten.
Zeven wasn't looking at the house.
Or the ground.
Or the trees.
He was staring at the sky.
As if searching for something.
As if listening.
As if waiting.
"Brother?"
Nothing.
Matthew got closer.
Still nothing.
No response.
No movement.
The wind blew through Zeven's hair.
Rain ran down his face.
Yet he remained perfectly still.
Matthew had known Zeven for years.
This wasn't him.
The Zeven he knew never stood still.
Never stayed quiet.
Never looked lost.
But the figure before him looked completely different.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Something Matthew couldn't explain.
Slowly he approached.
Until he was standing only a few steps away.
"Zeven."
This time Zeven reacted.
Barely.
His head turned slightly.
His eyes found Matthew.
For a second neither spoke.
Then Zeven frowned.
Almost confused.
"Matthew?"
His voice sounded distant.
Like someone waking from a dream.
"What are you doing here?"
Matthew stared.
"What am I doing here?"
He almost laughed.
"You disappeared."
"You climbed out of your window."
"You scared the hell out of me."
Zeven blinked.
His expression slowly changed.
Confusion.
Real confusion.
He looked around.
The rain.
The trees.
The backyard.
The mud beneath his feet.
Then back at Matthew.
"I don't remember coming here."
Matthew's expression hardened.
"What?"
"I mean it."
Zeven looked genuinely unsettled.
"The last thing I remember is lying down."
Silence.
The rain filled the space between them.
Matthew didn't know what to say.
Because he believed him.
Zeven wasn't lying.
That much was obvious.
For a while neither spoke.
The storm continued above them.
Thunder echoed across the clouds.
Finally Matthew sat down on an old tree stump nearby.
Completely soaked.
Completely exhausted.
"Tonight sucks."
The comment caught Zeven off guard.
A laugh escaped him.
A real one.
The first genuine laugh since the awakening.
Matthew pointed at him.
"There he is."
"What?"
"The idiot I know."
Zeven rolled his eyes.
"You're one to talk."
Matthew smirked.
For a few moments things felt normal again.
Almost.
Then Matthew became serious.
"Are you scared?"
The question surprised Zeven.
He looked away.
Toward the dark horizon.
The answer should have been easy.
Yet it wasn't.
After a long silence he nodded.
"Yeah."
No jokes.
No pretending.
No acting tough.
Just honesty.
Matthew listened.
Zeven continued.
"I don't know what's happening to me."
"I don't know what I am."
His hands clenched.
"I don't even know if I'm still me."
The words hurt to say.
But they were true.
Every hour brought something new.
Something impossible.
Something that shouldn't exist.
And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand any of it.
Matthew stood.
Then walked over.
He stopped beside him.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Facing the storm together.
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think you're overthinking."
Zeven laughed.
Matthew grinned.
"I'm serious."
"Of course you are."
"You nearly exploded a bathtub."
"You broke stone."
"You got taller."
"You boiled water."
"All valid reasons to overthink."
A reluctant smile appeared on Zeven's face.
Matthew continued.
"But you're still Zeven."
The smile faded slightly.
Matthew looked directly at him.
"You're still my brother."
The words landed harder than expected.
Zeven looked away.
Because for the first time that night...
His eyes burned.
Not from power.
Not from pain.
From emotion.
The storm suddenly intensified.
A powerful gust of wind swept through the backyard.
Thunder exploded overhead.
BOOOOM.
Both boys instinctively looked upward.
The clouds churned violently.
Dark.
Massive.
Endless.
Then Matthew noticed something.
A faint crackling sound.
Tiny.
Barely audible.
"Do you hear that?"
Zeven frowned.
"Hear what?"
The sound grew louder.
Like electricity.
Like static.
Matthew looked down.
Then froze.
"Brother..."
Zeven followed his gaze.
His breath caught.
Tiny black sparks danced across his fingertips.
Small.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
The sparks moved like living creatures.
Sliding across his skin.
Disappearing.
Returning.
Neither boy moved.
Neither spoke.
They simply watched.
The black sparks grew stronger.
More appeared.
Running along Zeven's arms.
Across his shoulders.
Around his body.
The air itself seemed to vibrate.
Matthew slowly stepped back.
Not out of fear.
Out of instinct.
"Zeven..."
"I know."
The sparks intensified.
The rain hissed whenever they touched it.
Steam rose from the ground.
Wind swirled around them.
Then...
CRACK.
A bolt of black lightning erupted into the sky.
The world exploded with darkness.
Not light.
Darkness.
For a fraction of a second the entire storm seemed to stop.
The clouds split apart.
The earth trembled.
And then...
Everything became silent.
The lightning vanished.
The wind returned.
The rain continued.
As if nothing had happened.
Matthew stared.
Speechless.
Zeven stared at his own hands.
His heart pounded.
The power was real.
There was no denying it anymore.
No explaining it away.
No pretending.
No rational answer.
Only reality.
And reality had just changed forever.
Far above the clouds, hidden beyond the sight of ordinary humanity...
Something had noticed.