Family Bond

The sound of the rifle shot echoed throughout the room. Followed by an angry wail and curses. The rifle was cocked, letting the empty shell leave the gun. "You monster! You damn monster." Arthur never expected to use his rifle on his own family. His own son. The son he raised, taken to school, cared for during sickness. But it had to be done.

Arthur dropped the rifle. He got on his knees, right in front of the lifeless body of his beloved wife. His shaky fingers touched her face. "Martha… No please… Wake up!"

Why did this happen? In one night he lost everything. Sean was dead. His wife was dead. And he had to shoot his own child. How did it come to this? "Why have you forsaken me god?! What did my family do to you? You bastard why! Ahhh!" Arthur's neck was red, veins throbbing as he screamed his lungs out.

"Put a sock in it, drama queen. God has nothing to do here."

Arthur lifted his head back to see Dmitry standing up. He had knot on his throat.

Dmitry lifted his shirt up, which now had a hole in it, to see the bullet stuck on his abdomen, near the belly button. He took the bullet out. It didn't penetrate the skin. "Guess I'm bulletproof. Hurt like a bitch, though."

Without wasting any time Arthur picked up the rifle. He cocked it only for Dmitry to appear in front of him. His hand bending the rifle's barrel upwards.

"Now dad, you don't want to wake Cody up with another shot right?" The boy slammed his palm against his father's chest. The force sent him crashing against the wall. The rifle remained in his hand until it was snapped in half like a twig. "Oh right, he won't because you are giving him sleep medicine, right? That's how you solve everything."

Arthur could not stand up. The hit to the chest had broken a few ribs. And he was sure one of them pierced his lungs. "I'm sorry."

Dmitry covered his father's mouth, digging his claws into his cheeks, slamming his head against the wall. "Why is it that you are all sorry only when you get what's coming to you? Why wasn't Sean sorry when he was beating me up? Why wasn't mom sorry when she kept quiet every time you insulted me?" His red eyes stared into his father's blue eyes with an intensity and anger that could melt metal. "And why weren't you sorry before, dad? You are not sorry, you are afraid. As you should."

To Arthur's surprise his son smiled at him. He wasn't fooled. He saw the malice behind that smile.

Dmitry did let him go. Arthur was going to plead again for mercy. However, Dmitry was tired of it. With a powerful swipe of his right hand he tore his father's lower jaw off. It crashed against the window, falling down to the floor, leaving a trail of blood and teeth.

Arthur couldn't scream despite the mind blowing pain. His eyes pleading to Dmitry to stop. It would be the last time he got to see his son. With the left hand he slashed his father's eyes.

"You know what? I don't care about your apologies. You can sod off with them. I fucking love that you are afraid of me." Again Dmitry took another swipe at his father's face, tearing more flesh and muscle off of it. "It feels great. Like, I can actually feel your fear. Fuck, Sean's felt amazing. In the end he was a little bitch." His swipes and slashes went from the face down to his father's chest. He tore through that like paper.

Dmitry kept going over and over. Each slash of his sword-sharp claws tore off pieces of flesh and bone. Blood, bones, muscles, nerves, all splattered everywhere.

The boy stopped only after he had essentially destroyed his father's front. He was covered in blood, from face to toes. And he felt so great about it. It's as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He looked at his fingers covered in a thick layer of blood. He took a lick. "Hm, bitter."

He took a look around, wow, had he made a mess. Almost felt sorry for the person that would have to clean this mess.

But now what? Dimitry had killed his parents and older brother without mercy or remorse. There wasn't much to do. His rage was only aimed at his family. So, what to do with all of this power? What was his new aim? His new life? He knew there was no way he could go back to normal. He couldn't be near Cody… Cody!

Dmitry had forgotten about his little brother. The fact that even the sound of a gunshot hadn't woke him up must mean he was really drugged. "You got what you deserved, shitty excuse of a dad."

The sound of a gunshot might as well have happened in another place. Little Cody slept like a log on his bed. A very drugged log.

Even from under the doorframe Dmitry could see his brother's deep sleep was not comfortable. The look on his face said it all. His closed eyes looked heavy. Cody never slept with his mouth open like that. One of the boy's pillows had drool on it. But his body remained static. Even in his sleep Cody moved. Sometimes in the mornings he would find his brother sleeping on the other end of the bed.

Dmitry approached his sleeping brother. His face was sorrowful now. Not so much because of what he did, but to whom it will affect. "Your life will get a little harder, baby brother. I took a lot from you. For your own good, but still. And I won't be able to see you for a while. But it'll be fine. I um… I need to know what happened to me exactly. If I don't learn to control whatever the hell is going on with me, I could hurt you. Could never do that. You are the only one I can't hurt."

Dmitry moved his hand closer to his brother, he wanted to caress that soft cheek and clean the drool, but the sight of his elongated fingernails snapped that thought away. "I love you Cody. I promise I'll be back for you someday. I promise you we'll be together again."

His blood red eyes darted to the window as white and blue light flashed from the outside. "As long as it takes."

A police patrol car parked on the street in front of the Hart's residence. Two uniformed men sat on each seat. A blond man with glasses, and his senior, a man with copper hair.

"Are you serious? A gunshot? In this neighborhood?" The young blond officer asked. Sure, he was new at this job, but he had never heard of a situation like that.

"Calm down. Sometimes people don't safeguard their hunting rifles. This ain't America, mate. No one's storming the house, guns blazing." The older officer joked. "No need to panic. We'll sort this mess real quick—"

Something heavy slammed on the front of the police car with enough force the back of it was lifted a few feet.

"Fucking hell!"

Both men turned to see a young boy standing on the hood of the car. With a swift swing of his hand he tore through the glass, ripping it away like paper. He grabbed the stunned men by the nape of their uniforms and brought them close to his face. His eyes that burned with rage looked deep into their eyes. "Listen to me you wankers, upstairs in a room is a small boy sleeping. Do not let him see the mess I made. Make sure he ends up with a good family or I'll make sure neither of you get to go back to yours."

As soon as he let go of them the older, more experienced officer opened the door and jumped out of the car. His heart rate a million miles a second. His hand reached for his gun but no one was on the hood anymore. "Blood hell where is he?"

"Uh sir? I think I pissed meself."

"Christ boy, are you five years old?"

"I'm sorry sir, but didn't you see that? It was like a demon was staring into me eyes."

The older man had the boy's words in repeat in his mind. Do not let him see the mess I made. "Call for backup, boy. I'll go inside to see what's going on."

Officer Richard Johnson had decades of experience at hand. He had seen quite a few things, some disturbing, bloody and heartbreaking. It was hard not to in such a line of work. But nothing, no amount of experience, no amount of time could prepare him for the horrors he witnessed that night. A whole family butchered to the point they were beyond recognition. A sight gruesome enough to drive the mind of any man mad. To break the bravest heart.

His younger partner had been wrong. They didn't look into the eyes of a demon, but the very devil himself.

"Where are you taking me?" Dmitry asked. As he walked down the dark and empty streets of the town he heard a familiar voice in his head. So much for a quiet, lonely walk. "Kinda wanted some alone time."

"You shall have plenty of time to ponder your own thoughts, boy. You have more important things to do." The dark, ominous voice from earlier that night said. The voice had a soothing and calm tone that masked the opposite kind of intentions.

"Like what? You gonna help tell me what I am now?"

"Not me, no. I'll let your brothers and sisters explain that to you."

Dmitry paused his walk. "Oi, what did you say? Brothers and sisters?"

"Is there an echo in your head, child?"

"You telling me there are others like me?"

Oh how much the dark voice wished to have a corporeal body to show this boy his amused smile. "Silly child, did you really think you were that special that you were the only one?"

"Would have been nice to feel unique for once," the boy said.

"You have inhuman strength, blinding speed, and bullets can't hurt you, where my gifts really not enough to make you feel unique? Quite a greedy child."

"Alright alright! Thanks for the gifts, dad. Just point at the… Just tell me where to go." He resumed walking down the dark street. A dark tunnel free of light and warmth. An old life abandoned. Blood bonds severed forever.

"Good boy. I hope you are just as eager to meet your new family. I promise you you'll never be alone again, Dmitry."

Even the darkest tunnels had an end. But sometimes the end of a tunnel would lead to even blacker darkness.

"This it?" Dmitry asked.

In front of him stood a tall gate made out of wood but reinforced with iron plates and bolts. It looked worn and rusted. A menacing entrance to an old building. A mansion of a noble bloodline that ended long ago.

"Go in and find out for yourself."

"Cryptic." The boy placed both hands against the doors. "Feels heavy." Using his new found inhuman strength he forced the doors open. As soon as he set a foot inside he felt strong, dark sensations, and many pairs of eyes observing his every move.

A long, empty staircase that curved to the right and left of the second floor met him.

"Bloody warm welcome I got," he said.

"This is the newcomer?"

In a blink the empty staircase was crowded. Dmitry could identify 5 figures standing; two tall ones standing on a step behind 3 shorter ones.

"Yes, my children. Welcome Dmitry, your new younger brother." The dark voice echoed throughout the large building. "Our family is finally complete."