Ten years

The office of Psychologist Dr. Sara Evans had become a familiar sight to the young man sitting on the soft, gray couch. The light gray walls, the many certificates and degrees of Dr. Evans, the green plants on the corners, and the wooden desk with pictures of her family over them. By now he knew every picture and image to the minute detail, and the names of every person in them. A beautiful family.

Something he worked so hard to recover.

"How are you feeling today, Cody?" Sitting across Cody was the doctor, a middle aged woman of fair face, long, blond hair, wearing a beautiful white dress.

"I'm good," Cody replied. At 16 years old Cody looked different. He had grown tall, almost the same height as Sean. And while not as bulky he definitely had put on some healthy weight. "I feel good." His hands scratched his blue jeans.

"You seem nervous, Cody. You know this is a safe space for you."

"I know, it's just that. I called my aunt mum last night. Is that wrong?" He asked her.

"Why do you think it's wrong? Was your aunt angry about it?" She asked back, writing some notes in her notebook.

"I don't know. She looked stunned, I think she looked like she was going to cry." Cody had no idea why he had called her that. Maybe because she looked so similar to his mother. People did say they looked like twins, even though his mother was younger. "Aunt Angela has been so good to me. She's so kind. I think I might have hurt her."

Dr. Evans gave him a comforting smile. "Cody, I think she might have cried from happiness. She has raised you for ten years, right? And you say she treats you well. Do you think maybe you are seeing her as a mother?"

Cody paused for a second to think. She had taken care of him like a mother after losing his real mother and father. Giving so much love and affection. Sleeping with him during the first few months after moving with her family. Going to therapy, going to after school events. Tending to him during his sicknesses. "She's great. And she makes my favorite foods when I ask her. She's helped me so much. But, am I making my real mum angry?"

"Do you really think Martha is that type of person? I think she would be happy that you are happy, Cody," she said. "Cody, you are not forgetting your biological parents, or insulting them. This means you are healing, moving on after the loss. Your heart is opening up to accept the love the Conways have been giving you."

Cody smiled. "Yeah." His shoulders relaxed. "Thanks, Doctor Evans. I feel better. I miss my parents a lot. But I'm happy my aunt and uncle took me in. My cousins are great, although I hated it they wanted to put their makeup on me when I was little. Not used to living with so many girls."

The smile on Cody's face fainted a little. "I don't have dreams of my brother anymore."

"Do you miss him?"

"A lot. Haven't seen Dmitry since before he was taken to the hospital. I still don't know if he found out about our parents and Sean."

The doctor could see the pain in Cody's face. She felt sorry for him. "I am sure one day you will see him again."

"I hope he forgives me for leaving him alone." He held back tears that threatened to flow down his eyes. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Here you can cry if you want to. I won't judge you for showing emotions."

"If my teammates saw me crying they would kick my ass."

They both laughed.

Cody had opted to join the football team of his primary school a year after moving to his aunt's family in Wales. Now in secondary school he continued that path. That and therapy had helped him deal with some of the trauma.

"You have made amazing progress Cody. I think soon we will be seeing each other less." Dr. Evan walked next to Cody as both of them walked out of her office.

"I'll miss chatting with you."

The doctor laughed. "So will I, but our goal is for that to happen in the end. Please stay safe." He surprised her by giving her a hug. "You are a sweet kid. Stay that way."

Cody nodded. He stood there as she walked back to the building. He took out his cellphone from his left pocket. There was a message from his aunt that she would be just a few minutes late. Disappointing but he could wait. The problem though, was that this office was in the countryside. Wales had one of the most beautifully green countryside Cody had seen, but it was also pretty empty.

A few hills here and there, covered in emerald green grass, and dark bushes. There was a big, wide horse chestnut on one end of the street on the other side.

Cody typed a few words to his aunt, saying he would wait outside the building for her. He waited for a reply, but obviously she had to on her way she couldn't, and shouldn't, be texting. Sighing, he looked back at the tree. His eyes caught something. Someone. A black figure standing under the shade of the chestnut. Was that person always there? It was too far away for him to distinguish a face. But he knew there was someone there.

An ominous feeling crawled down his spine. Even when he couldn't see a face he felt being stared at. A pair of dark eyes hovering over him. But he didn't feel as much fear as expected. Instead he almost felt drawn to the figure.

For a few seconds the idea of going to the person standing over there and asking if they needed help crossed his mind. Another idea was going back inside the office and waiting for his aunt. But a sense of morbid curiosity pulled on him.

Cody took a step forward onto the old road. He swore he could see the figure smile. And offer him his arm as if to guide the young teenager towards him.

Cody gulped, still his left foot lifted itself for another step.

The loud sound of a car honk startled Cody, almost slipping. He looked to his side to see the old car of his uncle. His aunt waved at him. He forced a smile and waved back.

"Sorry for being late, Cody. One of your cousins missed the bus to her practice. You know how Abby can be," she said as she parked in front of him.

"Y-yeah, she can be a klutz." Cody opened the door to the copilot seat. Curiosity taking the better of him he looked to the chestnut tree one more time. No one stood there anymore. Had it been his imagination all of this time? "I thought I was getting better."

"What is it, love?"

"N-nothing Aunt Angela. Just whispering to myself."

He went inside the car and sat down. He relaxed. The only thing in his mind at the moment should be telling his aunt the good news. Nothing else.

Dmitry was surrounded by several other young people just like him. One in particular got closer to him. A male, over a foot taller, heavier and bulkier. He looked down on Dmitry, literally. "So this is the new kid? Short. Skinny." He looked at Dimitry with an intensity that matched the red of his eyes.

"Yeah. Who the hell are you?" Dmitry asked.

"I'm your fucking senior. That's how you answer your betters?"

Dmitry's eyebrow arched itself. "You're joking, right? I don't know you. Except that you seem like the typical dumbass jock that thinks he's hot shite." He crossed his arms and gave him a smug style, "I'm done dealing with idiots like you."

The taller male balled his fist and raised it. "You little shi–"

"Oh will you shut it? Nobody wants to see your alpha male display, Kyeran." Placing themselves between Dmitry and Kyeran was a short, thin girl. "I'll apologize in his name, he's too much testosterone. Doesn't like it when other guys join our group for some reason."

Dmitry was taken by her beauty. Her skin was like the pristine sand of a beach. And her silky black hair like ebony, reaching past her rear. "You're pretty."

"Aren't you a blunt one? I'm Mahnaz. Welcome to our little dysfunctional family, Dmitry."

"Thanks." He couldn't help but notice Mahnaz spoke with a hint of an accent. "So, what do you guys do here? Aside from looking gloomy." He looked behind Mahnaz and Kyeran. Two more were on the stairs. A red-haired guy leaning against the railing, yawning, and a blonde, petite girl sitting on one of the steps, holding a doll. And like he mentioned, they looked gloomy, bored.

"A comedian," the guy said.

"He's cute at least. Even if he looks like he should still be wearing diapers," the girl said.

"Jeez, what a family. Actually, it does sound like my family."

"Don't blame them, kid, they take the edgelord role too seriously." A dark-skinned young man named Michael placed his hand on Dmitry's shoulder. "It's been a long, long time since we've had anyone join us. Decades, actually."

Dmitry looked at the hand on his shoulder then up to the man that placed it there. He swiped it away. "Don't get too chummy with me. And we aren't friends."

In the blink of an eye someone grabbed him by the nape of his shirt, lifted and slammed him against the wall. "The hell is your problem? You are a newbie. A fucking toddler compared to us. You don't talk to us like that!"

Dmitry bent his legs inwards, against his chest, then extended them outwards fast, hitting Kyeran on the chest. He was sent across the room, smashed against the wall.

Mahnaz gasped, but quickly smiled. "Well, it isn't everyday that someone attacks Kyeran. Even you were more mild, Michael."

"I was new to all of this. But I still had common sense," he said.

"Here's the thing, Kyeran. I don't care. I don't care if you were transformed a day ago or a hundred years ago. You piss me off, I'll fight back." The old Dmitry would have cower in fear, but not this new one would bite back. He no longer felt intimidated by bigger guys. Even if they were special like him.

Kyeran stood up. "You have a big pair, boy, I'll give you that. I'm gonna enjoy ripping them from your skinny ass!"

"ENOUGH!"

The shadows of all six members extended to the middle of the room, merging together into a shape that resembled a human, but without facial features. "Your childish behavior is boring me. You were not assembled to bore me."

"So you actually have a look. Not just a voice." Instead of laughter Dmitry was met with silence. The other five were kneeling around the shadowy figure.

"Welcome back, Father." The one to break the silence was the skinny, red-haired kid. His Irish accent was heavy.

"My children, I assembled you here today so that Dmitry could meet you. And you him. And it seems he has already made an impression. Some more than others."

"Oh big, happy family," Dmitry said.

"Indeed. It's taken me almost a century to gather you all here, but at least I have done so."

A hundred years? "Wait… How old are some of you?"

The Irish-boy answered. "Kyeran lad here is almost ninety years old. The oldest one. When was it? Forty-two right?"

"Shut it, Liam," Kyeran said.

"Them Nazis pissed him off back in the day–"

"I said shut it! You want me to rip your tongue off?"

"Nay. Fine."

"The Nazis? What do they have to do with anything?" Dmitry asked.

Kyeran rolled his eyes. "Not like it's any of your business, but I'm from the Channel Islands."

"We are similar to you, Dmitry. We all went through something that turned us into what we are." Mahnaz approached Dmitry, placing her small hands on each of his cheeks. She was just a couple of inches taller. "Do you have any idea what it feels to starve? To see your body waste away? I know. It's hell. You can't sleep. You lose your hair. Your belly swells like a balloon even when you haven't eaten in weeks. And then, then you stop feeling. My little sister starved to death next to me but by then I didn't care. My heart was empty as well." She looked at Dmitry with an intensity that would be imprinted in his brain. "I curse the people responsible for starving my country and family."

Dmitry took her hands and removed them from his cheeks, but with care, almost as if he tried not to break them. "That sucks. I thought I had it bad."

She laughed. "You don't take a lot of stuff seriously, huh?"

"Can't, really."

"It's fine, we are all like that." She gave her a pretty smile before grabbing his hand and walking upstairs.

"Where are we going?" Dmitry asked. She was strong. Any human wouldn't be able to move him an inch with his inhuman strength. But she was just like him, truly.

"This is a big place. We all have rooms. I'll take you to yours."

"Ah, cool."

The shadow figure and Kyeran stood together. Kyeran had his broad arms crossed together. His frown and glare locked onto Dmitry. Blood boiling to dangerous levels. Something the shadow entity noticed. "My, aren't we angry? And at someone half our size."

"He's a cocky little shit. Don't like it," he said. "But you sound so happy, Father."

"Of course, my wrathful child. After so many decades I've found my Pride."

Pride. Dmitry managed to catch that last word. He never understood what he meant by that. That encounter was something he dreamt about a few times before. Today was no different.

He had been awake for a few minutes already. Pondering the day he met a bunch of guys no different from himself. That day had changed him, in more ways that one.

Dmitry stood in front of a large mirror in his room. The white shirt he wore felt tight. His chest and arms had thickened these past ten years. And he had grown tall. Same height and build as his brother Sean. Not as big as Kyeran though. Still, after all of this time he couldn't believe the change. And he wondered, was this because of his transformation? If he were still human, would he have remained a skinny, short guy?

"Training to master your powers have done wonders to you, Dmitry." Mahnaz stood under the door frame.

"You call Kyeran beating the crap out of me training?" He walked to his bed to get a brown coat.

"You can stand your ground. None of us have been able to do that like you."

"Yeah yeah, you lot just enjoy me getting beat up."

A pair of small, sandy colored hands closed together against his abdomen. "I enjoy seeing you putting him in his place," she rested her head against his back. "Rightfully so, Kyeran has always been considered the strongest among us. He needed to be kicked down a notch."

Dmitry chuckled. "I guess so. Now, either you let me go or we are late for our job."

"Oh really? Suddenly you are worried about being late? You came late this morning. Spying again?"

"That's none of your business, Mahnaz."

"I know, I know. But you should stop leaving a girl alone in her bed every day. Not very gentlemanly."

"I'm not one of your boy toys."

"I know that. You are better than that, Dmitry."

Her small but pretty smile, combined with those bright obsidian eyes, managed to break some of Dmitry's tough exterior. She could do what only one other could.

Dmitry gave her a small but smug smile. "Fine. Let's go. The Shadow and the other 5 screw ups won't be happy if we are late." He turned her around and started to playfully push her out of the room.

"It's been ten years, Dmitry, everybody else calls him Father."

"Tried that already years ago. Didn't work out for my old man."

Both of them walked down the old hall of the massive mansion. She walked next to him as they took the staircase. At its bottom was the shadow entity, surrounded by five others.

Loyal Kyeran next to him as always. "You are late, punk."

"I'm sowwy, big bwother." Dmitry tried to fake a sad look but couldn't hold back a smile.

Kyeran balled a fist. "Why you little shi…"

"Enough. Not this morning, boys."

"Sorry, Father."

"You are no fun."

"You mentioned you had an announcement, Father?" The petite, blonde girl dashed to the side of the entity. She wore a gothic dress that gave her the look of a gothic lolita anime girl. "Is it something I can do for you?"

"But of course. You will all be able to help me," it answered.

The girl pouted. "I'm sure I can be more than enough!"

"Enough, Sophie… Father has… spoken." The red-haired young man placed a hand over Sophie and pulled her away. He had big, black bags under his eyes. He towered over her with a height similar to Kyeran's but much skinnier. "Stop being… a drag."

"My children. The time is finally getting near. Soon, you will all be able to fulfill your purpose. The reason for the new life I gave you."

Dmitry looked at the shadow entity and the others around him with a deep look. Unlike the rest he wasn't all chummy to this creature, but he always wanted to know why he was chosen specifically. No one gave power like the ones he had for free.

"We will build a new world together. For me, and for you, my children born in the dark."