The Unraveling....

Hanna’s blue eyes were frozen on the middle line of her AP Bio text book; she had been sitting at the kitchen table for the last half an hour reading the same line over and over again. Just then, Hanna decided she HATED the new house. It was to quite. She was used to the noise in the background, Artemis being annoyed with the dogs, Salone’s usual noises of her moving boxes around in an attempt to unpack all of her training supplies downstairs, and William’s low rumbling voice. This house was to quite. The dogs were outside, gallivanting somewhere in the acreage behind the house, Artemis was gone, Shael was… was… Hanna shut her book and stared hard at the wall, willing herself not to cry. Her closest and only friend was dead. Sheal had known who and what she was, unlike the other kids at school.

BANG! Hanna jumped as William came walking into the kitchen, grumbling under his breath. Salone’s twin was obviously frustrated with Penny. The techno-path kept him out of the basement and confined to the main level of the house.

“She likes you,” Hanna finally said, hiding her true emotions far beneath. “Most of the other guys who enter this house, she generally ignores. Claims that they annoy her and she ought to be a nun.” Hanna had turned around on her stool, crossing her leg, and giving her uncle a disarming smile.

“Then, she would be doing the world a favor. The Psycopath…”

“I HEARD THAT!” Penny called from up stairs. William winced and Hanna chuckled.

“Told you,” She stated, closing her book and pulling her assignment towards her.

It was a presentation on a possible job in the field of Biology and the students didn’t get to choose their partners for the project. Hanna had been paired with Mathew; it was going to be an interesting project. Jumping off her stool, Hanna made her way towards the pantry before realizing Salone had yet to make more cupcakes.

“Popcorn it is then,” She sighed to herself while William plopped himself on the couch and opening a file. William’s gleaming black motorcycle sat in their driveway.

He didn't sleep. How could he sleep? Every time he shut his eyes his mind was plagued as if the Black Death itself were upon him. His psyche was in danger...he was sweating, flushed and unable to find a calm center...or reach his zen. The sound of the washing machine rocking drove him mad, but in the end it was this madness that perhaps saved his sanity. For in the madness there was a form of order...each rock was systematic and within rhythm. He began to count them from within the utter darkness. Not a window in the room, no light anywhere, save for the lone red light of his cellular phone, symbolizing that it had been charging. He hadn't known rest for over seventy two hours and his eyes were heavy...but they were as air compared to the weight that settled upon his mind and conscious. That even lighter still in comparison to the weight imposed upon his heart. As a person of little emotion, that meant something...perhaps. In the end maybe not. One two three four, one two three four... and repetition had been established. He tried to think about the upcoming day. He'd go to study hall and sit with the bo- no, no good. He'd have Football practice today, and after words he'd- Same outcome, god-bless it. He'd have to speak with Alex today of course... and that was it. The highlight of his day would be talking to some random kid, who just moved here...granted, he saved Alex's life...and he and Alex had been through some crap the past few weeks. But still... to think that Alex was his only friend left was...irritating. Especially with certain aspects still being unresolved.  He closed his eyes...one last attempt.

psychometry:

He spoke, as he always did reliving the past through his pamnesia. He snapped from the dream immediately, eyes opening as he let out a trembling breath. He looked over to his phone. A stray feeling causes him to swat at his cheek, only to feel a splash. He was...crying?

   "GODDAMNIT!He snapped. The first word(s) he had made in three days as he shot up and off to the side, rolling off his bed and snatching the phone, using a slider-pitch motion with the technology in hand. The momentum form the movements in perfect harmony for a powerful pitch as the phone shattered into the wall. He was panting in his own right. Fury, rage and utter disdain had filled him. He failed... again. He was filled with self-loathing as he walked over to the mirror. His little "secret" was that his imperceptibility affected his own ability to perceive himself as well...and so mirrors were useless... unless he could see himself as "Sin". Things had finally come to critical mass within the male. To not see himself...to not know how he looked, to not know who or what he was...and to lose his best friend all over again. He felt the anger, the rage coursing through him. He looked up and into the mirror...and he could see himself. The whites of his left eye seemed to have a darkness crawl over it slowly. Matthew forced his eyes closed and gave into rage, throwing his fist at the mirror mounted to the wall, cracks shooting out in every direction as black blood oozed form his hand, before the regeneration kicked in. He stepped back three steps and sat on the stairs leading up to the kitchen, his head in the palms of his hands... Shael... Blair... it was all because of him. It was all because of him....

   "It's all because of me..." Matthew said, his voice a little more "coarse" and gruff than usual, as if he were talking through the death-rattle.... he had school in three hours...he obviously wasn't getting any sleep. He defaulted to sit there, until he would end up driving his brother to school with him...silently as it had been for the past three days.

The next three hours rolled by rather slowly, thus allowing Hanna to show up early to class. Dragon trotted ahead of Hanna to the cafeteria while she slowly trailed behind him; stuffing her skateboard in her backpack so that the top poked out. Upon entering the café, Hanna looked around before settling in her chair. She sat there quietly, pulling out her text book and reading over a chapter and filling out a worksheet. Hanna was pretty sure she was going to sit alone today. Mathew, she thought, didn’t particularly like her.

Dragon was sitting in the empty chair next to her, head resting on the table but his ears pricked forward as he watched students slowly file in. Most of them seemed pretty happy and chatty while others were tired. A few promptly laid their heads down on the table and fell asleep.
With a slim hand, Hanna reached over and itched Dragon’s head.

“Good boy.”

Matthew looked like Hell, that's too be sure. Alexander would have probably said something, had Matthew bothered to make himself known as his locker where he normally met the male. Matthew could always text him later, it was not something that was "life-changing" (not for Matthew anyway). He had pegged Alexander for the understanding type. Before the school day could start he walked off premises for but a moment before withdrawing a lighter form his pocket and bringing the flame to the stick which sat between his curled lips. With an inhale, the stick began to burn slightly and char to ash as the burning came close and closer to Matt with each drag. Each inhale, an exhale of grey smoke from his nostrils which immediately curled up. Matthew smirked at a random thought he had conjured. The smoke from the nostrils, the way it gracefully curled up and filled the air made him feel like a Dragon. It was a relatively random thought... but he could hear Shane saying it. He heard a hacking and when he looked to the source he could have sword he was looking right at Shane, his hands over his nose and hacking.

Matthew immediately knew what to do, he placed pressure on the base of his neck, near the Atlas of the spinal column. The pressure induced a sensation of pain, which wracked his body and caused the false image to face away rather abruptly. It was an illusion? Matthew began to sweat as he dropped the cigarette to the ground and walked away, forgetting to stomp out the little remaining burn within the cancer-stick. He made his way back tot he school property, and quickly made haste to his first class...study-hall in the Café. He would likely be stuck with Hanna today. Not as if it were a terrible thing, however it was indeed troublesome. Matthew made his way down the hall before a shooting pain shot down his left arm. The pain was surreal, unlike anything her had felt before. His left leg went numb and he fell off to the side some, crashing into the lockers. He braced himself with his shoulder and waited as the pain down his arm and the grumbling in his stomach faded. He pressed his face into the cold metallic locker and began to count slowly, forcing himself to regulate his breathes with a calm and easy mind.

because of you...

The whisper in his mind brought a tear to his eyes as he staggered forward, forcing himself to stand as normally as he could. He made his way to the study-hall...knowing the "cousins" Blair and Shane were not going to be joining them... exactly for the reason the voice whispered. Because of Matthew... He sat down at the table and smiled at Hanna, waving a little before looking to Dragon kindly. The male was still acting friendly, and he put on a good façade. But he was broken, and those whom knew him best (and the Dog) would know something was terribly wrong.

Hanna’s head shot up and a flicker of surprise flashed across her face.

“Hey,” She said softly as he sat down. The poor guy looked as if he hadn’t been getting any sleep. “You doing alright?”

Shael had been part of her family where as he had been one of Mathew’s closest friends. It was only logical that he was suffering a little at his death. Dragon slunk under the table and laid his head on Matt’s knee and looked up at him with big amber yellow eyes. Hanna remembered something and dove into her bag, pulling out the AP BIO project paper.

“What do you want to do for this? My sister works for the hospital so I bet if we asked nicely we could get something really cool done for our project.”

A few days previously, Hanna and Matt had been stuck together as partners for this project. For all the teacher could predict, it could be a massive disaster.

Matt looked to Hanna and smiled slightly as he nodded. What was he supposed to say? No I'm not? This is the second time I've had to "bury" my best friend. Was he supposed to tell the truth? No. Lying wasn't his style...but telling the truth wasn't either. He'd just play with silence, deflect the question or word-play around it. The dog named Dragon seemed to nuzzle his head in which drew Matt's attention. He smiled, but nothing was helping. He simply messed with the dog, scratching it behind the ear and being his normal affectionate self towards the animal.

  "I-uh. Sure, that will work. Probably on the molecular... I dunno. Can your sister be here after school at all?" Matt asked, seemingly still distracted. He looked at the two empty seats. Blair (Silus) and Shane (Shael) both. He ran his hand through his hair and just jaw shook barely, but still enough for him to feel sick to his stomach. He loved those two... how could he have done that to them?

   "Hey. Matty." A familiar voice came out. Matt jumped as he felt his "old friend's" hand on his shoulder. He smiled at Matt, trying to reassure him before sighing. He laughed a little. He reached down and picked up Matt's left hand and chuckled as if remembering a bitter memory. "Well..at least you can always remember him with this." He said with a chuckle. Matt's face burned red, anger coursing through him.

  "Y-you...jealous-" Matt said through his teeth, a way that wasn't quite normal. His pupil dilated until the black had enveloped his entire eye like a shark. Red rings were glowing and settled in as his Iris. The Cintamai stone flashed. (+4 Illusions: sound and sight) To the rest of the world nothing would change.

Spoiler:

the voice was unlike his in any way. He grabbed the males arm andyanked down, smashing the other man's head into the table causing his node to bleed. Matt stood up and the illusion faded his eyes returning to normal as he looked to Hanna and smiled, panting. "Uh...see you after school then..." He said as he turned and walked away.

   Under the premise of the illusion it would have appeared that Matt's eyes widened and then suddenly someone was on the floor, and Matt walking away. No one saw Matt hit him so he was left alone...however the poor dog would be left feeling the residual effects of Sin, which generally sent animals into a fit of fear. Matthew sighed as he calmed down. It wasn't Tony's fault...he just made a joke to try and cheer Matt up....but whatever was inside him...whatever was plaguing Matt was changing him. Driving him crazy.... he was running out of time.

“Mathew,” Hanna said softly, in an understanding tone. “No way you’re alright. He was my family; he was your best friend. The least you could do is give me an honest answer. ”

She fixed him in the eye with her big, unnaturally blue eyes before letting out a long, drawn out sigh.

“No idea, we’d probably have to meet her at home.” Hanna shrugged and then her vision went all funny. Next thing she knew Dragon was cowering behind her legs and a dude was on the floor. Mathew was eager to get away from the scene… something happened… something she had missed.

“Matt?” She called after him anxiously. Shoving all of her crap in her bag, Hanna raced after him. “Matt, what’s wrong?”
Then he got that look on his face. The, you have no idea, face.

“Before you blow me off,” Hanna cut him off. “Try and explain to me first.”