This is a short one, just a connector section.
Feedback is always welcome.
CHAPTER 4
'What do you mean with that?' Matt asked.
Mycroft didn't answer. Instead, he stripped down in front of us and turned around.
'Look at me' he said. 'What do you see?'
'I see you' I answered.
'No, you don't see me' he replied.
Then he closed his eyes, and his body began to change. His skin became as smooth and pale as china, and his lips and nipples lost its reddish color, it being replaced by a very slight trace of pink. The Mycroft I had known until then looked younger than he really was, but the “new” Mycroft didn't look older than Matt. His deep blue eyes seemed to emit their own light.
'Now you see me' he said. 'This is the real Me'
* * * * *
I looked at my brother. He looked almost as pale as Mycroft; he walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me, protectively. He was younger than me, but he often acted as the older brother.
'Please, don't be afraid of me' Mycroft said. 'It's me. I'm still the Mycroft that you've known'
I couldn't make a sound. I felt Matt holding me tighter as he spoke. Mycroft tried to approach us, but Matt immediately responded by pulling me towards the front door.
'Don't do this to me, please...' Mycroft begged. 'I'm not a monster. I didn't choose to be like this!'
However, Matt didn't stop pulling me.
'I didn't want to do this' Mycroft had begun crying. Pearly tears ran down his smooth, flawless cheeks. 'But I have to... I'm very sorry, guys'
He raised his right hand and pointed towards us. Immediately, Matt stopped pulling me. I looked at him, and saw an unnaturally relaxed expression on his face.
'What-' I looked at Mycroft, who was still crying. 'What did you do to him??!!'
I released myself from my brother's arms and ran towards him, decided to do anything necessary for him to undo what he had done to Matt, whatever it was. Mycroft didn't do anything to protect himself from my attack; he simply let me hit him mercilessly.
'What – did – you – do – to – my – brother???' I asked, hitting his bare chest with every word. He didn't answer: he simply cried even louder.
At last, I got tired of hitting him. I wasn't strong enough to hurt him, and it was obvious. I couldn't even bruise that pale, flawless skin.
'You have been so cruel with me...' he said, between sobs. 'You've treated me like a monster. I don't want to hurt you, Tom! I just wanted to be sincere... that's what I am, and I cannot do anything to fix it.'
'What did you do to Matt?' I asked again.
'He will be OK in a couple of hours' he replied. 'I had to calm him down. It's something I've had to do too many times before... like now. Few people knows about me being like this, and I know that I don't look very normal'
My fear was disappearing, and so was my anger. Mycroft looked so desperate that he broke off all my defenses and reached my mercy deep inside me. For the first time, I thought that he looked beautiful. It was an unnatural beauty, though.
'What happened to you?' I asked. 'Why do you look that way, and how do you do such things as what you've done to Matt?'
'That sounds as a polite way of asking 'what are you?'' Mycroft said. 'I am a hybrid being. Half human, half living energy. I used to be a normal person like you, but when I was seventeen years old, one like me did this to me. There isn't an appropiate word in Earthly languages to refer to something like me, but you can call me a Sorcerer, if you want to'
Mycroft walked towards me and turned around.
'Look there, on my back' he said.
For the first time, I noticed that he had a tattoo on his upper back, over the spine. I knew for sure that it had not been there before. It was a four-pointed star, drawn in black on his pale skin. I touched it, and felt his unnaturally smooth and cold skin. His entire body quivered.
'I'm very sensitive there' he told me. 'I don't know why, but I think it has to do with where and when my Master did it to me. My Master was the one who made me the way I am: he isn't among us anymore'
For a minute, he seemed to be lost in his memories. A single tear rolled down his right cheek, and he emitted a quiet sob before speaking again.
'I know that it's too soon, but I need a hug' he said. 'Would you do that for me?'
I was unsure about that, but the sad look in his eyes was too much for me. I walked towards him and hugged him tightly. He put his head on my shoulder and cried. He cried for a long time.
And then, he kissed me.
* * * * *
'Thanks, Tom' he said, after breaking the kiss.
He got dressed again, and checked Matt out. My brother had fallen asleep and was laying on the floor, snoring softly.
'He's OK' he told me. 'He will wake up in two or three hours. It's a pity that I had to do that to him... it will be even harder to introduce my true self to him'
'We have to talk, Mycroft' I said. 'A lot'
'I know' he replied. 'And we will. I will answer all your questions... at least, those whose answers I know. Now, I think Matt will sleep better if we carry him to my bedroom'
He looked at me with an odd expression.
'I'm going to do something odd' he said. 'Don't worry, it's completely natural for me and I can control it perfectly'
'What?'
'I'm going to move Matt' he answered. 'I'm not going to touch him, though'
'Can you do that?' I asked skeptically.
'Of course' he replied, his mischievous grin revealing some of the normal, untroubled Mycroft that I had known until a few minutes ago. 'I can do that, and some other things, too'
As he spoke, Matt's sleeping body lost contact with the floor. Mycroft raised him until he was about four feet high. Then, with a gesture of his hand, Matt flew towards the bedroom and landed on Mycroft's bed.
'That's very useful sometimes' he commented.
'I see...' I said, impressed. 'How did you do that?'
'The first question you ask about my abilities, and I can't give you an answer' he said. 'It would take you years of study to understand how I do things like that. Let's say that I can manipulate energy. Energy is the base of the Universe and so, I control parts of the Universe by controlling energy'
'Where are you from?' I asked.
'That's one I can answer' he replied. 'Come with me'
He took my hand and guided me outside, to his back yard. It was a clear, warm night, lit only by the shine of the stars. He pointed to the sky, and said, giggling:
'Home'
'So, you're E.T.?'
'Not precisely' he said. 'Do you see those three stars?'
'Yes'
'They're part of the constellation of Sagittarius' he told me. 'The galactic center is in that direction. So is the world where I was born'
I looked at him: a timid smile crossed his face.
'Yes' he said. 'You're talking to an alien'