Ezekiel stepped out of the house with his mind racing, thoughts of his little brother Nathan consumed him. As he took a deep breath, he heard a voice behind him, causing him to turn around. It was the girl holding his brother, and she spoke to him, "They have been following you for a while now."
Ezekiel turned to face her, not because he was interested in what she had to say, but because she had demanded his attention.
The girl, who appeared to be around 18 years old, had a wide smile on her face as she said, "Hey, I should have introduced myself first." Ezekiel didn't care about her name or any of them for that matter.
He was solely focused on finding a way to save his brother and escape the grasp of the government.
Xylia Girard, the girl holding Nathan, walked towards Ezekiel, her excitement palpable. "My name is Xylia Girard, and I am 18 years old," she said as she stopped in front of him. Ezekiel didn't show any emotion, and his face remained stoic. He replied, "You already know who I am."
Despite his cold demeanor, Xylia continued to smile, and she said, "How about you stay with us for a few times before you decide what to do?" Ezekiel had already made up his mind, and he was determined to execute his plan, no matter what.
"I already have a plan, and I am so focused on it. Staying with you will only make me more stable and numb for the rest of this time," he replied, his voice firm and resolute.
"You didn't ask me how they knew about you, it is either you already know that or you are so ignorant, Ezekiel," she said, her voice calm. "You have someone from the inside for sure. Such information is not for public use. This is what I thought about, not a big deal."
Ezekiel wasn't surprised by any of their words, as he considered himself more knowledgeable than all of them. However, he needed to know more, and he found their information less valuable.
"We don't have any intel, someone told us about you, hmmm, and here we are," Xylia cheerfully explained.
"Do you all like to be asked? Just say the name," Ezekiel said impatiently.
"Think of it as liking to have a conversation with others," Xylia countered. "If I were to tell you everything, you would just listen with no engagement in talking with me."
As Ezekiel absorbed her words, he felt his brother Nathan stir, shifting his head to rest on Ezekiels' shoulder. Xylia continued, "One of your school colleagues, Emma Carlington, she is your classmate and she has supremacy. She was keeping an eye on you all the time for us."
At the mention of Emma's name, Ezekiel' eyes shifted towards the corner of his vision, trying to recall her face. Ever since the incident where his classmate was discovered to be like him, he had started paying more attention to his classmates.
Ezekiel's mind drifted to memories of Emma Carlington, a classmate who always kept to herself, buried in her studies. She was small in stature, with ginger hair and green eyes, and her glasses often made her appear unapproachable.
"Where is she?" he asked, recalling the name Xylia had just mentioned.
"On a mission. You'll see her when she gets back," Xylia replied with a note of hesitation in her voice.
Ezekiel's interest in seeing Emma was non-existent, and he made no effort to hide it.
But Xylia had something important to tell him, something she was clearly struggling to reveal.
"Hey, listen," she began, biting her lip nervously. "Before you go, there's something you need to know."
Ezekiel's attention was piqued, and he gave her a curt nod.
"Your brother...he's going to die," Xylia said, her voice heavy with sorrow.
Ezekiel was stunned into silence, searching Xylia's face for some explanation for this terrible news.
Xylia took a deep breath before continuing. "There's something about supremacy that's messed up. If one of the brothers has it, then it means he's taken that possible energy from his younger brothers. Your little brother was born with only a few years' worth, and it will all disappear by the time he's six - the age when magic powers begin to appear."
Ezekiel couldn't believe what he had just heard. Xylia's words sent shivers down his spine, and he couldn't help but hold his little brother closer, almost protectively. His mind was racing with thoughts of how his parents could have done this to his brother, bringing him into the world knowing what fate awaited him. He felt a deep sense of guilt wash over him, and he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.
Xylia noticed Ezekiel's distress and tried to offer some comfort. "I'm sorry, Ezekiel. We didn't want to burden you with this information, but we felt you had a right to know," she said calmly.
But Ezekiel was inconsolable. He shouted back at Xylia, asking why his parents would bring his brother into the world knowing that he would suffer. Xylia explained that his parents didn't know, but the survivors did.
Ezekiel couldn't shake the feeling that he was to blame for his brother's plight. He hugged his brother tightly, whispering apologies and lamenting his own existence. "I've always been the cause of your misery, brother. I've hurt you in the past, and I'm hurting you now. I've always been messed up and awful. I killed you in my first life, and I sucked the life out of you in my second. I should have saved you from our parents, and from myself," he cried.
For a moment, Ezekiel held his little brother even tighter, trying to make up for all the times he had failed him. He then slowly let go, taking a deep breath and trying to collect himself. He looked up at Xylia, feeling both grateful and angry at her for revealing the truth about his little brother.
"Why did you tell me this?" he asked her, his voice shaking with emotion.