you understand me (pg 13)

Mack laid in the grass near silus in central park. She very much enjoyed his company. His thoughts didnt make her head hurt like most people's did. 

She was finaly venturing out in the world instead of hiding. Her favorite thing to do was get a bagged lunch from mommy at mel's and go to the park with silus. She always waited for her peanut butter milk shake to melt a little.

She loved the feeling of the sun on her skin and the light breeze. Occasionally she reached out without speaking and touched his arm or his leg and shared a memory with him. He was the only person besides mommy and daddy that she would talk to out loud. Not even jason. She shared memories of her parents and sighed without openning her eyes. " you're my best friend si. Promise you will never leave without saying goodbye? I wont make you promise you wont leave because thats like putting someone in a cage. Just promise you will say goodbye?"

Silus was at the park, his usual zip-up hoddie being four sizes too big and baggy as all heck on him. His hair was getting that "mop" look to it as the days went by seemingly faster and faster. Silus took a breath in and out, simply counting his breaths and listening to how calming the sound of his own breathing was to him. It was nearly like a state of meditation, though the young male had no clue how he managed to slip into it. He occasionally felt something brush on his arm, or his leg, but the sudden "intrusion" of memories that weren't his own filled his mind.

Two parent's. A mommy and a daddy, and little Mackenzie. He saw good times, great times, cute times, and occasionally he would get a glimpse of the bad times. Silus smiled with the good, laughed at the great and just grinned like an idiot when there were "cute" times. When he saw the bad times his heart broke, or he might have gotten frightened depending on the circumstance. But when it was all over he could only find himself going numb. He was happy that at least one of them had a family, that at least one of them had memories. His heart began to ache as he could feel a lingering oddity within. He was snapped from his feelings when he heard Mack speak, and not to his head which made him smile. Her voice was a lot better when it was "real". She sounded scared, almost scared of being alone from the way she was talking. Silus knew what it was like to be alone all to well, and he never wanted his friend to feel that way. Especially not his best friend.

"Yeah. Promise!" He reassured her with a smile and a sigh. Then his mind began to wander slightly. What if he didn't have the chance, would it make him a liar? He calmed down quickly as he simply enjoyed laying there and "remembering" Mack's time with her family, and wondering if that would have been similar to his... He turned to look back at her. "I'm not goin' anywhere." he said with a smirk as he looked at her with a nod.

Mackenzie sat up and took a long drink from her milkshake. She opened her eyes and looked at him. She had her mom's piercing blue eyes and her lean frame but she looked most like her dad. She smiled shyly. Some of the whipped cream from her shake was on her nose. " Ive only had one friend besides you. She left. She never said goodbye. Mommy had even adopted her. She was like a sister...." She looked sad.

Silus was still laying there as Mackenzie sat up. She took a drink of her milkshake and Silus giggled like...well, a little kid when he noticed she had whipped cream on her nose. He pulled his left arm up and the long sleeve of the hoodie slipped over his hand and he brought his hand up, attempting to get the whipped cream off of her nose with his sleeve. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to her to make her feel better. He wished he could, he didn't like seeing her all sad like this. He let out a little hum as he sat up and looked at Mackenzie, the bottoms of his shoes pressed together as his hand clasped around them. "I'm....sorry.... I promise I won't leave, especially without saying goodbye first." Silus promised as he looked at her, worried. "Are you okay?" He mused aloud at her, wondering if she needed to talk or if she just needed space.

When she realized she had whipped cream on her nose she turned bright red in emberassment. She looked away and played it cool as she nodded and watched the other people in the park. There were families, people playing frisbee and catch, people playing with dogs. She longed to be normal like them. She nodded. " Im a little girl but no one sees me as one. Im not even a year old yet and i look like im five. I have the brain power of an adult. You see me as... me."

She tugged at the tshirt she was wearing.She was finally wearing something other than long t's, skirts, and leggings. " Its like you understand me or something. Thats more intense than any emotion or thought ive gotten from someone's head."

People didn't understand her? She was less than a year old, which Silus was just learning, but that didn't "scare" him any, he just thought that it added to the overall coolness and uniqueness of his friend. She was really smart too though, and that was cool too, but he never saw her as an adult. Granted he didn't see her as a little girl either. She was just... Mackenzie. Did everyone label her? Silus wasn't sure he could if he wanted to, which he never wanted. He smiled at her and nodded, happy that he understood her....even if he did by accident. He couldn't help but notice how she was looking at the other people around. He wished he could be like them. Not a mutant... but then he might not have met Mackenzie, or Aramis, or Yancey, or Sean. Thinking of that he found himself no longer wishing to be normal. He was fine with how things were because of them. "Don't let anyone change ya." He said as he brought his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, thinking about what she had said. He didn't want Mackenzie to let anyone change her, especially not because she was smart. "J-just be you, 'cuz Everyone else is already taken." He added the last portion in there because it sounded good... and that's what the Matron of the orphanage once told him, and that made him feel better. Now he was just hoping that it would help her.

That was a good question, but she was already being her. One didn't know how to be themselves, because they never had to think about it. All they really needed to was be happy. She interrupted his thoughts talking about a cure, and her taking them up on the offer. Silus' heart sank a little when he heard this. Maybe the thought of her taking a cure made him uneasy a little. He didn't want her to change. Who knew what would happen if she became a human? Not that Silus cared what she was. Mutant, Human, Extra-terrestrial toddler... it was still Mackenzie. But would she still think the same? Going to school with normal kids that hated people like Silus? Would she hate him too? Silus sat up and brought his knees up to his chest, arms draped over them and locking his fingers together as he hugged his knees.

"Cure? I didn't know you were sick." He said plainly. His eyes faintly glowing their indigo color as he looked off to the side at her. "Do you think you would be happier?" Silus asked her. The question was genuine, trying to discern if she was truly set in that point of view. He rested his mouth against his knees as he rested there, indigo eyes glowing through the tips of shaggy hair.

" I might be. I dunno. Im not normal. Normal little girls cant hear everything you think. Normal little girls cant influence you into doing what they want. Normal little girls dont..." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek.

" Normal little girls dont have a literal dark side that wants to take over and make them do bad things."Mack was not a cryer at all. She didnt even cry at first when her dad died. She could count on one hand the amount of times she had cried. She had never opened up to anyone like this.

Silus was shocked, in awe really. He was paranoid. Though why he was paranoid wasn't like one might expect. His paranoia stemmed from the second statement she made. Though where it might shock people was that his own paranoia and his personal experience with dark sides made him edgy, so much so that his brain did not process the words "little girls" and feared she was talking about him for some reason. The first thing he thought to himself was How did she know? primarily feeling his stomach twist and turn, threatening to release everything he had within. He was careful to never think about it, he was careful to never let him out... so how did she know about Styx? He went to speak, but he quickly realized that he had nothing to say. He wanted to hug her, but people didn't like that some times. He wanted to make her happy and cheer her up, but... she just basically said she might be happier off without him. Granted, she did not really say that....but that was how he perceived it with the twist of paranoia against him.

  "I...I understand." Silus said. The truth was he knew how she felt. How many children can say that they are the host to a collection of souls they've devoured that manifested as an evil "boy" known as Styx? Not many, if any for that matter. Though he knew that his time with Mackenzie as friends was not going to be long, it never was. She didn't want to be a mutant. She didn't want dark sides. How long could someone like Silus last? Someone with both of the things she disliked. Silus felt cold. Chilled even from the inside, like a liquid nitrogen wind filled his lungs. It stung, the thought. But he had shut down... he was used to this... maybe some people were just meant to be alone. He looked to Mackenzie. He hated the thought of her crying. He put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. "We'll find you a....cure..." He said, no matter how much it broke him up to think, and say that. He'd make sure his best friend got what she wanted. Somehow anyway...

Mackenzie picked up on his thoughts and wiped her face in embarrassment. " Its not Styx i was talking about. I- I have a dark side. A dark version of mackenzie that lives inside of me. When my dad died i died too. When i came back she took over. Mr Jason had to repress her in my mind. Shes in a mental prison. My dad... isnt allowed to know. He doesnt even know he died."

She picked at the grass next to her feet and leaned on Silus. " I havent told anyone that."

An evil Mackenzie? Why did that thought amuse him slightly? Probably because he was pretty sure she couldn't be evil. Then again, that's what they said about him. She was picking the grass and leaned on him. Out of comfort he shifted and leaned back into her slightly so he didn't end up falling over. "Well... it's not like I'd tell anyone." He said quietly. He looked at her and smiled slightly. The guy didn't know his own daughter had a darkside? He would ask what kind of father is that, but... it made him realize that he had no room to ask that. His own father was literally nonexistent. The hollow feeling was returning, but he quickly buried it as he put an arm around Mackenzie, hugging her slightly. "You okay? I'm serious. We'll find something." He assured her.

She nodded and smiled when he put his arm around her. It was comforting. " Im okay. My dark side is buried deep down where she will hopefully never get out. Sometimes i still hear her in my head. Taunting me but i know she cant get out."

She looked up at him. " I hear your thoughts like everyone else's. the only person i cant hear is mommy. Why are you afraid of styx?"

Silus wanted to tell her a lie, just so he didn't seem like a freak. But it wasn't going to do him any good, especially against Mackenzie. He never wanted to lie to anyone, until they asked him about Styx or his powers. Mostly because he wasn't sure about his powers, and what they were. All he knew was what Styx told him, or showed him. "Styx is a really bad person... he just wants to hurt people. Especially me." Silus said with a sigh. The truth hurt. He found himself idly contemplating on how to help his friend with her request to be normal, nothing coming to mind. Silus felt his brain beginning to hurt from thinking so hard.

Mackenzie reached up and touched his cheek gently. She protected calming thoughts into his mind. Her most soothing memory was mommy's heartbeat. She shared that sound in his mind along with all of her good memories of her times with Silus. The memories were all from Mack's point of view. " I'll keep you safe.Even from Styx." She said softly.

Silus found himself calming down, which was unusual. It almost hat to be from Mackenzie's images and memories. Silus forced himself to calm and clear his mind as he blinked and smiled at Mackenzie's assistance, thankful internally. Though she said she would protect Silus, even from Styx. His heart sank. Protecting him wasn't her job, she was the one who wanted to be normal, and a normal person can't protect themselves against people like Silus, let alone monster's like Styx. It was a tall order for anyone... especially Mackenzie. But Mackenzie did help him. She was a friend. Something Silus never had, she gave Silus a reason to fight. That was more than he could have asked of anyone. "Hey, that's MY line." Silus said, a rather higher pitched tone, as if she had truly taken the words right out of his mind.

Mack tried to smile." Sorry Si, I wont take your lines anymore." She took her hand back and sighed thoughtfully.

She stayed quiet for a few moments. " Si..... do you really like me like this? The way i am? With my mutant powers?" She fidgeted next to him but not much. This was something she was really thinking hard about. She knew being a mutant was supposed to mean being proud but it also meant pain.

She looked slightly sad at what he said, as if she didn't catch that he was joking. "I-It's a joke!" He said, sputtering and stumbling over his own tongue to try and make sure she heard that he was only joking. He couldn't be sure the point got across, though her next question was one that was a loaded gun. Did he like her with her mutant powers? The gun was loaded, but Silus gladly puled the trigger, playing Russian roulette for his friend. "I don't like you because of your Mutant powers. I like 'cuz of your Mackenzie powers." He smiled. He went back to hugging his knees to his chest and looking to Mackenzie intently.

   "With or without powers, I like you because you're Mackenzie. You're my friend, my best friend...my only friend." Silus said, thinking things through. Sure he had met a few other kids, but none of them were mutants. Not like Silus wasn't personable or able to be loved by people...but he was scared, timid enough to not try. "With powers or without powers, you're still Mack. I'll help ya with whatever you want. If you want to be like the humans then I'll help you. If you want to stay like... me.... If you wanna keep your powers, then I'll still help you." He said, basically telling her that he supported her either way.