Chronicles of Araxx - Forever Broken

“I never knew you had a brother,” Jay said.

Gray had led them into his flat where they were free to talk without interruption. “Adz, how come you never told me?”

“It’s complicated,” Adz said a little sheepishly.

“How complicated can it be?” He then started imitating Adz’s voice. “Hey Jay, just wanted to tell you I have a brother I haven’t seen in years. Just thought you might want to know seeing as you’re my best friend.” He sounded angry.

“It was too dangerous to tell anyone about Gray.” Adz gestured to his brother. “And besides, he’s my half-brother anyway, same mother, different father.”

“And what difference does that make. I’m your best friend, you could have told me this! I was hardly going to tell anyone. And why is it too dangerous for anyone to know about him anyway?” Jay was furious, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Gray was becoming impatient. He stood to the side with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes.

Just as Jay was about to open his mouth to allow another torrent of rage to fill the air, the surrounding room filled with fire, burning red and bright. Jay shouted out in fear, but when he looked to Adz and Gray for their reactions, both seemed perfectly calm.

The fire disappeared as quickly as it came, retreating into the fingertips of the man Adz called his brother.

“Warlock!” Jay shouted, pulling his gun from its holster and aiming at Gray. He pulled the trigger and fired, missing his target completely. He then simply stood there in shock. Jay had fired a gun many times, but never at someone.

“And this is why no one at the Institute knew about Gray.” Adz sighed as he clapped his hand to his face. “Everyone instantly sees he’s a warlock and then tries to kill him.”

“Half warlock, baby brother, I’m only half,” Gray spoke in a deep voice.

“But warlocks are...” Jay was lost for words. He was no longer pointing the gun at Gray, but he had not loosened his grip on it either. “They’re bad,” he finished his sentence.

“Only some are,” Adz explained. “Not all warlocks are bad, but most grow up that way. They are brought up by bad witches or warlocks, and so they turn dark. But as my brother was brought up in the human world with me, he was never taught dark magic. He only learned what came to him naturally.”

“I’ll correct you there, Adz,” Gray said, finally unfolding his arms and stepping forward. “Recently, I have been teaching myself spells and incantations from an old book I’ve found but you’re right, no dark magic.”

“How do we know we can trust him?” Jay asked as he pulled Adz to the side.

“Put it this way, if I wanted you dead, you would be gone by now,” Gray said.

Jay didn’t like this and took it as more of a threat than a statement. His entire body tensed up.

“Cool it, Jay. He’s not dangerous, not to us anyway.” Adz laughed.

There was clear tension between Jay and Gray, but it was understandable. Gray was a warlock, and warlocks were notorious for being unpredictable and for having issues with controlling their anger, but Gray was different.

When he was younger, Gray had problems with his temper, and would often get into fights with other children. He did not develop his abilities until he turned seven, and it was a shock to him when he found out. He didn’t know why he could do the things he could do, and Adz was the only one he could confide in.

They were already close, being half-brothers, but the intimacy which came from sharing such a large secret drew them even closer together.

Both were distraught when they were separated, and Adz promised he would always keep in touch.

After a few months at the Institute, when Adz had settled in and had an understanding of the supernatural world, he contacted his brother with news of what he was.

Adz became fascinated with warlocks and researched them as much as he could in his spare time. He looked at the different traits the warlocks in the books at the instituted had, and during his research, he found out who Gray’s father was.

During this period Gray’s aggression and short fuse became more of a problem. He became frustrated and angry at the smallest thing, and without his brother to calm him, he was becoming a danger to those around him.

Gray took up a multitude of sports in an attempt to maintain inner peace. The first thing he took up was yoga. This helped to relax him and release his stresses. He found that if he was becoming wound up, a simple yoga session and some breathing exercises would calm him down. This, however, was not always enough.

Sometimes the frustration in him built up so high he was simply too highly wound for the yoga to work. When he realised this, Gray decided to take up a physical sport. He started with kick boxing, then moved onto free running. He found that as well as keeping him fit, he was able to control his emotions, and these sports proved to be a great stress relief.

As the day drew on, and Gray opened up about how difficult things had been without his brother around, Jay began to relax a lot more.

He no longer saw Gray as a threat, and instead began to sympathise with him. “Okay, so maybe not all warlocks are bad,” he said as he lazed on the sofa in Gray’s flat. “So what can you actually do then? We’ve seen the fire, but can you do anything else?”

Gray burst out laughing. “Come on. I’ll show you,” Gray said, standing up and walking towards a heavily bolted door at the back of the room.

Gray’s flat looked to be all in one room, with the kitchen at the front, several sofas in the living room, a large TV on the wall, and a double bed at the back of the room.

There were only three doors in the room. One was the front door, another led into the closet and bathroom, but the other door was the strangest. Neither Jay nor Adz had noticed it before.

“What’s in there?” Adz asked.

“Just wait and see, little brother,” Gray said, mischief in his voice.

Gray stood in front of the heavy door.

“What are you waiting for, bro?” Adz asked.

“This door cannot be opened by someone without magic. I have to open it with an incantation.” He turned to look at the reaction of the other two. They both looked a little shell-shocked. “It means no one can get in or out of this room without me knowing about it.” He cleared his throat and waved his hands around.

After a few seconds of what looked like strange sign language, slithers of white smoke began to wisp from his fingertips. It weaved its way into the locks on the door.

With each inch the smoke seeped further into the locks, the locks on the door began to click, unlocking one at a time.

It was magical to watch, and in just under a minute, the door swung inwards, revealing a room within.

Gray invited them into the room with him.

The room was huge. The walls and floors were white, and it was hard to see where one began and the other ended, making the room seem oddly circular.

“Welcome to my training room,” Gray said as the huge door swung shut behind them.

“Wow!” Both Jay and Adz said at the same time.

“This is the only place in London I can practice my magic and not worry about being seen.” He stepped into the middle of the room and breathed in deeply, puffing his chest up and making himself look bigger. He breathed out sharply, and with this, a torrent of flames left his mouth, flying forward.

“You can breathe fire too?!” Adz shouted in surprise.

Jay was too shocked to say anything.

“I can do a lot more than that.” Gray laughed, rubbing his throat. “It burns a little, though, like heartburn.”

They all laughed at this.

“So come on, little brother. You told me many times they’ve taught you to fight, so show me.”

“Jay’s better at hand to hand,” Adz said. “I’m better with my gun.”

Gray took a remote control from his pocket and pressed a few buttons. There was a quiet mechanical noise, then the wall began to open. Inside was a multitude of different weapons; guns, swords, daggers, throwing stars, nun chucks and much more Adz and Jay did not know the name of.

Jay and Adz were like children in a sweet shop when they saw all the weapons.

Gray revealed everything else in the room, showing them the entire set-up he had with targets and dummy’s for practice, but there was one thing he had not yet shown them, and it was the most exciting of all.

“Hey, guys!” He called, interrupting them from practising with the nun-chucks.

Jay lost concentration and hit his own hand with one of the nun-chucks.

“Wanna see something really cool?” Gray asked as he threw a small wristband to both of them. “Put this on your left wrist.”

“What is it?” Jay asked as he pulled it around his wrist.

Almost before he finished asking, a person appeared in front of him, and one in front if Adz, too.

“Gray, what it this? More magic?” Adz asked.

“Not magic, per se, but it is one of my inventions.” Gray walked towards Adz and Jay, explaining the strange-looking men in front of them. “These are holograms,” Gray explained. “But not like any holograms you have seen before. Reach out to touch it,” He said.

Adz was a little nervous to do so, but Jay didn’t think twice. He put his hand forward, reaching for the hologram’s face. The man in front of him slapped his arm away, leaving Jay stunned. “It touched me.”

“That is where my holograms are special.” Gray smiled. It was the kind of smile that made women swoon and men feel intimidated. “I have infused the bands on your wrists with magic. These bands, when you put them on, connect with neurones in your brain, which then project the image you see in front of you. The same technology also creates the feeling you experience when they touch you.”

“So, are we the only people who can see them?” Adz asked.

Jay was already messing around with his hologram. He was mock fighting with it and losing.

“I have found that I can see them with or without the bands, as they are my creation, but to my knowledge, no one else can see or feel them without the bands.” Gray looked to Jay, who was struggling to get out of the headlock his hologram had put him in. “I use them for fight training, and you’re free to use them as well.”

“So how do you...?” Adz started.

“Programme them?” Gray laughed. “Just tell them what you want to do. They will respond to the voice of the wearer, and you can choose several programme types.” Jay’s hologram put him back down again as Gray waved his hand. “Try them out. I’ve got to get ready for tonight.”

“What’s happening tonight?” Jay asked, rubbing his neck where the hologram had pinned him.

“I’m the DJ at a local club tonight,” he said as he opened the door with magic again. “It’s going to be a wild night.”