The Sky that Binds

"Ah yes, the Sky brothers. Such a sad story with those two. Eric and Samuel were always at odds with each other- as brothers are wont to be. They fought over everything; girls, possessions, and especially their mother's affection. Their mother, Jenna, loved them both dearly, and equally. Most mothers never want to favor one child over the other, but it was especially important to her to show them that; them being without a father and all. It didn't help matters much that Eric and Samuel were twins, no less. Something was odd about the two of them. They weren't just twins, with a few differences here and there. Mirror images of each other, those boys. Never could tell them apart. They grew normally enough, but as you and I know, the Sky boys were a pair of gifted kids. Eric received the highest marks in his class, and Samuel was a born athelete. I don't mean to say that Sam was daft, or Eric a clutz- hell, sometimes Sam could outsmart Eric just as much as Eric could outplay Sam. There was a such a balance between the two. Smarts and game weren't the only things the two boys had in common. When I say gifted, I mean gifted. Eric and Sam could control the dead. Don't get frightened now- we knew Eric and Sam were our kind from the start. Their father had the genes, so we'd been tagging them; waiting for some of the "typical" occurences. This wasn't exactly typical, as I'm sure you agree- thus it merited some investigation. We'd figure out what the kids could do, and when the time came, we'd teach them what they needed to know. What was I sayin'? Oh, right. Necromancers. Both of 'em. Well, kind of. You see, their abilites were unique of each other, yet somewhat equal. See, balanced once again, eh? Eric could see the dead- ghosts, wandering spirits, and such. He could sense their presence, and if he focused for a moment, he could see them clear as day- hold conversations with them, and everything. Sam couldn't see them like Eric could... nope, he could do something a little more dangerous. Sam could command them. If he knew one was around, he'd just mutter a few words and phrases, and they'd bend to his will. If you paired the two of them, Eric could hunt them down, and Sam could tell them what to do. They could make puppets of the damned. Gifted. Bizarre, but gifted. Jenna really had no idea of what their sons were, or what they were destined to be. Her husband intentionally left her in the dark- tried to live a normal life with normal people; but you know how well we handle normal folk. They were doomed from the start. Their father died fighting some Pure, trying to defend his home after they got his scent. No, the Pure didn't make it either. Their father was a tough one, and he let 'em know that his home was off limits. Cost him his life, though. Good man- we were glad to have him- even if he didn't want to have us. The police say it was street violence- they also claim that all the bite and claw marks came 'from some dogs the gang probably trained to cockfight'. Heh. Cockfight? Do people even say that anymore? Anyway, the Sky kids. Eric and Sam always tried to talk the spirits into serving them for some minor purpose. Scare this guy here, knock something down over there. Despite this, they were acted almost responsibly with their abilities. They used 'em rarely, and they never hurt anyone or told anyone. You almost wouldn't know what they were, if we weren't patrolling them for most of their life. Jenna raised them best she could, but you could see the signs forming. The two became more aggressive; more competitive. Sam would start demanding that Eric hunt the dead, for whatever purpose- pranking, stealing, revenge. Eric was a pretty good kid, though- and since he could talk to the spirits, he felt a little sympathy for 'em. He didn't like manipulating the skewed existance they already had, so he stopped helping Sam. That's when Sam lost it. Sam took his aggression out poorly, and his mother wouldn't have any of it. The more he acted up, the harder she was on him. In his teen years, Sam started getting in with the wrong crowd- and just between you and me, I think the Pure had something to do with it. The kids got into trouble for petty crimes here and there, and it just spiraled down. Sam got into drugs, and then he got into the same 'street violence' the police were raving about with his dad. You'd think he would've known better. You know what I think? I think Sam used his ability to get his way. He wouldn't know if anything was around, but all he had to do was speak to anything that listened. If a ghost picked him up, it'd do what he said. It'd make things easier if he got in a jam. I don't know- maybe not. It's possible though, eh? Get caught by a cop, command a ghost for a quick possession? Eh? Hell, I don't know. Eric stayed by his mom's side, keeping his wits sharp and learning a bit about what he was as he grew older. By the time Sam was fighting and vandalizing, Eric could've started his own cult. Ouija boards and all. Good kid, that Eric. You could see the path the boys were taking, and once the time hit- you knew which sides they'd choose. We really could've used Sam, too. Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself. Sam was brought home by the cops one day, sometime around his 16th birthday, and his mom was furious. She let him have it a few times across the face, and Sam just about snapped on her. That was the night. Sam found Eric talking to himself that very evening. You and I know that Eric wasn't talking to himself, though. Sam pounced on the opportunity. Sam ordered the ghost to possess his mother. Eric ran to confront his brother at his actions, and Sam just slugged him right in the face. Eric, stunned for the moment, was unable to stop his brother from locking Eric in his room. The ghost did as it was told, unable to resist Sam's ability. Jenna was helpless against the ghost's command. That's when Sam ended it. 'Kill her.' The ghost commanded Jenna to take a knife, and she unknowingly slit her own wrists. If the ghost could maintain the possession while Jenna died, then she wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding. Eric could hear his brother commanding the ghost, and that is when Eric succumbed to the Wolf. His body twisted and contorted; and the beast became him. Within seconds he had slashed his door to pieces- blood in his eyes. Samuel had almost no time to react to his brother's fury. And as one Sky brother is gifted, so is the other. Eric advanced on his brother at blinding speed, only to be met with a beast his same size and strength. Samuel changed just as his brother did, and the two began the struggle I fear will never end. Teeth gnashing and claws flying, the two mauled each other to near death. Eric lay bleeding on the ground as the cops broke down the door. Poor Jenna died that night. They found Eric next to his mother's body, holding her wrists with his hands. All that remained of Sam was a bloody smear, trailing out the window. The cops couldn't make odds or ends of the situation. Was it murder, suicide, accident? They'll never know. After some hospitalization and a funeral, Eric was without family. That's when we came in. The dear boy had no idea what hit him, and you could tell he was a little dumbstruck. Took us a good month to convince him to talk. We raised Eric from that point on. We told him who we were, and what we do, and he accepted it rather easily- but Eric wasn't foreign to strange events. We told him that we knew all about him; and for a period he hated us for letting his mother die- as if we could've stopped it. I think he understands now... I think. It's been 6 years, after all. Eric's a smart kid. We've trained Eric extensively. We taught him how to use his talents, both known and unknown. He was eager to learn. That's when our alpha decided to make Eric our secret weapon. The kid had a knack for spirits, why not amplify that skill? We got some more of our tribe to decorate him tricks; he's got a binding and banishing cirlce tattooed on either hand, and we even bound a fetish to 'em. He's a bit of a healer now too. We coupled this with some ritual training, and now he's a walking, talking rite. The kid has actually started making his own rites. He's become so proficient, and he's a real quick thinker; I think we're going to make him our 'field agent'. He's got a thirst for knowledge, and he loves the Shadow. Our alpha says he's got a special assignment in the Shadow he wants Eric to take on when he's learned enough. Something we Bone Shadows haven't been able to tackle. We want him to see the world; learn how to advance his skills. I think we're just going to send him out to find his own pack, and then he can check back with us whenever he learns anything. He'll be an incredible asset to us. Maybe while he's out there, he'll find his brother. I'd hate to see the look on his face when he finds out Sam's a Pure. I haven't the heart to tell him." -Adrian Page, Elodoth Bone Shadow of the Dark Iron Pack; retelling the history of the Brothers Sky