THE SHADOW ASPECT ━ FIVE HARGREEVES

TWO ? ASSESSMENT

"No, no, no. I'm alright. Just a little bru-"

You cut her off with a sneeze. "Geez, is it just like extra dusty in this house or something? I don't think I've ever had any allergies before." You open your eyes to discover that the room is, once again, completely black. It's a darkness you've never experienced before. Less like someone turned of the lights, and more like someone took all the light out of the world. A cold chill sweeps over your body, consuming and swallowing you whole. You're blind.

You reach out in front of you, hoping to find Sloane. When you make contact with her hand, she recoils at your touch.

"O-Oh my gosh. The room is so cold. You feel even colder. Are you alright, (Y/N)? What's happening?" You hear Sloane ask.

"I don't know," you respond. "I can't see anything, it's completely dark." You blink repeatedly, hoping that somehow that would fix the issue.

"Is this, like, some sort of side effect from hitting your head?" She touches you, but this time her hand is covered by her sleeve. You can feel her shiver. You guess you must be really cold if she can still feel you through a layer of fabric. "No," you begin, "this can't be a side effect. It actually happened earlier, right before you walked in my room. I brushed it off then because we had a little intrusion. I don't know about now though."

Sloane sighs and grabs your hand. "You have to tell us when weird things happen, (Y/N). What if you were in danger?"

"Slo, we're all children of women who weren't pregnant 2 minutes before they gave birth. We were adopted by a billionaire. I haven't been aging since I was a teenager. I think we're past telling each other about weird things."

She sighs as if she's about to start talking again, but then you hear her breath hitch. "Slo? Are you alright? I didn't think you would be that phased when you heard our family history." She pulls her hand away.

"Hey, just a quick question, have your powers ever done anything to shadows before?"

"Uh, no," you say, confused. Why would your powers ever affect shadows? You've only ever communicated with dead people. "I don't think they've ever done anything to shadows before. Why?"

"It's just that, every shadow in your room is getting longer. Not like the sun is moving, but everything is pointed at you, like you're a beacon. It's also a lot darker now, the shadows are bigger," she explains. "Your eyes, they're black too." You feel her stand up from the bed and back away from you. "Can you maybe try to stop it?" Sloane asks.

"I don't know if I can," you tell her nervously. The nerves hitting you right now feel exactly like the ones that overcame when Dad decided to take you to the graveyard. The assessments were traumatizing. Power experimenting was always nerve wracking.

"You at least have to try. Think of, warm things? Maybe? Or light! Just, will it into existence. Like what you do with dead people."

You nod. Right, like what you do with dead people. If these are your powers, you should be able to control them. You have experience with that already. You clench your fists and start to think of warm things. The sun. A beach. Sitting on the roof in the summer with Marcus. Warming by the fire in the winter with Fei. Coffee runs with Jayme and Alphonso. A rare smile from Ben. Sloane's hugs.

The warmth returns. First to the room, then it slowly spreads throughout your body. It actually feels like more warmth than before, like you took some from somewhere. Your vision fades back in, like the opposite of passing out. You rub your eyes and look for Sloane. She makes contact, carefully at first, scared that you could be cold again. Once she realizes that you're safe, she pulls you in.