This Should Feel Something Like Fire.

Vic's POV
Pulling my heart out of my chest and stomping on it in metal cleats would be less painful then hearing that sentence. My little brother could not hurt himself. Please no. I was dumbstruck, unable to speak. I sat up on my bed and dropped my face into shaking hands. "W-What?" Was the only thing I could say.
The bed dipped as Alex sat down beside me, patting my back in a comforting way. "I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you. You needed to know though." Alex's voice is strained, almost as if he was about to cry too.
"I understand. Thank you for telling me. How'd you find out?"
"This morning when we were headed out to the car. Mike was drowsy and didn't really realize what he was doing. He accidentally pulled his sleeve up and I saw."
"Wow. I...I can't believe it."
"I don't want to upset you anymore, but Vic, they looked fresh. Like, less than a day old." That was when it hit me. He asked for alone time in the bathroom and when he came out wearing a loose hoodie. This was because of me.
"Oh my god." I couldn't control the tears spilling down my face. I was shaking uncontrollably. Within seconds I was full-on sobbing. I couldn't even find it in me to be able to hold myself up. I collapsed to the ground and Alex followed suit, sitting down beside me in between the two twin beds. He stayed silent as I sobbed, only rubbing my back for comfort. "It's my fault, it's my fucking fault." I choked out between gasping for air.
"No, it's not. Mike did this to himself. Don't you dare start blaming yourself for that." Alex commanded forcefully.
"But the reason he did it was because he knew I would die."
"But that wasn't the first time he did it. Sure, some of them were fresh, but there were tons of scars underneath them. He's been doing this to himself for awhile, Vic. It's not your fault; you have to believe me." Alex looked me straight in the eyes as he talked to me, and the sincerity in his eyes told me he believed it to be true.
"I don't know...I need to talk to him." I decided. Before I did something irrational, I had to hear his side. "Is there any way I can get some alone time with him?"
"Yeah. There's a small forest outside. I'll take Jack on a walk. Big tip for you: your partner is a huge romantic. That's just how water-powers are. Even if they don't admit it or act really shy about it, they love the big romantic gestures or even just a small picnic and a moonlight walk. I promise that being romantic will get you laid every time." He winked at me, and I could tell he was just trying to get me out of my foul mood, so I gave him a small smile, wiped the tear tracks from my eyes and sat on my bed, waiting for our food to arrive.
~~~~~
Our food arrived exactly half an hour after Jack and Mike left. We ate in tense silence. Mike was too wrapped up in his own world to notice, but Jack looked suspicious. Alex mouthed to him that he would explain later.
Directly after we finished eating, Alex pulled Jack close to him and whispered in his ears. His eyes widened as he understood the plan and stood up, pulling Alex with him to the door. "We'll be back in an hour." Was the only explanation given to us before they slammed the door behind them. Looking out the window, I saw Alex chase a giggling Jack into the forest before they disappeared from the view of our window.
Looking back at Mike, I saw he had barely touched his food. He was too busy fidgeting with his sleeves or playing on his phone. "Mikey?" I started, my voice weak. I had no idea how to talk to him about this.
He slowly lifted his face up, and I wondered how I never noticed how gaunt his face had gotten or how deeply pronounced the dark circles under his eyes had become. I guess they were more obvious now that I was looking for them. I had probably seen them before and just attributed them to busy schedules and dad being crazier than usual. "Yeah?" He almost whispered. He voice was still majorly hoarse.
"I need to ask you to do something for me. Will you do it?"
"Anything." He responded immediately. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with me on what he thought were my last days on Earth.
I scooted even closer to him on the bed than I already was, moving both of our containers of food to the nightstand separating the beds. I grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye, about to start crying again. "Show me your arms."
His eyes widened in fear but he quickly hid those emotions from me. How long had he been practicing lying to me? "Why should I?"
My eyes narrowed at him. "I think we both know why."
He sighed. "No."
"No?"
"No. You don't need to see my arms."
"Yes I do."
Mike jumped up, jerking his hand away from mine. His eyes were starting to blaze. "No, you really don't."
Tears were burning my eyes and blurring my vision. Suddenly, I was very angry. How could he do this to himself? To me? "So help me, Michael, show me your goddamn arms!" I shouted, surprising both of us.
Now there were tears evident in Mike's eyes too. "No! You can't make me."
That was it; I exploded. "Look, Mike. I know it's hard, but who are you to fall apart on me? Hurting yourself is not the answer! It doesn't do shit for you in the long run except leave you with a bunch of ugly scars! I can't watch you destroy yourself like this! Why would you even think of doing this? I was there for you and you fucking knew it! You could have come and talked to me instead of ripping apart your skin!" I was on my knees by now, literally begging him. My words were barely coherent from the sobbing and I clung to Mike's shirt so he couldn't leave. "Please, Mike. I can't change what you're already done but at least let me make sure you're safe."
Mike fell to his knees next to me so we were the same height again - well, as close to the same height as the two of us could be. He was crying almost as hard as I was. "I'm sorry, Vic. I should have come to you before I started. I just, I don't know. It felt good and it helped." He took a shaky breath, trying to compose himself but failing miserably. "Don't laugh at me or like, make fun of me. Please, I can't have you against me too. I can't deal with that."
I was taken aback by his words. Did someone else make fun of his scars? "I would never turn against you Mike. I would never laugh at you because of something like this. I love you, bro, and I can't deal with seeing you in pain like this."
"You're gonna be dead in a day anyways, so what does it matter?" He yelled, anger flaring in his eyes.
The nauseous feeling was coming back. "Mike, I'm not gonna die. Didn't Jack and Alex tell you the plan?"
"Yeah, but think about it! Seriously, Vic. There's what, seven of us? One of us is injured and if two of us get hurt we could potentially have four dead. And how many of them are there? Twenty? Thirty? Fifty? You know those are probably low numbers. And even if we do escape, what makes you think they'll be done with us? It's never gonna end, Vic. You'll be on the run for the rest of your life. If you consider all of that, it's almost impossible to believe that you'll actually survive even the next two weeks!" He was going into hysterics and I didn't know how I could help. Running to the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the door, I crouched over the toilet and was immediately sick. Stress did this to me.
I got cleaned up a few minutes later came back out. Mike sitting on our bed, arms crossed. He seemed to have calmed down some as he gave me a sympathetic look. My eyes couldn't help flickering from his face to his still covered arms, and he noticed, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, I just can't help but to imagine the worst." I said in a monotone.
He huffed, standing up and turning away from me. I was about to apologize for the umpteenth time tonight when I heard the distinct sound of a zipper coming undone. In seconds the jacket was sliding off Mike's shoulders. "Don't get angry...or cry."
"No promises."
He laughed nervously. "I guess I should expect that, shouldn't I?" I couldn't respond before he turned around, arms once again crossed as he walked over to me.
He stared me in the eyes, unmoving, as if he wanted me to look away first. I did, my eyes greedy to check his arms. I gasped as I took his hands in mine and uncrossed his arms, laying them out in front of me. "Michael...oh my god."
Alex was right. On his right arms was at least thirty fresh cuts, barely beginning to scab over. They didn't seem too deep, but they were deep enough to do some damage. Beside them were marks that couldn't have been much older. I'm not sure what scared me more: the fresh cuts or the old shiny scars that had obviously been there for longer than I'd care to know. Mike shuddered and hissed under his breath as I ran my quavering fingers over his cuts, surveying the damage. He sniffed, and when my eyes met his once again they were gleaming with unshed tears. "Vic, I-"
"How long?" I needed to know before he said anything.
"Almost two years."
"Why?" It was a one-word question, but the most difficult question in the world to answer; the hesitance in the features told me that much.
He sighed. It was a tired, fearful sigh. "Remember how two years ago we moved into that nice house? The one where we each got our own rooms for the first time?" I nodded. We had never been a rich family, living in a two bedroom house barely big enough to house us for the majority of my life. Two years ago, my mom got a new job. With her increased pay and my dad's combined, we were able to scrimp and save enough to buy a new three-bedroom house. I remember the car ride to the new place. Mike and I were bouncing off the walls in excitement for our own rooms, much to our father's dismay. He hated it when we were energetic. It was just more work for him to beat us if we were hyper and stupid enough to try and run away when he got angry.
"Yeah? I thought you loved that house. I don't see the connection." Mike bit his lip and grabbed his jacket, sliding it back on. I didn't try to stop him as he sat back on our bed, I simply followed him and mimicked his actions. Silent tears were beginning to fall down his face. "What, what am I missing?"
"Dad really loved the fact that you couldn't protect me in my room anymore." I looked at him in confusion for a moment before realization sunk in and my heart stopped.
"No...he didn't..." Mike nodded and started crying like crazy.
"He c-called me beautiful whenever I told him it was wrong. He told me he n-needed m-m-me and would k-kill you and mom if I told. I'm sorry...sorry...sorry..." He chanted over and over.
"Shh, Mike. Don't you ever dare apologize for something like that. It's not your fault, no matter what dad told you or what you were made to think." I pulled him to me and wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could. "I'm sorry I left you alone. You never have to see him again, I promise. I'm gonna get him put away for a long time when this is all over." If it was possible for him to start sobbing louder than he already was, he did. His arms were tighter around my body than mine were around his.
I don't know how long we sat there, blurry-eyed, attached to one another. Eventually, though, there were no more tears to be shed and Alex and Jack had to have been headed back soon. "I know this is a lot for you to deal with, Mike, but we're gonna have to tell mom. I'm getting him put away no matter what. We won't have to hide and worry about him finding us ever again. But, in the meantime, can you do something for me?"
"What?" He asked, his voice even more hoarse than it already had been. He looked absolutely drained, with his eyes drooping shut and slackening mouth.
"Please, try to stop hurting yourself for me."
He sighed again, looking at me, his face 100% serious. "I'm not going to make that promise because honestly, I don't want to."
My heart was shattering into microscopic pieces. I didn't trust my voice, so I just nodded. Thankfully, he pulled himself under the covers and was asleep in minutes. I didn't have to wait long after that for the couple to return, and when they did they wasted no time in opening their arms wide and listening well into the night about my messed up family.