The Siphoner

I received grave news in the morning from my cousin Frank.

“Aunt Celia? What happened?”

“It’s cancer. She doesn’t have much time.”

I felt my heart sink into my chest, and my lungs felt like they were being gripped tight. Two years had passed since I left my hometown and never looked back—ever since the boating accident that claimed the lives of my parents and my twin brother. Frank was also with them that day, but he was the only one that survived. I always regretted not visiting Aunt Celia, but it hurt too much to even think about returning there. However, things were different now that I received Frank’s call. I couldn’t pass on the chance to meet my aunt when she was on her deathbed. I had to go.

Aunt Celia greeted me with the warmest smile I had seen in a while. Even though the cancer had siphoned out all her vigour, her smile remained as radiant as it always had been. Just three days after my arrival, however, something strange happened: Aunt Celia made a miraculous recovery. Frank asked me to stay for a few more days, saying that my presence alone was a great influence on her. I found it a little too convenient, so I confronted Frank.

“How’s Aunt Celia suddenly better?”

“It’s your energy.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know, do you? You were born with special healing powers.”

Frank went on to explain how I had inherited powers from my maternal grandmother, Katherine. I asked him how come neither my mom nor Aunt Celia never inherited the powers. He didn’t seem to know. “Perhaps they skipped a generation,” he said. Looking for answers, I visited the home that I abandoned. There, I found Grandma Katherine’s journal.

Clarice is dead. Just like when Merlin died, only Celia was around. She must be siphoning their powers. I fear the worst… I’m afraid for Caroline. I need to send her away.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Did Aunt Celia kill my family? I took the journal and headed to Aunt Celia’s house right away.

“Did you kill them? Did you kill my family?”

Aunt Celia’s eyes widened for a second as she moved back in her bed. “What do you mean?”

“This!” I said, showing the journal records.

Her eyes suddenly grew grim as the book caught her gaze. Her radiant smile quickly twisted into a frown. “That old woman never cared for me because I’m a Siphoner. She loved your mother and your other two aunts, but not me.”

“So you killed them?”

“Not your mother; she was killed by your brother.”

“My brother is dead.”

“No, he’s alive and well.”

“You’re lying!”

“Frank is your brother, not Charles. I swapped them at birth because he’s also a Siphoner, just like me. I needed his help to siphon others’ powers.”

“Then the accident…”

“He accidentally siphoned their powers to save himself from drowning.”

“I’m leaving.” I tried to walk out of the room, but the door shut before I could take my first step.

“I’m sorry, but you’re not going anywhere.”

I suddenly felt my throat close; it was as if my lungs were being twisted and turned. I could neither breathe nor speak. My head began to spin as the world around me waned into a grey haze. Within seconds, I found myself falling to the floor.