Free Bright Star by Grayson Reyes-Cole

entered carrying a towel. He threw it at his brother who pressed the soft material to his face. “You shouldn’t have done that,” Rush told him.
    Jackson offered silence as he tilted his head back and applied pressure to his nose.
    Finally, after he was sure the bleeding was subsiding, Rush told him, “You have to put her out.”
    “Why?”
    “Because she has to go,” Rush answered as if that was explanation enough.
    “Rush.” Jackson sat, checked the towel, and pressed it back to his face. “Why?
    “You don’t understand.”
    “And I won’t understand if you don’t answer the damn question!” Jackson returned. He didn’t like puzzles. He had never liked puzzles. He didn’t like delays. He didn’t like for the people around him to keep secrets. It was rare that anyone could keep anything from him, but when they did... Talking around this subject was only making his patience wear thin. “Why does she have to go? And when you answer, try not to be cryptic.”
    “I can’t tell you why,” Rush told him with muscles straining in his neck. “But I can tell you that she is trouble.”
    “You don’t even know her.”
    “Jackson, trust me when I tell you I know her, ” Rush argued. Then in a softer tone, he added. “You know about me now. You have your memories back. You know I have certain… Talent… and…”
    “Then you do it!” Jackson spat angrily. He wanted Bright Star to stay, but even more, he wanted to thwart the brother who had kept such an important secret from him. Rush certainly had the power to do it. And Jackson had no desire for her to leave. He didn’t completely understand why, but at that moment, he truly couldn’t say he cared. Rush should get rid of her. “This is part my place, too. And, I want her here.”
    “You have to do it,” Rush explained, raking his hands over his face. He sat down in the recliner in the corner. “It’s not you she’s after. You don’t know why she was on that roof. You won’t hurt her, and… Jackson… I might. It has to be you.”
    Jackson challenged. “Rush, if you trust me. If you would just tell me… then I…”
    Rush didn’t answer. Jackson knew that he wouldn’t. He knew his brother wouldn’t tell him anything that hinted at his link to Bright Star. Even if it meant she remained in the home to torment him. Determined to protect him to the end, Rush wouldn’t tell him.
    Jackson knew who would. He backed out of his room and headed down the hallway to the guest room. His whole body could feel the disapproval seeping out Rush’s pores into the universe. This time, Jackson didn’t listen.
    Rush fell into pace just behind him.
    “Do you know why Randall was calling me the other night?”
    Rush shook his head.
    “He was calling me because Thad was back in holding.”
    Rush’s eyes widened. “He got the rock?”
    “Yes,” Jackson answered. He saw the question in his brother’s eyes. “Nobody got hurt, thank goodness. I don’t even know how they got him in there.”
    “But how did he get the rock back?”
    “We don’t know. No fucking idea.” Jackson rarely swore, but this situation was ripe for it. “He got it back and we were lucky he didn’t kill someone.”
    “You had to get it from him?” Rush’s eyebrows furrowed. It was as much a look of concern as Jackson had ever seen from him.
    “Yeah,” he responded. “You can’t imagine the levels of High Energy he puts out when he first gets that thing.” Then with a sarcastic sneer he appended, “Actually, I’m sure you can.”
    Rush ignored that statement. “Is he OK?”
    “I don’t know. I was going to go see him today.”
    “Do you think they’ll let him out?”
    Jackson considered that. “Probably. If they figure out how he got it and are able to neutralize the source.”
    “Why not just let him keep it? He gets the one violent surge out and then no more stored up Energy. He’s calm.”
    Before he could answer, Jackson felt the hairs on the nape of his