Lmao, this mental image came to my head, but imagine a toddler mc walking up to their family babbling about their "imaginary friend" and their power hadn't really shown itself then or at least when they were around and when asked about it they point towards a humaniod-ish looking shadow standing behind them kinda just standing there.
“I don’t know whether I should be worried, Cara,” Viktor says, eyes glancing around the apartment nervously. “Sasha has been babbling about this… friend of theirs but it’s only me and them in the house. And I’ve heard them seemingly talking to someone but when I came to check, there was no one there…”
“Relaaax, Vitya,” Cara laughs, waving Viktor’s worry off. “It’s completely normal for kids to have imaginary friends!”
Viktor’s hunched shoulders sag slightly in relief. “Really? Did Ash have one too?”
“Well, I don’t think so.” She taps her chin thoughtfully. “Or maybe they did but they never told me. Anyway, the point still stands; it’s nothing strange for kids to have active imagination. On the contrary, I think that’s a sign of a healthy brain development. Maybe they’ll grow up to be a creative person like you!”
Viktor perks up and grins, “Oh! You should totally see their drawings! I keep every single—”
He’s cut off as he catches a glimpse of something rushing past his peripheral vision.
“What the—” Cara gasps in surprise as well.
Before either of them can comprehend what just happened, the sound of Sasha giggling brings their attention away. Sasha is running in their direction as fast as their little legs can bring them, their chubby hands are outstretched in front of them as if they’re chasing something… or running away from something.
Viktor immediately jumps out of his seat and crouches to take Sasha in his arms before they trip on their feet. “Sasha! What did we talk about running around the house?” he chides gently.
“Yeah, you could hurt yourself, you know?” Cara adds, approaching by Vikto’s side.
Sasha bows their head. “Sorry, Dad… Aunt Cara,” they mumble adorably and Viktor sighs. There’s no way he can stay angry for more than a few seconds.
“Just promise not to do it again, okay?” he says and Sasha nods eagerly. “Why were you running, anyway?” he asks curiously.
“I’m playing tag with my friend!” they squeal happily.
“The one you’ve told your dad about for weeks now?” Cara clarifies.
“Mhm!” Sasha nods before pointing at somewhere behind Viktor and Cara. “Oh! They wanna say hi!”
Viktor and Cara look at each other in worry before they both slowly turn around to see who—or what Sasha is pointing at. Viktor expected nothing but air at where they’re pointing, but he has never been more wrong in his life.
“GAH!” Cara yells, jumping slightly in surprise as she quickly reaches down to her holster.
Even Viktor can’t help but yelp in surprise, instinctively holding onto Sasha tighter to protect them and muscles tensing in preparation to either fight or run.
There—exactly where Sasha is pointing at—is a thin and shadowy figure. It doesn’t have a face, only more swirling darkness. Its edges are blurry, making it looks more like a black smoke. And now that he focuses more on the figure, it seems to be slightly translucent as well, like a ghost.
This is something out of a horror movie. Is this the friend Sasha is talking about? No way, right?
“W—Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my house?!” Viktor barks at the figure.
The figure only lifts up its scraggly right arm and gives a little, awkward wave. Shit, is this figure a person or maybe it is controlled by someone not far from here to keep an eye on him and his child?
“Get out of here, right now, you freak! Or you’ll regret it!” he snarls, shifting to the side to get Sasha away from this monster as far as possible.
He’s not sure whether it’s because of his threats or what, but the shadowy figure fades away. However, both Cara and Viktor are still on high alert, not wanting to keep their guard down. After all, the guy might still be around.
“You and Sasha should stay at Luka’s tonight,” Cara says, voice dead serious as she pulls out her phone.
“Yeah, let me pack some things first,” Viktor agrees, quickly bolting to Sasha’s room to pack some clothes, Sasha still securely carried in one of his arms.
“Dad…” Sasha yawns. “Where are we going? And why were you so rude to my friend?” They rub their hands on their eyes.
“We’re going to stay with Uncle Luka for a while until we figure out what’s going on, okay?” Viktor explains. “Also, stay away from that figure. We don’t know who or what they are. They could be wishing to harm us for all we know.”
“They don’t,” Sasha whines. “They’ve always been there for me!”
“We don’t know that for sure, baby,” Viktor mutters.
“But I know! I just know it!” Sasha insists. “They’re not evil, they just wanna help.”
Viktor stops for a second, thoughts running through his head. Could it be…? Could it have something to do with Sasha’s power? But Sasha is still so young, he doesn’t expect their power to start manifesting this early but such cases are not exactly unheard of.
Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to book an appointment with a pediatrician. He’ll do that later. For now, he’ll expect the worst and make sure Sasha is safe first.
