Enigma

1.1

"Follow me, please."

The building was cold. Workers walked around them, all carrying a gun on their hips, some had papers piled on their arms. They ignored the presence of the family and continued on. Kallisto could hear multiple voices as she walked behind her brother. They were brought to an elevator. The officer scanned her badge and the elevator shifted upwards to the high floors.

"Secretary Ross is waiting in his office." The woman opened the door and nodded. The man himself was standing at his desk as the family entered the room. Marieke and Robert sat in the chairs in front of the desk. Nicolas and Kallisto stood behind them politely. Ross nodded to them all.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, despite the circumstance."

"Thank you for bringing us." Robert answered.

"It's a tough subject to bring up, seeing as it involves your daughter, but I thought a meeting in person would be more appropriate." He held out a file towards the parents. Marieke hesitated. Robert took the file and opened it. Marcella Rumena's high school photo was clipped to the top of the page. She was smiling. Her brown hair was curled for the photo. Her eyes were spotted with the flash of the camera; beneath the photo was an entire paragraph of her physical description and what she accomplished throughout her entire school career. The next page made Robert take in a deep breath. Her body was frozen in a sleeping state, secured to a table that was elevated. She was much older in the recent image, taller perhaps, with longer hair and more muscle to her frame.

"She was found in an underground bunker in Siberia, along with five others, all frozen with bullet wounds to their heads. According to our sources, it seems like she was part of an organization that was making super soldiers to be used in order to take apart governments worldwide."

Marieke looked away from the file as Robert took her hand in a comforting manner. His brows were furrowed together. Nicolas bit his lip as he got a glimpse of the file his father was holding. Kallisto's face remained stoic as the man continued. "We recovered her body with the others. My team is currently making diagnosis on how they died, so far it's looking as the bullet wounds were the reason, though we still want to look further into what happened-"

"Are we able to bring her home?"

"Marieke..."

"It's all right, Mr. Rumena," Ross shook his head, "because of the situation, we feel it would be best if we are to keep her until further notice."

Kallisto felt a snap in her gut; she almost lost a moment of consciousness. She could feel her mother's mind twist in anger. "Our daughter was possibly tortured and left to rot away in some container, and you want to keep her family from putting her to rest?" The anger in her mother's mind harden. Kallisto closed her eyes. She poked against her mother's anger and mentally placed a hand against her. Marieke could feel the soft pressure her daughter was pushing.

"I know this is hard to get through, but due to the unclear reasons as to why your daughter was there to begin with it was a decision my facility made to keep the rest of you safe and out of the way."

Marieke pressed her free hand onto her mouth to keep her sobs in. Nicolas rubbed the back of his neck. He too was agitated, but unlike his parents, he was looking at Secretary Ross' reasons logically. Robert stayed quiet as he stared at the photo of his eldest child.

Nicolas placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Can we at least see her?"

Ross hesitated at the request. "I'm afraid I can't allow it."

Marieke stood up, letting go of her husband's hand. She was crying. "You brought us all the way out here to not only tell us that our daughter was possibly part of some twisted government scheme, but to also deny our permission to see our child who we've mourned for twenty years. You have no right! She is not some object to claim, she is our daughter!"

"Mrs. Rumena, I'm truly sorry, but it's a protocol that I must follow-"

"It's a cruel protocol!"

Robert quickly stood between Ross and his wife, holding her back from lashing out. He handed back the file. "You may be following some work laws, and I can respect that of you. But I can't respect you as a person, someone who has family as well, who won't grant another family a peace of mind." He faced Ross with a fury in his eyes.

Robert shook his head and turned to his children. Nicolas understood his father and started walking to the door. Robert and Marieke followed in tow. Kallisto still stood in her spot behind the chair. She looked over at Ross. There was another pull in her gut, different from her mother, she could feel a pain. He was guilty.

"I don't think of you as cruel," she whispered. Ross raised a brow.

"I'm sorry?"

"I saw her. You've seen what's been done." Ross stared with a shock expression. Kallisto tugged at the sleeves of her dress. "My parents...they'll move on, at least they know my sister was found. Thank you for letting us know she's now recovered." She gave him a nod of understanding before walking off in the same direction of her family.