The Prices I Pay ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X ERWIN SMITH X OC))

Chapter 33

"So do you." Silica replied, to which he laughed.

"I get that a lot," he smiled warmly before turning over his shoulder to acknowledge his still-silent daughter. "Fin, don't be so shy. Say hello."

Fiona shot her father a look as he called her out, and her fair cheeks turned pink as everyone turned to look at her. Silica, sympathetic, took it upon herself thereafter to stand and greet her herself.

"Hi, Fiona," Silica stood in front of her with a hand held out. The girl before her was at least six inches shorter than Silica, and her eyes glimmered with the same shade as her own. Her hair reached her lower back, and she had a conventionally pretty face. Fiona continuously bunched the fabric of her skirt in her fists as she anxiously stared up at Silica, and Silica almost felt bad for how painfully meek she was. "I'm Silica. I'm not as mean as I look."

Fiona's eyes widened at that, and after a moment of thought, she decided to place her palm in Silica's still-open hand. She could feel Fiona trembling.

"H-hi," her voice was quiet and sweet. "Call me Fin."

"She has a pretty serious phobia of people," Moritz said as Silica moved to sit back down. "I'd say that's progress. You got her to talk!"

"She'll warm up to you." Lake reassured as Fiona scurried back to her window seat.

"No rush." Silica waved it off.

"I'm sure you know we have a lot to ask you," Annalise said as she sat on the arm rest on the chair across from Silica. Dot stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder. "If you don't mind, of course."

"Not at all." Silica crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back in her seat. She looked amongst their faces, and suddenly the nerves she had experienced before walking into the house had vanished. They all seemed so familiar, yet so new at the same time.

"Alright, and you let me know if I get too personal," Annalise rubbed her hands against her legs as she spoke. "Let's see... I suppose we should start from the beginning, when you were underground."

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you know anything about who your father is?" She began. Silica recalled Dot's expression of not knowing him on the way there.

"I met him for the first time recently," Silica replied, intending to summarize quickly. "He's a high ranking MP. That's all I really know about him."

"I see..." Annalise looked down for a moment before continuing. Silica hadn't realized just how much damage Kenny must have caused this family. "Anyway... I've been wondering this for some time, since you were a little girl. What exactly happened to you when you went off the grid? When Agnis left?"

Silica felt her entire body involuntarily stiffen, and she did her best to not outwardly express her discomfort as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. She never thought she'd ever have to speak anything of her past aloud again, and the mere prospect of it made her heart nearly beat out of her chest.

"Um..." Silica struggled to find the words. "You mean what Agnis did with me?"

Annalise seemed troubled by the wording of her question, but nodded hesitantly anyway.