"First, let me give you a proper introduction to these people, as they should not be feared by you," Diane says to me as she motions toward the two siblings.
I do not fear them. I fear no one.
"These are the Malone's. Would you mind sharing your first names?" she asks them.
The guy speaks for both of them. "I'm Tyson. That's my sister Jada. We're sorry we were rough on you."
"Yeah you better be s--" I start, but Travis squeezes my hand and gives me a look like it's okay. "Well, you guys can call me Number Five."
Diane scoffs. "Aurora, don't be--"
"I don't know who you think you are, Diane, but you can stop trying to tell me what to do. I don't care how you know my name. You no longer will be calling me by it. Are we clear?"
She rolls her eyes.
"I said, are we clear?"
"Moving on," she says.
"Whatever, I'm out," Jada pipes up, and her and her brother step out of the room. I can't say I'm not happy for them to finally be out of my sight. They put me on edge.
"Well that wasn't very nice," Diane comments.
I know what I said and I don't regret it. I'm not giving anyone here any respect or kindness until I've been shown some. "Give me some answers."
She nods to me, gives Travis a funny look, and then heads to the doorway. I check Travis's face before following her out, keeping his hand firmly in mine.
The hallway is short, so we reach another room in no time. It's just as grungy and as the other but it's veiled with much more natural light. There's a fridge, a rusty stove, and some counter space along one wall and in the middle of the room, sits a table with five mismatching chairs around it. I glance around, noting the other doors lining the walls and wonder where they lead. More bedrooms, I assume. Overall, the place feels tight, small in size with low ceilings. There's no second floor from what I can tell, and if there is, I wouldn't dare the stairs.
How could this place even exist next to it's high-tech neighbor--the HQ?
"Have a seat," Diane says. motioning to the table.
I find an unpromising squeaky chair to sit on. As Travis pulls one out next to me, Diane interrupts him. "You can go if you want."
His eyes flash to mine.
"He's not going anywhere," I counter.
Diane crosses her arms. "He's already heard--"
"He's not leaving. Sit down, Travis," I say, and finish scooting the chair out for him.
Diane goes to the fridge and retrieves some kind of drink as we settle. "Would you like something to eat or drink, honey?"
I'm not a fan of her pet names for me. "Did you ask Travis if he wanted anything?"
Travis nudges me with his elbow. "Yes, she did," he murmurs.
Diane chooses to elaborate on Travis's quick answer. "I've already made it very clear that he can get whatever he wants, any time he'd like. That okay with you?" Her tone is sharp.
"Yeah. I'm fine by the way."
She shrugs. "Alright, stay a skinny twig."
Travis chuckles at my side, and now it's my turn to elbow him. Honestly, I don't know what would happen to my body if I ingested real food or liquids. I've had health supplements for months now as my primary nutrition. I'd probably hack up whatever she has to offer.
"Can we just get on with it? We're wasting time."
Diane walks over and slams the bottle she was drinking onto the table. "You better quit your sass with me."
My eyes narrow. "Yeah, what are you gonna do?"
"She's your mother, Aurora. Have a little respect," Travis tells me.
How would he know who my mother is? "Have you met her before? Is she one of those things I can't recall from my past, Travis?" I look to him for confirmation. He's the only one I trust here.
"No, we just met yesterday, but she's telling the truth. Do you really not remember your own mother?"
In the corner of my eye, I watch Diane swipe a tear from her cheek. I blink repeatedly, trying to imagine the woman I've been yelling at for the past fifteen minutes to be my mom. Travis did mention back at the cave that my eyes used to be green. Were they the same shade as hers?
Eventually, she takes a seat across the table from us and lets out a large exhale. She digs in her pocket and slides out a wallet photo of a girl--of me. The girl in the picture doesn't have red eyes. She has green ones like the woman before me and the faintest of freckles just below her eyes and on the bridge of her nose. Beneath the minor discrepancies, is me. The red hair proves itself.
She is my mother.
"Mom?"
Diane nods her head and coughs into somewhat of a cry. "Yes, Aurora. You're my daughter, and I love you so very much."
When I don't say anything, she presses her lips together and holds backs the rejection she feels. I feel bad, but I can't magically feel a connection between us when I have no recollection of her whatsoever.
"She'll come around," Travis says. I silently thank him for covering me. His response was perfect.
She clears her throat before speaking again. "Well, this might make it all the more confusing for you to understand, but your father and I are revolutionaries."
That is the last thing I expected her to say. "What?" I frown. "What do you mean, revolutionaries?"
Diane sighs. "Shall I just start from the beginning?"
"Yes."
She folds her hands politely on the table. "Okay. You've always known that you've had a peculiar hair color, Aurora, but you never knew what it meant until...now I presume, since you're here. I didn't know what it meant either, up until a few years ago. You see, I searched all over the internet for the reasons behind it. Was it some mutation in your genes giving you the odd pigment? What caused it? I didn't see it as harmless necessarily, so when I found nothing during my research long ago, I sort of dropped it for a while and let it be. I let you dye it when you got older, not only because you detested it, but because I was curious as to what it would do. Would it go away forever, or just grow back like normal hair does? I didn't know.
"Anyway, about four years ago, I heard about a kidnapping of some kid in Philadelphia. It didn't register much with me until I saw his latest picture. I think it was a yearbook photo or something, I can't remember. But what threw me off was his hair color. It was bright blue. Needless to say, I got in touch with his guardians and asked them all kinds of questions about it. I probably creeped them out more than anything, but I got the answers I was desperate for. Ultimately, I discovered it was natural."
She's talking about Brink. My mother knew about him before I did. Does she know who he is now? What he can do? What a horrible person he has been to me? Before I can ask, before I can explain to her how well I know the individual, she continues with the story.
"It was through the boy's parents that I discovered this whole revolutionary idea. After another person was captured, I really dove into this stuff. I was not going to let anyone take my only baby, so I contacted people, who contacted other people, and I was in. Now, I've never actually been to Mars before. I spoke to people through these satellite communication devices, but they weren't here. The whole thing was strange for me, but I did what I could to protect you. I believed everything I was told for your sake, knowing they had answers for all of this--answers for what I'd been trying to find for so long. Then, after a long stretch of time passed without another kidnapping, we started to hear of big things coming our way, so I told your dad to build a shelter."
I let out a short breath. "So you're saying you knew about Operation 533 and didn't tell anyone, even me? Do you know what kind of mass destruction it caused? It wiped out Earth's population!" Suddenly I'm furious and I push out from the table and stand. "I can't believe you," I whisper. "Do you understand the amount of blood you have on your hands? You could've saved millions of lives from the virus, and yet you stayed in the dark about it all. And you dare call me your daughter? I don't care what DNA says, you aren't my mother in my eyes!"
Travis grabs my arm. "Aurora--"
I rip away from him and storm out of the front door.
"Honey, wait!"
I jog a ways until I'm far enough from the tiny building and my so-called mother, murderer of millions. I'm too overwhelmed to stand any longer, so I squat down on the dirt and stare out into the vast openness of the world. I grab fistfuls of the ground beneath me, feeling it's fine texture between my fingers. This is where I originate, and yet I've undergone the worst experiences of my life here.
Diane's words scare the hell out of me. Not only am I finding out she's my mother, but she's also a revolutionary for who-knows-what. Her and my father. Where does that leave me? Am I good or bad?
Then there's Travis, who I hold on to because I feel he's the key to recall my past. We've reconnected a lot over the past couple of weeks, but our relationship isn't near where either of us wants it to be. We're sort of in a middle zone. We've gotten close, but the drive is still only so-so for me. Without my memory, I can only fall so hard for him.
A hand falls on my back and I whip around to see Travis standing there with a ventilator hooked to his face. "Hey," he says. "Crazy day, huh?"
I nod. "Tell me about it."
He gets down on his knees and slides next to me. "What's on your mind?" he asks.
"Just everything. There's so much hanging over my head now. I don't know what to think."
Travis sets his hand on my shoulder. "It's all been coming at me fast too."
"It's just that...regardless of all of this mess, I'm still superhuman. I still have powers. I still play on the other side of the fence. As much as I want nothing to do with the other Five, it's in my blood. It's who I am."
Travis meets my eyes. "Well I'm not going anywhere, no matter what direction you go. I hope you're okay with that." He grins wide and I lean my head into him.
"The antidote really kicked in, huh?"
He sighs with relief. "Yeah. I feel like a new person. Seriously. I feel like I could run a marathon."
It feels good knowing I helped him get it. "You don't know how great it is to see you okay. After think—"
"Where are you? We've been looking everywhere. Damon is losing it," Stella interrupts my train of thought by speaking into my head.
The connection with the others is still with me, no matter how far away I am from them.
"What is it Aurora?"
"Brink is in trouble," Stella continues.
I don't buy it, nor would I care if he is. It's all just a part of another scheme to get me back. I've figured them out already. They can't fool me anymore. "To hell with Brink," I sneer back at her.
"That's just the beginning. Please, Aurora." Her voice is urgent, pleading.
"What am I supposed to do about it Stella?"
Travis suddenly breaks in again. "Aurora, what's happening?"
"Help us."
I grab at my hair. Travis removes my hands from it and seizes them with his own.
"Aurora, please. You need to come back. Dammit, Damon just walked in."
I gnaw furiously on my lip like a bunny would a carrot, but it brings me no satisfaction. I drop Travis's hands and stand, conflicting thoughts invading my brain to the point where I can't think straight. Why me? They are the Five. They could take Damon down by themselves, or even alone, I bet. I haven't seen everyone's powers in action, but Damon has nothing over us besides his brainwashing.
"Aurora, speak to me." Travis's face is a foot from mine as he attempts to shake me back to the present. But I hardly see him. I see the HQ, Zeriah, Stella, Brink, and Xena. I see me fighting for them, as much as I can't stand some of their ways. Regardless of how they act or what they say, what we are is special, and what we have should be kept sacred, not destroyed by one greedy man. Still, how could me coming back change anything? It will probably only make matters worse.
"You're not going back." Travis slithers his arms around my waist. "I won't let you leave. No, I'm not as strong as I used to be, but I won't let you leave here. It's too dangerous, Aurora. You know that."
It is dangerous. Damon is powerful and has more control than I know. But he has my people. He has Stella.
"I love you so much," Travis says to me, putting his head on top of mine. "I can't lose you now when you've come so close to returning. If you go back there, they will just stab another needle in you and we'll have to endure this all over again."
He's probably right, however I can't help but think about what's occurring at the HQ with my absence. Damon has worked hard at getting us all together, and now he's back to not having a complete puzzle. I wouldn't doubt he's throwing a fit there and blaming Brink and the others for my escape. As much as I'd enjoy tearing out Brink's eyes for the things he's said and done to me, I have to help him and the others. They are me. I am them. This is my calling. I have to fight.
"Stella needs me to come back."
Travis lifts off of me. "Stella what?"
I rotate around to face him. "We're friends, Travis."
"So you choose her--them--over me? Over your family?"