Author: How stupid do you think I am? Don’t answer that.
Fandom: Original

Rating: R
Genre: Fantasy // Sci-fi

Status: 3/3

Disclaimer: Mine. So mine that you wouldn’t believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shades of Truth

 

 

 

 

 

Part 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

What makes you who you are? I mean really. Is it the way you were brought up or just your genes? Does it really matter what people around you think and say, how they act and what choices they make in their life? Does it have any kind of effect on your future? If I had been brought up by a gang of burgles would I still know what’s right and wrong?

 

 

Father used to say that who you are comes from your heart and whatever happens, your heart doesn’t change. In every possible future, you’re always you. He studied possible time universes and one of his assumptions was that witches came originally from alternative universe; from another future. According to my father his employers didn’t quite like that theory and I didn’t believe it myself, either. Still don’t. While I admit witches are very real, I don’t like the thought of time universes and alternative futures. Time is too complicated to be researched and his studies gave the impression that you can’t change your future no matter what you do. In the end, you end up making the same decisions that you would’ve made in this time universe and I never liked the thought of not being able to control your future; not being able to change it. When no one really supported his study, I guess father just buried it and forgot it. Some times I go back to that time and try to see his study from another point of view but until now, it’s never worked. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn’t.

 

 

I don’t know what brought it all up, but still I feel the burning need to ask the question. Are my ultimate roots in some other time and place? Is that why I so often feel like I’m not connected to this world… because in the end, my blood or half of it anyway, comes from elsewhere? 

 

 

“Romy, wake up, something’s happening.” I’m being softly shaken by the shoulders. What, huh? Did I fall asleep? Ah, by the way my neck’s itching, I’d say I did. Damnit it really hurts! Maybe I should kick myself in the head next time I feel like sleeping in the car with my head pressed against the icy window.

 

 

“Look”, Raven says interrupting my silent whining and gestures towards the house as I rub the sleep off of my eyes. What now?

 

 

At first I don’t understand what he means… but then I see the woman. There she is. You can’t see her face for the hood covers her head but now I realise the radars are beeping wildly. That’s the only confirmation we – I really need. It’s her, no doubt about it. Whatever it is I’m feeling, it’s not what I thought I’d feel… It’s almost as if I had just realised that this person walking towards the house is in fact, my flesh and blood. Hopefully Raven didn’t notice the sharp breath I just took. I’ll get over it. I don’t really have any options when it comes to that. She’s the enemy and whether or not she chose to be one, doesn’t concern me.

 

 

“We should go.”

 

 

No, something makes me once again grab his arm forcing him to stay still. The warning flashing in his eyes gets ignored by a simple pleading. “No, Raven... I wanna do this alone.”

 

 

“But-“

 

 

He doesn’t understand what’s going on and the expression on his face tells it very clearly. It’s wrong for me to ask him to bend the rules like this for me, but… “Look, I need to do this. Alone. Please.” Why? I don’t know. I just do. When I was little I always wondered if my mother had been proud of me – proud of what I do. I’m making the world a safer place as father would’ve said. I’m making sure all those children born can live their lives without being afraid of those devilish creatures. I always thought she would be but now, I’m not so sure of it anymore. There’s no rational explanation for it, but I need an answer.

 

 

“It’s not like I’m gonna go and chat with her, Raven, if that’s what you’re worried about. I won’t fail you - I’ll bring her.”

 

 

“Fine.” Oh? I didn’t think Raven would give up so easily and definitely, not this quickly. Maybe he does have some faith in me, after all. Good. “But if she leaves that house alive and alone, I’ll take it from there.”

 

 

“Sure.” I let go of his arm and brush a lock of hair off my face. I’m about to open the door but since he looks like he’d have something more to say, I don’t move right away. Here it comes as usual - It’s so typical of him to have some kind of last minute warning which usually makes me feel like I’d be a little girl going out for her first mission. “And Romy…” He starts, “You better not get yourself killed.”

 

 

“Me? Never”, I answer getting out of the car, cross the road and run to the already closed door. It’s now or never; this time I ring the doorbell.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

You ever feel like time stops and everything around you just… freezes? Slips out of reach? It’s the longest second of your life. You stare at the empty space in front of you not hearing or seeing anything that happens around your body. Outside your mind - the world is no longer there. Then it happens; an image from your past flashes through your eyes and at first it takes your breath away.

 

 

// It’s a beautiful, warm Thursday afternoon. A little girl’s holding her mother’s hand while trying to pick her favourite ice cream. No, not her own favourite, but her mother’s. She’s been there for a whole 5 minutes already but the woman doesn’t feel the need to rush her – it’s their time of the day. The only time they can spend alone without her father and just enjoy each other’s company.

 

 

“Have you picked already?” the woman asks but the girl just shakes her head. “No, I don’t remember.”

 

 

“You don’t remember what?”

 

 

The girl never gets a chance to answer for all the sudden, the woman starts to shake falling down and the girl starts to screams with all her might. She kneels down to shake the woman’s shoulders to wake her up again, but she gets no respond. //

 

 

 

I frown. A memory? Is this how it happened?

 

 

// Daddy? The little girl could swear she heard her father’s voice coming somewhere nearby. She isn’t sure what the place is but the sign over the door had said the Morgue. What does it mean? Where did her mother go?

 

 

They told her to sit on the hallway and wait for her father. So she sat down on the soft chair and did as she was told. Waited.

 

 

She gets up. “Daddy?” From where is the voice coming? Is he talking with someone? The dark hallway doesn’t intimidate her anymore – she knows her father is somewhere close.

 

”I’m sorry sir, but she revived somehow.”

 

 

“She what? That is not possible.” Definitely father’s voice… she walks through the hallway coming closer to the voice by every step she takes.

 

 

“We’re not sure, sir. It seems the implant was not functioning correctly. Basically it’s what happened with all the other test implants, too.”

 

 

“Yes, expect their carriers never woke up” Why does he sound so mad? ”And how come have you not found her yet? This is our official morgue after all, how is it that  you can lose a body in only one  hour?”

 

 

“We believe she walked out on her own, sir. Few guards were found unconscious just few minutes ago.”

 

 

“If that’s the case, she can’t be far away. Find her!”

 

 

“Daddy?” The girl finally reaches the other end of the hallway and glances around the corner. There he is. Father!

 

 

“Sweetie.” The man turns to look at the child with a sad smile on his face. Why the sad face, father? What’s going on? //

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Nothing at first. Maybe she just isn’t home? Sure, wistful thinking – living in denial, are we Miss Hensley?

 

 

Then, the door opens and as usual, I follow my instincts without thinking it more. I pull out the gun pointing it straight at the figure in front of me not letting my gaze meet hers. Don’t look her in the eye, Romy. No emotions involved, just get it over and done. “Back off”, I order and the woman obeys without saying anything at all. Maybe she’s too shocked to understand… or maybe she already knows who I am?

 

 

Only after I kick the door behind me shut, I can let myself actually see the woman standing there. Hazel eyes staring right back at me… It’s like I’d be staring into a goddamn mirror and for a moment there I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Step in and shoot her or capture her and drag her into the car? The light brown hair is tied up into a ponytail and the jacket she wore just a minute ago is now on the chair against the wall.

 

 

She looks at me but what I can see in her eyes is not fear or confusion. Perfect clarity. How could she possibly know what I’m doing here?

 

 

“You came”, she says in English.

 

 

How the hell am I supposed to respond, honestly? Yeah mom, I came. Missed me? Offer me some coffee, will you? Everything my mind comes up with sounds surreal, lame somehow so instead I choose another way to introduce myself.

 

 

“I’m sorry I had to tie up your sister, she wasn’t really cooperating with me, you know.”

 

 

Does a feeling more exciting; more powerful than this even exist? The look on her face as she realizes the meaning behind my words… the flash in her eyes… It makes me feel so much stronger that my usual cold smirk returns my lips.

 

 

“What have you done to my sister, Romy?” Who gave her the rights to call me by my name? Who gave that… creature the rights to even know my name? She’s not worth it.

 

 

There’s a bond between us I can’t shake off. There are so many questions I want to ask but I know I can’t. It’s not the time for that – maybe it never will be.

 

 

“Nothing much…” I answer, “She’s in the kitchen. No, I didn’t kill her if that’s what worries you. I don’t kill human beings like you do.” She accepts my thrown challenge. I know it because of the way her eyes narrow and defending she lifts her chin up pursing her lips. Does she really want to fight me? Of course she does, she’s a witch. Mother’s love is just an illusion, don’t you think?

 

 

“How did you get in?”

 

 

I blink for I can’t believe my ears heard correctly. “What?” How does that have anything to do with this? I tilt my head to one side trying to examine her face better but her eyes give nothing away. They’ve become distant… and as icy as mine. Is she going to attack or not?

 

 

“Just tell me.”

 

 

I hate people telling me what to do. I hate, just hate when someone uses that kind of demanding tone on me. It’s my life and I choose how to life it, ok? No one is allowed to speak to me like that. Still, I answer her question with a shattering voice. “Backdoor.”

 

 

“I see.”

 

 

I see, she says. I see? How the hell am I to be interpreting that? What is it that’s going on in your mind at this moment? What are you thinking, mother?

 

 

Within the next five seconds her thoughts become very clear to me. The feeling washes over my whole body like a poison… I see her move but when I try responding to her actions, nothing happens. She used her craft! She used her goddamn craft on me, didn’t she? Oh fuck. She steps closer and lifts her hand… At first she hesitates though, but soon her warm fingers touch my cheek so softly that one could think it’s a feather caressing my face. 

 

 

“I’m sorry dear, but I can’t let you take me back there.”

 

 

***

 

 

I’m being carried? Get off me! Get the fuck away from me! Get your dirty hands off me right this minute or I will make you regret you ever laid your hands on me!

 

 

“Romy it’s me, stop that!”

 

 

I stop fighting when I hear the familiar voice speaking to my ear. Raven? I’m being carried… by Raven. After my eyes adjust to the present and my head doesn’t feel that dizzy anymore, I can see that I’m being carried towards the car. Oh man this sucks!

 

 

“Put me down, I’m fine.”

 

 

“No you’re not… but whatever you say.” He’s not angry at me but I can hear the disappointment shine through. Wait, if he’s disappointed does it mean he didn’t get the witch? Oh great, isn’t it just my luck? The ground under me feels slippery and then all the sudden, I’m not there anymore.

 

 

 

// The air feels cold and breathing hurts. Every breath I take makes my lungs scream in pain but all I can do is to try and ignore it. What is happening to me? My head feels like it’d be about to explode, as if it was too small for me. I feel like… I’m not alone?

 

 

“In every possible universe there lies another ending, another path for one to choose.”

 

 

I know that voice and I know those words; how could I not know? The owner of that voice was there to take care of me for 8 years and it has stayed in my memories. And those words… were said by my father.

 

 

“But Romy… In every possible universe, you are different. The choices I made and the choices your father made… partly made you what you are now.”

 

 

Even though I have no idea what she’s saying or why, I realize that every word she speaks fights with everything my father believed to be true.

 

 

She continues before I can even open my mouth…“Shades of truth, I suppose. It is funny how someone so smart can be so wrong.”//

 

 

“Romy? What the fuck’s happening?” My eyes snap open as Raven’s worried voice hits my consciousness. Man, why does he have to speak so loudly? We’re in the car already and I see he’s throwing worried, almost irritated glances at me as he drives. “What was that?”

 

What? You asking me?

 

“I don’t know”, I answer truthfully massaging my aching temples trying to take a deep breath to steady my racing heartbeat. Honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea and it scares me more than I’m willing to admit. It fucking hurts too! Everything’s wrong somehow, I feel weird… And then Raven and the car disappears.

 

 

// Where am I? It’s not dark, but it’s not light either. It’s a room with no walls, with no ceiling, no floor. Am I really standing on nothing?

 

 

“The world has not always been this dark”, the voice speaks out words that could’ve been said by me. Have been thought by me, in fact. Am I inside her head or is she in mine?

 

 

“What you believe in and what is true are two different things, Romy. I’m here to tell you the truth… in it’s purest and most precious form”, she says. “And whether or not you like it, you’re going to hear it. I was born here, yes, but still, I’m not from here.”

 

 

I don’t understand her words.

 

 

“Thousands of years ago, my ancestors were thrown here from another universe, from another time. I was never supposed to exist in this universe. This world from where you are, is so dark because your kinds made it that way.”

 

 

It’s so obvious what she’s doing. Inside your head or mine, mother, it doesn’t matter. I’ll never let go of what I believe to be true because I’ll never betray him the way you did. Your lies will have no effect on me for this alone is what I’ve been trained to do since I was 15. “Don’t do that, don’t try to poison my mind with your lies. I know the truth, I know what you are.” It doesn’t sound like my voice, it’s so strong and determined… so different from what I’m feeling. Weakness, exhaustion… sadness. When I was younger I wished she’d return to my life and now… I wish you hadn’t, mother. You’re not like me. You’re to be eliminated.

 

 

“I am a human being just like you are, Romy. I’m a person who has feelings, who can cry and who can love.” Now she steps out of the darkness into my sight with a look in her eyes that I can’t understand. Is that love? Don’t love me like that, I can’t let you.

 

 

“No, you’re a creature of evil. Messenger of death! You kill for pleasure.“

 

 

Right? You kill for fun, I don’t. I don’t kill because I like it, right?  I do it because I have to. Because if I didn’t you - witches would take over… and eventually, all those innocent human beings… would be sacrificed because of what you are. Killed because it’s the only thing you know.

 

 

“No, you're wrong. You're so wrong”, she says. Fuck it - she doesn’t have the rights to sound so offended! “What have they taught you, Romy? What have they done to you?”

 

 

Stop reading my mind! They showed me the truth, the truth of this world. The next time your father tells you to be a good girl so that boogies won’t take you… you’ll be a good girl. That’s what they taught me, mother. “They told me what witches are really like. Not that sweet and innocent the movies let us think. Your kinds killed over two million people that day and you’re going to pay for that.”

 

 

She laughs, amazed. Don’t you fucking laugh! “My kinds? Killed? Humans have always captured us, even when we did nothing.  Years ago they invented this machine with what to identify us... Sometimes if they even as much as suspected you, if you had even one witch gene they took you in. They studied you, made experiments on you...”

 

 

“We’re just trying to protect ourselves from you.” We are!

 

 

“Is that so? What do you think we’re trying to do, Romy? You really think we kill for fun? They say our powers got stronger somehow and that we attacked your kind trying to kill you. We didn't.”

 

 

Yes you did, father told me. It’s all in the documents, government knows that. I know that. “Don’t lie to your own daughter.”

 

 

“Those people that died, Romy, were all witches.”//

 

 

“Stay awake!”

 

 

Again, I snap into the reality. What the fuck’s going on with my mind? Am I dreaming or is it really happening? The cold window against my forehead doesn’t do nothing but bruises me every time the car turns.

 

 

“I think… she’s using… her powers… on me”, I say after awhile.

 

 

“You think?” He snorts, annoyed. What’s with him? “Our radars are gonna explode if she doesn’t stop that, they’ve gone fucking mad.”

 

 

That’s not possible… why? When? “How?”

 

 

“Apparently they think you’re a witch and you being so close… well, I had to turn them silent but they’re having troubles telling the difference between you and her. She’s near, that much I know.”

 

 

“So she’s doing this to me?”

 

 

“I think so, yeah.”

 

 

Sigh of relief. For a moment there I thought he was going to accuse me of being one of those creatures and I don’t know what I would’ve done then. Screaming and crying wouldn’t have done much good but it’s the only option I would’ve had at the moment. I made him promise, didn’t I?

 

 

“Is she telekinetic?”

 

 

“I guess so, among all the other stuff”, I reply hastily. “It’s the only explanation I can come up with. She’s just trying to mess my head so I won’t go after her.”

 

 

// Darkness. Stop this! I got your point, I did! You’re trying to convert me, make me think you’re the victim and that my father lied to me. But he didn’t, I don’t believe you so let it go already! Just let it go. Accept the fucking fact I’ll come after you, I’ll hunt you and kill you and you’ll be sorry you ever breathed on this planet. I don’t care what universe you’re from, I don’t care if you were forced to enter our world or if you chose to come, I just want you gone.

 

 

“You’re still a child, Romy. You think you’re an adult, woman, but you’re not. You’re a child who lives for the mere purpose of making her father proud. He’s dead, Romy, but I think he’d be hell of a proud of the killer you’ve become. His one and true love shall be hunted by his own daughter, huh? Poetic… ironic, almost.”

 

 

Shut up. Shut up. “Shut up! Let me go!”

 

 

“I’m not holding you here. You want to be here. You want to know if you’re right… or wrong. You want to ask questions only I can answer. You see, humans made experiments on us and one little mistake ended up killing them all in a heartbeat. It almost happened to me too, you were there. They wanted to research those people so they captured them… and put a tracker into their bodies… They released us all and erased or altered our memories. And they all died because of that.”

 

 

If that’s true, mother, then how are you still alive? How come you know this all if they erased it from your mind? She’s just lying.

 

 

“On the news they said it was some sort of epidemic that had been successfully taken care of. To the government the centre said it was witches. All lower-level workers have been told the same lie. You think your father was the one who got betrayed, but the truth is… In the end he was the one who betrayed me.”

 

 

I can see her there. Standing few meters away from me and looking away. Is she crying?

 

 

“I didn’t know he was a hunter, he didn’t know I was a witch.” By the sound of her shattering voice, I’d say she is. Can witches truly cry or is this yet another image she produces for my entertainment?

 

 

“We got married, Romy, we had you… and then it was already too late. He found out my secret. Imagine his rage when he found out that all those years he had been hunting my kinds and there he was, living with one.”

 

 

No matter how you put it, mother, you betrayed him. You didn’t tell him. Of course he was furious, of course he wanted revenge. And I’ll help him get it even now, when he’s not here anymore. “You lied to him - you didn’t tell him what you are.”

 

 

Hazel eyes shoot a challenge back at my direction. “Yes and it’s a good thing I didn’t”, she says sounding stronger all the sudden. “I wouldn’t have gotten you if I had. He tried to kill me after he found out but here I am. So in fact Romy, everything you believe in is a lie."

 

 

Something flashes. Her ability to keep the image up is weakening and during those few seconds, I can see where we are. A warehouse, mother? How original. Is that a background of her illusion or is it where she is?

 

 

“I will capture you… or I’ll kill you if that’s how you want it.”

 

 

“You can try”, she says smiling. She has accepted her faith, accepted that I’ll never give up on trying.

 

 

“Look at yourself”, I spit. “All this time you’ve tried to pretend you’re normal, living a normal life. You’re nothing but a piece of trash in the middle of them all.”

 

 

Soft laughter makes my neck hair rose. Damn her! “Look at yourself, Romy. Can you even imagine what happens if you carry the gene I do?”

 

 

What, no, leave that out of this!? I’ll deal with one issue at a time, ok? “I don’t. They wouldn’t have taken me if I had.” A lie Romy, I know it, she knows it.

 

 

“Why do you think they took you in?” She asks the question on the edge of my mind. “If you have it, eventually it will be awakened. Be careful Romy”, she says sounding almost amused… malicious, “because when that day arrives you’ll be the one hunted.”

 

 

HA. “If that ever happens, mother, I’ll hunt myself off a bridge.”//

 

 

“Warehouse”, I mumble trying to open my eyes. “Warehouse, Raven, I saw a warehouse.”

 

 

“I hear you.”

 

 

My lungs don’t hurt anymore, my breathing gets normal. My head feels normal again and I can feel my strength coming back to me. “If she was in my mind, she knows I saw she’s in a warehouse. Assuming it’s her real location. So, I think she’s on the move again.”

 

”Check the radar, again. Try changing the settings… try and make it look for her only, not you both.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Finding her proved not to be that difficult at all. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was waiting for us to come. I’m not sure how we found her actually for the radars just wouldn’t work with me. They kept beeping every 5 minutes or whenever I moved a muscle and in the end, we only had one on use. It didn’t do any better than the others, though. Fucking piece of junk, I say. You can’t trust even technology these days, can you? What can you trust, really?

 

 

Every now and then the radar however showed us a location of “another” spot on the screen. How stupid do you have to be to run into the woods when you’re being hunted? I’d say pretty fucking stupid. I was sure she had just managed to fuck with our machines, but apparently not.

 

 

Running around the woods was definitely not my idea. I told Raven we should just follow the spot on the screen and stay in the car but he said the whole damn thing could get overloaded and we’d lose her completely. While I agree he had a point there, I highly disagree with running around the woods when there’s snow all the way to your waist. Well not that much maybe, but more than I’d want. I have my proud too and this is not far from humiliating!

 

 

“Raven! Where is she?”

 

 

“Near.”

 

 

Near? As in few meters near or few kilometers near? Because if she’s somewhere around 10 kilometers, practically out of our reach, I’ll just call the boss and beg for an air attack and hope she’ll get hit by that instead of us. That is how desperately I want her dead.

 

 

She entered my head, she read my mind. I didn’t ask her to and I sure as hell didn’t approve it either. My head is nobody else’s business… and now? What if I’m polluted? What if she did something? What if this isn’t me? What if I’m dreaming? What if…

 

 

I fall. Fucking snow! Face against the cold snow, spitting it out of your mouth and trying to get up does clear your mind though. I want her dead, therefore I am me. It’s because of her uninvited visit that my mind all the sudden feels like a stranger to me. Confused, dizzy, damaged.  

 

 

“Raven!” Please find her, kill her… end this, Raven, please! Make it stop… Get a grip, Romy.

 

 

“She’s near, I’m telling you!” He says again and I force myself up and moving. Faster Romy, you gotta keep on going. You gotta keep on hunting.

 

 

“How can you say that when there isn’t even a single trace for us to track? How can you say she’s here?” I hiss, exhausted.

 

 

Then, there she is. Like a goddess, she stands on the surface of the snow as if she was as light as a feather… floating? What the hell is this? Her clothing hasn’t changed at all, but she seems to be glowing some sort of divine light that forces me to close my eyes. I push myself through the snow, closer, closer, closer without opening my eyes.

 

 

“What are you?” I scream and carefully open my eyes. She’s not glowing anymore… and if I’d reach out my hand, I’d be able to touch her, grab her, hurt her. But I don’t, instead I glance over my shoulder to see Raven who’s few meters behind me lying on the floor, breathing heavily. At least he’s breathing.  

 

 

“What are you?” She asks in return. What? I don’t understand and she can read it from my mind more than easily.

 

 

“You come here to capture me… follow me to kill me… and you accuse me of being evil when I use the gift given me to protect myself.”

 

 

Is she speaking out loud or in my head? I don’t know, her voice seems to shake my body, every cell... every hair.

 

 

“Romy!” I hear the yell coming from behind me and the moment I turn to look over my shoulder, I see Raven throwing something at me. The gadget lands next to me, and before she can do anything else, I grab the gadget, slip it around my wrist ignoring the pain its needles cutting through my gloves into my skin causes… and then, I reach out to her. I can only grab her from the hand as she has no gloves, but it’s all I need. Just one slight touch of her skin and she falls down in front of me yelling.

 

 

I may have absorbed her powers, but I have no idea how to use them so when she tries to get on her feet to run away, I go with the old-fashioned way. I pull her closer as she’s still a bit taken aback and punch her. Again. Again. Again. After awhile, my fist can’t feel the pain anymore. Numb, just like me.

 

 

This is not my mother, this is not my mother. This is her shell, shell of the shadow never existed. What am I supposed to do? Hold her and hug her?

 

 

“Romy, stop!” Raven’s crawled behind me and grabs my raised hand pulling me away from the figure on the snow. The snow around us isn’t that white anymore, drops of red can be seen everywhere. Blood… I smirk... I do know how to make some damage, huh? Why does it feel so good to know that?

 

 

“We don’t have to kill her, we can just capture her, Romy.”

 

 

No, no, no! “I want her dead!” I yell back and fight free from his grip. Surprisingly Raven doesn’t fight back but let’s go of me.

 

 

“I want her dead cause of everything he did to my father. She betrayed him, never told him what she is. She gave birth to me and left me. She betrayed me, too!”

 

 

Am I trying to convince Raven or myself? Who cares? …Both.

 

 

She coughs spitting blood and tooth out of her mouth. Yeah mother, I may not have same kind of power that you do but at least I don’t hit like a “girl.”

 

 

“It’ll take at least an hour before you get your power back, mother, so save yourself from the trouble and don’t even try.”

 

 

I take it back, really, sometimes you can do nothing but love today’s technology. Especially when it gives you a chance of beating the living crap out of your enemy, huh? You against me, no extra powers, no advantages over me. Who’s the winner now, bitch?

 

 

“Someday you’ll find out the truth…” she whispers – no, whimpers in between her coughs. Wow, it really must’ve hurt then. “And someday you’ll wake up to realize that… the world is not what you think it is.”

 

 

Shut the fuck up. “Shut up, witch”, I snort and punch her one more time before I pull out the gun. Doesn’t matter from where your kinds came, whether or not you’re the result of evolution because this, mother, is evolution. The strongest will survive and I – I’m the strongest one here, always have been.

 

 

“Enjoyed your little trip in my fucking head, I hope”, I say and point the gun to her face. Look at this mother, your little girl’s pointing a gun to you! You lose. The barrel touches her cheek and the fear shines from her eyes – good! “I did, sort of”, she answers collecting the pieces of her pride, “I got to know you.” 

 

 

My finger tightens around the trigger.

 

 

“And though I love you Romy, I despise what you’ve become. Your father really had his way with you.”

 

 

I pull the trigger.  

 

 

This is not me. The blood on my hands, the blood on my face… The smell of fired gun… this is not me, can’t be.

 

 

The waterfalls open and tears cannot be hold back.

 

 

***

 

 

 

After three weeks spent in Egypt hunting down an ancient warlock, it’s great to be back at home.

 

 

Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if Raven hadn’t been there to wrap his arms around me, rocking me back and forth, calming me down. It’s ok, Romy, he said, it’s ok. It wasn’t, but he made me believe it was and it helped a lot. I collapsed, lost it. The realization of what I’d done hit me right away and who knows why. Who even knows why I shot her? Shit happens. I knew it wouldn’t give me any kind of satisfaction, not really, but still I somehow wished it would change something. It didn’t.

 

 

I killed my mother.

 

 

And I’m ok with that, I am. But still, her words won’t leave me alone. It’s not that I’d doubt my father’s words, but I need to get rid of this insecurity. I need to know I’m right; need to see black on white. Because the question in the back of my head is… what if I’m wrong?  When you what I do, you can’t afford to be wrong.

 

 

“Hensley, here’s the info you were looking for”, agent Green says throwing a flat light-brown file on my desk startling me. To others it may look casual – agent Green bringing me a file regarding our newest project, but when my fingers touch the file I grab it and hold onto it as if someone was coming to steal it away. It’s mine damnit, and I won’t let it go for the life of mine!

 

 

I’ve done lots of stupid stuff during my career here, but this is most definitely the stupidest thing I’ve ever even think of doing. A file. It’s all about a file.

 

 

Right after we returned USA from our trip around Finland I asked my co-worker, agent Green to do me a huge favor that could end up getting us both fired… and worse. I don’t know why she said yes and to me it doesn’t really matter either. The main thing is that she did and it’s all I really need to know.

 

 

With shaking fingers I open the file and the first thing I see is a note written on a piece of yellow paper. “Truth varies depending on the teller, Romy.”

 

 

I assumed she would hack into the Centre’s computer systems but obviously, she didn’t. The file contains only one medical file… my mother’s and a hand-written letter. Instantly, I know what she meant by that weird note.

 

 

Over 2 million people died that day, yeah, that’s for sure. Blood type? Unknown.

 

 

Everything I believe in is a lie made up to cover the truth I so desperately refused to accept?

 

 

…The world has not always been this dark; we made it this way.