𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ✔️

025

There are imprints in your lower palms from the force of your nails. The silence had you on edge. You needed know and you needed to know now.

Alex sighs. "In his mind... yes, biologically... no."

You clasp your hands together in relief. "Thank goodness," you croak.

You're about to laugh off your worries, but Alex's expression is still grave. "Actually, he's mine."

"What?!" you exclaim.

Never had your jaw dropped faster in your life. You think of old Papa and his menacing smile, then Alex. There was no resemblance. Alex had a smile larger and kinder than life. No, there was no resemblance at all.

She points the picture again, specifically the baby in your mother's arms. "And that's not you," she says.

Nothing makes sense now. You furrow your brows, "Then, who is it?"

She pauses again as if she doesn't want to say the answer, but she does. "It's me."

Your eyes go from Alex to the baby in the photo. The two-toothed smile was overly vibrant and bright. Often you had wondered why you had been so happy that day, you never remembered having a smile that big, but it made sense. The baby wasn't you.

That's not to say there wasn't much of a resemblance. The eyes, the cheeks, the nose, it was all you... but then you see the smile and know it's not. Alex flips over the photo and reads the printed date aloud. It was faded and scuffed but held truth. The photo had been taken five years before you were born. The baby in the photo really was not you.

"So..." you falter, glancing at the happy woman in the photo, "that's not my mother?"

Alex grabs your hand affirmingly. "It is."

"Then how—"

"Y/n," she starts, "I'm your sister."

The next few seconds that pass are blurred. They feel like minutes, passing faster and faster with every draw. The intervals slice in half until you're sure an hour has gone by, but no. Alex is still here, her hand on yours, and she's staring at you with an expression that begs you to listen.

"Mom always hated Papa's stupid job," she explains, "they would always fight about how he was never home. Then... she got pregnant and he knew it wasn't his," her voice was shaking now, "He hated you for that... until he learned about your powers."

You drink in her words and the silence, drawing in every detail with open ears. Every passing sentence blew your mind in a different way. The debris sunk into your pockets of memory, yearning for something to sink into the crevices and make sense. Yet, none of it made sense.

She continued, her voice unsure of how to navigate the story. Like she was struggling to search for the right words. "She practically lost her mind when he took you."

To experiment on you... the nurses, the bright lights, the coma... It still didn't make sense.

"Mom overdosed," she murmurs. "He brought her to the lab, to try to save her." Her eyes were watering. "But she didn't want to be saved, not after she learned you were trapped in a coma. The nurses told her you would die."

It's now that you notice the burning in the back of your throat. Your eyes were watering too, but there was an intimacy in the moment that led you not to fight them back. You let them fall, silently cascading to the ground with Alex's. The story wasn't over yet.

"She didn't want to live if you weren't going to," the young woman's voice cracked through the tears. "She thought it was her fault."

But you had lived.

"Papa wanted to end her pain," she says, scoffing at the madness of it, "It might've been the closest act of selflessness he'd ever come to."

"He killed her?"

"No," she whispers.

Though, that might have been too generous a word for her tone. She glances at you, her eyes almost guilty for what she's about to say next. You want to know desperately, or maybe you don't...

"001 did."

It's a gasp, a scoff, and a scream that leaves you all at once. "No—" you chuckle, "—there's no way."

"That was 001's first... training exercise," she winces.

"No," you affirm, louder this time. In the back of your head, you can see the drawings Papa had shown you. The one of your mother's, her limbs and face contorted. This wasn't real. "You're lying."

Alex looks taken aback. "Why would I lie?"

"You work for Papa, don't you?" you accuse, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"I could say the same about you." She folds her arms. "You're stubborn just like mom was."

Was.

"001 didn't kill her."

"He didn't know any better. He probably doesn't even remember it now—"

"I said he didn't kill her!" You shout. You got awfully defensive when the people you loved were wrongfully accused. Especially 001. "Why are you so calm about this?"

"Y/n." Alex strokes your hand, attempting to comfort you. "It was what she wanted."

"But I'm still alive!"

Her face drops. "I know."

"Then that means mom died for nothing because of me," you fume.

"Y/n—"

Finally, something in you snaps. "Stop," you scoff, "Papa's not your father."

Her eyebrows raise and lower in defeat. She softens, "Fine. If you don't believe me, bring me Papa's DNA. I can run a test on him right here."

"Fine."

You stand as Alex lets out an exhausted breath. She opens the drawer to return the photo and from your higher angle, you can see clearly what's inside. There were many photos, that was for sure, but aside for the one of your so-called family, they were all of the same person. They were all of the same man. He was skinny with long blonde hair, a sharp jawline, and piercing blue eyes. He reminded you of someone, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

Alex takes notice of your staring and shuts it quickly. "Oh," she flushes. "That's nothing."

You're too agitated to care. You're about to storm out of the room when you bump into the box you'd been sitting on. The lid scribbled with music notes falls off as the contents inside rustle loudly. Inside the box were countless cassette tapes all written with different album names and playlists. Your mouth drops. She was "the lady".

Without giving Alex another glance, you rustle inside the box, searching for the tape and the walkman you'd lost. The walkman is the easiest to find, you're not even sure if it's the one 001 had originally given to you, but you don't care. When you pull out the cassette tape, though, you know it's the one you'd once had.

"There's only one song on that one—" she warns, motioning to the grey cassette tape.

"I don't care," you say, staring at the bolded words YOU CAN'T RELY in complete awe. It was like reuniting with an old friend. The memories flow back to you and threaten to get the waterworks going again. You were already in an emotional state.

You turn on your heel, not giving Alex another glance. You don't give her words another thought. All you can do is push it into the back of your mind and pray it isn't true. It wasn't. It couldn't be. You didn't want to think about it.

There was only one person you wanted to see now. One person you needed to. And ironically enough, he was also skinny with long blonde hair, a sharp jawline, and piercing blue eyes.