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Chapter Thirty Seven

"Hey."

I felt the eyes of the four adults peering at me, a bit startled by my interruption after remaining quiet for so long. I looked up at them, my lips pressed together.

"Are you guys ever going to tell me about the Atlas Bomb and William Kei? Like, the whole story?" I questioned them finally, feeling the tight constriction in my chest dwindle away.

The familiar name seemed to weigh heavy in the air as the mood became noticeably dense. They were quiet now, and I stared down at my socks, blank. William Kei. The villainous mastermind that was never caught after the Atlas Bomb accident. He's still out there somewhere, and if we're unlucky enough, he's still alive. I heard Mom let out a cold sigh, and she sat up straight beside Papa, putting on a smile. It was empty, and I lowered my gaze from her to the floor.

"I suppose you're old enough to know about him now," she said, a little hesitation faltering in her words.

Papa was going to disagree with her, but Julia interrupted him, taking a small sip of the tea in her hands. "Cheryl's right. Meredith is becoming an adult soon, and it would be a shame to not let her know what happened." Her eyes flashed to me, and I couldn't look away from the pretty brown color as she said, "Besides, she's a curious little rascal. If she were to find out herself instead of us telling her, I'd feel like I let her down."

I could tell Leo and Papa weren't in the same boat as their significant others, but what I said earlier about ruining it for them must've resonated in them, because they didn't make any effort to retort. Julia gestured to Mom with the teacup in her hand.

"Would you like lead this, Cheryl?" She asked politely, and her eyes flashed prettily.

Mom smiled at her with an equally pretty sparkle in her eyes. "Yes. Thank you." She looked up at the ceiling, as if thinking of something. "Ah.. where to start..."

Papa leaned over to her and suggested, "Why don't you start it off the way your book does?" Mom flicked his forehead, making him scoot back. I noticed the small blush on her face.

"Great idea, Tristan," she said with a bright smile. Her eyes landed on me, and I made sure to pay attention to her words. "It started off unusually normal. Nothing much out of the ordinary, really. I, like everyone else likely did, thought that day wouldn't be any different from the others before. If I recall correctly, it was just after the 97th time your father intervened with my plans of committing suicide."

"98th," Papa corrected.

"Of course he would remember that..." I heard Leo mutter under his breath. Papa heard as well and sent him a glare as Mom continued.

"I found a gun outside my house, just laying on the ground. I went to take it and give it the police, but apparently, a man had been aiming to snipe me from a bush. He teleported away before I could confront him fully. The next day, your father and I met Julia in a small coffee shop after going out snowboarding," Mom explained, trying to plan out the perfect way to tell me.

Julia sighed, commenting, "It wasn't my proudest moment, to say the least."

"A few days passed, and I was introduced to Leo, Tristan's sort of.. hacker friend. He joined our small circle of people, and we found out a lot about each other, just as the situation surrounding that." Julia was gripping Leo's hand, and I suspected that it might have been because she noticed his falter when Mom decided not to go too in-depth with his details. "The only time I ever saw William Kei was when I was kidnapped and held hostage in a chamber as his team of scientists conducted research on my body. Even then, he was just a shadow of a man. From Leo, I heard William Kei was obsessed with creating a better world."

Leo sighed heavily in his seat, knowing that Mom wanted him to continue her explanation. "He was so hellbent on getting your mother. Her attributes were the key to success in activating the Atlas Bomb." He ran a hand through his blonde hair, adding in, "I don't remember if this is what he said exactly, but I remember him mumbling to himself about how the world would be his and he could finally have his life back. I don't know what that meant, but I assumed he meant something along the lines of being a world ruler."

"I tried to pry open my father for any information on his boss," Julia jumped in, a frustrated expression on her face. "He wouldn't budge. I'm sure that the only person who has gotten a good look at William Kei is Leo, but after being killed by Tristan, his memories when he came to the spirit world were muddy and broken. It wasn't much of any use anymore." Papa flinched at the mention of his name.

"He was never caught," I said, saying it aloud. They all nodded, but I didn't think they understood what I tried to really say to them. My hands clenched in my lap, and I said a little louder, "He's still out there."

"We know, Meredith," Papa responded. He looked at me, his green eyes reflecting weariness. "The first five years after the Atlas Bomb was spent with the government officials trying to find him, or at least know his identity. But it's like he's been virtually erased with no traces or signs. We just moved on with our lives, and thankfully, he hasn't made a move at all. I think he's living somewhere peacefully now."

"I wouldn't count on that," Leo responded to Papa's last statement. Everyone looked at him, and he said blankly, "Like I said, he was hellbent on getting Cheryl's attributes for his own gain. He's obsessed with obtaining power. There's no way in hell that he's ever going to stop until he gets his power source back in his grasp." Leo's jaw clenched visibly, and he muttered, "I know him more than any of you guys. He's relentless. He won't sleep until he gets what he wants. Trust me on this when I say—"

I gulped, feeling a shiver run down my spine, and I felt as if an unfamiliar pair of eyes were on me.

Watching.

Listening.

Grinning.

"—William Kei is out there, and he's looking for the perfect revenge."