Zero Sin

Chapter 3｜Why The Caged Bird Sings

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"What are you doing in here?" he exclaimed. He grasped his mouth, remembering his mother and sister were sleeping. "How did you get in here?" he whispered.

"No need to be so quiet," Altora said and sat up. "They won't wake up as long as you don't scream." She was dressed in a dark red shirt and a black jacket, similar to the one she always wore, if not the very same one. She had a pair of jeans on and had luckily laid her shoes on the floor beside the bed.

She looked like any other normal person on the bed, more normal than Rune had ever expected to see her. She almost looked like a teenager waking up after a quick midday nap.

Rune pulled his shirt back on. "You shot your own father," he accused Altora. "Then went to him in the hospital?"

"I did not shoot my father," Altora said. "Nor did anyone else in Onix."

Rune could hear her restraining her anger.

"We need to go," Altora said getting off the bed. "They' re waiting for us."

Rune started to protest, but Altora turned to him and looked him dead in the eye. "We need to go, now."

Suddenly Rune knew she wasn't joking around anymore. This was a serious matter. She pulled him with her as she went to the door. He could barely keep up as she led him through the darkness, unlocked the door and pushed him through it into the hall, before locking the door again and tossing him the keys.

"Where did you get these?" Rune asked, but got no answer.

Altora just pushed him down the hallway. By the time they reached the stairs, Rune had learned to walk on his own - for his own sake. Altora walked beside him and led him out a back exit he never knew existed.

There was a car waiting for them by the entrance. It was an inconspicuous dark blue SUV. No one would think it was used by Onix. Or so Rune hoped as Altora got in behind the wheel and opened the passenger door for Rune.

Rune got in and had barely closed the door when Altora reversed a bit and sped off. Then he remembered that he didn't leave anything to tell his mother where he was headed. How could he? Rune wasn't even sure where he was going.

"Can we go back?" he asked Altora. "I promise I'll be quick?"

"Did you forget something?" she frowned at him, but didn't slow down.

"I just thought I should leave a note. They might start to worry when they wake up and I'm not there."

"What are you going to tell them?" Altora demanded. "Sorry I missed breakfast, Mom? I had to go to Onix HQ for a top secret mission that I'm not allowed to tell you about? I'll be home by seven? Love Rune? Kissy kissy? Sorry, but that isn't going to happen. They'll be okay."

"But their going to worry," Rune retorted. "Their my family."

"Let me tell you something, Rune," Altora said, her voice stern and stoical. "Family gets you nowhere. And whether your family worries about you, or you worry about them, it doesn't matter. It's fun to think about the fantasy of a happy family, but that is all it's ever going to be. A fantasy for the weak and pathetic. It's nice to think they care for you. To believe that they meant it every time they said 'I love you'. But it's just an act. The sooner you know that, the better."

Rune couldn't believe what he was hearing. He leaned back and stared at her. "How can you say that?" he asked. "Families are there to support each other and care for one another."