Zero

Chapter 3

Molly's POV

"Molly?" Felix shouts, "Are you still here?"

"Yeah," I reply, my voice flat. I turn visible again and move out of his bedroom and back into his living room.

"Are you okay? I know that Calum picking Zara up usually takes it out of you, but you seem really out of it today."

"I need you to talk me down, Felix," I instruct, falling back onto the couch.

His eyebrows raise as he sits down beside me, "From?"

"Just coming clean to Calum, Luke, Ashton, and Michael."

"I didn't even realize that you were thinking about it."

I shrug, "I think about it every so often. I just miss them so much. And Zara is so big now. She's gonna be starting kindergarten soon, and I'm not gonna be there with her. I just miss them all so much. Would it really be the worst thing if I just mysteriously came back? I could say I've had amnesia for the past five years and didn't know who I even was!"

"Yeah and the glowing blue arms gave you absolutely no fucking clue as to your true identity. Molly, honey, I know this is hard for you and that you miss them. But you can't come back. Not now. They can't know. Luke, he's still so fucked up from your 'death' five years ago. If you come back now, you'll mess him up all over again. Besides, I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but they'll probably all be mad at you. And if Calum finds out about Zara only coming over here to see you, he'd never let her come over again. Molly, it's not practical. You'd lose contact with your daughter. Don't do anything stupid."

I groan in misery, "You're right."

"I know I am. Now go get ready."

"For?"

Felix gives me an exasperated look, "Blaze has a ceremony to attend? The one police and the mayor are throwing? Honoring you for half a decade of service?"

"Psyche was so close to getting that award too," I mutter, a smile finding it's way onto my lips as I think of the memory of my former alias.

"Too bad you fucking killed her," he shrugs, nudging my shoulder. I roll my eyes but get up to go get changed.

Calum's POV

"Did you have fun at Uncle Felix's house?" I ask Zara as I drive to Luke and Sierra's house.

"Yeah!" My five year old exclaims, "We ate ice cream before dinner and watched movies and played hide and seek."

"Oh yeah? What movies did you watch?"

"Princess and the Frog," Zara tells me, only stating that one. I get hit with a small wave of sadness at the thought of how much Molly loved that movie.

I swallow the lump in my throat, "You know, Zara, your mummy loved that movie. It's one of her favorite Disney movies. She and I used to watch it all the time."

"I know," she chirps, surprising me. I frown at her confidence.

"How do you know that, honey?"

"Mummy told me." I nearly slam on the brakes. Instead, I pull off of the road and into an empty parking lot.

I park the car and turn to face my daughter, my heart racing, "Zara, what do you mean that mummy told you that? Mummy's in heaven, remember, Princess?"

She nods, a small smile on her face, "I know." I wait for her to elaborate, but she stays quiet, happily twisting around the fur on her stuffed dog. Instead of pushing this further, I take a shaky breath and get back on the road, my mind and heart both racing.