𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃
( chapter eleven )
☂︎︎

The video on the tiny screen showed the Hargreeves mother giving Reginald some tea before he started... literally dying. She looked down at him, smiling before walking away. Way to go, I guess.

"I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?" Vanya asked, looking at Luther. Klaus reached over and took one of the child from the stolen bags Alora managed to keep as she ran. The girl in question, grabbed a chocolate bar from her pocket and started shamelessly eating it.

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya." Luther replied. "Maybe you don't know Grace anymore."

"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report." Diego spoke, trying to not show him impatience.

"Well, I don't need a coroner's report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes."

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision." Alora snorted at his comment as Diego moved forward, playing the tape back again. "Dad had his monocle. Mom stands up, monocle's gone.

"Oh, yeah!" Klaus nodded.

"She wasn't poisoning him. She was... taking it. To clean it." He said as if he knew all along. Which knowing Diego nowadays (which she didn't), he probably did.

"Then where is it?" Luther asked. "I've searched the house, including all her things. She doesn't have it."

"You went through a lady's things?" Alora asked, mouth agape. She closed it when Luther glared at her.

"That because I took it from her." Diego looked down, then up at his family who was all looking at him. "After the funeral."

"You've had the monocle this whole time?" Allison demanded. "What the hell, Diego?"

"Give it to me." Luther ordered.

"I threw it away." Diego shrugged.

"You what?"

"Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd loose your shit," Diego stepped forward, "just like you're doing right now."

"Diego, you son of a bitch." He gritted.

"Hey, no. Calm down." Vanya said. "I know Dad wasn't exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing he said. Mom was designed to be a caretaker, but... also as a protector."

"What does that mean?" Allison frowned.

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy." Vanya explained.

Luther's frowned deepened, "well, if her hardware is degrading, then... we need to turn her off."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait." Diego stopped his wild proposal. "She's not just a vaccine cleaner you can throw in a closet. She feels things, I've seen it!"

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die." Luther pointed to the screen.

"Well, he was getting old anyway, he was bound to die at some point." Alora whispered to Klaus, who giggled.

"I'm with Luther." Allison spoke up.

"Surprise, surprise." Diego drawled.

"Shut up." They looked at Vanya, who looked right back.

When she hesitated, Diego interrupted, "yeah, she shouldn't get a vote."

"I was gonna say I agree with you!" Vanya said.

"Okay! She should get a vote." He switched up. "What about you stoner boy? Shortie?" He looked at the twins. "What do you got?"

"Oh, so, what? You need my help now?" Klaus sighed. "Oh, get out of the van, Klaus. Welcome back to the van!"

"What van?" Allison asked.

Luther scoffed as Alora looked at her scuffed jeans. She needed a belt to pull them up, otherwise they'll be ripped soon. "What's it gonna be, guys?"

"Diego." Alora looked up.

"I'm with Diego, because screw you!" Klaus spat. "And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me."

"...don't." He hissed at the space next to him, presumably Ben.

"So, so that's four." He held up four fingers. "To two." He held up two on his other hand.

"Vote's not final yet." Allison said.

"What?" Diego frowned.

"Five's not here."

"Yeah, but no matter what he picks, Diego is still winning here." Alora said, running a hand through her knotted hair.

"The whole family had to vote." Allison shook her head. "We owe each other that."

"Right." Luther nodded.

"No, we should wait." Vanya said, putting her hands in her pockets. They all moved off without a word.

☂︎︎

The Hargreeves house was quiet. Inside one of the rooms, you'd find a girl sitting inside her room painting. She used dark colours to create a tree, with the moon peeking through the branches. It wasn't much, but it fitted for the atmosphere at the moment.

Alora painted to either distract herself, or make herself feel better. Her mind was still tangled in thoughts of their mother and the situation they had to decide.

When she painted at night, she always tended to use dark colours. The natural light a painter needed wasn't here for her, and tonight only had the soft light of her lamp.

She moved to her desk and found her water jar to be full of murky paint water. Time for a refill. Alora set down her paintbrush and held the cold glass in her hands. The girl stepped out of her dark room and entered the bathroom nearby. She found Klaus sitting the bathtub, filled to the brim with bubbles.

"Hey, Klaus." She said as she dumped the water out and refilled it.

"Oh." Her brother looked up. "Hey." He held some bubbles in his hand, which was outstretched to her. "High five."

Alora shook her head in amusement before their hands made contact, the bubbles launched out onto the floor and Alora's clothes. The brunette girl left without another word. When she reentered her room and set down the water, she got back to painting the final details.

After a few minutes, she jumped when she heard gunshots. Someone was here and shooting up their house.

☂︎︎