Maya

It's freezing here.

The sudden drop in temperature is jarring.

The cell is nothing but a carved-out hole which is dark, damp, and devoid of any light except for the bright white square that takes up the centre of the cell.

The walls are a hazy colour like smoke. I can see the wires and tubes that run across the floor. Every single one of them ends at the cube.

There's a silhouette behind those walls. It lives and breaths but not for long.

Fury leads me to the cube. "He's inside."

He raised another card, this one is black. A door slides open and the stench of blood threatens to overwhelm me.

I recoil, taking a step back. "What the hell is going on, Director?"

Fury hides his displeasure well. He scowls harder. "We don't know what's going on. I've put my best minds to work but they're not able to explain the deterioration. It's like he's rotting away."

"So why not let him die?"

Fury gestured to me to go inside. "It would be better if he were dead. Unfortunately, he wants to pass on key information and for some stupid reason, he requested you specifically."

I narrow my eyes at Fury. "What aren't you telling me?"

Fury glanced between me and the man behind the curtain. "That's classified."

I raise an eyebrow sharply. "You're the Director. Unclassify it."

"It's nothing related to you. I'm sure you're aware that your father —"

"He's not my father."

"He had dealings with all sorts of people. Dozens of watchlists would kill to have him in custody and none of them could contain him. If he decides to kick the bucket, I want every drop of information he has."

"Like what?"

He gives me a look, unimpressed by my lack of interest. "I'll be waiting outside, Agent."

I brush past Fury. My mother has a soft spot for the pirate. I don't care why. She doesn't like it when I push his buttons.

I'll keep my indignation under wraps.

The scent of death lingers in the air like a funeral shroud. Heavy and oppressive. It seeps into my hair and clothes, permeating them.

I'm going to have to burn these. Shame, I really like this scarf.

A thin plastic curtain separates us.

Once upon a time, being this close to Raza would've caused a panic attack. I would be a mess, curled in a ball, as I sobbed and retched myself through a crisis.

I feel afraid.

I know he can't hurt me anymore but the fear can only be whittled down, not erased.

I pull back the curtain with force, almost tearing it off.

Raza's eyes find mine and I hate how we share the same color.

Someone left a stool next to his bed. I hook my foot around the base and drag it away from him. I sit down briskly, staring down at him.

He seems like he's in a dream.

He is different. The last time I saw him was three years ago. Things were a lot different back then.

Raza is nothing but skin and bones. His skin is pasty and sprinkled with sores that ooze. His face is the worst, all gaunt and whatever liveliness he once possessed had shrivelled up into a raisin.

His eyes, however, were remarkably clear.

"E-Emilia?" His chapped lips stretched into a dreamy smile. "It's you...you've come to see me."

He shoots a bony hand out, trying to touch my cheek. The cuffs around his wrist clink as they jerk his arm to a stop, his fingers centimetres from my face.

I swallow down the bile in my throat.

Sick fucker.

"It's Maya, asshat."

He blinks his eyes slowly, familiarity blooming into them.

"You've grown out your hair, little bird." He whispers. "Just like when you were a young girl."

My hands form into fists. It takes every ounce of my self-control to not throw myself at him and rip his stupid face off.

Raza has none of my sympathy.

I recoil, curling my lip. "You asked for me. Well...here I am. Now talk."

Raza lowers his arm to his side. His fingers shake. "You are as same as you were then. I have no patience for your tantrums. If I could still use my powers, I would've taught you a lesson."

My heartbeat soared. Raza winced as the monitor beeped loudly in warning. I couldn't let him die so easily.

He looked scared.

I felt no satisfaction.

I calmed myself down, slowing my heartbeat till it was normal.

That hasn't happened in a while.

He always brought out the worst in me.

"Speak," I hiss. That foreign sensation burns through my veins like wildfire. I feel it squirm and twist inside of me. "I'm going to make sure you get a first-class ticket to hell if you don't start talking, old man. I don't have the patience either."

Raza sighs. His chest rattles, I can see bones poking out from underneath his hospital gown.

I brace myself for what comes next.

"Maya, tell me something."

I lean forward. My heart races in my chest. Ba dump. Ba dump. Ba dump.

"What?" I snarl.

We're at a precipice. I know it. It's all a matter of who makes the first move.

My father looks delighted as if he can hear my heart beating in my chest. He smiles but there's nothing in the line of his mouth that is comforting.

"What do you know about your siblings?"

I grit my teeth, ready to explode. "What siblings?!" I spit out. "Miriam and Amir are dead! Thanks to you, there's no one left!"

He chuckles low in his throat before he starts coughing again. There's blood on the corner of his lip that he wipes away with the sleeve of his ratty sweater.

Everything about him is unnatural. Including his blood.

The sharp scent of iron hits me. I know something is wrong with him. I can just feel it.

"Oh my little bird," he rasps out. "I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the others."

Good ol' Raza. Sucker punching me in the gut with last-minute information that sends my whole worldview crashing down.

Aren't parents just wonderful creatures?

"What others?" I can hear my voice. It's high-pitched and wobbly. "What. Others."

He coughs again. This time so hard that blood drips out of his nose. Raza does not attempt to clean it.

"I loved your mother, you must know that." He said, softly. "I've met countless people in all my centuries on this earth. She is—and always be—the love of my life."

I choke back my words. You don't hurt the ones you love. If you do, then it's not love.

I know that well enough.

What he did to my mother was unforgivable. What he did to my siblings was unforgivable. What he did to me was unforgivable!

He stared up at the ceiling above as if he were hoping for some higher being to appear. "I always wanted more children. Miriam and Amir were wonderful but you, Maya. You of all the others were my most perfect, my most powerful. If only I hadn't been so blind to you."

I hunch over as tears gather in my eyes. "No!" I said, squeezing my eyes shut. "Stop it! I don't want to hear it!"

He went on like he always did, without a care or regard. "Throughout the years I looked for women who possessed a certain...genetic criteria. Nobody was as perfect as your mother but I thought perhaps with the right guidance, I could cultivate enough children so that they may form abilities. Some were successful, others were not. It is not easy killing your own children but if they are weak then one could consider it a mercy killing."

"That's sick!" I cry out, absorbing the horror of it all like a dish towel absorbing blood. "You're fucking sick!"

"Perhaps." He lowers his head. His eyes are bloodshot now. "I have seven children, little bird. You are one of them. Two are dead by your hand. Four now remain."

I launch myself at him. I grab him by the front of his hospital gown and scream into his face. "Where are they?! What have you done to them, you monster?!"

He coughs again, struggling to get the words out. Blood is smeared on his lips and drips onto my hand.

I know I've messed up big time.

Maya, you fool!

"T-they're...safe. I hid them a-a-away."

"Where?" I inquire.

Raza laughs. He closes his eyes with a smile that is part maniacal and part lively. "I can feel them. Soon you'll be able to feel them too. We Anwar'a are bonded by blood, it calls to us. It is an intrinsic part of us. No matter how far you hide, no matter how you heal...we will always be a part of you, little bird. The sooner you accept that fact, the easier it will be for you."

I blink away the tears and release him. Raza lands on his bed, groaning in pain. His blood is smeared on the back of my hand.

It's black like ink.

I fear that it'll seep into my skin and never leave my blood.

"I hate you," I said. "I hate your very being with every single cell in my body. You lived like a tyrant and now you'll die as nothing. All these years...nothing more than a waste of time."

"No," Raza said. His voice sounds weaker. "No, not a waste. My children will live. My legacy continues with you."

Fuck legacy. I've gone to great lengths to ensure that his legacy dies.

"Where the fuck are they?" I snap.

"One is close, here on this continent. I kept her safe from the world. Do you remember how your mother used to teach you about the constellations? You must remember Taurus, the bull. Look northeast, where the red star shines the brightest. Under that, you will find her."

He laughs. It's a sharp and wispy noise that grates against my ears. Raza folds his hands over his chest.

"I hate you," I say. "What the fuck does that even mean, you cryptic fuck! I hate you so much."

"Yes...that is fine," he says as he starts to take his last few breaths. "Yes...all these centuries. Finally at rest. Lead our clan into the future, little bird. We must...survive. We...must...endure..."

My chest feels uncomfortably tight.

No, scratch that. It feels like a ton of bricks has been dropped into my lungs. All the air is replaced by cement and lost hope.

I take a step back, one after another. The monitor that is hooked to him lets out a large, unending beep that's keened in my ear like a fucking klaxon.

I turn on my heel and run out the door.

Fury calls my name as I brush past him. I don't hear him at all, only the sound of my own heart as it threatens to tear itself into pieces once more.

My feet slap against the pavement as I run through the unending corridors. I don't know where I'm going. I just want to get away from him.

His blood is still on the back of my hand, black as tar and foul as still water.

I stop after five minutes, my pants turning into gasps which then turn into sobs.

I fall to my knees and for the first time in two years, I cry my heart out.