[UNEDITED]

I opened my eyes, and I was breathing.

The surrounding was not clear, and after straining to look better for a while, I understood that I could not see with my left eye. Half of my face felt heavy and dead.

I was warm, and I could feel someone breathing on my neck. I moved slightly, and my back brushed to something solid.

An arm was wrapped over my waist, pinning me to my place.

"Hey," I heard Dylan's voice in my ears, "You're awake!"

I moved the tongue in my mouth, and it felt dry and heavy.

"Where am I?" I asked, "How did I end up here? And how long have I been out?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Dylan touched my nose, "You're in my room, and it's been eight days since that day."

I felt at home at once.

He removed his hands from around my waist, and then propped himself on his elbow, looking down at me.

"I don't remember much after it was over," I told him, finding it difficult to talk with feeling all heavy around, "What happened to my face?"

Dylan smiled, "Nothing. The part that was turned, started turning back to normal again after the time was over. The scales fell off, leaving the raw flesh showing. Half of your face healed, and the rest..."

I shivered, thinking how gross I must have looked then, or looked now.

I tried to move my hands, but they were heavy as well.

"Yeah, your whole body was skinless," Dylan informed me, "We had to do a bit of patching. Mel bandaged the back because that part needed to remain friction-less. And then she bandaged your face too."

"I can't move my hands," I breathed heavily, "And I cannot see with my left eye. Have I gone blind?"

Dylan shook his head, "No you haven't. It's because your entire face is bandaged, and we should be able to know after it comes off. And yeah, one of your hand was sliced, and the other had a chunk missing, so we had to bandage them as well."

I sighed, "It's a surprise that I am still alive."

Dylan frowned.

"How are you? How is everyone?" I asked him, "Are my parents okay? Has Benjamin been arrested?"

Dylan looked a little grim, "Aunt Mel is fine, and so are your parents. Your dad was discharged five days after, and your mom is doing great too. They came here last night to see you."

He paused, as though trying to make up his mind.

"There's something you need to know about your uncle," Dylan told me, "Remember you had hit him hard inside the lab? It didn't really go too well."

"What happened?" I asked, panic-stricken.

"He hit his head pretty badly. Half his body is paralyzed. The doctors cannot assure if he will survive," Dylan said.

I did not feel guilty, though I figured that I should. It didn't come.

"Where is he now?" I asked him.

"He is being held at the hospital."

"Why am I here?" I asked, "Why didn't mom and dad take me home?"

"About that," Dylan scratched his ear, "Well, something big happened."

I waited eagerly.

"The city was a mess of flesh and blood, and we had lost a lot of people. The bastard rebels that we saved actually turned on us after finding refugee, after the creatures died away. They were greater in number, and they somehow found their way to the hidden labs somehow, had your uncle in control and asked the government to step down. It was a mess. We had to go through another fight to get things settled down."

"And?" I asked.

"We lost," he said, "There's a new Government."

I left a disappointed grunt.

"The hunt for you, apparently, is still on," Dylan explained, "And the best part is that a majority of the rebels have not seen you. The ones who saw you the day they attacked your house, apparently, were killed in prison. Benjamin's orders."

I stared at him in surprise.

"Your uncle raised you in a great secrecy, and they have no inkling what you look like. I give him credit for that. Unless the population of Aneida sides up with them, you should be safe.

"Plus your facial features are pretty messed up now, so it's going to take them a while to actually find you out. Till then, you will be kept here."

"What happens after I am okay again?" I asked, "Will I be locked here forever?"

Dylan looked at me sympathetically. He understood my pain. I had been locked up for my entire life, but then when finally I had found some freedom, I did not spare one minute to roam about and explore. It would be one hell of a difficult job to be locked up again.

"We'll find something out," he placed a light kiss on my half-lips.

"How's Mel and Riley putting up with everything?" I asked him, a little afraid inside of what I might hear.

"They are okay. I think they have started to accept the fact now," he told me.

With Beth gone, there was no one left to take the major decisions of the family. Everything would fall on Mel now. But she was such a tender woman, and I did not know if she would be able to do so much.

"We had to bury Nan and Uncle Sam here, in the yard," Dylan said, looking at the door but at nothing in particular, "There was no space in the cemetery."

I shivered.

We lay there for a few more moments, and then I started to sit up.

"My back hurts," I told him as me helped to sit up.

"I understand," he told me.

Mel entered the room right then, and she had my parents with her.

"Naomi?" mom shouted my name as soon as she saw me awake. Then she rushed towards me.

Dad was leaning on a crutch. It pained me to see him like this.

"Mom," I hugged her and held her close, through it hurt to stretch my skin like that. Dylan quickly hopped off the bed, and left with Mel.

"How are you?" I asked them, "I missed you so much!"

"What have you done to yourself?" mom started crying.

Dad sat down beside me.

"Now, now, Maisie, stop crying. It takes plenty of guts to do what she did. I am proud of you my daughter!" he patted me lightly on my back. I smiled.

"Mom," I told her, "I am not sure if you have talked to Uncle Benjamin...about...how Eleanor Ivanov and I are related –"

Mom grunted, and I understood that they had already spoken about this. They knew that I was not their own daughter.

"I heard about him," I said, "Is he alive?"

"Unfortunately yes," mom spat, "But he is paralyzed, and I hope he stays that way. If he gets up, thousands of people are going to die again!"

I did not know how to react to that.

"The whole city is under sort of a lockdown now, no one knows what to do. Apparently there will be new rules and policies," dad explained.

"Do you think that they will make things even worse than it was before?" I asked him, "If that happens then we fought for nothing. All those people died for nothing."

"They are allowing the people to live like they want for all these days," dad said, "We are still in a state of confusion regarding some matters, especially whether the Rank System will still be there.

"From what we have heard, the new government will abolish the Rank system, and that is why a majority of Rank Two and Three people are supporting them instead of fighting. The Rank Ones are not so happy," dad took off his glasses.

I nodded. This is what I had wanted all along.

"We cannot say anything for sure dear," mom's lips quivered, "But they are looking for you, and I want you safe."

"I will be safe here, mom," I told them, "Very few people know about this place."

"I can't be thankful enough to these people," mom put her hands on her mouth, "They have done so much for you, for us!"

I shrugged. I wasn't sure divulging the relation between Dylan and me would bring in any good now.

"For now, the world has been told that you have died," dad told me, "So you have to stay that way. But we don't think the new leaders bought that, because they are obviously looking for you. I'd rather you take a new identity altogether."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"These new people, honey, they have brought in some weird technologies from the Old World. They are creating identity for all people here, basically enlisting all the people, and we have heard that everyone gets and ID card and no one will get food without showing their identity. There will be no food market. They are taking the ration distribution in their own hands."

"Wow," I was amazed, "They sure want to bring everyone into their palms."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"There's something else," dad said, "Your uncle wanted to meet you. He suspects that he would die soon, and he wanted to see you for one last time."

I huffed, "I am not sure if I can do that, but I will try."

We sat there in silence, and then I turned to dad.

"Will you ever be able to forgive him for what he did, dad?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "I have to be selfish here, Naomi. He was trying to protect his own blood, who happens to be my daughter too. I am torn between what to feel for him, and it worries me every day."

Mom started crying again.

"I deny believing that you two are not my parents," I said, and my eyes filled with tears, "It doesn't matter who gave birth to me. I know it's you people for me and I for you. The rest of the world is a lie."

They both hugged me, and we cried together.

"We should leave," mom said, "I don't want anyone to tail us and find here."

"Not that anyone can find you that easily," I said, "You have to literally walk through a maze to get in here."

Mom laughed.

"The security is not really up yet. People are roaming about freely without being questioned or stopped," dad informed, "So if you want to meet your uncle, we will be at the central hospital tomorrow night."

"Whatever you do, please stay safe Naomi," mom hugged me, "Please do not do anything rash. Whatever you do, please remember that two old people are waiting somewhere in the city, thinking and worrying about you."

"I will mom," I held her tight, "You guys please take care!"

I saw them leave the room, and there was a mixed feeling bubbling inside me. I was happy that they had come to see me, and at the same time I was very upset because I wasn't going home with them.

And I wasn't even sure if home was the same home anymore.

I heard voices right outside my room, and I thought I heard Mel. Then the voices ceased, and indeed, Mel entered the room.

"How are you doing?" I asked her as she came and sat beside me, holding the same old blue bag in her hands. It brought back a bunch of memories to me.

"I should ask you that, not the other way round," Mel laughed. She was the same old Mel, but she had lost much of that glow and liveliness.

"I am fine, but it hurts a lot!" I replied, trying to hold up my arms to her.

She nodded, "I might sound weird to you, but I'd rather the bandages stay on a little more, at least till those people stop looking for you."

"Mel?" I called her as she started to open the zip of her bag.

"Yeah?" she looked up.

"Thank you," I told her, and my eyes filled with water.

She reached out and patted my hand, "If you ever miss your mom, you know who to talk to."

I smiled at that.

She did some basic checkups, and then asked some questions regarding my pain. Nicole came into the room with two trays full of food, and Mel did a small appetite test on me. I did well.

Nicole would not look at me or talk to me, and she left after hovering for a few moments.

"She hates me," I pointed out.

"She is just going through a heartbreak, and then the deaths have affected her as well," Mel assured me.

Suddenly I was feeling guilty for everything.

"By the way," I suddenly remembered something, "Did you manage to do anything with the vials?"

"Not yet," she said, "When Dylan retrieved them, half of them were smashed, so those are out of order. In order to check the others, I will need better equipment, which might take up a lot of time."

My heart fell.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, after hesitating for a long time, "I have been thinking about this, but haven't told this to anyone."

"Tell me," I encouraged her.

"This AnEN, was probably the same formula that was given to the boys and Nicole, and it seemed to fail perfectly on your system."

"Yes?" I was excited. I knew where this was going. I just wanted her to confirm that.

"I was wondering whether we might use your blood to create what we have been looking for all these time? A cure for the boys and Nicole?" she said.

"You think that's possible?" I asked, completely gripped.

"I cannot be one-hundred percent sure, because this was the one-hundred and forty-sixth batch, whereas they were given the first batch. There could be alterations or additions that I might not be aware of," she explained.

"I understand," I nodded, "So, what do you suggest?"

"I remember you telling me about an underground lab at your place. Could it be possible that I can be given access to whatever equipment your uncle was using in his in-house lab?"

"Of course," I told her, "Of course you can use them!"

"Thank you," she smiled, "I'll see what I can do about it!"

Dylan entered the room, and Mel left the two of us alone.

He came and sat beside me.

"I want to go and meet Benjamin tomorrow," I told him, "I don't know what he will talk about, but I want to meet him one last time, just for the sake of it. He kept me alive and safe for all these years, and I cannot thank him enough for it."

"I understand," Dylan said, "I heard that he was being shifted to hospital tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I replied, "His condition is critical."

"It might be a difficult job, but I am sure we'll pull through."

"Let's see," I mused. If I could turn into a weird monster and fight those bizarre creatures myself, sneaking into the hospital to meet him should be a breeze.

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