"What?" 

The oxygen in the room evaporated at her words. Father? I had to be hearing things. There was no way that man was my father, there wasn't a paternal bone in his body. All he ever did was lie or evade me. Only when it was absolutely necessary did he actually do anything that was remotely helpful. My father? Not a chance.

But you don't remember anything about your father, the little voice cooed from the background. God, I hated that tiny fucking voice. It always had a point, one that up until now I hadn't given much thought to. My focus had been on my mother to the point of obsession. The idea of my father never crossed my mind and I never thought to question why.

Many thoughts plagued my mind, screamed to pass through my lips. I wanted answers, I needed answers. But my tongue was tied, much like my brain was. The rational part of my brain was at war with the rising confusion and anger.

How could he lie about something like that?

"You had no idea, did you, sweetheart?"

I shook my head, the only thing I could do to answer her question. Her fingers brushed against my cheek. Was I crying? My hand flew to the other cheek to discover the dampness of tears, which I quickly rubbed away with the palm of my hand. Crying wasn't my style and yet here I was, shedding tears and for what? A man who I wasn't sure how I felt about anymore.

"I... I don't have time for this," I forced out on a shaky breath. We couldn't afford for me to fall apart, not yet. "I need to figure out how to break out of here. Even if Isaac gets inside he'll never find us in here."

My mother's eyes watched me, clearly concerned with my dismissal of the father bomb she just dropped on me. In her time away many things had changed, for starters I'd grown up. I'd also wager the man she loved back then wasn't the one on his way in. Her eyelids fell along with a look of concentration over her features, her voice a whisper when she spoke.

"We won't get out using conventional methods."

A stillness settled in the room around us. I wasn't sure what I expected but as time slipped by it wasn't irritation that grasped at my nerves.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't speak, not at first. Her eyes squeezed further shut and her jaw set, almost as if she were in pain before her eyes flew open and with them, the door to our cell. 

My knees felt weak as my head began to spin, realization plowed into me with the force of a tractor-trailer. She's one of them. I'm one of them. I didn't have the mental nor physical strength for any more surprises. I was done. Before I was able to kiss the floor once again my mother was at my side.

"I never wanted this life for you."

"Stop." The words left my lips in a harsh exhale. With a deep breath, I jerked away from her. All will be revealed in time, they had said, on numerous occasions. I fucking wish it hadn't. Everything they had said proved to hold truth, twisted into a riddle that I now understood. The mind games had started long ago and would continue.

"I really don't have time for whatever you, whatever we, are. I can't think about that right now. I need to find Isaac or my friend Useless. So unless your little parlor trick can help locate them just stop. Okay?"

Hurt flashed across her face before a steely facade replaced it. I almost felt guilty for my words but I reminded myself I couldn't afford the luxury of an emotional breakdown. It had to be put on the back burner for now.

"Isaac has breached the hive's walls undetected. This way."

My mother turned and took off at a run down the hallway. I followed on her heels, adrenaline now hot in my veins. Nervousness hung in my lungs every time I imagined turning a corner and finding Isaac. What would I say to him now that I knew his dirty little secret? Did it really change anything between us?

"It changes everything."

The voice was in my head again except this time it was my mother's. "I really wish you wouldn't do that," I wheezed, "Even if you are my mom it's still fucking creepy."

Before a reply could be uttered, internally or externally, I came to a screeching halt as I ran into my mother's still frame. Just beyond where she stood I saw them, two looming figures as they emerged from a room. 

"We're running out of time." A familiar voice grumbled in irritation.

Isaac.

Without thinking I slipped past my mother and bolted down the corridor. Never in a hundred, no make that a million, years would I have guessed I'd be happy to lay eyes on the man I'd spent the last few years of my life despising. Without warning, I crashed into his sturdy frame. Part of me was convinced he'd stiffen up, maybe even push me away but instead, his arms pulled me closer.

"Oh thank God," He breathed his grip tightening around me just before he held me at arm's length to look me over. "Are you okay?"

I offered a curt nod, our eyes latched in a deathlock. I realized in that moment much of my anger towards him no longer existed, at least not pertaining to the things it once had. I was now only angry about one lie, one hidden truth that could have made a world of difference in my life these last few years.

My hand came up and collided with the side of Isaac's face, the sharp sound a faint echo in the otherwise quiet hall. "That's for lying to me."

His eyes never once left mine and despite having just been slapped they reflected sadness rather than irritation. I expected him to have some lame justification about it being necessary or that I'd get over it one day. What he uttered next threw me off. "I'm so incredibly proud of you kiddo."

Emotion wedged itself at the back of my windpipe as my nose began to tingle. Behind me, someone cleared their throat, the sentimental mood broken in a single second. 

"Not to intrude on the very awkward family reunion, " Useless interrupted. "But there's a woman lurking down the hall."

Mom.

My eyes snapped up to find my mother still stationed at the end of the hall where I left her, eyes fixated on the man that had positioned himself between me and her. I placed my hand on Isaac's tense shoulder to gain his attention, my words a meager whisper.

"It's  mom."

words- 1150
total- 18553
written- 04/28/2020
last edited- 04/30/2020