Chapter Twenty-Four

Sometimes the hardest part of being an author is having to break the hearts of your characters 💔 Buckle up everyone!

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning, Orion drops T, and I back off in our apartment. She has been going back and forth checking on the shelter, but as soon as we are back, she all but runs there. There have been a few issues in the past few days and I know she is anxious to try and resolve them. I unpack our things and do a load of wash downstairs.

Sitting down for a moment trying to gather my bearings, I stare at the photos that Thalia has set out and they almost seem to have multiplied. I see a few photos from when she was younger and that makes me smile. Walking closer I see a small, faded photo tucked in the corner of a frame. Picking it up gingerly, the girl in the photo reminds me of Cathleen, but her eyes are brown. It must be one of Cathleen's cousins, I know she has a bunch from her Aunt Ruka.

Thinking of Thalia, we still haven't talked through everything, but both of our minds are preoccupied with the craziness of the situation at hand. It's hard to even think about salvaging our relationship when there are so many unanswered things running through my head. I need to keep searching for answers and I have a feeling the empty and locked up, shell of Paradigm is going to have a lot of them.

"Hey Mason," I say as I fold laundry. The phone sits on the dresser on speakerphone as I run around.

"I see you are back in Circa City," he says.

"Yes, I just got back."

"How did everything go?"

"It was rough, but we did a good job diffusing the situation and I learned a lot," I say, and I hear noise on the other end. He has the window cracked in his car.

"You sound tense," he says, and I sigh.

"Things are still messy between T and me," I admit.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asks me and I finish folding the laundry.

"Are you sparring today? I really want a good workout," I say, and he chuckles.

"I just finished filing paperwork with the school and I'm on my way to the gym now," he says, and I grab my empty backpack and grab everything I need.

"I will meet you there," I say, and we bid goodbye.

Shoving my Aegis things into my bag, I search around for my hand wraps and watch. Finding everything I need; I text T where I am going before walking out of the apartment and running to catch the bus. Texting Mason where I am, he lets me know he's stuck in some traffic. When I walk up to the gym, I see his friends waiting out front.

"Zana!" A few voices chorus and I walk over and greet them.

"Mason is running a little late he was on a date," Link says wiggling his eyebrows. Tilting my head to the side I wonder where he is going with this. Link from what I can tell is definitely more of the trouble-making type compared to his twin Levi.

"Oh, was he now? Who with?" I ask seeing through his bluff.

"Some girl he met at school," Levi, his twin chimes in. Maybe I underestimated Levi's meddling abilities.

"So, was he texting me while he was on said date?" I ask amused. Clearly, they are lying to get a rise out of me. My ability might make me denser than most, but I am not that dense mentally.

"They are just trying to rile you up," Jeremiah says reading my mind.

"Mason is just a friend, you twats," I say laughing. He would never see me as anything more than his sparring partner.

"I mean can you blame us for how much you two 'spar'," Akeno says snickering and I whack him in the arm. Now they are all ganging up on me? We'll see how long that lasts once we start sparing.

"Oh no, what did you four do?" Mason's voice rings out, but the amusement is clear.

"How was your date?" I ask him, laughing.

"We are just friends!" Mason yells play fighting with Link before shoving him towards the door.

"Get it in the ring," I say before following them inside.

We square up and spar for a little over an hour before I notice the time. It's getting later in the day and I want to go back to Paradigm before it gets dark. I need to run rounds tonight and there is some terrible weather coming in after midnight.

"Hey boys I should get going," I say walking over and grabbing my things. Undoing my wraps, there is no crystallization on my hands. They've become used to the impact of sparring.

"Where are you off to so quickly?" Link asks me confused. The boys sit on the edge of the ring and look at me expectantly. I wasn't super friendly with them, but I have sparred with them quite a few times, I guess it makes sense for them to be curious.

"I have some other things I need to do tonight," I say simply.

"That being?" Link asks me and everyone climbs down.

"Somebodies nosy today," I say deflecting. Why did they care so much suddenly? I know we've been getting closer over the last few weeks but this feels off.

"Is everything okay?" Mason asks me quietly and I give him a tight-lipped smile.

"Everything is just fine," I say. Walking out of the gym, my phone starts ringing, and I pick it up and walk away from the group.

"What's up?" I ask Aviva.

"Orion and I have spent the last few hours trying to hack into the Paradigm mainframe with very little success," she says, and I sigh.

"Well, that sucks," I grumble, and I kick the ground.

"I'm not sure where you want to go from here. We can keep working on it from here, but we don't have a hacker at our access, unfortunately," Aviva grumbles. Debating all my choices quietly, I can feel a few gazes on my back, and I hear some harsh whispering.

"I need to think about this," I fib. I've already made up my mind, but it is something I want to do alone.

"Of course, Zana, just let us know," Aviva says before hanging up quickly. Keeping my phone near my ear, I listen to the boys.

"Don't butt in, she'll flip out," Mason hisses angrily and my heart skips a beat.

"We want to help man!" Link hisses and I freeze. He didn't, he wouldn't have.

"Shut up, I think she's off the phone," Mason growls and I pull the phone away and make a gesture of hanging up my now nonexistent call. Swallowing hard, I spin around and walk back over.

"You guys didn't have to stop sparing on my account," I say forcing a smile and I analyze Mason's body language. He looks like he wants to run.

"We wanted to talk to you about something," Link says, and his jaw is set, and Levi looks uncomfortable.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mason told you the truth," I say, and he panics instantly. Mason seems to recoil from my flat tone and won't look at me anymore. Anger floods my system as his disposition screams how guilty he is.

"I trusted you," I hiss out and I step forward. Jeremiah and Link step in my way.

"Zana, I can explain," he says, desperation evident in his eyes.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this," I snap, and I take a step back and glare him down. Betrayal slowly consumes me and makes it harder for me to breathe, he is the only friend I have, and I told everyone he could be trusted. I trusted him with everything, he's the only person I have ever trusted like this and he told them!

"They figured it out, I tried to deny it, but it was just straining all of our friendships because they knew I was lying Zana; they understand," he says and there is a look in his eyes that I can't decipher.

"So, you put your friendships with them above the trust I gave you?" I ask him and he groans and rubs his eyes frustrated. I know that was a low blow, but the pain in my chest makes me care a lot less.

"Zana, please," Jeremiah says, and he tugs on his top dreads frustrated. His dark, toned arms flex and show off all his black linework tattoos. Ignoring him completely, I turn to walk away from them. Something blue lights up at my feet and I am stuck in my place.

"Huh?" I ask confused. Jeremiah walks in front of me, hand still touching one of his tattoo's. He releases it and the dark, electrical blue ring disappears.

"We understand," he repeats sincerely, and I sigh.

"I don't care if all of you are metahumans, Jeremiah. I trusted Mason; he was my friend. I didn't trust my secret with all of you, he broke my trust. This conversation is over," I say firmly, and I knock my shoulder into him as I try to walk past.

"Zana, please listen to us for a few moments," Link says, and I clench my fists angrily and grit my teeth

"No, I suggest you watch yourselves. I don't take that secret lightly," I hiss before finally escaping their presence. Disappearing down strange alley's, I wind up at the library and walk inside before going to the bathroom to change. Quickly leaving, I turn on my earpiece and take to the skies. Dialing Faith, I wait anxiously, I need to talk to her. I know I can trust her with this.

"Hi Zana, how is it going?" She asks me cheerily and I hear the high pitch noise in the background.

"Are you with the team?" I ask her carefully and she pauses.

"No, I am not; what's wrong?" She asks seriously.

"Mason spilled my secret to his friends, they are all metahumans and seem convinced they want to help and that they understand," I say frustrated.

"Well this just got messy," she grumbles, and I hear her sit down.

"I don't know what to do, and I am panicking," I admit. My heart rate is still accelerated and my chest hurts. I thought I could trust him!

"First things first, breathe Zana. We can figure this out together," she says soothingly and the tears flooding my eyes calm down slightly as I take some deep breaths.

"Do you think you can trust them with your secret?" Faith asks me and I sigh.

"I don't know them well Faith, Mason loves and respects all of them so much but it makes me uncomfortable. How many people have I put in prison and would love to come after me?" I ask and she hums in response.

"Just because Mason trusts them doesn't mean you have too," Faith says seriously, and I lean into the wind and catch a draft.

"What do I do?" I ask flustered as I approach the building.

"Let me make this very simple for you, do you want them to know who you are, or not?" Faith asks and I have to listen to my gut. I can't trust them right now. I can't handle that right now. The anxiety I would have knowing they are walking around with my biggest secret is to much in addition to this chaos.

"No," I say firmly as I land. Turning off my location services, my body hurts just being here.

"Then we have a cleanup on aisle five tonight," she says, and I sigh. I nod even though she can't see me.

"Okay, I will let you know when I am back in the city," I say.

"Where are you?" Faith asks confused and I stare at the now empty Paradigm.

"Searching for answers," I say, and she pauses.

"I'll keep that between us, Orion and I were going to hang out with Cabe tonight anyway so just give us a call and we can handle this together," she says, and I relax ever so slightly. Something about Faith is so unhinging and dangerous, but she's also fiercely protective and caring.

"Can do," I say.

Hanging up the call, I fly over the roof of the building and land in the back. Easily picking the lock Cathleen put on there, I enter the building completely exposed and not ready for what or who I could find. Drifting through the hallways, I try to orient myself when the first flashback happens. I am on the floor in the corner, my hands in front of me as I scream and cry. Shaking away the memory I focus and try to continue to navigate the maze.

Stumbling around a corner, I see what looks like an office. Everything is too quiet and my breathing sounds like a scream as I approach the wooden door. The lights are all off, no one is here. We rounded everyone up, but I still feel as if someone is about to jump out and shoot me. Testing the doorknob, the metal is alarmingly cold in my hand. Taking a step back, I aim one swift kick at the door and the lock breaks from the impact.

"Please let it be empty," I mumble and when I open the door, no one is inside. Leaving the door open, I listen carefully and find the building to only be creaking and the air making noises occasionally.

I start opening filing cabinets and find them surprisingly empty. Quietly closing some, I search for anything that would be related to my file or my others. I search by B, for our last name before flipping to Z to look for my file or a file on Zaneliah. I find a folder with my name on it and my heart skips a beat as I yank it out, only for it to have a single sheet of paper in it. Opening it carefully on the scratched and empty desk, I see my photo with a massive red missing stamp over it. Holding it carefully, I tuck it into my bag.

"What would her name be?" I ask allowed and something startles me. Looking closely, I see it is just a rat. Thumbing through files quickly, I search for a picture of her but can't seem to find any. Walking over to the other set of cabinets, they are locked. Making a small crystal, I jam it in the lock.

"Release!" I hiss and there is a pop. Forcing the partially unlocked drawer open, there is a horrible metal screech and I freeze. Looking out into the hall, I keep waiting for someone, anyone to find me.

The air is knocked straight out of me as I realize this is a drawer of all of the deceased patients here, but they are all organized by number rather than name. I start pulling files left and right and shoving them back in when they aren't the ones I am looking for. Getting to the back of the drawer, the numbers are running out when I pull a file out and a familiar face stares back at me. The only thing in the file is a picture of her with the words deceased stamped along the bottom. Flipping it over desperate for more information, I see something written.

"Subject number 326, Xyla B.," It reads, and my heart flutters. Flipping it back over, I see her face again and I am one hundred percent sure it is her.

"Xyla," I repeat allowed, that was my mother's name. A strange sensation courses through me and I quickly tuck the photo away. The name Zaneliah suddenly makes more sense in conjunction with the name Xyla.

I need to try and find a way to get Aviva onto the Paradigm network. Searching the entire office for anything, a computer, a tablet, a password I come up empty. I break into a few other offices and find them completely empty. My nerves continue to prickle as I move through the building. I want to escape; I can't stand to be here anymore. Quickly moving through the unnervingly quiet building, I slip out the back and take off as soon as my feet hit the grass.

Checking my phone, I cringe when I see three missed calls from Aviva, two missed calls from T, a missed call from a Faith, and a few text messages. Debating who the call first, I fly over the city and call Thalia first.

"What's up?" I ask

"I'm not sure where you right now, but something just told me I needed to call and make sure you were okay," T says quickly.

"I'm okay," I say surprised.

"Are you sure?" She asks me worried.

"Some things happened but I'm trying to handle it,' I say ambigiously.

"Zana, please tell me what happened," T says, and I sigh.

"I'm on my way home," I say before answering Aviva's call.

"You fell off the map, is everything okay?" Aviva asks.

"That's weird, let me check why," I say before quickly hanging up. Zipping back into the city, I carefully return home and find Thalia doing paperwork on the couch.

"Okay, so what happened?" T asks me concerned, she puts all the paperwork aside and I walk over and dig the two photos out of the bag and hand them to her. Sitting on the arm of the couch, she looks at them in surprise and looks at me. The police didn't sweep the offices, they focused on the labs.

"Where did you get these?" She asks me softly.

"I went and broke into Paradigm searching for answers," I say quietly.

"Zana, that's not safe! Why would you do that? Why didn't you take back up?" T asks me surprised.

"I need answers and I wanted to see if there was anything left there," I say but one look and she sees through me.

"What else happened Zana?" She asks me sadly and I turn away.

"Mason spilled  my secret to his friends," I say sadly, and my chest hurts at the thought. Answering Faith's text messages, T looks surprised.

"What are you going to do? Why did he do that? What happened?" She spitballs and I sigh.

"It's going to be a clean-up on aisle five," I say hoping she understands, a dark look crosses her eyes and I know she understands. This isn't something new to the team.

"Who's cleaning it up?" T asks me sympathetically.

"Faith and I are going to handle the situation tonight," I say and that makes Thalia raise a brow.

"Why only you two?" She questions and I resist the urge to sigh again.

"I haven't told Cathleen or Aviva what happened yet," I grunt frustrated and T gives me a sharp look.

"Zana they are your teammates now, you need to tell them before you clean everything up," she says.

"I know T! I can handle the situation," I say flustered.

"I know you can then do it," she says seriously.

Turning on my heel I climb out the kitchen window without saying goodbye. Running rounds feels like it takes centuries to do and by the time I arrive outside of Mason's home my stomach is in knots. Standing across the street in some shadows, I can hear their voices chattering away inside and my chest starts to hurt.

"There she is," I hear a male voice say and when I look up, I see Orion and Faith.

"Hey," I say quietly.

"You look miserable," Orion says before pulling me into a hug. I freeze in his arms for a moment before relaxing, he's just trying to comfort me.

"This is my worst nightmare," I grumble, and he releases me.

"We're going to fix this," Faith says reassuringly, and I motion for her to follow me. Orion disappears and we walk around the back of the house and I bang on the door. Faith quickly turns off her watch and the high pitch noise dies. She stands right behind me and almost out of sight and I am thankful for her trying to keep a low profile. The door is thrown open and I see a confused Mason, his confusion quickly turns to anguish.

"We need to talk," I say seriously, and he swallows and gestures for me to come in.

"Zana," they all chorus shocked and I yank down my mask. Faith stands one step behind me and I can tell she is making them uneasy.

"I want answers," I say seriously, and Mason sits by his friends.

"Of course," he says quickly.

"Why did you tell them, Mason?" I snap and he shifts uncomfortably.

"It all started the first time you sparred with Jeremiah; he could tell you were different but never landed a strong enough hit for him to notice what your skin does. The Link noticed it the last time we all took turns sparring, he said his knuckles bled forever because it felt like he was beating on a rock," Mason says.

"And?"

"That's when the four of them started ganging up on me and trying to get answers, I deflected as long as possible Zana, but they knew I was lying and it was just hurting everyone at that point," Mason says. Is it selfish of me to wish he had just kept his mouth shut? Why didn't he talk to me before spilling everything? Maybe it is selfish... but the pain in my chest reminds me that this was a little bit deeper then sparring partners and more then just friends.

"You should have asked me before you said anything to them," I say seriously, and Mason drops his gaze to the floor.

"We didn't give him enough time, we were persistent and in hindsight, we should have backed off," Levi says and that doesn't ease my anger.

"You know what they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty," I say bitterly, and nobody meets my gaze. Mason did try to protect my secret, but ultimately his friendship with them was more important. I can't fault him for that, he has known them much longer, but I still can't leave the issue unresolved.

"Faith," I say softly and all eyes flicker to the short woman beside me.

"Zana, what's going on?" Mason asks scared.

"Clean up on aisle five, leave Mason for last," I mumble, and all of them jump to their feet.

"Relax gentlemen," she says and my eyes cross and I sit down. Her voice is so smooth and irresistible, I just sit and listen. I give her the names of all of the boys and she slowly and methodically starts erasing all of the personal memories I have with them. She completely erases me from their memories and slowly puts them to sleep, until she gets to Mason.  I stand back up and look him in his unfocused eyes, I know he isn't mentally present but that almost makes it worse.

"You really care for him, don't you?" Faith asks me softly.

"He's the only friend I've had in a long time," I say trying not to cry. The tears burn in my eyes and I wrap my arms around myself. The heartache that consumes me makes it hard to focus but I know we need to leave soon; Mason's mom will be returning within the hour.

"That's not true, you have us and the team," Faith says, and she gives me a side hug. Orion appears next to me, and I nearly topple over from shock.

"Sorry," he says sheepishly.

"I don't want his memory wiped, but I know it needs to happen," I say to Faith and she gives an understanding look.

"We will have to be more careful with what we erase and what we keep since you are closer with him," Faith says.

"Okay," I say. I trust her to help me figure that out.

Faith helps me hide everything in his mind that would allow him to remember anything about me being Aegis. She helps me plant a fake memory as well as to why we are no longer speaking along with shortening his memory of how long we have trained together. When all is done, Faith puts him to sleep as well. All of them are now passed out on the couch.

Grabbing my things Orion drops me off at my apartment before leaving me alone. I can hear T snoring from the other room as I change my clothes. Crawling onto the couch, there is an awful pang in my chest and I finally let myself cry and what I just lost.

Poor Zana 😭😭 losing a friend is always hard, but having to erase your friends memories to protect your secret from the world? I guess that's an issue most can't relate too 😂

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XX Cc