Gen Two- Chapter Thirty Six

My back instantly straightened up, but my chest had a different idea of what I should do. The grating of the main cracked rib was so definite that I could feel the unsettling movement right before the now familiar searing pain erupted dark spots in the corner of my eyes. I instinctively curled back up, but I at least managed to catch the cough that rattled in my throat. It was even better that whoever was going to enter hadn't fully swung the door open yet. My sudden, random movement went unnoticed. Footsteps soon approached, however, and I made sure to freeze all further movement.

With a combination of more fear and pain from my injuries, my gaze remained resolute on the floor. The two who soon stood in front of me were faceless in my mind as I only watched their shoes. Just the bottom half of their bodies told me quite a lot though. The man was red and yellow, and thus the office was clearly fashioned around him. He was probably the main one in charge. The red and purple woman would be his companion CEO. Was she possibly even his wife? They stood too close and too comfortably next to each other to be nothing more than mere business partners. However, without glancing up to see how old their faces looked, they could be siblings, cousins or even father and daughter.

     "Well," the man abruptly started with a hint of a sigh after folding his arms, "This wasn't quite what we were expecting to deal with today. A simple glance at how things were going has apparently shifted into an investigation of an employee going beyond his boundaries for a time period quite beyond our grasp."

My brows furrowed slightly. It had been pretty easy to figure out Buckeye hadn't gotten permission to capture me, but was the man truly hinting that Buckeye hadn't had permission to take dad either? He had been held prisoner for ten years without it being allowed, and no one had noticed? It was difficult to believe.

Suspicion welled up within me as I kept staring at their feet. The man's voice had jolted me. I listened to what he was saying, but at the same time I frowned slightly at the sound of his voice. There was something about it that struck a cord within me. However, I couldn't place the sensation at all. Was it reminiscent of something I'd once heard? Surely that would make the most sense.

     "It is clear you have been through a lot," the woman spoke now, and there was no same reaction with her voice, "I must apologize to you for that. Buckeye has been a highly effective worker for us ever since he joined, and we credit much of our success in this department to him. However, as stated, and despite the impression you must have now of our organization, he has overstepped the lengths of his authority. We do not approve of such harsh measures except for extreme circumstances, and even then the two of us are meant to approve them first. From the information Challah has been able to gather, your father's intrusion into our system did warrant action on our part, but we believe reasonable compromises can be made in cases such as that. In your case, Buckeye has risked more by doing what he did than by simply having us deal with you in the manner we would have if he had alerted us properly. I would like to say then that we have every intention of settling this matter peacefully for both parties and returning you home. What we need in return, however, is your utmost cooperation."

My shoulders didn't droop quite so heavily upon hearing that. The woman did speak with a sense of confident command, but there was a gentleness and kindness to her words as well. Her promise was genuine and real. I could hope and not have that hope be a pitiful delusion.

On the other hand, the revelation that I wasn't just going to be killed and dumped somewhere because my existence was pointless to them made me more confident in the wholly wrong way. I sat straighter and still avoided looking right at them, and I grew smugly cocky for no apparent reason.

     "I would most like to talk about the specifics of what your father was doing, but let's start simple," the man resumed speaking, "Challah, despite her talents in almost every other area, has always been horrible with names. She did not think to get yours."

I tilted my head to the side, admired the wall, and said nothing.

     "I am asking you for your name." the man pressed a bit harder.
     "Seems like you have the same bad habit as your assistant. Why don't you tell me your name first? Isn't that the polite way to do things?" I huffed arrogantly.

I would have smacked myself in the head if my face didn't already ache with a vengeance. I would be able to go home if I cooperated. This was not the time to be stubborn.

     "My name is Cinder," he introduced in a stiffer voice after a good, long pause, "This is my wife, Heart. That is the extent of what you need to know about us."

Okay, so they were husband and wife. Got it. I nodded dismissively at Cinder's words, and, although my name danced at the tip of my tongue, my lips remained tightly closed.

     "I believe that's your cue to tell us your name, son." Cinder instructed with even more command.
     "I'm not your son." I scoffed back.

What the hell was wrong with me? Was I letting off all my steam accrued by being crushed under Buckeye's might- lashing out now that the repercussions weren't so severe? Had Buckeye knocked me around hard enough to cause brain damage? The second option seemed the more likely one given my idiocy as I was practically throwing away my ticket to freedom. Cinder looked at Heart, and, although I couldn't see his expression, I got the distinct impression he basically gave her a "Is this kid for real?" glance of exasperation.

     "My name is Coal." I spoke after mentally slapping my brain to try and put it back in line.

There was an understandable silence after I finally caved.

     "Coal?" Heart repeated with a hint of surprise and confusion.
     "That is a rather...unusual choice of a name for someone of your color." Cinder added suspiciously.
     "Thank you for being original and saying the exact same thing everyone else has said when they learn my name." I retorted sarcastically.

Good lord, I really had a death wish, huh? However, for whatever reason, I had immense difficulty stopping despite the annoyance in Cinder's voice increasing.

     "Alright, so...Coal," he said slowly in distrust, "I assume you have a last name to go with that."
     "Surprisingly, I do."
     "I don't suppose you feel like sharing it?"
     "Yeah, no, I don't feel like it."

Oh. My. God. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with me? The tolerance Cinder had granted me by not giving up on me right away was all but gone. I could sense the strong glare on his face, and he towered over me with a much more dominating stance.

     "It's Vivid," I spat out quickly, forcing myself past my stupidity, "My last name is Vivid."

I wasn't sure what the two CEOs would say back to me after that, but them turning absolutely silent wasn't what I expected. A pause the length of a second or two would have been fine. However, they stood still save for their glances back and forth at each other for an uncomfortably long time. My heart picked up pace as I feared I'd definitely ruined my chances at being let go.

     "Coal Vivid, is it?" Cinder spoke even slower than before and in a condescending tone, and I nodded earnestly, "Okay, so, I was willing to be quite reasonable with you given how poorly one of my employees treated you, and how he 'hired' you without proper authority or reason. However, now I don't know what to do with you. I don't tolerate bullshitting for long, and I especially don't like liars."
     "I'm...I'm not lying? Wha-what I am I lying about?" I sputtered nervously.
     "Your name is not Coal Vivid."
     "What? N-no, it is. I don't know where my stuff was taken," I patted my pockets despite knowing my phone and wallet would not be there, "But, but if you look at my-"
     "Stop talking." Cinder demanded harshly.

I shut up instantly. I tried to anyway. My faster heartbeat had me breathing heavier, and my heavier breathing pressed my lungs more painfully against my broken ribs. There was no stopping several wet, vibrating coughs from escaping my lips. It took all my strength to quell them before they grew out of control, and when I did my head grew heavy and ached in a new way that didn't make my situation any better. I made sure to hide the sensation from the two in front of me as best I could though, and after another unpleasant stretch of silence Cinder issues another command.

     "Let's just go straight to you telling me everything you know. I want to know what your father was doing as well as how you came to be involved. And, please, stop being a smartass. You're only going to make things harder for yourself."

I nodded solemnly and took a deep breath as best I could to try and calm myself.

     "I was ten when dad disappeared. We were having a bunch of friends and family over, and dad went to get ice cream for us. However, he never came back. His disappearance was marked as an action on part of The Company's move."
     "Why would they want to go after him?" Heart interjected in curiosity.
     "My mother was Ethereal. It was reasoned her issues with them had something to do with them trying to mess with our family."
     "That Ethereal is your mother?" Heart remarked in amazement before she frowned, "But, wait- she was your mother?"
     "She always had health problems. It was discovered several months ago that she had lung cancer, and, while she managed to make it into remission, she was so weakened by the treatments that she passed away. I found out the day I was caught, and it was basically the reason why I was caught."
     "I'm very sorry to hear of that." Heart expressed sympathetically.

I nodded again, but had no clue what to say in return. I didn't want to think about mom. I hesitated, waiting for Cinder to speak again, but when he said nothing I had no choice but to continue.

     "To make dad's disappearance worse, mom soon revealed that she was pregnant. Dad had no clue. Mom's intense morning sickness hospitalized her at one point, and I was walking to her room when I overheard her talking to my uncle. She vented to him. She admitted it was a different group, your group, that had taken dad because there was something he was trying to find out using your information. It was her every belief that he had been killed. After a few weeks, it came to their attention that I'd overheard them. They didn't tell me much of anything besides confirming that dad had been doing illegal sneaking around before making me promise to forget about it all and say nothing. So I did."

I sighed and fought back more coughing.

     "Ten years passed, and dad's fate remained a mystery. That is, until one day where I picked my littler sisters up from school where we walked through the front door and there he was. He had a huge scar down the side of his face," I traced the spot where the injury was on my own face, "But he was alive and in perfectly good condition otherwise. He told us a tale of how he had no idea where he had been taken, he had done nothing else but work in a warehouse under the heel of a man named Buckeye, and that no answers were given to him before he was put unconscious a second time in order to be returned home. I naturally knew he partly lying and partly omitting a chunk of the truth. When my mom and uncle told him I knew more than everyone else, I was simply told again to not ask questions and stay out of it."

Grinning wryly, my voice quieted. How nice those brief few weeks had been where everything had been almost fine.

     "It hadn't been a month yet since dad had been back when one of my friends asked to borrow some of my his notes. He's an astronomer, and he had always let us borrow his work to basically copy for whatever school assignments would accept such a topic despite him grumbling about it each time. It was the same this time around. Dad basically rolled his eyes at the request, but he did tell me there were some notes my friend might be able to use. Those notes, he said, were on his flash drive. Well, I found a flash drive in the port of his computer, and I took it to my own computer to send the information over. The last thing I expected to see was the secret to what dad had been trying to discover. His parents died when he was a baby. Or so everyone thought. Dad had pieced together enough information to suspect they were actually murdered, and, like I mentioned, he apparently believed your group had a hand in their deaths. What was on that flash drive was his collection of support for that belief. Really though, there was nothing that told me about this organization. It just opened my eyes to dad's suspicion."

I paused, desperately needing a deeper breath for my struggling lungs, but I sized up Cinder as well. His interest was piqued, and his irritation wasn't as prominent.

     "Dad burst into my room a minute later," I continued, "Unfortunately, I had missed the part where he said that the flash drive I needed was in his drawer- not the one in the port. I got the fun news that Buckeye was remotely watching the house as he had scheduled that day with dad so he could watch dad destroy all those notes. But with me moving the drive to an unauthorized computer and opening those files...well, I'd accidentally screwed everything up big time. Dad, obviously knowing there would be repercussions, forbade me from going anywhere on my own. That was annoying but doable at first, but as mom got sicker and sicker the stress had me growing more and more paranoid. My girlfriend threw me a party to cheer me up. It was then when I returned home from the party where I heard my sister talking to someone, dad, I think, on the phone about how mom had died. I just...I just lost it. I couldn't walk through the door. I couldn't control anything I did. All I could do was run as it felt like her death wouldn't be real if I never faced it. As you can imagine though, me running into the woods near our suburb gave Buckeye the perfect opportunity he needed. He knocked me out, brought me here, got me working in the warehouse, and enjoys beating the ever loving crap out of me every goddamn fucking single day."

I earned back a few sympathy points at the end there. Daring to look up slightly higher but still not at eye-level, Cinder appeared as he had when he first walked in the room. He studied me once more. I figured he was trying to suss out another lie, but we both knew there were none.

     "What happened yesterday that caused the commotion? Challah reported to us that quite a few employees spotted you flying down the hallways looking positively terrified." Heart wondered.
     "Buckeye was messing around with me more than normal. He played this 'game' with me that had me earning a ten minute 'lesson', which is his way of saying he's going to beat me up. Then he got some yellow guy, Quince is what he called himself, not sure if it's his real name, to act as if he was another intern to gain my trust. He fed me some lies to have me attempt to escape with him, but he led me straight to Buckeye. There is no doubt in my mind he was going to use my escape attempt as an excuse to seriously just, well, I don't even know. I probably wouldn't be able to even move at this point if I hadn't fled back to my room before they got their hands on me."
     "Quince is indeed another manager in this department, and that fact that we now know Buckeye, Fushion, Kahl, and Quince have had a hand or have been keeping quiet about this makes me quite certain there's a bit of cleaning that needs to be done," Cinder shook his head slowly, "That is hardly a matter for you to hear of, however, so let's go back to the top once more. Now, I just want to say that the idea that our organization had a hand in the death of a couple strikes me as quite odd. Killing people actually complicates things much more than finding common ground. We do not issue such commands on a whim, and I have no recollection of your grandparents' deaths being ordered. Yet, given this current situation you're in with Buckeye, perhaps it could be another matter that slipped by unnoticed. It sounds as if you do not know much, and I do believe that. Bear with me then as I try to gather more from what you do know. Starting simple, tell me more about your father. What is his name, for instance? How would he have knowledge that would allow him to access our data?"
     "His name is Amaranth. Last name Vivid, if that wasn't obvious. From what I've been told, my uncle-"

A sharp inhale interrupted me. It came from Heart, and it got me curious enough to finally glance up fully. She stared at me with wide eyes, her skin pale, before slowly turning to look at her husband. Cinder himself gave me an odd look. All emotion dropped out of his face. He stared, unblinking, his mouth slightly opening and closing several times before his voice croaked as he spoke much less confidently than before.

     "Your father's name is Amaranth Vivid?" he questioned.
     "Yeah? I confirmed with a confused tilt of my head, not sure why that would be the thing that would be so important, "And my name is actually Coal Vivid. I don't know why you think I'm lying. Dad named me after my grandfather, the one that was killed. He named my older sister, the one I mentioned talking on the phone, after my grandmother, Desire, as well. That kind of naming heritage runs pretty strong in our family, given how my other uncle named his son after his father, but that's...beside the point..."

I trailed off as the look of surprise and almost alarm increased dramatically on Heart's face. She turned her head between me and Cinder with even more fervor, and Cinder appeared to have his breath completely locked in his chest. I stared at him waiting for an explanation, but that was when I noticed something. I had seen his face before. I had actually been seeing it my whole life. It was ridiculous. Cinder and Uncle Blaze even wore the exact same kind of glasses. It made sense then why I'd been so smart with him earlier. All those sarcastic replies, it was how Uncle Blaze and I bantered back and forth. Cinder's voice was just different enough, but also similar enough to be the same. The muscles in my face relaxing from slowly building shock and realization, catching eyes with Heart showed me I'd seen her before too. There were old pictures dad had shown me.

     "Hair dye," I spoke to Cinder before addressing Heart, "And colored contacts."

That got movement out of them again. They both shifted sheepishly, and I sat up straight as I snapped the pieces into place.

     "It's all been wrong. Dad was wrong. You didn't die in an accident, and you weren't killed either. You faked your deaths..."

Me bringing out the rather terrifying truth forced my namesake back into action. He spoke to my grandmother quickly, mentioning several bouts of instructions, curses, and angry references to Buckeye, yet I heard next to nothing of it. Desire faded away. The original Coal stood there on his own before another figure emerged next to him. It happened in my mind only, of course, but it was real enough. Uncle Blaze stood behind his brother, and the twins were reunited as it dawned on me how exactly similar they truly were. No wonder they'd been able to get away with pulling the classical switch act with teachers, friends, and their own parents. I heard Uncle Blaze had almost been able to get Desire to kiss him, and the lone reason she didn't was because he revealed it was a joke so he didn't actually kiss his brother's girlfriend. It earned him a slap on the cheek, but Uncle Blaze boasted it had been well worth it.

Coal finished his brief tirade, and the room plunged into silence once more. I felt strangely calm about the abrupt turn of the situation, but that calm might just have been a result of extreme shock.

     "Why?"

I half whispered the question dominating my mind. Desire returned her attention to me with a look that showed equal parts sadness and a want to bury me in a giant hug.

     "My family," she started after a long exhale, "And his family, we've been tangled up in the mess that are these secret organizations for generations."
     "Des- Heart, we shouldn't say anything. There's-"
     "How can we not say anything at this point?" Desire interrupted in frustration, "He deserves answers after what our mistakes cost him. What they cost Amaranth. One of our employees under our rule imprisoned our son for what I'm sure was a miserable ten years, keeping him away from his family who needed him, and now our grandson is before us like this. Our ridiculous attempt at making everyone safe led to the consequences we were trying to prevent."

Coal shifted a second time before falling silent. Desire addressed me once more.

     "It appears to be a curse, us being mixed up in this web. I'm sure you have been told how his parents died suddenly," she motioned to Coal, "They were the ones who were killed. My parents were as well. Incidents like that are sadly very common in both our lines. Coal and I were prepped to live in this life since we were children. We were our parents' heirs essentially, duty bound to carry on tradition. However, after Coal's parents died we realized how cruel it was the continue the legacy. It was impossible for us to get out, but Blaze was free. For reasons I'm sure you can understand, his parents didn't feel he was the kind of person to do well dealing with such deep secrets. That is why we cut off our ties to prevent him and Amaranth from being dragged into the danger. It seems as if it did little good, however..."

I couldn't help but to cringe. There was a hint of irony learning that Uncle Blaze was meant to be kept in the dark.

     "Your decision to leave their lives probably would have worked, but what I was about to say before...when you asked me to tell you more about dad, I was going to say I did know how he knew about these secret groups. Your parents were kinda wrong about Uncle Blaze. I never got the specifics, but he got involved with the group that helped set my mom free shortly after your 'deaths'. He lived in it very well, from what I've been told, and he started getting dad involved even back when he was in elementary school. I don't have any details of what else he might have done, but I know he joined Uncle Blaze in storming that Company building when mom was captured that second time."
     "That fucking idiot," Coal growled instantly, "I was well aware Blaze had his faults, but I did trust that he could keep my son safe."
     "He might not have joined The Community if we hadn't left though. The loss of your parents and then us most likely led him right to them." Desire countered gently.
     "The...The Community?" I repeated in confusion.
     "It is the name the organization Eden and apparently Blaze were or are a part of," Coal revealed, "It is a name to show how they are different from what they took down. A company is emotionless and cold. A community is full of warmth, protection, and a feeling of family."
     "What is this organization called?"
     "We have no name. We do not exist, and that is exactly why we continue to exist." Desire answered cryptically.

I could wrap my head around that, I suppose.

     "And is this a good organization like The Community, or a bad one like The Company?"
     "Neither, and I must correct you that The Company is neither as well." Coal replied.
     "They imprisoned my mother, kidnapped her, forcibly impregnated her, and would have sold her children as knick-knacks and had men rape her to earn even more profits." I snapped back angrily.
     "We are not denying the awfulness of that situation. We are not saying they didn't do bad or downright evil things," Desire spoke softly, "However, for every terrible thing they did they did a good thing to balance it out."

I scoffed and folded my arms.

     "Tell me, Coal," she made sure to look at me and not her husband, "Are you aware of the parkii vaccine and its origins?"
     "I know it was made to combat the parkiin disease fifty years ago that everyone back then predicted to be a new global plague that would take down hundreds of thousands, but a company, I don't remember...the name..."
     "A medical company by the name of Willow Inc. created a vaccine in record time that prevented thousands from dying a painful death and a treatment that stopped thousands more from suffering a lifetime of pain from the effects of the illness. Willow Inc, as it sounds as if you have figured out, was a program running under The Company's command. The public eye naturally does not know it, but those like us know that the vaccine was only created so rapidly because the workers there were free from dealing with the red legal tape and political issues that would have slowed them down. Countless lives were saved because they were able to work without limits. Some will say that can't be allowed under any circumstances, but what is worse? An illegally created vaccine that prevented a worldwide catastrophe or the deaths of hundreds of thousands to uphold an objective sense of moral righteousness? And, tell me something else, were you given the parkii vaccine?"
     "I was." I admitted quietly.
     "Then you have The Company to thank for that."

I dropped my folded arms and fiddled my fingers together sheepishly.

     "It is given due to the experiences of your family with The Company that your outlook on them is not the most positive," Coal jumped back in, "But it is true that reality is not so black and white. I will go out on a limb here and say you are not a fan of Buckeye, but has he mentioned his father to you?"
     "Yes."
     "I will then also say that you probably don't have a high opinion of him either."

I nodded.

     "Buckeye's father was one of the most noble and kind-hearted people you could ever meet. Our organization runs its own various programs, such as the one that operates in this building. Its main purpose is to smuggle medicine and other items of the like to underdeveloped countries that would otherwise not be able to receive them due to repressive politics and dangerous combat areas. Carefully packaged medicine is what has been in the boxes you've been moving around. However, for the majority of our activity we operate as a mediator of information and supplies between the others- and there are many others out there. We had dealings with the section of T.R.E.E. Buckeye's father worked at, and we were highly supportive of his endeavors. The man was a medical genius of his time. Do you want to know what he was working on?"

I did and didn't want to know, so I said nothing.

     "He was working on the cure for cancer. It sounds like a pipe dream, but thanks to his ability to work without regulations he was making unprecedented progress. However, when he was sent to jail and ultimately killed the world reverted back to its slow, almost hopeless movement towards a now stalled cure. Yes, he was working in an illegal setting, but if the world had been more open to listening to what was being achieved, well, maybe your mother might still be alive."

What could I say after that? I wanted to point out that any cure for cancer would have been pointless for mom if Buckeye's father hadn't been jailed, because that would have meant The Company wouldn't have fallen and mom would be their prisoner. I knew that wasn't the point he was trying to make though.

     "Eden was my best friend," Coal pressed forward with pain in his voice, and my ears perked up, "I knew him as this skinny, geeky, clumsy, timid genius, and so when he suddenly appeared on television years later confident and with muscles I didn't even think it was possible for him to build, I had to do a bit of digging on all that he'd been doing. Obviously I heard many things about the hero he'd been in rescuing his little sister, but my resources and interaction with The Company allowed me to see what other work he'd been doing besides watching over your mother. I don't think it's best for me to go into the details, but it was nothing good. It is true he didn't have direct interaction with the people his research was hurting, but in The Company's attempts to make certain progress in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and the mind overall, they did hurt people. Tests do have to be conducted. Now, I am sure you will agree with me that Eden is a truly wonderful person. He is a saint to us. But to those people who suffered from the effects of his actions, he is a villain."

Coal held open his arms expectantly before connecting his hands back together in a clasping clap.

     "And what retributions did he take for that? Buckeye's father did nothing but save people, and he was thrown in jail only to die a death he did not deserve. Eden did terrible things, but he was hailed a hero above any reproach. How do we truly judge either? If you give one the benefit of the doubt, should the other not receive the same?"

My stare returned to the floor. I couldn't say if I felt guilty, but I definitely didn't feel pleasant. I loathed that I gained the slightest, the most absolutely slightest, twinge of sympathy for Buckeye for him losing the father he loved. I hated that I had to accept there was a darker path to Uncle Eden's past to which I could no longer be oblivious. I couldn't stand that the world worked in such a way that my grandparents thought faking their deaths was the only way to keep those they cared for safe, and I had no idea how I was supposed to go home and keep quiet to Uncle Blaze and dad about how Coal and Desire were very much alive.

     "I'm going to assume you don't want me to say anything about you being alive to anyone?" I threw the problem out there.
     "Correct." Coal confirmed.
     "We've been dead to everyone for the longest time, and, to be honest, everyone might as well be dead to us. Our paths cannot collide again without there being serious consequences. Your family will be facing enough trouble as it is." Desire warned.
     "What do you mean by that?" I frowned.

Both of them stared at me seriously.

     "In case you did not notice, neither of us stopped you when you said it was believed The Company went after your father. We did not point out that was impossible because it was possible, and it is possible. Coal, The Company is still running. What was leaked struck a great blow, yes, but there is no way to destroy all the heads on that hydra." Coal said.
     "I mean, I know everyone has suspected remnants survived, but there's been a close watch for any resurgence of activity. No one's seen anything at all." I pointed out.
     "Everyone has been missing it all," Coal revealed gravely, "The Company actually started out as an organization not so different from The Community. However, as they expanded they grew bolder and highly arrogant. They trusted their great power and influence to protect them as their size swelled beyond anything they could contain. Like pumping air into a balloon, if you put too much in there is no stopping it from popping eventually. Their power was their downfall, and now they know that. Now they know how to hide. Now they know how to strike without being seen. Despite their severely decreased manpower, they are more dangerous than ever. They will someday come after the ones who attacked them. It will make no difference if you had nothing to do with it. Everyone attached to Ethereal, and to Eden, and to Jac...they will be targets."
     "But...but, then what are we supposed to do?" I questioned in immense dread.
     "It was a matter we paid little mind to before," Desire spoke, "We kept an eye on the situation considering how much we care for Eden, yet now that we know everyone who is dear is a part of this..."

She locked eyes with Coal. They spoke to each other with that silent gaze and rapidly made some sort of decision.

     "We will watch out for you all as best we can. As of this moment, we don't have any idea when they might strike. The Company is still licking their proverbial wounds. If we get an inkling of plans they will make, somehow, in whatever manner we can think to get it to you, we will send a warning. If possible, we might be able to send help. Other than that..." Coal trailed off.
     "No, don't worry about it. Anything you can do is fine. The fact that you let me know this is a problem is great help enough, because the rest of us were blind to it. If we don't have to worry about your organization coming after us anymore, then I know at least one person we'll be able to get help from."

I paused.

     "Speaking of which, can I assume that this fun revelation about our relationship has secured me a pass out of here? I would really like to go home."

Coal and Desire laughed, and the thick tension in the air dissipated.

     "Yes, we'll start working on that right away," Coal chuckled, "You can be back before dinner."
     "Great."

Coal moved to a counter and pulled out papers from a drawer. Desire eagerly sat herself next to me on the couch.

     "You clearly inherited your coloring from Amaranth, but who do you look more like?" she wondered, placing her hand kindly on the left side of my hand.

I instinctively flinched, but then I reveled in the peace of a gentle touch.

     "I take more after mom in terms of my face. That's pretty much true of all my siblings, save for Wisp. He takes more after his biological father."
     "I know he is the one from The Company's impregnation of your mother. Tell me about the rest of your siblings. It sounds like you have a big family."
     "I do," I smiled widely, "So, there's Wisp. He's married to Papaya, and they have a young daughter named Tangerine. Then there's Prism and Desire."

Her eyes lit up when I mentioned my sister's name, and I laughed again.

     "They're fraternal twins, with Prism being older. He's albino like Wisp, and Desi's all red except for her green eyes."
     "She even has my old nickname." Desire remarked happily.
     "Indeed she does. To say something interesting about her, Desi's pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. They live in an apartment right now, but they're looking towards getting a house. They just need the loan to go through."

I pointed to myself.

     "I came next, and Uncle Blaze says I was perfectly named. Coal Blazing Vivid II is my full moniker."

Coal laughed louder than before at that.

     "Perfectly named indeed. I'm sure Blaze enjoyed having someone named after him, even if it was a middle name."
     "He brags about it every chance he gets," I said, "Anyway, it didn't seem like my parents were going to have another child after me, but Cerise came along seven years later. Like Desi, she has red hair and skin but green eyes. Glade was the baby dad didn't know about until a few months ago. She turned out all green. Uncle Blaze lives with us all, and I also have a dog, Doodle."

From there, I answered whatever questions Coal and Desire had for me. Desire asked most of them. After a certain point, Coal didn't seem so keen on knowing more. By the expression on his face, I got the impression that was because knowing more would only cause extra pain. The more he felt a connection to his son and grandchildren, the harder it was to keep himself away.

Coal eventually left to go do the real work towards transferring me home. I got the explanation from Desire that, in a roundabout way, Buckeye beating me up was useful. They did have to keep up appearances, and letting me go home untouched would have been suspicious. I also had to be unconscious when I left. My grandmother, however, reassured me that wouldn't be achieved through violence. A simple sleeping pill would do the trick. For what I had to tell the police officers and my family, it wasn't so different from what dad told. I had decided to take a walk after returning from the party, I had been knocked out without seeing the culprit, I had been locked in a tiny, dark room for all these weeks while Buckeye tried to find information from me about some fake Company issue Desire made up. He would realize I knew nothing, he would beat me up out of frustration, and then send me home.

In a weird way, when Coal and Desire led me out of the room to take me to another room where I would have the pill and wait to fall asleep I found myself wishing I had one more night. To know I would never see my grandparents again after this was heartbreaking despite me not knowing them for long. I still wasn't looking forward to facing mom's death either.

Halfway down a hallway, Challah appeared from the corner we'd just turned, and she joined us as we went our way. She and Desire exchanged several words about some other matter. Perhaps. Something about the tone of their voices and their word choices hinted that they could be speaking in code about me. I didn't bother to try deciphering it. I probably could have gleaned a bit about what they were saying, but my lesson about staying out of these sort of things was well learned. I talked a bit with my grandfather instead, and he revealed we were almost to the room when a loud shout from an unwelcome voice halted our group. Buckeye appeared in front of us from around the corner, leaving me to instantly freeze into a statue.

     "Buckeye, you, Fushion, Quince, and Kahl are supposed to be under watch in the conference room right now. You're all in seriously hot water. If you did anything stupid to break out of there, then you will face horrible consequences indeed." Coal rebuked him with a power and threat in his voice that shifted him back into Cinder.
     "I heard you're just letting him go!" Buckeye ignored him, "I won't stand for it! That piece of shit hasn't suffered nearly enough! Him and his waste of a father don't deserve any mercy!"

I though Coal's glare was dangerous, but Desire's menacing stare grew dark and dreadful at the slight towards dad and me. Uncle Blaze had always said Desire had been a protective mama bear, even more so than mom had been.

     "You have been a valued asset to us ever since we took you in. We sympathized with you over the loss of your father, and we treated you fairly when you naturally made a mistake here and there," Coal spoke sternly, "However, your actions that have come to light undo all the good you have done. You have risked more than you protected, and for selfish reasons. Don't even try to persuade me you were doing it for our sake. Coal here was no threat to us whatsoever. Any idiot could see that. You must have seriously lost your mind though. You didn't attempt to see what useful information he could provide, and upon talking to him rationally he has actually given Heart and I several important insights on various things to which we were oblivious. This violent anger I now see you have is a disastrous flaw to your character, and I'm afraid it has secured your way out of our employment."

Buckeye stared at him with furious shock as if he actually had believed that news wasn't coming. Coal only glared at him harder.

     "Now move aside while I clean up your mess."

I didn't expect Buckeye to simply give up, and he did prove me right. He and Coal exchanged a tense staring match before Coal motioned and marched us forward past my captor. My head remained resolutely straight ahead so that I missed the way Buckeye's body quivered in rage and how his eyes locked on me. I didn't dare breathe until we turned the corner, but we didn't even get that far.

Even with my injuries as proof, I don't think my grandparents understood exactly how volatile Buckeye was. They assumed he would play nice now that he was caught. Reality was that he was more dangerous than ever given he had little left to lose. The most warning we got was a booming scream out of him. One of bloodlust. I didn't see what happened at first. I could only guess upon what I sensed behind me. Challah shrieked as she dove out of the way, and Coal whipped on his heel to dart towards the attack before I could blink in reaction. All I heard was him and Buckeye shouting. Desire's voice soon mixed in as she attempted to help, but the whole thing took no more than several seconds. Enough time for me to stumble forward as Coal's back slammed into me before turning around to face the worst of it. I didn't get a single chance to do anything. Buckeye drove me down like I was a toddle facing off against a giant. His eyes were wide and crazed, and blood dripped off the knife in his hand.

I managed to grab his other arm and gain myself a brief second by smashing my left palm into his face. Then there was a crack. Using the momentum of his falling grapple on me, Buckeye ended up kneeling his full weight on my chest. One loud cry of pain escaped my mouth before gurgling coughs and desperate heaves for air took over. My body spasmed as one of my broken ribs pierced my lung, the other two injured ones threatened something similar, and a few more ribs sending searing pain hinted they were now damaged as well. Naively thinking no pain could be worse than that, Buckeye swiftly took it to a new level. Honestly, I don't remember the specifics of what happened. I pitifully flailed against him as I attempted to get him off, and the next thing I knew was deafening screams, unknowingly mine, sent a high pitched ringing in my ears that blocked everything else out as that knife of my enemy sliced through my right eye without the slightest hint of resistance.

With blood pooling in my lung and blood freely gushing out of one socket, I was lost. I couldn't tell you if it was on accident or if adrenaline was what had my one free arm catching Buckeye's wrist as he swung his knife down to do to my left eye what he'd done with the right.

There was no escaping damage completely. Some subconscious part of me understood I stopped the worst, but all I focused on was more blood and agony drenching out from my now injured left eye. My vision turned jet black. I sputtered, heaved, and wretched as some force dragged a kicking, screaming, and madly flailing Buckeye off me. Enough blood was on my face to make me think someone dumped a bucket of the stuff on me. That felt like the least of my problems at the moment. I needed whoever was screaming to stop. The ringing it caused sent spiraling pain, more of what I didn't need, ricocheting down my body when an explosive bang rang down the hallway. More yells, different ones, accompanied it. Someone called my name over and over again, and someone cradled me in his or her arms. I wanted to answer the call. I tried to answer. More blood bubbled up. My ribs creaked, my lung shuddered, and I gave up. The blackness beckoned me as well, and its lure was the more inviting one. As I fell way to it, the ringing stopped, the pain ceased, and I found what I called freedom.