Claudia didn’t want to keep the others waiting, so she hurried to catch up to everyone else. A part of her still felt guilty about leaving Richard to himself, but he did tell her to go on without him, so she obliged. She pushed the door and entered the room with the suitcase in hand. Mindy and Charlie still rested their injuries in their beds, while Lily sat beside the former with her hands on her lap.

“How’s everyone going?” Claudia asked with a small, hopeful smile. When her eyes focused on Charlie, she covered her mouth, trying to hide her enthusiasm.

“Doing just fine,” Mindy replied, waving it off.

“Great to see you again, though.” Charlie chirped. “Are you doing ok?”

“I thought you were dead...” Claudia whimpered, wiping her eyes.

“Not quite. I barely survived the fall. So, how have you been doing?”

The assistant told him she’d been doing fine while he was here. Claudia showed him the stolen briefcase she got back, much to his delight. Claudia opened the case in his view, away from the rest of the group. His grin spread wide as he told her to leave by the table next to his bed.

While this went on, Lily looked around. Something was off.

“Hey, where’s Richard?”

“Oh, he headed to the restroom,” Claudia replied, looking away. “He looked upset though, and I don’t know how long he’s been there for.”

“Poor guy, he must’ve been through a lot,” Lily muttered, lowering her head.

She got up from her seat, but Mindy touched her arm to stop her from moving.

“Hold up. Richard might need some time alone for a while,” She told her sister. “I’m sure he’ll be fine once he lets loose some steam.”

“Ok, if you say so.” Lily sighed as she slumped back onto her seat.

The doors opened as Ken and Kelly entered the room in a panic. They claimed to be having a tough time planning a course of action due to the inclement weather outside. Once Claudia got them up to speed on how things went on their end, Kelly brought up another question.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“Wait, do you know where Reginald is?”

She squeezed her arm and glanced at the floor. “He went to try and fight back against my sister.”

“Your sister?” Everyone else repeated, flabbergasted.

“If only I had asked Richard about her a lot sooner. Maybe things could’ve been different.”

“Well, you had only just met him, so you wouldn’t have known, it’s not your fault.” Charlie insisted.

“What happened between you two?” Lily inquired. “Is it alright if you told us, Claudia?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Claudia nodded. She warned everyone to get comfortable, as she had a lot to tell.

“My mother, the poor soul, may she and father rest in peace. She told us we could become anything that we wanted. I’m sure mom meant well, but she should’ve been more specific with her choice of words. The crime rates went up around the parts of the town we lived in, as well as other parts of the world.

“We struggled, but still did our part to survive. Having claimed to have seen the darker parts of the world, Emily wanted to destroy it all and make the world a better place. She claimed to be their savior, but, through my eyes, she wanted to become a tyrant.

“I say that she was like a tyrant, because one of her goals was to take all the ‘bad’ folks that have done awful atrocities like murder, arson, theft, etc. Her plan would be to either kill them or torture them until they’re broken and comply with her ideals. Even people that Emily didn’t like or didn’t take her seriously, she would want them to suffer. The ‘good’ people, or ones that treat her with respect, she’d reward with immortality. The new world she considered a paradise, but it’d be more fearful for pretty much everyone else who’s sane.

“Emily wanted to be the new god in her world. Her parents didn’t approve, but that didn’t stop her. She pulled together a loyal team to make her dreams a reality. In return, she’d help the scientists create the ultimate superweapon out of the race of blue blobs. Emily had been using subjects to test out the concoction to create the perfect recipe for immortality. She had been in hiding for so long, I didn’t know if we’d ever find her again.”

Claudia frowned. Her chest tightened as she stared at her clenched hands. She knew she couldn’t beat her sister alone, she needed all the help possible. How could she, when she found it hard to trust people? Anybody could be working under Emily’s branch in her eyes. Claudia had to escape before succumbing to a fate worse than death. She spent her time tracking Emily down while working under Charlie and his line of work. Not only did he save her, but it helped her experience new things, and give out an introspection.

The room stayed dead silent. Mindy massaged her temples and sighed in disbelief. How were they supposed to beat her at this rate?

“Well, it seems you guys aren’t sure what to do,” Charlie said. “While you do that, I better keep my end of the bargain.” He turned to Claudia. “I could use your help in making ‘the thing.’”

“Of course,” Claudia replied.

“We don't have a lot of time to plan things out,” Mindy mentioned to the group. “But at least we have something to work off.”

“Agreed,” Lily replied, clasping her hands together. I hope Richard gets back soon, we need him right now.