“This is suspicious,” Nafisa muttered to herself as she watched her mother quickly leave the room.

“This is really not like mom.” In the 24 years of her life, she could count the number of times her mother cursed on one hand. Arianna Radi was the softer, even-tempered counterpart to her father. Where her father would yell and order people around, her mother listened and came to compromises. If her father was to be compared to an angry fire, her mother was a slow-moving river that calmly but surely eroded everything around it.

The fact that her mother was unable to contain her emotions meant that something was horribly wrong and that this was a serious matter. And it all had to do with the monster she had seen yesterday.

As she reflected on the situation, it felt like her memory was cloudy and everything that happened was a dream. She knew she should be more afraid considering the fact that she almost died to a thing she had never seen before, but she couldn’t bring herself to worry about it. The past was the past. And more importantly, now she had her powers!

“Speaking of which, I forgot to tell Mom that I heard a voice inside of me before I got my powers. I wonder if that’s the same for everyone else.”

She would have to ask her brothers when she got back what the experience was like for them and if they had heard something similar.

Speaking of powers….

“How do I activate it again?”

Nafisa began concentrating, trying to sense whatever had caused her to glow and burn yesterday. She held her breath and tried to feel whatever mysterious force, but the only thing that came out was a burp.

Sighing in frustration, Nafisa threw herself back onto the bed in frustration. She was bored.

Her powers weren’t working, the doctor hadn’t come yet, and her mom had effectively left her to go speak with her father about her experience yesterday.

Wait. Her father. Why did her mother need to leave the room to go talk to her father? Especially if she was just relaying the information that she had just received. As the concerned party, she should be involved in any discussions.

Unless they had extra information that they didn’t want to share with her. Remembering the suspicious way her mom kept questioning her about the events yesterday, it seemed that it might be the case.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Nafisa suddenly sat up, resting her head on her knees contemplating what she should do. She wanted to go find her mother and possibly eavesdrop on her conversation.

But.

She was already in serious trouble for sneaking into the crime scene yesterday. Disregarding Arianna Radi’s smiles and terms of endearment, she knew that the moment she was discharged, she would immediately be punished harshly by family law.

Still… if she was already going to be punished, it didn’t hurt to add one more crime to the bill. Besides, if she wasn’t caught she wouldn’t have to get in trouble.

With the full confidence that came from being the youngest child in the family, Nafisa disregarded all responsibilities and climbed out of bed after removing the vital tracking stickers on her body.

Glad that the hospital gown she wore fully covered all her bits, she slid the door open, and confidently walked to the nurses station.

A young lady in purple scrubs glanced up from her computer at her before smiling softly.

“Patient Radi, how can I help you?”

“Hello, I’m looking for my mom. Which way did she go? She left her wallet and she said she was going to get me food after making a call.”

“Oh, I can take that to her for you. You should go and rest.”

“No! I mean I’m supposed to walk around a bit. Doctors orders. And…I want to hug her before she goes. It’s scary being here.” Nafisa gave the nurse her best puppy-eyed look, glad for once that her delicate features and petite body made her look younger than she was.

“Of course dear, if she’s still here, she should be in the visitor’s common room to your right. If she’s not, come back here and we’ll give her a call. Okay?”

“Thank you, nurse! I’m sorry what was your name?” Nafisa beamed at the woman.

“Nurse Pepper. Hurry back, Miss Radi.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Nafisa quickly hurried in the direction that the nurse pointed out. She slowed down as she heard the familiar voice of her mother, hiding herself around the corner as she listened.

“… she said that the monster attacked her without saying anything.”

“Well isn’t that a good thing? If it didn’t talk then everything is fine. Nothing needs to be done to her!” That was her father’s voice. It seemed that he was at the hospital.

“How is everything fine?! She said that as soon as Vincent Grace saw the monster, he called it by name!”

“…What do you mean? Do you think he recognized it?!”

“Yes!” Her mother hissed, “She said he talked to it. Nafisa’s words were and I quote, ‘Is this what you’ve turned into Levi?’”

“He recognized the identity of the beast? Did she happen to see what happened to it? Or if Vincent Grace did anything?”

“She said she fought it when her powers awakened but after she made the deal with him she passed out.”

“Fuck. So we have to go off the assumption that he was somehow able to capture the beast.”

“You don’t think it got away?”

“The footage from the area has been reviewed. The beast was seen entering the alleyway right after Nafisa and we even recovered footage of it attacking her. But the moment Vicent Grace entered that alleyway, it went black. Unrecoverable. Once he came out, things came back online. Nothing entered or exited after him.”

“Forensics?” Her mother asked softly.

“You know how anything involving that man is.” Her father sighed and she could imagine him running his large hands through his hair, “The whole zone was scrubbed clean. No blood. No hair. No trash. It’s like a molecular vacuum came and sucked everything up. Falkor said the specialist said that the alleyway was so clean you could eat off it and not get sick.”

“Shit. So we’re back to square one.” Her mother sighed.

“Not square one. There’s now a witness who saw everything. You know what we have to do.”

“That ‘witness’ is our daughter!”

“That ‘witness’ saw something she wasn’t supposed to. She has to forget. If she doesn’t, her life is in danger.”

“Aaron, that’s our baby. She got her powers again.” Nafisat could hear her mother sobbing but she could barely focus on the words. Again? What was going on?

“Ria. She has to forget. I’d rather her be powerless and alive than dead. We need to wipe her memories of the whole incident. You know I’m right.” For once her father’s voice sounded soft and tender but Nafisa could not believe it.

What the hell was going on?!?