I woke up to an empty bed. Graham must have taken Darius out while I slept. I pulled my phone out of my space to check the time. It was noon! I really slept in! I didn't know it was possible in this body.

I slipped into my bathroom feeling more refreshed than ever. My face did not reflect that because one night of great sleep couldn't repair the damage alone. After locking the bathroom door, I slipped into my Hideaway home and changed into the first decent outfit I had.

It was a random yellow sundress. When I popped back into my bathroom, I went in search of Graham and Darius. I expected them to be in the dining room, but it was empty. I could see dishes from breakfast but no sign of life.

After a quick text exchange, I learned that Graham had taken Darius to the Hub. Regina and her girls were there, and they were having a playdate.

I pulled out a matcha iced tea from my space and met them. They were on the gaming floor, and the three babies were crawling. Someone had turned the floor into a giant screen that lit up and made noises when certain parts were pressed. As I got closer, I could tell it looked like one giant keyboard. Regina was encouraging the exploration while Graham was nowhere to be seen. I poked around a bit and found that he was working on something else.

With everything that had happened, I forgot about my plans to create zombies in this world before they actually existed. Graham, Byron, and Alec went through with creating the zombie game even though I stopped responding.

"Dolyn said that they should smell like rotting flesh. How can we incorporate that into the game without having a dead body?" Alec was asking with a straight face.

"The morgue?" Byron said.

"They embalm and have other procedures to slow down decomposition. That won't work." Graham said ever the voice of calm to their madness. "We'll have to get access to a dead body another way."

And that was my cue to ensure they didn't spot me eavesdropping. I knew that video games in this world played on all the senses, but there had to be a few lines you didn't cross. The boys had none in their pursuit of the perfect game, apparently. I shook my head and walked over to Regina.

Darius spotted me first. The giant smile on his face was gone and replaced with heartbreaking sobs as he reached out to me. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he'd been abused in my absence. Regina and Graham took good care of him and had helped me little by little these past six months, so I knew that couldn't be it.

Still, my heart was captured by those slippery wet chubby cheeks. I scooped him off the ground and held him to my chest.

"He really loves his big sister," Regina said with a beaming smile.

"He loves to be spoiled." I retorted with a face. My hands stroked his head regardless as he snuggled. "Do you want me to watch your girls and give you a break?"

"Can you? So I can take a shower? They have an appointment in an hour, and I need a moment."

I shooed Regina off so she could have a break and took over watching the babies.

The day started great, but my father finally came home that evening. I knew then that he might have actually snapped into madness. He seemed okay at the start. We had dinner, almost like in the old days. But we had it on my father's plane for the first time. It was nice being able to look out the window at the ocean as I ate.

We landed for a pilot change in a city I'd never been to, and my father brought out desserts to distract both of his kids during this time. When Darius spit up his apple cookie on me, I went to change, and I wasn't the only one in that short amount of time.

I was greeted by suitcases, a car seat, a sleeping brother, and a stack of paperwork in envelopes.

"Dolyn, slip this on over your clothing." My father said. His eyes were wild and haunted as he handed me bulky clothing that was several times my size. There was an accompanying face scrambler to cover my actual features as well.

I opened my mouth to protest, but instinct made me obey him. Everything was bulky enough to just put on over my tee and jeans. I had changed again earlier because, as expected, Darius and one of the twins spit up on me.

When I was done, he started strapping what looked like fat rolls onto my body. My mouth grew parched as his white knuckles tugged and affixed things onto me.

"Father, why are you doing this?" I said. My words fell on deaf ears.

"Here, put your brother under your clothing. He should blend right in with the outfit." He handed me a strangely peacefully sleeping Darius.

I slipped him under with my father's guidance, too afraid to say no.

"This is everything you seem to actually treasure in this home. Take that stuff away like you normally do."

I wordlessly slipped the suitcases and car seat into my space.

"Good, now this paperwork is for the two of you. Your company is under your name but your bank wasn't. There's a new identity and bank accounts for the two of you. You'll be able to live comfortably until the end occurs." My father said. His words were rushed, with no room to refute or add anything.

"Wait…"

"Can you take living things with you when you move around?" He said, his eyes frantically looking around for eavesdroppers.

I mutely shrugged. I did not know if I could take Darius into either of my spaces. I didn't want to risk anything happening to him if I did.

"I thought so, but you have this disguise, so you'll be able to get off the plane." My father said, looking around as if trying to recall more insane instructions.

"You haven't taken the paperwork." He grabbed the envelopes and shoved them at me. He was shaking them so hard they were starting to come undone and spill on the ground. "Take them now!"

"You're scaring me," I said as I grabbed the stupid envelopes and the fallen pieces of paper. I shoved it all into my spacial ring.

"You have to go now. The car waits for Darius' nanny, who can't join us on the family trip."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the plane's door opened. A couple of unknown men stepped in. They were dressed in pilot's uniforms, but I didn't recognize them. My father consistently kept the same employees. Even if I barely rode in his planes, I knew his pilots because they were around. However, lately, a lot of people have disappeared when it came to my father's staff.

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"Escort the nanny off." My father's firm voice sounded strong as usual, and I shot him a look as he carefully put his mask back into place.

"Your children, sir?" The pilots paused, and I could feel my heart start racing.

What the fuck was going on? There was no way I was going to get off this plane. Clearly something else was going on.

"My daughter is in the bathroom with my son cleaning off spit up. Take the nanny off so we can leave. I have a meeting in six hours, and it takes five hours to get there. Stop wasting my time." The strong, collected, and in-command father was back into play.

Which begged the question: what was the earlier display about?

"If you struggle, your brother will be found out." My father's crisp voice was low, and in a tone only I could decipher. He also said it in a different language. One that wasn't supposed to exist in this world.

I inhaled sharply as our eyes met. He must be one of Mordecai's plants. I was still struggling with that idea as I was escorted off the plane and into a car. I couldn't move because I was buckled down with the extra weight. I also tried not to struggle with the fat suit and match my breathing to the slumbering Darius. It was a tough time, and that didn't include the mental toil my brain was going through.

It was my father's regular car to which I was taken. The driver was the same man I was used to seeing. How was this man here in this city that we flew to? My father must have prepared tonight to go down exactly like this.

I couldn't fully relax and spent the whole car ride chewing over everything my father had ever said to me. He had shown no hint of duplicity in this manner. Could I be mistaken? Could that language truly appear? Then how did he know that I would understand it?

"Get off already." The driver said rather coarsely, and it was with shock to find out that we had come to a complete stop.

Numbly, I got out of the car, grateful that he was at least a smooth driver. That meant that Darius hadn't been jostled.

"Wait…" I froze at the unfamiliar-looking building in front of me. Where had he dropped me off?

"This isn't right!"

"It's your home. Be lucky Mr. Savage afforded you this kindness, you slob." He peeled off, leaving those rude words in his wake.

If my father had me dropped off here, then maybe there was something I was supposed to see. I couldn't imagine my father setting one foot inside this building, let alone me. It was a decrepit townhouse complete with missing bricks, a damaged yellow door, and windows that shook in the breeze.

It looked abandoned.

I stepped forward with a dry mouth, one hand over where Darius was still sleeping. My father didn't do anything without reason. There must be something in here that he left for me.

I gathered my courage off the ground and walked into the building. I was greeted with a home that looked a lot better on the inside than on the outside. There wasn't a sign of dust, dirt, or decay.

The floor went from jagged steps to smooth gleaming wood floors. The walls had tastefully tan wallpaper that looked brand new.

I walked around, trying to figure out what I was looking for. There wasn't anything unique about this home other than the juxtaposition of the exterior versus the interior.

That thought was destroyed when I finally entered the kitchen. Black gleaming countertops were lovely, but the little window near the sink showed the backyard.

And the backyard was exactly like the front yard. Only the backyard had graffiti.

Again, that language that shouldn't exist was on full display. "Yveti." It had one clear meaning: Don't look back.

My father was telling me to not look back. He didn't plan on Darius and I living here, did he?

I wasn't the best daughter, but I didn't deserve this. Darius didn't deserve this either. Why were we abandoned this way?

Something about his rushing and not trusting his men with him alluded to more than just our father abandoning us. Putting aside the fact that he might be a spy, I could feel my eyes prick with tears.

This man raised me and was the only one who cared for me, no matter my sass. His calm demeanor and controlling nature created a safe environment for me to improve.

So, what pushed him over the edge? What enemy is he hiding us from?

I can't say that I immediately stopped thinking about the past, but what I did do was take off my fat suit. I stripped the bulky clothing and settled Darius on the loveseat with a decent amount of pillows to keep him secure.

I pulled out the paperwork my father had given me and reviewed everything. It was exactly as he said. Darius and I had new identities, complete with birth certificates and government paperwork. There was a third identity of someone named Morgan Tuffin. Morgan was my father's middle name. He made himself my guardian scapegoat if I needed to prove I had a guardian. The image on the ID was of a man I hadn't seen before. I had a brand new ID card and a high school diploma. Darius and I each had trusts with money that wouldn't be traced to him. Both of our last names were changed from Savage to Tuffin. The alias I used to run Lemon Rose was Lyn Tuffin. Did my father plan this from the start?

Despite the glaringly horrifying predicament I found myself in, a smile split my face. Tuffin somehow found its way back into my damn life.

It was a serious chunk of change that would allow both of us to live comfortably. We didn't have to wait until we were eighteen either, which was necessary because the world would still end soon.

I had money from Lemon Rose and the rights to it still. Lyn Tuffin had no relation to Dolyn Savage, after all. However, it would be hard to work for the company because Regina helped me make products. I could stop selling things, limit my clients, and make it more exclusive.

I could feel a headache and knew my body was finally catching up to reality.

My friends. I told Regina and Clara I couldn't go to some party because I would eat dinner with my father.

Could I even contact any of them safely? There was even a new phone for me to use in one of the envelopes.

There was already a message waiting for me to open. It was something new this time, but it wasn't comforting to see.

"Stay hidden if you want to stay alive."

It was from an unknown number, but I knew it was from my father because, yet again, it was in my family language that wasn't supposed to exist in this world.

Fear and adrenaline replaced the anguish my heart was feeling.

This was not a place for us to stay. It needed to be a stop along the way. My father's driver knew this location, and maybe others would? This had to be the reason my father separated from us. Something very wrong was going to take place.

Why would he take me away from my friends and the Hub, though? Our home was equipped with everything required for life. It was so cushy I never had to step outside of it.

Unless someone was untrustworthy among my friends or a worker in the building…Workers have started to disappear one by one lately, and no one has taken their place. Had my father been thinning the untrustworthy, which made this unknown enemy do something more drastic?

I shoved everything into my spacial ring and picked up Darius. Better safe than sorry.

There was one glaring problem that I forgot about until I was about to step outside the home. I didn't have a car and couldn't drive even if I did.

My whole life I'd been chauffeured around. I didn't have the chance to learn to drive as Wendy or Gwendolyn either.

I didn't have the family drivers to just call, either. I looked at my old cell phone. Was it possible to be tracked by it?

If it was in my space, would that tracking end? Could I risk that?

I didn't have much on my phone that was vital. There were pictures, but sending them to my new phone would create a new trace to me. My email accounts or anything I could store online could also be traced to me. I would have to abandon everything if I was going to do this right.

I bit my lip, I would have to print all of Darius' baby pictures and the other images I wanted, and then I would destroy the phone.

Luckily, I was like a little ferret and constantly put things inside my space. There was a printer in there that could connect to my phone. I must have printed hundreds of pictures after I set Darius back down.

When I was done, I destroyed my old phone. I wrecked it into pieces and set it on fire in the fireplace. After it burned to ashes, I sealed it in a container and slipped it into my space. I looked through my new phone.

I needed to create new accounts and decide my preferences. I could also use my phone's GPS to figure out what city I was in. I had enough money to make sure I wouldn't have to work. I could even feed us no matter what, but the most important thing I needed to figure out was where we would live.

As my mind was sent into a neurotic spiral, one glaring fact became too pressing to ignore.

Darius was sleeping for far too long. I set down my cell phone to inspect my slumbering little brother. He was breathing deeply but shallowly. He looked like a sleeping angel. That was the problem. Darius never slept like this.

"Did our father drug you?" The words that slipped out were just as shocking as the revelation that he most likely had. There was no way this insane plan would have gone off smoothly if my father hadn't handled Darius as a variable.

I stood unsure of what to do as I looked at my brother and then at the fireplace. The fire was finally dying down, and the sun was coming up.

It was time to leave this place and find a new place to live.