He found it, and it's so much more than he expected it to be. He's so thrilled over this find that even he's having trouble containing his excitement. He found it! Lydia needs to see this!
Niel clenches his fists and suppresses the growing smile on his face with a deep breath. This is a critical moment, and he needs to temper his emotions and think carefully now. Lydia will likely explain this away however possible, so he needs to prepare. Niel returns everything to the box and buries it all again, setting the area back to the way he found it, grass and all. His fingers quiver in tune with his agitated heartbeat. He'll bring Lydia here tomorrow.
>>>>>>
Niel stands close to the start of the trail that leads to the lookout. It's the next day, and he requested through text for Lydia to meet him here once she's done with school. He said it was important when she questioned why, though she never responded back. Now nearly twenty minutes have passed since he got here. Thankfully, a cloudy sky keeps him from baking in sunlight as he waits. Once he begins seriously considering that she isn't going to give him the time of day, he finds her just down the road on approach.
"You realize how far away this is from home, right?" Lydia complains in place of a greeting. She's still wearing her school bag, so she must have come here directly from school.
"Yes. Thanks for coming."
"So what is it?"
"It's something in the forest that I need you to see."
"Say that to any other girl and you'll instantly be labelled as a creep."
"I know the implications."
Lydia is reluctant, but since she came all this way, she follows Niel past the lookout and into the woods. She's not any happier about the extra hiking across the uneven forest floor, but they soon come to the birch tree with the rock at its base.
"Is this what you want to show me? A tree?" Lydia asks—her tone a mix of confusion, skepticism, and annoyance. She observes the 'B' engraved in the stone but thinks little more of it.
"Sort of," Niel says. He moves the stone out of the way and stabs a shovel of Dust into the ground. "It's buried here."
"What's buried?" Lydia questions. Niel responds by tilting the handle of the shovel toward her. She rejects it at first, but when Niel makes a second for himself, she grudgingly takes off her bag and digs with him. It's arduous work, but a metallic 'thunk' coming from Lydia's shovel tells them that they're done. Niel hauls the crate out of the ground and Lydia reflectively uses water from her Mute to wash away the dirt. She seems surprised by the existence of the box.
"Open it," Niel says.
Apprehensive, she opens the box... and Niel watches as her eyes light up with nostalgia and shock. Blankets and toys and more from her childhood; not just her's but Aaron's as well. Toy cars still organized in their case and a mat illustrated with a cartoon city neatly folded underneath. She recognizes a music box she loved the melody of when she was small, and she winds it up so she can hear its soft chimes again. Most of all, she finds a stuffed pink rabbit that she considered lost for a very long time, still clean and bright. Lydia spends a brief eternity staring and scanning over the rabbit, and when satisfied she clutches it in her arms like she did all those years ago.
"How... How did you find this?" Lydia questions softly as she peers up at him from behind the rabbit's ears. The chimes of the music box ring soothingly.
"Your parents left a trail leading here for you and your brother to follow. They knew they were close to being caught, so they hid everything here as a precaution. It took me several days to crack it, but I did. For you," Niel explains as he hands her the notebook containing sticky notes labelling and detailing how he solved it so she can follow along. "And they left this for you."
Using his Dust, Niel brings the letter to the surface of the box so Lydia can read it. She plucks the triple-folded page from the thin clasp of Dust and opens it to read, and her eyes narrow as each word written is narrated in her head.
~~
To Aaron and Lydia,
We know we haven't been the best of parents. It hurts us as much as it hurts you two, being away so often. We wish that were changing soon, but we've done a lot of bad things, and the consequences are only getting closer. Once the police catch us, we'll be gone for even longer.
If you're reading this, then you two must have figured out the secrets behind the notebook. We're sorry we never told you about it, Lydia. We didn't want this burden being placed on you, not when you were so young. We know it's unfair, leaving you two alone with all of the stuff you were left alone with before, but we'd rather bury it for you to find later than risk it all being taken away for good.
Once we do our time, we'll be back to stay. So until then, take care of each other, okay?
Love, Levi and Miriam.
~~
Lydia grips the letter roughly. Niel takes it as her being swathed by emotion, but when he leans over to check on her, she rips the page in half so violently that she nearly strikes him in the face with the back of her fist. The music box falls silent.
"And I'm supposed to believe this shit!?" she screams in anger as she quickly rises to her feet. Niel takes a defensive step back. "You just found a notebook that conveniently led you to a box that just so happened to have a bunch of shit from my childhood? No, you planted all of this shit here, didn't you!?"
"If I did, then how did I get all of this? You even admitted that this is all from your childhood." Niel is trying to keep a level head and fight her points in the face of her temper. Losing his now would render all of this a waste, and he'll never get another chance.
"I don't know! Those bastards would never do anything like this! They didn't care about us! They're not good people!"
"They might not be, but they cared enough to keep this safe for you two."
"THEY DON'T CARE!!"
Like before in the home, Lydia weaves together airborne hydrogen and oxygen atoms with a loud crack to form a vicious surge of water. He wasn't last time, but Niel is prepared for it now. He conjures a bladed wall to block, split, and smoothly redirect the tidal wave away from him. Lydia attempts this two more times in rapid succession, but both are also defended against successfully.
"I'm not asking you to love your parents. Or even like them," Niel says composedly—almost sorrowfully. Dust swirls around him, ready to act again if need be. "I just want you to understand why they did what they did, so you can give up on your anger and move on."
Still angry but all screamed out, Lydia uses her Mute to haul her bag to her and run away. This isn't the outcome Niel wanted. All he can do now is wait to see what happens. The two halves of the letter lay soaked on the ground, so he takes them, the notebook, and the rabbit with him and reburies the rest. It's time to return home now.
Bringing the rabbit inside would raise obvious questions, so Niel places it at the side of the home so he can hoist it through his room window later. But then he has a thought. If Lydia complained to their guardians about what transpired, he'll be called out in serious trouble as soon as he steps in through the door. He didn't think this far ahead. His heart is beating fast in nervous anticipation, and with no way to stop his fate, he enters the home.
Mabel and Gabriel are in the kitchen with Poppy, Illia is sitting in the living room with her kalimba, and Reed is in his room. The second-floor bathroom is shut, so he assumes Lydia is there. He pries his shoes off and silently steps in, and he sees through his Dust that Illia is looking over at him. He returns her gaze and she gives him a greeting wave, to which he gives one back. Nothing out of the ordinary. With the adults' backs turned to him still, Niel tries creeping up the staircase so he can get to his room without incident, but of course, one of the stairs just has to make the loudest squeak known to man as soon as he steps on it.
"Oh, Niel?" Mabel calls. His cover is blown.
"Yeah?" Niel responds.
"How was Lydia?" she asks on approach so she can lower her voice. Niel's heart skips a beat. The letter and the notebook hide just behind his shirt.
"She was fine," Niel says as a bland answer.
"Okay. I didn't know if she bothered you or anything." And after saying that, Mabel returns to the kitchen. Does she... really not know? He feels like he dodged a bullet.
On the way to his room, Niel notices that Lydia's room is vacant and a running shower can be heard behind the closed bathroom door. She is in there. He goes to his room to deposit the paper and pull the rabbit up, and with Lydia unable to see what he's doing, Niel places the rabbit next to her pillow under the covers. It seemed to draw the strongest emotional response from her, so he hopes she'll be at least happy to have it back. He makes himself scarce before anyone finds him in here.
The day concludes uneventfully as Niel is left alone in his room to reflect. He and Lydia never spoke to each other for the rest of the day, but the air around her felt as awkward as it was aggressive, as opposed to just being the latter and nothing more. Or, maybe he's just reading her wrong in his hopefulness. No one ever brought up their interaction in the forest, so Lydia did keep it to herself. At least that's a positive sign. For the first time in a few nights, Niel is able to sleep without something major stressing his mind into exhaustion.
>>>>>>
Finding that cache in the forest yesterday still weighs heavily on Lydia's mind, so much so that her small friend group at school notices a change in attitude separate from her recent vexation. Despite their prodding, she doesn't tell what's on her mind. She becomes so absentminded on the bus after school that she nearly misses her stop. It's Friday, so instead of going straight home, she gets off the bus close to the cemetery so she can visit Aaron. Counsel with the headstone is unsurprisingly one-sided, but in her desperation to understand, a suggestion floats into her head as if it were carried there by the wind. But can she do it?
Lydia continues pondering at home. Faced in front of the mirror, she stares herself in the eye as she practices her makeup. Her ambivalent thoughts hold her attention more than the magazines in front of her. Can she let herself believe them? Can their words be trusted in the first place? Is she even strong enough to go through with this? Seeing as it's getting late, she wipes off the makeup and makes up her mind. He was the one who kicked this off, so he's coming with her whether he likes it or not. Lydia ascends the stairs toward Niel's room, but just as she reaches out to his door to knock, it opens up on its own. Niel stares back at her from his bed.
"You saw me coming, didn't you?" Lydia says.
"Of course," he responds blankly.
Lydia sighs. The lack of emotion annoys her after all of the stress and aggravation she's been contending with. "I want to talk to my parents, and I want you to come with me," she states boldly.
Niel's eyes light up ever so slightly from hearing this, and a small sense of contentment glimmers from inside Lydia.
"When are we going?" Niel asks.
"As soon as we can."
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Following up on what she said, Lydia calls Dwayne and asks for him to book a visitation at the prison at his earliest convenience. He sounds surprised, both at her request and from her wanting to take Niel as well, and he reveals that he already has a visitation booked for Sunday afternoon—Father's Day. It's Lydia's turn to be surprised now (and a bit suspicious at what he was initially planning to do), but at least something has been set. Now to wait.
The next morning, Mabel holds a sneaky meeting with the kids to determine Gabriel's Father's Day gift. It's hard to hide things from Gabriel for long after several years together, so Mabel likes buying him gifts late so there's as little time for him to snoop as possible, which he loves doing. After they come to an agreement, Mabel sneaks out of the house with Illia and Niel under the guise of them going for a walk so they can go buy it. Gabriel immediately suspects that they, in fact, may not be gone for a walk due to their SUV being visibly absent from the driveway. After the trio wraps the gift in the parking lot, Mabel employs Niel to sneak it through the unused bedroom window on the top floor once they get home and stash it away inside.
Sunday morning finally comes around, and in stark contrast to the beautiful day yesterday, another thunderstorm is roaring overhead. Lydia tends to a frightened Illia cowering in the corner. A few wrapped boxes sit at Gabriel's feet, all from previous children who have moved out of the home, and all previously snooped by him (much to his wife's irritation).
"Happy Father's Day dear," Mabel says as she kisses her husband.
"Happy Father's Day!" Reed and Niel cheer, the former louder than the latter.
"Happy Father's Day," Lydia says from across the room. Illia plugs her ear with her shoulder rather than with her finger so she can raise her hand in reflection.
"Here you go, Gab—"
As soon as Mabel tries giving Gabriel the box she, Niel and Illia bought and wrapped yesterday, a loud crack of thunder causes everyone to flinch. Niel joins Lydia in comforting Illia whimpering in the corner, to Lydia's surprise.
"I was going to call you Gabe, but it looks like something's trying to tell me I shouldn't!" Mabel jokes. "Here."
"You still can," Gabriel says back, almost disheartened that he didn't hear someone call him by the nickname he offers but no one ever uses. He tears apart the wrapping paper and exposes the box for an indoor electric grill. "Oh! Thank you!"
Niel doesn't quite understand why they need an indoor grill when the barbecue they hardly use still works just fine, but Gabriel looks happy, so maybe that's all that matters.
"Oh, for me? Thank you! You shouldn't have!" Poppy jokes as she pretends the grill is for her.
"Hey! You might use it more than me, but it's still mine!" Gabriel retorts.
The rest of the morning leading into noon is spent with Gabriel opening his other gifts, like mugs with odd Father's Day-related jokes and gift cards for a liquor store. Soon Dwayne pulls into the driveway, and Niel and Lydia know it's time. The two of them get ready to leave while Dwayne chats with everyone downstairs, and after Lydia pats Illia's still-timid head, they load into his car and make their way northwest toward the prison. After nearly twenty minutes of driving, Dwayne steers into the parking lot next to the facility and brings the car to a stop.
"Leave everything out here," Dwayne instructs. "Phones, wallets, and the Warden's Key. They'll be scanning all of us inside."
Niel contemplates this for a moment. He could likely find a way to smuggle it inside, but should he be caught, there would be hell to pay. He fills his internal storage to near-max and tucks his primary source of strength into the seat pocket in front of him, and they all leave the car.
Inside the white concrete walls of the prison's reception area, Dwayne takes a number and the three of them sit and wait until they're called. A guard with a dog passes by. Lydia is noticeably anxious from the dog sniffing her, and had he been helping Callum now instead of before, so would Niel. They approach the front desk once the receptionist is ready for them, and Dwayne confirms the visitation and provides identification for the three of them. The visit will be with her father first and then her mother immediately after, but not both at the same time, as Niel now discovers.
After being cleared, they're scanned by a metal detector next before they can proceed to the visitation room. Lydia passes through just fine, as does Dwayne, but Niel is the catch. The Dust-making device on his heart will almost certainly trigger a response, and Dwayne knows this, so he tells the male guards in charge of the scan that Niel has a medical implant and shows a card proving so. Niel didn't even know that Dwayne carried such a card. The guards understand, but Niel still has to walk through the detector anyways as there's nowhere else for him to go. The archway predictably detects the metal in his body and sounds an alarm, but a sweep over his body with a detector wand and a frisk clears him as well.
After a short walk following a guard, they can ease their nervous hearts in the visitation room. The walls of the room have shifted from the white before to a yellowish-tan, and the floor is covered by patternless brown carpet. Myriad metal tables with attached stools are neatly organized throughout the semicircle-shaped room, made into that shape by what Niel assumes is a chamber for guards to watch and listen to them from behind one-way glass. The stools are not very comfortable. The seat reserved for Lydia's parents is directly across from her, with Niel positioned to her left and Dwayne at her right.
The prison is very secure, not just from what they've encountered so far, but the fact that each doorway is designed with a filter to block Phase Mutes, and thus his secret scans as well. There are other people in here with them—some inmates, and other family members and/or friends visiting. Some even have small children.
A metal door clicks open from across the room. Niel is the first to look, and based on Lydia's scowl, he presumes this is who they're here to see. Escorted to their table by a guard, Levi is visibly shocked and excited to see his daughter for the first time in years. He shares Lydia's dark complexion, but he's bald unlike her, and his facial hair is messy and not well-kept. The standard orange jumpsuit and white shirt underneath unmistakably show his status as an inmate, though Niel is personally surprised that he's not restrained in any way. The guard exits to the room with one-way glass as soon as Levi sits down at the table.
"It's so good to see you again, swee—"
"We found the notebook," Lydia abruptly states, cutting her father off. Niel notes how Levi's voice is even deeper than Dwayne's.
"Notebook?" Dwayne questions.
"You... found the notebook?" Regardless of what the notebook is, Levi's soft, stupefied tone and expression shows how serious this is to him. "Did you—"
"Everything. It was all there. And I want you to explain why," Lydia demands.
"Hold on," Dwayne interrupts. "What are you talking about?"
Levi looks over his shoulder before lowering his volume. "Miriam and me knew we were going to get caught soon, so we buried everything the kids owned because it was bought with the money we stole."
"Wait. So it wasn't taken by the courts?"
"No, but it was going to, like the rest of our stuff did. Obviously, we didn't want it to stay buried forever, so we left hints in a normal-looking notebook for them to follow." Levi looks back at his daughter. "And it worked."
"And it wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for Niel," Lydia grumbles. "He was the one who found it and solved it. I wasn't told that it existed. Why?"
"Let's get some introductions out of the way first before we continue," Dwayne says, though very curious about what Niel has done behind everyone's back. "This is Niel, our most recent resident of the home."
"Pleasure to meet you, Niel," Levi greets. "I'm sure you already know, but I'm Lydia's father, Levi." Niel nods his head in recognition.
"Why wasn't I told about the notebook?" Lydia demands again.
"I had no idea you did such a thing, either," Dwayne admits.
"I'll be honest, I didn't really want a third party involved with that notebook, and by the sound of it, neither does Miriam if she never said anything either," Levi explains. "And, I did want to tell you, Lydia. You were just too young at the time, and when that wasn't a problem anymore, you wouldn't talk to me, or listen."
A flash of self-reflective guilt streaks across Lydia's face. "But... why did you do it? Other than so it wouldn't be taken away, why?"
Levi has to think for a moment to understand what his daughter is trying to ask, but he soon catches on.
"Because we love you. Everything we did, all the crimes we committed, it was so you and Aaron could lead better lives than us. We knew we had sealed our fate a long time ago, and we didn't want to leave you with nothing. But... that's exactly what we ended up doing. Lydia, I'm so sorry for leaving you two alone for so long, and I'm so sorry for getting Aaron killed."
Hot tears sting Lydia's eyes. A part of her wants to reject his words as manipulation, and she's angry about him speaking Aaron's name, but she also wants to believe in his sincerity. She tries to speak, but her words come up a garbled mess under the strain of emotion.
"I-I m-miss Aaron..."
Seeing his daughter cry sparks a strong surge of heartache in Levi as he too begins crying. "We miss him, too. You didn't deserve to grieve alone."
The two then proceed to pour their hearts out as the four-year-long dam between them gives way. Niel and Dwayne even have trouble keeping it together in the face of their emotional heart-to-heart. Levi tells them stories from Lydia's youth, stories that were wiped from her memory via her rage until now, and she recalls them with nostalgia alongside her father. Unfortunately, an alarm sounds through the prison, and guards rush in to escort the inmates back to their cells and usher visitors out. Levi is upset that the time with his daughter is being cut short, but as he's being taken away, he hears Lydia's voice call out above the chaos.
"Dad! Happy Father's Day!"
He waves back at them just before he disappears through the doorway, and Niel is convinced that the word 'elated' won't even begin to describe the joy he saw on Levi's face. The rest of them are forced to leave as lockdown ensues.
"It's unfortunate that we don't get to see Miriam now," Dwayne comments when they're in the car. Niel re-equips the Warden's Key and slips the bulb back underneath his shirt.
"Dwayne? Is it possible to send Mom a letter?" Lydia asks. It doesn't come out strongly on their faces, but both Niel and Dwayne are shocked to hear Lydia, of all people, actively want to reach out to one of her parents.
"We can do that," he replies.
With nothing left for them here, they drive out of the parking area and begin their journey home. Lydia quietly reflects during the trip, and before they reach their destination, she decides to make a request.
"Can you drop us off at the graveyard?"
If it's the graveyard she wants to go to, then it means she wants to see Aaron. Dwayne obliges, and he veers off of his intended route to go to the graveyard instead. Once there, Lydia and Niel step out, and Dwayne drives away as per her request. The grass, ground, and stone are all still wet from today's storm, but the grey clouds above have since broken apart. Niel follows Lydia to the headstone of her brother once again.
"Aaron... I saw Dad," she begins. "He looks well. He said he was sorry for leaving us alone so much, and he said he loved us. I... Things aren't perfect. One or two apologies aren't going to make me forgive him immediately. How he and Mom neglected us, and how they got you killed still bothers me a lot. But, I'm going to give him another chance. And Mom, too."
It feels like a breath of fresh air to hear her speak of her parents in a way that isn't wishing ill of them. Niel is proud of Lydia for her change in character, and he's proud of himself for being the spark. Once Lydia is content with her report, they stand and begin the walk home. Though on their way out, they run into a familiar face.
"Niel? Didn't expect to see you here." Walking in through the gate is Callum, sharing a hand with Alanna. It hasn't been very long since Niel had last seen them, but Callum looks a little healthier and Alanna a little taller.
"Oh, Callum. How have things been?" Niel asks.
"Much better. Came to see Breanne today. Finally managed to land a job recently, too."
"That's great! What do you do?"
"Eh, it's just a lousy gas station clerk, but it's enough for now."
At this point, Lydia is very confused by who this strange man is and why he and Niel know each other. Both Niel and Callum catch on to this.
"This is Callum," Niel introduces to Lydia. "He's a friend. And this is his daughter Alanna."
"Got me out of a tough spot. I owe him a lot for it," Callum adds. He extends a friendly hand to Lydia. "Your name?"
"Uh, Lydia," she answers unsurely as she shakes his hand. "I'm... also a friend of Niel's."
"Lydia. Your name is pretty," Alanna says, though her pronunciation sounds closer to Widia than Lydia. Lydia gives an awkward but charmed smile.
Niel leans down a bit until his hands rest on his knees. "Are you keeping your daddy out of trouble?"
"Yep!" the young girl chirps gleefully.
"That's good to hear."
Lydia has been watching Niel's face throughout the day, and as per usual, he doesn't express much emotion. But now, hearing him talk is like listening to a whole new person. Or, has she just been tone-deaf to his voice this whole time?
"She'll be starting school in September," Callum says.
"Are you excited?" Niel asks Alanna.
"Yes!"
Lydia wants to say something nice to Alanna, but she feels too awkward and out of place to do so. With the day not getting any younger, each side bids the other farewell and they go their separate ways. Lydia needs some time to organize her thoughts after that strange encounter.
"So, how did you meet him?" she says skeptically as they walk down the sidewalk.
Niel explains the story of meeting Callum in the alley during a walk, helping him when he was getting robbed, and how he protected Alanna from Invictus kidnappers. Lydia is stunned.
"I—I don't even know where to begin, other than you're incredibly stupid for getting yourself involved in the first place."
"Maybe. But look at them now. They would've been on the street had I not gotten involved, or worse without protection from Invictus. I don't want to see another child grow up on the street."
Lydia recalls something Reed told her a while ago. 'You'd be surprised by what he'll do for you without you even knowing.' Niel saved a family from the brink of ruin without uttering so much as a single word or complaint, and then he goes and helps her restore her family bonds nearly, if not completely single-handedly. Turns out Reed was more accurate than even he likely knew.
All this time, she thought he never cared.
"...And that's something I need to get used to," Lydia says.
"What is?"
"How you don't show what you're feeling on your face. Sometimes it looks like you don't care about what's going on. I've gotten upset at you a few times because of it..."
Niel doesn't fully know where she's coming from, but if he had to harbour a guess, perhaps it's when she glares at him seemingly at random?
"I know I don't show much emotion other than sorrow or rage. I find expressing myself... difficult... after the lab. But I try to help despite that. If the most I can do is stand tall, then I'll stand."
"You've done more than just stand. You've turned a few lives around," Lydia says with pride in Niel. "Thank you for not giving up on me. And, sorry for getting pissy at you. And sorry for trying to drown you that one time."
"You're forgiven," Niel responds.
'Turned a few lives around'. Again, the reason why he decided to get involved eludes him, but seeing his efforts be rewarded makes him believe it was worth it. Hopefully now, Lydia can let go of her rage, and in the future, maybe Niel can learn to, as well.
All that remains in the sky are wispy clouds left from storms passed.