ANMELDENALICIA"What did you just say?" Jade's voice threw closer, the door widening as she walked in with a look of confusion on her face. She paused at the entrance of Zach's office and looked around, scanning our faces. "You were planning on keeping that away from me?" She asked, her voice unsteady as she threw closer to the desk I was leaning on. I glanced at Zach and lowered my head to the file in my hand. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that she was given out by her own mother."Alicia, I don't think it's something you'd want to hear... It's not somethin–" she raised my hand, cutting me short."I thought you of all people would understand how I feel." She started, my voice breaking.Jade stood there and stared at me with a look that felt like it was drilling a hole through my chest, her gaze moving back and forth between me and Zach while the tears started gathering in the corners of her eyes. I tried to take a step towards her and opened my mouth to explain that we were only tryi
ALICIA"This marks the end of the research assignment I gave weeks ago." Aunt Darla announced to the group of the medical researchers standing in anticipation. I stared at Jade across the room and I felt a nervous smile spread across my face.She stared back, and for the first time, a warm smile was on her face. As I looked away, I noticed Aunt Darla's eyes exchanging glances between us and I could tell what she thinking, she was surprised by the warmness of Jade's glance at me."Well, to announce the winning duo, i would be pulling up their research work." She continued, stepping out of the view of the projector behind her. "Or better still, I should call them forth instead." She threw me a short glance and I could feel the air in my lungs suddenly disappear.Aunt Darla looked out at the crowd of researchers and her smile widened as she adjusted her glasses. “To everyone’s surprise, the winning duo is Dr. Alicia Grey and Jade Vermont,” she announced, and the room went completely sile
ALICIA"Wait... What does this mean?" I asked, my voice shaky. I watched the grainy video again, my eyes refusing to believe what I saw on the screen in front of me."Alicia..." Zach called out softly, a hand landing on my shoulder gently. I cleared my throat and turned around, the question in my head finding hard to form in my mouth, my tongue forgetting how to turn thoughts into actual words. "Did you kno–" I paused halfway, the words turning to ash in my mouth. I cleared my throat slightly, focusing my attention on his face."Where did you get this video?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. His gaze shifted to the video then back to my face, hesitant as his lips parted and returned to being pressed into a thin line."How did you get this video?" I asked again, my voice slightly higher. He moved closer, his hand gently landing on my shoulder. "A guy I know hacked the security camera's cloud storage six years ago, after you had been released and since the court had declared
ALICIA"Zach!" I pounced on the door aggressively, my hand trembling as I landed consecutive hits on the door. I took a deep breath in, trying my best to stop my hands from trembling.I raised my fist to the door again, ready to land more hits on it when I hear the sound of clicks from the inside. I paused, stepping back in surprise as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and smoothened out my dress."Who is it?" Zach's voice came from within, causing a cold chill to run down my spine."Um, it's me Zach, open up." I waited for the door to finally come open and I couldn't bring myself to lift my eyes that were stuck on my feet, grounded to the pouch. After what seemed like forever, he finally spoke, his voice surprisingly steady. "Were you planning on coming in or sleeping on my porch all afternoon?" He asked. I raised my eyes slowly to his face and tried swallowing the lump in my throat. His gaze landed on mine and my breath hitched in my throat.I followed him inside, the heavy
ALICIA"Are...are you Maya?" I asked, my voice cracking as I moved away, my hands as a support against the ground. I paused my eyes lowering to the picture my shaky hands were struggling to hold on to."It–it's not possible." I whispered, my voice coming off more of gasps than words. It couldn't be, she couldn't be Maya.I stumbled back and stared at Jade's face, my gaze examining her features. I moved away from her on the cold floor, my hands feeling weak as they pressed against the tiles for support, because the weight of what I was seeing was too much for my body to handle. I looked down at the picture again, my shaky fingers struggling to even hold onto the small piece of paper as I felt a sharp pain in my chest that made every breath feel like I was inhaling something toxic. "It—it’s not possible," I whispered, the words coming out as small gasps rather than actual sounds as I tried to make sense of the girl in the photo and the woman sitting in front of me. It couldn't be tr
ALICIA“Jade! Jade, can you hear me?” I called out to her, my voice echoing in the silence of the lab as I ran to the door to get to her side. I grabbed the handle and twisted it with all my might, but I realized the door was locked from the inside and I didn't have the security clearance to override it. I pounded on the glass and watched her struggle to breathe, the panic rising in my throat."Jade?" I called out, pulling on the door handle harder. I peeped through the glass on the door, my eyes searching for the nearest possible way into the lab before she did something stupid.I threw myself against the door as I tried the handle again violently turning it in different directions."Keys! Right!" I paused, panting as I ran to Aunt Darla's office, grabbing the bunch of spare keys she kept in her desk. I ran back, trying the keys with shaky fingers and the door finally came open. I rushed inside and grabbed the vial from Jade just as she raised to her lips."Are you crazy?! That could







