Standing outside the door, I prepared myself for the worst.

Kai already held grudges against me for not bringing Aylin back sooner. We were always close but over time our relationship strained. And after last night, I highly doubt he would even want to see me, much less hear me out.

I didn't want to deal with this right now. At least not when there were more pressing matters to tend to.

"Can I come in?" I asked, opening the door just enough so I could I see inside.

Kai was sitting in the center of the room, a brush in his hand as he painted something. I could tell he hadn't slept all night; his sleeping habits never failing to worry me.

"Kai?" I repeated.

"What?" He barked. It somewhat relieved me to hear the anger in his voice. It meant he hadn't completely detached himself from us. No, he still cared. At least cared enough to get angry. "Came here for round two?"

"I came here to apologize." Without waiting for his permission, I went inside and dragged a chair to sit beside him.

"Fuck off."

I stared at the canvas before him. The painting was only half completed, yet I could already make out the features of Aylin.

"I'm sorry." I said gently which seemed to have angered him even more. "I had no right to do that to you."

"But you did." I flinched, not expecting to hear the sadness his voice carried.

I looked around the room, trying to arrange my emotions into words. I could see the fresh wounds on his face which only added more to my remorse.

I wish I could take it back.

"Is that me?" I picked up the freshly painted canvas with my face on it kept beside the bed for the paint to dry.

I smiled when I recalled the particular memory that inspired his artwork. Even as a child, Kai hated people. He wouldn't allow anyone to come near him.

Except me.

He would either spend his day alone or following me. He adored me. So did I. I still do. The only difference is I wasn't this bad at expressing it back then.

"You hate me, too?" I asked, recalling Aylin's honest confession last night.

At first it frustrated me beyond belief. After everything I did for her, still am doing, that's how she repays me? By claiming she hates me more than she ever hated Diego?

The same Diego who dedicated half of his life to make her life a hell while I fought to protect her against all odds.

But when I stayed up all night, counting the scars on her back, I realized I deserved her hatred.

I was worse than Diego. Maybe even worse than Dad.

Diego admitted his mistakes and he strived to do better.

While I still believed I was doing the right thing.

But the truth was I never once had done the right thing. I didn't try hard enough to fight Dad to let her stay.

Maybe it wouldn't matter and she would still be sent away. Maybe all my protests would have been in vain.

But I should have at least tried.

Yet I didn't.

Why? Because I believed she was a responsibility I needed a break from.

"You have changed." Kai commented, disappointed. "You weren't always like this. You once cared for us. Truly loved us."

"I still do. Even if my actions might say otherwise, I still love you and I always will." I told him honestly.

"Just say what you want from me and fuck off." He scoffed not believing me for a second.

"I'm meeting a girl this afternoon." I revealed. "She was raised in the same institute as Aylin. I am hoping I can get some answers from her. I want you to come with me."

It was a lie. I didn't want him to come with me. But the girl, Chloe Dawson, had made her conditions clear. The only person she was going to talk to was Kai. I had no idea why or how she even knew him.

"Okay." He nodded slightly. I knew he wouldn't say no. Not when it concerned Aylin.

... ... ...

"Does Lili know we are meeting her friend?" Kai asked, looking concerned at the possibility that she might not like the prospect of us meeting her friend.

"We are here." I avoided his question, getting down from the car. I glanced at my watch, I was 30 minutes late. Because of Kai. He had changed attires for over 50 times in the past hour, finally settling on a fancy velvet suit.

According to him, if he didn't dress nicely , Chloe would not want to be friends with Aylin anymore.

I couldn't really blame him. He never had any friends and didn't know the first thing about social norms. He probably took inspiration from Noah who takes more than an hour to get ready whenever he goes out with friends.

Noah cared a bit too much about his appearance. Well, except when he goes out with us and wouldn't mind tagging along naked. He would actually prefer that just so he could annoy the shit out of us.

"Ready?" I confirmed, noting how nervous he looked. I understood his reasoning. For a long time, and maybe even now he blamed himself for Aylin not having any friends.

He believed Aylin picked up his antisocial behavior. And while he liked staying alone, it wasn't the same for Aylin. She loved staying around people and as a child was even more talkative than Eve.

"Hm." He nodded, adjusting the antique watch in his wrist. It didn't work but well, he seems to like it, so who am I to comment?

"Reservation under Chloe Dawson." I hoped she hadn't left already. Because if it was me, I would have.

We were led to a a small room, isolated from the rest of the restaurant.

"About time you came."

The girl didn't match my expectation. She was young, too young, to be managing her father's multi-million company.

Yet, since the last three months she had assumed the reigns, their business had never before flourished as much.

She looked like a child.

She was dressed just as fancy as Kai, if not more. I realized somehow I had become the one not dressed appropriately. At least according to their theme.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me." I started, taking a seat on the outstretched chair. Kai followed my actions, sitting beside me.

"I didn't." She shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes never once leaving Kai. "I agreed to meet him."

Kai turned to look at me when faced with the new revelation.

"Why?" He asked, curious.

"To see if you were real."

He was just as confused as me.

"Do I know you?" He wondered. It wouldn't be a surprise if they did know each other and Kai forgot. He didn't care enough about people to remember their names or faces.

"No." She slowly shook her head. "But I know you."

"How?" This could be counted as one of the longest conversation he ever had with someone who wasn't family.

"You are the reason I'm still alive." Chloe admitted.

"Are you Aylin's friend?" Kai asked, his tone gentle.

"The psycho's friend?" She laughed in irony. "She wishes."

Kai frowned, suddenly growing hostile. "She's not a psycho."

Chloe leaned back in her seat, not surprised by his hostility. Just a little remorseful about her slipup.

Before I could intervene, a knock sounded on the door and a few servers came inside with our food.

"What do you want from me?" She sighed, turning to me.

"Answers." I said. "Who's Azazel?"

"Are you sure you want him here for this?" She asked.

No, you are the one who wanted him here for this.

In response, Kai glared at her, seconds away from storming off from here. The only thing keeping him patient was his need to know what she knew.

"Azazel Giovanni." She answered, picking her tablet in her hand. "He's a Spanish scientist, one of the core members of the facility."

She placed her tablet before us. A Wikipedia page was opened in the screen. It had a picture of a man in his twenties. But the thing that caught my eyes the most were his eyes.

They were breathtaking, forcing me to glance at it for a second time. One a shade darker than coal and the other transparent, made of pure glass.

"He's the one who came up with the theory of advanced humans with no emotions. Apparantly, having emotions as fear, sadness, terror is holding us back from seeing the truth."

"What truth?" Kai frowned, reading the short description in the Wikipedia. The young scientist disappeared more than ten years ago after presenting the world his last theory about advanced humans.

"The truth that God is a make-believe concept by the weak to keep the powerful in check." She shared.

"Aylin claims she killed someone. Do you know who she was talking about?" I asked, my mind going to the night she admitted it during her panic attack.

"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, turning to me at the new information. "Aylin can't even hurt a fly much less a person."

"I'm not sure." Chloe shrugged, ignoring Kai's comment.

"She might be talking about Norah Jones."

"Who is Norah Jones?" I inquired. I had seen that name in the report Diego gave me. The girl was an orphan who was taken in by the institute much earlier than Aylin.

"I don't know the details. But Aylin and Norah, both disappeared around the same time. Two weeks later Norah left the facility wrapped in a body bag."

"Aylin wasn't the same after that. She went insane. She would stay up all night, talking to herself. We were told it was because of Norah's suicide."

"Suicide?" I felt my head spin at the description she provided.

Why did my sweet little angel had to go through so much?

"I doubt it was suicide. Norah was a quiet girl but not suicidal." She pondered. "Rumor has it they tried to escape together but later got caught."

All this newfound information was too much for me to digest. I paused, taking a deep breath before asking my next question.

"How old was Aylin at that time?"

"Roughly five years ago. You do the calculation." She stated.

Twelve.

The same age she got those scars. I knew for sure the two incidents were related.

"I think Aylin killed her and then went insane with the guilt. She was a child after all." Chloe shared her theory.

I felt the intense need to strangle her. How dare she say that about my Aylin?

But a part of me couldn't help but agree with her. It was a reasonable explanation and with how the events were surprisingly turning against us, it didn't sound that far fetched.

Kai didn't agree, he picked the tablet up and slammed it against the opposite wall.

"Shut the fuck up!" Kai growled. "Aylin would never hurt someone!"

Chloe only laughed at the face of his wrath.

"Are you really her brothers?" She taunted. "It seems like you know nothing about her."

"Oh, and you do?" Kai challenged. "I raised her myself. I know what she is like better than you!"

"Your sister isn't as innocent as you think she is." Chloe snickered, taking off her jacket.

"You see this?" She said, gesturing to her arms. It was covered with numerous pink lines, scars left by cravings done by a knife. Similar to the ones I saw in Aylin's back last night, just a little less worse.

"Your angelic sister did this to me." Chloe stated.

What.the.actual.fuck?

"No, she didn't. She wouldn't!" Kai repeated with certainty. "Aylin would never hurt anyone."

Chloe laughed at his foolish insistence. She opened her bag and took out her tablet.

"Why don't you watch for yourself?" She offered, passing us her tab.

Clueless, I decided to go along. Accepting the device from her hand, I found that the opened file had a dozen videos in it.

I had a feeling nothing good would happen if I clicked in one of the videos. But my need for answers won over and I clicked on the first video.

And never had I regretted doing something this much.

The world did not end in a bang, or a whisper.

Rather, one scream at a time.

Just like my world was breaking with the bloodcurdling screams that echoed in the silent room.

Aylin's screams.

With every fiber of my soul, I prayed I could turn back time.

Go back and never let her away from my sight.

Pause it.

But my hands wouldn't move and I forced myself to continue watching the video.

Aylin was tied against a shabby wall as a man in a white coat carved her back with a knife. Repeatedly. Without pause.

She screamed from the pain, blood pooling around her.

Her blood.

Even after she stopped screaming, for no voice would come out when she opened her mouth, her screams still rang in my head, loud and clear.

"Stop it." Kai begged, his hands tightly clasping his ears to filter out the sound. "Stop it, please."

I wanted to stop the video just as desperately as him.

But I couldn't.

She had to go through it and I can't even will myself to watch it?

"So soon?" Chloe raised her head and smiled. "You haven't even gotten to the best part yet."

There was more?

More of this hell? Then I remembered there were at least ten more videos in the file.

"Skip to AB-08."

With trembling hands, I clicked on the video titled AB-08.

The room setting was different this time. A girl was tied to a chair, her mouth gagged and a blindfold over her eyes.

I sighed in relief when I saw the girl in the video wasn't Aylin.

But it was short-lived because Aylin soon came in my view. She looked older than she was in the last video.

Then entered another man, I recognized him immediately as the man who was torturing Aylin in the last video. Azazel.

He whispered something in Aylin's ear and placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her forward.

It was like I was watching the same video again, just this time the roles were reversed.

Aylin wasn't the one getting tortured. Rather she was the one torturing the tied girl as her screams rang through the air.

I felt my blood run cold at the sight of my sweet little angel cruelly hurting the other girl, who looked just as young as her.

"What is this?"

"Your sister's true face." She smiled. "Not that I can blame her considering I did much worse things to survive."

"Never trust a survivor," my father's advice rang in my head, "Until you find out what they did to stay alive."

Is this what she had to do stay alive?

To give up a part of her soul to keep her body breathing?

The pieces were finally coming together and everything made so much more sense.

Was this why she was so adamant on keeping secrets from us? Because she thought we would blame her.

Was that really how little trust she had on my love for her?

Even if she were to burn the entire world to ashes, I would stand by her, lighting the matchstick to make her work easier.

Did she not know that?

"I'm not done yet." She commented, her eyes still at Kai. It was like she was trying to hurt him, break him for some reason. I didn't understand why. Just moments ago, she seemed smitten by him.

"Did she tell you about the mutiny?" Her smile widened when she realized the answer.

"It was a week before my release. The other students came to know about it and started a mutiny. They believed if I was to be freed, they deserved it as well."

"It didn't work. Instead they got punished for breaking the rules. But it only lead to more retaliation. That night, 47 people died."

Kai froze beside me, already anticipating her next words.

"Your sister killed 13." She said, intently watching every tiny emotion that flickered through Kai's eyes. But she didn't seem to find the one she was searching for.

"And how many did you kill?" Kai shot back coldly.

"I killed to survive." She narrowed her eyes. "Your sister killed for vengeance. There's a difference."

"Tell that to the men rotting six feet under the ground."

"I can't." Chloe chuckled at Kai's words. "Their bodies weren't buried. They were burned."

"That's enough." I interrupted. "I'm keeping the tab." I told her before standing up to leave. I had enough answers for a lifetime.

I turned around realizing Kai was still sitting on the same spot.

"You said I am the reason you are alive." I heard Kai whisper. "What did you mean by that?"

Chloe stayed silent for a whole minute, debating on whether to respond.

"Most of us in the institute never had a family or someone who loved us. Cruelty was all we knew since we were born." She shared. "Aylin used to tell us about you."

"Day and night, all she talked about was you. We weren't allowed to talk to each other and no matter how many times she would get punished for it, she would never shut up."

"Everyone thought she was a liar. So did I. Yet everytime I came close to death, I would fight a bit longer because I believed you were real and not just a part of her delusions."

"It made me hopeful that perhaps there were more people like you out there and someday someone like that would come to save me, too."

"I might not like Aylin but I will forever be grateful to her for telling us about you."

Kai stood up abruptly, storming out of the room. Giving Chloe one last glance, I rushed after him, too.

"Are you alright?" I inquired at the sight of Kai's pale face.

He silently shook his head. His eyes fixated on the snow falling outside.

"Kai," I called out again. I hated how he never voiced out his pain. Even after Mama's death, I hadn't seen him crying. When Aylin was gone, he still refused to acknowledge his grief.

Years of bottled up emotions was slowly killing his soul. And I was afraid today might be the final blow he could take.

"Kai, talk to me." I urged. How was I supposed to focus on all of them at the same time? "Tell me what's bothering you."

"What's there to tell? You already saw everything." He responded. "How can I ever look her in the eye again knowing I failed her. Repeatedly."

"It's not over, Kai." I assured him. "You can still be there for her. She's here now and she's not going anywhere."

"What if I fail her again?" He asked, his voice coated with fear.

"You won't." I implied, my tone firm.

I won't let you. Because for all I know this could be the last chance I will ever get to fix the past.

Not my favorite chapter but well, we have to dump the info somewhere :))