Schaffel sat on the couch, as the other two stared at him blankly. 

What should I say?  Thought Schaffel. Why are they looking at me like that?

Jan and Willa didn't know what to say either. He had just killed a Nazi soldier, and had no idea he was the one who did it. They were in utter shock and disbelief, so all they could do was stare.

"Schaffel, do you remember what happened?" Jan asked.

Schaffel looked down at the floor. "A loud knocking, then I woke up on Jan's shoulders."

Willa sighed in irritation. Clearly he is unaware, but why?  Was there a part of his mind blocking his awareness? Was it his subconscious? She didn't know, but thinking about it gave her a headache. 

Willa stood up from her seat. "I'm gonna go to my room." She said, and left.

Willa sat on the edge of her bed massaging her aching head. She got these quite often, as a result of the extensive use of her powers. 

But they were never this bad.

Schaffel's gentle footsteps quietly approached her room, and he stood in the doorway. "Are you okay?" He asked innocently. "You just seem l-like you need s-somebody to talk to." He said shyly, playing with his fingers.

"I'm perfectly fine. I don't need anyone to talk to. I barely know you anyway." Willa said rudely. She was well aware that she was in pain, and not fine. But she wasn't going to say or admit that to herself or anyone.

Schaffel smiled gently. "If you need anyone to talk to I'm only across the hall." He replied, then walked back to his room.

Willa watched as he climbed into his bed, and snuggled under the covers.

In the midst of night, Willa's eyes remained open. Her head once again ached, and she couldn't stop it. She glanced over at the small wood table beside her bed, where she put the file she found earlier. 

She gazed at the brown paper curiously, a debate continuing through her mind. Willa didn't know what could lie inside, and was unsure if she wanted to know. But why was it in Jan's room? Why did he have a file about her? She had a million questions of what could be inside the file, but her impatience got the best of her.

So she sat up, and opened the file.

Photos of her as a child sat inside, along with detailed descriptions of what she looked like, her nationality and gender. 

Willa flipped the page. 

It showed an experiment, where she was put in a room, and they gassed her, seeing if she wouldn't die. It showed photos of her body prior to that, and after.

Her jaw tightened. Why don't I remember this?

She continued flipping through the several other terrible experiments conducted, which she had no memory of. She swallowed hard and bit her lip reading the awful things they did to her. The Nazis tortured Willa.

She stopped at one of the last pages, saying December 6th 1942. Where it showed a rough sketch of her brain, and an arrow pointing to a specific area. She continued reading, until the end where it said: SOME MEMORIES OF EXPERIMENT B732 WILL BE REMOVED. IF NOT, THE BRAIN WILL BE OVERWHELMED DUE TO THE RARE BRAIN DISEASE IN HIPPOCAMPAL GYRUS. PROVIDED EQUIPMENT BY ALLIES TO COMPLETE EXPERIMENT. 

Willa's thoughts suddenly drifted to when she was a child. She remembered being in Jan's office and him telling her about the fascinating parts of the brain. One of them she remembers was when he was telling her about a rare brain disease.

"What is that?" Willa asked, fiddling with the end of her sleeve.

"Very bad," Jan explained. "Remember when I told you the brain controls everything?"

"Yeah?"

"Well this, is when the brain kind of gets infected. So it gets overwhelmed, and kills you eventually."

"Can you nurse it 'till it's better." Willa asked curiously.

"No, it's incurable." Jan turned to Willa and smiled, tapping the end of her nose. "But I will."

Willa's blinked back her tears, at both the memory, and what she had just learned. 

I'm going to die. She thought, her brain running wild with anger, confusion, and sadness. How did I even get the brain disease? Who are these allies? The Soviets? 

Her jaw clenched, along with her fist. Of all the things the Nazis had done to her, this was the worst. She had a brain disease, and they tried to preserve her by removing her memories. To keep her there at the facility.

Worst of all, Jan was involved. But how? Why does he have the file? 

Angry, and wild, Willa finally rolled out of bed, and headed through the hall, to where Jan sat at his desk. 

His glasses sat halfway down the bridge of his nose, and his hair sticking up in all different directions. Jan was clearly stressed, as he mumbled things to himself and wrote aggressively on the paper.

As Willa approached him, fuming. "Jan?" She asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.

His head turned up to face Willa, "yes?"

"What do you know about brain diseases?"

Jan's face turned pale, and he swallowed hard. "Incredibly deadly, a slow and painful death."

Willa stared at him eagerly.

"They put pressure on certain parts of the brain, enhancing some places, and harming others."

"Can they cause...powers?"

Jan's face grew even more white, and he moved his mouth but no words came out. "Depending on—" he cleared his throat. "Where it is, and the type."

"Which type? And where?" Willa said, through clenched teeth. She was doing everything in her power to not unleash everything on Jan right now, but she was close to letting go.

"Why all the questions Willa?" Jan finally said. 

Willa rolled her eyes, as she unintentionally read his mind. 

Everything stopped, and her breath caught in her throat. Willa felt as if she couldn't breathe, and like her heart would never beat again. Her mind went crazy, and all control was gone.

It was him.

"You!" She shouted.

"Get out of my head Willa!" Jan shouted back.

"You did those experiments on me! You took my memories! You're one of them!" Willa cried. "No wonder that file was in your office!"

"What file?-" Jan stopped, realizing. 

He swallowed hard, then looked up to meet Willa's burning eyes. "They offered a good deal for me to help you. I wanted to save you Willa, you would've died-"

"No, you saved me so that I could be used more by them!" She looked down at his eyes, which were begging for her forgiveness. 

At that moment she wanted to kill him, after everything he's done? Jan doesn't deserve to live. But, she couldn't bring herself to do so. In some weird and twisted way she still viewed him as a second father, the one who cared for Willa her whole life and protected her.

Willa turned and ran out of the room, her face in her hands. 

Schaffel tossed and turned in his bed, his forehead covered in sweat, and his brows wrinkled in fear. His eyes were closed, but he felt like they were open, and he couldn't close them. 

He was trapped. 

He saw the rock planet again, along with explosions, deaths, and the man with a purple line down his face. The same visions from last time. 

"No, no, no." Schaffel mumbled. "Stop." He covered his head, and curled into a ball. 

Suddenly, he was thrown backwards, as Schaffel fell endlessly. He then felt his back hit something hard. He groaned in pain. He continued to fall but slowly, while a strange liquid began to surround his body, and swallow him. 

He looked around, and everything became blue. It quiet, and calm, but all the more deadly. He struggled to breathe, so he screamed for help but the only thing that came out were bubbles. He kicked, and tried to move but instead his limbs moved painfully slow. Schaffel panicked, looking around endlessly, but there was no escape. 

Suddenly, he saw a figure in the distance, coming closer and closer.

Schaffel gasped and sat up in his bed. He wiped away his tears and breathed heavily, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. He looked around the room, pulling the blanket closer to his shivering body. "Thankfully it was only a dream."

The next day

The next day, Schaffel sat on the couch gazing upon the objects Jan owned. It was very similar to his house-hold objects.

How did these humans get a hold of these things? Schaffel thought. 

Technology was an invention solely within our universe, originally invented by the Imods. Their planet was the most advanced in terms of technology; they invented flying machines, light-bulbs, spaceships, and more. It was one of the main reasons they and the Cadmusians didn't get along. Cadmus focused on music, art, and magic. While the Imods focused on technology, logic, math and science. In the end, our universe grew tech savvy after Cadmus was destroyed. Magic is now viewed as something lost and sinful.

But humans have only existed for 300 000 years, and they have the same tech we use, which took us millions of years to create. How is this possible?

Schaffel contemplated for a little longer, until his thoughts were cut off from Willa barging into the room, her eyes red and puffy. "It's no longer safe here..." Her voice broke, but she remained firm and direct. Schaffel nodded fearfully, as Willa grabbed his hand, and they both went to the bathroom. 

She picked up the metal plunger and smashed it against the window. "Go, hurry," She whispered, pushing Schaffel out the window.

"Willa?" Someone called. "Where are you?"

Jan.

Willa panicked, shoving Schaffel's small body out the window, including her own. As they both landed on the hard ground, Schaffel and Willa groaned. "C'mon! We have to go!" She said, and they both began to run.

✯✯✯

After running for what felt like hours, they stopped at a random forest with an open field. The Sun began to set over the beautiful hills in France, as the sky turned a beautiful red, orange and purple. "We can stay here, it's getting late." Willa groaned then sat in the grass. Schaffel nodded, and sat beside her.

It was silent for a moment before Willa broke the silence.

"I can't believe I trusted him, I was so stupid...trusting just gets you nowhere." Willa said through clenched teeth, pulling strands of grass.

"That's not true," Schaffel said wisely. "It wasn't your fault."

Willa turned away proceeding with pulling strands of grass.

He's so innocent to the point he's ignorant.

His gentle voice continued. "You know, truly trusting someone is a great feeling, it can make you stronger."

Willa's jaw clenched, as she looked down, but still listened.

"Trusting is a gift. Not a weakness."

Willa wiped her tears, and fought the urge to cry. Rethinking all her memories as a child with Jan just made it harder. "Trusting the wrong person makes you weak." Willa said firmly. "If you trust, someone will get hurt, and most of the time it's you."

Schaffel shifted closer to her. Willa moved away. "If it makes you feel better, I trust you." He said. Willa scoffed. "Then you'd be stupid, just like me."

Then, Schaffel gently placed his head on her shoulder. "You aren't stupid."

Willa alertly raised her head, and looked at Schaffel in shock.

Willa watched Schaffel with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. She struggled to think of something to say back to him, but she couldn't help but feel a warm melting feeling inside, that she hadn't felt before in a long time. 

Hope this wasn't cringey...If so, sincere apologies. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

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