Blacklivesmatter22
|• you always put a smile on my face •|

He wheezed as her lungs fought to keep her alive, Lyra always found herself in near death situations — if Candace had not found her in time she would have been dead.

Candace placed a cup of hot chocolate beside Lyra and asked, "How's my little girl?"

"I'm good." She croaked.

Lyra had accidentally trapped herself in the synthetic fluid chamber. Synthetic fluid was what would be used to grow crafted robots, which were not truly robots because they had biological parts. Lyra did not understand all this 'bioengineering' — that was what Candace called it.

She took a sip of her hot chocolate and groaned in delight, "This is so good." Lyra exclaimed.

"It's a special recipe, drink up." Candace replied.

A curious Lyra wondered what the ingredients were.

"It has a pinch of cinnamon, a spoonful of coffee beans, dark cocoa powder, milk, sugar and salt." Candace answered, speaking her mind.

"Salt? Why salt?" Lyra's face scrunched up in disgust.

Candace laughed gently and said, "Everything needs a balance."

"Balance." Lyra echoed Candace's words.

She sunk back in her cushioned chair and silently drank the warm hot chocolate. The fourteen year old Lyra wondered where her parents were. Were they arguing again? When would it end? Their arguments scared her, they were silent, unlike the ones where people screamed their lungs out. Maybe their arguments were there to create a 'balance' in life?

"So, Lyra," Candace broke her train of thoughts, "What do you want to do today?"

"Where are my parents?" Lyra asked, ignoring the question.

Candace hesitated — something which was unusual of her — she was always the type of woman who had words slipping at the tip of her tongue, and most of the time, her words held reason and value, "They are..." She struggled to conjure a reason, "Look, I know this is hard for you Lyra, but you have to understand that you need—"

"Balance." Lyra suggested. Spending most of her time with Candace had taught her one thing, Candace never talked about things that did not hold value, so her telling Lyra about the hot chocolate having salt must have had meaning.

"No." Candace shook her head, "That's not it. Yes, life is about balance, but right now your parents are dealing with some difficulties. They're not arguing for fun nor balance in life. They just need to sort out some misunderstandings."

"Like you and Duncan." Lyra always tried her best to control what escaped her mouth but today was different, today she felt lonely and she had to know that there was someone else who would be willing to answer her questions, even when the answers were hard to share. After all, what was the point of trusting someone when they did not trust you?

"Yes, like me and Duncan." Lyra had not expected Candace to answer, she did not know what she expected anyways, "He thinks I don't love him. He thinks I don't want him to make friends. He thinks I don't care about his happiness." Candace blurted out.

Lyra was shocked to say the least. If there was one thing she knew about Candace it was that she did not like emotions, she did not like telling others what she went through, even the ones she loved.

"So, what do you want?" Lyra questioned.

Candace glanced at the far window and wiped away a lonely tear, probably the first and last tear Lyra would ever see in her eyes, "I want him to be happy, I want him to make friends, but I want him to be mine. Only mine." Her bottom lip quivered, "Lyra, I'm scared I'm going to lose him."

Lyra understood her fear, she was scared of losing her family and watching them crumble in front of her. She wanted her patent to be hers. Only hers. She shifted over to Candace's side and engulfed her into her arms.

"You won't lose him. He loves you too much." Lyra reassured her, but knowing all too well of their problematic mother-and-son relationship, she knew her words were a lie.

Duncan had turned sixteen last summer, he had started to see the world that his mother had attempted to shield him from, and he liked it. He liked it too much to be kept jailed ever again.

"I hope so." Candace whispered. Candace did not believe in hope but she was willing to believe anything to get her son back.

She slipped out of Lyra's arms and trudged over to the interactive board, the oldest piece of technology she owned, but it always worked wonders. She clicked through a few slides and abruptly stopped.

"Lyra..."

"Hmm." Replied a dazed Lyra.

"If you could rename London, what would you call it?"

"Prime." Lyra hummed.

"Why?"

"Well." Lyra thought for a second before answering, "Because firstly, I like prime numbers. Secondly, Prime reminds me of the primary thought that comes to my mind and that's always home. Thirdly, it reminds me of our origins, how civilised we've become. I'd never want to live like cavemen, I hate caves." She shuddered.

"Sometimes, the world doesn't care what we hate." Candace said.

"But I am a part of the world so the world must care about itself." Candace pitied Lyra's naivety, she had a lot to learn.

A hand thumped on the door lightly, "Come in." Candace called out.

"My favourite triplets!" Candace greeted the two teenagers at the door. Lyra found herself very confused, she only saw two people, not three, "What brings you to my office?"

"We just wanted to see how you're doing and if you needed any help." Answered the sweet voice of Juniper Thomas.

"How sweet of you!" Gushed Candace. Lyra had never seen Candace so full of happiness.

Justin glanced behind Candace to meet Lyra's eyes, who swiftly averted her gaze.

"Look at my horrible manners, I forgot to introduce you to my favourite person in the world. Juniper and Justin, meet Lyra." Candace gestured towards Lyra, "And Lyra, meet the Thomas triplets."

"Triplets?" Asked a very perplexed Lyra.

"Yes." Spoke Justin with a hint of irritation, "We are triplets, Juniper, late Jade and I, Justin."

Lyra found herself impressed by Justin's sophisticated manner of speech but what tickled her interest was what Justin meant by late Jade.

As though reading her mind, Justin said, "We lost our brother, Jade alongside our parents in an accident."

"I'm so sorry." Lyra mumbled.

"No reason to be." He said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"So, how do you know Candace?" Inquired Lyra, very eager to change the subject.

"When our parents and Jade died." Began Juniper, "We had nowhere to go or nothing to do. To inherit our parent's wealth, we had to be eighteen but we are only sixteen. Candace heard of what happened to our parents and very kindly offered to help us as our parents had once worked for her." Juniper smiled at Candace whilst Lyra listened intently, "She didn't help us like people do, she helped us learn life lessons and be independent, she gave us jobs so we could fund our own lives."

"That was very kind of you Candace." Lyra spoke proudly.

"It was my duty."

After every crime, a duty must be fulfilled.

—

What do you think of Juniper and Justin? Was the incident of the parents really an accident? I'll let you solve that mystery.

Until next time.