RainsDesire279
|• I owe for giving me the courage to begin •|  

A dim light hovered above Lyra's precarious body. She lay on the greeting bed of death which was white as ever but soiled with her crimson blood. Her bruised features were accentuated by the faint light above. Her shallow breathing was almost imperceptible in the operating chamber and her delicate frame seemed like it would disintegrate with the slightest touch.

Lyra was bruised and broken; internally and externally — nothing could mend her. Olivia couldn't watch her daughter die. Clasping her hands to her mouth, she screamed in the dark corridor outside the ajar door. Summoning all her courage so that she could enter the operating room. Olivia observed him sob, hysterical much like her. Lyra was slipping away and Olivia could see the fire in his grey eyes, the yearning of wanting to grasp on to her last strands of life and hold her tightly, hoping that he didn't lose her forever.

Candace checked Lyra's vitals again, rolling the green sleeves of her lab coat. As if Lyra's appearance wasn't evident enough of her deteriorating state. The grey-eyed boy pounded his fist on the tools table by his side. His voice cracked, his shoulders quaked, as he ground out a command. "Do something!"

"I'm trying." Candace was worn out — signs of age crept up on her wrinkled skin, Olivia felt as though Candace hadn't slept since her son, Duncan, attempted to take his life.

Lyra was the only one who understood Candace and sometimes as a mother, Olivia envied Candace. The only person who saw deep into Candace's soul and told her she wasn't evil was dying. Tears threatened to spill but Candace Specimen was unassailable; she didn't spill tears.

"It's not w-working." Candace croaked.

"Initiate phase one." Olivia appeared from behind them, her voice was emotionless and made both heads turn in her direction. Her abrupt suggestion had shocked them both. "Candace, you're losing your son. You know how it feels, you'd do everything to bring Duncan back regardless what anyone tells you, I can't lose her too — you are her second mother in many ways. Please don't let her die, please."

"B-but it isn't r-ready." He stuttered, "It could kill her."

"If there is any part of me that understands my baby, it's the fact that she'd rather die trying to save Duncan than die in vain. Please Candace, Lyra believed it was ready, we have to trust her." Olivia said with desperation.

Deep down, Olivia couldn't care less if that's how her daughter wanted to die or not. It was Lyra's wish to die with her father. Lyra never understood how her father, Ekon, stood against her, no matter how many times Olivia told her. Olivia had started of loving Ekon but over the years it became hate but she knew Lyra would never forgive her for deciding the fate of her dying body without her father. But bringing Ekon would take longer than necessary to kill Lyra and no mother would let that happen. Olivia was determined to bring Lyra back — no matter the cost.

"Okay—" Candace replied.

"Please, you have to — wait. Did you just say okay?" A faint smile crept up Olivia's visage and a warm feeling erupted within her chest.

"Yes, there's no time. We need to do it right now." Candace caressed Lyra's blemished and bloody fingers.

"Fine, then I'm going in, too." His intent gaze bored into Candace's as he demanded, "We need two pods."

"I'll have to erase someone from her memory, it's too much for her hippocampus to hold. Maybe it's time she forgot me?" Candace sucked in a handful of oxygen just a she finished her sentence, she looked pale and almost sick. Olivia knew Candace regretted mentioning it the moment the words left her mouth.

How could she make Lyra forget her? Candace would be left alone with no one by her side.

"No, Candace. Not you. Erase me from her mind. Make her forget me. I just want to be there to look after her. I can introduce myself to her again, don't worry. We'll have a new beginning." He affirmed with sincerity.

He smiled at Olivia, searching for her approval to which Olivia nodded.

"Candace, make that three pods." Olivia added.

—

"Ready?" Candace asked with her troubled expression. Olivia was sure that Candace was still unconvinced about whether this would save her son, Duncan from dying.

Or would it just kill Lyra?

Family above everything. Olivia thought of the many times she heard Candace uttering her very thought. Family was above everything and always will be to both women.

"Yes." The grey-eyed boy and Olivia assured Candace in unison.

"Phase one initiating." Candace reported. Candace's callous voice was the last thing Olivia heard before her world drowned to black.

—

It all went dark — the world was nothing but an endless pool of blackness. Would light ever return?

A wicked smile played upon her lips. "You fell for my plan once again."

—

Dear readers, you can chose to make this the beginning of the story or even the end, I won't be dictating where it fits. But I will let you think about something: what does "initiate phase one" mean?

I made this short for a reason, I'll let you think why.

The 'she' at the end and the 'he' are anonymous because if I told you, you wouldn't be confused, and if you weren't confused, you won't have questions— to which the answers will come at the end of this novel.