We arrived at a tunnel in the middle of a forest. I wasn't fond of dark places. Especially places that were underground. I hesitated to go inside and Catherine looked back at me. "Hurry up. We can't wait for you."

Alex looked at me and mouthed, 'You okay?'

I nodded and gave her a tight smile.

You're doing the right thing. You're going to help so many people.

I did my best to reassure myself. This time I wouldn't betray anyone or sell them out.

Alex stared at me and held my hand. '

'It'll be okay," she whispered into my ear.

We walked, hand in hand into the pure dark tunnel ahead.

"Keep up," Catherine said. "This tunnel is a maze. Lara will be behind us and I will lead. If any of you lags, she will help direct you back to the group. Listen to our footsteps or yell the moment any of you seem to drift away. I highly recommend that you hold hands."

Tap, tap, tap.

Catherine's footsteps were precise and direct. She had clearly been here before.

Tap...tap...tap.

Alistair's footsteps were nervous, like he was taking his time to look around, like he was holding back before finding the energy to push himself another step.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

I could tell that Alex, who was walking beside me, was eager to get to the headquarters. Her footsteps were a bit fast, which hinted at her impatience to get there.

Tap..tap tap...tap.

Drew's footsteps were slow, and almost lazy. I didn't know what he had against Alistair. Maybe it was because of his status in the world, but I knew that he truly wanted to change the way the world worked.

Tap, tap, tap.

Lara's footsteps had the same directness and preciseness of Catherine's footsteps. She knew where she was going.

Soon, we arrived at a light at the end of the tunnel. I meant this statement quite literally seeing as there was a bright, yellow, fluorescent light at the end of the tunnel. We walked into it and I was honestly surprised by what I saw.

Teens, families, children, and even a few elderly mingled about the cafeteria. My eyes widened in the shock. There were benches and tables that they sat at. Some of the children sat on their parents' laps while playing with board games. A few teens sat in groups chatting with each other. The elderly sat together to exchange stories. A few young adults with masks over their faces, hung back with guns and knives on their thighs and torso.

The moment Alistair walked through, everything and everyone stopped.

"Is that the Alistair Zhao?"

"Shh, I think he heard us."

"Of course he heard us, dipshit. He's not deaf."

"What is he doing here?"

"He doesn't belong here."

"He should leave."

"No, we can't take that risk, he could leak us."

It wasn't fair. People didn't have the right to treat Alistair that way. Alistair himself seemed exhausted. He kept his head down letting his white hair gather around his face. His white wings wrapped themselves around him like a protective cocoon.

Lara stepped forward and gestured to us in a grandiose way. "Welcome our four new members of the rebellion."

The applause was mostly scattered and unconvinced. Many people didn't and couldn't believe that Alistair was actually with us. Most of them ignored him and looked upon Alex's wings in awe. I couldn't blame them. Her wings truly were beautiful. When the light hit it at the right angle, every single feather seemed to glow. Your eyes couldn't simply rest on it as a whole. You would dart from feather to feather eyeing each one individually.

Catherine broke away to talk to a few of the teens as Lara showed us toward a meeting room. On one hand, it looked too casual to be a meeting room. There was a brown leather couch and a flat screen TV on the wall. There was a table and a couple of chairs as well. In the back was a pantry. All in all, the room was like a miniature sized version of a kitchen and living room pushed together.

Standing in the middle of the room was a person who looked to be a middle aged woman with brown wings. Her brown wings seemed frail and drooped sadly to the ground. The woman had a red butterfly mask on. For some reason, I felt a connection to her, as though I had met her somewhere before.

Beside her, stood a woman with black hair and brown wings. Her mask was that of a blue butterfly.

Both of them seemed so familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint where I had met them before.

Lara gave the woman with brown hair, a hard stare and pointed at her. "Are you going to introduce yourself or will you keep cowering like that?"

Lara's switch from warm to cold shocked me. She had acted like a warm breeze in the summer that calmed you, but she quickly became a cold wind in the winter that threatened to blow you away with no remorse.

I looked at Alex as she shrugged. She had no idea what was going on.

I wanted to speak up, but the tension had actually become somewhat suffocating.

I glanced at Alex and she immediately got the hint. Anytime we were in an awkward position, I always turned to Alex to say or do something. She was the bolder one out of the both of us. I was calm, a contrast to Alex's short temper.

"No offense, but what's going on? Can anyone please tell us?" Alex asked, one hand on her hip.

Lara turned back to us and put her hands together. "Of course!" Her tone quickly turned cheery, but it was in a sickly sweet type of way.

"This woman is currently acting like a coward. Alex, if you were to finally meet someone after roughly 9-10 years, would you embrace them or would you turn away even after they had done something that most would've seen as unforgivable?"

Alex looked at her in confusion. "I guess..? It really depends on who they are. If they're a family member I guess I'd embrace them, but it really depends on what they did."

I felt my blood starting to run cold.

This story sounded familiar.

Too familiar.

"Sara..." The woman finally spoke up.

No. This can't be real. This isn't possible.

I stumbled back as Alex caught my arm, her eyes wide in concern.

Lara said the most shocking words I'd ever heard in my life, "Sara, this woman is your mother."

'Author's Note'

Dun-dun-dunnnn! Sara's mother who was presumed dead is actually alive. What do you guys think of that?

Do you all agree with Sara's mother's reaction or would you've liked for her to act in a different way?

Comment your thoughts of the chapter in general!

I love you all, I want you to be loved, and I hope you are loved! 💕

-DiTrix