Chapter nine

"Ok, so, why were you at the lab?" asks Flynn, pointing his burnt marshmallow at Dean. I hook up an IV pole to start pouring strong pain medication in and start bandaging my shoulder. Comet sits faithfully beside us, gobbling down meat.

"Oh, years ago I tried finding my sister, but they caught me and now I have wings." he says shortly. I ruffle my pink hair and try straightening my broken glasses. Dean pushes back his dark black hair, his skin is as pale as mine, his silver eyes the same hue as mine.

A nearby group starts singing, we stop talking and listen. They pick up guitars and start jamming, nearby groups get up and start dancing. I watch in awe as the mass of people sway and laugh in unison. Flynn stands up first, holding his hand out to Dezzie who takes it. Casper stands up next and holds his hand out to Dean, who looked stunned but takes it anyways. Alec stands up last, holding out his hand and grinning.

"Nope. Absolutely not-" I protest, but he grabs my arms and hauls me upright. I give in and start swaying. Hours seem to go bye before we drag ourselves inside, laughing giddily.

We go to one of the office buildings, first floor. Desks and chairs fill the space, I find a desk near the door and crawl under it.

"What are you doing?" sniggers a familiar voice, I push my head from under the desk and look up to see the golden haired boy.

"Jace! You're alive I see." I joke, he grins and sits down, I scoot over, and he lays next to me. He passes me more pain medication, which I take gratefully.

"How were the kids?" I ask,

"All good." He replies unusually quiet.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I… need to talk to you." He says hesitantly.

"Go on then." I say, suddenly anxious.

"Not here, meet me at midnight." He says and leaves. I huff, annoyed at the lack of information. I check my watch; it was only half ten. I lay wide awake until my watch strikes twelve. I heave myself up, feeling as if I've had eight coffees. I walk outside to the freezing air. I fold my arms and shiver. Comet was still snoring, taking up most of the desk space.

"Boo!" Jace yells, making me jump out my skin.

"Not funny." I growl but smile secretly.

We start walking around the buildings, finally my curiosity gets the better of me.

"Sooooo, what's up?" he looks down hesitantly.

"I overheard Victor. I was eavesdropping the other week, trying to gather intel and well…" he trails off, I stop him.

"Well what?"

"I heard him mention that he wanted you and someone else to… meet each other." He says, avoiding my gaze.

"And?!"

"You have a brother, Mercury. And I know who your father is."

I freeze, unable to breathe.

"You-I-What?!" is all I can manage. This can't be true. I sink to the floor, sitting on the dew ridden grass. Jace sits next to me and sighs.

"I know. Sorry kid." He says sadly. I don't even know how to feel, happy? Angry? Sad? Confused?

"Who?" I ask.

"Well, you've met your brother… and your father." He says, still not looking at me. I think for a few seconds, then it hits me. Oh shit. This is not good.

"You don't mean… it can't be?" I say, not sure of what to do. Dean, my brother? And what really bothers me, the worst thing about this whole thing, is my father.

"So, my father is…" I trail off,

"Mercury, your father's Victor."

Oh sh-.

I don't even know how I feel, I just stand up and walk away. I toss and turn, not able to fall asleep, thinking only of the fact I have monster as a father.

The next morning, I lie motionless, feeling numb.

"Ugh go away!" I mumble to whoever's shaking my shoulders.

"Get up, we have to start getting ready!" says a familiar voice, I'm suddenly wide awake with nerves. Today is the day we storm the government and start the revolution, I sit bolt upright,

"Argh!" I shout as I smack my head against the desk, I shout some more things I won't repeat.

I heave myself up and realise it's only 5am. I get dressed into some spare clothes brought by the allies, I end up having to wear a sports bra and leggings with boots and a baseball hat. I tuck my loose hair into my hat as hard as I can, but to no avail. Eventually, I give up and push my broken glasses on. I down some more pain medication, I know this amount of medicine can't be good but I'll stop after the war.

I make my way to the stage, Dean and Dezzie at my side, behind us trails Comet.

"Ready little sis?" says Dean, I whirl to face him.

"What?!" I spit. His face flushes.

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"How long have you known?" I say, deadly quiet. He sighs.

"Since I first saw you." He says, ashamed.

"Hang on, you were underground with me and you didn't even know?" I say in disbelief.

"In my defence I was only six when they first took me! You had changed a lot since then, and I never really saw the little ones."

I roll my eyes and walk onto the stage, followed by Comet.

"Morning everyone!" I yell, they stop talking and face me.

"Today is the day we take back our freedom!" a huge roar from the crowd fills me ears,

"Today we fight for what is right!" another roar.

"Now, we'll split off into two groups," I say and sit cross legged on the stage floor, my ankle and shoulder feeling tingly and numb. I beckon over the boys who come over to me and sit in a semi-circle, all facing the crowd.

"Now, half of us will go one end, the other half the other end. We will be passing round guns and pins. Do not use the guns unless you absolutely have to! And aim to injure, not kill." The next hour is filled with us talking about the plan. More allies will join us later.

As half of us heads over to the set of vans, the boys hang back.

"So, we'll see you there?" asks Flynn. I nod slowly.

"Just, be careful." I say.

Dezzie rolls up to me and hugs me. I bend down and hug him back, Alec joins too, then Flynn and Casper, then lastly Dean.

Dezzie, Casper and Dean walk away, Dean throwing one last glance as they disappear from sight. I wipe my eyes quickly and face the others.

"Ok, so everyone's clear on the plan?" they all nod.

We walk through the city, hoods up in small groups. We reach the castle. A huge modern looking one reserved for the government, but once a year without fail it hosts the biggest party of the year; straight pride. Where everyone who is classed as straight goes to celebrate the 'defeat' of the LGBTQ community. Before entering the castle, our small group, made up of Alec Flynn and I, splits off and goes into one of our allies' safe houses.

We knock twelve times before the woman throws open the door, her red face ushers us in quickly and we go upstairs. I'm put into a small room, a simple room with a double bed and a desk with a dead sunflower drooping. I reach into the closet, as instructed, and look at my options; a suit, a stunning emerald dress, or a jump suit. I want to reach for the suit, but if I don't want anyone to be suspicious, I have to wear the dress. I sigh and pull up the dress, it's deep v neckline and how clingy it is makes me want to throw a jumper over the top. I reach for the mask I was given, a matching green sparkly one, and green heels. I tuck my pink hair into the dark black wig and walk out. I still can't believe the stupidity of making this year's theme a masquerade ball, I mean really. Without my mask, I could be easily detected by my scar. I grab the shawl the lady thrust at me, tittering about tattoos and whatnot. I walk unsteadily in the unnecessarily high heels and walk into the dank kitchen. I spot my boots at the bottom of the stairs, when the woman isn't looking, I toss my heels to the side and replace them with my boots, thankfully the dress covers them.

I see the two boys' eyes widen, both wearing smart tuxedoes and black masks.

"You actually look decent." Says Alec in mock surprise. I roll my eyes.

"Ready to go?" I ask, eager and nervous.

"Arm?" Alec reminds me and I grab the fake cover tattoos and paste it over mine. A knock at the door has the three of us grabbing our guns ready. I hid mine in a small clutch bag. We collectively release our breath when we realise it was someone from our group; a girl named Jamie.

"Who's with who?" Flynn asks, grinning as he eyes my tossed aside heels.

"I don't care, let's just go." I whine.

"I'll go with Flynn," says Jamie, she grabs his arm and shoves them both through the door, Flynn shoots a desperate look behind him.

"Ok, so your name is?" Alec mutters,

"Penelope Walters." I recite. Only the straight people had surnames, the rest were either forgotten or too painful to mention.

"Your age?" he asks,

"Seventeen. Your name?" I mutter back.

"Arthur Smith, aged seventeen." He recites back.

We hold our breath as we look at the castle, black and white disco lights fill each window, gold scattered through the arch way.

"Names?" says the guard. Here goes nothing.

"Fred Kinsley and Martha Truman." Flynn says, in a deep voice. I have to squeeze Alec's arm to stop myself laughing.

"Names?" he orders, I clear my throat.

"Penelope." I say, the guard sighs,