Running • Iggy

Him

April 4th 2023, 4:15pm. That's his date.

I had just gotten back to Mello's house after a particularly long shift on April 3rd. I could barely keep my eyes open, especially since I hadn't slept in 2 days. I was greeted by Mello, who had come downstairs when the door unlocked. "Hey. You look like a zombie." Mello said calmly.

"Thanks. That really boosts my confidence." I said sarcastically. I pulled off my raincoat and stretched, trying to shake the exhaustion off my brain. I had been getting better recently. I wasn't feeling as down and was enjoying work as well as homeschooling. I was excelling at school, actually. It was easy with a brain like mine.

Mello gave me an amused look. "Welcome home. Mom and Uriah are in the living room." He gestured for me to follow, but just before I could, my phone rang. I jumped at the sudden noise as a reflex and picked it up after a few seconds of fumbling. The name said Broghan. I answered after giving Mello a quick sorry look. "Hey, Broghan. What's up?" I asked as I made my way to the dining room so I could talk in privacy.

"Citrus." She sounded deadly serious. "When's the next date you can get a plane to KV Lab?"

I froze. "Why... do I need to fly there?" I sat down in one of the chairs, tapping my fingers against the wood of the table. "Is something wrong? Are you in danger?"

"I'm not in danger, and nothing is particularly wrong. I just... I need to tell you, or show you something. Give you something? Anyway, it's better if I do it in person. It'd need to be within the next week at the most. I'll pay for it. It'll take however long you want it to take, so if you need to tie some things up at work-"

"I can come over now. I have to be back fairly quickly, but I have a three-month break from work right now while they renovate the place. We're getting a much larger area to work with." I got up and ran up the stairs as a spoke. "I'm assuming I'll need to pack some stuff." I said as I rummaged through my drawers. Mello looked over at me in confusion.

"Yeah. A plane will be in the emergency spot in thirty minutes." Broghan sighed. "I'll see you soon." With that, she hung up.

"Off on a journey? Can I come?" Mello asked jokingly. I shook my head and began folding some outfits into my usual flying bag I took while going to collect Nudge. "It's something I need to do alone, I think. An old friend from when I was younger called about me needing to get there asap, but I don't know why. I'll be gone for like, a week at the most? I'll make sure to phone you too. Don't worry."

Mello frowned but nodded without questions. I was gone before I could fully explain to Isabella and Uriah where I was going. I found myself at the meet-up point just as the small plane landed. I climbed in and sat down on one of the private jet's seats before taking from 8pm to 3:57pm the next day in a private jet that had to fly slower than usual to the KV lab.

Landing at the lab was surreal. KV was an exact replica of the lab I had grown up in with the flock. I felt my stomach twist into a knot, dread filling every empty spot in my mind. I didn't want to go into this lab. I didn't want to. Yet, when I spotted Broghan waving me over, I stepped forward and headed toward her.

"Hello, pretty." Broghan wrapped her arms around me tightly, and I did the same. "It's so good to see you. How have you been feeling after... you know." Being 11am in the morning, I was too tired to respond with full sentences. I just grunted and rubbed my eyes.

"I understand." Broghan ruffled my hair. "Now, I need you to uh, prepare yourself. To go in here first, and then to see what I'm going to show you. I'm warning you, there are lab workers in here. People who are keeping the experiments alive until the government can extract them. They'll get a lesser punishment in return as long as the experiments are in good condition." She cringed at the use of the word experiment.