Ma always said, hope is light but don't get consumed by it.
l was very hopeful about seeing Ma, but I made sure not to put my whole heart into it, I didn't want disappointments.
"Are you hungry? I'm sure you haven't had a proper meal in a very long while" the woman asked, looking so concerned. She reminded me of Ma then with her large brown eyes.
"I'm fine. I've always taken care of myself"
"I never said.."
"Can you leave her alone, Stacey?" The elderly man said without taking his eyes off the road.
Stacey raised her hands in mock surrender and fixed her eyes on the road ahead.
All the while I sat at the back with the young man Carlos, he never said a word to me.
His hat was off now and I could clearly see his thick mass of curly hair.
We drove in silence throughout the rest of the journey.
It was good to see roads again, to see cars, to see people.
The world still looked normal but almost everyone had superpowers.
The only thing that showed that a deadly gas was ever released into the atmosphere was the cloudless sky with red particles like concentrated dust in the sky.
It was dark when we arrived at a huge clearing, with a large black gate separating us from another huge clearing with a large building.
"What place is this?"
I asked, looking around.
"Don't worry you're safe" John, the elderly man said looking at me through the rear view mirror.
"That's not what I asked"
"I can see you're not as calm as your mother..."
"You don't know anything about me"
I said with a glare
" Calm down. There's no need to get angry" Stacey said, giving me a kind smile.
"This is a safe house where we keep most mutants we find stranded, with no place to stay. We try our best to keep them safe from those evil scientist taking them away and using them as test subjects"
I nodded my head in understanding
John pressed a button in his car and the large gate started sliding open.
"They've killed a lot of people. For all we know they might be the ones that created this mess in the first place"
John said his voice sounding strained
"We have an agency in every country. If they keep killing the mutants in the name of finding an antidote, when they're finally done, there might be no one in the world again"
"How did you find me?"
"We searched for days for living mutants around. I built a machine to detect the strong surge of powers anywhere. This actually made the work easier. That was actually how we tracked you to that forest"
"How did you know exactly who I was?"
"You are a splitting image of your mother, I've known her since we were in college, she was very calm and calculative. I knew she'd become the world best scientist someday"
I sniffed and looked away. Talking about Ma always made me teary. I missed her so much. I don't know if I will see her again, I hope she is safe wherever she is.
John parked the car at an underground garage, then we took an elevator to the top floor.
The silence was surprisingly comfortable.
The door opened to a large penthouse with black and white interiors.
We walked in, I looked around sceptical wondering why I was brought here, because obviously the other mutants were kept somewhere else.
"Where are the rest?"
"They stay in another building. This building is for the workers and my family. You're free to stay here with us, at least for your mother's sake, it's our duty now to keep you safe"
I nodded.
This is a huge change from trees and green grasses.
"How are you guys free from the mutation?"
"We were indoors when the explosion happened. We didn't inhale the gas. We stayed indoors breathing through gas masks until we were sure that the concentration was dissipated"
"There was actually an anti-venom that was made recently, but was expensive. So we purchased it and gave it to normal families that could not afford it"
I nodded my head again.
I had nothing to say. Eleven years in a dense forest talking to animals, had made me lose sense of humanity. I've practically missed everything.
"Come dear you must be hungry and tired. Go have a warm bath and come down for dinner" Stacey said pulling my hand gently toward the stairs.
"Carlos, show her to the guest room please?"
I didn't miss the irritated stare the latter gave Stacey before silently walking ahead of me.
Was he dumb or something?
I rolled my eyes and walked silently like an obedient lamb behind him.
We got to a door located on the left. As soon as we got to the top of the stairs, he opened it and used his hand to gesture that I should go in.
The room was large and sparsely furnished. There were pictures of scientists up on every side of the wall with scientific quotes everywhere.
I looked around awkwardly.
"Is your Dad a scientist? or an inventor?" I asked curiosity getting the best of me
"Was."
He said and walked out
"At least he speaks"
I said falling down on the bed. Who knew having powers could also be exhausting.
=========
I looked at the picture of my daughter for the umpteenth time. Something I always do before I begin to work on an antidote. Somehow it gives me the courage to push harder, but it always gets difficult.
Making an antidote for a gas, you have no idea what it is composed of is not very practical, no wonder the last hundred antidotes have been an epic fail.
Every attempt to get Katherine to speak up about the gas proved futile.
The morning she came to my room with a very small bottle of transparent liquid with pure excitement on her face and tired eyes that were very contagious.
"What's that?"
I was excited as well.
"I've finally made the formula"
"You did what? We were both contracted to make that together"
I said almost screaming at her
"Don't give me that" She said with a wave of her hand
"You've literally been handling this project all on your own for the past weeks"
"I haven't. I made sure we did it together"
"Lies. It had always been 'Katherine you didn't do this' 'do that'. Every single time"
The door of the lab sliding open brought me back to the present and the task at hand.
"Are you okay, Ma?" Cathy, a lab assistant asked me as she strolled into the lab, her face masked with worry.
"I'm fine...I'm okay. What's up?"
"Miss Katherine wants to see you in her office"
I rolled my eyes.
"What does she want now?"
I groaned
"I don't know..."
She replied with a grimace
We stared at each other for a while, then we bursted out laughing.
"I should go and see what her highness wants," I said, taking off my gloves.
"Is she your daughter?" Cathy asked, pointing at the picture on the table top.
"Yes. I miss her a lot"
"I know you do. And for what it's worth, you are a good mother and you'll find your daughter"
"Thank you Cathy"
With that I walked away.
I'm grateful for Cathy's presence here, she was just like a daughter to me, she made my stay here bearable.
I'm sure Keturah would be exactly her age now.
I knocked slightly at the boss's door and walked in without waiting for a response.
"What do you want?" I asked as soon as I walked in.
"Watch your tone, you are staying under my roof..."
"Against my will."
"Whatever, that's besides the point"
"What do you want?"
I asked again
She looked at me for a while, then with a glare she asked
"Where are the documents?