While Stalix and Damian were playing outside in the longer hours of the evening, she asked a few of her insect friends to do some dances for her brother. She loved hearing him giggle with joy.

After the mantises and butterflies got tired, their father, Pherenix, came up to them in the yard and picked up her brother, "It's getting late, you should come inside soon. I'm almost done cooking."

She sighed with annoyance, she still wanted to play with her brother, but she decided she would find something else to do. She was very bored still. She ventured a bit deeper into the forest and found a large ant pile nestled in the burrow of a tree. She asked them, "Are there any cool spots nearby? I'm really bored."

The ants began to leave their nest in a single file line. They were leading her somewhere. Stalix smiled and followed them, "Thanks! You guys are the best!"

The ants led her quite far into the forest, and it was getting late. Her long hair kept snagging on branches.

Soon enough, she made it to their destination, it seemed. There was a vault style door on the forest floor. She observed it, then noticed that her insect friends had already turned back. She was saddened she didn't get to say goodbye to them, but her attention quickly shifted to getting the vault open, which didn't take her long to figure out. She twisted the handle and the vault door unlocked. She swung it open and looked down, inside. There was a hallway and some people wearing masks occasionally walked past. Clearly very intrigued, young Stalix climbed down to explore.

She got to the bottom of the ladder and looked both ways. A pair of those bird-masked people were going her way, but hadn't noticed her. She ran into the closest room and closed the door quietly, and the two walked past without noticing her. She sighed, then looked around. She was in a file room, that was pretty unkept. She noted all the file boxes with names. She found one labeled "Creek." They must've found this stuff in the nearby crick. She found one of the bird masks those guards wear and some clothes. There was a file at the bottom of the box with the same label as the box.

Oh, that was her name. She decided to keep the mask and cloak as a disguise, so she could get out more discreetly.

She found a box that, unlike the other boxes that filled the room, was left open and wasn't completely covered in dust yet. When she got closer, she observed the name "Pherenix Ivanov" written on the side. Her dad's name. She gasped and ran to it to dig through it. These guys must've stolen from her father.

Within the box were many empty syringes and glass vials, as well as a few tufts of hair that were kept in "Specimen" bags. And, just like the other boxes, there was a file at the bottom. A picture of her father was paperclipped to the front. He was much younger, and he had handcuffs on. He looked.. angry. He had short, messily cut hair. She giggled and opened the file.

There was a list of days and.. oh! these were tests of some kind. These dates were from a long time ago. They started about 15 years before she was born. There was another photo, but she didn't recognize this boy. He had brown hair and green eyes, and he looked very tired. He was tied with rope and was laying in the corner of a cell, and he was crying. She got a bit sad looking at him and turned the picture over so she wouldn't see it. The back of the photo was labelled "Pre-injection. Felix Smith."

Injection?

Stalix looked back at the box at all of the syringes.

No.. My dad doesn't use drugs. That can't be right. They must've confused these file names or something.

She found an envelope after the test list page. She opened it and a bunch of photos fell out and scattered on the floor in front of her. There were pictures of that boy, in the same cell. He was growing, and his hair was getting darker. And his eyes..

Oh no.

There was a rabbit in some of the pictures. Then..

There was a picture of the boy crying again. his face and hands were red with..

Stalix covered her mouth to stop a scream and her eyes welled with tears. The boy's golden eyes.. that was her father? He uses drugs and kills rabbits? No.. that can't be true.

She gathered up the pictures and the file and put them in her cloak. She tried to pull the cloak hood over her head, but her long hair was in the way. She took a scalpel from his box and cut all her hair off, before putting on the mask and hood, and getting out of the bunker. She ran home.

...

The sun was already starting to come up by the time she finally found the way home. Her dad was sitting on the porch. When he saw her emerge from the tree-line, wearing the mask and cloak, he stood up abruptly and rushed to her.

"STALIX! Did they take you? What happened?" He hugged her and looked around for anyone that could've followed.

"I.. Dad? Who are you?"

Pherenix looked at her. She pulled a folder out of her cloak with his name on it. His blood ran cold. "..How much did you.."

"I read everything. I saw the pictures. You.. You used that drug you told us about, didn't you?"

Pherenix was lost for words. He never thought he would have to describe his past to her, especially this soon, and was unprepared.

"You used to be one of them, right? Those were those terrible people, weren't they? You just abandoned them! A-and.. you lied to me! Is Mom still alive? Were they even bad people? Where do the lies end?"

Pherenix just stared at her. "Stal.. listen to me.."

She interrupted him, "What did you do to that rabbit?"

His eyes widened and he was dumbfounded again. Stalix growled a bit and ran off. Pherenix looked down at the folder she left behind. He was about to break down in tears, but Damian walked up behind him and tugged his shirt, "Where's sis going?"

"S-she'll.. She will be back. Don't worry about it."

"Where is she going?"

"I don't know.. Go inside, I'll be there in a moment.."

Pherenix threw the file aside and laid down. "What are we supposed to do, Ameille..?" He covered his eyes with his arm and sobbed.