Chapter Text
When Jupiter opened her eyes, she was looking into a police officer's face.
"Hello, miss. All you all right?"
She looked around. The walls and the ceiling lights were an oppressive white. She was lying down on a bed with railing on either side.
I'm in a hospital.
"Oh, gosh. Why am I in a hospital?" She tried to sit up, but sank back down when her head started screaming in pain. She tried to blink the dizziness away as she met the officer's worried eyes.
"Well, you've been unconscious for about five hours."
"WHAT?" She screamed, but immediately regretted it. Her head began pounding again and the light started stabbing her eyes. She covered her eyes with her hands and sighed.
"It's nothing too serious. You just got a concussion."
"How did I get a concussion?"
"Well, presumably after the explosion."
Her eyes flew open and she sat up, headache be darned, and stared at the man in horror. "There was an explosion!?"
The guy gulped and pushed his chestnut hair back, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Miss Jones. I'm jumping the gun a bit. I know this has gotta be a little crazy for you. Do you remember anything about what happened? I could come back later, if that would be better."
Jupiter gripped the sheets with her fists in a panic. What happened to me?
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Jupiter was mopping the hallway when she heard voices. There were only two of them, a man and a woman. They were arguing about something. That wasn't exactly bizarre. Balem Abrasax argued with everyone. In fact, it'd be stranger if he wasn't yelling.
She'd just reached started mopping the floor in front of the door when the woman screamed. She looked up just in time to see Balem sink a knife into the woman's chest. She felt frozen as the woman fell to the ground lifeless. Her shaking hands released the mop. As it hit the floor, she snapped out of her reverie. Balem's eyes met her for a brief moment before she fled down the hallway.
"Help! HELP!" She shouted as she bolted down the stairs, trying desperately to outrun the echoing footsteps behind her.
Just get to the car. Just get to the car.
She reached the parking lot and frantically looked for her car. Where is it? Oh God. WHERE IS IT?
She heard the door open behind her and took off running again.
"You can't escape me!" A voice screamed behind her. "YOU CAN'T ESCA—"
A giant "BOOM" cut him off as Jupiter felt her body fly upward and heat sear her back. Her ears rang as she hurtled toward the pavement.
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"It's okay, Miss Jones. I'll just come back later."
"No!" She cried, clutching his arm as he turned away. "He killed her!"
The man frowned, confused. "He? Who's he?"
"Balem! He killed her!"
The man looked doubtful. "Who exactly did he kill?"
Who? WHO? Jupiter frantically looked around the tiny space, trying to find a clue to the woman's identity.
Her eyes landed on the woman. Her picture was in the first article in The Chicago Times.
"Her!" She pointed to the newspaper. The officer grabbed it off of the desk by the bed and scrutinized it for a moment.
"This lady?" The man looked at her with even more doubt.
"Yes! He stabbed her! Right before the building blew up. I swear."
He sighed. "Well, if you're sure, that just made this even more complicated. Do you know who that is?"
She shook her head. "No. Who?"
"That's Seraphi Abrasax. Balem's mother. Are you related?"
"No. Why?"
"She looks a lot like you."
"What are you talking a—" Jupiter snatched the paper away and stared at the picture. Her voice died away as she stared at someone who could very well have been her mother.
"Well, that's weird."