Chapter 1

Blue eyes.

A rich cerulean blue that drowned you in the wide expanse of gentle curiosity and bright innocence. A blue so deep it was as if your soul were lost in its emotional depths, blanketed by the unspoken tendrils of affection and concern.

As cold needles pierced her scarred flesh and blood boiling serums invaded her emancipated body, the thought of blue eyes kept her from submitting to the sadistic pleasures of the white coats. They would not know her best kept secret, her blue eyed angel.

He came only when the others were gone, like a silent ghost drifting through the bare metallic room.

Golden strands of hair rose against the laws of gravity, framing his delicately pale face like a heavenly halo. A soft smile stretched across his face as his beautiful blue eyes found her. He stepped towards the glass container in which her body was suspended in chemical fluids and cable wires, unaware of her state of consciousness.

"I'm back." A smooth baritone echoed within her mind as she registered his voice. Leo. Her blue eyed angel came to visit.

She could not speak with the plastic tube shoved down her throat, but she did not need to. He did not expect an answer.

"Everyone's at a party with the Family, so it's just you and me for tonight." He pulled a wheeled chair over to sit in front of her, "I managed to convince Mom and Dad to let me stay instead of entertaining all the stuffy old people."

Ah yes, her deplorable carrier and the suitor.

It was a shame her blue eyed angel was not aware of their relations. No… To him, she was simply a humanoid creation his parents were attempting to bring to life. He did not know that upon her birth, their mother and father had discovered a genetic mutation that sparked their scientific curiosity. He did not know of how she went through experiment after experiment to test her physical capabilities and general durability.

He knew nothing other than the fact that she existed within her little container.

Such was the beauty of innocence within ignorance.

"You're looking worse for wear, Jessy." Leo studied her closely and she felt her heart jump at the mention of the name he had gifted her, "I hope Mom and Dad haven't been too hard on you."

Them? No. Their endless supply of white coats performing their experiments for them? Well, Jessy supposed it was good Leo was so sheltered from the 'family business' despite being of age. The soft hearted boy would be so broken up over the revelation.

Jessy contented herself with her older brother's presence as Leo shook his head and started up on a spiel about what he did for the week between his last visit. It was not ideal, but it was the best she could hope for. When it was time for him to leave, Jessy internally despaired. She knew that with the current progress in her experiment, she would not see him for more than a month. She'd be constantly supervised to study the effects of the new serum they were soon to inject within her body.

Leo gently placed a hand on the glass and whispered a soft goodbye before whisking out of the room as if he'd never been there in the first place.

Left alone in the condemning silence, Jessy's body sank and she allowed herself to fall into unconsciousness.

The next time she awoke, her wrist was chained to a wall in an isolated containment room, her body clothed in a thin hospital gown. There was an odd itching sensation coursing through her body, but other than that, she felt completely fine. Hopefully, it would continue to be that way as the serum continued to develop in her bloodstream.

Staring listlessly at the wall, her eyes eventually drew to the single mirror hanging opposite of her. If not for the numerous amounts of scars littering her body, Jessy supposed she'd pass off as Leo's twin. A scarred, malnourished version of Leo without his beautiful blue orbs, but a twin nonetheless.

A single red eye belied her mutation, a warning to others of her duality. After all, her body was not hers alone. A second presence stood beside her, a unique character who caught the eye of her parents with its unnatural capabilities. Jessy was simply the default human personality, the Other was what they wanted.

Sometimes, Jessy wondered what life would be like had she not been born with her Other. Other times, she wished she was not born at all.

It was dangerous to trigger the Other. It was a chaotic force that knew nothing but violence, yet that only seemed to make the white coats more interested. They called it the Demon. She wished that they actually heeded what that entailed. Maybe then, things wouldn't have turned out the way it had a month later.

But that was neither here nor there.

What mattered was that Leo had somehow found her and for the first time, they met face to face without a cage in between them.

Jessy had been duly counting the cracks on the walls when, suddenly, the reinforced metal door slammed open to emit the frazzled looking blonde.

Upon seeing her, Leo let out a loud exclamation, "Jessy!"

Said girl looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"There you are!" The boy grinned, undeterred by her reaction, "I was wondering why my parents were so cagey and evasive. You're awake!"

Jessy could do nothing but oogle at his face, his blue eyes brighter than she'd ever imagined up close. Her angel indeed…

Leo faltered for a second and smacked his head, "Right! You don't know me."

Before she could inform him otherwise, the boy enthusiastically held a hand out to her, "Hello, my name is Leo. Nice to meet you, Jessy!"

She hovered unsurely at his gesture for a moment before hesitantly holding out her own hand to grip his in reverent awe. Blinking up at blue eyes, Jessy slowly nodded in greeting.

He smiled, "I can tell we're gonna be great friends."

From that moment on, everything changed.

. ~

"What is this?" Jessy hesitantly asked as she watched the boy dump a pile of books in front of her. Leo sent her a toothy grin, "I'm going to teach you!"

"Teach me?" Her eyes began to dull and her voice deepened, "To kill? To get rid of-"

Leo snapped his fingers and she immediately snapped out of her daze. He gave her a strained smile, "No need for the… other you. I'm going to teach you the things I learned in school!"

"What do you learn in this… school?" Jessy asked curiously, acting as if she hadn't slipped. Leo answered by pulling up a booklet, "Let's start with math."

"Math…" Jessy mumbled as she stared intently at the cover, "Why are you teaching me?"

Leo blinked, "Because I want to."

"But why?" She asked again.

Leo smiled brightly at the girl, "Because I decided that I'm going to take care of you."

.~

"Come on Jessy, you're going to miss out on this!" Leo yelled as loud as he dared in a whisper. In a dark corner, the girl in question nervously wrung her hands, "B-But I'm not allowed outside this room!"

The blonde boy sighed in exasperation, "Mom and Dad are out cold. You can even hear their snores from the other side of the house! Come on, I promise we won't get caught."

"You don't know that." Jessy mumbled worriedly though her face betrayed no expression, "What if we get caught? They would punish me and... I don't even know what they would do to you if they found out you know about me!"

Leo's eyes softened as he slowly walked towards the quivering girl, "Jessy, do you trust me?"

There was a beat of silence before the girl hesitantly nodded. His mouth stretched into a bright grin and he held out a hand, "Then trust me not to get the both of us caught. What I want to show you doesn't happen everyday, you know. If we don't go now, we're gonna miss it."

A bony hand that looked like it could break at any minute was raised to hold his own. Something flickered in Jessy's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared and Leo was unable to figure out what he had seen.

Mentally shaking his head, Leo gentle pulled the little girl out of the room where he paused for Jessy to adjust to the setting. When he felt her small hand lightly squeeze his, Leo continued on, careful to not make a sound as they crept through the dark halls.

Soon enough, the duo found themselves in the dusty old attic. Jessy looked around in wonder as she wandered around the attic. Boxes and odd items like random metal poles littered the small area, all with a heavy layer of dust sitting on top. The silent stillness was immediately interrupted when Leo threw open the windows, effectively causing a mini dust storm.

The dust attacked her lungs and Jessy ended up on her knees with a coughing fit. Her eyes watered as she struggled to breath in the middle of each cough.

"Oh crud, are you okay?!" Leo ran over to her and quickly patted her back. Minutes later, Jessy found herself greedily breathing as much air as her abused lungs could take.

"What… was… that?!" She gasped out in between each breath. Leo smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry. I forgot how dusty this place can be. I swear I didn't do that on purpose."

"Sure you didn't." The blonde girl muttered grumpily under her steadying breath. Wiping away the stray tears that slipped from her eyelashes, Jessy stood up, all signs of earlier nervousness and worry gone. "Did you bring me up here just to attempt to kill me?"

"What?! NO!" Leo shouted out in panic when her voice began to take a dull tone, "We went over this already! No killing. No maiming. No err- punishments. Happy thoughts only, okay? I promised I'd never do anything to you and I never break my promises."

The little girl stared unnervingly at the boy for a few second before speaking, "So what did you want to show me that risked us getting caught?"

Leo immediately perked up, sapphire blue eyes shining in excitement, "Oh yeah! We're gonna miss it so come on!"

Before Jessy could get a word out in protest, Leo dragged her over to the opened windows and lifted her up onto the ledge. She immediately latched onto his arms in fear, "Wh-What are you doing?! I'm going to fall!"

"You're not going to fall. I've got you, so calm down okay?" Leo gave a reassuring smile when she slowly nodded.

"I'm going to let go now-only for a few seconds!" Leo hastily added when Jessy looked like she was about to faint from hyperventilation. "I have to get up there myself too, you know."

With an inaudible gulp, Jessy let go and hugged the frame like a lifeline. The boy quickly scrambled onto the sill and huffed from the exertion as a breeze swept his bangs from his eyes. Stepping onto the shingles, Leo gently pried Jessy away from the window frame and slowly lead her towards the edge. Minutes later, the blondes found themselves sitting on the edge of the roof, looking over the moonlit neighborhood.

Jessy gasped in amazement as she stared at the surreal picture painted before her.

The heavens seemed to rain stars down upon the earth, lighting up the dark sky with a fiery red.

Leo nudged her shoulder, "That… is a meteor shower, like in the books. I promised to show you, remember?"

Jessy smiled breathlessly, "It's beautiful."

.~

"Leo… Can I ask you a question?" A soft whisper danced along the winds between two figures on a roof. Grime matted blonde hair flew freely in the breeze as a teenage girl stared off at the rooftops with blank dual eyes. Sapphire eyes blinked in curiosity, "What is it, Jessy?"

"What was my Papa like?"

There was a beat of silence before Leo sputtered, "What?"

The girl spared him a glance, "I know Father isn't my Papa, Leo. I remember a blurry face that I called Papa. He… died didn't he? And then your Papa came along and Mama changed… It's all I can remember, really. Everything else is so… fuzzy. It's hard to remember."

Leo paused before letting out a heavy sigh, his hand running through his messy blonde locks, "I thought you completely forgot about him. It was so long ago and you were little toddler. Barely three years old, Jessy. You shouldn't be able to remember things like that at three."

"Can you tell me about him?" Jessy didn't look at him when she asked. She simply swung her legs at the edge of the roof as she stared ahead. Leo leaned back and looked up at the sky, "From what I'm told, he was a successful businessman. He had… gravity-defying blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone knew and loved him because of his kind and caring nature. Sometime around your second birthday, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He lived for another year before passing away. Everyone was devastated."

He sighed heavily, "My dad had a relationship with our Mom before she met your papa. They got together, made me, and after a few years, separated with me following after Dad. A couple of years later she met your papa and lived together happily until he passed. You were the result of their love, Jess. Then Dad came back, convinced Mom to have a relationship with him again, and I was reintroduced to her. I… I guess Dad didn't like the fact that you had that man's blood in you and decided to shun you. I'm sorry."

"Did you know him?" She asked about her Papa, not addressing the newly revealed information of her dysfunctional family's history, though she did store it in the back of her mind. Leo hesitated when her response was not what he was expecting, "Yes, I did. We lived in the same neighborhood and one day I broke an arm and he was the one that helped me. It's the only time we've actually talked to each other."

"What was your impression of him?" Jessy leaned forward to look down from the ledge, but Leo hastily pulled her back before she could fall. He smiled fondly at her when she leaned onto his shoulder as he moved her away from the potential danger, "He was a nice guy. He looked strong and dependable. I remember thinking… If he was my dad, he'd be a really cool one."

Jessy frowned, "Were you treated badly by Father back then?"

Leo smiled sadly, "No he didn't. It just felt like he was too distant, that's all. Your papa, he… he made me feel wanted, you know?"

Jessy snuggled closer to Leo, "He sounds like a nice papa."

"I bet he was."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes until Leo shifted from his position and stood up on the roof, holding a hand towards Jessy, "Come on. Mom and Dad are gonna be home soon."

Jessy only stared solemnly at the ground far below her, "I wonder if I can ever meet Papa. Since he's in heaven, do I have to go there too?"

"Jess?" Leo asked nervously, shifting closer to her in worry as she once again leaned towards the edge. "Come on. We need to get off the roof." Please don't do it. Don't do what I think you're about to do.

After a moment, Jessy stood up and patted the dirt off of her clothes though there was no noticeable change in her ragged filthy shirt, "Yes, they are coming soon." I won't. After all, you promised…

Leo silently sighed in relief and smiled brightly, taking Jessy's hand as he carefully lead them towards the attic's open window. Letting go, he grabbed onto the frame, and jumped through the window, landing loudly on the creaky planks. The blonde waved away the cloud of dust that formed when he landed and turned to face his sister with arms wide open, "Here, I'll catch you."

Jessy blankly looked down at her half-brother's expecting form, "Can I ask you something?"

Leo raised an eyebrow at her, "Another one?"

She nodded, "Papa had blonde hair and blue eyes. Leo also has blonde hair and blue eyes. Papa left me. Are you going to leave me too?"

Leo immediately snorted upon hearing the question, "That's such a weird way to connect things. Jess, you already know my answer. Hurry up, I think my arms are dying."

A minuscule upturn of the lips was all that told Leo that his suffering sister was pleased. Then she jumped. His arms tensed and he quickly wrapped his arms around Jessy as she launched herself in the air. He groaned at the impact and glared jokingly, "A warning would've been nice."

She simply patted his head and moved to stand up, "… Thank you."

Leo only answered the whispered words with a soft smile, "You know I'd never leave you, so you don't need to ask questions like that okay? Big Brother Leo will always watch over you so don't you worry!"

After all, you promised that we would be together forever.

.

Lights flashed as horns blared. Leo's breath hitched and he braced himself because-oh god the truck wasnotstoppingandhewasgoingtodi- SCREEEEECCCH! CRASH!

.

You lied Big Brother. You left me.