Hey guys. So it's been a while. Believe it or not, I actually have been working on this one the whole time. I swear, it just would not come out right. Again, sorry for the wait. Hopefully it will be well worth the wait. So let's get to it. I do not own the franchise.

Broken

Chapter 12: Under the Shade of Night

Nico

Only Jason went down to the room from the hallways. In his words, "a patent going into the records is something they'd be looking out for. I'm far less suspicious." Instead, I descended the tree that Jason came up in. The climb wasn't bad. If I had looked down, though, I think I might have fallen flat on my face. That would have been a hard one to explain.

I stayed at the base of the tree for a little while. It was nice to take in the fresh air instead of that insufferable hospital air. It was at least five minutes before I saw a hand go out of one of the windows. I ran over and Jason helped me through. "Man," I said, "I was worried you weren't coming back for me."

"Sorry," he said, flashing a very confident- borderline cocky- smile. "It took a bit longer than I thought." His teeth sparkled in the LED lights. As I grabbed his outstretched hand, I realized how pale I actually was. My natural olive color was gone, replaced by pure white. Man, that really showed how little I got out. By contrast, Jason had a healthy glow about him. He looked like he belonged in California, not New York. I wrapped my hand around his clean wrist, and he wrapped his in my marked one. Complete opposites coming together. I climbed through the window.

The room was filled with rows of shelves, each with countless manila folders with multicolored tabs. The lights were on and the desk at the front looked messy, as if the receptionist had just left for a bathroom break. Jason must have timed this perfectly. Now I just had to figure this filing system out.

It didn't take long to find my own file. I won't bore you with the actual system, 'cause there is way more important things in this part of the story. The short story is that it took about five minutes. Jason was off in another corner of the records room while I looked. He came over when I called to him once I got the file. He carried two files of his own.

This was the moment of truth, the purpose of this whole Mission: Impossible bullshit. I opened the file and started reading. It started with: Patient name: Nico di Angelo. Mother's name: Maria di Angelo. Father's name: Edward Ash.

I stopped after that; partly because I realized scanning the document that there was literally nothing interesting that I understood, partly because I had just found out my father's name. And I recognized it. You might know him better as Hades, the biggest record producer in Manhattan. I had always assumed my father was some low life. Now I knew.

My eyes wandered as I tried to process this new information. Jason must've seen my eyes, because he tapped me on the shoulder. "You done with that already?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "This was a stupid idea anyway." I got up to leave, but then I saw the folders Jason was holding.

"So what are those files you have there?" I asked.

"These," Jason said, holding the files up, "are the reason I did this."

"Wait," I said, "I thought you wanted to help me with my file."

"Yeah," he said apologetically, "I was gonna do this before you mentioned your file." He scratched the back of his neck as he dropped his head. "I thought you might as well accompany me."

"Ok," I said, "so what are the files?"

"You remember that girl I told you about, the one who is sort of dating Leo?"

"Right?"

"We keep on seeing her here." He explained. "She said that she was visiting her sister. But she refuses to let Leo see her 'new apartment' she claims that she has."

"And that make you suspicious." I asked.

"Right." he said. "So I figured that seeing the file would ease my suspicion. If she was telling the truth, I would know, you know?"

"I guess."

"So I looked for her last name. There were only two files with the last name Nightshade."

"Wait." I said, interrupting his speech. "You said the name was Nightshade?"

"Yeah, her name is Calypso Nightshade." He said.

"Is her sister's name Zoe, by any chance?" I asked, the alarm in my voice rising.

"How did you know that?" He asked.

"Because," I said, "Zoe Nightshade was put into a comatose state in the same accident that killed my sister."

"Well that's not the end of the story tough." He said.

"Ok," I said, "go on."

"Zoe Nightshade," he said, "according to this file died two years ago."

My eyes widened. "Oh yeah," I said, "I forgot about that. So why is Calypso still coming to the hospital then?"

Jason held out the second envelope and placed it on the table. I opened it and started reading. It started with: Patient name: Calypso Nightshade.

To be continued…

So how was that? Lots of game changers in this one, huh? It's all starting to come together. But don't worry, the 20-25 chapter plan is still in effect. Anyway, leave a review if you have an opinion of how the story's going. I'll see you next time. Make good decisions. Peace!