The Villainous Cruz Family - Chapter 35

Io stood before Will with a bright smile on her face, eyes arched and squinty with joy, the very epitome of a sunshine child. Her hair was tied loosely into two pigtails, her brunette hair serving as a nice contrast to the yellow of her new dress, her favourite colour.

“Do you think they’ll like me?”

Will dutifully knelt down on one knee and helped her straighten out her dress. “Of course they’ll like you, you’re their little sister.” Pausing, he continued. “Boss also called before he went back to work and they seemed really excited to meet you.”

“Really? I’m excited too! I can’t wait to meet everyone, Victoria, Albert, Ian, Vin and the twins, Atlas and Iris.” Io’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as she listed the names of her siblings.

“Unfortunately, they’ll still be at school when we arrive.” Will finished fixing her dress and picked the girl up in her arms. “You’ll have to wait a bit more.”

“Booo, I wanna meet them sooner.” Io wrapped her arms around Will’s neck and watched as they exited the safehold and it got smaller and smaller as they drove away. They had finally made a fake ID for Io and were going to take her home via plane. It was the first time Io was riding a plane but instead of nerves, anticipation filled her heart.

___

“Hello!” Joan pulled Io into her embrace and squealed. “You’re cuter than I imagined! I’m so glad I skipped work to meet you.”

“Uh, um-” Unsure as to how to react, Io scrambled for words. However, the warmth that radiated off Joan and the bubbling feelings instead kept creating a smile instead. “Hello, Mother.”

“Gosh, you’re so cute!” Joan grabbed Io’s hand and led her inside the house. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Yes, Will bought me breakfast.”

Joan raised her head, her gaze shifting from Io to Will who trailed behind.

“Good morning, Madam.” Will placed a hand over his heart and bowed at Joan, like a knight would a noble. “My name is Will Michaelis. I used to be a phantom thief but have now been assigned to look after the young miss.”

“Oh, right. You were in charge of the rescue mission.” Joan’s eyes arched into a smile. “Great job. Keep it up.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

Joan shifted her gaze back to Io. “I’ll show you Victoria’s room. You’ll be staying with her for a bit.”

“Ok!”

Joan took Io on a house tour and made sure she wasn’t bored while they waited for school to finish. She told her stories about the children and showed Io photos. Then, the roar of a car engine was heard from the front door. Squeals of children echoed and the door slammed open.

“”Is she here yet?””

“Calm down!” Vin lightly slapped the backs of the excited twins. Even so, they still ran straight ahead when their eyes spotted Io.

“Hello!” Iris greeted. “I’m Iris.”

“And I’m Atlas.”

“I’m Vin and this is Ian.” Vin pointed at Ian who just nodded and introduced them both to Io.

“Hello everyone!” Io returned the greeting. In that instance, her sunflower smile captured the hearts of everyone in the room.

“Do you like chocolate?” Atlas zipped open his bag and dug out a chocolate egg. “My teacher gave this to everyone today. Do you want it?”

“Oh, oh, me too! I’ll give you mine too!”

The twins strut out their hands, each holding an easter egg, and offered it to Io. Seeing this, Vin thought his eyes weren’t working. The twins…were sharing?

“Thank you!” Io giggled. “But let’s eat it together. It’ll be more yummy that way.”

“”Okay!”” The twins cheered in their hearts. The instance they offered their chocolates, they had regretted it so luckily their sister was an angel.

“…” Ian noticed a stranger in the house. He wore the black suit that all the employees wore but his peppery hair and earnest gaze was unfamiliar to Ian. However, when they entered, Brian, their chauffeur and bodyguard stood beside him naturally, only reacting with slight surprise and a nod.

“Who’s that?” Vin inquired in Ian’s stead.

“That’s Butler Will! He saved me from the lab!” Io gleefully replied.

“”Butler?””

“He’s like a butler so he’s Butler Will.”

“Hmmm?” Atlas scrutinized the newcomer. He stood with his back straight and an elegant pose. He used to think Brian was a pretty cool servant but compared to Will’s upper class sense, he was nothing. The same could be said for Cain. Well, both had their own charms though.

“You’re right!” It seemed that Iris had come to the same conclusion.

Just then, the wooden doors opened wide. Through it, Cain walked in, sounding a bit rushed. Behind him, Victoria was stabbing his back with her finger, urging him to speed up while Albert watched, somewhat amused and troubled.

“Hey, are you Io? You’re so cute.” Through Cain’s ability, Victoria could see the sunflower child. The girl’s large round eyes twinkled with joy but upon seeing them, they widened further with pleasant surprise and tears.

{Iooooooooooo~!} Cotton pounced out of Victoria’s arms and cried out loud.

“Cotton-!” Io caught the sobbing fluff, surprised.

{I’m glad to have finally met you! You’re so cute! Your name is cute too!}

“Hic, uuu, I’m glad to have met you too, Cotton. You’re very fluffy and cute. Thank you for saving me.” Io was seemingly infected by the rabbit’s tears and began to sob along with her. Soon enough, the two poured their hearts out, the twins getting flustered at their endless tears. They heard of the story but seeing the raw emotions set in the fact that it was reality.

“D-don’t cry.” Atlas awkwardly consoled her by patting her back.

“Yeah! Smile! Why’re you crying if you’re happy?” Iris chimed.

“Ehehe.” Io sniffled, her eyes red from crying. They wandered from family to family member, gazing into each of their eyes. When it finally landed on Albert’s, it stayed concentrated there, as if in an attempt to peer into his soul. She took a step forward in his direction, eyes never straying from his. “I remember those eyes…”

“Is there something on my face?” Albert felt his face, feeling self conscious. Besides him, Victoria just giggled and placed a hand on his shoulder, for a reason unbeknownst to Albert.

The tears that had just barely dried began to flow out those reddened eyes once more. “Albert? Ha-ha, I thought the names were similar but I didn’t think it would actually be you…”

“What?”

“Um, I always remembered what you told me. I became a special treasure, you know? I was able to live because of you.”

The girl staggered into Albert’s embrace. His face was painted in question marks however, the image of a small child flashed in his head. It was very dark and hard to make out what was there, but the large round eyes of the girl made it clear that it was Io.

“Urgh-!” A throbbing pain attacked Albert all at once. He could remember meeting her for the first time, a small child beaten black and blue into submission, voice soft and subdued, eyes dull with pain but a glimmer of light flashed through every now and then. Albert remembered calling her by a different name and sharing a bit of his bread with her. Sometimes, he sneakily grew some fruits and they would eat it together under the guise of the night. He remembered the day she was taken away along with a few others, he rushed up to her and hugged and whispered in her ears before helplessly watching her get carried away in tears.

“Albert?” Joan called out, concerned. She jumped out of her seat and placed a hand over his forehead. “Are you alright?”

Io watched on with worry carved into her face. She’d heard the evil scientists gossip about the other test subjects. They’ll talk about how they got weaker by the day and their bodies ached and twitched like the devil had taken over. She didn’t get to that stage because she was a precious ‘treasure’ but what about Albert? They were both kidnapped before she was taken away again. Did he also get experimented on?

“I remember-” Albert muttered through grit teeth. He held his head in a cradle, face pale and dripping with cold sweat. He had been shown glimpses of his past after waves of headaches before but they had never been this severe.

Was he finally going to remember? Albert wondered so as he finally gave into the pain and fainted.

“ALBERT!” Io wailed, her tears falling like a coursing river in a storm. The other children jumped up from the couch and surrounded the pale child.

“Mother, what’s wrong with Albert?” Vin asked. Besides him, Ian gazed at Joan with teary eyes, looking like he’ll cry at a moment’s notice.

“He’s fainted. Don’t worry, I’ll call the doctor. He’ll be fine.”

In less than ten minutes, the doctor came and left. However, even after he had treated Albert, the family was still concerned as the boy laid still in bed, sleeping. Unable to bear the tense atmosphere, Atlas attempted to make some small talk with his new sister.

“Um, do you know Albert?”

Io glanced over at Atlas before nodding and giving him a weak smile. “I don’t remember much but I remember being with him for about a month. Albert, he, along with a few others protected me from the demon. He shared his food with me and lured the demon away. He taught me the rules to survive and to never give up…” As she spoke, tears shook her voice and made her body tremble.

Iris wrapped her arms around Io, patting her back in consolation, seemingly fully embracing the role of the older sister. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry.”

“Kuhum.” Vin cleared his voice and added, “I’m just telling you so you know but Albert lost his memories so he doesn’t know who you are. You might want to prepare yourself.”

“Wha-?”

“But he also might’ve gotten them back.” Victoria chimed in, a smile gracing her face. “He said I remember before he passed out.”