The two joined pieces spun in the air for a moment and then rushed down toward Matthew, landing on his Hathmec. Another quick burst of light emitted from Matthew’s shirt, and he suddenly woke up. He stood up to see Cameron’s blank, white face. “It looks like you found it.”
As he approached Cameron, he saw several security guards running up behind him. “Stop right there!” they yelled.
Matthew grabbed Cameron around the arms and said, “Hang on.”
Cameron replied, “To what?”
They were gone in the blink of an eye. The trans-x charm was operational, and Matthew possessed the power it yielded.
Back at Genesis, Cassie cracked open the door that led to the lab level and could hear Addie talking with Bryan. She stuck her head out just enough to see them standing at the entrance of the chemicals lab.
“Where’s the security?” Bryan asked.
“I don’t know. It was my understanding that this place would be crawling with guards, but it’s empty.”
Bryan replied, “As long as we use Connie’s badge, we shouldn’t have to worry about any alarms. She said the alarm would go off only if the structure was damaged or someone used a wrong code.”
Addie stood at the entrance of the lab and scanned Connie’s badge. The door opened, and they both entered the room. It appeared to be a typical lab. Canisters of liquid nitrogen lined the walls, creating small clouds and mists of condensation. There were also large canisters of a yellow liquid that fed to a smaller injection machine. Without a doubt, this liquid was the mix of Evan’s carrier stones they had been searching for.
Bryan looked at Addie and said, “Ok, all we need to do is inject one of the syringes from our little black box into that main line there, and we’re done. I can’t believe Walter was able to develop his own formula to counteract the Minister’s.”
Addie replied, “If this works, it could add years to Evan’s development of the vaccination. Even better, it could give Walter some control.”
Addie pulled the syringe out of the box and pulled the cover off the end. She tapped it with her finger a couple of times and said, “Put your hands on that hose there so it doesn’t turn when I start the injection.”
Bryan put his hand onto the hose that led to the primary mixture and looked around the lab. “We need to do this quick. I can’t imagine this area will be empty all day.”
Addie agreed and plunged the syringe toward the hose. Suddenly Bryan jumped back—the needle had pierced the skin of his hand. Horrified, he looked up at Addie, who proceeded to empty the syringe into his hand.
She pulled the needle out, and Bryan staggered back. “What are you doing?” His eyes were beginning to glass over, and Addie knocked him to the ground.
Bryan tried to fight back, but he no longer had control of his arms. Addie stood over him and removed his Hathmec. “Like I said, we have to do what we have to do.”
Chapter 19
HEARTBREAKS AND HATHMECS
Back in Tennessee, Amanda awoke to a new day and a new life. The night had been as wonderful as she had imagined it would be. She’d eaten dinner with her new family, and they had welcomed her and Steven with open arms. Steven had played with his cousins for hours. He was the most excited that Amanda had seen him in months.
For Steven’s sake, she was confident she had made the right decision. He would be raised by her uncle and follow a similar path to her father and the rest of the family. Her uncle was so much like her own father that she almost called him Dad on a couple of occasions. Her aunt would take a little getting used to, but her willingness to take in two more kids showed a lot about her character. She was a good person.
Amanda twirled the Hathmec in her hand and thought about all the time she had spent with Matthew. So many crazy things had happened to her over the last few months. Between the loss of her parents and the glimpse into the future, it was enough to break most people. But she wasn’t most people, and she knew it. She walked out on the deck of her new room, which at one time had been her old room, and got lost in the clear Tennessee sky. It was perfect here.
The sun broke through a few of the trees in the line behind the house. These hadn’t been damaged by the fire so many years ago and had only grown taller over the years. A cool breeze speckled the moist skin of her face with dew. She was happy to be home, but the knowledge that she would never see Matthew again blotted her feelings of joy. It was as if one of her organs had been removed. She wondered if her new life could ever replace the loss that she felt.
Steven came bouncing in from the hallway and saw his big sister sitting out on the deck. He wrapped his arms around her as she sat gazing into the backyard. He could see that she had been crying again. “What’s wrong now?” he asked.
Amanda conjured a smile and said, “Nothing, I’ll be ok. How did you sleep?”
Steven replied, “I slept great. It doesn’t look like you slept too good, though.” Steven walked to the rail of the deck and looked out at a big oak tree just beyond the fence his uncle had erected just the year before. “That was the tree that Dad put my rope swing in. I remember the base of the tree had some good spots to put your feet while you climbed to the top. It’s not there anymore.”
Amanda turned to Steven and looked in his eyes. He said to her, “I know this isn’t really home, but it is our family. I know I’m safe here.”
“Did you not feel safe where we were?” Amanda asked.
Steven replied, “I stay quiet a lot and just listen and watch. But I’m not stupid. I know we’ve done some crazy things since Mom and Dad died. I know you made some deal with Mr. Wainwright to get us here, and that’s ok. I know you’re doing this more for me than for you.”
Amanda was shocked that Steven could be so aware of what had taken place. She’d forgotten just how smart her little brother was. “Why do you think I don’t want to be here?” she asked him.
“I know you really like Matthew. I’m not blind. I don’t just mean like. I mean really like. Kissing-type like. I heard you crying about him at night when you thought I was asleep. I know that if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here.”
Amanda replied, “I love you, Steven. It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re ok. Mom and Dad would have wanted me to watch out for you.”
Steven smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore. If you want to go with Matthew, I get it.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Matthew doesn’t want to be with me. I heard it from his own mouth. I wish he did, but he just doesn’t.”
Steven looked over the railing one more time and said, “He may have said that, but I don’t believe it.” Steven hugged his sister and ran back to his room.
Amanda left the deck. Back in her room, she pulled the gray bag out of her closet. She needed to find somewhere safe to put its contents. It would be very useful in the future. She opened the bag and rustled the papers around.
Back at Baylee College, Cameron was standing in the front yard of the SAP house. He had just opened his eyes and couldn’t quite believe it. The house hadn’t been there a second ago. He had just been in the quad with Matthew, and some security guys were running up to them. Matthew let go of him and backed up, stepping on top of the carrier stone he had left there a couple of nights ago. He’d thought it might come in handy.
Cameron was more than a little freaked out. “What the hell was that? One minute, you’re glowing, and now we’ve gone all futuristic scifi and teleported or something! What the hell’s going on?”
Matthew knew that some stupid story about Steven being sick wasn’t going to get him out of this one. “I can’t tell you everything that’s going on, but just know that you have totally saved my life today.”
“That’s not good enough, man,” Cameron replied. “I need to know what’s going on. Damn, between you and your sister, I just don’t know if I can take any more.”
Matthew said, “Look, I don’t know what happened with you and Amanda, but I’m sure there’s a logical
explanation.”
Cameron laughed. “A logical explanation. Let me clue you in to your logical explanation. The reason your sister isn’t answering her phone is because she’s gone. She’s gone, and she didn’t want you to know anything about it.”
Matthew froze. “What do you mean, gone? Gone where?”
Cameron scratched his head. “She made me promise her yesterday that I would give this to you after we found the stone, not before.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope with Matthew’s name on it. “You wanted to know why I wouldn’t tell you what happened after the party the other night. Well, I was embarrassed about it.”
Matthew took the envelope from Cameron. “Embarrassed about what?”
Cameron turned so Matthew couldn’t see his face and said, “I got so drunk that night. I’m not a big drinker, and Amanda was having no problems with it, so I tried to keep up, and I was just a mess. She had to help me back to my apartment, and she stayed there with me the whole night to make sure I didn’t get sick or choke on my own vomit.”
Matthew listened to Cameron go on about how he had blown it with Amanda. “I know she thinks I’m a big loser, but I really thought I had something good going with her. She told me that she needed some space. Then she comes up to me yesterday and wants a favor. Hell, I would have done anything she wanted.”
Matthew asked, “All she wanted was for you to give this to me after we found the stone?”
“She told me that she was hooked on some guy that didn’t care anything for her, and she just needed to get away from Virginia. She knew you would try to stop her, so she asked me to keep you busy for as long as I could yesterday and today. I told her she had people here who cared about her, including me, but I guess I just wasn’t enough.”
Matthew held the envelope in his hand, afraid to open it. Cameron patted Matthew on the shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on with all of this. Maybe you work for the government, or maybe your parents are aliens, I don’t know. I’ve been honest with you, so be honest with me.”
Matthew replied, “I’ll be honest with you, but I need one more thing from you first.”
“What’s that?”
Matthew pointed to the parking lot across from the frat house. “I need your car.”
Cameron shook his head and asked, “You need my car? For what?”
Matthew placed the envelope in his pocket and said, “I need to go back to my real home, and I need wheels to get there. I’ll give you an address to come pick it up.”
Cameron took the keys out of his pocket. “I don’t have to do this, you know.”
Matthew replied, “I don’t have to ask for the keys either. I could just take them, but I won’t because you’re my friend.” Matthew meant it. He saw Cameron as a real friend. He would go into battle with him any day.
Cameron passed the keys to Matthew. “Ok, so tell me—what’s the truth?”
Matthew looked around at the trees and their changing leaves. He saw cars passing by with banners for the football team, and he saw a couple walking hand in hand across campus. “Here’s the truth, Cameron. None of this is gonna matter in fifty years. Everything you hold dear will be gone, and you’ll never even know why. Get your mother as far away from Evan Elliott as you can. What he’s doing will change the world in a bad way.”
He’d already started to walk away when Cameron yelled after him, “Is that it? What am I supposed to do?”
Matthew turned back and handed Cameron a piece of paper. “Enjoy your life while you can, and call this girl. I think you’ll see that there are other amazing ladies in the world. Some of them love the color blue.”
Cameron opened the piece of paper and read the name Shelby. He put the number into his phone and watched as Matthew took off out of the parking lot with his car. He thought for a moment and realized that Matthew hadn’t given him the address he had promised. If it worked out with Shelby, losing the car might just be worth it.
Matthew drove to a gas station a few miles from campus and pulled the car into a parking spot. He ripped open the envelope from Amanda and started to read the letter she had left for him. Tears started to pour from Matthew’s eyes as soon as he got to the third line.
Dear Matthew,
I know this is a lousy way to say goodbye, but I just didn’t know what else to do. I’m taking Steven, and we’re going to start a new life here in 2016. I’ve known for months now that you don’t love me. At first I just couldn’t believe it, but now I know for sure. I tried to show you how much you meant to me while we were in 2185, but you just kept pushing me away. I would have followed you anywhere. Once Walter explained that you would have done for anyone the same things you did for me, I knew you pitied me more than you cared for me. He played me that tape of the discussion you had with him before we left. You told him what you really thought of me. I hope the time we have spent together since coming to 2016 has changed some of those opinions. I made a deal with Walter to help you and the team, and I think I fulfilled those promises. We are going back home. We belong there, just like you belong in 2185.
I have to be honest with you. This letter is so hard to write. Even knowing what I know, I still think about you all the time. I think I see something in your eyes when you look at me, and sometimes I just know that it’s real. I would get jealous for no reason. I have to move on from you and accept that you don’t love me the way I love you.
I know I treated you wrong after my parents died, and I blamed you for things that you couldn’t control, but know this: I will always love you for saving me and Steven. You gave us a chance, and I’ll never forget that. I’ll be waiting for you to remove our Hathmecs when you get ready to leave. I don’t expect you to leave them here with us. We’ll be ok, and I’ll pray for you and your family. Please don’t look for us.
I will love you always,
Amanda.
Matthew felt something hard in the envelope and found a carrier stone Amanda had left for him. It was in the shape of a heart. He pulled the carrier that Connor had given him—holding the two together, he started to sob into his hands. He felt it now. He felt the loss of a love that he knew he couldn’t get back. His heart was broken, and he blamed himself. Why hadn’t he just told her? Why did he let her go on thinking he didn’t care about her? He had decided a letter would be his salvation with Amanda. It turned out to be the final dagger to pierce his heart.
The sounds of sirens and emergency vehicles filled the air in the streets behind the gas station where Matthew was parked, but he was oblivious to them as he tried to envision the rest of his life without Amanda.
People were running out of the Genesis building. Alarms were going off all over the facility, and security had rushed in to verify what had happened. As Cassie Jenkins observed from her hidden location, Addie exited the chemicals lab but Bryan did not leave with her.
Addie had purposely set off the alarms around the lab by breaking a window, and she left a small box at the entrance. Cassie realized Addie was running back to the same stairwell where she was hiding. Quickly she made her way back up the stairs in order to avoid her. Years of Pilates came in handy as she managed to stay a floor ahead of Addie and safely reached the ground level without being seen.
It was mass chaos on the ground level as everyone panicked and ran into each other. Genesis employees directed people out the front door, asking that everyone stay calm. Only a few employees at the complex understood that the alarm signaled a security breach not a fire alarm, but for a business that worked with chemicals, no one was taking any chances.
Cassie exited the building and waited for Addie to emerge. As she stood there, a number of people ran past her, and she overheard one of the police officers: “The alarm originated down in the first-floor labs. We need to get men down there, ASAP.”
Cassie was having trouble understanding what could have happened. Why would Addie set off the alarm? Where was Bryan? She stood there for several minutes waiting for Addie
to emerge when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Sandra Landrum and Evan Elliott.
“What in the world is going on?” Sandra asked. “We were just about to get started with the press conference when all of this craziness started.”
Cassie looked back to the front entrance and saw Addie leave the building, making a beeline for the parking lot. She took care not to interact with anyone, but Cassie did notice that Addie looked back toward her. Sandra continued to ramble on about the press conference and how this would look to the public, but Evan had a laser focus geared toward Addie.
Addie hadn’t actually been looking back at Cassie—it was Mr. Elliott she was concerned about. She stared at him for a full ten seconds before turning her head back to the parking lot. Sandra never saw her, instead asking Evan if he were paying attention. He replied, “Of course I am. I just want to know what’s going on.”
Addie sat in the parking lot for a few minutes before it cleared enough for her to make her exit. Cassie noticed that she picked up her phone and was either answering it or making a call. Cassie thought about calling Matthew at that point, but she couldn’t with Sandra and Evan Elliott so close to her.
Cassie waited there for fifteen minutes until a man in handcuffs appeared before the crowd. It was Bryan Chance. He had been taken into custody by the police. Sandra was stunned. “Oh, my God, is that Bryan Chance?” Several police officers approached Sandra and Evan. Cassie stuck around, hoping to hear what they told them.
“Mr. Elliott? Are you Evan Elliott, the owner?” The police officer wanted to make sure he was speaking to the man in charge of the facility. “It looks like we got lucky and stopped a terrorist attack.”
“What do you mean we got lucky?” Evan asked.
The officer explained that they had found the man passed out in the chemicals lab. “He must have broken through the lab window and knocked himself out. We found a small bomb that he dropped outside the door. We’re thinking he was going to try to blow up the facility.”
Sandra was shaking. “That doesn’t make any sense. I think we know that man, and I can’t imagine him doing anything like that.” She looked around the area and asked, “Has anyone seen his wife? She was here, too.”
Last Chance Volume 2 - The Legend of the Hathmec: Planting the Seed Page 28
