The C I N Series Bundled

by Christina Leigh Pritchard

  “We’re almost out of Lynn,” my mom squealed. “Almost free!”

  I grabbed the dash and my mom clutched the steering wheel.

  She hit her brakes and the car spun in a circle.

  A bolt of lightning from Alex’s fingertips hit the roadway; splitting the Lynn, Massachusetts sign in two.

  Hurry on home.

  Alex said it. I reached over and grabbed my mother’s hand. We looked at the sky. It was clear; not a rain cloud in sight.

  “Start the car,” I demanded, “I want to get out of here.”

  My mom turned the ignition but the car stalled. She tried again.

  Nothing…

  Finally, the engine purred and my mom inched forward. She went around another car that had skidded to a stop as well.

  Amber hit the brakes.

  The road had a big hole in the center of it. There wasn’t any way out; at least not this way. “Find another exit.” I bit my fingernails.

  “Did Millie tell you something?” Amber asked, backing out of the debris.

  “About the night you were conceived?” Amber glanced at me. “Alex knew about it and I don’t remember telling Millie anything about it; ever.”

  “What are you talking about?” My hands trembled.

  “Good, it’s better that you never know.”

  “Know what?” I screeched. “Stop the car!”

  My mom hit the brakes. We were half on the sidewalk, trying to get out of the mess of vehicles backed up because of the lightning strike.

  “Really, Lisa, it’s not a big deal.” She wouldn’t look at me. “It’s something that only concerns me.”

  “Mother…”

  “Lisa.”

  “If you don’t tell me, then I’m going to get out and go find Alex. He’ll tell me for sure!”

  My mother hid her face in her hands. “Jimmy, well, he’s not your real father.”

  I blinked. “Who’s my father, then?”

  “I don’t know.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I came home after a long night of working; I went to the bathroom to take a shower because I was so dirty from running around at a catering party. When I close my eyes I can still smell the chocolate fondue that spilled all over me.”

  Amber opened her mouth but nothing came out.

  “What happened, mom?”

  “Some man, with eyes just like yours, stepped into the shower.”

  “Mom?” My lips trembled.

  “He slammed me into t h e w a l l, and then he—”

  “Stop, I don’t want to hear anymore.”

  “I can’t be near you, Lisa, without thinking about that night, but, another part of me cannot be away from you, either.”

  “Is that why you sent me away; because you didn’t want to face me anymore?”

  “Millie never responded to any of my calls in the past. I always got her voicemail, then a few days later after I’d had one of my episodes; I was fine and didn’t want you to leave. But, out of the blue, Millie called me back two weeks ago. She said she’d help me out just this once. It was very out of character for Millie to do this. She’s never been a very good sister-in-law to me. But, I thought maybe if I had a little break to clear my head that maybe, just maybe I could see you for you and not him.”

  “So, what do you want to do now?”

  “I want to get you out of Lynn, That’s what I want to do right now.”

  She hugged me. “I’m so sorry I told you.”

  “Me, too.”

  Amber and I got out of the car and took the sidewalk.

  “I could get contacts. That might make it easier for you to look at me,” I said.

  “We’re going to get some counseling together. That would probably be the best thing.”

  We crossed the street.

  The sky darkened.

  Alex and Ally stood a few feet away, hidden behind some trees. “You do it, now, Alex!” Ally pounded her fists into his shoulders. “She’s leaving. Leaving! Do you even hear me?”

  “Lisa, I forgot my phone. I’ll be right back.” Amber ran back to the car. I stood inches away from the broken “Welcome to Lynn” sign.

  Thunder rolled above us and ambulances and police cars finally arrived from Lynn and the surrounding city. People climbed out of their cars, shouting and cursing filled my ears and I sat on part of the “Lynn” sign.

  Droplets of rain pelted me in the forehead. My mom had been detained. A policeman had stopped to question her.

  “Come on, Mom,” I thought, “It’s going to get ugly.”

  I got up and stretched. Alex and Ally both spread their hands. My hand was inches from the Lynn border. One more inch and I was technically ‘out’.

  Lightning flashed in the sky.

  I looked up and saw two lightning bolts heading towards me. I was hit by both of them. I dropped to the ground unconscious.

  The next thing I knew, I was being put on a stretcher. My mom leaned over, crying. “Lisa, oh, Lisa, are you okay? I never should’ve left you in this crazy town.”

  Alex placed his hand on her shoulder. She twitched, passing out. Two paramedics went to her. When a paramedic came to push me towards the ambulance, Alex stopped him. “Lisa Brown is staying with us; can we ride with you to the hospital? Our guardian will pick us up there.”

  “Sure, son, hop in,” the paramedic said. Both Ally and Alex climbed in and stood over me while the EMT wasn’t looking.

  Alex motioned for Ally to touch me. “We need to erase her pain.”

  “It’s not a good idea. You can’t erase a memory from her without asking her first,” Ally said.

  “Come here so that we can erase her pain.”

  “She isn’t going to like this.”

  Alex frowned. “Do you want her to stay or not?”

  I tossed Rat onto the ground. My chest heaved up and down. Alex erased my mother’s memory of me. She’d come for me! She told me all about the rape! We were going to start over. But he erased her memory of the rape and me from her memory. That’s what he did before she passed out. She didn’t remember me or Frank. She had no idea I even existed. That was why she hadn’t come for me. He’d taken my mother away. An unexplainable urge came over me. I was going to kill Alex.

  Twenty Two

  Jimmy Finds His True Love Again

  I climbed the steps and burst through the doors. I was going to kill him! I hated Alex. How dare he take my mother away from me!? “Alex!” The walls shook and the lights flickered on and off. The pretend students of C I N Boarding School peeked out into the lobby. Alex stood; eyes wide. “Who do you think you are? You took my mother’s memory of me away!”

  “Listen, Lisa,” he began. “You need to stay calm. You don’t know how to control your new powers yet.”

  “No!” Bolts of lightning shot through my fingers and crashed into Alex. He flew across the lobby and crashed into the cafeteria doors. They fell off the hinges and glass littered the floor. “I’m going to kill you, Alex Moody!”

  “I’m sorry, please; give me a chance to explain.” Alex held his hands in front of his face. “Just thirty seconds.”

  “Nothing you say can make me stop hating you,” I growled, crossing my arms.

  Alex dug a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Here, this is Jimmy’s phone number and the note I wrote to you. I wasn’t going to keep your mom from you forever, just long enough for her to get better. I didn’t want her to remember the rape or that you were a child of rape. I wanted to fix your relationship. That’s all. I wasn’t ever planning to hide the truth from you forever. You must believe me!”

  I snatched the paper from his hand and stormed over to the computer room. I’d seen a phone in there. My heart pumped and I felt like my skin was on fire. He was so dead if this wasn’t Jimmy’s number. I was going to kill him. I really was. And to think, I’d actually begun to believe he was good and genuine. I was going up to his room to tell him so. What I fool I was!

  I picked up the phone, my fingers shaking.
What was I going to say to him? “Hi, Jimmy, guess what? I’m not your daughter after all and this psycho erased my mother’s memory of me.” Yeah, that would go over well. What was I thinking, calling him? I looked down at Alex’s note.

  Dear Lisa,

  If you’re reading this letter then I was too ashamed to tell you myself. I erased your memory as well as your mother’s. I’m sorry. The one thing I knew was that you wanted your mom to get over whatever was causing her pain. You wanted her to get a job too and become stable; maybe even have another shot with Jimmy. Well, I sent her to a facility for women. She was placed a few miles from here in an on the job training position for Medical coding. She has her own apartment and appears stable. I looked up Jimmy’s number and when you are ready, please give him the address I have listed. Make sure he never mentions the rape to her. She doesn’t remember. Have him show her pictures of you. Hopefully, you can now have the relationship you always wished for with her.

  Love, Alex

  I stared at Jimmy’s phone number. Was it really his? My fingers trembled. He was the greatest dad a girl could ask for, and even knowing who I was he still loved me unconditionally. It was now or never.

  I picked up the receiver and took a deep breath. “Hello?”

  “Dad,” I whispered, grasping the phone. “Is that you?”

  “Lisa? Oh my goodness, Lisa! I have been worried sick! I tried checking up on you and your mom but the house phone had been disconnected and then when I called our neighbor she said the house foreclosed and you two moved away. I tried everyone but no one has seen you or your mother. Is everything okay?”

  “No, dad, it’s not. Mom hit her head and suffered amnesia.”

  “Oh, that sounds serious.”

  “It’s a good thing really.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “She’s forgotten about the rape. She remembers nothing; not even me.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry!”

  “Can you help me? I want my mom back.” I sobbed. “Will you show her pictures and remind her of me? I’ll give you the address.”

  “Yes, baby, of course. Where are you? Do you need me to come for you, too? I’ve tried so many times to see you but your mom asked me not to.”

  “No, just find her and bring her to Millie’s house. I’m staying at the Boarding school across the lake.”

  “You’re in that school?” Jimmy laughed. “I knew you were a genius all along!”

  “Yes, Dad, I’m a real genius.”

  “Lisa, you do realize that C I N isn’t a real school, right?”

  “Yes, I know, Dad.”

  “Do I need to worry about you, Lisa?”

  “No, just worry about Mom. Please hurry, I miss you guys so much. Will you try to get back together with her? Please.”

  “I love your mother and always have but she didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore.”

  “That was when she was sick. She’s better now. She has a job and an apartment.”

  “I would give up my life for her and have.” Jimmy sighed, “What’s the address?”

  Twenty Three

  Confrontation

  “Thanks, Dad, I love you too, good bye.” I hung up the phone and tried to collect myself. I needed to get out of this town. Who cared about living a long time? My family was more important. I’d meet Jimmy at my mom’s and we’d have a family reunion.

  “What are you doing?” Frank asked, slouching in the doorway. I narrowed my eyes at him. He raped Donna and he raped my mother. The piece of filth may have been my sperm donor but that meant nothing to me now that I knew the truth.

  “You’re a piece of work; you know that, Lisa Brown? I had a friend named Jimmy Brown. He was one of us once but he gave it up for some stupid chick he met one summer. He said he was in love and that he wanted to spend forever with her. I tried to look him up once but, that was a bust. You ain’t his kid, are you? You’re staying with his sister, Millie Brown, so I figured maybe that’s how you knew me; through old pictures or something.”

  So, Frank raped his best friend’s wife—my mom. He cared about no one. He came to Florida to find the only other person who knew about him and then raped Amber. He was a useless, heartless man.

  “So you’re the man who raped my mother.”

  Frank stood frozen in place. Then, he laughed wickedly. “She told you she was raped by me?”

  “No, you idiot, I figured it out.”

  “Why was it so important to you?”

  “I have a very weighty choice to make.”

  “Oh, what’s that?” Frank inched forward, glowering. Was he thinking of raping me too? His hands rested on his belt. I bet he was.

  “I haven’t decided whether or not I should banish you from Lynn or if I should just kill you.”

  Frank laughed, throwing his head backwards. “You, silly girl, are nothing like Jimmy.”

  “I’m not his daughter.”

  “Whose daughter are you then and why are you staying with his sister if you aren’t his?”

  “You helped produce me.”

  Frank stumbled backwards, falling against a chair. It flipped over and he tried to steady himself. “That’s impossible!”

  “Look at my purple eyes. You were the only one who had them. And my eyes were as black as yours before I was struck. My mother can’t say she loves me because of you. She can’t look me in the eyes, either. You’ve destroyed her relationship with Jimmy and she’s lost everything! I’ve lost my mom; the man I thought was my father, my home, my friends and my life.”

  “You’re crying to the wrong person. I don’t care what you lost.”

  “Tell me one thing, you owe me at least that.”

  “What?”

  “Why did you rape my mother?”

  “I’d just lost my longevity and Ally forced me to leave Lynn. When I did, I aged ten years and I felt powerless. I went to Florida to see Jimmy. He was the only other guy I knew and when he wasn’t home I broke in through the window. I saw your mother and felt a surge of power, knowing I could have her if I wanted her. I did it to get back my power. It wasn’t personal. She wasn’t even my type.”

  He was so dead.

  “Get out of C I N; in fact, leave the entire Lynn district. If you come back I’ll kill you.”

  Frank crept closer. “You don’t scare me. I’m your father. There’s an unbreakable bond between us.”

  Tiny zaps of lightning escaped my fingertips. He was pushing it. I was angry. “Jimmy is the only father I have.”

  Frank didn’t waver. He marched forward.

  I struck him, sending him flying across the room. He landed on two computers, smashing them onto the floor. Pieces flew in the air and a monitor landed in his lap. He groaned from the pain.

  “I’ll give you one more chance. If you don’t leave by the time I count to ten, I will kill you.”

  Frank scrambled to his feet and dashed out the double doors.

  I raced after him but not because I wished to. I wanted to leave, to cross the border. Jimmy could pick me up on his way to my mom. We could all be together again.

  Frank jumped the tracks and disappeared over the boundary line. I waited a few minutes. Finally, when I was ready, I took slow steps to the invisible force field. I poked the air and felt a tiny jolt. Maybe if I ran straight into it, it would break.

  I backed up and charged forward, bracing myself. I bounced off, flying backwards. I tried again and again. But, no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to cross. I felt like a small animal banging into an electrical fence; over and over.

  I fell to my knees, sobbing hysterically. I lay in a pile of dead leaves, curling into the fetal position. I was stuck in Lynn forever. Trapped. Why would Alex do this to me?

  “You should go back,” Ally suggested, sitting next to me. She brushed her fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry I erased your pain. It was wrong. You’re the only person I’ve ever done it to. I only did it because I helped make you. Alex
couldn’t do it without me.”

  “I’m going to kill Alex. I can’t leave this dreadful place.”

  “No, in time you will learn to love Lynn and besides, there are so many other districts that you can go to. Lynn was much bigger originally. The boundaries only apply to original Lynn.”

  I sat up. “Where did Alex put my mom?”

  “In Lynnfield.”

  “Is that part of the original Lynn?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Thanks, Ally,” I stood, brushing leaves from my clothes. “Let’s get back. I have a feeling you don’t belong in isolation after all.”

  “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” Ally wrapped her arms around herself. “I think it’s best if I stay away for a while and think about what sort of person I want to be.”

  I nodded, squeezing her arm. “I’ll see you later, Alison Moody.”

  I ran back to the school and upstairs. I walked through the corridor and carefully climbed the spiral staircase. I had to see Alex; at least once more before I left him. He’d loved me unconditionally.

  “Alex, open up.” I pounded on the door. “It’s Lisa.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to let me in.”

  “Why? So you can humiliate me in front of everyone again?”

  I embarrassed him? When? (I guess throwing him into the glass doors probably burned his ego some.) “I would like to talk to you.”

  “No, go away.”

  I let out a deep breath and turned around. I didn’t blame him for being cautious. I really was planning to kill him. When did I get so violent? I almost understood Ally now. I could feel things bubbling inside me; things I’d never felt before. I was a changed person. Someone I didn’t recognize.

  “Lisa, wait.” Alex stood in the doorway. He wore boxers and white, ankle high socks. He scratched his naked belly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was trying to help. I know that sounds crazy but in my own twisted way, I was honestly just thinking of your future happiness.”

  “You’ve imprisoned me in Lynn; away from my mother.”

  “No, I set her up in a job where she was still in our boundary. You can go to her and she can come to you anytime. You could even live with her if you really wanted.”