by R. J. Henry
Emily’s heart skipped. Finding her daughter seemed almost impossible. “I don’t believe you.”
Brinks opened an envelope, displaying several photos of a beautiful woman. Blond, tall, with Nick’s pointed nose. Emily, however, refused to acknowledge it as her own flesh and blood. “That could be anyone.”
“Birth records… Adoption papers… DNA proof.”
“How did you get her DNA?” But, one thing stuck out to Emily. Under her daughters’ adoptive name was the story of how she came about to be adopted. As a baby, she was labeled as ‘abandoned and found outside of hospital doors.’ She didn’t press on it. Maybe that is what they just say when the mother is a teen and the orphans are so clogged up in the system that they need to rid of them by pulling the sympathy card, she thought.
“I have my ways. Besides, I didn’t find her. Boss did.”
“What’s her name?”
“Brooke. Brooke Davidson. So, do we have a deal?”
She agreed to conform, but did not answer Brinks, inured by the obscurity of her need to acolyte with her belief in Boss’s despotism. She felt inundated with the existentialism of her own paradox.
The pith of faith, substantiated from her past, withered. Every Sunday, she attended church. However, her surly demeanor kept a smile away from her face, driving her away from hope she lost long ago.
Her feral hatred centrifuged under her emotional rug, breaking through from her being. To live without love, would drive anyone crazy. But to hurt someone that is deeply cared about, in order to gain someone who will always be missed the longer they are gone, can destroy a beating heart. Emily feels it will destroy her heart.
“Do we have a deal, Emily?”
“N—um, y-yes. W-we do,” she quivered.
“Good. I will let you free.”
“What about Katie? She is just a little girl.”
“She’s mine, now.”
“She’s coming with me.”
“No.”
“Look, she is coming with me.”
“Or what?”
“I will kill you.”
Brinks threw her head back, cackling like an old witch. “You know what? I like your spunk. You remind me of me. Fine, if the runt is so important to you, take her. Just know, if she ever gets out of control,” she smiled menacingly, “you won’t be able to bring her back to me.”
Even though her mind whirled with questions, Emily didn’t hesitate to grab Katie’s hand after being untied. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
George, hidden the entire time, stepped out into the light. “What are you planning on doing?”
“Activating one of the Fledges.”
“Who?”
“So, you are positive Nick went to New Haven, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She half-grinned. “Good.” Her thumb hovered over the button on her laptop. She looked up, realizing George never left. “Oh, right. Here,” she said tossing him a tiny, metallic cube, “just as I promised. Their lives for yours.”
“So this will do it? This will surely kill me?”
“If it is what you desire, yes.”
“What is it?”
“Alloy. The only thing that kill our kind.”
“Why are you helping me? I thought this is what you wanted. For everyone to be just like you.”
She tossed her glance down at her hand. She frowned. “Leave.”
Chapter 17
Maddie perched herself in Trudy’s place on the porch. Years of sitting there every morning, left a slight divot in the spot her mother typically sat, providing Maddie some comfort. It was half past seven, and Emily remained gone. She tossed her hands up, covering her damp eyes. “Please, be okay.” Ten hours have passed, which made her worry.
The crunch of tires against the gravel driveway alerted her every sense. She rose in excitement, which soon turned dull. Whom she thought was Emily, turned out to be Nick. She sighed, disappointed. He stepped out of the car, and approached her.
“Where is Emily?” Nick’s voice, shaken with fear, sent a frigid chill up Maddie’s spine.
“She’s at her house picking something up. Why? What’s wrong?”
“You mean she was. She’s gone. Wasn’t there.”
“Wait, you went to her house? Why? I thought you left state by now.”
“I was going to. I didn’t think this was going to be a problem, but then I realized something wrong with that plan.”
“Where did you get that jeep?”
“I was traveling with someone. A person from the inside. He may know where Emily is, but I haven’t heard anything back yet. We have an idea that her and Katie may be together.”
“Katie?”
“A little girl I saved.”
“How do you know you can trust this man?”
“I don’t. But, I also don’t trust anyone who wants to harm children, making them into beasts. We have to… I need to help stop this. Whatever this is that is going on here. And kill whoever is responsible.” A surge of burning rage spiked through his lifeless veins. It leads to his clenched fist, swung into the baluster on the porch. “Argh! I hate this!”
“Shhh, Nick, what is it? Whom have they hurt? What children?”
His head, swimming with the darkening of demonic urges, ached. The yellow ring in his eyes, enlarged around his pupil. He bellowed a growl.
Emily darted in the house, came back outside, and handed him the box of Red Fates. Within seconds, the seed from the one he snatched out only remained.
“I can’t keep doing this,” Nick said. “I want to be normal. I want to live.”
“Fledge or not, I think we all want to live,” she said, patient. “So, do you have any idea where she might be?”
“No. But, I think Mayor Daly is up to something. I can’t really explain it, but I feel it.” Nick sunk down on the porch, joined by Maddie.
“I know how you feel.”
“Why did she leave? What was so important, that she would return to Middletown for?”
Instead of answering with the truth, that would surely lead to a fight or answering with a lie that could possibly backfire, she noticed something peculiar about Nick’s presence. “You’re worried about her. Aren’t you?”
He scoffed.
She raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t you? I mean, that is why you are here. You have just continued your way, and left. But, instead, you came here.”
“Look, I didn’t turn around for her. I was trying to save a little girl. Emily, a nurturer by heart, would have helped her.”
“But, if you think they might be together, then why did you still come here?”
He tossed his head back, stood up, and reached to open the door to the house.
Maddie stopped him. “You can tell me. I won’t tell Emily, if that is what you are worried about. What happened between you guys? I know her side, but what is yours?”
“I can’t lie. I never stopped loving her. We agreed on a divorce, six years ago, after fifteen years of being together.”
“Yeah, I remember. She told me, but I was all who she told. But, why?”
“I made the mistake of pressuring her into having kids. She said it wasn’t for her.” He thrusted the door open, growling under his breath.
Maddie stood, holding out her hand. “Nick… Wait! I have to tell you something…”
“What is it?” he grouched.
“I, well, uh,” she stuttered, looking off towards the road. Words failed what she felt was necessary to share. Then, as if out of nowhere, two beaming headlights headed towards the house. “Who’s that?” she said, as a darker gentleman stepped out of the running car.
“George. My friend.”
As he stepped out in front of the headlights, Nick noticed darkened lines running through his face and neck.
“Where have you been? Did you find them?” Nick edged closer to him. But, he stared blankly towards Maddie.
“Hello,” N
ick said, waving his hand in front of George’s face. “Anyone there?”
He gripped Nick’s neck, raising his feet off the ground. He squirmed in the air, trying to pry himself free. “George… Stop! It’s me!”
George’s eyes were glowing yellow, much like fireflies on a warm summer night. Nick, now knew, this was no longer George. His capricious endeavors startled anyone watching. “H-help me! Someone!”
Sight began darkening in his eyes. He fought, fearing what he might do to Maddie, or worse, if Emily were to show up. What if he hurts her?
Two gunfire shots cracked through the air, piercing his eardrums. He thought he had been shot, but when he looked down, the only person bleeding was George. Shot square in the stomach.
Nick dropped to the ground, rubbing his neck. He watched as George squirted like a fountain. He twitched for several seconds before succumbing to his fatal fate. His arm flung down on the ground, unclenched his fist, and a tiny cube rolled from his palm. Nick grabbed it, looking around.
Behind him, another man, an older gentleman in his sixties, held a shotgun tightly under his armpit. “You okay?” he hollered.
He nodded. George’s lifeless eyes, back to his normal state before becoming a Fledge, shocked him. Maddie, with clasped hands over her mouth, stood like stone at what just took place. Nick mouthed, “Go.”
She bolted inside, locking the shut door. Nick relaxed his muscles, knowing she is safer in there than out here. But, still, he didn’t want to perish like George if he decided to attack a man with a loaded shotgun.
The older gentleman stepped towards Nick, hesitating with trepidation in his feet; he kneeled down three feet away. He tossed a rock at George’s scalp, awaiting a response. When nothing happened, he got up, dusted his knees off, and smiled. “Ah, still got it,” he praised himself.
“How did you kill him? We can’t die. How did you do it?”
“You a Fledge, too?” The gun cocked back in his hands, met Nick in the face, and held steady.
Nick held back a response. Fighting the urge to say anything at all. Nothing he wanted to say seemed competent enough to speak. “Don’t… Shoot… I just need to know how you did what you did.”
“I can explain.” The man sighed, dropping the gun to his side. “But, first, let me tell you who I am.”
••• Doctor Seizer sat, aloof, at the kitchen table. Nick stared heavily at the old man, who thanked Trudy for bringing him a cup of tea. He sipped without noise. Tapped the bottom of the glass on the table, taking a deep breath in. With an exhale, he said, “I didn’t mean to scare you guys. I know it must be terrifying to see a gun actually fired. You see it on the television, and find it entertaining, yet when it happens right out in front of your house, it scares the living hell out of you.” He chuckled lightly.
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Trudy patted his arm, “You were only trying to protect us. I thought you looked familiar. But, you spend all your time locked up in your basement, not even Maddie recognized you.”
“I apologize. I have been very busy.”
“You’re retired, now start acting like it.”
“Ack! You sound like my old bosses. Seizer, take a vacation. Seizer, retire. It’s is quite annoying. I want to work; I need to work.”
After checking on Calista, Marcel joined Emily and Nick at the table. Trudy left, leading Katie into Emily’s old room. Calista hung out in Maddie’s room. She stared out onto the moon, unmoving. She insisted on being left alone.
“Doctor Johnston, glad to tell you, I finished reading the files. I must say, I am quite intrigued. The complexity, in short, is much to study.”
Emily noticed half of his clandestine, branded on his wrist. She frowned, jumping up. “Do you work for a man named Boss?”
“Whatever do you mean?” he chuckled.
She cocked back her gun in his face. “Do you understand me now?”
“You’re a bit looney, aren’t you?”
“The sun on your wrist. Explain! The mayor, and the man who kidnapped me, both had that same sign. What does it mean?” Her heart echoed inside her ears. Several seconds passed, with all eyes on him.
“Fine. No, I no longer work for Boss. I quit when he decided to use my work, and discovery, against humanity someday. Honestly, I had no idea it would get this far. I, myself, couldn’t even decipher how to get it successfully to embed within a human genome.”
“The Fledge gene was your lame-brain idea?”
“No, heh, discovery. I only worked with monkey DNA, to determine how to clone a dying species native to India.”
“Explain,” Emily demanded, lowering the gun.
“I journeyed into the Western Ghats of South India, to research more about lion-tailed macaque—Macaca Silenus—, or the wanderoo. Because they were substantially declining. But, it wasn’t anything like I assumed. Bodies, of the macaque, covered a shady, sylvan glade. Amongst all of the blood stood a radiant, grotesque-looking woman. She was beautiful, more than words could describe, but she wore leaves to cover her womanly parts. Anyhow, she had this frightened look in her eyes, and she bolted out of sight. Nobody believed me beside the locals. They formed together a search group for me. I feared for this woman’s life, having to feed off wild animals as if wolves or something raised her. In short, several years later, we caught her. She spoke perfect English. Her name was Janeska, or Jane for short. No last name.” Doctor Seizer leaned forward in his chair, and propped his elbows on the table.
Emily felt impatient. “So, what? Whoopee, you found a feral person, obviously abandoned by her parents. What’s new? When I was on the force, we had a handful of those cases a year.”
“She was different.”
“How so?”
“We took her back to my lab to find out more about her. She appeared very domesticated, which surprised us. We couldn’t even stick a needle inside her to test her blood for any viruses or possible pathogens. But, after plucking some hair from her scalp, I discovered her DNA was vastly different. I tried to replicate it, succeeded, but not entirely.”
“What do you mean?”
“The current Fledge gene running rampant is only a mere copy of hers. If she dies, so does the gene, and her bite is not infectious like the new emerging Fledges.”
“So, this can be stopped?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. It could mean that, or maybe mean it will kill anyone infected. Either way, Boss took her in under his wing. So far, the only thing that can kill these copies are quarter-inch alloy cubes. Lodge one in the stomach, and they keel over.”
Nick tapped his finger on the table. “What if one is removed?”
“Don’t know. Never been stupid enough to try to.”
“I may be stupid enough,” he said, scooching the chair away from the table. “I’m getting George.”
“I don’t recommend it. Besides, the blood loss he endured is not of something anyone can survive.”
“Nick,” Emily said with a soft voice, “Just drop it. We will find another way. And, Marcel, we all need to drop it and forget it.”
“Why? We are on the edge of a scientific discovery that could change science forever!”
“Just drop it. Please.”
“I have to continue. I need to find a way to save my daughter.”
“There is no cure.”
“Why are you giving up? You never give up!”
“Trust me. If I never give up, then you know I have a viable reason for giving this one up.”
“Calista is facing eternal damnation if I don’t do something to change the course of her destiny. To live forever, is no way to live at all.”
“Look, you of all people know how much I care about her. But, there is nothing more anyone could do. You just have to accept what is.”
Creeping around the corner, Calista overheard everything. She grabbed a pen and paper, and scribbled something down, listening to the rest of their conversation.
“Maybe you do, but not me.”
“Marc
el, please! I was hoping you
would just pass this off on some other poor soul, but you’re obviously not. But, I can assure you, this will only end with your blood on somebody else’s hands. A somebody you do not want to have your blood.”
“What are you talking about?” She stopped breathing for a moment, stuttering over her reluctance, “I-I… I can’t tell you. Just, please, trust me.”
“I do trust you, but you needn’t worry. Now, if you all excuse me, I’m going to spend time with my only remaining relative left thanks to this scientific discovery.”
After he left the room, Doctor Seizer asked, “What is he talking about.” “His wife passed away from the first couple batches, I think, of his replication of the Fledge gene before he finally succeeded.”
“He succeeded. How?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Ah, well, the answer is probably in his
files. Well, I’ll be just down the street studying these. Good day, err, night, I suppose.” “Wait, do you know anything about Boss, or his people, taking newborn babies away from their mothers?”
“Well, it was speculated that a baby’s stem cells could hold a potential, important, attribute towards a successful replication of the Fledge gene, but it was only speculation. Nothing was proven. Not that I know of for certain, anyhow. Why?”
Emily stole a quick glance at Nick, then back at Seizer. “No reason. Old case. Were the babies harmed, or k-k-killed?”
“No, of course not. Their blood, from the umbilical cord was taken, along with a series of other things such as ovaries or testicles, but after that, they were placed for adoption under some type of ‘abandoned and found’ status.”
Imaginary weight, pressed down on her like a stack of bricks. Storms flooded her eyes, but her walls bricked them inside. She was fazed, but strangely not surprised.
Nick raised his finger in the air, as if in school, and changed the subject. He was all too familiar with Emily’s pressed lips. He remembered all the times she has cried in the past, and felt it coming on stronger with each second he allows her to sit in silence.
