by Patra, CS
Why did they leave this planet? She asked. And how long will it take before the next person dies? What are we going to do then?
What are we going to do then?
Chapter 3 – Ash
Ash was bored sitting around in the house. His parents were finally home after a long shift at the hospital. As usual, they had something to complain about. Once Ash came outside, his mother tried to fix his hair and his father scolded him for loafing around. Ash wanted to shoot back that he had already finished his work, but kept silent. He hated to fight with them. It seemed like they spent so much time at each other’s throats. He knew they were under a lot of stress with things in the hospital and with the wine business. He had no idea how they were able to balance it all.
“We want you to follow in our footsteps one day,” Harrison Blackwell Sr. told his son. “One of these days, we’ll be gone. We need our business to flourish.”
“You can find someone else for it, can’t you?” Ash asked.
“Yes, we have a lot of workers, but this is our business. This is our life. I know you have your own dreams, but try to fit some of ours in there too.”
He wanted to go back to the days when they would just argue over this. They had endless fights, but he could survive them. They were still hurting over Harrison’s death. They had a perfect child already. They could have passed all their dreams and desires down to him. In a way, Ash couldn’t blame them for grieving. Neither one of them ever thought that Harrison would leave them. He was the one that held their father’s name. He was looking forward to following in their footsteps.
At first, he didn’t believe any of this. He felt like someone was trying to brainwash him and was a little wary of the information he received. However, as the days passed and he found out more, he began to believe in it. He believed that he was an experiment. He believed that his parents would sink low enough to do this. It was already painful that they barely looked in his direction. It was hard enough to deal with his brother’s death and his asthma. The latter was something he had been dealing with his entire life. So far, he hadn’t had an asthma attack in days, but things could change. He kept his inhaler with him at all times. That made things very difficult and now he had to deal with his creation.
So far, he hadn’t asked his parents about it. He didn’t know how to ask them. They already looked down on him for existing. They may not have said it, but he knew they resented him. He wasn’t their oldest son, Harrison. He was never the favorite. Unfortunately, Harrison was dead and he was the one that had been left behind. Feeling as down as ever, he decided he needed to focus on something else. He needed to build something.
There was one room in their house that was used as his workshop. That room had no carpet whatsoever and only one window that allowed him to look outside. The lights were dimmer in this room than the others and it could get a little stuffy inside. Nonetheless, it was the perfect place for him to build anything he wanted. He had a lot of privacy and nobody ever knocked on his door. He could still hear people from downstairs if they needed him. Aside from two desks, a bookshelf, and some chairs, there wasn’t very much furniture here. He had two pictures hanging on the walls; one was of his family and the other was of him and his girlfriend of two years, Carolina Maldonado. He looked at that picture and had to smile. He was slightly squinting thanks to the sun in his face, but Carolina looked so beautiful. Her brown hair was pulled back and her skin shone like bronze under the light. He missed her so much. Now that she was in California, it was hard to stay in touch, though they talked as much as possible. He wanted to see her soon, but they probably wouldn’t be able to do that until Thanksgiving. Until then, he’d have to stick with talking on Skype and the occasional phone call.
He stepped back and began to breathe normally. This room was his sanctuary. It was the one place where he felt like he could be himself. It was also a place where he could sit and reflect on everything that had happened. He had been doing that a lot lately. After he learned about Project 99, he needed the time to think. He wanted to know exactly what convinced his parents that this was a good idea. Were they truly having a difficult time with childbirth? Were they so desperate that they would turn to this? He also wondered why they didn’t tell him about this sooner. He was old enough to understand.
He took a look out of the window and saw that the sun was starting to set. Although there was still light outside, he closed the blinds. He didn’t want to be distracted by anything from outside. He was behind on his projects and wanted to get back into them. He had a million ideas and things that were halfway finished. The meetings that he had with the others were keeping him from finishing anything. He wanted to know the truth but he also wanted some free time for his projects. Trying balance both was proving to be difficult.
Since learning the truth, he threw himself into making different things. He had a desire to take down everyone that made him what he was. He had no doubt in his mind that they were the ones who killed his brother. He wanted to fight back, but he didn’t know where to start. Everyone told him it wasn’t a good idea to run blindly into the battle. They didn’t want him to make any mistakes that would cost him his life. Ash understood their concerns, but he couldn’t sit around while everyone made a plan. His mind was already ticking away with ideas.
Over the next few days, he made his latest invention. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He envisioned something in the form of a tiny bug. It would have legs and could walk around. However, each little bug would have a different function. Some of them would be tracking devices. Some of them would be tiny cameras. Others would be weapons, though he hadn’t made too many of those. He came up with a simple name for them; spy-der. It wasn’t the most creative name but it would work. He hadn’t revealed them to anyone yet but the time would come soon enough.
He wasn’t all too surprised to hear that the Bradley Institute was still thriving. After all, there were plenty of people who wanted to have children or be cured of diseases. Some of them saw nothing wrong with the place. They had plenty of glowing reviews and success stories. No one could be turned away from that. However, if they knew the truth, then that would be another story. He was just looking forward to the day when the whole institute came crumbling down.
Ash had heard of the Silver Oracle before. In fact, his father had gone to meetings and conferences over there a few times. To Ash, it was nothing more than a fancy hotel. Sure, it was clean and the staff was nice, but it was nothing to brag about. He had stayed in far better hotels that were more worthy of their five-star status. The only reason he was interested in going, was to see what the Bradley Institute was going to do next.
He had other projects he was knee-deep in right now. After the Battle of the Bots had been canceled, they were rescheduled for the next month along with the Armored Battles. He was still signed up for the Armored Battles and he wanted something to keep his mind off Project 99. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe anyone else. On the contrary, he wasn’t all that surprised to hear his parents would do such a thing. They were always shady and this was no shock. However, it pained him to think about his brother’s suicide. Up until now, Ash believed that Harrison died of an accident. He never once thought that his older brother would commit suicide. When he saw the tape, he had a hard time believing it. He had no idea who the woman off screen was or why Harrison thought it was too late for him. It was one of the worst feelings that he ever had.
“Ashton! You have a visitor!” He heard his mother yell.
Ash didn’t stop welding even though he heard her. “I’ll be down in five minutes!”
However, he didn’t need to come down at all. There was a sharp knock at his door. Grumbling, he stopped working and looked at how far he had come. At the moment, it just looked like a pile of junk. “Come in!”
“Ash!” A familiar voice squealed, causing him to push everything to the side. Before he could answer, someone jumped him from behind and gave him a hug. “Surprise! I bet
you didn’t expect to see me!”
Ash lifted his goggles and saw his girlfriend hugging him. “Carolina! What the...”
“I’m sorry I barged in like that! I just couldn’t wait to see you! Your mother told me to stay downstairs, but I was impatient! It’s been way too long and I’ve missed you!” Carolina pulled away and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Ewww, you taste like engine oil!”
“I haven’t washed my face yet.” He grabbed a towel and tried to wipe the sweat off his brow. “I thought you were back in California. No one told me you would be coming.”
“That’s ‘cause I wanted to keep it a secret. This was a surprise!” She grinned at him. Ash had to take a moment to look at her. Her brown hair had grown a couple of inches since he last saw her and she was a little tanner from hours in the California sun. Her brown eyes were wide and sparkling. The smile on her face was lighting up the whole place and he wanted to melt in her arms now. “I have a few days off from school so I thought I’d come see you. Not to mention, Dad has a business meeting to attend to. He thought I might like to come over so I said yes! I won’t be staying for long, just the weekend. The good news is that I’m coming back next weekend too!”
“Two trips to the East Coast?” Ash blinked. “That costs money, Carolina! What about your schoolwork? You don’t have to keep coming down for me.”
“Actually, my father is coming down next week for another conference,” she explained. “I already planned to surprise you this week, but then he told me he was heading down here too. So, I asked if I could come along again and he said yes!” She clapped her hands. “Can you believe it? Two weekends where we’ll get to spend time together!”
Ash found himself smiling at that. “You can’t believe how happy I am to see you in front of me. I keep counting down the days ‘til Thanksgiving. I know I was supposed to go see you but...”
“Shh!” She put a finger to his lips. “Don’t say anymore. We’re together and we’re going to have a good time. What were you working on though? Your place looks like a mess.” She tried to step around it. “I can’t see the floor I’m standing on!”
“I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of a project as you can see.” He thought for a second about telling Carolina what he knew. She could tell that he was stressed out, but couldn’t pinpoint why. In truth, Ash didn’t know what to tell her. “I’ve had a lot happen to me since we last spoke.”
“Are you okay?” She asked as he tried to clean up his mess. “Do you need any help?”
“No, I’m just going to push this stuff to the side,” he said, going into the bathroom to wash up. “Do you mind waiting for me downstairs? I’m going to change my clothes.”
“Sure thing. I’ll go freshen up in the downstairs bathroom.”
Carolina went downstairs and Ash began to breathe normally again. She always took his breath away when she showed up. He had not expected her to visit until later in the year. It was a nice surprise that she was going to see him twice. He kept thinking about whether or not let her in on Project 99. A part of him wanted to tell her all the secrets, but the other part was terrified. He had seen what they were capable of. If they had no problem trying to mow down Pam’s daughter, they’d have no problem hurting Carolina. He had to keep her in the dark for now.
He knew that his girlfriend could take care of herself. Carolina was a star on her school’s archery team. He was amazed by the fact that she could nail a target at any distance. If she had a bow and arrow in her hands, she could be undefeatable. However, he didn’t want to see what Project 99 could do to her if she wasn’t armed or prepared. He didn’t want them to poison her mind like they had done to Harrison. He didn’t want to lose her too.
He ran downstairs after getting changed where his parents were talking to Carolina over tea. His mother took a look at his clothes and nodded with approval. He had dressed up just to see everyone. However, she took one look at his hair and frowned.
“Comb your hair, Ashton,” Vivienne Blackwell pointed out. “You look fine otherwise, but you forgot the top of your head.”
Ash brushed back his thick dark locks with his hand. “Is that a little better?”
“I would prefer you to use an actual comb for it, but it’ll do for now. Anyway, we were just talking with Carolina. She’s going to come back next weekend with her father.”
“Yeah, she told me that.” Ash sat down with the rest of his family and the butler came in with some tea for him. Despite all the snacks before them, he wanted to get out of the house with her. “I’m so happy that you are here. I’ve needed to see you for a long time.”
“I’m glad I made it,” Carolina kissed him again, this time on the lips. He nearly dissolved into the couch because of it. “What do you want to do tonight? Where do you feel like going out to eat?”
“Anywhere you want to go,” he murmured. “I need a break. There is so much going on in my life right now.”
“You can tell me all about it over dinner.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Do you feel like catching a movie too or do you want to save that for another night?”
“Let’s do dinner for now. I didn’t see anything worth watching in the theaters though,” he said, holding out his arm. She linked hers through his and he looked over his shoulder. “We’ll be back soon, Mom.”
“Try not to stay out too late.” His mother warned him. “Be back by nine-thirty, all right?”
Once they left the house, Carolina watched as he unlocked the passenger side of the car. “You got all mushy around me in front of your parents.”
“Did it bother you?”
“No, I thought it was cute. I hardly see you do that anymore. Lately, you seem very tired and sad.” She got inside while he went around to the other end. “What happened, Ash? You said you couldn’t talk about it before.”
“I don’t even know if I can talk about it now,” Ash murmured. “Lately, I’m not sure of who I’m supposed to be. I thought I was sure of it, but now I don’t know. I keep thinking I’m not really as perfect as I thought I was.”
“No one is perfect, Ash. You’ve got your share of flaws and so do I.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He backed out of the driveway and headed down to their favorite restaurant. “I’m just worried that my parents don’t want me. I don’t think they ever wanted me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Come on! I’ve told you all about my brother, right? He was the perfect one in the family. He was the one they put all their hopes and dreams on. I’m just nobody to them. I don’t even compare.” He swallowed hard. “That’s why I’m trying to make my own path. I don’t want to live in Harrison’s shadow and be just like him. I want to be Ashton Blackwell, inventor and scientist that made a difference in the world.”
“You will be,” Carolina said. “I take it that’s not the main thing that’s bothering you though.”
“I’ve learned some stuff about myself and my family as of late. I’m still trying to put it all together,” he said. “That’s as far as I can tell you right now. You have to trust me. I’m not in danger. I’m just overwhelmed by the truth.”
Carolina nodded although she still couldn’t understand why Ash wouldn’t open up. While he showed his true self to her, he was distant to other people. He complained about Harrison a lot, but his brother was the only person he ever truly loved. When Harrison died, Ash was the most affected by it. He didn’t speak to people for days and he refused to get out of his room. Even when people were offering their sympathies, he would brush them aside. He didn’t want anyone to pity him.
They went to dinner and things were smooth. Carolina was in the mood to go to The Golden Arrow. It was a fusion restaurant that she had always wanted to try but never got the chance. Ash knew where it was since it was the same restaurant that Ren worked in. He doubted that he would have a chance to see Ren tonight but it would be nice. At least, he could introduce Carolina to him.
“You’ll see one of my fri
ends here,” he told her.
“You made friends? Oh, I’m so happy for you!” She squeezed him. “Ever since I left, I was worried that you would be lonely. I know we talk every day, but it’s hard sometimes. The distance makes it hard to stay together.”
“I know. We’re doing everything we can though. I’m here for you and you’re here for me.” He looked over at The Golden Arrow. “Come on. If we’re lucky, my friend will be working here tonight.”
As they got situated and looked over the menus, Ash asked the waiter if Ren was working tonight. The waiter shook his head. “I’m afraid Ren Abernathy is going to be busy for the next few days. We have a big catering event coming up and we need all hands-on deck.”
“A big catering event? Where is it going to be?” Ash asked.
“Oh, it won’t be too far from here, but the menu is nothing like we expected. You see, we’re a fusion restaurant yet they don’t want fusion food. So, our chefs have to prepare to make everything just the way that the patrons want it.” The waiter explained. “Forgive me if it seems like we’re understaffed and under a lot of stress.”
“What kind of event is this?” Carolina asked.
“Nothing big. Just a meeting. It will be next weekend.”
“Next weekend?” Ash repeated. “Where is this place?”
“I really shouldn’t talk much about it because I don’t know all the details. I just know it will be at some hotel a town or so over.”
The waiter took their orders but Ash’s mind was on the hotel. The only hotel an event could be held at was The Silver Oracle. The only event taking place there was the party that The Bradley Institute was holding. It didn’t take him very long to put it all together. He had to see everyone about this later.
“Carolina, do you know where you got your invitation for next week’s party from?”
