by Patra, CS
After he found out the truth about himself, Doug called each of them up to see if they had noticed any changes about themselves. After all, Pam’s daughter had healed within a week after being hit by a car. She was just a seven-year old girl who probably would have had no chance of surviving yet, she did. It also had him thinking about Ash’s brother Harrison. He had died by jumping into oncoming traffic. How did he die, but Adriana Turner didn’t? He could only deduce that it was because of Pam’s genes that Adriana lived. Harrison wasn’t a child of an experiment. He was the experiment himself.
His children had no idea what he was talking about. According to them, they had not noticed any changes in their body or behavior. They did point out that their father seemed distant. He didn’t seem like the same man that they knew. Doug wanted to tell them what was really going on, but they weren’t ready to know. Until he was sure of everything, he couldn’t tell anyone in the family. Susan just knew bits and pieces. She knew he was trying to find himself although she tried to get him to stop.
“You already know who you are. What more are you looking for?” She asked him one night. “You’re going to get yourself killed out there, Doug. Don’t go looking for something that isn’t there.”
That was the thing; something was there. Something held the key to his past. He couldn’t help but feel like someone was always watching him. He wouldn’t be surprised if The Bradley Institute and anyone else was keeping tabs. He was watching his back no matter where he went. He would check every area; his church, the university, and even the supermarket. He didn’t know who his true friends were anymore. He didn’t think he could trust anyone.
Susan was trying her best to understand all this. She was trying to be a good wife and accept that he was going through a rough patch. However, Doug wasn’t upset over anything. He was just curious. He had no idea what to do about this. If he was in danger, how was he supposed to fight back? There was that fusion stuff but how did that happen? He saw the pictures of the former fusions and it frightened him. No one needed to experience that. He just wanted to know what he could do. If he was such a perfect human, then he had to have some power to fight this institute. He surely had the ability to stop them and get his answers.
So far, they had made a step forward. He read up on what chimeras were and it turned out that they were real. While not very common, they existed. This was one of the answers he had been seeking for; he wanted to know where he came from. A chimera made sense.
Misty had told everyone that the name of their chimera was Patty DeLong. There wasn’t a whole lot about her on the Internet. Some newspaper article mentioned her celebrating her seventy-fifth birthday a few years back. It didn’t have anything about her being a chimera or what she had done in her past. She did, however, mention that she had helped out the world in more ways than one.
“I’ve done and seen a lot in my lifetime.” She had told the papers. “I know I’ve contributed to my community. I would do it all over again if I had the chance.”
Other than that, they knew nothing else. It was like she had just walked off the face the earth. Her family had no idea where she was. Close friends hadn’t heard from her in years. She had retired from her work ages ago so it couldn’t have been for work-related purposes. She was gone. Some people were under the impression she was dead, yet there was no obituary.
There was no doubt that Patty DeLong would be much older than he was. If she was about twenty when she started, then she would be nearing eighty years old right now. He even began to wonder if she was still alive for that matter. Perhaps she had died years ago and that’s why no one had been able to find her.
“Are you sure about all this?” Susan asked. “I know I haven’t bugged you about this in a long time. I wanted you to find these answers on your own. However, I’m starting to get a little concerned. How did you find out that you were an experiment?”
“It just makes sense, Susan. All the clues add up,” Doug said. “I know I can’t ask my parents, but I look at my old medical charts and I look at the timelines. I’m certain of this. If I find the chimera who created me, I will know for a fact. That’s all I really want her for. I just want to know who she is and why they chose her to make me.”
“What if she doesn’t want to tell you, Doug? What are you going to do then?”
“Then I will just try to get answers from Project 99. I hate to say it, Susan, but I have a feeling they are planning something drastic. I watched their meeting and I wasn’t too pleased with what I heard. It was a little unnerving.”
“Please don’t do anything that will risk your life!” Susan grabbed him by the arm. “Doug, I don’t know if I can take any more of these secret meetings that you keep going off to! You’re telling me things that just don’t make sense! What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing!” Doug insisted, trying to calm her down. “Listen to me. You’re not the one in danger here. No one’s going to come after you. I just want answers to my past. That’s it. I just want to know who I am.”
“I know who you are.” Susan pointed out. “Why do you need to keep searching when I already know what kind of person you are? I’ve known you ever since we’ve met. I know you’re a good man. You’ve never let me down, no matter what’s going on in our lives. Can’t that be enough for you?”
Doug smiled at her and squeezed her shoulders. “You’ve been a great support system for me. Even though I sound like I’m crazy, you’re still standing by me. I want you to know that I do appreciate it. It’s just that my life has taken a strange turn. It’s something I can’t explain now, but I will. When I know everything, I will tell you. As of now, you just have to trust me.”
Susan nodded. She knew her husband wasn’t going to do anything illegal, but it still worried her. Doug had changed completely over the past few weeks. He didn’t seem satisfied with the way his life was going. He felt like something was wrong with this picture and he wanted to figure out why.
“Do you think that finding this person will help you in the end?” She asked.
“I hope so. If I can get some solid answers, I’m going to be fine. I don’t want to get involved in any big conspiracies. I don’t want to cause any trouble. I just want the truth.”
“That’s all you keep saying. What is this truth that you’re seeking? What bothers you so much that you can’t even tell me?” She sighed. “You know what? Just keep searching. Keep looking for what you want. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You will know,” he promised. “Maybe not today but some day. You just have to be patient.”
“I’m slowly running out of patience,” Susan muttered. “Fine. Just do what you have to.”
He felt terrible for the way she felt, but there was nothing he could do. His hands were tied until someone gave him more answers. It was tough to keep secrets from everyone. He also felt like he was changing inside. There was something waking up from inside and that creature was ready to come out in full force.
He began to wonder if he was human to begin with. They called them perfect humans, but what were they truly supposed to be? What was their purpose in life? What were they really created for?
The answers were out there. He just didn’t know where they were.
Chapter 9 – Ash
Ash found himself completely bored that night. He stared up at the ceiling, hugging one of his stuffed elephants, and wondered what he could do next. School was the same old boring thing that it had always been. What would have taken most college students hours to finish, he completed within mere minutes. His parents were both working late tonight so he was supposed to be home. Carolina couldn’t talk to him at the moment as she also had schoolwork. He was only able to see her for a few minutes on Skype.
“This history test is going to kill me.” She told him. “I wish you were here to help. I know you’re an engineer and inventor, but you know history better than I do.”
“History’s not that hard. Remember the dat
es, remember the people, and remember what happened,” Ash said. “Just keep it all straight. You’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, the multiple choice questions will be fine. I’m more worried about the essays.” She told him. “I don’t know if I can write about this stuff for more than a paragraph.”
“You write pretty well though.”
“If I’m left to my own devices, yeah, I can write well. If I have to follow some guidelines, it’s a lot harder. Anyway, I better go. Take care of yourself, okay? I’ll see you soon.”
She hung up at that moment and Ash felt alone again. Before any of this happened, Carolina was the only friend he really had. When she moved away, it felt like she had taken pieces of him with her. It was tough enough losing Harrison. Carolina had been his rock and the one person he could turn to when things got tough. Now they could only communicate from time to time. There were moments when he wondered how long their relationship would survive. Could they be one of those couples who could get through high school and college? Would they find new people eventually? If things turned out differently for them, he just hoped that Carolina would still be there. They had come too far to let it all go now.
The loneliness was something he was used to, but it still hurt. He hated being sixteen at times. He was too young for adults but too mature for other sixteen year olds. He was stuck in a hard place with very few people in his corner. In a way, he was grateful that all this had happened. It introduced him to other people he would never have met otherwise. While they acknowledge how young he was, they never treated him like he was stupid. They took his opinion as something valuable. Both he and Misty were treated with respect. That was all he truly wanted.
Feeling more bored than ever, he lay back down on his bed and looked for someone to text on his phone. Crystal would be out of class in a few minutes. Maybe she was willing to do some snooping around. Tonight was a good night to dig around the Bradley Institute. He was always curious to know what they threw away in their trash bins. There was probably evidence in them as well as things that he could use to build his creations.
He sent a text to Crystal to ask her to meet up with him at the Bradley Institute. He told her that he wanted to search around for some evidence. Crystal replied back that she would meet him there, but they had to be careful. Feeling a bit more confident, he got dressed, grabbed his things, and headed out the door.
“I’ll be back in time for dinner!” He promised his parents. “Keep my plate warm!”
Crystal was waiting in the parking lot when he showed up. She got out of her car as soon as she saw him and waved him down. Once he had parked and was out, she went up to him. “So what are you hoping to find here?”
“I’m searching for anything that can bring them down,” he said. “I feel like we have a fighting chance, but we don’t have enough proof. I want to expose them. I want the world to know what they’re really doing.”
“So do I, but how do we expose them?” She watched as he went to where the dumpsters were. “Ash, what the hell are you doing? How is their garbage going to help us?”
“If they threw away something important, it could work in our favor. Not to mention, I love rummaging through dumpsters.”
“I beg your pardon?” Crystal didn’t want to believe what she had just heard. Ash, who loved wearing nice clothes and turned his nose up at anything dirty, liked to rummage through dumpsters. “Aren’t you worried you’re going to ruin your shoes or something?”
“Please. I’m an inventor. I use whatever I can to make whatever I want,” he replied, getting into the dumpster. “Want to help me?”
“Ew, no.” Crystal took a step back while he got into the filth. “You don’t even know what’s in there! There could be dirty needles and crap like that!”
“I’ll be careful.”
She sighed, not feeling so sure about any of this. He was digging through the garbage behind the Bradley Institute. There were some great parts and pieces of scrap metal that he could use. At the same, there was probably some dangerous chemical or filthy needle lying around in that trash. Crystal was just rolling her eyes and watching him as he dug through the trash.
“Do you have any idea how stupid you look right now?” She asked.
“I don’t care. I can use all this!” Ash exclaimed, stuffing everything into his bags. “Oh, I don’t know why I didn’t check behind this building earlier! Everything I need is here!”
Crystal groaned and leaned against the wall. “How much longer are you going to take? I thought we were going to investigate this place again.”
“We will, Crystal! Be patient! It’s not every day that I rummage through someone’s garbage!” He replied. “Technically, we are investigating this place. We’re just investigating it from the outside.”
Crystal shook her head. This was going to be one very long evening. It was a good thing that she didn’t have much homework to do. She could at least take time to find out more about their creators. Doug had found some information on Patty DeLong but he had no idea where she lived. Her last known whereabouts were made five years ago. Not even her family had heard from her. There wasn’t much information about her being a chimera either.
Ash dug through the trash and found some vials that were almost empty. They had several serial numbers marked on them. He looked at each one and tried to figure out what the liquid was in them. It didn’t look like blood, but he wanted to be careful anyway. “Crystal, check this out!”
Crystal walked over to him and saw what he was holding. “What do you suppose that could be?”
“I’m just wondering about the serial numbers. Look at them.” He pointed to the three of them; 14252, 23666, and 10112. “What do you think they belong to?”
“Those look like the tiny vials that they collect your blood in,” Crystal noted. “I don’t see any blood in these though.”
“They might have emptied them out.” Ash put them inside of his backpack. “Since it’s trash, I think I can take it back. I want to know what all these numbers mean.”
“You should be careful. What if someone finds us back here?”
“No one’s going to find us. This place is public property. Anyone can dig through the trash,” Ash said. “Besides, you know how the old saying goes. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
“None of this looks like treasure to me. What if there are viruses or bacteria or something gross in that garbage? You could get infected!” She pointed out. “Come on, Ash. You’ve got enough junk as it is. What more could you be looking for?”
“I want some evidence of what’s going on behind these doors,” Ash said, climbing out of the dumpster. “We’ve got some idea, but I feel like someone’s not telling us the whole story. I want to know how we’re supposed to merge with each other.”
“I don’t. You saw those photos. What if that happened to us?” She shuddered.
“I know what you’re afraid of. I’ve been wondering about that too. However, they keep doing it. They must know it’s possible. They just haven’t succeeded so they keep trying,” he said, finding more things that he could use. “What would happen if we were successful? What would we do if we fused? How would we change? More importantly, how would we pull apart? I’ve been asking that all this time.”
Before Crystal had a chance to answer, she heard someone yell at them. “Hey, you! What are you doing?!”
Ash looked up and tried to get out of the dumpster. “Uh-oh! I think we’ve been spotted!”
“Ash, run!” Crystal helped him out pushed him in the opposite direction. “They’re after us!”
“Where are you going?!” He demanded. Before she could get away, he handed her one of his spy-ders. “Take this with you! You’ll need it!”
“I’ll meet you later! Just try to get away from them!” She yelled back. As she turned the corner, she looked down at what she gave him. She had no idea how this was going to help but she kept it with her. Once she found a safe spot, she hid and looked to
see if Ash was out of sight.
Unlike Crystal, Ash didn’t have that luck. The spy-der that he had given her was not one of his cameras but a smoke bomb. He hoped that she could tell the difference as he marked each one with a different color. The one he gave her had a small purple strip on the side. That was how he differentiated between them. However, he didn’t get a chance to tell this to the others.
Please be safe, Crystal. He thought as he ran toward the parking lot. The car was right there. If he could run a little further, he would be able to get to it. I’m almost there…
He was never able to make it to his car. Someone jumped at him and dragged him down onto the pavement. His chin hit the ground and he could feel a tooth get knocked loose. It was from the back of his mouth and it came spitting out. He could feel the bloody hole where it had been. He reached up and touched the inside of this mouth. There was something there but he couldn’t pull it out. He had no time to ponder this because they had pinned him down.
“Let me go! Get your hands off me!” He snapped, trying to squirm out of their grasp. Unfortunately, they were all double his size and much stronger than he was. “I swear, if you don’t let me go right this moment, I’m going to…”
“Ashton Blackwell. I thought we’d never see you again.” One of them said from the back. “I’m surprised you’d be digging through garbage. I never expected you to sink so low.” They wiped the blood from his mouth and he glowered at the entire group. He didn’t recognize any of these people but he hated them all. He would ruin them eventually. “You’re a little too curious for your own good. What do you think you’ll gain from taking anything from us?”
Ash tried to get out of their grip, blood filling up his mouth. “Let me go.”
