Chapter 12

“So let me get this straight,” I say slowly, the news sinking in, “you are the scientist that made us like this?” It’s taking all my self-control not to start screaming at him.

            “I’m not proud of it,” he replies.

            “Oh, as long as your not proud of it.” I say sarcastically.

            He winces. “You’ve got to understand… I was doing it for the progress�"“

            “�"of the human race of course,” I finish. He nods fervently. “Huh. Funny, I think that was Dr. Frankenstein’s motive, too.” He starts to look downcast but I continue, “And every other evil scientist out there. It started with wanting progress. And you know what else you have in common with Dr. Frankenstein? He couldn’t control his monster.” I put venom into the last word.

The other three look at me uncertainly, exchanging glances with each other as if saying, “did she just call us monsters?” But I hardly even paid attention to them. I am so filled with rage…sound familiar? Like it might of happened just last night? You know what else happened last night? I ranted about geniuses that torture people and swore to teach them a less they’d never forget. I better start instructing.

“Would you just let me finish my story?” asks the poor, nervous looking scientist. I rather get to the butt kicking and get it over with but I nod anyway. “A few nights before the operation, I had a dream. The dream was about this specter with glowing green eyes and a feline conduct,” He pauses. “In other words, her,” He nods to Alina. “I recognized her as one of the children that we had acquired for the experiment.”

“Acquired?” Alina asked in a soft whisper. I dread the answer that he is about to give her. However she ended up there, I can tell that it wasn’t a happy story.

  “Well, for lack of a better phrase, we bought you.”

All at once Alina slumps to the floor, Cole and Ian look like they were going to murder the guy and I yell, ”Isn’t that illegal?!”

“As I’ve said, I’m not proud of it.” He sighs. Sighs! As if he has a right to sigh! The only one here with a right to sigh at the moment is the girl that was bought! Not the buyer!

I am about to say this out loud when Alina mumbles from her spot on the floor, “Go on. Tell us the rest.” We can barley hear her, her hands and her grief muffling the words.

Dr. Garner clears his throat and is about to continue with his story when Ian interrupts. “Wait. What about the rest of us? How did we get there?”

To tell the truth, I don’t want to know the answer. Looking at Cole’s face, I can tell that he is thinking along the same line as me. I was already betrayed by the family that I grew up with. The family I thought was mine. I didn’t want the knowledge that my biological parents betrayed me too. Maybe it’s better not to know.

And yet, there is a part of me that needs to know. No matter what the answer is. There is that one little piece that couldn’t walk away now if my life depended on it. Not without the answer. And at that moment, it is that little amount that is in control. It makes me look the scientist right in the eyes and builds up my courage to demand answers. Even if my voice is too weak to form the words, my eyes send the message clear as day.

He gulped, “Well, The boy named Ian was the son of one of the workers. Who allowed him to be part of the experiment as long as he was allowed to remain apart of his life. Unfortunately, after the operation, that was no longer possible because of complications in the family.” I hear a sharp intake of breath behind me where I know Ian is standing. “You have to understand, Ian,” Dr. Garner says turning to him, now knowing by his expression which one of us is Ian. “Your father dedicated his whole life to science. It was a hard decision to make, but he decided that for him to really be part of the operation, he needed to share blood with a partaker.”

“Yah,” I say softly, “I’m sure that makes him feel much better.” But I said it weakly.

“Well, at least I know.” Ian whispers.

“We spent years researching people’s heritage and came up with Cole as one of the best options. He was an orphan to begin with and was adopted by the lab.” Way to break the news lightly. Cole face is stone; not even showing the misery that I know is underneath. Man, that boy is good at hiding his emotions. I suddenly feel the erg to hug him.

But it is short lived because I’m next. “And you are…Leesha...?” I nod. “Your father was very high up in the protective system, almost military if you will. We were very worried that someone would steal our secrets so we only chose the noblest. We went through your heritage too, of course. And we decided to use you. Your father was reluctant to let you become apart of it, but your mother was sick and he needed the extra money for medicine. So, like Alina, we bought you from your family. It wasn’t worth the sacrifice later, because your mother died a short while later.

“Your father tried to get you back, but there was a signed agreement and there was no changing Dr. Follett’s mind. He was very interested in you. When we studied your genealogy, we saw some interesting traits that past on, we believe, to you. I have to say, I was curious, as well. And so we kept you and preformed the operation.”

There is s tightness in my chest like Ian had fallen on top of me again. The pain in my arm was throbbing, but it’s more of an annoyance to me now. I know it’s nowhere close to healed but somehow it seems minor to the pain I’m feeling at the moment.

“The rest.” I say. I need to get him to continue with the story before I start crying.

“Wait. There’s one more thing you should know, Leesha,” Dr. Garner paused as if reconsidering telling me. “Never mind,” he says finally, “You’ve had enough news for the moment. You look like you’re about to faint.” The others turned to look at me, but I give nothing away. They’ve got their own misery to deal with.

“Keep talking, Doc,” but my hearts not really in it.

He explains how he went to the lab the next day after his dream and told his partner, Dr. Follett, that he was going to need more time than the agreed date to prepare for the operation. Follett got suspicious and had him followed. The trackers didn’t find anything of course.

On the day of the original surgery date, Garner wen to the lab and the surgery was already done. It was preformed by the doctor Garner had trained in case anything happened that wasn’t according to plan. It was done and his chance to stop it was gone.

There was one thing left for him to do. It wouldn’t undo what had happened, but it would hopefully produce some small form of justice. The problem was, garner didn’t have the courage to do it. He couldn’t tell anyone of what happened to the children, what he and his colleague had done to them. Embarrassment, disgust, and fear made him stay at the lab for three days.

After finally building the courage, he tried to leave the lab. That didn’t work out so well. So he was trapped in the lab indefinitely. Eventually, he managed to sneak out. And then it was time for hiding. Skip forward fourteen years of absolute boredom and we arrive at today.

Shock. Silence. Suspicion. These are some of the things that follow his tale.

“And now,” he muses, “I suppose that I’ll help you with what ever you’re trying to accomplish. What are you planning on doing, now?”

“Find the others” I say. I don’t really have a plan beyond that. “Fulfill the prophecy, I guess.”

“Well, I suppose that I’ll be of some use. I know nothing about rest other than there names… but I suppose you know less than that. At the moment, though, I suggest you rest.” I stare at him. He just admitted to tearing us away form our families and experimenting on us. Well, he hadn’t actually preformed the surgery himself, but he was the inventor and had contributed to it almost until the very end. And he expected us to be able to sleep in his house.

He must have seen the look of “yah right” on my face because he used one of his sighs that seemed to be a common occurrence with him. “What happened to trust?” He asks.

“Thrown out the window as soon as you said you had a part in all this. Would you like to join it?” I was an empty threat because his under ground house didn’t have windows. I would have sounded so much better on, let’s say, the top story of a skyscraper. He chuckles. “Fine, fine,” I say finally, “but lets take shifts on watch duty.” No one complains. “I’ll take first watch.”

An hour later, I woke Alina. It was easier this time. No opera. And I went to bed. And dream about the boy who seems so familiar.