I don't own Race to Witch Mountain.
Chapter Four: Originality and Duplicity
(Seth Point of View)
Seth's nap was somewhat quiet, and he felt disturbed when he woke up for a reason he couldn't understand. He also felt exhausted, as if he hadn't slept at all.
There were voices outside the curtains, and Seth wanted to turn off his hearing. He knew they were talking about him. Seth wanted nothing more than to forget about what had happened to him instead of dwelling on it. He wanted to go on with his life and live a normal one. He didn't want to have to deal with all the problems he now had to deal with.
Seth wasn't sure when they would be willing to let him out of the hospital, but he hoped it was soon. He didn't like being cooped up here. It made him feel trapped, just as much as Witch Mountain did. And what was worse was that it was a medical institution, a place where medicine was practiced. And as if that didn't make him feel uncomfortable enough, he and his sister were the ones the medicine was being practiced upon.
To Seth it made him feel like a lab rat and he didn't like it. He had been treated like this enough at Witch Mountain, and being treated like this in a place that was supposedly non-hostile did not make him feel any better. In all honesty, he didn't see any difference. How was what they were doing different from what Henry Burke was doing? After all, he couldn't see the difference. Both were forcing medical treatment on him and his sister and saying that it was for their own good. Both had doctors and scientists. Both would talk about him behind his back and stop as soon as they knew he was awake. How were things different here than there? True, the doctors were gentle with him, and true that they 'attempted' to treat him somewhat better, and true that they let him make some decisions, but in the end they acted as if they knew better than him. When would he be free from this kind of treatment? After all, they were going to have him see a therapist.
Seth didn't want to see a therapist. He thought it was unnecessary. And in truth, he was afraid. Back in Witch Mountain, a whole lot of psychological tricks and psych warfare were played on his mind all in the name of government. Seth knew terror first-hand; he had experienced it up close as if it were a personal enemy of his, that it knew his face and knew his feelings well enough to combat him. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. It made him feel as though he were a prisoner to it, and indeed, he was.
The boy sighed and finally the curtains parted and his mom and dad came through. He had heard them say beforehand that he was awake and that they wanted some privacy with him.
"Hey," Amelia murmured, greeting him gently, warily. Seth stared up at her like a puppy dog that pouts when he's sad.
"Why do I have to be here?" Seth complained mildly, trying to find a way to express his discomfort because he wasn't sure if they'd hear it fully. He didn't know anything anymore. He no longer knew what was acceptable and what wasn't.
But Amelia kneeled beside him and rubbed his back gently. "Things will get better, you'll see," she whispered kindly to him, trying to cheer him up. "You're out of that horrid place. Things will improve."
"Will it?" Seth challenged, looking at her hopefully, hoping that she was telling the truth. "And if so, what will I have to go through before things improve?"
"I don't know," his mother answered. "But I do know that we'll all be here for you no matter what."
"Promise?" the boy implored, looking like a child.
"Promise," his mother smiled and Seth forced a smile, not sure, though, if they knew he was faking it. One thing was for sure. He certainly didn't feel like smiling right now. He was tense, his muscles were tense, and no matter how hard he tried to calm down and relax his muscles he couldn't calm down and his muscles wouldn't relax. They were as rigid as stone.
His mother must have noticed for she continued to rub his back further. "I know you don't like this," she began. "And I know you're going through a hard time, but I'd like to ask that you give us a chance, that you give us a fair chance. You've been through a lot and that's why you have a hard time trusting people I believe. I know that if I had been in the same circumstance that you had been in I wouldn't be able to trust anyone either." And with that, she moved some loose hair out of his face. "Please," she begged. "Give us a chance. I know it's hard but I need to ask you to open up to us, to try to talk to us."
Seth sighed and leaned back into the pillows. "That's a hard request to make," he murmured.
Ashton was immediately by his side. "We know," he gently cooed.
But Seth shook his head. "Do you?" he asked.
Amelia continued to sit by him. "I know that we can't empathize, but we can sympathize," she murmured. "We are all in this together, and what has affected you has affected us. You can't get hurt without us getting hurt."
"Are you hurt?" Seth implored suddenly, looking deep into his mother's eyes.
"Of course!" Amelia responded, almost shocked that he would ask such a thing. Then her voice softened some as she replied further, "How can I, as a mother, watch you go through so much pain? It hurts me, you know. It's hard on me, as a mother, to cope when I see you in all the agony you're going through. I want to reach and comfort you, and take all that pain away, but I don't know how. It's not in my power. So I sit by you and only hope what I'm doing is enough and that I can succeed in comforting you, that I can succeed in making you feel better, in helping you heal."
Seth sighed once more, depressed. "I don't know that I'll ever heal," he admitted.
"You will," Ashton encouraged. "It will just take some time."
"Time we don't have," the boy muttered.
But his mother stroked his hair further. "You'd be surprised. We have all the time in the world."
(A few hours later)
(Sara Point of View)
The girl was sleeping in the hospital bed she was occupying when all of a sudden she woke up. "Sara..." someone seemed to call. "Sara..."
The girl shivered. The voice sounded exactly like Henry Burke's. "Yes?" she unwillingly responded, remembering how Henry Burke, back in Witch Mountain, required an answer whenever he asked a question or whenever there was something he summoned her for.
But the voice didn't respond back. Puzzled, she reached over and opened the curtains slightly, fearing that she'd see him. But instead, she saw her parents sleeping in a couple of chairs. "Mom, dad?" she weakly sounded, and all of a sudden, they woke up. They were by her side in an instant.
"Yes?" her father asked her, concern and worry in his eyes.
Sara frowned and then bit her lip, not sure if this was something she should mention. Would they think she was crazy? "N-nothing," she stuttered, nervous around her parents for the first time. Then she thought of an excuse to give. "I-I'm just cold, that's all." She sincerely hoped that her excuse was good enough, convincing enough, so she asked, "Can I have a blanket?"
Her mother smiled, adoring her daughter. "Of course, sweetie!" she cooed as if the girl were a five year old. "I'll go ask for one right now."
"Thank you," Sara replied, truly grateful, except it wasn't for the blanket; it was for their company. Right now, she really needed their presence for she feared Henry was after her, and in that aspect she knew she was right, just possibly not from the voice she probably imagined, so she tried to convince herself. It was from whatever plan he had in mind for her.
"Daddy," Sara weakly asked, being careful on how she worded things. After all, she was going to see the psychologist and she didn't want stuff like this leaking out and the psychologist, whoever she or he might be, finding out about it. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
"No! Of course not sweetie!" he immediately replied, firm and strong about it.
"Even after all that I've been through?"
"Never!"
Sara took encouragement from this and sighed, snuggling deep into the covers. Suddenly her mother bustled in and she was carrying a blanket. She placed it over her daughter and wrapped her tightly in it until she made sure that she was all warm and snug. "There you go, sweetie," she endearingly whispered, and Sara forced a smile.
"Thank you!" Sara murmured softly back and she leaned into the pillows for support. There were still a lot of tubes and medical equipment in her and on her, and she knew the doctors would still check on her even though it was late at night. Her mother stroked her hair out of her face, and Sara thought she saw a worried look on the woman.
"Sara," Amelia whispered, her eyes now certainly full of worry. "Is everything all right?"
Sara shivered, knowing that Amelia had seen through her facade and that she'd have to find another excuse. "No," Sara told her, lying straight this time and hoping it would pass. "I just want out of this place. It makes me feel trapped." And that was true, to an extent. But the real reason was something possibly a lot more sinister and serious. "I don't like medical facilities."
"It's because of what they did to you, isn't it?" Amelia inquired, clearly believing the girl's excuse and Sara was relieved that the woman hadn't caught on when she'd caught onto the detail of the fact that the blanket was an excuse earlier. But she was still tense, none the less, which added to the convincing factor of what Sara said.
The girl paused, hesitating, as if not sure how to respond. Then she admitted, "Yes, I think so. I don't know for certain. I just don't like medicine, doctors, and scientists."
"I think it only makes you uncomfortable because of what they did to you," Amelia said, but it seemed more to herself as if she were trying to make sense of things.
Sara looked away. "I really don't want to talk about this."
"Sara!" Amelia exclaimed. "You have to talk about it with someone! How else are you going to recover?"
"Not now," Sara shyly responded. "It's late at night. I want to rest."
Now there was hesitation on Amelia's part, and finally the woman sighed. "Yes," she exhaustively responded back. "You're right on that part. It is late and you do need rest." The woman tucked in her daughter more while Ashton knelt by Sara's side and gently stroked his daughter's hair.
"Get some sleep," Ashton murmured softly, lovingly to his daughter. Then, he kissed her on the forehead and he went beyond the curtains. Amelia likewise kissed her daughter and left her, closing the curtains behind her to give the girl some privacy so that she could rest.
Sara sighed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
(The next day)
(Seth Point of View)
Seth wasn't sure if he was nervous or excited. The test results had come in and today was the day that they'd find out who was who, who was the original and who was the copy. He sincerely hoped that he wasn't the copy. 'It doesn't matter,' he told himself, thinking these hopeful words over and over again in an attempt to convince himself otherwise. 'It doesn't matter.' But truth be told, he didn't know if that was the case. True, it would solve what seemed an age-old mystery, and Jack, Alex, and his parents were curious to know, for more than one reason, and so hopefully they could piece together Henry Burke's plan. True, in the end it wouldn't matter to Jack, Alex, and his parents who was the copy and who was the original. But in the end, he knew that secretly it would matter to him and his duplicate, his sister and his sister's duplicate. It would change their lives and the way that they looked at themselves forever.
A part of him didn't want to find out, wanted it to remain a mystery in fear that he was the duplicate. But another part of him screamed to know, screamed for answers as to what was going on. Why were their two of them anyways, and why did Henry have to make a couple of copies? What was the point of that? And if he did it so that he would have an alien to experiment on, then why did he let those aliens go? What was the point of that?
Seth sighed. His other self was sleeping on the medical cot and he phased through the curtains so that he didn't have to move them and thus disturb the boy. 'If only we knew,' he thought to himself. 'If only there weren't such suspense.'
'Life does seem to be full of suspense, doesn't it?' another voice sounded in his head, echoing, though he was used to it doing that sometimes for reasons neither he nor his sister understood. They only knew that sometimes her voice echoed in people's head when she spoke mind to mind for no apparent reason.
Seth's lips twitched into a slight smile as he heard the comfort of his sister's presence in his mind, and he thought he heard the door opening and closing meaning she and the others were back from getting food from the cafeteria for everyone for breakfast. No doubt that was true as he smelled the food and heard it simmering slightly still on the trays. It smelled delicious, though nowhere near as good as Alex's cooking.
He thought he heard Sara's voice sigh in his head. 'We really do need to ask her to prepare some food and bring it sometime, don't we?'
'Yes,' Seth thought, knowing that her mind-reading skills would pick it up. That was, after all, how they communicated when she wasn't in the mood to establish a mental channel so that groups could talk freely for her as if it were what earthlings called a radio where anyone can talk and everyone else can hear, well, more like a conference call. Otherwise, Sara would need to relay everything everyone else said to everyone else. But first, before she could even speak mind to mind with someone, or do a 'conference call' she would have to establish a mental connection with them if it didn't already exist. The mental connection automatically existed for close blood kin, though not distant blood kin and those she wasn't related to, who would need her to open a mental channel before any connection or 'conference call' could be established. Then, Sara would just establish the mental channel when she wanted to communicate mind to mind, or a mental group communication if she had a large amounted of people who wanted to communicate with each other.
Seth's stomach growled and he was about to eat when the other Seth stirred some. The boy's eyes blinked open and he stared up at him. Then the boy seemed to smell the food for he asked, "What's that?"
"It's breakfast," Seth responded. He immediately became wary as he instinctively did whenever he knew the boy was awake. Then, realizing what he was doing and not wanting to hurt the boy he forced himself to relax. 'I've really got to work on that,' he thought to himself.
Sara seemed to want to get more involved, so Seth felt her opening a mental channel in his head when Seth thought to her, 'Well, give us some privacy!' Sara immediately left his mind and he sighed. "Do you want me to get you a tray?" he asked the other him, and the boy's eyes widened in excitement and gratitude immediately and he shook his head eagerly.
"Yes please!" he excitingly responded, almost tweeted as his voice went somewhat high pitched and Seth had to stop himself from laughing. After all, he didn't want to offend and upset the boy after what the poor little thing had been through. He thought it best to maintain a friendly environment so that he could recover and the other boy would feel more welcome and loved. Plus, that was what his parents and friends had told him to do.
"I'll go get some then," he offered and disappeared behind the curtains.
As the boy glanced over at the other curtains to where the girl was staying, he realized she was still asleep. "Don't worry about her," Alex responded, upon seeing him glance over. "We're saving her some food and we'll get it to her when she wakes up." Seth nodded and he realized that Alex had overheard him offering to get the other Seth some food. He blushed slightly, as this was not normally his way, but Alex said nothing and seemed to ignore the fact.
Seth wasn't sure what was inside the trays as they were covered, and he didn't want to lift the lids and thus cool them off, so he took the first tray he laid eyes on and brought it to the boy. "Thank you," Seth replied as Seth put the tray in front of him. He watched as the other boy tried to sit up before he disappeared behind the curtains again so he could get himself some food this time.
As Seth opened his tray he saw that breakfast was a scrambled egg omelet, bacon, and some toast. Most of it smelled delicious, but he wasn't sure about the omelet. He tentatively cut some of it and took a small, bite, chewing quickly and swallowing when he didn't like it. It had smelled weird to him. 'These humans have some strange tastes,' he thought to himself and he noticed the corners of his sister's mouth twitch in response to reading his mind. The boy sighed. As he looked at all the trays in the room, he noticed that they were all the same, bacon, toast and jam, and a meat-lover's omelet. But for him, for some reason he didn't think that sausage and hamburger went together in an omelet. Was he the only one? Man, these cafeteria folk had some weird ideas for food! Or was it all cafeteria cooks? What were they doing? Throwing in random stuff together because it was almost on the verge of spoiling and they needed to get rid of it?
Jack cleared his throat all of a sudden and everyone looked at him. The curtains were pulled open and they even decided to wake Sara up, contrary to what they decided to do earlier. Now everyone was awake, including the Seth and Sara being taken care of, and those siblings could see Jack and Alex clearly.
Everyone expected Jack to speak, but it was Alex that spoke. "As you all know," she began, her voice strong and firm, but kind to everyone even though it carried a unique but strong sounding authority in it. "The test that we ordered to show who's who has arrived. The doctor said that he'd be here around ten to discuss the results with us." Seth looked at the clock. It was almost ten. They had woken up late and were thus having a late breakfast. But for some reason time seemed to move slowly. "I want you all to know," Alex continued, looking especially at the Seths and Saras. "That no matter what the result is, we will love you all of you equally and the same. You're both Seth and you're both Sara in my opinion."
Amelia and Ashton nodded. "Alex is right," Ashton announced. "All of you are my children, are our children," he said, looking at the Seths and Saras. "It will not make a difference to us one way or another. We'll still love you the same. But unfortunately, we need to know who's who so that we know how to address the situation. Whatever you do, don't worry about what the results show. We're only sharing it with you because you all have the right to know as this affects you in the end and because it's of you."
Seth nodded, but he didn't feel the same way. He hoped he wasn't the duplicate.
Suddenly Sara spoke up. "But how will we know that they didn't mix the results up?" she blurted out, her face worried. The thought that had been running through her mind had never occurred to Seth before and he was glad that she voiced it for this would worry him. How would they know that the test results weren't mixed up and what was meant for one sibling was accidentally pinned on another?
"Because," Jack responded this time, taking responsibility for the answer. "Each of you was assigned a different pin number, the number on the case sheet and the bracelets you are wearing (Seth looked down at the paper bracelet wrapped in plastic that he was forced to wear even though he wasn't the patient and which the doctors had never actually explained to him why he had to wear it), and yes, Seth," he added, noticing Seth's glance down at his wrist at the thing he had been wearing for days straight at a time, that not even his parents or friends had let him take off, and that was also on his Sara and the other Seth and Sara. "That is indeed the thing you are looking at, the thing we told you and the others to wear constantly."
"Anyways," Alex continued hastily, glancing quickly at the clock, seeing that they were losing time for an explanation. "As each of you has a different pin number which this hospital has permanently assigned each of you, in case you need to visit ever again (Seth and his siblings all shivered) and in which case we would need to identify which Seth or which Sara's record it is, you have all been assigned a pin number. Now when they took the DNA, they did it one at a time, and they put your pin number on the bottle. They were sent to the lab individually, and your DNA and the testing that was being done were sent to different labs. They sent their results back here for which the doctors, specifically geneticists, who know how to interpret tests, have examined the results and they will tell us shortly what they have learned. The tests were done more than one time, and sent back more than one time, each a few days apart, and the doctors looked at them each time so if there was a mistake they will catch it. Also, multiple DNA samples were taken from each of you, and they tested all of them each time they did a lab test. If there were any variances or any questions they would have discovered it, and they've promised not to assume anything or give us any assumptions. That, and if there was anything less than one hundred percent certainty, they'll let us know. They were very, very careful." Alex emphasized the word 'very'.
Seth still wasn't sure. He didn't like uncertainty. But he also didn't like unanswered questions. The boy stared at the clock as the second hand went around and around, either waiting to find out his doom or to be liberated with the truth that he was the one.
Time seemed to pass by slowly. Tension built in the air and he shivered, somewhat from the cold but mostly from the fear that gripped him. Who would it be? Would it be him? Would he finally learn that he had nothing to fear for he was the original? And what would the other Seth think? How detrimental would it be to him? He could only imagine it himself, but he probably didn't come even close to it. He pitied whoever was to find out today that they weren't the ones.
Seth sighed. Time was torturous. He was losing his patience. Finally, and it didn't help with his tension, instead it tensed him up further, finally the doctor arrived.
He looked very grave. "Hello," he greeted everyone kindly, but Seth was still unsure of his motives and intentions. He never really did trust doctors, especially after Witch Mountain.
"Hello," Jack and Alex greeted back, warm and friendly to the man, which Seth didn't understand.
The doctor was older. He had gray, short hair, was partially bald as the top of his head had a lot of hair missing and not even a single strand could be found where his hair was bald. His eyes were gray, he was somewhat large, he had on a white lab coat, had what seemed two chins, was dark skinned somewhat, and it looked as though he had been a handsome man when he was young. The man hesitated before beginning his monologue. 'Please spare me,' Seth thought to himself shortly before the man began it, earning him a frightful glare from his sister, almost as if she feared he could read the boy's mind and find out what he had thought, and then would hurt him for it.
"Now," the man announced looking kindly down at both Seths and both Saras. "I want you four to know that you've got people that love you very much. I can see it in their eyes, even though I can see your distrust for me in your eyes (Seth shivered in surprise) which is understandable considering all that you've been through. You're parents love all four of you very, very much," he emphasized the word 'very'. Then he glanced at Jack and Alex. "I can see that you have good friends in the Mr. Bruno and Dr. Friedman as well."
Seth glanced at the married couple, Jack and Alex, and then at his married parents. But when he glanced back to his Sara, he could see that she was worried. 'What is it?' he thought to her.
'I can't read his mind,' she thought back. 'Something's not right. It's like he knows that I can read minds-'
'Well, no duh!' Seth thought back, thinking it was obvious, regretting it when he saw his sister flinch in hurt. He immediately felt sorry about what he said, but he felt better when his apology to her, a split-second later was accepted.
'I can't read his mind,' Sara continued on as if it hadn't happened. 'And he's trying to keep something big and shocking from me so that we can all find out at the same time.'
'Do you think it's that we're the clones?' Seth inquired, now worried all of a sudden.
Sara frowned as if uncertain. 'No,' she replied back thoughtfully, as if trying to interpret what she had saw and read. 'I don't think that's it.'
All this conversation happened in a split second between what Dr. Karman had said and what he was going to say, and he was talking at normal speed and time.
"And I want you four to know that this won't affect the outcome of how you're treated," the doctor continued quite lovingly, like a father, though Seth didn't feel like he liked the man looking at him like that, in a fatherly way. "I can tell from the way that they're acting they'll all treat you all the same. It won't affect anything at all. There's no need to worry as far as that's concerned." And then he paused, as if not sure how to say something. "It won't matter anyway because the test results were shocking."
Seth took in a sharp breath. "Sh-shocking?" Alex stuttered, unsure of what he meant. "What do you mean by, 'shocking'?"
The doctor looked at them, worry in his eyes. He blinked at them and then retorted, "Exactly what I mean. The test results show that there are no 'originals' and no 'copies' because they are exactly the same. There are no clones, copies, or anything of the such. Both Seths and Saras are the originals."
And so, on this note I will leave it on a cliffhanger.
As for the cafeteria inspiration, yes, I in fact KNOW that they do through in stuff that's almost on the verge of spoiling, or if you're lucky, is only old, and sell it as the 'special of the day'. Random talk show or Dr show facts. Plus, I used to work at a café back when I was healthier. At least their specials didn't have any spoiled or rotten stuff though! It tasted good! Can't really say about other restaurants though... And I have no idea where cafeteria cooks get their menu ideas. Some cafeterias, my old school surprisingly, were very good. But hospital cafeteria food? Not really.
Bottom line, be careful what the food industry throws at you. You literally never know WHAT is in it. Anyways...
Did you like it? Are there any improvements that I need to make? Don't be afraid to point out any errors or plot holes! They're much appreciated!
Please read and review! Reviews help me to improve! :)