Chapter 4

Flare gritted her teeth and resisted the temptation to cover her ears against the keening cries of the two children. The way Sinister deliberately provoked them and left them for her to deal with infuriated her. She was sure his intent was to unnerve her more than it was to scare the children.

"Shut up!" she yelled as loudly as her damaged voice would allow. She punctuated the command
with a forceful blow to the door that sent it flying back against the wall. The reverberation of the door bouncing off the wall was enough to subdue the children's cries.

"That's better," she told them calmly. While their sobs had abated, she knew she had to quickly allay their fears before they started crying again.

"Now, then, Mr. Sin-- Essex lied to you. Your mother and father are coming back. They just
had to leave you here for a few days."

"When?" the boy asked tremulously.

"Next week," she lied. It would be far easier to put off their questions of when their parents were coming back than to deal with their fears of them never coming back.

"Where did they go?" he pressed.

"Why didn't they leave us at home?" the girl asked in a tiny voice, apparently emboldened by her brother's questions.

"I don't know," she answered, her voice tinged with exasperation. She cut off any further questions as she added, "You can ask them when they get back. Now, are you hungry or not?"

"I have to go to the bathroom," the girl said.

Flare nodded and looked at her brother. "You. Do you have to go to the bathroom, too?"

He nodded as he told her, "My name's Cody."

Flare put her hand up and shook her head. "I don't want to know your names."

He continued, "And she's Renee."

"What did I just tell you?" Flare snapped. She already had more of an obligation to these children than she wanted. Knowing their names would only weaken her resolve to stay detached.
The damage already done, she steeled herself and turned to the door before they dissolved into
tears again at her raised voice.

"Let's go," she told them. Without waiting to see if they followed, she left the room.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Flare took them to the kitchen. It wasn't a kitchen really. Rather, it was an employee break room in the abandoned clinic that Sinister had taken over as his laboratory. However, with refrigerator, sink, microwave, toaster oven and long-forgotten vending machines, it more than served their purpose.

"Sit down," she said to the children as she gestured toward the tables and the gaudy red plastic chairs. Now the question was, what was there for them to eat? With only she and Essex in residence, they never bothered to stock the kitchen except for the bare essentials. She usually got by on a tuna or cheese sandwich, a piece of fruit and lots of coffee. If she wanted something substantial, she'd walk to one of the fast food restaurants a few blocks away. She had no idea what Essex ate, or even if he ate at all.

Unfortunately, she had finished the last of the bag of apples yesterday, and there were only two slices of bread left. Taking some cheese from the refrigerator, she placed some on each of the two slices of bread and stuck them in the toaster oven. Then, she turned to the snack machine. Though it had not been stocked in months, it still contained a dozen or so snacks. However, the only thing left that was not candy or otherwise contained an incredible amount of sugar was a bag of microwaveable popcorn.

Reaching through the broken glass of the front panel, she grabbed the remaining bag. It wasn't
exactly breakfast food, but it would have to do.

After a few minutes, she set the cheese melts, popcorn and two Styrofoam cups filled with the half and half she used in her coffee before the two children. They eyed the meal dubiously.

"We usually have cereal or pancakes for breakfast," the boy--Cody--said.

"Sometimes french toast," his sister added.

"Well this is all we have here, so that's all you're getting. Eat it or go hungry," Flare said curtly as she set about brewing some coffee for herself.

The children started eating, tentatively at first then with more enthusiasm. Eventually, they grew more at ease and more animated as they made a game of divvying up the popcorn. Flare watched them without interest as they then turned their attention to a whiteboard they found mounted on the wall complete with markers and an eraser. Dragging their chairs over to help them reach it, they entertained themselves by drawing pictures and writing their names on the board.

She let them play by themselves for a while. At least it would keep them occupied until she had to take the boy to Sinister. She shuddered. She didn't want to think about what kinds of experiments Sinister had in mind for these kids. She now realized that he must have been planning to kidnap them for months. Sinister had first brought her here almost three months ago with a promise to help her learn to control her powers in return for assisting him in his research. However, until now, he hadn't conducted any research here at all; and, his so-called help mainly consisted of providing her with a fire-proof uniform and a place to practice while he left her here alone for weeks at a time. The only time she saw him during those three months was when he ferried equipment here from his larger laboratory in Atlanta. Even on those days, they had little interaction as he spent his time preparing his lab and setting up what she recognized to be psi-dampeners. She had no idea who these children belonged to, but Sinister obviously wanted to make sure they couldn't be found.

She sighed as she checked the clock. It was almost time. She pushed her thoughts aside. It was best not to dwell on Sinister's intent. She would do as he asked and not question his methods.

"Let's go," she said and left the room, leaving the children to catch up to her.

"What are we doing now, Flare?" It was the boy again.

She whirled on him. "Don't call me that."

"Why? Isn't that your name?"

"No." She glared at him. Why couldn't he be quieter and more intimidated like his sister? "Don't call me anything. Just don't talk to me."

She turned and continued toward their make-shift bedroom as the children followed quietly. When they reached the room, she let Renee pass through the door, but she held Cody back. With a little more than a twinge of guilt that she quickly suppressed, she shut and locked the door.

"Cody!" She could hear the girl start to cry and bang on the door. Cody looked up at her in confusion and fear. She watched him for a moment then turned once again.

"Come with me."

She turned back after a few steps when she realized that the boy had not moved. He remained planted by the door, looking between her and the locked door indecisively.

"Come on," she repeated.

Still, he didn't move. Flare advanced on him and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Now!" she hissed as she pulled him along.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You have a doctor's appointment," she told him.

"But Uncle Hank is my doctor--"

"Your Uncle Hank isn't here."

"But--"

"Enough! Don't you ever listen? I told you not to talk to me!" She saw the boy's lip quiver as he hung his head and followed her to Sinister's lab.

When they entered the room, Sinister looked up from a stool near the examining table where he was preparing a tray of needles, syringes and scalpels. Cody eyed the room anxiously as he snaked his hand into Flare's gloved one and moved to hide behind her. Flare stared down at their enfolded hands and felt a pang of sorrow. She closed her eyes and briefly tightened her grip on the small hand.

Then she unfolded his hand from hers. "Don't touch me," she whispered.

"Flare, bring him. Place him on the table."

She hesitated a moment, then bolstering her resolve, she picked the boy up and brought him to Sinister. She was stunned when Cody didn't resist her as she set him on the examining table. She realized that although he was frightened of Sinister, he trusted her. Despite her animosity and her attempts to distance herself, this child trusted that she would not hurt him -- or let him be hurt. The realization unsettled her.

Suddenly, Sinister pushed him down so that he lay on his back and proceeded to secure his arms
to the table. Cody cried out in panic. The trust in his eyes was replaced with terror as he kicked his legs and tossed his head about in a frenzy.

"Hold him," Sinister commanded.

Mechanically, Flare complied. She held him down while Sinister fastened restraints about his wrists, ankles, chest and forehead. Fully restrained, Cody sobbed brokenly. Flare backed slowly away from the table unable to tear her eyes away from the terrified boy.

"Flare, don't leave me. Please, Flare! Mama! I want my mama!"

This time Flare did cover her ears with her hands as she rushed out of the room. She stopped just outside the double swinging doors and leaned back against the wall. She could still hear his plaintive cries for his mother and for her. Slowly, she slid down the wall until she was seated on the floor, her hands still desperately trying to block out his terrible screaming.

She was overwhelmed by a flood of memories. . .

. . . "Mommy! Please, Mommy, no more!"

She looked up from the tear-stained face of the blond six-year-old she held still on the examining table.

The doctor met her eyes. "Just one more stitch."

She leaned back down and pressed her lips to her son's forehead as she tightened her hands on either side of his face to hold him still.

"Just one more, Josh. That's all. You're such a brave boy. One more." She murmured the words
soothingly while she barely managed to control her own tears. She could feel him trembling and
fighting the urge to move as he emitted a high-pitched moan that lasted the entire time it took the physician to knot the last suture in his chin.

"There. That should do it," the doctor said when he finished. She quickly gathered her son into her arms and rocked him gently. "You can bring him back in ten days to have the stitches removed, Mrs.--"

"Miss," she corrected.

"Miss Warner, and you can give him some children's Tylenol for the sprained wrist. And you, Joshua," he added as he tousled the boy's hair, "might want to stay off of those monkey bars for a while."

"Thank you, doctor," she said as she gathered her belongings to leave . . .

Flare repressed the rest of the memory as she realized that Cody's cries had been silenced.