Benton's knees were shaking so bad he could barely stand. He and Race both thought it would be a good idea to check on Jessie and Hadji. They had disappeared so fast earlier, he had not even had a chance to say hello. They were not in the house, but one of the I-1 agents had seen them headed to the lighthouse. They were nearly there when they heard screams and Benton's blood ran cold. He knew those screams – they had awakened him every night for months after Rachel's murder. He would rush to Jonny's room to find the little boy writhing in his sleep, reliving that day again and again. He ran for the lighthouse, oblivious to everything but those screams. By the time he arrived, they were gone and the room was eerily quiet. He saw Hadji sitting in one of the VR recliners and Jessie pulling herself to her feet. He slowly became aware of Race standing next to him, his expression a mixture of shock and horror. A gasp from Jessie got his attention.
Benton took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice. "What is going on here?" he demanded.
Race put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Let's talk about this back in the house," he suggested.
Benton nodded, "I think that's a good idea."
"You were trying to WHAT!?" Race demanded. He rubbed his forehead. He was not sure why he was so surprised. This was exactly the kind of stunt Jonny and Jessie would pull, usually dragging Hadji along with them.
"But, Dad," Jessie protested, "We didn't think…"
"Exactly," Race interrupted, "You didn't think."
"But…" she tried again.
"No, Jessica, no 'buts', not tonight. We are in crisis mode here, and the last thing I need is you and Hadji getting yourselves into trouble because you think you can be helpful."
Jessie was taken aback but kept her mouth shut. She could not remember the last time her dad was upset enough to use her full name. Not that she could blame him; the memory of those screams was enough to make her queasy.
Benton sat wrapped in thought, happy to let Race take the lead on this. He had been on an emotional rollercoaster during the last twenty-four hours, and hearing about Hadji's nightmares and the experiment in Quest World were more then he could handle.
"All right," Race said, the ire fading from his eyes, "Tonight was supposed to be fun. Mrs. Evans is making dinner as we speak, and I think we could all use a good meal. So why don't you two go unpack? I'll call you when the food's done."
Hadji and Jessie nodded, retreated to their rooms before Race changed his mind. Race watched them go with a sigh. Could this day get any worse? This time yesterday He had been looking forward to a relaxing week with his daughter and Hadji – a little bit of normalcy. Then Phil showed up and all hell broke loose. He glanced at Benton. He had been holding up better then Race had hoped, but those screams…
"Benton," he said quietly, "We don't know…"
Dr. Quest shook his head, "No, we don't. But those were Jonny's screams, Race."
Race nodded, "He was still having those nightmares when I-1 assigned me."
Dr. Quest clasped his hands together to keep Race from seeing how bad they were shaking, "I don't know what's worse – the thought of Hadji having horrific nightmares for months on end or the thought that everything he heard was real."
Race stood and put a hand on his shoulder, "We can deal with all of that tomorrow." He held up his hand to stop Benton from speaking, "We can't do anything until Agent Lauren delivers the samples, and I think one of Mrs. Evans dinners will be good for everyone. You can't lose yourself in this – not yet."
"Bandit, come back here," Jessie called, peering through the thick fog that blanketed the compound. After spending all morning pretending to be busy, she had decided she needed fresh air and took Bandit for a walk. Unfortunately, they were barely out the door when he spotted a squirrel and took off. She had been wandering aimlessly for twenty minutes looking for him, but the fog seemed to be getting thicker and a rumbling in her stomach reminded her it was almost noon. With everything going on, her dad would probably call in the Marines if she was not back for lunch. She trudged back towards the house, so lost in thought that she did not even notice the car until it stopped in front of her. A woman hopped out of the passenger's side holding what appeared to be a glorified cooler.
"Excuse me," she called to Jessie, "I'm Agent Lauren from I-1. Is Dr. Quest here?"
"He's in the lab," Race said, materializing out of the fog. "I'll take it to him."
Lauren nodded, handing him the cooler, "Good luck. Dr. Telford is handling everything back at headquarters. He said he would call as soon as he found anything."
"Thanks," Race said. He stood where he was until he heard the familiar *click* of the front gate closing. Clutching the cooler tightly, he hurried to the lab, Jessie hot on his heels. Dr. Quest looked up expectantly as they entered.
"Put it over here," he said, pointing to an open spot on his right. In front of him was a scanner. Jessie had never used it herself, but she knew those scanners fed straight into IRIS. On the other side of the room, Hadji's fingers were flying as he imputed commands.
"Everything is ready to go, Dr. Quest," he said, joining the group.
"Good," He said, pulling surgical gloves on and carefully opening the cooler.
Jessie hung back, not wanting to be in the way, as Dr. Quest removed two metal cylinders from the cooler. One was labeled John Doe and the other was labeled Brandon Holmer. Carefully, Dr. Quest opened the John Doe canister and pulled out a long glass slide. Jessie caught a glimpse of something on the slide before Dr. Quest set it inside the small scanner.
Benton took a deep breath, "IRIS, analyze DNA."
The computer beeped and whirred for a few minutes as they waited. Finally the computer spoke, "DNA analysis complete."
"IRIS, compare sample with DNA of Jonathan Benton Quest."
The room went still, the computer the only sound. The clock on the wall seemed to be standing still, but no one moved. Suddenly, IRIS beeped, the sound echoing through the quiet room.
Benton stared at the floor, hands trembling; next to him Race hissed, shock and rage written all over his face. Clenching his fists, Benton looked at the flashing screen in front of him.
NEGATIVE MATCH…NEGATIVE MATCH.
Author's Note: One again, I promise I have more, but i decided to be mean and leave you here as i continue to work on this story. I promise to add new chapters soon.