Glad to hear everyone is still enjoying this. I'm having fun writing it.
Part 11
Salisbury, Maryland
She jerked awake at the feel of something moving next to her and strained to see that it was her little brother.
Oh, yeah.
Now she remembered. She dropped her head back down to the pillow and placed a protective arm around his body.
The threesome had arrived at the cabin, tucked deep into the woods, at nearly one in the morning. She remembered groggily picking the lock to the front door, while Ethan stood by with the sleeping little boy. She had barely even said goodnight before she took the child, found one of the bedrooms and passed out again. It wasn't like her to be so dead tired.
Her eyes having adjusted to the darkness, she looked at the small figure lying next to her. She needed to give him a name. Her fingers reached up to brush his hair as she thought on it.
"I hear you haven't been feeling well," came the deep voice from across the room. Miss Parker's first reaction was to grab her 9mm at her back, but she realized she didn't have it at the same time she realized it was Jarod's voice that she heard. She heaved a sigh and turned to see where he was.
"I would appreciate it if in the future you would try not to scare the hell out of me by sneaking around in the dark," she snapped.
Jarod frowned even thought she couldn't see it. "Sorry."
"What time is it?" she asked, making sure to keep her voice low. She heard him move closer and felt the bed behind her dip under his weight.
"Almost five," he said softly. He looked over her shoulder to the little boy sleeping peacefully and smiled. "I'm glad you made it safely."
"Didn't you think I was capable?" she asked with no emotion one way or the other.
"More than capable," he responded, and he meant it, too, but he would always choose to put himself in danger before her…for her. Taking a chance, he lay down on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her, thrilled when she didn't push him away. He breathed in the fresh scent of her hair and sighed. "Please, don't hate me."
Miss Parker closed her eyes at the pleading in his voice. "I don't hate you, Jarod," she whispered back. "I'm just pissed at you."
"Okay." He smiled secretly and molded his body closer to her. Pissed off he could handle.
"Jarod?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't you ever keep something like that from me again," she scolded. "I don't care how much you think you're protecting me. The truth may not always be pretty, but I'd take it over a lie any day."
"I promise." He tightened his hold on her, happy when her hand came to rest on top of his. They lay together quietly, Jarod simply glad to be in her good graces again.
"Jarod?"
"Hmm?"
"I was thinking of naming him Matthew."
"Matthew," he said testing the name on his lips. "I like it."
"There was a file I grabbed from his room," she told him, barely able to keep her eyes open any longer.
"We'll look at it first thing in the morning. Right now I think we could use a little more rest."
Miss Parker let her mind drift as she fell asleep. She was glad Jarod was with her again. As angry as she had been, she had been lonely, too. She would need him more than ever now that she had Matthew to take care of. Debbie was the only child she had ever spent any real time with, but, at the end of the day, she was still Broots' responsibility. Now, Matthew would be hers.
-----
Later that morning, Miss Parker awoke to the feel of something tugging her hair lightly. Opening her eyes, she saw Matthew lying next to her, wide awake. His small hands were rubbing her hair that rested on the pillow and he smiled when he noticed her staring.
"Morning," she told him softly.
"Morning," he repeated.
"You hungry?" she asked. He nodded yes enthusiastically and sat up. She and Jarod hadn't changed positions at all during the night and she could feel his arm still loosely around her. Looking at her wrist watch, she saw that it was just past eight. She gently removed Jarod's arm and eased out of bed.
As they walked to the bedroom door, she felt his small hand slide into hers. Despite the fact that it was summertime, the cabin was still a bit chilly. She looked down at his bare feet and shut the bedroom door behind them quietly. "Are your feet cold?" she asked him.
"Yes," he nodded. She led him into the living room, where Ethan had been kind enough to place the shopping bags which were full of stuff for a three year old. She rifled through until she found a pack of socks and tore them open.
After the socks had been placed on his feet, they moved into the kitchen where Miss Parker searched through the cupboards and the refrigerator for something to eat.
"Damn it, we don't have any food," she cursed. She turned around to face the patient child. "You think you can hold on for a little longer?" He nodded.
They went back into the living room and she sat down on the couch, pulling him with her. "Do you have a name?" she asked. Since she hadn't actually read the file yet, it occurred to her that he just might already have one.
He nodded.
"What is it?"
"Fusion," he said.
"Fusion?" she questioned confused.
"Fusion," came Jarod's deep voice from behind. She whipped around to look at him, seeing that he had the file in his hand. "…as in Project Fusion."
-----
"How much did you read?" Miss Parker asked.
Everyone was awake now and Ethan had offered to go and get something for everyone to eat. Miss Parker and Jarod sat on the couch while Matthew played quietly in the corner with a truck and some other toys she had bought for him. She watched him carefully, noticing that he seemed to be at a loss at what to do with some of the items. Now that she though back on it, she hadn't seen one toy in his room at the Centre either. It was becoming more and more obvious that the boy was indeed special and she was ready to find out just how special he really was.
"Not much. Just the cover," he said. The gray file was sitting in his lap. "You ready?" he asked looking at her.
"As I'll ever be," she said. She took the file from him and read the title on the front: Project Fusion. In her rush to escape the Centre with him, she hadn't even bothered taking the time to read the cover of it. She opened the flap slowly to reveal a list of stats.
Name: Project Fusion
D.O.B.: 5/14/01
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Talents: Pretending, Prophesy
Subject has tested positive for the Pretender Gene and displays signs of highly advanced intelligence. Subject also possesses the gift of prophesy and has been observed predicting events before they occur. Subject will continue to participate in simulations and brain exercises.
"The gift of prophesy?" Jarod questioned. "Like you and Ethan," he observed. Miss Parker nodded slowly, deep in thought. "We should call Broots and Sydney later. Now that we know what his project name is, we can expand our search for more information."
"What simulations could they possibly run on a three year old?" Miss Parker asked. She flipped the page of the file, but there was nothing else.
"Probably things like recreating famous buildings with blocks or solving complex math problems," Jarod told her, recalling his own experiences.
"Well, that's going to change. No more simulations, no more being isolated. He'll be as normal as possible." She tossed the file onto the coffee table and leaned back into the couch. Her stomach was upset.
"We won't be able to hide his gifts," Jarod said gently. "As soon as he's enrolled into any kind of normal school, people will notice."
"Then we won't enroll him into school. I'll home school him if I have to, but there is no way the Centre is going to get their hands on him again," she vowed. She looked over to see that her brother had stopped playing with his toys and was now focused on them. "Come here," she said patting the couch beside her. Scrambling up from the floor, he immediately went to her side. "How would you like a new name?" she asked.
"Why?" the boy questioned. "Mr. Raines always calls me Fusion." It was the most he had said since she rescued him and he spoke eerily fluently for a child of three.
Jarod watched Miss Parker's reaction. If she was surprised at the boy's intelligence, she didn't show it.
Even though she had read the file explaining his intellect, she was still surprised, but she hid it well. She wished the boy had never even met Raines. "Fusion was more of a nickname. How about if I call you Matthew from now on? Would that be ok?" she asked. He didn't answer her right away, seemingly thinking on it.
"Okay," he finally nodded. "Who are you?" he asked the pretender.
"My name is Jarod," he smiled. He held out his hand and Matthew shook it.
All three of them looked to the door when they heard the knob turning and Ethan came in with bags of delicious smelling food.
"What's your name?" Matthew said as he walked over to him.
"I'm Ethan," he told him. "Are you hungry?" He smiled when the boy nodded his head enthusiastically. "Well, I hope everyone likes McDonald's breakfast," Ethan said moving into the kitchen trailed by Matthew.
"McDonald's…I've heard of it, but I've never been to one," Jarod said curious.
Miss Parker rolled her eyes, knowing that McDonald's was soon to become his newest obsession. She joined the rest of them in the kitchen for a mediocre cup of coffee and a hash brown. Nothing else looked appealing and her stomach hurt anyway.
"Aren't you hungry, Parker?" Ethan asked as he looked at her untouched breakfast burrito.
"Not for this hogwash," she said tartly, pushing it toward him. He smiled at her description of the fast food, knowing she was used to the finer things in life.
"I like it," chimed Matthew with a mouthful.
"Me too," agreed Jarod. "It's very good."
"Great," Miss Parker said sarcastically, "now I'm surrounded by three animals." Jarod and Ethan laughed, joined by Matthew who had no idea what he was laughing at. "I'll leave you boys to your troughs," she said standing. She made her way into the bathroom to freshen up.
Once the door was shut behind her, she leaned against it heavily and closed her eyes. The nausea had returned and she felt faint. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead and she was forced to sit down on the toilet lid. After a few minutes of trying to will the feeling away, she heard a soft knock on the door.
"What?"
"It's me. Can I come in?" came Jarod's voice.
"Sure, why not?" Miss Parker said sarcastically. She stayed seated with her eyes closed and listened as the door crept open and then shut again. Her nose was assaulted with his scent, a scent she had come to associate with comfort. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her.
Miss Parker sighed. "Oh, I'm alright. Just tired," she said softly as she rested her forehead against his.
He smoothed his hands across the tops of her thighs. "We should be leaving soon." He knew she was worse off than she was letting on, her face was pale and he could see the sweat on her face. "I need to go back to my family for a while," he said.
"I understand. You haven't even had a proper reunion with your mother."
"You know about her?" he asked surprised.
"The voices told Ethan. Apparently, you were emitting like crazy." She ran her thumb across his stubbly chin. "Don't look so surprised. Believe it or not, you and Ethan have a strong connection, too."
"I want you, Ethan and Matthew to come with me."
Now, it was Miss Parker's turn to be shocked. "Jarod, I don't know. Having to stay with the rest of your family was one thing, but your mother? That's a disaster waiting to happen," she laughed mirthlessly.
"Parker, you and Matthew are a permanent part of my life now. You'll have to face her eventually." He looked at the continued skepticism written all over her face. "Listen," he said taking her hands, "I meant what I said before…I love you. A part of me always has…ever since we were children at the Centre. Maybe it won't be a perfect relationship between you and my family, but I'm not going to let them go…and I won't let you go either." He watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Fine, I'll go." He gave her a huge grin and kissed her lips.
"I love you," he told her again. She didn't say anything and he got up to give her some privacy.
"Jarod?" she called as he reached for the doorknob. Oh, god, she was really going to say it. "I love you, too." He smiled and came back for another longer, deeper kiss.
To be continued...