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Chapter 95 - Welcome to Jacksonville

Edward

Twenty-five years.

In some ways, it seemed to fly by, and in others, I was still waiting for the next second to turn. After the final EDEN lab fell, Bella had had all she could take. We learned the brothers had escaped and had gone into hiding, which terrified her. I had almost been captured by Aro Volturi more than once, as had my children. He had known who I was and where I had been all along, but my family had done an excellent job of protecting me. Had I not slipped out of the mental institution that night, he would have falsely deemed me insane, so he could have kept me, and then gone after my children as well. I could truly say that my Love had saved my life that night, and the lives of our children.

After we left the base, we moved from the states and settled our not-so-little family into the same European villa that Claire and Leo had passed up. So much had happened in my beloved's life that she begged for the quiet with our family alone, so I granted her wish, and we left the states and anything that had to do with the nightmare of EDEN behind for the English countryside.

My parents had been blessed with two sons out of the EDEN mess, Ethan and Eric. Derrick had come to adore Esme, and when he read the sorrow and loss she had felt when she had been informed that she would not be taking in Claire's child, that sealed the deal in Derrick's mind. Ethan was not deemed to be gifted like the others, and it seemed little Eric was not, either, and so Derrick stayed with Jack and Lizzy and gave up his brothers to Carlisle and Esme in hopes that someday, they would have a normal, happy life.

Claire and Leo had a nice little home built just off the base on the surrounding land, along with several of the other couples. To Jack's great astonishment and pleasure, everyone called it Jacksonville and settled a new little town, filled with gifted and loving people. We had our own little house there for when we would come to visit, but it was not often. My sweet wife was terrified that I would get wrapped up in the EDEN mess again.

That left Jack and Elizabeth to come and visit us as often as they could, but since they had their hands full with all of their children, it was unfortunately not as often as I would have wished. Carlisle and Esme did visit with us often and us them, as they no longer lived on or by the base. They, too, had tried to live lives away from EDEN influences; they wanted their boys to never fear of such things again.

Little Eric had taken quite a shine to Ethan and also my father, thus teaching young Ethan to trust my father. I missed Eric and often thought of Derrick. I truly wished I could have kept some of the children myself, but our hands were full as it was with our six kids. We were blessed with another set of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, and shortly thereafter, Bella insisted on permanent prevention. My little family had grown and consumed me whole, for which I was very pleased.

For years, I still woke up screaming at night, terrified of my dreams. I was scared I had lost or forgotten someone. The horrors I had witnessed were too much to bear at times, until I held my own children in my arms and knew we were all safe. Therapy helped some. However, I knew in the back of my mind that we never really would be safe again.

Bella

Even after all these years, I still found myself looking over my shoulder, watching every stranger, ever protective of my children and my husband. I whisked my family away from the base as soon as possible, hoping it would ease Edward's night terrors. I had seen only a few of the horrors, but I had been able to leave the room and avoid what he had been forced to endure. I tried to keep him busy, sending him to our daughters' dance classes and having him tutor our sons, but at night, he would still awaken, shaking and reaching for me, holding me tight. I hated the men who had done this to him and wished I could take this from him. With some therapy, he finally began to get better, but he still to this day occasionally had flashbacks.

Edward would still disappear into his study at length and speak with Jack on Skype, checking on the children he had saved. They were all grown now, many with children of their own, but he still worried over them. I began to feel guilty for taking him away, but then I'd overheard them a number of times over the years, speaking of people they suspected of trying to start up EDEN again, making me glad I'd stood firm in my decision. I couldn't take my family back to that. I didn't want my husband to go back to that. I feared he wouldn't survive it again. He frequently spoke to Derrick and Nine, who decided to keep his name as it was. The children of the base had just about used up all the normal names in the baby name book and then some. A few kept their number names, not feeling the need for a new name.

The little town they had settled seemed to flourish, but there was an ominous feeling every time we visited, as if they were always waiting for the evil to rise again, and I hoped it never would, or if it did, that my family would be safe from it.

Carlisle

With time, little Ethan warmed up to me. Baby Eric seemed to love me right from the start. We were so blessed, when Derrick agreed to give him up to us. We had stayed another year on the base before moving on. All the babies were delivered, many of them put up for adoption, and Leo was officially a real doctor and could take my place. Esme was a little heartbroken to be leaving the children, but as our boys did not appear to be gifted, we felt it was best that we go and try to give them a normal, happy life. We had stayed in close touch with Jack, naming him and Elizabeth the godparents of our boys. The same was deemed of us with little Rusty and Elysia, the first two children Jack and Elizabeth had adopted.

The first of many I might add.

They were insistent on making sure all the children were in a family group of some sort, whether it was in theirs or another of the new family pairings that came about after the rescue from EDEN. Jack and Elizabeth had taken on twenty-three of their own, but I believed they definitely had enough love to go around for all of them. They had adopted the children I had saved from the second lab and kept most of the kids Edward had saved from there as well. The older children helped with the younger ones and cared for the others who came to join their family as well. Sophronia was pleased that her new mother, Elizabeth, had also adopted her daughter, Elysia, and she was able to help care for her as well as still be a child herself. I truly wished them a happy, joy-filled life.

Jack

Amazing, it was the only words I could find to describe it. In twenty-five years, my family had grown faster than weeds in the rainy season. I went from having no one to having everyone and a wonderful wife to share it with. I knew she missed her son, but the young ones kept her on her toes and too busy to be down about it. I spoke with Edward often and did not blame his wife for trying to take him away from the mess we had found ourselves in. The problem was, he had already been stung by the hornets, even though we had destroyed the nest. I could tell he wasn't sleeping well and that he was still dealing with the mental wounds he had received. I think maybe it affected him more, because he realized the hell he'd found could have been his life and that of his mother's. That right there was enough to give me nightmares.

He would often call me and speak to me of things he would remember, hoping we could catch the brothers, as it was reported that they had escaped. I worried Edward was getting obsessive about it, but I didn't know what to do to reassure my son that we were doing everything in our power to keep everyone safe. He also spoke to Derrick and Nine, as both were leaders of sorts among the children. I had spoken with them both privately, telling them it was important for them to reassure Edward that all was well, as he was a kind-hearted man, not dealing well with the horrors he had seen. They were sure to speak jovially of the goings on of the base and town. None of what they said were lies, but the fact of the matter was the same. They were still on alert. They knew we wouldn't hurt them, but they also knew there were people out there who would. I truly wished I could have taken that worry away from them.

It was four years ago that we formed the Masen Task Force. Most of my children were grown and married, and I had several grandchildren, as any man would who had twenty-three children to start with. The children used their gifts to find and remove any threats of those who wanted to open EDEN again. They were fast and efficient, and once police officials became aware of them, I quickly stamped out any leaks, keeping my family hidden in exchange for help on difficult cases. What often took normal men years to solve took my kids weeks, if that. To say I was proud was an understatement.

With great joy, our second generation of children had grown up in a world where EDEN was not thriving, and I could tell by the joy on their faces and the happiness in their laughter that all was right in our world.

At least for now.

Francine

Life on the base and in Jacksonville was wonderful. Our families flourished, but I could tell Derrick was not satisfied. We had yet to be married; he continued to put it off, not wanting to wed until after the threat was completely gone. We were finding more and more links to EDEN and taking them out with speed, but Derrick was getting frustrated that such sick people could come to such great power in this day and age. He was angry that no one kept the evil in check in our world. He wanted Jack to be doing more, but really, there was nothing more we could do and still leave mankind with free will.

At night, his thoughts would often drift to his little brothers he had given up. I knew he truly missed them. He hoped after forming the task force that he'd make the world safe and would have had a better chance to sneak out and see Eric, the brother he had been closest with, but that was not the case. He hadn't seen his brother for over twenty years now, and it broke his heart.

Ophelia's visions prompted her to ask Jack to keep Elysia away from Eric, because she wasn't his true mate. This also bothered Derrick. He wasn't pleased that his brothers wouldn't be mated with gifted women, but I would remind him that his brothers were not gifted themselves and would be most content with non-gifted girls.

I spent many days working with Nine on strategies to track and remove threats. His wife, 726, was expecting, and he didn't want her in the field anymore, even if she was our best agent. I couldn't agree more and was envious of their predicament. Everyone seemed to be settling down, but Derrick and I always seemed up in the air. He was too focused on wining a war that no one was fighting with him. His obsession became too great, and his aggression became much more pronounced.

He had been yelling at Jack that we should be taking over the world, so we could police the bastards better, but Jack didn't agree. Jack was a man who believed in freedom, not ruling over people for their own safety, and this was where Derrick and Jack's views parted ways and eventually led to my mate's departure. He was a good man, just misguided. He had been gone for a few years now, and I missed him.

Ophelia seemed exceptionally disturbed as of late, having visions of serious trouble soon finding Eric and Ethan, and eventually Derrick. Something was brewing, and I could feel it in my very core that all hell was about to break loose, people were going to die, and Derrick needed to finally be shown who the weaker link truly was.

I think it was time for me to go find him and straighten him out...

A/N: This is the end of EDEN….or is it? The next installment is the original Isle of Dreams (EDEN version), which picks up 25 years after this chapter. Eric and Ethan are now all grown up. Bella and Edward had been featured as the main characters originally to keep it a Twilight story, but they are now only mentioned as older relatives in this adaptation.

For Eric, being stranded on a tropical island with a baby and a beautiful girl was a pleasant dream compared to how his life had turned out back home. Of course, his devoted big brother, Ethan, won't let him stay missing for long. Unfortunately, Ethan finding Eric also puts them at risk for EDEN finding them again. Top that off with hurricanes, pirates, and their long lost brother, Derrick, being hell bent on world domination, and you've got yourself one nasty nightmare...