Chapter Fifty-Five

Saying Goodbye

Twenty-Four hours later…

Miss Parker stared at the dirt mound in front of her. Her father was dead. Tears clouded her eyes but he image of his broken and bloodied body still lay before her. It was an image that she simply could not get out of her head.

They had murdered him. Pure and simple. Her entire body trembled as she tried to push the image of her father's body from her mind. It wouldn't go anyway. It was burned into her conscious mind in such a manner that Parker knew it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Jarod offered some kind words about Mr. Parker. She made a mental note to thank him. He had never liked her father (for good reason) but he was saying what he was saying out of a kindness for her.

Ethan's strong arm support her waist and she clung to Jack's left hand with her own. Both men had become a rock for her in the last twenty-four hours. She barely heard Jarod's final words as he stepped away from the large cross.

She felt, rather than see or hear, Lyle step up to the cross and begin his own eulogy. She didn't care to hear what her brother had to say. Anything he said would be lies.

Miss Parker watched the waves of the ocean crash up against the beach. She had hidden herself away from the rest of the camp. Her cheeks were tear stained and her body ached. She fingered the small bottle of alcohol that Sawyer had given to her, or rather that she had nearly had to beat out of him.

Parker downed the small bottle in one shot. She hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye.

"That's what your gift is for."

Parker didn't jump. "Hi, Aunt Dorothy."

"I'm not Dorothy," the woman said.

Parker didn't look up. "Then who the hell are you?"

The woman said down next to Parker in the sand and wrapped both arms around her, "My poor little girl," she whispered.

Parker let the tears go and her mother held her tightly, while Parker sobbed. Catherine gently brushed Parker's hair against her head, "There, there my little girl. Let it all out. Let it all out."

Jarod helped Ethan collect fruit in the jungle. He felt angry and used. Mr. Parker had been murdered and he had done nothing to stop it.

"There was nothing you could have done," Ethan said.

Jarod angrily through a mango against a tree, shattering it against the trunk of the tree. "I'm supposed to save people," he mumbled.

"Says who," Ethan asked, "Nobody said that you have to save everyone. Jarod, you are not all powerful. You can't save everyone!"

Jarod ignored his brother as he went back to finish picking fruit. It didn't matter what Ethan said, the guilt of Mr. Parker's death would hang over him for the rest of his life.

"Why did they do it," Miss Parker asked her mother, "Why?"

"Because they were afraid of what he knew. Of what he would tell you."

Parker studied her mother, "What do you mean?"

Catherine gingerly reached into Parker's bag and pulled out the scrolls, "They were afraid of the truth. The problem with prophecies is that they only come true, once those who involved become aware of them."

Parker studied her mother, "I don't understand."

"Greek mythology is a perfect example," Catherine said, "Do you remember studying the story of the Iliad in school?"

"Barely," Parker said, brushing the tears from her cheeks. What did any of this have to do with what she had just asked her mother?

"Well," Catherine said, "It was foretold that Paris would destroy Troy, so his family sent him away, but sending him away led him to fall in love with the beautiful Helen. When he brought her back to Troy he sealed their fate, and in a way he destroyed them.

"If people are not made aware of prophecies they do not come true. It is in avoiding their 'fate' that they actually seal it."

Parker pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her cheek down on her knees. She studied her mother, "So you're saying that Daddy knew about the truth that was behind the scrolls. These so called 'Others' then murdered him because they didn't want him to tell me and hence 'seal my fate'? What kind of crap is that?"

Catherine shrugged, "The truth. We all have choices, but sometimes God decides for us."

"God doesn't exist," Parker said, "And there's nothing you can do to make me think otherwise."

"Perhaps," Catherine said.

Parker shook her head, "There are so many things I want to ask you, but right now I'm too angry to think of what they were."

Catherine gently brushed Parker's hair down the back of her neck with her fingers, "Don't worry, Morgan, I remember."

Parker's eyes filled with tears, "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

"You will," Catherine promised, "You will."

Sawyer rested his back against a tree as he opened a new mystery novel. He tried to focus but found he couldn't. "Never thought you'd be one to read mysteries, James," Lyle said coming over.

"Your father just died and you want to torment me," Sawyer asked, setting down his book and looking Lyle. "You're sick."

"And we have a problem," Lyle said.

"Whatever happened before doesn't matter now," Sawyer said, "So don't even start."

"You know that we can't have the truth getting out," Lyle sneered, bending down and looking Sawyer in the eye.

"Who the hell cares," Sawyer asked, "I know I sure as hell don't. Everyone else around here sure as hell doesn't. Hell! Kate Austin's a damn felon and everyone's treating her like a damn hero!" Sawyer leaned forward, so that he was only inches away from Lyle, "The past doesn't matter here, Lyle."

Lyle pointed out to the beach, "It does when he's involved."

Sawyer looked where Lyle was pointing. He was pointing at Locke. "You sure as hell know who he is," Lyle said, "So don't you dare tell me that you don't know the truth."

Sawyer leaned back against the tree, "Yeah, I know who he is and I could care less." Sawyer opened his book back up and pretended to read.

"Tell me the truth about the scrolls," Morgan Parker asked her mother.

Catherine nodded and opened them up, "It's time that you knew the truth. The whole the truth, about your family."

"The true tragedy of my family's secret," Parker whispered. It was half a statement, half a question. Those had been some of the final words her mother had spoken to Sydney. Moments before she had faked her death.

Parker had had such hopes when she had discovered that her mother had faked her death, but she had found out only days later that her mother had died a few months later, anyway. But not before giving birth to her baby brother, Ethan.

"Yes," Catherine said.

Parker had waited so long to hear the truth and now it really didn't seem to matter. None of it really mattered. Jarod had been right, searching for the past here was a mistake. They were here to start over, to begin new lives. They were here to be new people.

"The scrolls talk about the chosen one and the fallen angel," Catherine said, "The scrolls talk about Jarod and… you."

Parker looked at her mother in shock, "Me? What do I have to do with any of it?"

Catherine gently cradled her daughter's hands in between her own, "Everything. The story of the scrolls was purely legend and your father, God help him, didn't want you to have anything to do with the scrolls or with the Centre. That's why-" Catherine paused. Parker studied her mother. Was her death painful even for her? Catherine managed to collect herself and continue, "That's why after I died, your father sent you away to school. Your father didn't want you anymore involved with the Centre than I did."

"So Major Charles – Jarod's father – was right about Daddy?" She almost couldn't believe it. A few years ago, when Major Charles had been held in the Centre he had told Miss Parker about her mother's plan to rescue some of the children, including Miss Parker. As Major Charles had understood it, her father knew about these rescues. Parker had never found out for sure whether or not Major Charles had been correct.

"Yes," Catherine said with a small smile, "Your father and I had many problems in our marriage but one thing that we always agreed upon was doing what was best for you. Your father knew that I was planning to rescue Angelo and Jarod and even gave me and Mr. Fenigor the information we needed to save the two boys. And to save you."

Parker almost couldn't take it. "Daddy tried to save Jarod?" Parker took a few deep breaths, "All these years I thought Daddy was on the one who insisted on keeping Jarod locked up in the Centre."

"Quite the opposite, really," Catherine said, "Politically he couldn't speak out against the Triumvirate, but deep inside all he wanted for Jarod to be free."

"So it was all an act," Parker asked, "all these years that he's been telling me that Jarod's the key and that our survival depends on Jarod staying in the Centre…"

Catherine's face reflected the sadness that Parker knew her mother to be feeling inside. "In the beginning he wanted to Jarod free. After my… death, your father changed. He grew obsessed with the Centre and began to doubt the power of the scrolls. That's how you wound up working for the Centre and Jarod remaining the 'so-called' power of everything."

Parker bit her lip so hard it bled. "Did he really have you killed after the birth of Ethan?"

Catherine's eyes flooded with tears, "No my darling girl, he didn't. I believed Mr. Raines when he said that your father was planning to have me killed after the birth of your brother. Your father, however, had a plan quite the opposite. Your father knew nothing of Mirage at the time of Ethan's conception and I believe he remained in the dark for many years afterwards."

Parker's head was swimming with thoughts. She was a fallen angel and Jarod was a chosen one? Her father had indeed been a loving husband and father. It was a lot for her to take in all at once.

"What about the sisters three," Parker asked, "I don't understand that part."

Catherine shrugged lightly, "That, Margaret and I never discovered."

The picture of Catherine and Margaret flashed through Miss Parker's mind, "You and Jarod's mother," she breathed, "How did you two know each other?"

Catherine gave her daughter a gentle smile, "Margaret used to work for the Centre during the early years when I was with your father. She, like Major Charles, was a prisoner on this island for many years. Charles managed to get away from it all and start a new life for himself. Margaret was not so lucky. She worked for the Centre for many years before Charles came back for her. They ran away together, got married, and not to long after that baby Jarod was born." Catherine gave another lengthy pause, "This was before we knew about the scrolls."

Parker felt short of breath, "I'm almost afraid to ask you to continue."

Ethan gently rearranged his tent. He had never met Mr. Parker, but he knew how important he was Miss Parker. It was important to have family, he knew that too.

"You always have to keep things neat don't you," Ana-Lucia asked, walking up behind Ethan.

Ethan nodded, "Always."

"I'm very sorry about your sister's father," Ana-Lucia said in a quiet voice.

"Thank you," Ethan replied with sincerity. "I never actually met him but he was very important to her." He set down the tin he had in his hand and settled on the sand, "I'm worried about how his death is going to affect her. She's been through so much and now his death might very well just send her over the edge."

Ana-Lucia sat down next to her new friend and gently picked up his hand. She stroked it gently with her fingers, "Ethan if you need anything, promise me that you'll let me know."

He gave her a gentle smile, "I promise."

Parker wandered through the woods on the island, anger building up inside of her with each step. She had refused to listen to anything more her mother had to say on the topic of the scrolls. It was too much for her to deal with. The whole situation was too much for him to deal with.

"Hey there, pretty lady," Sawyer's voice rang out.

Parker stared at Sawyer. She was angry, upset and… her blood was hot. Parker took a few deep breaths. A few years ago she would have simply knocked him the floor and had sex with him. It was how she used to work out her anger and frustration. Used to. She was a different person now. Jarod had seen to that. In fact in her entire life, Jarod had been the only one who had ever understood her. The only one who truly knew who she was.

"Because you're meant for him," a sad voice said from behind her.

Parker was startled. Sawyer was gone. She had even noticed herself transition. She slowly turned around, "Daddy?"

Mr. Parker wrapped his arms around his daughter tightly, "Don't cry Angel. Everything is going to be alright."

Parker's eyes flooded with tears and spilled over. She made no attempt to stop them as she clung to her father's ghost. "Daddy-"

"Hush," Mr. Parker insisted, "Just hush now. I don't want to hear any apologies or anything of the sort. I just want to you remember that I love you. No matter what I've done to you in the past and what's going to happen in your future, I just want you to remember that I love you."

"Daddy-"

"Angel, I haven't got much time," Mr. Parker said. He promptly kissed her on the forehead and cradled her tear stained cheeks in his hands, "Just remember that I love you, promise?"

Miss Parker nodded, "I promise."

Mr. Parker smiled, "Goodbye… Morgan."

Miss Parker's lip trembled as her father disappeared (or she transitioned back to the real world, whichever it was). He had never used her real name before. "Goodbye…"