Rushing, whispering, fleeting,
Soaring in the sky
Flying,
falling, dying,
But never knowing why.
Chapter 11 Echoes
She closed her eyes, not wanted to
think about what would happen next. What would happen when the pain stopped, the
overwhelming pain that gnawed on her every thought. The pain the drugs caused
interrupted all concentration so she could barely Read anyone. She felt empty
and alone without it. She could no longer sense Jarod. She was scared; alone and
lost without a world so few ventured in.
Cox would come to visit her. To
taunt her in his calm, complacent voice. He asked her every time; "Will you help
us?"
She tried to resist, but it seemed easier to let go. She had to
remember what she was fighting for. But freedom seemed so far away, like a dream
or a distant memory. The burning pain in her mind pushed it away. She was
losing.
* * *
Through the hiatuses of time, where pain subsided
to a dull aching, Lyle took the opportunity and came to see her. It was an odd
relief to see him open the door to her cell, rather than Mr. Cox. He spoke
briefly with her.
"Hey, Leigh," Lyle whispered.
"What do you
want?" she asked, her voice was hoarse.
He looked away, "I am sorry for
what happened to you. This project was never supposed to get this out of hand."
"Out of hand, what was it supposed to be?"
Lyle acted as if he
wanted to say something, but stopped.
She sighed, "I guess I am supposed
to except your apology, shrug off all you have done to me, right Lyle?"
"You are still defiant even when I am trying to help."
"What do
you expect, Lyle. I told you that this place, the Centre, is not good. I will
never forgive you for what you have done to me and to Jarod."
"I, I
understand."
She was surprised by his words. An apology, from Lyle. She
must be dreaming. Maybe, deep down, there really was a human being inside the
man. She shook her head. These drugs must really be getting to me, she thought,
either that or I'm going insane.
She shuttered as searing bolts of pain
shot through her senses.
"Leigh, what did he give you? You can tell me."
She cringed, but managed a weak smile, "Nothing too different than what
you were giving me," she closed her eyes, "Your old favorite, monohetris and
phenosarapine."
"The truth drug?"
"Yes, he also used…" she shook
harder, "Propranolol… and…"
"Shh… it's okay, Leigh, just tell me. I can
help you."
"L… SD," her face contorted in pain.
"Is that all?"
She nodded.
"Do you know what the effects are?"
She
nodded, "I'm losing," Leigh whispered, "Please help me Lyle," she whispered.
"I will, just tell me what is going to happen, what do these drugs do?"
"When the drugs are mixed, they make… the user d-dependent. When the
program of drugs is finished, Leigh can't block Reading anymore. When it's
finished, no one is left to fight him… Cox, when it's finished…"
"Cox
controls your mind," he determined.
She shuttered. Lyle slipped her hand
into his. He held it tightly as her strength ebbed out.
* * *
Leigh had seen TV stories about people lost or captured that lost their
mind. She never expected it to happen to herself.
I try to bury all
thoughts away, deep into my mind, where the drugs would never reach them. If Cox
found them… Found them? With a shovel? I laughed to myself. Never let them go,
mine, my thoughts. Never let Cox touch them. He finds out what I'm hiding, he'll
take them away, then I'll have none.
More thoughts, confused thoughts
rippled through her mind. She could barely understand them, let alone think
straight enough to focus on them. She tried to shove them away, keep the drugs
from touching them. Like when Jarod first came back.
Her Reading was
irrepressible, she used others thoughts to make up for her own. It was making
her go insane trying to figure out what she was, or what others, were thinking.
The drugs destroyed her consciousness. Cox played on her confusion, trying to
get her to get her to forget everything, every reason as to why she was fighting
him. But no drug could ever take that away from her.
Sydney
knocked quietly on the door. He opened it cautiously when he heard no response.
He had found her at last. She was lying on the bed; her blue eyes were closed.
He sat next to her bed and shook her gently.
"Leigh?" he said in his
mildly accented voice.
She moved slightly and opened her eyes. He saw a
flicker of recognition dance across her eyes. She inhaled sharply. When he
reached his hand out to brush her hair out of her face, she sat up, avoiding his
hand.
He smiled warmly, "Leigh, are you alright?"
She hugged her
knees and started to rock back and forth. When he reached out again, she cringed
and covered her head with her arms. He put his hand on her shoulder. She batted
it away, but allowed him to reach out again. Sydney looked into her deep, blue
eyes. She glanced up and returned his stare for a fraction of a second, but
looked quickly away. This time she did not move when he brushed her hair aside.
He saw a long scar under her eye. He lifted her head up to see it better. When
he touched it, she struggled and covered her face. He grabbed her arm to move it
away, but he stopped when he saw even more scars on her wrist. Leigh closed her
eyes when he rolled up the sleeve of her shirt. Small bruises covered her arm
where needles full of different chemicals had been injected.
"Who did
this to you?" he asked her.
Leigh shook her head.
"Leigh, please
tell me."
He was startled by her speech, "No, no, no say. Not let, not
let," she murmured.
"Was it Lyle?" he asked.
"No, no."
"Who was it?"
"No say, not let. No say, no say," she shook her
head violently.
"Was it Cox?"
She stared at him sadly, "No say,"
she said softly.
"It was Cox."
The door behind him opened. Leigh
peered anxiously over Sydney's shoulder to see who it was. When she saw Cox'
face, she cowered in the corner of her bed, rocking and muttering, "No, no, no,
no say, no, no…"
"Sydney, get out."
Sydney turned to Cox, "How
could you do this? She's a child!"
"She is the property of the Centre."
Sydney watched as Cox stuck out his hand. Obediently, Leigh offered her
arm to him. She moaned as he injected a drug into her arm.
"No, no, no,
no, no say, no say!" she shrieked.
"Shut up," Cox ordered.
She
started to cry. She twisted her arm out of his grasp. "No say," she whispered.
Cox leaned over to her and whispered something to her that made her start
shouting again. He grabbed both of her arms and shook her. "Say it, Leigh!"
"No say, no, no, no say!"
She gasped in pain. The drug was
beginning to take effect. She grabbed the sides of her head. "Say it!" he said.
Leigh shuttered briefly, "I, I work f-for the C-Centre, f-for the
Centre, n-now. I w-work f-for the Centre now, I work for the Centre now."
Sydney carefully picked up one of the bottles off the counter and left.
* * *
"Sodium phenithol phenosarapine," Broots said.
"What is
it?" asked Sydney.
Broots glanced nervously at Miss Parker and Sydney.
"You don't want to know."
"What?"
"It is a mind
controlling truth drug. It works from the inside out."
Sidney asked
cautiously, "What do you mean by that?"
Broots read from the computer,
"It says that it attacks the subconscious slowly by creating bizarre and
realistic dreams. With the help of LSD and an ultra-high dose of propranolol,
not only do those dreams become hallucinations, but also the blockage of
serotonin causes gaps in memory and extreme mood swings. The dreams invade the
conscious mind by disrupting thought processes, advancing activity in some areas
of the brain and lowering function in others. It also says that 'certain drugs
can lower or heighten certain functions'."
"So basically, Cox can pick
and choose between what to sedate and what to stimulate."
Miss Parker
picked up on what Sydney was saying, "He is increasing her Reading ability and
lowering her other brain functions. With what?"
Broots looked back at
the monitor. "He is also administering monohetris. Lyle said it increases her
Reading ability."
"The monohetris is working in her favor this time. As
he gives it to her, she absorbs personalities of people she Reads. The other
drugs attack her mind, destroying the new personalities, which makes them act as
a guard. Her own personality may be unaffected, hidden somewhere," said Sydney,
thinking, "He must not know that."
"The monohetris is not a failsafe,
and possibly Cox may have simply targeted areas in her brain associated with
speech and language. Her conscious may not be breaking down, just her English."
"But how can we help her?!" Sydney emphasized his words by throwing his
hands up into the air.
"It's time we have a discussion with Mr. Lyle,"
Miss Parker said angrily.
Lyle was staring at his computer when
they entered. Miss Parker got right to the point without pleasantries.
"What is Cox doing to Leigh?"
Lyle sighed. "You already know
what he's doing to Leigh if you are here," he looked meaningfully at Broots who
shifted nervously under his gaze.
"How," asked Miss Parker, "Why?"
Lyle looked back at the monitor; "He's creating the prefect savant. Some
one who's willing to do anything and smart enough to. A speaking Angelo without
the conscience. I've been trying to find what drugs he has been using. She said
monohetris, phenosarapine, LSD, and propranolol."
"A witches' brew of
mind altering drugs," said Sydney.
"All with no apparent cure," Lyle
finished.
"What? No, that can't be true!" shouted Sydney aghast.
"The only person who could possibly save her is Jarod; but you'll have
to find him first."
"Then that's exactly what we will do," finished Miss
Parker.
* * *
Sweepers came to her room at night with their
nondescript ties and their nondescript suits. As she slept peacefully, they
carried her to a room several floors down. The wall next to the bed was covered
with a huge mirror. When she awoke the next day she seemed calmer and more aware
than the past few days. She stood up and stared at the mirror, contemplating.
She then banged on it several times, "Let me out!" she shouted. She stopped
suddenly when she finally noticed her own reflection. Her hair was unkempt; her
eyes were hollow and blackened like the "druggies" that infested her school. She
put her hand up to her reflection as if to rub it away. She suddenly drew back
her fist and slammed it into the mirror. She whipped around and folded her arms.
She glared at the floor.
She heard the door open behind her. She turned
to attack, but stopped when she saw it was Mr. Cox. She bowed her head
respectfully and backed up several steps.
"How are you today, Leigh?"
"Fine, sir," she murmured.
"Good. I am glad that you are more
alert today. I have another test for you. One of our clients is interested in a
certain file in the CIA's database but a code has eluded their top computer
experts. We have started Jarod on this task but he seems uncooperative. We need
you to change that."
They walked side by side down a narrow
corridor, walking calmly past a group of three that stared at them in shock. It
was dark, but Leigh knew what faces watched her pass. With Cox at her side, they
did not matter to her. Leigh barely even glanced at them. She had more important
things to do than to notice them. She was the Centre's Reader, and she had a job
to do. She just walked by with a serene expression.
The sweeper stepped
respectfully out of the way as Leigh and Cox reached the door to Jarod's room.
Jarod was standing near the bed when they walked in. When he stepped towards
Leigh, one of the sweepers delivered him a punishing blow across the face.
Temporarily stunned, Jarod collapsed into the sweeper's arms. He was dragged to
a chair, tied to it and handcuffed.
"Leigh, are you okay?" he asked
worried.
She stared coldly at him, "You have information the Centre
needs, I was brought here to get it."
"Leigh? No, what did you do to
her?" he shouted wildly.
"I work for the Centre now, Jarod, and you
will, too."
"So far, Jarod has only worked out the first
nineteen keys," she wrote them down on a page Cox handed her.
Cox
stepped quietly out of the room when Leigh had assured him that she could finish
faster if he was not there.
"Get out of my mind, Leigh," Jarod
uttered accusingly when he left.
She smiled blankly at him, "Why resist
Jarod? Escape is hopeless, you know that. I can Read your thoughts; I know what
you do and say and think. The Centre is watching every move you make, and so am
I. It would be easier for us if you would willingly tell us what we need to
know. It takes longer if you do not comply, but we will have an answer."
"Why Leigh, what did they do?"
"I told you, I work for the
Centre now."
"Leigh, why?"
"I WORK FOR THE CENTRE NOW!" she
screamed at him.
He pushed back in surprise. "What did they do, Leigh,
please tell me I can help you."
"I work for the Centre now, there is
nothing else for me. I work for the Centre now."
"Why?" he edged her on,
trying to break what barriers Cox established in her mind.
"Nowhere for
me to go, I don't have anyone. I work for, for…" she muttered dolefully.
"The Centre?" he finished for her, "You have me, you know that. I can
help you, you must see that."
She looked at him with piercing eyes that
wanted to say more.
"You stayed in the link. You helped them then, so
I'm helping them now."
"I did it for you, to give you a break from them.
Please trust me."
She sat down on the cold floor.
"You… will
help us. We, we need you to help the Centre."
"Please Leigh, tell me
what's holding you with them?"
He kept wondering, deep in his mind, if
the walls the drugs had put up, and those it had torn down could ever be
repaired.
She wanted to say more to him. The one who she had captured.
She wanted to say she cared, or to explain what she was doing, but she couldn't.
Something held that back, but something even deeper pushed forward. A rain of
emotions fell over her face, despair, confusion, sadness… She tried to say
something, but the goddamned drugs stopped her.
She stared into his
eyes. They were so caring and understanding, but as much as Jarod could pretend,
he could never pretend her pain. But she could make him.
She walked up
to him, his chained body unsure of her next movements. The words 'Friend or
foe,' danced on his mind, he remain cautious. She no longer needed to close her
eyes to Read. Freedom.
"You know why I'm helping them, why I'm against
you? You bastard."
Jarod blinked, shocked at her words.
"Don't
act like you don't know." Her face almost touched his.
"Leigh, what is
it? What happened?"
She slapped him across the face. "YOU KILLED MY
FUCKING PARENTS!"
"No, I didn't!"
"You told them where they
were, where I was, what I was."
"I had no choice! Leigh, please. They
made me choose between… between your parents and you. They would have killed all
of you if I hadn't."
"I'll make you wish you hadn't."
"Please
Leigh, don't do this."
"You killed my parents, brought me here, and let
me help Lyle." She tied into Jarod, tapping his mind and like a strobe light,
flashed images of the day they died to him.
"Leigh, please, it's too
much."
She fired them, images of their death; the pain she had felt with
them as they died. The bullet that sliced their skin, draining her life with it.
"Stop! It hurts, Leigh please!"
Leigh increased the ferocity of
the memories.
Jarod concentrated on his former life at the Centre;
anything strong enough to make her stop the day he was captured, Kenny and
Damon's betrayal, the day Lyle tried to kill him-
"I know how that felt,
you forget I was their test subject while you were gone. I learned about you to
find you." She released him.
Jarod gasped in air, moaning in pain. She
smiled. He closed his eyes as small rivulet of blood ran from his nose. Probably
some brain damage, she thought. Cox will not be happy if I damage him.
"What did you do?"
"Quid pro quo. That was the day they died. I
was Reading them; I felt them die."
Jarod stared at her in shock. "You
felt that, they died with you in their mind? You can make others feel that?"
"Yes."
She watched him as he proceeded it.
"You made
that happen."
"Leigh, I never thought…"
"Obviously."
"Listen! I told them where you were before I knew the truth. They told
me there was a complication. That only you or your parents would live, and that
I had to choose which who. I had no idea they would kill on purpose." Leigh
regarded him; tears sparkled in her eyes.
"It's not fair!"
"I
know, Leigh. What the Centre did to both of us was wrong. Leigh, I know they
hurt you, but I want you to know I never wanted to do that to you. I want to
help you, please let me help you."
"You can't help me Jarod."
"Leigh give me a chance- let me try."
"You don't get it, do you?
You have no idea what this is like."
"What?"
"You tried so hard
to Read; I don't try, I don't start, I end."
"I don't understand."
"Reading is a release. A constant. Lyle and Cox- they knew. Monohetris
destroys the blocks I put up against my ability. It takes to much to stop it,
Cox prevented any possibility of stopping my Reading. I can't think without
someone else in my head. The voices are always there." She crossed the room to a
counter-top where Lyle kept the drugs he used on Jarod.
"Leigh, what are
you doing?" He asked.
She picked up one bottle and a syringe.
"Ring-a-ring o'roses."
"Leigh?"
She drew out 5 c.c.s of
the liquid, and threw the bottle to the floor.
"Leigh, what is that."
"Did you know of all the poisons Lyle kept in your room? There's quite
an interesting collection, if you care to look."
"Leigh, don't do this."
She stared at him, serene, as if she never heard him. "Torture was
always simpatico to Lyle. I wonder why he changed so suddenly, I wonder if Bobby
is alive again, no," she decided.
"Leigh, put down the syringe."
"Pocket full of posies."
She glanced at him, "It won't hurt."
She said as if it were obvious.
Jarod looked up at her in fear. "Leigh,
you should put the syringe down."
"Blue something, ringed, bottled, heck
I don't know. Hapalochlaena lunulata, yes blue-ringed octopus. A pretty choice;
I do believe your VCTF friends encountered it once, huh?"
She walked
over to Jarod, stroking the sides of his face in an abnormal manner. He was
worried about how far she would go. He studied her.
"I like your mind
Jarod. So clean and perfect, innocent. Yet you hold terrible secrets and torture
that never stop hounding you. But you have a family."
She stared at him
accusingly and began to play with the syringe in her hands.
"A-tishoo!
A-tishoo! Did you know that it wasn't originally ashes?"
"Don't let it
end like this. I can help you, Leigh."
"No, the affects are permanent,
Cox made certain."
"Please, let me try."
"No."
"You
don't have to do this."
"Jarod, you have nothing to be afraid of, I'm
not going to inject you."
Leigh gazed into his eyes. They were so warm;
she knew they were not the eyes of a killer. With all he had done, she couldn't
forget all he did as Oniscus.
"I Read them, I Read them all. Lyle, Cox,
Sydney… They don't understand our pain. They don't understand why, even Sydney.
I've been in Lyle's mind. Through the torture and the walls the Centre put up in
him, I found Bobby. But he never will. I don't want this anymore, I hate this! I
want to have a normal life, away from the Centre, isolated from others' minds.
You take it for granted. You struggle to obtain what I curse."
"Leigh, I
know you feel like you're trapped forever that way, that's what the Centre wants
you to think. They don't want you to hope; they'll crush you if you let them.
Fight them! Please, stay with me, fight!"
"No, I won't anymore."
"Please, Leigh, stop, don't do this!"
She pushed the needle into
her stomach. "We all fall down." She pressed the plunger down.
Slowly,
she sank to her knees. Her mouth open, she struggled to breathe. Jarod watched
frozen in horror as she collapsed on the floor.
He screamed for help,
from anyone.
Cox entered, along with the sweepers guarding the door.
Immediately he tore over to Jarod, punching him in the stomach. "What did you
do?"
Jarod gasped for breath.
"Answer me!" He shook Jarod.
"She took poison. She said it was the blue-ringed octopus. I tried to
stop her."
"Get her out of here," he barked to a sweeper.
"She
can live, she has a chance. If you…"
"No, Jarod, I don't think she'll
live. It's a pity, but…"
"Don't let her die!"
"No, she took too
much, you shouldn't have let her, but there is nothing we can do now."
"That's a lie! You can save her, you bastard! Don't kill her! She
doesn't have to die!"
Cox stood up and walked out as Jarod screamed at
him, "What are you doing?"
"Sydney! Miss Parker! Please help her!"
Leigh flicked the kickstand on her bike down. A curl of dust
followed her from the empty desert. She walked past a group of teenagers. They
were frozen, faceless creatures fixed in their pointless positions forever. A
girl with curly blonde hair caught Leigh's attention as she walked passed. As
she glanced back at the girl, her statue face smiled, then disappeared,
forgotten.
From an endless, empty stretch of road, a line of black cars
raced down towards her. As it passed the teens, they crumbled. Pieces of the
mannequins scattered under the tires. Leigh stared, not blinking as the heat of
the desert distorted the images of the broken statues. She stopped, allowing
them to encompass her in a cage of black chrome. She watched one, passively. A
hand pushed the door outward, beckoning to her. Leigh slowly made her way across
the pavement to the open door. Lyle held her hand as she stepped inside, the car
evaporating her form. The door slammed shut. As the limousine sped off into the
road's infinity a ghostly face appeared in the rear window.
Ring-a-ring o'roses
Pocket full of posies
A-tishoo!
A-tishoo!
We all fall down…
THE END
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