Chapter Three: Sudden Changes

Present Time: March 9th 2002...

Miss Parker looked around for Broots; she then remembered that she had sent him off to find a good landing spot for the jet. Jarod was starting to come around again. She had no idea what was wrong with him, and that was what worried her the most. "Jarod, I need you to wake up now." Ever so slowly he opened his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"You don't know?"

"I can't... remember." He replied. To Jarod it seemed the world was spinning. He remembered... seeing Sydney. Yes, he was sure of that. He remembered something else. Someone else. Someone had been with him. "Parker?"

"What is it Jarod?"

"I was with someone, I remember that. Where is she?"

Miss Parker got even more worried then before. Had they missed someone? Or had Jarod imagined it? "No one was with you, Jarod."

"Someone was, I remember her." Jarod tried to lift his head, but failed.

"Don't try to move, you might hurt yourself even more." Miss Parker said. She looked around and the only thing she saw were leaves and scattered branches. She pulled off her jacket and used it as a pillow for Jarod's head. "Better?"

"Miss Parker, why are..." Jarod didn't get to finish his question.

Broots came running down the path. "Miss Parker! The jet has arrived and Mr. Lyle was on it!" Broots looked at Jarod and saw that he was awake and starting to appear alert.

"Lyle?" Jarod asked.

"Yeah, you know, the guy without a thumb." Broots said, looking at Jarod with astonishment. Then he looked at Miss Parker, "Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure, I think he is delusional. He keeps referring to some woman, saying she was here."

"What woman?" Broots asked, "He was the only one we found."

"I know, that's what I've been trying to tell him."

"Miss Parker, there's something else, do you know where we are?" Broots whispered so Jarod wouldn't hear him.

"Yeah, about 30 miles in the middle of nowhere." She

answered sarcastically.

"Michelle lives a few miles away from here. We're right next to where Sydney is supposed to be."

"Do you think that..." Miss Parker changed her mind and decided maybe it would be better if she whispered too. "Do you think that the reason Sydney left was to meet Jarod here?"

"It's possible. In fact, that would be my guess."

"Jarod?"

"I'm still here." He said. He was trying to sit up but he was still too weak.

"What were you doing here?" Asked Miss Parker.

"That's what I want to know." Lyle said, coming from the direction Broots had just came from. He walked over to Jarod and knelt down beside him. "It hurts doesn't it? You feel like every bone in your body is on fire. You are light headed, disoriented, maybe even delusional. That was the plan. But worst of all, you can slowly feel yourself slipping away." Lyle whispered to Jarod.

Miss Parker couldn't hear what Lyle was saying, but by the look on Jarod's face he was genuinely scared.

"I can make it go away, Jarod. You help me and I'll help you. Where is she?"

Jarod was starting to come around, and beginning to remember everything. There was a woman, an Asian woman, and she meant something to Lyle. Sydney. Jarod had left her with Sydney. "Safe, now that she is away from you."

"Hmm, too bad for you. It is only going to get worse, Jarod. But I'm a patient man, I can wait. Either it will kill you, or you will answer me to save your own life." Lyle was about to stand up, but changed his mind. "Is it worth it? Is she worth your life?" That said, he looked at Parker and Broots. "Lets get the Centre's precious prodigy home, where he belongs."

~*~

"Where are we going?" Lilly Wu asked Sydney. They had been driving for over an hour now and she hated being trapped in small spaces. At least it wasn't like the room at the Centre that they had locked her in. There were no windows in that dark dungeon, no light, just darkness and the sound of her own breathing. When Jarod had dropped through the air ventilation system, at first she had thought it was Angelo.

She was shocked to find Jarod there. She had seen him before, in pictures. She knew that the people at the Centre wanted him back. Some even asked for her help, but there was no way she would help them drag Jarod back to the hell she knew as the Centre. Angelo had been her only friend in the Centre. He trusted her and answered most of the questions she asked about Jarod.

"Lilly, are you all right?" Sydney asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh. Yes, I'm fine." She felt Sydney watching her.

"Honestly, I'm fine." she said with a fake smile.

"To answer your question, we are going somewhere safe. He wouldn't think of looking for you there."

"Who?" She asked, playing dumb. She knew who. Lyle. No, he couldn't find her wherever she was going. She knew that, Jarod had reassured her. There was something so cold, so evil about Lyle. Something that scared her and chilled her bones. She never wanted him to find her.

~*~

Jarod felt too weak to move and knew he couldn't stop them from taking him. He watched as Lyle gave orders to his sweepers and couldn't help but wish that he could teach Lyle a lesson he would never forget. As if Lyle had heard his thoughts, he turned towards Jarod and gave him a smile that made Jarod sick to his stomach.

Jarod looked away and saw that Miss Parker was on her cell phone talking intently with someone on the other end. He watched her facial expressions and wondered what it was she was discussing, but she spoke quietly and would glance towards Lyle every couple of minutes.

"Jarod, it seems you have been a very busy person lately." Lyle said, looking down at him. "Makes me wonder what you've been up to." He acted casual, as if there wasn't a care in the world. "So what have you been up to?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Jarod said, looking a little intimidating.

"Whoa! There's no reason to be unfriendly, Jarod. We can work together or against each other. Which will it be?"

"You know I would rather die then work with you."

"That can be arranged... Opps!" Lyle put his hand over his mouth and looked slightly terrified. "I forgot that has already been taken care of!" He laughed at Jarod's reaction and walked away saying, "Think about it, Jarod. Living at the Centre can't possibly be worse then death."

"Easy for you to say. You're free." Jarod said to himself.

~*~

Miss Parker watched as Jarod was placed on a gurney and carried to the jet. She had to find out what Lyle was up to. She called Sam over to her side and leaned closer to him so no one would hear their conversation.

"What could you find out, Sam?"

Sam glanced toward the jet while answering her. "I heard two of Lyle's sweepers talking, but I couldn't hear everything they said. What I did hear was something about a project Lyle has been working on. They mentioned a woman..."

"Did they say her name?" Miss Parker asked, cutting Sam off.

"They only referred to her as Black Widow. They also talked a little about how she's connected with Lyle's project. And that Jarod is involved somehow. That was all I was able to overhear."

"Good work, Sam! If only we knew her name." Miss Parker snapped her fingers. "Jarod. He knows her name and probably much more. He'll have to tell me, otherwise I won't be able to help her." Sam looked questioningly at Miss Parker and she knew what he was thinking. "Do you think I'm going to let Lyle get away with whatever he's planning? I'm willing to go as far as helping this woman, but Jarod will have to defend his own case."

~*~

Lilly stared out the window of the cabin Sydney had stuck her in. He had asked her to stay right where she was until someone, most likely Jarod, came to get her. She hated the Centre and all it stood for, and then at the same time she felt sorry for them. They didn't understand the value of a person's life, unless it was Jarod's life.

Lilly believed they would even have him killed when they were done using his abilities to further their goal. She stood still for a moment in deep thought, but was startled out of her reverie by the sound of something dropping on the porch outside. She quickly huddled in the corner and began to pray harder then she had ever thought possible.

~*~

TBC