Call Me Sarah
Chapter Ten
"Yes?" the voice answered with a regal air.
"Stefano, we have a problem. Sarah has awoken."
There was a slight pause as the voice on the other end absorbed the news.
"How did this happen? Did the chip malfunction?"
"Rolf is checking the equipment now but as far as we can tell, her chip has not been activated."
"So tell me how this happened." The voice repeated with a cold edge of anger.
"We do not know, Stefano." Celeste replied calmly. "You know as well as I that Sarah has never been entirely.stable. Apparently, Chloe suffered a shock this evening and Sarah awoke as a result."
"Damn!" Stefano muttered darkly. "What does she remember?"
"I will not know until I talk with her. However the fact that she has not contacted us is at least a cause for hope."
There was another pause on the line. Celeste could almost hear her employer's mind race. "Hmmm. If the chip was not activated, then the personality switch would be incomplete. She would not remember her mission, nor have any memories of the years before coming to Salem except, of course, for the false memories which we implanted in her mind. All is not yet lost." He added softly. "Where are you?"
"I am en route to Salem now, Stefano."
"Do you remember the code phrase?"
"Of course, Stefano. Do not worry, dahling. I will take care of Sarah."
"Do not fail me in this, Celeste. Everything that we have worked for in the last seven years will be for naught if she is discovered."
"I understand Stefano. Celeste out."
Sarah's blue eyes lost focus as she gazed out over the water. "She watched them die." She repeated softly. "Heard their screams. Saw the blood. God, it was everywhere. It seeped into her skin and stained her nightgown, scarlet on white. She saw it all, from her position under the dining room table."
Brady listened quietly as she spoke; he was too stunned to say anything.
"I remember this because I was born in that moment. In that moment of pain, fear and loss, I was created, to bear what she could not. I carry the burden of memory, so Chloe can live in the blissfulness of ignorance. What she cannot remember, I cannot forget." Sarah fell silent then, her face reflecting the pain of the vivid memories.
"What happened?" Brady gently prodded.
Sarah looked at him and smiled sadly. "She was ten, the day her parents died. They weren't her biological parents, but they might as well have been. She loved them totally and completely, especially her father. She and her father were very close, perhaps too close. I think her mother may have been jealous of the attention that Mr. Lane showered on Chloe. Mrs. Lane was at times, cold and distant. That night was one of those times.
They were running late that night. I don't even remember where they were going; movies, a classical concert. Chloe desperately wanted to go and her father wanted to bring her, but her mother was adamant. Chloe would stay behind with a sitter. She didn't even let Chloe say goodbye to her father, she just yanked him out the door and toward the car. But as Mr. Lane was helping his wife into the car, he turned toward the front door where Chloe was standing and mouthed the words, 'I love you.'
And that was the last time she saw them. It wasn't even a few hours later when a cop showed up and broke the news that the Lanes had been killed in a car accident. Her parents were dead and shortly after she was shipped off to an orphanage."
Sarah paused then, and glanced out over the bobbing waters. Brady joined her in staring at the dark water. His heart twisted in sadness and sympathy for Chloe's pain. He had known that she was an orphan, but he didn't KNOW it, didn't stop to think what it meant. She had lost both her parents, like he had lost his mom. He glanced back at Sarah when he heard her quiet intake of breath.
"At least, that's the story as Chloe remembers it." She continued. "This is what really happened. A few hours later, after Chloe had gone to bed, she woke after hearing a noise from below. She crept down the stairs and was filled with joy to hear that her parents were home from their evening out. She stopped in the dining room. Angry voices floated in from the kitchen.
'Calm down, Emily. She's just a child.' Her father's voice soothed.
'That's just my point. She IS a child. Yet sometimes I think you love her more than you do me.'
'Don't be ridiculous, Em.'
Chloe held her breath at the exchange. When she heard her parents' approaching footsteps, she scrambled under the dining room table to avoid discovery.
'I thought adopting a child would help our marriage.' Her mother was saying softly. 'Instead she's only driven us further apart.'
Chloe blinked back her tears - she couldn't believe what her mother was saying.
Her father sighed heavily. 'Can't we at least wait until the babysitter leaves before you recite the - I ruined your life - speech?' he asked softly. He called out into the house. 'Jenna! We're home!' He and his wife reached the dining room and looked around.
'That's strange, all the lights are off. Jenna!' he called, louder this time.
Chloe wiped her eyes and hid even further under the table. After what she had overheard she certainly didn't want to see her parents. That's when she saw it." Sarah broke off.
"Saw what?" Brady asked.
"There, on the floor not five feet in front of her lay the body of Chloe's favorite sitter.
'Jenna?' she whispered hoarsely, her little eyes wide with fear and shock. Jenna's wide unblinking eyes stared back at the little girl. Chloe could see the large gash on her throat and the rivers of dark red blood that poured from it. Finally after what seemed like minutes, Chloe tore her gaze away from the still body. And locked onto a dark figure hiding in a corner.
'Jenna!' her father called softly and Chloe heard several muted clicks as her father repeated flicked the light switch. 'The power's out. Stay close, Emily.' He said as the entered the room. 'You don't know what we may.Oh my God. Jenna.' He breathed as they came across her prone form.
'Emily, call 911! Tell them to get an.' but he never finished his sentence. For at that moment, the shadowy assailant lunged at him. Chloe saw a brief flash of sharpened steel and then he too was lying still on the floor. A second later, her mother joined him on the floor in her own bloody heap.
Chloe shook herself out of her paralyzed shock. 'Daddy!' she cried out and scrambled toward his body. She shook him and hugged him, pleading with him to get up, to move, to not leave her. But he was already dead. And Chloe sat there in a pool of her father's blood, watching it wash over her hands and soak into her nightgown."
"Oh my Lord." Brady breathed when Sarah fell silent. "They were murdered. And she witnessed it." No wonder Chloe was so screwed up. He sat quietly and pondered the significance of what he'd just learned.
"What happened then?" he asked softly.
Sarah frowned in thought as she searched her hazy memories. "I don't really remember. I see images - jumbled together, none of them making sense. I remember hiding from the bastard who murdered my father - I mean - Chloe's father. He reached his hand out for me.and.then there was darkness." She gnawed her lip. Her mind seemed to grow fuzzier with each passing minute.
"Did.did he abduct you?"
"I don't know..Yes.No.maybe.I, I don't know." She growled in frustration. She stood up quickly and turned away from the edge of the pier. She shook her head to clear her mind. This introspection crap was quickly getting on her last nerve.
"What happened next?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" She yelled, her temper getting the better of her. A strange sensation nagged at the corner of her mind. There was something she was supposed to do. A mission she was supposed to complete, but the confusion in her mind made it hard to think. Conflicting images and memories warred in her mind. Her memories were becoming so fragmented that what she thought she knew ten minutes ago was now uncertain and unclear.
She inhaled deeply and sought to calm herself. {I can't believe I got so carried away just now. I even forgot about my mission. Wait, that's right, I don't know what my mission is, what I'm supposed to be doing here.}
Brady scrambled to his feet, unsure of what had just happened. Sarah had seemed on the verge of really opening up, but now once again she had closed herself off to him.
"Sarah?"
She whirled to face him, her face a cold, hard mask. "Conversation's over, Shrink-boy. I got places to be." She turned and walked away.
"Like where?" he called after her.
She stopped dead in her tracks. {Damn him and his logical questions.} She grimaced. Where was she going to go?
Brady stepped up behind her. "Let me take you to the Wesleys'. I'm sure they're worried about you."
She turned around. "And they would be.?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't know?"
"Listen, right now I don't even know who I am. Nothing in my head is making sense and I feel like I'm losing my f*cking mind, so why don't you just save me the headache and tell me who they are."
"Your parents. Well, Chloe's parents. Well, Chloe's mother, her REAL mother, Nancy and her step-father Craig." He explained.
"Oh." She replied simply. At that moment, her mind was spinning with possibilities. {Step-father, huh? Now everything's starting to make sense.}
Sarah gifted Brady with a bright smile. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She smiled darkly to herself. {It's time I paid "daddy" a visit.}
Chapter Ten
"Yes?" the voice answered with a regal air.
"Stefano, we have a problem. Sarah has awoken."
There was a slight pause as the voice on the other end absorbed the news.
"How did this happen? Did the chip malfunction?"
"Rolf is checking the equipment now but as far as we can tell, her chip has not been activated."
"So tell me how this happened." The voice repeated with a cold edge of anger.
"We do not know, Stefano." Celeste replied calmly. "You know as well as I that Sarah has never been entirely.stable. Apparently, Chloe suffered a shock this evening and Sarah awoke as a result."
"Damn!" Stefano muttered darkly. "What does she remember?"
"I will not know until I talk with her. However the fact that she has not contacted us is at least a cause for hope."
There was another pause on the line. Celeste could almost hear her employer's mind race. "Hmmm. If the chip was not activated, then the personality switch would be incomplete. She would not remember her mission, nor have any memories of the years before coming to Salem except, of course, for the false memories which we implanted in her mind. All is not yet lost." He added softly. "Where are you?"
"I am en route to Salem now, Stefano."
"Do you remember the code phrase?"
"Of course, Stefano. Do not worry, dahling. I will take care of Sarah."
"Do not fail me in this, Celeste. Everything that we have worked for in the last seven years will be for naught if she is discovered."
"I understand Stefano. Celeste out."
Sarah's blue eyes lost focus as she gazed out over the water. "She watched them die." She repeated softly. "Heard their screams. Saw the blood. God, it was everywhere. It seeped into her skin and stained her nightgown, scarlet on white. She saw it all, from her position under the dining room table."
Brady listened quietly as she spoke; he was too stunned to say anything.
"I remember this because I was born in that moment. In that moment of pain, fear and loss, I was created, to bear what she could not. I carry the burden of memory, so Chloe can live in the blissfulness of ignorance. What she cannot remember, I cannot forget." Sarah fell silent then, her face reflecting the pain of the vivid memories.
"What happened?" Brady gently prodded.
Sarah looked at him and smiled sadly. "She was ten, the day her parents died. They weren't her biological parents, but they might as well have been. She loved them totally and completely, especially her father. She and her father were very close, perhaps too close. I think her mother may have been jealous of the attention that Mr. Lane showered on Chloe. Mrs. Lane was at times, cold and distant. That night was one of those times.
They were running late that night. I don't even remember where they were going; movies, a classical concert. Chloe desperately wanted to go and her father wanted to bring her, but her mother was adamant. Chloe would stay behind with a sitter. She didn't even let Chloe say goodbye to her father, she just yanked him out the door and toward the car. But as Mr. Lane was helping his wife into the car, he turned toward the front door where Chloe was standing and mouthed the words, 'I love you.'
And that was the last time she saw them. It wasn't even a few hours later when a cop showed up and broke the news that the Lanes had been killed in a car accident. Her parents were dead and shortly after she was shipped off to an orphanage."
Sarah paused then, and glanced out over the bobbing waters. Brady joined her in staring at the dark water. His heart twisted in sadness and sympathy for Chloe's pain. He had known that she was an orphan, but he didn't KNOW it, didn't stop to think what it meant. She had lost both her parents, like he had lost his mom. He glanced back at Sarah when he heard her quiet intake of breath.
"At least, that's the story as Chloe remembers it." She continued. "This is what really happened. A few hours later, after Chloe had gone to bed, she woke after hearing a noise from below. She crept down the stairs and was filled with joy to hear that her parents were home from their evening out. She stopped in the dining room. Angry voices floated in from the kitchen.
'Calm down, Emily. She's just a child.' Her father's voice soothed.
'That's just my point. She IS a child. Yet sometimes I think you love her more than you do me.'
'Don't be ridiculous, Em.'
Chloe held her breath at the exchange. When she heard her parents' approaching footsteps, she scrambled under the dining room table to avoid discovery.
'I thought adopting a child would help our marriage.' Her mother was saying softly. 'Instead she's only driven us further apart.'
Chloe blinked back her tears - she couldn't believe what her mother was saying.
Her father sighed heavily. 'Can't we at least wait until the babysitter leaves before you recite the - I ruined your life - speech?' he asked softly. He called out into the house. 'Jenna! We're home!' He and his wife reached the dining room and looked around.
'That's strange, all the lights are off. Jenna!' he called, louder this time.
Chloe wiped her eyes and hid even further under the table. After what she had overheard she certainly didn't want to see her parents. That's when she saw it." Sarah broke off.
"Saw what?" Brady asked.
"There, on the floor not five feet in front of her lay the body of Chloe's favorite sitter.
'Jenna?' she whispered hoarsely, her little eyes wide with fear and shock. Jenna's wide unblinking eyes stared back at the little girl. Chloe could see the large gash on her throat and the rivers of dark red blood that poured from it. Finally after what seemed like minutes, Chloe tore her gaze away from the still body. And locked onto a dark figure hiding in a corner.
'Jenna!' her father called softly and Chloe heard several muted clicks as her father repeated flicked the light switch. 'The power's out. Stay close, Emily.' He said as the entered the room. 'You don't know what we may.Oh my God. Jenna.' He breathed as they came across her prone form.
'Emily, call 911! Tell them to get an.' but he never finished his sentence. For at that moment, the shadowy assailant lunged at him. Chloe saw a brief flash of sharpened steel and then he too was lying still on the floor. A second later, her mother joined him on the floor in her own bloody heap.
Chloe shook herself out of her paralyzed shock. 'Daddy!' she cried out and scrambled toward his body. She shook him and hugged him, pleading with him to get up, to move, to not leave her. But he was already dead. And Chloe sat there in a pool of her father's blood, watching it wash over her hands and soak into her nightgown."
"Oh my Lord." Brady breathed when Sarah fell silent. "They were murdered. And she witnessed it." No wonder Chloe was so screwed up. He sat quietly and pondered the significance of what he'd just learned.
"What happened then?" he asked softly.
Sarah frowned in thought as she searched her hazy memories. "I don't really remember. I see images - jumbled together, none of them making sense. I remember hiding from the bastard who murdered my father - I mean - Chloe's father. He reached his hand out for me.and.then there was darkness." She gnawed her lip. Her mind seemed to grow fuzzier with each passing minute.
"Did.did he abduct you?"
"I don't know..Yes.No.maybe.I, I don't know." She growled in frustration. She stood up quickly and turned away from the edge of the pier. She shook her head to clear her mind. This introspection crap was quickly getting on her last nerve.
"What happened next?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" She yelled, her temper getting the better of her. A strange sensation nagged at the corner of her mind. There was something she was supposed to do. A mission she was supposed to complete, but the confusion in her mind made it hard to think. Conflicting images and memories warred in her mind. Her memories were becoming so fragmented that what she thought she knew ten minutes ago was now uncertain and unclear.
She inhaled deeply and sought to calm herself. {I can't believe I got so carried away just now. I even forgot about my mission. Wait, that's right, I don't know what my mission is, what I'm supposed to be doing here.}
Brady scrambled to his feet, unsure of what had just happened. Sarah had seemed on the verge of really opening up, but now once again she had closed herself off to him.
"Sarah?"
She whirled to face him, her face a cold, hard mask. "Conversation's over, Shrink-boy. I got places to be." She turned and walked away.
"Like where?" he called after her.
She stopped dead in her tracks. {Damn him and his logical questions.} She grimaced. Where was she going to go?
Brady stepped up behind her. "Let me take you to the Wesleys'. I'm sure they're worried about you."
She turned around. "And they would be.?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't know?"
"Listen, right now I don't even know who I am. Nothing in my head is making sense and I feel like I'm losing my f*cking mind, so why don't you just save me the headache and tell me who they are."
"Your parents. Well, Chloe's parents. Well, Chloe's mother, her REAL mother, Nancy and her step-father Craig." He explained.
"Oh." She replied simply. At that moment, her mind was spinning with possibilities. {Step-father, huh? Now everything's starting to make sense.}
Sarah gifted Brady with a bright smile. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She smiled darkly to herself. {It's time I paid "daddy" a visit.}