Chapter 2
In Emma's room:
Shalandra moaned and opened her eyes. Her head was killing her again. Damn these headaches! She thought to herself. She looked over and saw Shalimar sitting nearby.
"I thought it was all a dream." Shalandra said yawning.
"Nope, we're not a dream. Are you hungry?" Shal asked.
"Not really. Is there a bathroom nearby?"
"Over there." Shalimar pointed to the bathroom she shared with Emma.
Shalandra walked into the bathroom. She washed her face and got a quick drink. She then ran her fingers over her dark blond hair. When she was done she walked out feeling a little more refreshed. She was still feeling very drained.
"You ready to meet the others? Emma's already there filling them in." Shalimar asked smiling.
"I don't know." Shalandra said.
"It's okay, they don't bite. Adam's almost always in the lab working on something or another. Jesse and Brennen are always trying to charm the ladies. They are very protective once they get to know a person." Shalimar told her.
"Ok. I guess I can't hide in here forever." Shalandra said.
"Come on. You'll like them." Shal said heading out. Shalandra followed her.
Shalandra was trying to shut out her headache.
A few seconds later Shalimar and Shalandra walked into the common room. Brennen and Jesse both looked up and smiled at her warmly.
"Feeling better?" Emma asked.
"A little. I'm still pretty drained. I'm usually exhausted for a few days after I do something like this." Shalandra said and smiled shyly at the guys.
"Have a seat." Jesse offered.
Shalandra sat down near Emma. She looked at Jesse and grinned. "So which one are you?" She asked.
"I'm Jesse, that's Brennen. Adam's in the lab." Jesse said.
"Hi." Shalandra said. Emma never said they were both this cute!! She thought to herself.
"So where are you from?" Brennen asked.
"I grew up in Vermont, but I've lived in several states in the last ten years." Shalandra replied.
"Why do you move around so much?" Jesse asked.
"I don't feel safe in one place for very long." Shalandra said.
The others exchanged looks.
In The Lab at the same time:
Adam was in the lab looking at old computer files. Their guest reminded him of someone he once knew. On the computer was a picture of a little girl who was about 18 months old. She was very small for her age and had blue eyes and dark blond hair. The child looked at him and giggled cheerfully.
After visiting the child for a few hours he had ran several tests on the her latest blood samples. She was mutating quickly even at her young age. Far more quickly than anyone else had so far. Adam looked around the room and shut down the cameras making it look like a computer failure. He then popped a disk into the computer and uploaded it. The old file was on the disk now. The new file made it look like the child had no mutations. If all worked as planned she would grow up with a normal life far away from Genomex.
He looked at the screen that showed everyone in the common room. He zoomed the camera in on Shalandra and put it beside a picture of the little girl. The computer compared the two pictures. A few seconds later the results popped up. The pictures were 99% identical. The little girl who disappeared almost 26 years ago was back. There was no way he would let Ekhart get hold of this information. He deleted the pictures off of the computer and headed to the common room.
In the common room:
Shalandra giggled at a joke Brennen made. In less than half an hour she had warmed up to the guys and was now joking around with everyone. Adam walked in and sat down. "I can see you've met the guys?" He said smiling.
Shalandra smiled. This man who just walked in felt familiar. She only wished she knew how. Her headache grew slightly sharper as a memory started.
[The little girl was in a playpen with another little girl who looked identical to her. They were in a yard outside a big white house. The little girl watched her sister noticing a car pull up. A man dressed in a black suit stepped out of the car and took both girls away. They never saw each other again.}
"Are you okay?" Emma asked.
"Yeah was just remembering something from when I was really young." Shalandra said.
"I'm Adam." Adam said.
"I'm Shalandra. Sorry I intruded." She said.
"No problem, Emma told me what happened." Adam said.
"Cool." Shalandra said.
"Has anyone given you a tour of Sanctuary yet?" Adam asked.
"No, not yet. I just woke up not too long ago."
"If you want I can show you around." Adam offered.
"Sure!" Shalandra answered. She didn't know why, but for some reason she trusted this man. It was almost as if she knew him.
Shalandra got up and followed Adam out of the common room.
"That was weird. He next to never shows new people around." Jesse said.
"I know." Shalimar agreed.
"He knows something he's not telling us. I'm sure that when he's ready he'll fill us in." Emma said.
"He acted as if he knows her." Brennen said.
"Maybe he's just trying to show her that she doesn't need to be afraid of any of us." Shalimar said.
"You in for a game of one on one?" Jesse asked Brennen.
"Sure." Brennen replied and the two headed to the basketball court.
Walking around Sanctuary:
"This place is huge." Shalandra said.
"It was a dream for a long time after I worked in a research facility." Adam said as they walked into the room with the fountain. If the girl was who he thought she was then the fountain should bring back a memory or two.
Shalandra walked over to the fountain and looked at it for several minutes. It reminded her of something else.
[The little girl walked with her father in a large courtyard behind the house. This was her favorite place. "Da, Da." The girl cooed happily looking at the man she was with. She couldn't quite make out the features though, which were gray.]
"Are you ok?" Adam asked, hopefully.
"Just remembering something, but it doesn't make sense." Shalandra said.
"Shalandra, do you remember much of your childhood?" Adam asked.
"No, anything from the time before I was six is a blank. I get bits and pieces sometimes, but they don't make sense and they give me a headache." She answered.
"When I first walked into the common room you remembered something. Would you like to tell me about it?" Adam asked.
"I don't know. It's hard to talk about." Shalandra replied.
"Whatever it is, it will always be hard to talk about if you never do." Adam said sitting down.
"I'll start with the one I just had. I was maybe two years old and walking in a courtyard with my father. I can't remember him though. We walked up to a fountain similar to the one we're in front of now. It was my favorite place and made me feel safe." Shalandra said.
"The other memory?" Adam asked not showing his emotions, which were a mess at the moment.
"The other one I've had several times. I was under two then also. I was in a playpen in the front yard of a huge white house. There with me was a little girl who looked identical to me. While I was looking at her a car pulled up. A man dressed in a black suit took both of us away and I never saw her again. The street had palm trees along it." Shalandra finished putting her head down.
"Have you had any similar memories?" Adam asked looking at her.
"No none I can really remember. Labs and tests also terrify me, but I don't know why. I confronted my mother once about the one with my twin. She flipped out and told me I didn't have a twin. I could tell she was hiding something and never brought it up again."
"Shalandra, would you mind if I run some tests?" Adam asked, hoping she wouldn't freak out.
"I guess not. Usually I'd get scared, but I feel like I know you somehow." Shalandra said still wondering if she'd ever find her twin sister.
A little while later in the lab Adam did a scan of Shalandra and took a blood sample. He then told her she could go and that he'd let her know when he was done. She left the lab as Emma was walking in.
"She seems a little less on edge now." Emma said watching Adam read stuff coming up on the computer.