Thanks for all the great reviews…you guys really made my day! :)
And without further ado, here is Ch.2
Sydney was grabbed out of the past as quickly as she had entered it and felt herself back in the padded chair. Repressed tears ran down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"Are you all right, Agent Bristow? Would you like to talk about what you saw?" said Agent Kerr's gentle voice, cutting into the profound silence.
"No, I'm fine. Everything is fine," Sydney replied stiffly, "Thank you again for your help."
Agent Kerr sighed as she watched Sydney erect her emotional barriers once again. "This may be the first time and the last time I say this, but I hope I don't see you again here, for this. I know that past can be troubling, remember Sydney, sometimes to move ahead you have to let go. Get some sleep, you look exhausted."
Sydney tried to smile in gratitude, but it came out as a half-hearted grimace. "Thanks for the advice Agent Kerr. I'll keep in touch."
-------------------------------------------------0-------------------------------------------------------
It was snowing outside, just like in her memory, light, feathery flakes covering the landscape in a soft layer of frost. She decided to jog, she needed to run off the pain and confusion. As she found herself running in the direction of the warehouse, she realized her heart had already decided a course of action. Her hand inadvertently reached for her cellphone and she dialed the number she knew so well.
"Hello?" His voice sounded groggy, like he had been taking a nap.
"Joey's Pizza."
She could here his ragged breath from the other end of the line and imagined the confusion running through his mind. After all, it was Vaughn who was usually Joey's Pizza, not Sydney.
"Wrong Number."
------------------------------------------------0-------------------------------------------------------
When Vaughn walked into the warehouse, he saw her standing in the corner looking off into space. As she turned towards him, he caught sight of her tired, disturbingly pale face on the brink of tears.
"You look like you just got up from a nap," she said.
"And you look like you need a nap," he said, his voice accented with his wry sense of humor. As he moved towards her, it became glaringly apparent that something was very wrong.
"What is it, Sydney?", he sensed her hesitation and continued, "You know you can trust me, no matter whether its job related or not."
"Vaughn, this is going to sound really strange, but did you ever go to camp?"
"Maybe, a couple of times, I don't really remember." Confusion engulfed him as he searched for the relevance of summer camp to the heartache Sydney was experiencing.
"The year when you were seven, did you go to a place called the Institution for the Gifted?"
"Yea, I remember. My mother forced me to go. She said it would be good for me." As Vaughn spoke, he watched Sydney's face fill with horror.
"Sydney, just tell me what's wrong."
The memory from hypnosis flashed again through her mind.
"Turn around, Michael."
She had called him Michael.
He felt her ice cold hands at the nape of his neck, pulling back his hair, searching for something. A shiver went down Vaughn's spine. He heard her gasp for breath as she pulled away from him.
"You were there Michael, you were with me at Project Christmas."
Her voice echoed for a moment, and then there was an infinite moment of pure silence. Just silence.
"Since last week when I saw you, I've been having nightmares Michael. And I can't stop them. I decided I had to know exactly what happened fifteen years ago, once and for all, so I went back to Agent Kerr and asked her to hypnotize me again. The Institution for the Gifted was a cover for Project Christmas. I saw you in my mind, but I wasn't sure, so I checked your neck. Each child was tattooed, on their neck, with a unique number. Your number was five. I'm so sorry, Michael."
She moved near to him, reaching out to touch him. He suddenly pulled away from her. She could see a muscle moving in the corner of his cheek.
"Can you give me a moment, Sydney?" He turned away from her, facing the lonely gray walls of the warehouse.
The seconds turned to minutes, and a profound sadness grew in Sydney. The one man who had stood by her for so long had finally turned away, just like all the others.
Don't worry guys, I promise there's a happy ending. So just hold on.