To My Dedicated Readers: I would like to apologize for the state in which the first 16 chapters of this story were posted. I can't believe you would bother to read them the way they were! A friend of mine posted them and hadn't realized that I didn't put empty lines between each line of text…oops…so they were posted directly from Word without proper formatting. As you will notice, ever since Chapter 17, when I took over posting myself, I've posted from an html document so as to save formatting. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES TO YOUR EYES FOR ANY DISTRESS CAUSED TO THEM! I've fixed that little problem now. Thanks so much for submitting yourself to the eye torture and again, my sincere apologies.
Disclaimer: Sigh…Sadly, I do not own the characters of The Pretender. I in no way wish to defame any of its affiliates nor NBC or TNT. I know very little about France and have never been there. My knowledge of the French language is limited. If there is a Claudette Hotel, I apologize for using its name. I do not mean to offend anyone who is French or the French police departments. I do not know anything about Harfleur, Le Havre or the Normandy coastline, so if you go there, don't expect it to be the way I described it. I apologize to any museums in Le Havre, France, if there are any. That's it. Read it now!
Summary: Clues to the past bring Ms. Parker and Jarod back together again. Very involved in IOTH, but you can understand it without having seen it. Ties up most story lines. Mostly from Ms. Parker's point of view. Chapters are short.
The Truth Is Waiting
By Bec-Bec
Chapter 27
Catherine's Plan and the Scrolls Part 1
Catherine Parker toyed with the hem of her dress for a moment before continuing her story, recording it so that one day her daughter might understand where she came from and who she was.
"The scrolls are what started this whole mess." She paused again. "If only it weren't so complicated to explain…"
The voices in her head were resonating, confusing her as they murmured incessantly and incoherently. Then one voice came through clear; it sounded remarkably like a young child…Angel.
"The words are not important, it's the story she must hear…they must hear." The voice said softly.
"They?" Catherine mumbled softly, her eyes half closed, trying to focus on what the voice was telling her.
"Yes, of course, that girl and boy. Tell them, it's time."
Catherine remembered that she was recording, and that her time was running out. She returned her attention to the camera.
"Darling, one of the voices says that you're with someone else, I suppose that would be Jarod. I don't know how long it's been since he escaped, or how old you are now, but I hope you're both happy together. What I know is limited, merely that there were large plans regarding you and Jarod, your destiny and his…I suppose that's the most important thing about the scrolls that I have to tell you."
Catherine emitted a long sigh and rubbed her temples. This was difficult and her concentration was waning. She tried to refocus.
"The story of your father's grandfather is where this all begins. He was a kind and gentle man, very loving towards his children. Then he found the scrolls."
Catherine shifted in her seat, pausing once again.
"When he read what they said, the story that they portrayed for the future, he became corrupted with the ideas of power and greed it offered him. He never finished reading them though. He was interrupted and his daughter, Angel, stole the scrolls from him so that she could re-hide them."
Catherine smiled as Angel's voice whispered in her head again. "Angel says she'll be there to help you when you go to find the scrolls."
Catherine's face fell again. She needed to continue and she was interrupting herself far too often.
"Angel was the first one to possess the gift of the Inner Sense. That's one of the other truths behind this tale, one of the most important ones.
"Angel could feel the change in her father after he read the scrolls, that's why she took them from him and re-hid them. When he found out, he was furious and he threatened to kill her if she didn't tell him where they were. Angel wouldn't tell, and he burned the house to the ground with his family trapped inside.
"Angel hid the scrolls well, though, and he couldn't find them. He was left only with what he remembered of them. He sailed to America the next day."
Catherine stopped, realizing the holes in her story. "I forgot to tell you that all of this occurred on the small island of Carthis, off the coast of Scotland, and that only one person besides Angel knew where the scrolls were hidden, her cousin Anna. The story is so complicated, there's so much to tell, so much that you need to know."
Catherine sighed. "I suppose it's best if I stick with one part of the story and then tell the rest. I'll work from your great grandfather's side first.
"When he arrived in America, he had very little with him. He sought refuge in Boston, where he found a man willing to offer him room and board. This man ran a local bar. The two quickly became friends, so your great grandfather brought up the scrolls. The man who ran the bar called two of his friends and they held a meeting about the scrolls.
"Your great-grandfather convinced them that the scrolls were real, and enticed them with the power and money that could be theirs if they found the scrolls again.
"The other three men were shrewd business men, and they wouldn't believe all of what your grandfather said. So, they set up a proposition, they would forward some money to him, the money which led to the creation of the Centre, but ultimately they were in charge of any of his pursuits. These three men became the Triumvirate.
"For several years, your great-grandfather carefully constructed the Centre and his life. He married and had a son, your grandfather, and worked in the field of upcoming technology. Your grandfather stayed on the cutting edge of science, because he knew it was a lucrative field.
"However, the Triumvirate didn't feel that their investment was making as much money as it should, and threatened to destroy the Centre. Your great-grandfather was a quick thinker, however, and reminded them of what the scrolls said about his business. He also offered them a new field of study, the human mind.
"Your great-grandfather had not forgotten the gifts of his daughter, Angel, and was continuing to search for others like her, hoping that they would lead him to the scrolls again. He also hoped they would help him learn of new ways to further his power in the scientific world.
"His new propositions kept the Triumvirate at bay, and your great-grandfather did well, accumulating anyone who he could find that seemed to exhibit the gift. One of these was a woman who married your grandfather. They had a son, your father, and when you great-grandfather died, business was transferred into your grandfather's hands with the assumption that one day your father would marry another woman who had the gift of the Inner Sense. That woman was me."
Catherine paused after her long, and getting longer, story, to catch her breath a little.
"Your father had no idea that he was set up to meet me, and we did actually fall in love. When his father told your father that it was all part of the plan, he told me. That's one thing I will always be thankful for, your father never lied to me.
"I've already told you about the struggles we went through before we had you, so I won't linger there when there's so much more that I need to tell you.
"When your father learned all of what was going on, we formulated a plan to stop the Centre, we couldn't let them keep doing what they were doing. Together, we planned to find the scrolls, and ruin the Centre. You see, for quite some time, the Triumvirate had been displeased with the way the Centre conducted business. They had found out about some of the Centre's projects and disapproved of them, so, if they had the scrolls in their possession, the Centre would be finished.
"The Centre had already started the Pretender program, as well as several others. They were just children, stolen from their families. So, the first thing we did was set about freeing the children. However, we never got to the most important seven: Jarod, Kyle, Alex, Eddie, Bobby, Timmy, and Tyrone.
"I found out that the Centre knew I was the one freeing the children and planned to assassinate me. That's when I staged my suicide, and here I am now."
Catherine stopped to catch her breath again. "Now, I suppose you'd like to know about Jarod's mother and my final plan to end the Centre…Jarod, if you are there, there are some important things that I need to tell you…
Author's Note: It's coming, slow and steady. I'm writing the next chapter at this very moment. It seems, despite what I said in the last chapter, that this story wants to write itself much more than my others do. I just may have three new chapters on this in one week. YAY! I'm hoping to wrap this baby up soon, it's getting quite long, don't you think? Anyway, hope you liked it and that Catherine isn't too boring and the truth isn't too contrived. Like I said, it's difficult coming up with all of this. There are so many loose ends to tie up, so much to tell, and "so much you need to know" as Mr. Parker says quite often.
In "And the Winning Date Is…" I posed the question of who the eighth red file was if Parker, Jarod, Kyle, Alex, Eddie, Lyle, and Angelo made up seven of them, I guess I answered that with Tyrone. Hmm. I wonder who the actual eighth file was going to be? Come on Craig and Steve, I need my third movie!!!! Well, enough of my ramble, I've got stories to write! Please send a review, I'll love you forever! Buh Bye!