AN: little change at the bottom of this chapter (ignore this note if you are a first time reader). I changed the part where Nina sees Allie, to reflect the way the rest of the story has gone so far. So now, Nina has not seen Allie yet. (until she does in later chapters).
Legacy: chapter 6
The rain returned like clockwork. Lisa watched the large drops falling from inside her warm house. I let Allie and Ka'len go out in this? She thought. It wasn't one of her smartest parenting moves ever. But she was not too sure that anything she knew about parenting still applied in Allie's case. And Ka'len… she might have the body of a 14 year old but that didn't mean anything. She could be hundreds of years old in reality. Lisa wasn't sure though; that topic had not come up yet in a discussion.
The rain started falling harder just as Charlie pulled into the driveway. She watched him get out and run to the house.
He was through the door before Lisa could get there to open it. "Geez, this is a pretty nice little storm." He said, removing his rain soaked coat. "I thought the TV said all the heavy stuff had moved off to the east."
Lisa shrugged, "can't always believe the weather reports,"
"Yeah…"
"So, how did the meeting go?" Lisa asked.
"Fine," Charlie leaned over and gave her a little kiss on the cheek, "just fine, I think the board will finally accept my recommendations."
"That's great!"
Charlie smiled, looked around, "where's Allie?" he expected to see her waiting, she had acted like she really wanted to talk about something earlier.
Lisa hesitated, "they went for a walk."
"In this!" Charlie motioned to the window and the rain outside.
"It wasn't raining when they left."
"I know…" Charlie said, "Maybe we worry too much, I'm sure Allie can take care of her self much better then we can."
"Don't say that! You make it sound like we're useless…"
"Well…" Charlie was about to make one of his much loved realist observations but a knock at the door behind them cut him off. He turned and opened the door…
"Hey!" Nina exclaimed as she hurriedly stepped inside. Charlie and Lisa stared at her silently for a moment, in shock. Nina didn't know Allie was back yet. Allie had them promise not to tell anyone. She said that too much activity around them would draw attention, and at the time, Charlie and Lisa had agreed. But now there was a problem.
"Hey Nina!" Lisa said with a tight, awkward smile across her face.
"I was out on this side of town and thought I'd stop by. It's a shame that we live in the same city and hardly ever see each other." She wrapped her arms around Lisa, who exchanged urgent glances with Charlie.
"Great… we were just…" Lisa started.
"Oh, I'm not interrupting something, am I?"
"No, of course not." Charlie placed a hand on her shoulder, showing the way to the living room with the other, "come on in, we need to talk."
"Great! Oh, I saw this diary in this store earlier, just like the one Allie used to have…" her mood took on a more sober tone, "it seems that ever where I look something reminds me of her."
Again, Lisa and Charlie's eyes met with that same urgency in them. This was the awkward situation Lisa had feared from the beginning. She just hoped that Allie would wait a while before returning.
"Good work with that fancy driving, we lost them." Mary said as Keith brought the van to a stop in their original position, overlooking the house.
No matter how annoying Mary was in her constant cynical criticisms, she was right. He should have stayed in position. It was only a matter of waiting for Allie and the other one to return. Taking chances at this point was stupid since the target already knew she was being watched.
"I don't think they knew it was us. We'll just wait for them to get back home."
Mary looked out the tinted side window at the rain falling, "if they go back right now. They might be waiting out this storm somewhere."
"Hemm…" Keith brought the binoculars up and pressed them to his face, "looks like the father's home, and someone else."
"Let me see…" Mary reached for the binoculars which Keith reluctantly handed over. "Yeah, that car is definitely at their house. Do we know who it is?"
Keith looked at her for a moment, "no, we do not. The surveillance has been centered around Charlie and Lisa, no one else."
"Well, it's probably not important," Mary looked back through the binoculars, making note of the license plate number on the unknown car: 'SB9-426'.
Allie carefully leaned over and looked around the driver's side of the van. Rain soaked ever inch of her hair and clothing.
She studied the man in the driver's seat for a while through the reflection in the side mirror, until his eyes shifted toward the mirror. With a jerk, she spun back around. Several breathless seconds passed as she waited to see if the door opened, indicating that she had been seen. To her relief, nothing happened. She had not been spotted.
Ka'len waited between two houses on the opposite side of the road. With a silent wave her hand, Allie signaled her to come. Several seconds later, Ka'len vanished from her hiding spot and reintegrated next to Allie.
"I will not be able to do that again," she whispered
"I know, I'll do the next one." Allie said, "we won't have to hide the energy after I'm done here."
"I do not believe this is safe." Ka'len took on a worried tone
"That's why you're here. If things go wrong you can get us out of here." Allie stood with a look of determination in her eyes, "I have to talk to Miss Crawford… I have to know why she helped us."
"You feel that?" Mary glanced over to Keith and her jaw dropped. He appeared to be frozen in place, with a peanut just about to drop in his mouth and its shells hanging in mid air on their way to the bag. The clock in the radio had stopped too, even her watch had stopped, but she could still move.
The feeling of being watched crawled up her spine and she turned slowly back toward her window.
Then Mary screamed louder then she had ever screamed before in her life. But it was more from shock then fear.
Outside her window stood Allie, emotionless expression on her face, staring at her with those piercing blue eyes. She made direct eye contact even through the dark tinting.
The window quickly disappeared into the door under the influence of some invisible hand and Allie moved a step closer.
"Hello Miss Crawford." She said in a flat monotone.
Mary stuttered a few times then: "h—hi."
Allie stared at her coldly, waiting for Mary to continue, but she didn't know what to say first. She had to tell Allie that she was on her side. But how? The grounds for a friendly relationship with the girl were not exactly something that Mary had.
Growing impatient, Allie spoke up: "why did you help me?"
In the flurry or other thoughts, Mary had to think for a moment to understand the question. "I…I want to help you…" Mary realized how simple and vague that was but her world was spinning so fast that she couldn't phrase her thoughts any other way.
"Why?" Allie asked, forcing Mary to go deeper for an explanation.
"I… feel bad…"
"Remorse?"
"Yes…" Mary could feel her heart pounding like a Taiko drum. She had only been in this position for a minute or so but she felt drained, sluggish. And Allie standing outside staring down at her, the thick electricity in the air making every hair on her body stand up…this was more intense then any interrogation she had ever been through.
"Is that the reason?"
Yes… of course… Mary was confused by her question. Until she focused on it. It really wasn't the reason she wanted to help Allie. She wanted to help because she wanted to know what they know… she just wanted to go about getting that knowledge in another way.
"No… I want to know, that's why I want to help you." she told her.
Allie remained silent for several seconds, then: "what do you want to know?"
The car and everything else around Mary dissolved away, leaving her standing in the middle of an endless expanse of white, which stretched out in all directions.
Just like the ship, Mary spun around several times, taking in the vastness, and at the same time, the confinement, of this space. It was brightly lit but there were no lights. The walls, floor, and ceiling were giving off all the illumination, creating a shadow-less environment.
"Hello!?" Mary called out.
"Here." Allie's voice came from behind her; she whirled around to see those deep, blue eyes staring into her again.
"So what have you been up to?" Nina asked as she took a seat in the living room. Lisa and Charlie sat as well.
"Oh, you know. This and that…" Lisa laughed thinly. Then her eyes lit up, "oh! I talked to Denny a few weeks ago, he gave me a copy of their first album."
"Wow! It any good?"
"Hell yes! You want to borrow it?"
"Sure," Nina grinned, "see, if you would have just stayed with it, you would be a rock star!"
"I guess…"
"Not that psychology isn't just as glamorous."
Lisa smiled.
Charlie rose to his feet, "I'm going to grab a drink," he looked to Nina then to Lisa, "either of you want one?"
"Yeah, thanks," Nina said. Lisa declined the offer with a look that said: give me a few minutes.
Charlie nodded and left the room, heading for the kitchen. Lisa turned back toward Nina.
"We need to… talk, about something."
"What is it?" Nina looked on with concern in her eyes.
"What is this place?" Mary asked, still looking around wide-eyed at her surroundings.
"You know what it is." Allie told her, "I think you called it a 'screen'."
"I mean, where is it?"
Allie raised an eyebrow, stared at Mary as if she was the dumbest person on the planet. "You know that too…"
"Well… remind me."
Allie sighed, "it's your mind, your 'reality', if you like. Only stripped of input from your senses. I am in control of everything you see, hear, smell, touch…"
"Okay," Mary cut her off, "how do you do it?"
"I think it and it happens."
Mary thought for a moment, "there has to be more to it then that."
"Your right," Allie said, "when you find out what it is, you can tell me."
"You mean, you don't know how you do these things?"
"No… I just know how to do them."
Mary paused to digest this information. So far the only answers she had gotten just confused her even further.
"You wanted to know something?" Allie asked, "what?"
"Everything! I want to know what you know, what they know…"
"And what will you do when you know these things?"
Mary stopped cold, she had never thought that far ahead. Just getting to the source of the answers was all she could ever hope to accomplish. And now here she was, not even five feet away from everything she ever wanted to know.
"I, I don't know."
"You just want to know, no reason?" Allie asked, incredulity dripping from every word, "I do not believe that."
"Please, just let me help you…"
"To what end?"
What? Mary was becoming more and more confused by the moment. Allie could see this.
"You help me… you get something in return" she clarified, "what is it?"
Mary shrugged and shook her head, She honestly had not thought about it.
"I just want you to trust me so I can…"
"Trust!" Allie mocked, "me, trust you?" she started laughing.
Mary stiffened up, Allies laughter cutting deeper by the second, "I deserved that."
Allie stopped laughing instantly, exercising precise control over her emotions. Her face returned to the blank page it had been before.
"You just want me to blindly trust you? Like your father trusted you… Like Dr Wakeman?"
The last word was a knife right into Mary's heart. Everything, every thought, every emotion that had flooded over her the past five years came back at once, overwhelming all her feeble attempts to hold it back.
"Please stop…," Mary said, tears welling up in her eyes, "I…"
"Dr. Wakeman loved you Miss Crawford… and what did you do?" the ice in Allie's voice was terrifying. It somehow compelled her to face her horrible deed:
"I… shot him," a tear rolled down her cheek, "he was going to warn you so I shot him!" Mary collapsed to her knees, trembling, "I—shot—him."
Allie looked down on her, not a single sign of pity on her rigid, mechanical facade. But inside, her heart was breaking. It was clear from the zoo that Mary was a changed person and no longer a threat. She just had to be sure. And this was the only way.
"What would you do," Allie knelt down to get at eye level with Mary, "if you could do it over again?" a 9mm pistol materialized on the floor in front of Mary. She eyed it warily.
"It's nothing, never mind." Lisa's eyes darted around the room, looking at anything but Nina.
"It cant be nothing if it bothers you this much," Nina bobbed her head around trying to get in-between Lisa and whatever was so interesting behind her.
"Let's just talk about something else, okay?"
"But…"
"So how are things in the exciting world of body art?" Charlie rescued Lisa as he came around the wall from the kitchen holding two cans; he handed one to Nina.
Nina cast one more searching, worried glance at Lisa then turned to Charlie and smiled, "wild and crazy. I can hardly keep enough ink around these days."
"Word gets around," Charlie said, "soon everyone in Washington will know that Nina Toth does the best damn work in the country."
"You say that," Nina laughed, "but you won't let me put anything on you."
Charlie straightened up, "well… I just never really saw the need for a tattoo."
"Awe, I think a little red heart with 'Lisa' across it would be so cute." Nina said, then burst into laughter along with Lisa, Charlie couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Go ahead, pick it up." Allie said, "its real, and loaded."
Mary didn't want to touch it… but she was compelled to. She had to feel it, to see if it was real. An object that had just appeared out of thin air… she carefully wrapped her fingers around the grip and lifted it. Allies eyes remained locked on Mary's face the whole time.
"Why?" Mary looked up at her, "why are you doing this?"
Allie remained silent, her eyes drilling into Mary's soul. The gun felt so heavy in her hands. She flipped it around, saw that the safety was… was not there.
What would you do, Allies words flashed through her head and she thought: what will I do?
"Well…" Allie spoke up, her words causing Mary to jump.
Again, she looked pleadingly at Allie, saw the cold face staring back. "Don't make me…"
"Don't make you what? Shoot me… Or yourself?"
"No…"
"Both options are easy. Either way, all this goes away. All your pain, suffering…"
"Stop it!"
Allie stood and turned around, "look, I made it easy for you."
"NO!" Mary screamed, but her attention was un-moveably fixed on the gun. Her whole arm started to tremble as she remembered the promise she had made to her self long ago.
If I could do it over… I would shoot myself, the thought ran through her head again.
"I…" Mary's whole body shuddered, "just wanted to help…"
"You wanted?"
Mary was still for a moment, "no, I want to help you! Just let me help you!"
Allie turned around. Her expression had softened a little but she was still an intimidating sight, "I need your help?"
Mary placed the gun on the ground, "I can tell you what they're doing! What's being planned…"
"And?" Allie edged her on.
"I… can make distractions for you--whatever you want…" Mary trailed off as Allie began walking around behind her. Studying her, analyzing her. Mary felt like an animal on display, being judged.
Allie made three complete circles around her, at an agonizingly slow pace. Finally, she took a deep breath, exhaled in a long sigh, "okay… I'll give you one chance." The gun on the ground beside Mary flickered like a hologram several times then disappeared. Immediately after which, the white space disintegrated around them. Placing Mary back in her seat in the Van, and Allie back outside the window.
"Where is your headquarters located?" Allie asked in a very official manner.
"Why?" Mary asked, still stunned by the bluntness of the transition back to reality.
Allie rolled her eyes, growing impatient again, "so I can come to you…"
"That's dangerous, Keith has several teams spread out, I don't even know where they are."
Allie glanced past Mary at the man, who now had a name, "so, 'Keith' doesn't trust you?" she looked back to Mary, "Miss Crawford, if you want me to trust you, you must trust me first. Now, what is the address?"
"667 Skyview lane, an old high-rise apartment building… don't you want to write that down?"
"No need." Allie backed away from the door, motioned for Ka'len to join her. "Good bye, Miss Crawford." She said as a brilliant blue-white glow began growing up around both of them.
"Wait…" Mary called out as the light flared up, causing her to bring her arm up to shield her eyes. When she looked again, both girls were gone.
"What's wrong?" Keith's voice from behind her gave her a start; she turned around to see him staring at her oddly.
"Nothing…" Mary looked down at the binoculars that had dropped to the seat beside her. She held them up to her face once more, "the license plate on that other car is 'SB9-426', we should run it."
"I guess I should go." Nina said as she got up from her seat, "let you two get back to whatever secretive thing you're up to."
"Oh, well, we should get together sometime. How about dinner this weekend?" Charlie rose along with Lisa to see Nina out… the sooner the better.
"Sounds great, I can't…" a brilliant flash of light came from down the hall, Nina saw it, "what was that!?"
"Um, probably just that fluorescent light again…" Lisa got in-between the hall and Nina, trying to usher her out the door,
"But…" Nina protested.
"Wow!" Charlie looked at his watch, "honey, I just remembered somewhere I have to be… 10 minutes ago. I'll walk you to your car Nina," Charlie offered his arm with a goofy smile.
"Oh… okay…"
Charlie opened the door and practically shoved Nina through, slamming it behind him.
"Mom," Allie called out as she ran down the hall, "your never going to guess who…" she stopped as she entered the room and saw the look of relief on her mothers face "…I just talked to… what's wrong?"