Pretender Fanatic- I was just about to post when I got your review. That scene gives me the shivers too. I'm pretty sure I wrote this chapter while I was on a Stephen King binge which would explain the line 'but were getting ahead of ourselves' I tend to incorporate a bit of King's writing style when I'm reading his work. You're right that last paragraph was a bit weird I mean to delete it but some how it managed to slip by. Oh well.
Erikstrulove- I'm glad you like chapter 16. I made sure I brought Bobby in just for you. Don't shake your computer screen that's how you break it and if you break it you can't find out what happens next. Let's see to answer your questions. There will be no wiping of the memories. Well actually there will be but not under the circumstances your think. And Mor and Sammy will not be separated.
Joy- thanks for reviewing. No I never wrote for the show in fact the first pretender episode I ever saw was Wild Child the one where Jarod find the girl. I then became addicted to watching it on TNT. But then NBC had to go and cancel it. -Hum seems to be a trend in televison recently canceling all the decent shows-
It's a little tough to keep up with the time line but I'm trying. If only TNT would air the pretender during hours that I'm awake I would be able to follow the time line even closer.
Crazyrussiangal- There's only one person Parker would ever truly let in and that's her brother - and no Erikstrulove I don't mean Lyle I mean Sammy. As for where I'm going next, it's time for the kids to grow up. Sorry for everyone who wants them to stay little, but now that Catherine is dead I'm speeding up the time line a bit. This means that Gemini, Phoenix and the Black Files will be making appearances soon.
Due to the fact that I'm in a good mood I'll be posting early. The reason that I am in a good mood has nothing to due with the US presidential elections but the fact that last night as I tried to sleep I was struck with an idea for a new story -the sequel to The Black Files-. It will more than likely be called Exodus. It takes place six years after the events in The Black Files. I have about twenty pages hand written which for me equals thirty pages double spaced.
As soon as this story is done I'll probably start posting Exodus. And don't worry I won't rush this story so that I can start posting my other one. I have thirty-four chapters written so far for Genesis and a lot more to go. This story will probably be close to fifty chapters if not more because it stops where The Black Files begins.
And now for those of you who were patient enough to read all of this on to the story
CHAPTER 18
PASSAGE OF TIME
April 18, 1970
12:00pm
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Sammy and Mor had more or less become automatons. They mostly slept and would eat only when forced. Emma was there throughout the days to keep an eye one the children. Mr. Parker would come home around seven to usually find the children asleep. According to Emma the children were rarely awake for more than two hours at a time.
The funeral took place five days after Catherine's death. Emma had gone and bought Mor and Sammy an outfit to wear.
"Parker, Sammy it's time to get up," Emma said entering the children's room. Sammy was already awake, in fact he hadn't been able to sleep knowing what was about to come.
"I'll wake her up Emma," Sammy told the woman. Emma let Sammy tend to Mor.
"Hey, Mor it's time. We need to get dressed." Sammy whispered as he gently shook Mor awake.
"Don't wanna go," Mor mumbled her face in the pillow.
"Yes you do. You need to say goodbye." Sammy said laying his face next to her's so that he could look her in the eyes.
"I don't wanna say goodbye. If I do then she's really gone." Mor said her eyes filling with tears. Sammy wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Does it ever go away? Does it ever stop hurting?" Mor asked.
"Not completely. Some days it hurts more than others. But over time it fades, and maybe given enough time it won't hurt so bad," Sammy answered. Years down the road Mor would give a similar speech to Sammy's adopted son. "Now come on we need to get dressed."
The two went and put on the clothes Emma brought for them. A simple black dress lined with white lace for Mor and a black suite and tie for Sammy. As Sammy tied his tie Mor came to him holding out a red ribbon.
"Braid my hair like Momma did, Sammy," Mor begged. So Sammy did. He sat on the bed Mor in front of him as her brushed her hair and then braided it tying the red ribbon around the braid. He cried silently as he did so. He remembered watching the woman who he came to view as a mother braid Mor's hair as she read the two of them their bed time story.
The two children then came down the steps hand in hand. Mr. Parker looked the two children but said nothing. When the limousine arrive the three of them climbed into and proceeded to the church.
Once again Father Moore conducted the ceremony. Once again Sammy found himself sitting in the front pew. Mor was to his left, no one was on his right. Midway through the service Sammy felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sydney, and for the first time in the five days since his mother had been murdered in the elevator Sammy felt as though there might be someone looking out for he and Mor.
After the service the casket was lowered into the ground. Mr. Parker had disappeared afterwards, where he had gone Sammy truthfully didn't give a damn. The limo had brought him and Mor back to the Manor where co-workers and friends of the Parker family began to gather. Sammy and Mor sat off in a corner by themselves avoiding the crowed of people who would try to stop and tell them what a good person Catherine was and what a shame this whole travesty was. One person did manage to spot the children.
Sydney walked over to them sat next to Mor and held her hand. It was such a small gesture really. Yet it was the most comforted both children had felt in five days. Sydney stayed in the corner with the two children until the crowed began to disperse. He then gave Mor and Sammy each a hug and let them know that if they ever need to talk to someone his door was always open.
A couple of days after the funeral, Sammy asked Mor if she still heard the voices. Mor had told him no. "In fact," She said "I haven't heard them since Momma died"
In the years proceeding both would come to for get that Mor had ever possessed such a gift. But such gifts never truly disappear. Mor would come to hear the voices again.
Slowly Mor and Sammy began to move on. Sammy stayed with Mor for a full month before returning to the Centre. Like before Mor would come to visit him after school. If he was busy she went to see Jarod or the new boy Angelo. Sammy found himself liking Angelo and soon became very protective of the boy.
A few months after Catherine died Mor suffered another loss. She had made friends with a little girl named Faith. A few days latter Faith died. Mor once again fell into a state of depression. So deep into her depression did she fall that she scared Sammy. Sammy had confessed his worries to Sydney and Sydney had told Sammy that the best thing he could do was be there for her.
So Sammy was there for her. He once again found himself making nightly visits to the Parker Manor. He made such trips for almost a month before he became assured that Mor was feeling better. Things began to then quite down. Mor went to school where she threw herself into her studies. Sammy did the same with his work at the Centre and in to physical training.
Over the next six years Sammy worked with many of the Centre's top pretenders; Jarod, a somewhat angry boy named Kyle, another boy named Alex whom reminded Sammy of Bobby, and a very quite boy named Eddie. Mor was in her sophomore year of college overseas. She would come home during the holidays to visit and she and Sammy called each other twice a week and wrote letters everyday. The two missed each other terribly. Originally Mor wanted to go to School in Delaware but her father would not allow it.
The argument that had ensued between Mr. Parker and Mor had been hellish. There had been yelling, slamming of doors, and breaking of priceless china. In the end Mr. Parker won. And Sammy and Mor suddenly found an ocean separating them. Things might have gone on for the rest of Mor's college education had Raines not angered Sammy.
April 13, 1976
1:28pm
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
It had been six years to the day. Six years since his mother was murdered in the elevator. Needless to say Sammy wasn't feeling his best. He had just gotten off the phone with Mor they had reminisced about the good times they had, had with their Mom. Yet this year had been slightly different Sammy could tell that Mor was starting to believe that Catherine's murder was a suicided. She was staring to believe that her mother was truly weak. 'Actually', Sammy thought, 'Mor had started to believe six years ago'. Sammy hated how Mr. Parker was poisoning Mor's memories of Catherine. How he was tainting her name.
Sammy lost in his thoughts made his way towards the elevators. He didn't realize where his feet had led him until he heard the ding of the elevator. Sammy cursed his luck. The very last place he need to be that day was one the elevator in which his mother had been killed. It was bad enough the sick bastards in the triumvirate wouldn't cover up the bullet hole. Sammy turned and headed towards the steps just as Raines rounded the corner.
"Find it hard to ride the elevators boy?" Raines sneered.
"What do you think?" Sammy shot back he truly wasn't in the mood to deal with Raines.
"You watch your tongue boy our you'll meet the same sticky end as she did," Raines hissed. Had it been any other day Sammy just would have walked away and gone to the gym and pretended the punching bag was Raines. But it wasn't any other day. It was the six year anniversary of his mother's death.
Blinded by rage Sammy leapt upon Raines and unleashed ten years of rage and pain. Gone was the scrawny six year old boy who had lost his parents one snowy night. Gone was the nine year old boy whom had beaten with in the inch of his life. And gone was the ten year old boy who had lost his adoptive mother six years ago. In his place stood a six foot two inches, 160 pounds, just shy of sixteen year boy, angry, in pain and looking for someplace to vent his frustration.
It took four sweepers to pull Sammy off of Raines. They then unceremoniously tossed him into his room. Sammy leapt back up and began to attack the sweepers in a furry. A sweeper managed to knock Sammy unconscious with the but of his gun. But not before Sammy had managed to knock out one sweeper, break another sweeper's arm, and kicking another sweeper in the chest breaking five of his ribs.
After Sammy was unconscious the three conscious sweepers kicked the boy and then left his crumpled body on the floor.
Unlike the last time Sammy had awoken from his beating he was not in the Centre infirmary. He found himself in one of the many cell's of the lower sublevels. He was strapped to a cot. Sammy struggled against his restraints but quickly stopped when he felt a pain in his arm. Sammy looked down and saw a needle mark. 'Great now Raines it doping me up' Sammy thought. Sammy didn't know how long he stayed strapped down to the bed before the tremors began to rake though his body. But he did know the tremors felt as though they lasted for an eternity.
After some ungodly amount of time Raines made an appearance. Even in the pain he was going through Sammy was pleased to see that he had given Raines a nice shiner.
"I see that you're one lab rat who has yet to learn his place," Raines said holding out a needle. "But that's why I'm here to show you how this world works. If I remember correctly you once told me the Centre wasn't the world. And you were right boy, the Centre isn't the world. But it is my world in which you are a part of. The only God here is me. Now if you let me Samuel I can be your savior. But spite me and I will bring down a world of pain upon you."
"S-since... when d-did you... find re-religion Ra-Raines?" Sammy managed to say in between tremors.
"That was the wrong thing to say boy," Raines hissed and plunged the needle into Sammy's arm. Ten minutes latter the tremors began to recede and Sammy wondered what type of game Raines was playing. Sammy found out three hours latter when the tremors returned. And so it continued for the next three days. And each time the tremors came they lasted longer and were more painful.
On the fourth day an African man barged into Sammy's room just as Raines was about to give the injection.
"Push in that plunger Raines and you won't live to see the light of day again," The man said with a thick African accent. Sammy begged the man to let Raines give him the injection. But the man would not allow it. Instead a sweeper -one Sammy had never seen before- unstrapped the boy an carried him to the infirmary.
For the next two days were tougher for Sammy as he went through withdrawals. He was still weak when Mutombo -the African man who had probably saved his life- appeared.
"How are you boy?" The triumvirate member asked.
"Better, thank you sir, you saved my life," Sammy said hoarsely.
"I am not the one to thank. Your friend the young Miss Parker realized that you had gone missing and alerted her father. Needless to say the triumvirate was not pleased to learn what Raines was doing to one of our top researchers. Granted you did attack him, but from what bystanders reported the man had it coming, did he not?"
"He insulted my mother," Sammy replied angrily. Mutombo smiled
"Ah then your bit of rage was justified. Your mother Elizabeth was a good woman as was your father. I knew them both. Their untimely demise shook the foundation of this great place. They were well loved." Mutombo said. Sammy didn't bother to correct the man about who Raines was talking about.
"Sir not to sound rude but why are you here? I'm relatively low on the Centre totem poll. I'm quite sure you have other people to see more worth your time."
"I have a proposal for you Samuel. I have been looking over your records and noticed that you are extremely fit for your age. And then there is the fact that young Miss Parker is away in England with what I understand to be two extremely incompetent sweepers looking after her."
Sammy smiled, Mor had written to him about the many things she had done to the two sweepers her father had tailing her.
"Miss Parker is very important to the Centre. She stands to inherent this great institution." Mutombo continued and Sammy resisted the urge to snort 'Great institution my ass'.
"My proposal is to send you to England to keep an eye on Miss Parker. Do you accept?"
"Are you kidding. I've only wanted to over there with her for the past two years. Of course I'll go."
"Good you leave first thing in the morning. Now I must go young Mr. Grey. Have a speedy recovery."
"Yes sir. And again thank you." Sammy said as the man left.
Sammy fell back on to his pillow laughing. If all it had taken was attacking Raines to get him out of the Centre he would have done it years ago. Sammy was thrilled in twenty four hours he'd be in London with his sister.
In later years Sammy would realize that his talents were becoming useless at the Centre. Rather than kill him the Centre had made him a sweeper. Thus ensuring that the Centre would always own him.
Up next the further evolution of Mor and Sam's characters. The fact that decades after Catherine Parker's supposed suicide her death still has a larger impact on her children's lives. And a little in site into Mr. Parker's mind.
Keep up with reviews folks it makes me happy.
