Vanished
By Gemini-M
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Author's Note: Thank you to my readers, Nans, phi4858, Airamu4u, and Momo20 for their reviews and patience. I'm so sorry for the delay, but my computer went belly-up near the end of this chapter and I had to wait a few days for repairs. Hope that this long chapter makes up for the wait. Enjoy and thanks again for your reviews.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick (1928-1982)
Sydney's Home
1:30a.m.
"JAROD?...DAMN IT! I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT." Parker said through clenched teeth.
"Miss Parker, what happened?...Is Sydney okay?" Sam asked concerned.
"Well, according to boy genius, he's fine, but I couldn't talk to him." The tall woman said furiously. "But now we have a bigger problem."
"What?" Sam asked apprehensively.
"We have to find my brother, Ethan before he blows the Centre to kingdom come."
"OH MAN, NOT AGAIN." Sam murmured as he folded the blue prints and stuffed them back into the backpack.
Parker glared at the big man and was about to reply when suddenly something moving at the edge of her peripheral vision caught her attention. With lighting speed, Parker pulled her gun from her holster and swirled around pointing her weapon at the intruder.
Confused by Parker's abrupt reaction, Sam immediately dropped the backpack on the floor and followed her actions, drawing his own weapon and taking aim as well.
"Angelo, what are you doing here?" Parker asked surprised, quickly returning her weapon to its holster.
But the little man just stood frozen on the spot, his eyes fixed on something on the floor by the door.
"Angelo what's wrong?" Parker asked softly, not wanting to frighten the empath.
Slowly, Angelo reached behind the curtain by the door and picked up something from the floor. When the empath raised his hand, he was holding a bloody blade in his hand. Parker and Sam silently stared at the blood stained knife in Angelo's hand, afraid to say what was running through their minds, but they quickly realized that either Jarod or Sydney had been stabbed during some kind of struggle with the man lying dead a few inches away.
"Angelo, please put the..." Before Parker was able to finish her command, Angelo dropped the bloody knife and began running around the living room in a state of complete panic. Holding his arm, Angelo dropped to the floor and began screaming, "FRIEND HURT...FRIEND HURT BAD...PAIN!"
"Angelo, please calm down." Parker said as she slowly approached the panicked little man and knelt next to him.
"FRIEND NOT SAFE!...HURT...SAD...EVIL COME...EVIL WILL HURT FRIEND!" Angelo continued his nonsense babbling.
"Who's hurt Angelo?" Parker spoke softly, trying to remain calm as well, but now her newly awaken inner sense was screaming at her that something terrible was about to happen.
"FRIEND HURT!" Angelo cried out with tears in his eyes.
"Angelo, do you know where Jarod and Sydney went?"
"REFUGE!...GONE TO REFUGE, BUT REFUGE NOT SAFE!" Angelo said shaking his head frantically.
"Angelo, what do you mean?" Parker asked concerned.
"NOT SAFE!...DANGER!...JAROD AND SYDNEY HURT...HURT BAD!" Angelo cried out with a look of horror in his eyes.
Parker and Sam looked at each other in total confusion and alarm. Angelo was not making any sense, but something had him spooked. Whatever the empath sensed after touching that bloody knife was not good. Angelo felt that Jarod or Sydney had been hurt and that they were definitely in danger from someone, but who?
"Miss Parker, I have an idea" Sam said walking back to the coffee table and grabbing the file they had found. "Miss Parker let Angelo look at this file and maybe he can tell us something about who is after Jarod and Sydney."
"Good idea Sam" Parker replied taking the file from Sam.
"Angelo, we found this file with information about Jarod's family. Can you try to...?" Even before Miss Parker finished her question, Angelo grabbed the folder from her hand and stared at it with fear in his eyes. Suddenly, the empath began to grimace in disgust and dropped the file on the floor like if it had burnt his hands. Totally out of control, Angelo covered his head and began to scream again, "EVIL MAN HUNT JAROD AND SYDNEY...EVIL MAN KILL JAROD'S FAMILY...WANTS REVENGE...EVIL...REVENGE...REVENGE."
"Angelo, who is going to hurt Jarod and Sydney?" Miss Parker asked, her voice filled with concern.
"EVIL MAN WILL KILL FRIEND!" Angelo said with despair, but he was just too frightened to make any sense of his jumbled feelings. "MUST HELP FRIEND!"
Suppressing her fear, Parker jumped to her feet and said frustrated, "Now is not the time to psychoanalyze marshmallow brain here. We still have to find Ethan before he sets off the explosives at the Centre."
"Miss Parker is 2:00a.m. already. How much time do we have?" Sam interrupted concerned.
"DAMN! We better get moving. Sam get the backpack and the file. I'll bring Angelo out." Parker ordered, ignoring her sweeper's question.
"Lets go Angelo, we're running out of time." Parker said as she helped the empath to his feet and directed him towards the door.
"Miss Parker, do you think it's a good idea to bring Angelo with us?...I mean, he's kind of spaced-out at the moment."
"When is Cousin It not spaced out? Parker snapped back then sighed tiredly. "Sam, I have no choice. Jarod told me to take Angelo because he could help us find Ethan."
At the mention of Ethan's name, Angelo turned towards the tall woman and said, "Sister scared?"
"Yes Angelo...Do you think you can help us find Ethan?" Parker asked hopefully.
Angelo just nodded his head timidly and then took her hand gently. The frightened little man looked up; his big sad eyes meeting the tall woman's concerned but controlled gaze, and then he whispered, "Angelo help."
"Thank you Angelo."
Just as they were about to board the Centre's black sedan, Angelo halted and pulled on Miss Parker's hand. He looked at the woman with pleading eyes and said, "Sister help friend?"
"Yes Angelo we will help Jarod and Sydney, but first we must find Ethan. He's in trouble and Jarod ask me to find him."
The empath nodded his head with resignation and slipped into the vehicle quietly. A few seconds later the black sedan silently pulled away from the dark driveway and headed towards Blue Cove.
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En Route to White Clouds
The drive to Sydney's cabin had taken longer than Jarod anticipated. Due to the poor visibility in the mountains and his extreme fatigue Jarod had been forced to drive much slower. For almost twenty-four hours he had been on alert and running non-stop. Furthermore, the lack of food, sleep and his injuries were finally wearing him down physically. Even though Jarod was used to this type of physical abuse in his race for survival, the latest revelations about his origin and Sydney's part in the lies and betrayal were a lot more damaging and weighing heavily on his mind. He needed to get some rest and soon if he wanted to keep his sanity, but most of all he just wanted to run away and be alone. He needed time to think things through. Impatiently, Jarod looked at his watch; it was 2:30a.m and they still had about another half hour drive before they reached White Clouds. Trying to stay awake, Jarod shook his head slowly and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He thought about turning on the radio, but he didn't want to disturb Sydney's peaceful sleep, and at the moment he was trying to avoid his mentor's prying questions.
"How's your arm Jarod?" The soft accented voice startled the tired pretender.
"It's fine." Jarod replied dryly.
"Jarod, we need to talk." Sydney said simply.
"No Sydney..." Jarod paused for a moment. "I think I heard everything already."
"Jarod, you cannot believe everything that PSYCHO said. He..."
"THAT PSYCHO TOLD ME THE TRUTH YOU NEVER HAD THE COURAGE TO TELL ME." Jarod spat back angrily. "SYDNEY, YOU ONLY FED ME LIES!"
"Jarod, I was afraid that..." Sydney simply had no words to continue.
"YOU WERE AFRAID THAT I WOULD DISCOVER THE TRUTH!" Jarod looked at Sydney with pain in his eyes. "THAT I WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A LAB EXPERIMENT...YOUR SPECIAL SCIENCE PROJECT!"
"NO JAROD, YOU'RE WRONG." Sydney drew a deep breath and continued quietly, "I never saw you that way. You are very important to me. We lied to protect you."
"WHAT?"
"Jarod, we knew that you would react like this and that would jeopardize your life." Sydney paused trying to find the right words to explain. "Jarod, you were only a child, and even though you are a genius, psychologically you're very fragile. If we had told you the truth back then, you would have become alienated and rebellious. Then Raines would have taken over the Pretender project and destroyed you, like he did with Angelo and Alex."
"WE?" Jarod gave Sydney a quizzical look.
"Catherine Parker along with your mother discovered the truth after you were abducted."
Suddenly, a flash of memory invaded Jarod's mind and he remembered his conversation with Ocee when he met the old woman in the Island of Carthis.
"What was my mother searching for?" Jarod remembered asking Ocee.
The blind woman had touched his face and said, "Find out who you are?"
"What do you mean, who I am?" He had asked puzzled.
"All I know is what she spoke. She and another woman had been trying to discover the truth for a long time." Then turning towards Miss Parker, Ocee said, "That must have been your mother."
Jarod snapped out of his reverie and glared at his mentor. "YOU HAD CONTACT WITH MY MOTHER?"
"NO JAROD, I NEVER SAW OR SPOKE TO YOUR MOTHER. I SWEAR. THIS IS THE TRUTH." Sydney looked at his protégé; his eyes begging for his forgiveness. "Catherine Parker told me the truth about you just before her planned suicide. She had plans to rescue her daughter, Angelo and you, but then she vanished." Jarod could hear the pain in his mentor's voice.
"You mean she was murdered by Mr. Raines." Jarod said with repugnance.
"Yes, we learned about her death much later, when we found the DSA's of Ethan's birth."
"Sydney, why didn't you tell me the truth later on or after I escaped?" Jarod asked now more calmed.
"Catherine Parker made me promise that I would never tell you. She begged me to protect you, Angelo and Miss Parker if anything happened to her." Sydney said lowering his eyes. He was silent for a moment then continued, "Catherine wanted to rescue the children above all, but she was deeply tormented by all these secrets and all the lies. They launched her into a deep depression and affected her judgment."
"Her Inner sense." Jarod said quietly.
"Yes, and in a way, I'm responsible for her death." Sydney whispered sadly.
"What do you mean?"
"I helped Catherine Parker understand and refine her gift of the Inner sense...Soon after that she was gone."
"No Sydney, you didn't kill her, but you contributed to the betrayal and lies."
"I'm sorry Jarod. I was trying to protect you." Sydney glanced at the pretender looking for understanding, but all he could see was anger and pain.
"BY LYING TO ME FOR THE LAST THIRTY YEARS!...SYDNEY, YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON I TRUSTED AT THE CENTER. YOU WERE LIKE A..." The emotions made Jarod choke on his words, making him look away.
"Jarod, I was afraid of your reaction. I didn't want to see you hurt." Sydney tried to explain desperately. "Discovering the truth would have made you confused, furious and non-compliant and at the Centre that meant termination. Then, after you escaped, Miss Parker was put in charge of your pursuit and our contacts were very limited. I thought that sooner or later you would find your mother and she would explain everything to you."
"Sydney, you could have told me the truth during one of our encounters after my escape...You knew that I've been searching for the truth all these years." Jarod replied in a tortured voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Yes I know, but I was afraid that if I told you the truth I would never see you again. I'm sorry Jarod. I guess it was selfish of me." Sydney said blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. "I didn't want to lose you as well."
Jarod was quiet for a moment, absorbing the painful truth. He was so angry, but at the same time he felt hurt and betrayed. He still could not accept the fact that Sydney had lied to him all these years. Since he was a child he had been searching for his own identity and his family and now he felt as if he had lost both again. Sydney had taught him everything he knew, had protected him from many evils at the Centre and even had put his own life at risk to do so, but now this new revelation was shattering the special bond and trust that had taken so many years to form.
Finally, after a long uncomfortable silence, Jarod glanced at his anxious mentor and said almost inaudibly, "You're right Sydney; I probably would have vanished a long time ago if I knew the truth."
"I'm really sorry Jarod. I hope that some day you can forgive me."
"I don't know Sydney." Jarod replied in a defeated tone as he rubbed his tired eyes once more. He was desperately trying to keep his eyes focused on the road, but the exhaustion and the heated argument with his mentor had made his pounding headache almost unbearable.
Sydney's concern for his protégé went up a notch when he noticed how tired and pallid Jarod looked.
"Jarod are you okay?...You're very pale."
"I'll be fine. Just need some rest." Jarod replied simply.
"Jarod when was the last time you ate or slept?" Sydney could not hide the scolding tone in his voice.
"Sometime ago."
"Jarod, you should know better. Under stress your body will not resist that kind of mistreatment. That's just not normal or healthy." The old man continued his reprimand.
"NORMAL?...Now there is a joke." Jarod laughed sarcastically and then continued embittered, "Sydney, I never had a NORMAL LIFE and when you're running for your life, there is no time for schedules."
Jarod's harsh response caught the old man by surprise, but he knew that his pupil was right. Jarod's life was the furthest from normal that any human being could have. This extremely talented man had lived most of his life as a condemned prisoner of a notorious organization that functioned outside every law known to man, and for the past six years he had become a fugitive without the possibility of obtaining the freedom to live a normal life.
Avoiding his pupil's penetrating and angry gaze, Sydney looked at his hands instead and spoke softly, "I'm sorry Jarod...You're right...There is nothing normal about your life, but I hope that someday soon all that will change...I pray that you'll be reunited with your family and live a good life...You deserve that more than anybody."
Now it was Jarod's turn to look away to hide the tears that had welled in his eyes. The emotional anguish was consuming him alive, but deep inside he could not be angry at the old man. Sydney had become like a father figure for as long as he could remember; even though, the Centre had forbidden them to adopt or express such a connection.
Finally, Jarod exhaled deeply breaking the tense silence. He looked at his watch again before he began quietly. The pretender kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead avoiding his mentor's scrutinizing gaze, but Sydney could detect the sadness in his voice.
"I'm sorry Sydney. I shouldn't put all the blame on you...You're just another victim of the Centre and...you have suffered great lost as well."
"But I had the freedom and the choice to stop what was happening." Sydney argued softly.
"And end up like your brother Jacob or Catherine." Jarod said returning his mentor's gaze momentarily.
"Jarod, the Centre can't kill someone who's already dead." Sydney said mournfully.
The silence enveloped the inside of the car for a few minutes before Sydney spoke again, "Jarod, what are you going to do when this is over?"
"It will never be over for me Sydney. As long as they see me as their property; I will be trapped in this race for survival."
"What if the Centre is finally destroyed?" Sydney said hopefully. "Jarod, then you'll be free to find your family and stop the running!"
"If the Centre is destroyed then that leaves the Triumvirate to continue the hunt." Jarod replied bitterly, remembering Miss Parker's shocking news about the bounty on him, but Jarod chose not give the details of this new development to Sydney. His mentor had been through enough of an ordeal in the last twenty hours and learning about this new threat would only cause him more worry and torment.
"Sydney try to get some rest, I'll call you when we're almost there." Jarod said kindly, trying to avert the previous topic of their conversation.
"No Jarod, I better stay awake to keep an eye on you. I already had some rest, but you look like you're going to crash at any moment." Sydney said with concern, obtaining a brief but sad smile from the tired pretender.
"Okay Sydney. Do you mind if I turn the radio on?" Jarod asked quietly.
"Good idea Jarod. Some music will help us stay alert."
After a few minutes of friendly argument on their musical preferences, they both finally concurred on listening to a classical station. Sydney leaned back against the headrest, but kept a weary eye on the stubborn and very exhausted pretender. The remainder of their trip would be made in a comfortable silence, but Sydney knew that there were still many things to discuss in order to help Jarod deal with the painful truth that had come to light. Sydney closed his eyes for a moment and vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to help the man he had considered like a son for so many years, but most important of all he had to prevent Jarod from vanishing forever.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Somewhere outside the Centre
3:00a.m.
"ANGELO, WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Miss Parker asked frustrated.
"ANGELO KNOWS; HURRY!" The little man replied as he ran ahead of Miss Parker and Sam.
"Angelo I've ran Centre security for over five years and I know there is no access of any kind this far off the grounds."
"Hurry, hurry. Entrance near!" Angelo whispered while waving at the others to follow.
"MISS PARKER, I THINK ANGELO IS NUTS; WHERE IS HE GOING?" Sam protested.
"I don't know Sam, but we have no other choice than to follow him."
For the last half hour they had been following Angelo as he effortlessly zigzagged through a dark orchard. Following the empath's directions, the trio had abandoned their vehicle on a deserted dirt road about half a mile away from the Centre grounds and had started their trek through the desolate farm land.
"DAMN IT, I JUST RUINED ANOTHER PAIR OF SHOES." Parker growled, looking at the torn heel.
Just when Miss Parker was about to put a stop to their little tour, Angelo stopped abruptly in the middle of a dark field and began to clear away a mass of branches that conceal some kind of structure. When Parker and Sam approached the nervous little man, they were stunned by the discovery. A few feet before them stood a dilapidated and almost invisible air shaft.
"Well I'll be damned! That's how Boy genius got out." Parker exclaimed surprised.
"Very clever." Sam added.
"MUST GO NOW!" Angelo urged the others. "LONG WAY."
"Wait Angelo!...We need some kind of diversion before we try to sneak back into the Centre. With all the police and fire department snooping around after my car explosion, I really don't want to be caught crawling out of some vent." Parker thought out loud and then looked at her sweeper.
"Sam, give me your phone."
"What are you going to do Miss Parker?" Sam asked inquisitively.
"I have an idea." Parker said her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Lets create a little chaos to hide our arrival."
Parker quickly dialed a number from memory and waited for the line to connect. A few seconds later a timid voice answered.
"He...llo?"
"Broots, listen carefully."
"M...Miss Parker, where are you?... Did...did Jarod call you?"
"BROOTS; SHUT-UP AND LISTEN!"
"Sorry Miss Parker." Broots replied nervously. "I'm listening."
"Broots after I hang-up, wait fifteen minutes, then call the Centre. Tell them to evacuate the entire facility PRONTO because there is a bomb and it will explode at any time."
"A BOMB!" Broots cried out. "OH MY GOD!"
"Don't worry Broots; we'll leave The Centre before the fireworks start."
"YOU'RE AT THE CENTRE? Broots began to panic. "M...MISS PA...PARKER WHA...WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?...I MEAN, YOU SHOULDN'T BE NEAR THAT PLACE IF IF THERE IS A BO...BOMB!"
"BROOTS, LISTEN!" Parker interrupted the techie's hysterical ramblings. "It's complicated, I'll explain later. Broots, just be ready to leave as soon as we arrive."
"O...Okay Miss Parker."
"Broots have you heard from Jarod?"
"No Miss Parker, the last time I spoke to Jarod was when I gave him Sam's number. He wanted to talk to you." Broots said cautiously. "Miss Parker, do you think they're okay?"
"Lets hope so." Parker was silent for a moment. "Jarod said that he would call you as soon as he had Sydney in a safe place and that was almost two hours ago. I hope Boy Wonder knows what he's doing."
"Miss Parker, if I hear from Jarod, I'll call you right away."
"No Broots. Don't call us. Wait for my call."
"Alright Miss Parker...Miss Parker..." Broots started, but all he heard was the dial tone just before he finished his thoughts."...be careful."
Miss Parker turned off the small device and handed it back to Sam. "Leave the phone off. We don't want any surprise calls while we're crawling through Angelo's maze."
"Yes Miss Parker." Sam replied firmly.
"Sam according to Jarod, the bomb will go off at sunrise, that's around 5:23a.m." Parker glanced at her watch and then continued. "It's 3:15 now, so that gives us about two hours to find Ethan and get the hell out of here."
"Then we better get moving Miss Parker."
Without delay, Parker turned towards Angelo, who was eagerly waiting by the open air shaft and said, "Okay Angelo, show us the way."
"Find Ethan?" Angelo asked with anticipation.
"Yes Angelo, lets go find Ethan and hurry please. We're running out of time."
Angelo smiled at Miss Parker and began the descent into his secret underworld.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sydney's Cabin, White Clouds.
3:15a.m.
Slowly, Jarod brought the little sports car to a stop a few meters from the steps leading to the entrance of the cabin. Jarod yawned tiredly and glanced at his mentor, who was quietly staring at the darkness and lost in thought.
"Sydney we're here." Jarod spoke listlessly and stepped out of the car.
The sound of Jarod's voice brought the old man back to reality. Without reply, Sydney opened his door and slowly began to shift his brittle and sore body to extricate himself from the little sports car, but as soon as he stood Sydney cried out in pain and dropped heavily against the roof of the car.
"SYDNEY WHAT'S WRONG?" Jarod asked concerned, rushing to his mentor's side.
"IT'S MY DAMN KNEE." Sydney said grimacing. "I think I twisted it when I fell down earlier."
"Here lean on me." Jarod said as he placed Sydney's arm over his shoulder and supported the old man's weight. "And try to keep your weight off that knee."
"Jarod, this is not necessary. Just give me a few minutes and my knee should feel stronger." Sydney argued softly.
"Sydney, the sooner we're inside; the sooner we can get some rest. Please don't argue." Jarod said wearily.
"I guess you're right Jarod." Sydney said defeated and allowed the haggard pretender to help him up the steps.
When they finally reached the door, Jarod looked at Sydney and said, "I hope you have a spare key hidden somewhere out here."
Already out of breath, the old man pointed at the fixture hanging by the door. "There's one behind that...lantern."
"Good, because I don't think I could pick a lock right now."
While Sydney leaned on the door's frame, Jarod walked over to where the lantern was attached and reached behind the glass feeling for the key.
"I got it!" Jarod announced somewhat pleased.
The pretender quickly unlocked the big wooden door and once again helped his mentor by supporting most of his weight like a human crutch. As they slowly entered the dark cabin, Jarod felt the walls with his hand searching for a light switch, but found none.
"Sydney, where's the light switch?" Jarod asked impatiently.
"Jarod, there's a lamp on a small table by the window. It's a few feet to your right."
"Okay Sydney, stay here and don't move." Jarod instructed his mentor and started to walk towards the direction of the window. "Let me find the light before we both trip over something and break our necks."
"I couldn't agree more." Sydney replied with a half smile.
As soon as the light was switched on, Jarod heard Sydney's alarming scream, "JAROD WATCH OUT!"
Unfortunately, Sydney's warning came too late. With his eyes still adjusting to the sudden brightness, Jarod only had a split second to detect the blurred figure that had jumped from behind the curtain. Before the pretender had a chance to react and stop the attacker, something solid made contact with his skull and everything faded into blackness again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Centre.
4:00a.m.
After crawling through the Centre's ventilation labyrinth for almost an hour, the trio finally reached SL-20.
It was plainly visible that Broots had called the Centre with the bomb threat as planned. Most of the sub levels were already deserted and the emergency evacuation system had been put in effect. Between the emergency flashing lights and the deafening noise from the alarms, Miss Parker thought she was going to go insane. Covering her ears to block the blasting noise, Parker shouted at Sam, "SAM, WE NEED TO SPLIT UP TO COVER MORE GROUND."
"ALRIGHT MISS PARKER; WHERE SHOULD I START SEARCHING?"
"SAM, YOU GO CHECK THE CENTRE'S DEHYDRATION CORE AND GENERATOR COMPARTMENTS; ANGELO AND I WILL CHECK THE INFIRMARY AND ALL THE LABS."
"ALRIGHT, MISS PARKER."
"SAM, WE MEET BACK HERE BY 5:00a.m SHARP, WITH OR WITHOUT ETHAN." Parker said firmly.
"YES Ma am!" Sam agreed and took off running down the hall.
"Ethan, please help us here. I can't leave you behind now." Parker pleaded silently as she watched her loyal sweeper disappear from sight.
Lost in her thoughts, Miss Parker didn't notice when the little man approached her. When Angelo pulled on her sleeve to get her attention, Parker jumped alarmed.
"What's wrong Angelo?"
"Don't be sad...Angelo find Ethan." The empath said reassuringly.
"I hope you're right Angelo."
"Come, we go now!" Angelo cried suddenly and began running towards the hall leading to the Infirmary with Parker following close behind.
For nearly forty-five minutes, Parker and Angelo had been searching through the Infirmary and all the Centre's labs in the lower sub-levels, but they had come up empty-handed. Feeling defeated and frustrated, Parker glanced at her watch as she paced nervously in front of Angelo. Time was running out and she didn't want to face the possibility of leaving her brother to die in this bottomless pit.
Suddenly, Parker faced the timid empath and shouted angrily, "COME ON ANGELO! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE ETHAN COULD BE?"
"Sorry...brother lost...scared." Angelo cried out confused. Then staring at the tall woman with fear, he said, "Brother searching."
"ANGELO, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE ARE SEARCHING FOR MY BROTHER." Parker said annoyed.
"YES...YES, SEARCHING FOR BROTHER!"
"WHAT?" Parker replied puzzled.
"Ethan...searching...below." Angelo answered shivering as he pointed to the sub-level below them. "Brother...below."
Suddenly, Parker understood what Angelo was trying to say and the reason for his fearful reaction. Right below them was SL-27, where Raines had carried out his diabolical experiments that had robbed Angelo of his life and where he had kept Kyle and others locked-up in those dungeon-like cells for most of their childhood.
"HE'S LOOKING FOR JAROD!" Parker stated with shock.
Angelo was too distressed to speak and simply nodded vigorously while backing up against the wall and sliding down to the ground. Parker slowly approached the panic stricken little man and knelt next to him. Tenderly she rubbed his shoulder and said, "Angelo, you stay here. I'll find Ethan."
Once again, Angelo nodded in agreement while hugging his knees protectively and making himself as small as possible.
Without delay, Parker raced to the secret manhole entrance she had found with Sydney and Broots a few years earlier, when they first discovered the existence of SL-27. To her surprise and relief, she found the entrance already open, indicating that someone had gone down recently. Immediately, Parker withdrew her 9mm and started her descent into the forbidden and lifeless sub-level.
As Parker entered the blackened and frigid halls of this hidden torture chamber, she could almost feel the evil that lurked within these walls. In her mind she could hear the screams of the children. She could feel the pain and terror they had experienced. Children, like Timmy, Kyle and many others that had lived trapped in the darkness for so many years. The same children her mother had tried to rescue from the Centre. But her mother had failed, and as a result she had paid the ultimate price. Was this to be her fate as well? A wave of panic began to creep inside of her. Her heart was racing and she felt as if she was suffocating. She was terrified and she was losing control. Parker stopped momentarily, closed her eyes and taking a deep breath she reprimanded herself, "Get a hold of yourself Parker! FOCUS! I'm not my mother and I'm not going to die here. DAMN IT! I'm going to find my brother and leave this chamber of horrors behind forever."
Finally, regaining control of her jittery nerves and more determined than ever to change her fate, Parker resumed her frantic search for Ethan. After searching through an endless number of empty cells, Parker detected a faint light in one of the last cells at the end of a dark hall. Ignoring her fatigue, Parker dashed to the entrance of the small cell and froze.
There sitting in a small metal cot was her brother Ethan. He looked dazed and completely unaware of her presence. Dangling from his hands was a small flashlight and at his feet was a small back pack, like the one Sam had found at Sydney's home.
Once again, another perilous event had brought them together. Before she had a chance to react, flashes of memory began running inside her head. Images clear as day from their first meeting. She could see herself, Jarod and Ethan running inside that doomed train and then jumping off the train just before the explosion. It was so real it made her shudder with fear. Then on their second meeting, when Ethan had come to her rescue after the explosion in the lab where she was searching for Tommy Thompson. Ethan just appeared from nowhere and managed to pull her from the rubble just in time to save her life, just like in the vision she had about her mother. It seemed that every time she met with her mysterious little brother their lives hung on a balance between life and death.
Parker shook her head to pull herself from these hair-raising memories. This was not the time to reminiscent on her past brush with death. Now, it was her turn to save Ethan, but something was preventing her from moving beyond the doorway to reach her brother. It was fear. Suddenly, Parker realized that she was afraid of what her bother's reaction might be. 'What if Ethan didn't trust her?' 'What if Jarod had turned him against her?' 'What if Ethan hated her for hunting his half-brother?' 'How could she convince him that she was there to help him?' The torturing questions increased her hesitation with every passing minute.
After what seemed like an eternity, Parker finally pushed aside her fears and pushed herself away from the doorway. Cautiously and praying for the best, she approached her brother very slowly. When she moved closer, Parker could see that Ethan was trembling and his face was covered with a thin film of perspiration.
When she was a few feet away, Parker stopped and spoke softly, "Ethan, are you alright?"
A pair of frightened eyes looked up at the tall woman and widened with surprise. For a brief moment Ethan's face lit up with delight when he recognized the person before him, but his joy quickly vanished and the fear and pain took over his features once again.
"Miss Parker!" Ethan whispered her name, unable to raise his voice.
"Ethan, what are you doing here?" Parker asked gingerly, kneeling by her brother. "Are you hurt?"
Unexpectedly, Ethan became very agitated. With a look of terror in his eyes, he jumped to his feet, knocking Miss Parker to the floor. Ignoring Miss Parker's presence, Ethan began pacing the small cell in an insane manner.
Alarmed with Ethan's reaction, Parker quickly stood from the floor and moved against the wall and away from the disturbed young man.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Ethan shouted at the woman avoiding her eyes. The distraught young man continued his frenzied pacing while he pressed his hands against his ears as if not wanting to hear what was said to him. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Ethan, please calm down." Parker was now truly frightened.
"THEY KEEP SHOUTING AT ME!...MAKE THEM STOP!" Ethan cried out in pain and dropped to the floor with a loud thud.
Putting aside her fears, Parker rushed to her brother's side and knelt next to him. Unaware of her actions, Parker gently held her brother for a few minutes until he regained some control of his emotions and then she carefully helped him into a sitting position on the floor. Still holding his hands, Parker asked, "Ethan, please tell me what's wrong?"
Ethan glanced at his sister and said with despair,"THE VOICES...THEY KEEP SCREAMING AT ME!"
At the sound of Ethan's words, Parker felt a cold chill run through her entire body. It was like they had been locked inside a freezer and every nerve in her body was slowly dying, but her mind was racing and it was telling her that something was very wrong. Then she remembered Jarod's words about Ethan's gift, "It's your mother's voice he can hear Miss Parker, maybe you can hear it too. Trust that voice."
Parker grasped Ethan's chin gently and lifted his face so he could look into her eyes. She was trying to stay focused and hide her own fear from her brother, but the panic was plainly visible in her eyes and in her voice, "Ethan...what are the voices saying?"
Ethan hesitated for a moment but then he saw all the sadness and concern in Miss Parker's eyes.With a trebling voice, Ethan began, "The voices...Her voice...is telling me that he's in trouble...My brother...Jarod is in trouble."
Without saying a word, Parker stood very slowly and began pacing the small cell as she nervously ran her hand through her hair. After a few minutes, she turned to Ethan and said calmly, "Ethan don't worry, Jarod will be okay."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Ethan argued softly.
"I spoke to Jarod a few hours ago and he was fine. Please don't worry." Parker reassured him averting his penetrating gaze. Very gently, Parker grabbed her brother by the arm and helped him off the floor. "But right now, we need to get out of here."
"Miss Parker, please promise me that we will find Jarod when we leave this place." Ethan insisted.
"Okay Ethan, we will find him I promise." Parker replied as she picked-up the backpack from the floor and walked back to were Ethan was waiting.
"Ethan...Do you remember why you came down here?" Parker asked cautiously.
Ethan just looked at his sister with confusion and shook his head negatively.
"Ethan...Jarod told me that Alex sent you here to set some explosives...Do you know where they are?" Parker looked at her brother hopefully.
"WHAT?" Ethan replied horrified. "NO...NO, I DON'T KNOW!...I DON'T REMEMBER!"
"It's okay Ethan." Parker squeezed his arm gently. "Don't worry about that, the main thing is to get out of here." Parker said as she rushed her brother out of the small cell. "Lets go; we don't have much time."
By the time Miss Parker, Ethan and Angelo met with Sam on SL-20, where their search had started, it was already 5:10a.m.
"MISS PARKER, WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!" Sam said alarmed as he ran towards Parker and the others.
"SAM, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?" Parker asked with concern staring at the blood on Sam's sleeve.
"Oh that; don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. I ran into Willy and he was the stubborn jackass as usual."
"WHERE IS HE?" Parker asked, her fury rising.
"Lets just say that Willy is not going to bother us anymore." Sam replied with a smile.
"GOOD" Parker said coldly. "Now he can keep his boss company."
"Miss Parker, we have less than fifteen minutes. We are not going to make it out on time if we try to exit the same way we came in." Sam whispered, trying to avoid alarming the others.
"I know Sam. We will have to leave along with everyone else." Parker whispered back. "So get ready to blend in with the panicked crowd upstairs."
"Yes Ma am!"
"Sam, you bring Angelo and if we get separated we'll meet in the parking lot by Sydney's car."
"Okay Miss Parker."
"Sam, I hope that you still remember how to hot-wire a car?" Parker said over her shoulder as she hurriedly guided Ethan to the elevator. "We're going to need another car to get Broots, Ethan and Angelo to a safe place."
"I think I can manage Miss Parker." Sam answered simply.
"Good; now lets get the hell out of here!"
In a matter of seconds, the Centre's defectors were finally on their way to ground level and freedom.
TBC