A/N: Sorry it took me so long to write this chap. Enjoy!
Chapter 39 - Isabo and Sabio: Part I
10:00am - A Research Facility
It took Tamsin quite a while to find a parking spot in the parking lot. She backed her truck into that small space and turned off the engine.
Tamsin turned to Bo, only to find out that the brunette had dozed off on the passenger seat. She chuckled, and spent a few seconds enjoying the view of the sleeping Succubus. Then she pinched Bo's nose, intentionally blocking her nostrils.
Bo groaned in her dreams, before she opened her mouth and inhaled sharply. She woke up, her hazy brown eyes staring at Tamsin's face which was only inches away. After gazing at the blonde's pale blues for a second or two, Bo smiled softly and smacked her lips.
"Dreamed of something tasty?" Tamsin teased.
"Yeah," Bo replied, her eyes slowly moving down till they stopped on the Valkyrie's sweet lips. She leaned in and kissed the Valkyrie, before she added, "you."
Tamsin chuckled again, and kissed her back. Then she asked, "ready to meet the person who was working at the research lab your dad sent your brother to?"
"Hell yeah," Bo replied and opened the passenger side door.
10:10am - Inside the Building
After going through a security check where the guards checked their IDs and confirmed their appointment, they were handed two visitor badges. Tamsin had to leave her gun there, which made her grunt unhappily.
Taking an elevator up, they arrived at the fourth floor.
As they exited the elevator, Bo immediately noticed the labs on both sides of the hallway. Most of them had their doors closes and windows blinded, with the name of the lab written on a plate right next to the doors, and most names were related to things like cognition, or other brain activities.
There were two labs that had their blinds open. In one of them there was a huge, and very fancy, maze in the middle. A lab rat was in it, stuck in a corner, sniffing, while a group of people in labcoats were observing its behavior.
In the other one, a person was sitting in a chair with a helmet on his head. The helmet had a bunch of electrodes connected to it, and its weird look reminded Bo some sci-fi movie she had seen with Kenzi on one of their Thursday movie nights. He had a nonchalant look on his face, and he was watching something displayed on a monitor in front of him, but since Bo could only see the back side of the monitor, she had no idea what he was watching. Two people in labcoats were talking to him while typing things on their tablets.
10:15am - Outside Room 405
"This is it, right?" Bo asked as she looked at the room number on the door.
"Mhm," Tamsin nodded after she checked the note on her cellphone. "Room 405, and we are here to see Dr. Teresa Young. She was an assistant researcher at that research facility during the year of 1990 and brother was there during that time too."
Bo nodded and took a deep breath, before she knocked on the door.
A second or two later, a woman opened the door. Bo and Tamsin immediately recognized her as Teresa Young since they had done a lot of background check on her before they came over. They introduced themselves, and Teresa greeted them with a smile and a warm handshake before she invited them into her office.
10:25am - Room 405
Bo briefly scanned the room. She saw several award certificates and a couple of old group photos hanging on the wall, three bookcases stuffed with academic journals, magazines and books, a colorful brain anatomy model on the desk, and stacks of print outs placed against the bottom of the bookcases.
Tamsin adjusted herself in her chair and said, "why don't we just skip the awkward moment where everyone tries to figure out some small talk about the weather, the traffic or whatever to start the conversation, and cut to the chase? Let's just talk about her brother, shall we?"
Teresa nodded with a smile. It seemed that she had not been offended by Tamsin's attitude at all. She put her hands together and rested them on the desk. Then she raised her head and took a glance at one of the two group photos on the wall. She stood up and took it off, brushing the surface with her palm before showing to Bo and Tamsin.
"This was taken two weeks before the place got burnt down by the fire," Teresa said.
Bo nodded slightly as she looked at the photo. It was a photo of half dozen kids and a dozen adults. From the balloons, the "Happy Birthday" signs, and the cake frosting on those kids' face, Bo knew they were at a birthday party. Although, when she noticed the bars on the windows and the fact that every kid was wearing some weird helmet instead of regular birthday hats, she figured that it probably had not been one of those normal birthday parties. On the bottom of the photo, it wrote: Drew's birthday party, Lab 539, May 23, 1991.
"Wow, a lab with bars on the windows and kids wearing heavy helmets," Tamsin said with a smirk, "fancy."
Teresa huffed out an awkward laugh and ignored Tamsin's comment about the bars. "Those specially designed helmets were the best way to block their Fae power back then," she explained, "so they wouldn't accidentally electrocuted people or-"
"Hypnotize people?" Bo said as she recalled her brother's Fae power.
"That too," Teresa said, nodding. "Although, your brother's case was quite different from the other kids. He was very much able to control his power. He was just-" She stopped talking, unable to find a word to best describe Bo's brother's situation. Instead she just pointed at one of the kids and told Bo, "this is him."
Bo nodded, although before Teresa had said that, she had already recognized him in the photo. He had a warm smile on his face, the same smile he had given her when they had met. However, when she looked close enough, she could see that the smile wasn't in his eyes. There were no emotions in those eyes, as if he wasn't capable of feeling or expressing any emotions. Other than that, he was a normal, good looking kid, got frosting on his face and a small piece of cake in his hand.
"Two weeks later, the main building was burnt down. The fire started somewhere near the main hall, where all the kids and researchers were at. I guess the bars on the windows made it harder for anyone to escape, and the fire burnt too quickly. It killed everyone but me and your brother in this photo," Teresa said with a heavy sigh. "I could have died too, if I hadn't gone to the store to pick up some crayons for the art session because we had run out of crayons. On my way back I got into a minor car accident, and spent some time dealing with that. And when I got back, they were already pulling dead bodies out from the burnt building. All the researchers were dead, except me. All the kids were dead, except your brother. He was nowhere to be found. Then, I think a bunch of delivery guys survived because they were unloading things on the back side of the building. They got out in time, but it was too late to save the others."
"Was the fire ruled as an accident, or did someone set the fire?" Tamsin asked, although she had already had a good idea about the answer to her own question.
"Someone set the fire, but they didn't know who," Teresa replied.
Bo licked her bottom lip, and hesitantly asked, "do you think...emmm...it was him who set the fire?"
"Your brother? No, no, I don't think so," Teresa replied. "Not that I don't think he was capable of killing that many people, it was just...not the way he would kill."
"How would he kill then?" Tamsin pursued.
"Had he set the fire, he'd be standing there and watching people burn in great pleasure," Teresa explained. "He liked to manipulate people and push them over their edges. And he liked the feeling of making things happen, especially things that would make the others suffer. To him it was some sort of...challenging game, that when he finally got to the end of it, he would enthusiastically enjoy the finale. I don't think he would have just run away and disappeared like that. "
"Where do you think he might have gone to then?" Tamsin asked. "I mean, that little fucker was like...ten or something back then? How did he even survive out there?"
"My best guess would be that he went to someone, or somewhere he felt safe, but...beyond that, I don't know."
"Do you know such place, or someone like that?"
"No, all I know is that he didn't go back to his parents, or anyone in your family. He didn't have any other connections, or know anyone else, not to my knowledge, so...I have no idea."
"Anything else you can tell us about him? Anything that might help us to find him, or at least to understand him more?" Bo pursued. "I mean...he's my twin brother, but I've only met him like once, and other than him being born a pure evil, I don't know anything about him."
"You've met him?" Teresa asked with a frown, looking surprised.
"Yeah, not too long ago. Too bad he got away before my fiancé came to rescue," Bo replied as she took a look at Tamsin. They shared a subtle smile.
Teresa nodded. She went into a trance for a long time, before she said, "I don't know if I would use the word pure evil on him." She paused for a little, before she explained, "I mean...it was very obvious that he lacked the ability to empathize and sympathize. He couldn't understand human emotions or feelings. He found other people's suffering interesting, and hurting or killing the others would give him pleasure, but...after the treatment he had received at Lab 539, I think he started to understand that what he liked was wrong. He learned that it wasn't acceptable among other people, and he made effort to cope. Of course, back then we had two distinct explanations for such behavior. Some of us believed that he was doing so because it would make it easier for him to manipulate people, and then to hurt them more, but the others argued that he was doing that because he wanted to belong."
"Well which one is it?" Bo asked.
Teresa shook her head and gave her a smile of defeat. "I don't know," she said. "It could be one or the other. It might be both, or even neither. It was impossible to tell."
"But, you are leaning towards the he wanted to belong side," Tamsin said.
"I was," Teresa corrected her, "but after those serial killing he has orchestrated recently…I don't know what to believe now."
"That's all you knew about him?" Bo asked, a little disappointed. "Can you think of anyone who might have known him when he was there?"
Teresa sucked her bottom lip and went quiet. After a long, hesitant pause, she told them, "actually, there is someone I...there is someone you probably should meet, although…."
"Although?" Tamsin asked, frowning. "And who are we gonna meet? Someone who knew him?"
Teresa didn't answer her. She just stood up and opened the door. "Come with me," she said.
11:20am - The Sixth Floor
Bo and Tamsin followed Teresa into the elevator, and arrived at the sixth floor. They found themselves in an inpatient care area, with patient rooms on both sides of the hallway.
"Morning, Dr. Young," one of the nurses passing by them on the hallway greeted Teresa. "Here to see Lisa again?"
Teresa nodded and smiled at him.
The nurse slowed down a little and glanced at Bo and Tamsin curiously, like he was very surprised to see Teresa bring guests with her, but he didn't say anything before he went away with the other nurses.
11:35am - A Secured Area on the Sixth Floor
At the end of the hallway they took a turn to the left, and ended up in front of a keyless entry door. Teresa swiped her ID card, and entered a PIN to unlock it, before she held the door for Tamsin and Bo to let them in.
Behind the door there was a very small area, with three rooms. Two of them were empty, with their doors open, while the third one was locked.
This time Teresa had to pass an iris scanner and a voice recognition system to unlock the door. And behind the door, it was a patient room.
There was a girl lying on the bed in the middle of the room. She was covered in hospital blankets and had a lot of IV and machines hooked up with her. She looked so pale and so emaciated. If it wasn't for her visible rapid eye movements under her eyelids, it would be very hard for Bo to believe that she was still alive.
"Who is she?" Tamsin asked as she held Bo's hand in hers, since she knew Bo cared so much that she would definitely feel bad when seeing someone like this.
"Her name is Elizabeth Grimes. Everyone calls her Lisa," Teresa introduced as she checked some charts printed out by one of the machines.
"Did she know my brother or something?" Bo asked.
Teresa sighed. She didn't answer Bo's question directly. Instead she said, "they found her in the building after the fire."
"Hmmm," Tamsin murmured, "I thought the survivors list was fairly short, you, and those delivery guys. There was no Lisa Grimes."
"I asked them not to list her, because she might have seen something that..I thought it was the best that no one knew she survived."
"Who is this girl? And how did she survive?" Tamsin asked.
"She's the daughter of two of the researchers in Lab 539. She has been hospitalized since, " Teresa said. "No one knows how she has survived. I didn't even know they had brought her to work that day. All I know was the fireman found her inside the building like this. "
"What's wrong with her? Is she in a coma or something?"
"No," Teresa said, shaking her head. "She's sleeping."
"Oh," Bo said, feeling a little relieved, but then as she realized something, she frowned and said,
"wait, you said they found her inside the building like this. You mean they found her in the building...sleeping like this?"
"Yeah," Teresa replied. "For the past 22 years, she's been sleeping like this. She wouldn't wake up, nor would she go into NREM sleep. She has been trapped in REM sleep for 22 years."
"REM sleep like...vivid dream cycle?" Bo asked. After she got a nod from Teresa she continued, "For 22 years? How is it even possible?"
"I have no idea, but yeah, she's been trapped in her dreams for over two decades now."
"You think it has something to do with that fire?" Tamsin asked.
"Well...Lisa used to be a normal kid. A normal kid don't just survive through a fire and be stuck in her dreams for 22 years." Teresa paused for a while, before added, "maybe something happened to her right before the fire. Maybe it even had something to do with your brother, since she was found inside the building not too far away from the main hall where everybody else was at."
"Maybe she even saw who set the fire?"
"She might have. She might even know where your brother had gone to, but unless we figure out a way to wake her up, there is no way to communicate with her," Teresa said as she looked at Lisa. "We've tried everything. She just wouldn't wake up."
"Have you tried to find a Baku to eat her dreams?" Bo asked.
"We have, but the Baku told us it wasn't that type of dream, so she couldn't eat it. And when I asked her what type of dream it was, she said she couldn't tell me because of some dream eater-eatee confidentiality."
Tamsin rolled her eyes, and tried to think of any other Fae who was related to dreams, but most of them were only able to give people good or bad dreams. She unconsciously caressing Bo's thumb with her own while thinking, until something suddenly occurred to her.
"Hey," Tamsin said to Bo, "remember that Trick once told you since you are a Succubus, you can enter other people's dreams if you want to?"
"Well, yeah, after that Mare case, he told me that like a Mare I am able to sense and ride dream energy," Bo replied. She looked at Tamsin with her eyes narrowed. "Emm...you are not thinking-"
"Sending my cute little Succubus into this poor girl's dreams to see if she could find anything useful or even wake her up?" Tamsin said, smirking. "Yep."
"Will that actually work?" Bo asked, frowning. "I mean, I have never even done that before. How do I even...enter her dreams?"
"You know you can enter other people's dreams yet you have never done that before?" Teresa asked in surprise.
"Yeah, you know, Succubi, there's a suck in it," Tamsin said with her nose scrunched.
Bo rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Well, I never felt the need to...I mean, why would I enter someone else's dream? It's not very nice..." She paused for a second, before she asked Teresa, "would it even work? Can I even wake her up from inside her dreams? Would there be anything related to my brother? "
"I don't know," Teresa said. "I don't know if you could wake her up from inside her mind. And I have no idea whether her dreams are related to your brother or not. All I know is that she was trapped in her REM sleep for 22 years, and it probably had something to do with that fire. And that fire probably had something to do with your brother's disappearance, but...would she dream about what happened that day, or would there be anything related to what happened that day in her dreams? I don't know."
Bo turned to her Valkyrie, and Tamsin was looking right back at her. They had a quick, silent conversation with their eyes. Then, Bo let out a deep breath and held the blonde's hand tighter. "I guess it doesn't hurt for me to try at least once, right?" She said.
TO BE CONTINUED...
