Chapter 40 - Isabo and Sabio: Part II
12:20pm - Lisa's Room
With her eyes closed, Bo tried to synchronize herself to the energy of Lisa's brain activities. The moment she had sensed that unique energy emitted from the girl, she knew Tamsin and Teresa were right. Entering people's dream was in her blood.
When she held on to that energy stream, she clenched her teeth and jerked her head aside. The Valkyrie immediately squeezed her hand and let her bury her face into her jacket.
Tamsin's sweet smell and the gentle strokes on her hair comforted Bo, but that relaxed feeling barely lasted, before it got washed away by Lisa's memories.
Time Unknown - Place Unknown
Bo thought she had screamed, but she hadn't really heard herself. The warmth coming from Tamsin's hand faded away, just like every other thing in Lisa's room, the smells, the voices, everything she was seeing. They all faded away.
Opening her eyes abruptly, Bo suddenly found herself with her senses again.
She found herself standing in the middle of a hallway of an old building. On her right side, there were doors with room number tags beside them. Most of them were closed; only a couple were open. One of them was like the janitor's room, and the other was a large room with tables and chairs whose size were appropriate for children. In that room there were drawings and crafts on the wall. Toys chests were placed against the walls. In the corner there was also an old TV.
On the other side of the hallway, there were display cases on the wall, with photos and award certificates.
Bo wanted to get a better look at those photos, and then, she realized that she was raising herself on her toes and that was the only way she could see the photos on the very top row.
How did I suddenly become so short? Bo wondered, her eyebrows furrowed. She saw herself in the display case glass, and she was shocked.
In the glass, she didn't see herself. Instead, she saw a little girl, about 7 years old maybe. She was wearing a floral pattern dress, which had a big, white, flat collar rimmed with lace.
Huh, I had something similar when I was like 10 or something… Bo thought as she stared at her little girl's face looked like Lisa's, and that was when Bo realized that since she was now in Lisa's mind, she probably got interpreted as Lisa.
Bo shrugged while trying to get rid of the awkward feeling of being one foot and half shorter now. One of the photos in the display case she saw had her brother and Teresa in it, and she suddenly recognized this place.
She was now in Lab 539.
Bo wanted to get a closer look at those photos, thinking maybe there were something useful, but her body moved against her will all of a sudden.
Wow. Bo thought, trying to hold herself still, but it seemed that she had completely lost control of the body at this moment. She moved towards a closed door on the other side of the hallway, and the fact that she was now moving yet her mind still thought she was standing still almost make her throw up.
Luckily, it was only a few steps' distance, before she stopped in front of the closed door. She saw herself reaching out and pressed her palm on the door.
It turned out that the door wasn't locked, and with a light push, it cracked open in silence. It wasn't something Bo had planned to do either, but it lead her to believe that since now she was in Lisa's mind, she was probably living through a part of her memory or something and she had no control of it.
The conversation coming from the room interrupted Bo's thoughts, and she forced herself to focus on the group of people inside.
Around twenty people were inside the room, and all of them were wearing labcoat and a name badge. They were all sitting at a big table, listening to one guy's presentation.
Among those people inside, Bo recognized a much younger Teresa. She was intently listening to the presenter, just like the others, and nobody had noticed that Lisa was eavesdropping outside the door.
Bo could hardly understand the content of that guy's presentation. All she had grasped was he was talking about some novel method to visualize brain activities. And she could sense that Lisa had lost interest in it too. The little girl stepped away from the door and walked towards the exit of the building.
Mid Afternoon - Outside the Building
It was mid afternoon outside, warm, humid, sunny. Lisa paused for a brief moment and raised her head, taking a glance at the sapphire sky and those huge shadows the clouds cast on top of the distant mountains.
She walked along the outside wall of the building, kicking away pebbles in front of her foot. When she passed by the loading dock, she stopped and watched some delivery guys in light green uniforms busy unloading boxes from their truck. Then, she turned away from the building and started to walk across the huge lawn in front of her.
Someone was mowing the grass, and he waved at her. She waved back, without stopping.
As she walked, the strong scent of the newly mowed grass rolled into Bo's mind. She saw her feet briskly stepping forward in turns, crushing the purplish white clover blossoms. Occasional she stopped abruptly, avoiding stepping on a grasshopper or two.
Bo could feel those long ears of the unmowed grass brushing against her calves as she moved towards a part of the building which was the furthest from the main part. She could hear the mower humming, the AC condenser unit droning, and Lisa breathing. She could feel the heat, the sweat coming out from the corner of her forehead, and the gentle breeze in the air. Everything felt so real, that Bo started to believe that this wasn't a dream, but a piece of Lisa's real memory.
Lisa eventually stopped outside a closed window with blinds closed inside. She reached out to knock on the window, but before she touched the glass, she withdrew her arm and ran to a condenser unit that wasn't far away instead.
She picked up a few bricks behind the unit, and from the way they were carefully stacked and hidden there, Bo knew she must have put them there on purpose.
The little girl carried those bricks over and stacked them under that window. She stepped on the top and knocked on the window.
"Johnny," Lisa called, gently knocking on the glass. "Johnny."
At first, no one answered her, but she kept knocking. "Let me in," she pleaded.
Eventually the blinds were raised, and the window slid to the side. When Bo laid her eyes on the person who appeared in front of her, she felt that her heart had stopped, and so had her breath, because it was her brother.
The good looking boy looked at Lisa, with no emotion showing on his face, or in his eyes. He was wearing a helmet, just like in the birthday party photo Teresa had showed to Bo.
"That is not my name," he said simply, his finger curled against the edge of the window.
"Yes it is," Lisa argued. "I saw that in your files."
The boy clenched his lips. "That is not my name," he repeated.
Lisa answered him with a series of giggles. She pressed her hands on the windowsill to prop herself, before she lifted her right leg and pushed herself up more on her knee. And eventually she moved her body through the window.
Lisa landed on the floor inside. As she looked around, Bo got a quick view of the room too.
It looked like a small dorm room, with a 2 level bed, the upper level as the bed and the lower as a desk with bookshelves. The books on the shelves were perfectly organized according to the colors of them.
On the wall beside the bed, there was a calendar. Bo noticed that starting from June 1st, each date was crossed out with a black marker. She assumed that today was June 6th, since all dates before it had been crossed out.
Beside the calendar, there were some drawings on the wall, all of them were drawn with black ink only except one. She wanted to take a closer look at that one, but Lisa's attention was drawn to a butterfly specimens display case on his bed instead. It was stuffed into a small backpack with a set of clothes and a few other things, but was a little too big to fit in.
"You can't fit this in," Lisa pointed out as she pulled out the display case. "It's way too big."
The boy stayed quiet for a second or two, before he put the case back to the desk.
"Why are you packing? Are you leaving?" Lisa asked curiously as she sat on his bed.
The boy clenched his lips again. "I can't tell you, Isabo," he answered.
Hearing that name, Bo felt that her heart had skipped a beat. Isabeau? Why is he calling her Isabeau?
Lisa chuckled. "That is not my name, Johnny," she replied, amused. "I'm Lisa. I am not Isabo."
"To me, you are," the boy said simply. He started to take the drawings off the wall one after another, crumpling each before throwing it into the trashcan behind the door.
When he took off the only colorful one, though, he hesitated, and before he did anything to it, Lisa snatched it from his hand.
In the drawing, Bo saw a high, dark tower. It was leaning to one side, as if it was about to collapse. Dark flames surrounded it.
A girl figure stood on the top level, with a name "Isabo" written next to her head. With two filled blue circles as her eyes and an red arc as her mouth; she was smiling.
Next to her it was a boy figure, with a name "Sabio" written next to his head. He had brown hair and blue eyes also. His mouth was just a short red dash, like he was clenching his lips. He also had a helmet, just like her brother.
They were holding hands in the picture, or at least Bo though they were, because her brother had drawn a ball of messy, entangles lines to connect the ends of their arms.
Isabo and Sabio? Bo wondered. Is this Isabo...me? And this boy Sabio, is it him? Is that his name?
"Isabo..." Lisa's voice pulled Bo back. The little girl pointed at the girl figure curiously and pursued, "this is me?"
"No," the boy shook his head. "That's Isabo."
"Who is she then?"
"She's Sabio's sister."
"Who is Sabio?"
"He's Isabo's brother." He paused for a second or two while folding that drawing into a very small square. He put it into his pants pocket, and added, "one day, they'll find each other."
"Who are they?" Lisa was very confused.
The boy didn't answer her. He zipped his backpack and handed it to Lisa. "Take this, and go back to the playroom. Don't tell anyone."
"Okay," Lisa replied, nodding. "Are you coming too?"
"I will be there soon. Put that in the storage room and stay there."
Later That Afternoon - Playroom
When Lisa entered the playroom, Bo realized that it was that empty, big room with children's tables and chairs.
A bunch of kids were in there, and all of them were wearing the same helmets. They were watching some cartoon.
Two adults were sitting in the corner, revelled in their conversations.
When Lisa walked opened the door to the storage closet, one of the adults stopped her and asked her what she wanted. The little girl said that she was looking for some toys for Ms. Teresa, and he nodded without noticing a thing.
Lisa stayed in the closet. And a while later, Bo's brother came in.
Later - In the Closet
In the dark, small room, Bo tried to figure out what her brother's plan was. She wondered why he was packing, and why he had crossed out those dates on his calendar. It seemed like he was waiting for something to happen today.
Then, Bo watched in shock as the boy took out a small wire saw and sawed the lock on his helmet. He took his helmet off and tossed it aside.
"You are not supposed to take that off," Lisa whispered, her voice concerned.
"It is time," the boy replied. He observed the playroom through the cracked open door patiently.
Out of curiosity, Lisa scooted to his side and looked through the crack too. "What are we watching?" She asked in a whisper; and outside the researchers entered the playroom.
The boy didn't answer her. The sound of his breath filled the small space. After everyone had entered the room, he suddenly said in a very low, barely audible whisper, "one of them is not like the others."
"What?" Lisa asked.
He said nothing, but put pulled her arm and let her turn to face him. He stared at her, and that was the first time Bo had seen something in his eyes, hesitation.
"Remember this moment," he commanded eventually, his voice so calm that it almost sounded creepy. "Remember what you see. One of them is not like the others. Remember, one of them is not like the others. Now, close your eyes. Dream about this moment. Don't wake up. Don't wake up until…."
Bo tried to catch the part after until, but everything blacked out.
3:30pm - Lisa's Room
With a loud, long gasp, Bo snapped out from Lisa's memory. She panted as she squeezed the warm hand that was holding hers.
The Valkyrie immediately embraced her, and Bo inhaled her. That sweet smell calmed her down.
"Oh my God, I...I saw my brother, and...and I was...I was Lisa! I was in Lab 539 and I saw my brother!" Bo exclaimed incoherently.
"Easy there, sweetheart," Tamsin said. She lowered herself so she could see Bo in the eyes. "What exactly did you see?"
Bo swallowed hard and looked at Tamsin, then Teresa. She had to ask for a glass of water, and while she drank it she organized her thoughts.
Putting the empty glass on the tray table, she started, "well, I entered Lisa's mind, and...I was in Lab 539. I was in...the hallway- I mean, she was in the hallway. First she watched what was going on in the meeting room, and then she went to find my brother in his dorm, I guess?"
"Lisa went to your brother's dorm?" Teresa asked, frowning. "And you brother let her in?"
"Yeah, he did," Bo replied. "He was...he was packing, I guess?"
"Packing?" Teresa frowned more. "For what?"
"I have no idea...anyway, emmm...I guess it was June 6 that day and-"
"June 6, are you sure?" Teresa interrupted her, her voice nothing but serious.
"Yeah...why? That date means something?"
"June 6th. That fire happened that day," Teresa said. "So she is dreaming about what happened that day?"
"It looks that way," Bo said. "Anyway, emmm...he told her to go wait in the storage closet in the playroom. And then later he joined her, and took off his helmet."
"What? How?"
"He had a very delicate wire saw, and he sawed the lock-"
"A wire saw? That's not possible. They were absolutely not allowed to get close to anything like that, and we never kept something like that in Lab 539."
Bo raised her eyebrows. "Well, somehow he got one," she said. "And then, he told Lisa that...remember that moment in her dreams, one of them is not like the others. Then he...put her to sleep."
"One of them is not like the others?" Tamsin repeated, frowning. "What does that mean? Were they playing a game or something?"
"I don't know...I mean..." Bo answered, pressing her hand on her forehead while closing her eyes.
"What time was that?" Teresa asked.
"Huh?"
"When exactly did it happen?"
"I don't know...in the afternoon of that day?" Bo murmured. "The kids were watching cartoons in the playroom, and a bunch of researcher came in."
"That must be right before the fire started," Teresa said. "We had a few visiting researchers that day. In the early afternoon we had a meeting. We and the visiting group each made presentations about our progress on our research. We invited them to join an art session with the kids later...but we ran out of crayons, so I went to the store to get some, and…."
"So this was the moment before the fire," Bo murmured, biting her nails.
"I believe so. The fire started somewhere near the playroom. Did you notice anything unusual there?" Teresa asked.
"No..." Bo shook her head. She paused for a long time, before she said, "but, I think my brother somehow knew that something would happen that day. I mean...he was packing. He got a wire saw from somewhere and sawed off his helmet. He told Lisa to remember that moment."
"How could he have known?" Tamsin asked. "And what was the significance of that particular moment?"
"I don't know. The kids were watching cartoon and the researchers were chatting. That's all I can remember." Bo licked her lips and went silent for a while, before she said, "I think I should re-experience that moment again, and see if I can find something new this time."
Afternoon - Lab 539
When Bo entered Lisa's mind again, she found herself in the hallway.
Everything happened the same way they had happened last time, and Bo tried to remember every bit of details.
3:15 - Playroom
Before Lisa went into the closet, Bo had a quick look at the clock, and it read 3:15.
Later, her brother showed up and took off his helmet.
"You are not supposed to take that off," Lisa's whisper came.
"It is time," her brother said simply. He silently turned the knob and opened the door just a little. He kneeled behind it, looking through the crack.
Lisa looked through it too. "What are we watching?" She asked.
Bo heard her brother's breath filling the small space, together with her own heartbeat.
The kids were still watching TV, and the researchers were chatting. Some of them were looking at the arts on the all, and the others were simply hanging around in the room.
She recognized some faces since she had seen them in the birthday party photo. And she noticed that a few researchers were wearing visitor badges that had a different color.
The last researcher had entered the door, and he closed it behind him.
"One of them is not like the other," the boy's soft voice came to her.
"What?" Lisa asked, waiting for some clarification.
He gave none, though. He pulled on her arm, so she could face him. He looked into her eyes with a hint of hesitation in them.
"Remember this moment," he said in a whisper. "Remember what you see. One of them is not like the others. Remember, one of them is not like the others. Now, close your eyes. Dream about this moment. Don't wake up..."
Bo found her mind instantly starting to get foggy. The urge of falling asleep consumed her. She tried to stay awake, though, just so she could grasp everything she could hear, see, or sense.
Her brother's voice was soft and light, like it was coming from another universe. "Don't wake up until...solves...puzzle…."
Solves puzzle? What puzzle? Bo asked herself right before the darkness drowned her.
3:15 - Playroom
In order to figure out what puzzle her brother had been talking about, and get more clues, Bo entered Lisa's memory again, and this time she solely focused on things that had happened in the playroom, since it felt like her brother wanted Lisa to remember that moment in particular.
Soon Bo was looking through the cracked door, and her brother whispered "one of them is not like the others" to her again.
What is he he talking about? Bo wondered, trying to figure out the answer before her time ran out. She anxiously scanned the room over and over, stopping on one detail briefly, before quickly moving to another, until something occurred to her.
It was the person who had entered the room last, and he had been standing in the corner since.
There was something odd about him. Something that didn't belong. Something that made him not like the others.
Unlike Lab 539 researchers who wore blue scrubs under their labcoats, or those visiting researchers who wore dark suits under their labcoats, he was wearing a light green shirt under it.
That color was too familiar, and Bo knew for sure she had seen it somewhere today.
It didn't take her long to remember that those delivery guys Lisa had seen a moment ago were wearing light green shirts. The same light green shirts.
It was then that man turned his face slightly for a split second. With his face no longer occluded by the others, Bo had caught a glimpse of his front face.
No actual words could possibly describe how shocked she was when seeing that face. It was a face she had seen before. A face she'd never forget.
It was her father.
8:15pm - Lisa's Room
"My father!" Bo exclaimed as she snapped out from Lisa's mind. She grabbed Tamsin's hand and exclaimed, "it was my father! I saw him...I saw him in that room! He was there that day! He was there!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: I will explain more about everything in Lisa's memory in next chapter. And more about Bo's brother too.
And thanks for all the reviews!
