Chapter 5

Jess, Miami, Florida, USA

I walked steadily down the main stairs in the hotel lobby. The red carpet was soft under my bare feet. I was going into the main coffee lounge where Nathan had told me mother was drinking her morning beverage. I was heading down into the lounge to ask her for the truth. I was going to ask her last night but Peter stopped me saying that I was too emotional to have a rational conversation with anybody and he had told me to go to bed, think it over and then talk to mother in the morning.

Now it was morning and I was going to find her; entering the lounge I saw boring businessmen poring over boring papers. Mother was sat near the window reading her latest thriller by her favourite author.

"Mother?" I asked. She looked up from her novel but said nothing. I'm guessing that Nathan had told her about the whole Darren thing and then the fight which had followed.

"A few days ago a girl who I have never met before told me that my family is not family, that my name is not my name and that my life has been a lie, she found me again yesterday and we fought. Is this true?"

My mother put down the book on the table, removed her glasses and looked me straight in the eye.

"Yes, it is true. I am not your mother, you were given to me as a baby, you were abandoned by your real parents and I was appointed by the company to look after you until your nineteenth birthday after that I am to hand you over if you presented any abnormalities" she said coldly. I stared at her trying to the digest the information that she had just presented to me, they were crashing over me like icy cold waves. She was just looking at me as if waiting for me to do something. I did do something. I ran out of the room and into the lobby looking around wildly. I ran into the ladies bathroom and into one of the marble cubicles, I fell to my knees and was promptly sick into the toilet. I heard the door crash open and my brother Nathan was shouting and banging on the cubicle door, his voice was then accompanied by Peter's.

"Jess, please open the door" I heard Peter say gently, I promptly threw up again and I heard Nathan bang the door even louder as if was going to break the lock.

"Jess? Are you alright? Jess can you hear me?" asked Peter, he had a definite edge of worry to his voice as if trying to affirm that I was still conscious.

I stood up slowly and turned around, unlocking the door. I looked up and saw Nathan and Peter looking down at my pale face.

"She said it was true" I whispered and then I fell forward, as I blacked out I heard Peter yell 'Jess!' and someone's arms caught me before I hit the floor.

I don't know how long I was out for. When I came around I was lying on my bed in the hotel room. I was lying on top of the smooth covers. Peter was sat on a chair at my bedside his head on his arms so his face was on the covers. I looked out of the window and saw that it was dark and that stars illuminated the beach. I could hear the gentle sound of the waves crashing against the shore, I shifted slightly on the covers to get more comfortable and in doing so I made Peter awaken and look up. He smiled broadly when he saw that I was awake.

"What happened, how did I end up up here?" I asked quietly. I tried to sit up but my head spun and made me feel sick so I had to rest my head on the several pillows that someone had put behind my head.

"Well you went down to see mother about ten o clock yesterday morning and the next thing I know you've run into the bathroom, Nathan and I following you and I heard you throw up, you then opened the door whispered 'she said it was true' and pitched forward. Nathan and I caught you before you hit the ground. Nathan carried you up through the lobby getting some pretty weird looks as he went. He put you in here and you've been unconscious ever since" he said quickly.

"What time is now?" I asked softly

"About two o clock in the morning" said Peter

"You've been here for over twelve hours?!" I said mortified.

"I had to make sure you were alright" he said.

"Where's Nathan?" I asked

"He went downstairs to see the doctor out of the hotel" he said gently.

"Doctor?!" I asked

"Well yes, you have been unconscious for over twelve hours with no sign of movement, we were getting really worried about you, the doctor administered some stimulant via your arm," he said motioning to my arm which had a bandage around the crook of the elbow, "it appears to have worked"

I smiled at him. As he relaxed back into the chair away from the bed, Nathan walked back into the room, rubbing a hand across of eyes as he came. When he saw me awake on the bed he hastened toward me and hugged me tightly.

"You had us worried there Jess" he said. I just looked up at him as he straightened up.

"So are you going to tell us what happened?" asked Peter gently. I nodded and sat up on the pillows feeling stronger by the minute.

"well, I went to the coffee lounge to be reassured by mo- Angela that what Bryony had said was not true, I went in and asked her and she said to me that what the girl had said was true and that my whole life has been a lie, she also said that she was going to –on my nineteenth birthday – hand me over to some 'company' or other if I showed any signs of anything untoward." I said and I started to cry as I said it.

Peter looked horrified; Nathan's face mirrored his expression.

"She told you that?" asked Peter slowly. I nodded.

"What a cow" said Nathan.

I smiled at his correct assessment of his mother.

"Jess, look at me" Peter said

I turned slightly on the covers.

"Whatever, the truth might be about your past, Nathan and I, we will always be your family. You got that?"

I nodded and he moved in to hug me.

"I just don't know how much more of this I can take, first Darren and then this, this is turning out to be the holiday from hell" I murmured into his shoulder.

"No, no it's not" he said, "Our relationship has been strengthened by all of this, just you remember that"

Nathan then also came and sat on the bed and joined the hug, I just held them both close, scared that if I let them go I would lose them forever.

Kiera, Miami, Florida, USA

I stirred slowly and then instantly sat up when I realize something was amiss. The room I was in was dark and cold. I slowly shifted about the floor to find something, anything that might tell me where I was, I quickly figured out that the room was made of concrete, thus making it very cold. A huge light flickered on from somewhere above me and the room flooded into illumination. I looked to my right and saw that there was massive glass window looking directly into the cell. I glanced down at myself and discovered that I was no longer wearing the clothes that I had been wearing when I was captured, I was now wearing a bright red prison shell-suit.

My head darted up again when I saw movement in the corner of my eye. Someone was stood on the other side of the glass, his arm was in a sling.

"Not so dangerous now are we Kiera?" he asked. I just glanced bewildered up at him. He motioned to the left of himself to someone I could not see. That someone then came into m cell and I saw that he was a muscled white guy. He came toward me and I drew back to the corner of the cell in fear. He advanced on me and grabbed me by the upper shoulder bruising me continually, he dragged me out of the cell and into what appeared to be a lab, once there he lifted me up and as he did so I struggle against his grip, I tried to use my power but something was preventing me from doing so. I put me on a table and secured my arms and legs in place, I could only moved my head from side to side. The guy with his arm a sling moved into my line of sight.

"where am i?" I growled at him through gritted teeth.

"Welcome to Primatech Paper Miss Smithson a place that was opened to help the world cope with people like you" he said and with that he and the white guy exited through the swing doors leaving me alone. If only momentarily.

The next people who entered the lab were two what could only be described as scientists. They were wearing lab-coats. Now I was seriously getting freaked out, who the hell were these people? What did they want with me? Plain, Interesting me, maybe they had something to do with my abilities. A doctor who had jet black and very white skin approached the place where I was held. He shook his head at me. Then very slowly he got rid of the restraints by peeling them back.

"I don't know what they were thinking Kiera, tying you up like that" he said

"Where am i?" I snarled at him.

"Tut, tut if you going to be like that I can just tie you up again"

"I'd like to see you try" I hissed the challenge. He looked a little taken aback.

"no, really Kiera all we want to do is to test your abilities, yes we know you have them, and see how they react under certain circumstances. We believe that you and I few others are very special indeed."

I drew back a little when he said the word 'test'.

"Oh don't worry we just want to see how you cope under certain pressures, yes that's a good way of describing it" he said the last part as if almost too himself.

"Now if you'll just step onto this platform" his companion said. I uneasily took as step forward and stepped onto a cool metal platform that he was indicating. Without warning a glass box sprung up around me so that I could only barely move my arms and legs. I could stand up and possibly sit down but there was most certainly not enough room to lie down. Then it started to get hot. It started to get really hot, I started to sweat and shake, it was so hot in here it felt like it was the middle of an oven, I looked at a dial and read-out that I spotted near the base of the cage and it said 85 degrees and it was slowly ticking up. I had to get out of here; now. I pressed my hands against the glass and pushed, I cried in frustration as the glass didn't buckle, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, I was trying to overcome this weird presence in the room that seemed to stop me tapping into my powers, I placed my hands on the glass and pushed; it broke.

The scientist's hand immediately went for a gun that was resting on the counter and he shot me twice, the bullets ripped through me, but as soon as they had gone in they popped out and the scar healed. The scientist smiled.

"Well you seem to have reacted to that test well" he said happily.

"And if I hadn't?! I would have been dead!" I yelled at him motioning to the remains of the glass box which was slowly cooling itself down.

"No you wouldn't, because I would have brought you back, again and again" he said with a twisted little smile on his face the made his mouth look like a jagged red scar.

"That's enough for day, Kiera, you may return to your cell" he said and he clapped his hands, in came the muscle man from earlier he grabbed my arms and roughly escorted me back to my cell, the only thing I saw on the way back was the number 6 painted on the wall in black paint. Then I was back in my cell again, alone apart from my demons.

Nathan, Miami Airport, USA

"I'll see you in a couple of days, I just have to meet with my client" I said to Jess who was looking up at me with anger in her eyes.

"This was meant to be a family holiday Nate!" said Peter.

"Well it turned out to be slightly messed up one" I said with a small smile.

"Whatever Nathan, just get back here soon" said Jess, "you may not be my brother anymore but I'm still allowed to order you about"

"You always did have me wrapped around your little finger" I said, I hugged them both and then turned away to catch my flight to New York.

Walking along through the airport I started to ponder what this Nicola Sanders would be like. I mean she was accused of murder, that meant she wasn't going to be a bunch of roses. She was a twenty-five year old woman who nobody knows much about (I have placed some strategic phone calls) and then suddenly out of the blue she gets arrested for the murder of some high up African politician, what was all that about? Well I guess I would find out when I landed in New York.

4 hours later

I exited JFK and looked around, I spotted a man holding a plaque saying 'Petrelli' on it. I headed over and showed him some ID, I expected him to lead me to a taxi but instead he lead to a long black stretched limo; obviously someone wanted me to be comfortable. I got in and before I could tell him to take me to the state prison he had handed me a brochure for a hotel. I looked at him weirdly.

"The best hotel in New York?" I queried

"Yes, Mr Bennet wishes you to be comfortable" said the driver as he pulled away from the airport.

"Mr Bennet? Who in the name is Mr Bennet?" I asked

"He is your client mentor, the only person she has left in the world and apparently she is very special to him" said the man.

I nodded and then told him to take me to New York state prison. He nodded his assent and we were on our way.

I looked out of the windows as we went through the bustling city and I thought to myself that one day I would live here, after I had set myself a career in Law. The lights were so bright that they just seemed to draw me in, I was entranced by the city of New York. We pulled to the visitor entrance to the prison, the building immediately wrapped a cold blanket around me, making me shudder. My driver flashed ID at the security as did I, they then escorted me inside the building and to see my new client. The building emanated coldness and we went down several flights of stairs until we entered an interview room.

There was a woman sat in a chair before a table, but she had her back to me and I could just see her blonde hair that was trailing down her back, I walked around the desk shrugging off my security as I went. The blonde looked up as I sat down opposite her, I saw her shoulders tense slightly and her light blue eyes narrowed, I waved my security away to go wait outside, he looked alarmed motioned to the prisoner but I just raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged and left. Nicola looked at me through those startling blue eyes and she also looked confused.

"You've sent your man outside?" she questioned

"I happen to trust that you will not attack me Nicola, you are also cuffed to the chair which would make it significantly difficult for you to do anything" I said, "I trust you and I need you to trust me if we are going to get anyway"

"The cuffs won't stop her" she whispered

"Who? Jessica?" I questioned

"You know about her?" she answered my question with a question of her own.

"Nicola, you don't think that I would have come all the way to New York without knowing anything about you?" I said with a smile. She gave an uneasy smile in return.

"So Nicola, I need to first establish what you are pleading, and I strongly suggest that you plead 'not guilty' seeing as we have sufficient evidence to get you cleared when this case comes to court" I said

"I was going to plead Not Guilty" she said wryly. I saw my security man motioning at me from outside.

"Will you excuse me for a minute?" I asked Nicola

"sure" she said and I got up and went to the door.

"What?" I asked of my man tersely.

"The sound systems too this cell are being switched off so you may – for the next hour – have private conversations with your client" he said

I nodded and smiled at him before turning around and returning to the cell.

"Well Nicola, we have private conversation for an hour they are shutting off the recording systems to this cell" I said

"Call me Niki" she said.

"So Niki, tell me, did you do it?" I asked bluntly.

"Yes, I killed the politician and the others but I am not guilty of murder" she said
I raised my eyebrows as she divulged this information.

"Why did you kill them?" I asked

"Why should she tell you that?" said Niki

"Excuse me?" I asked

"She is telling you stuff that she shouldn't at least not with my permission" said Niki.

"Niki?" I questioned.
"My name is Jessica" she said quietly.
"Go away" said Niki.

"Niki?" I asked again.

"Yeah, it's me," she said reassuring me, "I guess I better tell you, I am a sufferer of Multiple Personality Disorder, that's the other me, her name is Jessica."

"And she comes out, whenever she feels like it?" I asked curious about this rapid development of my client.

"Well sort of, she comes out when she thinks we're in danger or when I'm being particularly stupid" she said.

"Well, if you can, you can tell her that I mean you no harm" I said with a wry smile, "so lets get back to the original case, Why did you kill those men?"

"Well I can't talk about the politician, but as for the guards and the detective bloke, they were threatening me with weapons, Jessica became the dominant personality and killed them. I didn't mean to do it, she just does thing like that without me being in control."

"But you are the main dominant personality, most of the time?" I queried.

"Yes" she nodded.

"Now, why can't you tell me about the politician?" I asked.

"I signed a contract with Mr. Bennet before I left to do my job and it said unless he is present not to say anything" she said.

"Mr. Bennet? I've heard the name before, what is he to you?" I asked thinking of the man who had booked the limo and the posh hotel for me.

"I lend my services to his company, or rather Jessica does" she said with a sense of finality.

"You kill people?" I asked

"Sort-of" she said. I drew back with a grimace.

"It's all for the greater good, the politician that I recently killed he was corrupt and making his people suffer, someone thought it would be prudent if he was – dispatched"

"Someone?" I asked.

"Niki, that's enough" said another voice. I looked up and saw that a man in a suit with horn rimmed glasses had just entered the cell.

"Oh, Hello Mr. Bennet" said Niki getting up and embracing the man.

"Nathan Petrelli?" the man asked of me

"Yes" I said and extended my hand which he shook.

"I've come to help Niki" he said

"Well the first thing I want to know is on whose orders did she kill the Politician?" I asked

"The President" said Mr. Bennet shortly, my mouth fell open.

"Couldn't he just get the whole case overturned?" I questioned.

"I'm on to it, but it has to appear as though you are on it seeing as I am not Niki's lawyer, and he can only overthrow the part with the politician it's up to you to get her off with the guards ad detective killings." He said. He then jumped as a man appeared next to him.

"What the-?" I asked

"This is Hiro Nakumaura"

"Oh the Japanese guy that the police are looking for?" I said

"Yes, that is why I cannot stay long" said the man, "I just came to tell you Mr. Petrelli that you better save my friend!"

With that he vanished again. I blinked and pinched myself to check that this wasn't all just a dream.

"So Nathan, do you think that you can get Niki out of here?" asked Mr. Bennet

"Yes, I was reading only a few weeks ago at college that people with multiple personality disorders are considered a special case and that if they get diagnosed by a shrink then there are lots of possibilities as to what could happen" I said.

"Thank-you Nathan" said Niki and she hugged me, wrapping her arms around me, I returned the gesture, wrapping my arms around her slim figure.