The next three weeks tick past slowly. The only times I am allowed out of the house is to go to Davenport's lab honing in my abilities or to school. Davenport is a tremendous help and I begin to understand my bionics better. I even get to train with Bree and her brothers, Leo observing.
One afternoon when I am preparing to leave I turn around. "Mr. Davenport, do you still not know why I have these? I mean, who else has the technology to do this?"
In an instant his face darkens like a shadow passing over it. "I don't, Audrey, and I am sorry. But we just have to make the most of this. Soon you'll be able to go on missions with the others."
"If my parents let me," I murmur. Lately they have been distant and regaining their trust back is hard.
"They'll come around," he assures me as I step into the elevator.
It's Saturday and both my parents are out of the house. I am sluggishly moving to finish my chores that keep piling up. While cleaning the bathroom my phone buzzes and a new text from Chase pops up on screen. I eagerly accept the distraction.
Hey, are you home?
Yeah parents are at work. Why?
A few seconds later the reply comes.
Great! See you in a few :)
I put my phone down and frown. That was an interesting conversation. Shrugging it off I pull on a jacket and my boots go outside. I'm in the front yard throwing the trash away when Chase walks up the driveway panting.
"Did you run here?" I ask as he pauses in front of me. He nods while sucking in air.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" I prompt when he regains composure.
Chase looks down the road both ways, over my shoulder and up before leaning close to my ear. If he were not so near I would have had no chance of hearing him. Even as it is I strain to pick up the few words.
"You're being watched."
I glance into his face for any sign this is a prank, none forth telling.
"Do you want to talk about this inside?" He nods and follows me through the front door. We kick off our shoes and hang coats on the hooks. The radio blares the newest song from Meghan Trainor. I reach for the remote to turn it down but Chase puts a hand on my arm.
"Don't, the noise will help obscure what we're talking about." Right now I am very confused. Being watched? A conversation so secretive our words need to be drowned out?
Chase requests water when I offer him something to drink. He shifts weight from foot to foot, his hands in constant motion.
"Mr. Davenport has a brother, Douglass," he begins once I'm seated beside him at the counter. "Douglass is the one who created our chips in the first place. He is also our biological father." My eyes widen. That makes sense then why they never call him dad, always Mr. Davenport.
"That night you first discovered your bionics, he broke in. We think he figured you could be used as a weapon against us because you were new to bionics. He programmed a new chip and placed it in you, then erased your memory." What do I say to that? I have no clue so I stay quiet. "But this is one of Davenport's new inventions; it can help any person remember any memory," he explains, pulling out a small device from an inner pocket.
"And you want to use that on me," I finish.
He nods, "it's the only way to know for sure. It shouldn't hurt," he adds, making me feel even less secure about being a test subject for one of Davenport's inventions that go wrong eighty-eight percent of the time.
Chase types in a few commands, hands me the headphones that attach to it, and turns it on. At first nothing happens. Then I am sucked back into a memory so vivid I lose track of everything else.
I had woken up from a nightmare involving Jacob sweating and shivering and thirsty. There was water in the bathroom but I decided for some reason to go downstairs and fill a glass. Leaning heavily against the sink I heard a scraping. As the front door creaked open I dropped below the counter and watched, terrified, as two men and a teenage girl slipped into the house.
"I still think it would have been better if I blasted out the front door," the girl whispered. One of the adults seemed vaguely familiar in someway I was unable to place my finger on.
"Be quiet! Let's just find what we came for and get out," the bald man ordered. His face was covered in scar tissue.
They spread out and scanned the front room. Unaware someone was behind me I gasped as the girl hauled me up with incredible strength. "Looks like we have a lookie-lu." I attempted to reach a leg around and kick her but she held me out far enough I was hopeless struggling.
"Who are you?" She demanded. When I refused to answer she shook me.
"A friend, I'm staying here while my parents are out of town." I was willing to give any information. Images raced through my mind of what they would do to me.
"Seems we have a slight change of plans tonight," the tall bald one grinned malevolently. The other man instructed me to be brought down to Davenport's lab and secured while he typed furiously on a computer implanted in a desk. I had never been down in Davenport's lab before and could not help but be impressed by all of the equipment. I saw three large capsules and to my horror, Bree, Adam and Chase inside them, fast asleep. My mouth was duct taped so any attempt at calling out to them was in vain.
"Done," The man seemed to know his way around here well and I wondered what this was all about when a flash of white-hot pain flared at the base of my neck. A hand clamped tight around my jaw before I could scream.
"You are our key in turning the tables against Davenport and getting my children back," he pats my head. "Just do as I say and everything will turn out smoothly." Then there was a flash of light and nothing else.
I pull off the headphones with shaky fingers. Nodding slowly I turn to Chase. "You are right about everything. I am a weapon they want to use against Davenport Industries."
He takes my hand. "Nobody can ever use you for something you don't want. Who was it?"
"I don't know. There was a bald guy with scars and a girl with dark hair and another one; he seemed familiar, like I know him from somewhere but I can't remember." In frustration I slam my palm on the counter.
"We will figure this out," Chase assures me.
I rest my forehead on the cool granite counter tops. "How?"
Lacing our fingers together he squeezes tightly. "I'm not sure yet."
"What if I hurt you? Or Bree or Adam or Leo?" I begin to shake, "I need to get away from here right now. I have to leave so they can't use me to do whatever it is they have planned."
"Stop it," Chase breaks through my shell. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."
"Do not make me empty promises," I warn.