A/N Hey people, Here’s a new fic I’m writing. Yeah, I know, like I’m not writing enough. Anyways, this is sort of a rewrite of my old story “Separation” if any of you remember it. It doesn’t matter either way, because it is NOT the same. I scrapped Separation because I know I can write better. SO here is my new one. I hope you enjoy. PLEASE let me know what you think of it.





“Blind Within The Shadows”





‘Seems I’ll never wake from this nightmare; I let out a silent a silent prayer. Let it be over, over. Inside I’m screaming, begging, pleading, no more.’ –Christina Aguilera, “Walk Away”





Prologue:





Before you begin, you should be warned. This is a horrifying tale of things far beyond belief. Cruel, twisted thing, things you are always told “DO NOT EXIST”, “AREN’T REAL”, or “NEVER HAPPENED”. I must inform you that you are wrong. Everything in this story is real. It did happen. I know the truth of this account will be hard to grasp on to, but you must. The name I write this by is only a pseudonym, so I will not endanger the ones I love. This way, no one will discover exactly which one of us is writing this. Other than that, all of these “people” are real. They do exist. So now that you have been warned go on and read this work of “FICTION”. Help me find the justice I know we deserve. This is our story.

“Blind Within The Shadows”



‘Now what to do, my heart has been bruised, so sad but it’s true. Each beat reminds me of you.’ Christina Aguilera- “Walk Away”



Chapter One: Unreal



As the sun begins to rise, fourteen-year-old Jessica Carter rushes out of bed and down to the basement for her daily routine. She stretches her body calmly, becoming flexible and limber. Jessica breathes deeply as her body tenses. Her chin-length honeysuckle locks flutter rapidly about her face, her ocean blue eyes sparkling with flames when she swiftly delivers fierce blows and thrusts to her punching bag. Sand slowly starts to leak from the bag as a result. Her 5’9”, trim, athletic frame glitters with sweat under the hot florescent lights above her. She keeps throwing punches and other fighting maneuvers into the bag for three hours straight. She’s only stopping because the bag finally splits in two, sand soaring throughout the small room. One half falls limply to the floor with sand still in it, while the other empties instantly and dangles from its chain connected to the ceiling.



She sits down on the padded floor annoyed, fighting to keep her muscles tense. Jessica can’t let them relax. She appreciates what will happen if she does. The young girl isn’t like other girls, and she abhors that with a blazing passion. It’s quite the contrary actually. She’s been raised like a soldier, only rougher. She’s been trained almost all of her life to become a slaughtering machine. To fight nonstop. The thing is, is that Jessica never gets tired from the training or fighting; she only gets tired from a lack of sleep. The amount her body considers a lack of is unusual in itself. For her body, lack of sleep means no sleep for at least fifteen days straight.



Jessica stands again, beginning to jog in place, mumbling “No doubt about it, I’m a God damn freak.”



She came to this conclusion when she was only seven years old. Jessica had climbed to the roof of her three-story house and jumped off, thinking she could fly like Superman. Now, to any normal person this would kill them or at least injure them pretty badly. What’s shocking is that she didn’t even break a bone. Nor was there one scratch or bruise marring her body. That was when Mike began her training. Yet, she’s not invincible, there are weaknesses. She has hopes, dreams, fears, etc. Then there’s the major one: after fighting or training, the moment she lets her muscles relax, she’ll pass out for about an hour. She has no idea why, but it always happens, right on schedule.



“I hate this. It’s not like I’m tired, short-winded, or too sore to move. So why the hell does this always happen to me? I guess everything has its price, even when you don’t want it and will gladly give it back to be normal.” She growls as she finally relaxes her muscles and feels herself collapse to the ground as everything fades to black.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~



**Jessica Carter runs down a colorfully decorated hallway. She feels safe and loved. She hears childlike giggling and realizes it’s coming from her. She looks down at her body, finding herself to be four years old once again. Jessica gazes about at the caring adults around her with wonder as they watch her kindly. She turns her head and keeps running. Her blonde hair, that’s now down to the middle of her back, flying about as she does. She wonders why she’s running and soon sees whom she’s chasing. A small, blonde haired boy about her height and her age with bright sapphire eyes that twinkle and look familiar. He turns his head around and tries to get away from her in their chase game. She soon catches up with him and pulls the boy to the ground playfully. She smiles and they hug tightly.



“Jessie!” the boy yells happily.



“Nicky! I wuv u so mush!” she yells back.



“I wuvs you too!”



Yet, the joy between the two feels normal. She feels at peace for once in her life. She identifies the fact that she loves him deeply. That he is her entire life and her happiness and she is his. Suddenly, everything shifts then and they’re both a little older. They have aged only slightly, maybe two years, three years tops.



“Nicky?” she hears a more articulate version of her voice ask.



“Yeah?”



“You ever think we’ll get a mommy and daddy?”



“Dunno, but we’ll always be together.”



Then out of nowhere a pair of strong masculine hands grab her roughly and pick her up. She looks about. Her surprise keeps her quiet.



“Yes, I want her. Jessica Carter’s her name right?” she hears a tough, male voice say.



“Yes Sir, Jessica Rose Carter. But are you sure? You should also take little Nick here. They’re so close. They’ve never been separated from each other. It’s cruel to split them apart.” A familiar feminine tone replies.



“I can’t take Nickolas. Trust me. I CAN’T.” he spits out fiercely, shifting Jessica in his arms. Her big blue eyes fixating upon the little boy pleadingly.



“Jessie?” he asks softly.



“Wha bout Nicky?” she asks the man innocently.



“NO, I’m only taking you honey.”



“NO! NICKY!”



“JESSIE!!!”



“NO! NICKY! NICKY!” Jessica screams out in heart-wrenching pain, trying to get away but can’t escape the man’s strong, muscular arms. Tears stream down her young baby face as she’s carried off by the man into the stormy night.**



~*~*~*~*~*~*~



“Jessie, Jessie! Wake up!” she hears a voice call out to her. Jessica groans, shoving the force away powerfully. A painful grunt is heard, coming from the other side of the basement. She opens her eyes in confusion as to what’s going on. She wipes away the tears trailing down her face hurriedly. She can still hear her younger self cry our for the unknown boy she called Nicky. Her eyes focus on her kind, sixteen year old friend with reddish, sandy colored hair and clear cerulean orbs. He brushes himself off, coming over to help her up.



“Oh my God Brian I am so sorry. Are you alright?”



He smiles at her, “Yes I’m fine. Teaches me not to try to wake you from one of your psycho post-fight pass out spells.” He jokes.



She grins at him awkwardly, “Oops.”



He laughs, as he makes her stand. The two teens both go upstairs and into the kitchen. Brian sits at a round wooden table, while Jessica goes to the kitchen. Brian shakes his head as she fixes them both a glass of milk. It doesn’t matter how long he’s known her, these pass out spells she gets after fighting scare him, and he’ll never get used to it. He just will never tell her that.



“Good thing Mike and Rachael are gone already. Lord knows how they would’ve waken you up if they woulda found you there.” Brian comments softly. Feeling guilty after because of the mention of her “parents”.



Mike and Rachael Karona are her adoptive parents. They never let her forget that fact either. Jessica’s been with them since she was six years old. They told her then never to call them mom or dad. She never wanted to anyways. They are the ones who train her constantly to become the killing machine she’s absolutely capable of being. Not that it matters to her. Let them train her if it lets her go have fun earlier in the day. That’s the way she looks at it. Eight years later though, and the place still doesn’t feel like home to her. They still do not feel like a real family. Not that the Karonas ever made her feel welcome. The ones who did were her current best friends: Brian Littrell, and his cousin Kevin Richardson, who’s two years older than him. They’ve been there for her since they found out the Karonas adopted her. Brian lives next door to her with his mom, dad, and older brother, Harold. Kevin and his mom live across the street. They’ve always making her feel as normal as she can ever feel. She loves them and is incredibly thankful for it, because it’s a rare feeling for her.



“Whatever dude. They left before I woke up to train. You know how early that is. They meant to avoid me.”



Brian gazes at his friend, hearing the bitter tone within her usually cheerful voice. “Hey, you know mine and Kev’s family always consider you family right?”



Jessica nods, “Yeah I know Bri, it’s cool. I don’t even care anymore, trust me.”



“I know better.”



“It’s not like I can do anything about it, so why bother caring?”



“Jess, you should talk when you have a problem. Haven’t you learned yet that it helps you? I-”



“Save it. You’re fighting a hopeless battle. I’m okay.”



“Fine. I’ll let it go for now.” He sighs, seeing the emotions swirl within her fiery eyes. “There’s something else bothering you too.”



“No I-”



“C’mon sweetie, you can tell the doctor.” He jokes quietly.



“Can I now? Call me sweetie and you’ll need a doctor. DR. LITTRELL.”



“Don’t be a smartass. Have you been having that dream again?”



Jessica mutters a string of curses, irritating Brian slightly.



“You know Jess, would it really kill you to act like a lady?”



“Shut up.”



“C’mon, seriously, have you been having that dream?”



She moans inaudibly with anguish, “Yes B, I’ve been having the dream again. That Nick boy, who is he? Why do I dream of him so frequently? I always end up waking up crying. It’s been torturing me. I feel so lost.”



“Do you think the dream’s trying to tell you something.”



“Quit with your psychology crap! I don’t know!” She cries out as Brian goes to her and wraps his arm around her. She stands and lets her best friend wrap her in his embrace. She was lucky to have him as a friend. “I feel so incomplete Brian, like a puzzle that lost a piece. I don’t know why and it drives me crazy.”



“Jessica, I-”



“But I don’t know why I’m like this! We both know I’m a freak who’s family ditched her. Why am I this way? Were my real parents not able to accept me? Who am I? Are the dreams a way of telling me I’m insane AND a freak of nature! Brian, the dream, it hurts so much. Why am I so different from everybody else? Who am I? Why can’t I be normal?” She yells, finally letting all her emotions out. Brian strokes her silky hair as she collapses against him, sobbing in his arms.

A/N- Hey readers, here is the latest update for you. I’m really hoping you all like this story. If you do, well do me a favor, REVIEW! I’d really appreciate it. Like it, love or hate it, that way I’ll know what you think! Anyways, go on and read now. Go on. *Grins* You know you want to…



“Blind Within The Shadows”



‘Well you can climb to the top of the highest tree. You can look around, but you still won’t see, what I’m looking for.’ – Nickelback, “Good Times Gone”



Chapter Two: Stranger With My Face



Nickolas Gene McLean relaxes in an old hammock out in his backyard. A gentle breeze blows about him, tenderly rumpling his long, shaggy golden tresses. Nick’s hand flies across his drawing pad, rapidly sketching a clearly detailed picture. It’s of a tall, muscular teenage girl about his age. Everything about her is drawn with painstaking detail. The face however, is for some reason blurry and unclear. All you can make out from it is the faint smirk she wears, and her bright sapphire eyes. Nick’s aquamarine orbs focus intently on the sketch, his tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly with concentration. As if the sketch tells more that what is seen, holding a dark unknown secret of his past. Or his future. Or his happiness. His subconscious tells him that it can’t be possible for it’s just a drawing. Yet, he’s still captivated. Then, a familiar voice frees him from his reverie.



“Nick? Nick? You there?”



“Huh? Oh, sorry Alex. What?” Nick asks startled, as he turns to see his older brother beside him.



“Never mind. Well, now that you’re back here on earth with me, I haveta ask, whatcha drawing?” Alex questions, looking at him quizzedly. He runs his hand through his short spiky brown locks, his dark tan eyes meeting Nick’s distracted bright sapphire blues.



Nick glances at the sixteen-year-old with surprise. He shifts his gaze down to the sketchpad at what he had drawn. “Wow, what’s this?”



“You feeling okay? What do you mean what’s this? You drew it.”



Nick shakes his head. He has no idea what he’s talking about. He loves to draw; it’s his passion. If he drew something, he knows he’d remember it. “I don’t know man. I don’t remember drawing this.” He explains, handing the illustration over to his brother.



Alex McLean stares at it for a moment, trying to find some kind of answer. He whistles softly, it was an amazing depiction of someone. He thinks about it, wondering whom it could be. He hands it back to Nick. “No clue. She looks a lot like you bro. That’s what freaks me out most. I kinda wish I could see the face.”



“Same here. But forget it.”

“Why?”



“Cause, it’s no big deal.” He lies, trying to get away from the troubling subject. He honestly doesn’t know why he drew a picture of the unknown girl. It troubles him that he doesn’t have any recollection of even drawing minutes before. So all he wants is to forget it.



“Wait, you sure?”



“Yeah, I just spaced out for a sec.”



“C’mon-”



“I’m cool. Of course I drew it.”



“But she looks so much like-”



“Probably me drawing myself as a female without realizing it.”



Alex grins at him wildly, “Or maybe what your twins sister would look like. If she existed.”



Nick smiles; thinking that just might be it. He had always wondered what it would be like for him to have a twin sister. What she’d be like. How she’d look. It’s always been on his mind in some way or another. Of course he knows it can never happen. But maybe this is just him being crazy and letting his imagination getting away from him again. It sounds reasonable to him, and he knows it wouldn’t be the first time.



“Yeah, that’ll be the day.” He jokes, smirking, “Could you even imagine having two of me around here?”



“I know, this house would have nonstop madness. It’s crazy enough having only one of you around.” Alex cracks, laughing softly.



Nick climbs out of the hammock with his sketchbook, rubbing his eyes tiredly.



“Where’s mom?”



“Shopping.”



Nick turns, walking over to the fence. To distract himself, he watches the birds soar beautifully above them in the peaceful, powder blue sky. Alex goes to him, throwing his arm around him with concern.



“You alright?”



Nick mutters a string of curses under his breath angrily.



“I’ll take that as a no. What’s wrong?”



“I’ve been doing it again.”



“Doing what?”



“You know how I’ve started working out again so I can keep in shape for basketball?”



“Yeah, so?”



“I keep passing out the moment I relax after a hard work out. You know, like I used to as a kid. It’s so weird. So I went to Howie’s dad, since he’s a doctor, right?”



“Mmhmm…”



“He gave me a check up. I told him what’s been going on. He just told me that there’s no reason for it. That I’m perfectly healthy. I f that’s true, then why does it keep happening?”



“Damn, that’s the third doctor who’s said that. Mom hasn’t found out has she? No reason to scare her yet.”



“No.”



Alex sighs, walking with Nick out of the backyard. They back into the house, sitting down on the couch in their family room as Nick sets down the drawing pad on a nearby coffee table. He turns to face Nick, trying desperately to him with something neither of them understand.



“Kaos,” he begins, using his nickname for his usually hyperactive sibling. “I have no clue of what to tell ya. I really hate to say it, but we both know you’ve never really um…been normal.”



“I know but-”



“Man, I still love you and all and I don’t care as long as you’re okay. But this, this scares me. Maybe it’s about time we bring mom into this without her ever knowing it. Uhh, well, maybe we should ask her more about your, uh, your, well you know-”



“Birth family.”





“Right.”



“You can say it. I do remember you guys adopting me six or seven years ago. Trust me, it doesn’t bother me now.”



“Nick, I-”

“Nah, I’m fine!”



“I know you better than that.”



“I’m okay. Shoot, at least you guys want me. They went and abandoned me the first chance they got. I’m not a little kid anymore. It doesn’t upset me like it used to. I can handle it now.”



“You sure?”



“Course I’m sure.”



“Whatever.”



Alex rolls his eyes at him sarcastically. He doesn’t believe and Nick knows why. The truth is, it does bother him still. It’s been a thorn in his side his entire life, and still is. Denise McLean adopted Nick from the Sparkling Waters Adoption agency when he was seven. They had made him feel like family right from the start. He knows blood, or no blood, his mother and brother both love him dearly. And he loves them both with all his heart. But, it still bugs him sometimes knowing Alex wasn’t adopted as he was. That his mom actually gave birth to his brother. He cares for his Alex and knows he can never hate him though. So, he always tries to ignore that fact.



Nick’s never really asked about his birth family. He sees no reason to. He knows they ditched him as a baby. He doesn’t even know his real last name. They didn’t want him, so why should he even want to know about them? To Nick, he knows he’s a McLean. His mom and Alex have always made him aware of that, always making him feel loved. And any bit of curiosity he’s ever gotten about his birth family is always squashed, for he’d never want to hurt his mom by asking. He loathes knowing he’s unwanted by the people who gave him live, people who are supposed to love him. All he wants to do is forget it, but knows he never can.



Nick also knows he’s not like everyone else. He found that out when he was eight years old and fell out the top of a tree two stories high, landing straight on his neck. It should have killed him. He didn’t even get a scratch on him. People saw it happen and freaked out. They tortured him and his family with ridicule and abusing their home with rocks and such. Rejected them extremely. It got so bad, that they had to move. They left their home in Las Vegas, Nevada, and went back to her former home: Huntington Beach, California. Where Nick had been adopted from and Alex had been born. Denise had no idea what to make of the event, since she had been yelling for Nick to get down when it occurred. Now in her mind, it never came about, for she loved her adopted son, and didn’t ever want to think of him as a freak. Similar events have occurred to Nick, but only Alex and Denise have seen it. No one ever talks about it, but they both know Nick’s different somehow. They love him no matter what though. However, the passing out spells never happened to him before. At least, not until he started working out.



“Ah, forget it.”



“Why?”



“Cause it’s useless.”



“No it’s not Nick.”



“Yes it is. Normality for me is a dream that will never come true. I know I’m different, I know I’m a freak. We all do. No way around it. There’s no one else in this world that knows what I’m going through. Nobody who even comes close to understanding what it’s like to be me.”

“Blind Within The Shadows”

“You drain me dry and make me wonder why I'm even here. This Double Vision I was seeing is finally clear. You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone...Not fit to fucking tread the ground that I'm walking on” Maroon 5 – “Harder to Breathe”

Chapter Three: Freak

Jessica jumps out of Brian’s burgundy jeep as soon as he parks at the school, grabbing her backpack, flinging her short golden locks out of her face. She shifts her gaze over to her friend as he climbs out as well. Jessica opens her mouth to say something, but is stopped by the load roar of a motorcycle as Kevin drives up to the parking spot next to them and cuts off the engine.

Jessica looks over to him, “Ready for another day in this hellhole?”

“Jessie, now you know it’s not THAT bad.” Kevin replies with a grin, running a hand through his raven colored tresses, his emerald eyes sparkling.

“Yeah Jess, it could be worse.”

“Oh yeah,” She spits out, her voice dripping with sarcasm, heading to the entrance to the high school along with Brian and Kevin following her. “People could actually notice me.”

“People notice you.”

“Sure they do, just the other day my anatomy teacher called me Jackie, and he’s had me all year and I even try to ya know, actually participate. Oh and the fact someone almost took my chair while I was still sitting in it because he didn’t notice me there. Heh yeah I’m noticed Brian.”

Kevin smiles at her comfortingly, “You have three more years here, so you have time to get yourself noticed at least.”

“This from the senior who’s eager to get the hell out of here.”

The bell rings shrilly, and Jessica sighs, not very eager for class. She shifts her backpack and glances at her two friends. Her first class was Journalism I, a class for all grades which she had with Kevin. She smiles some at Brian, to let him know she’d be okay as always.

“I’ll see ya at lunch Bri.”

“Alright, later then.”

“Later.”

Kevin nods at Brian, “I’ll see you in Chemistry.”

“Yeah.”

Brian goes off down the hall and Kevin and Jessica head in a different direction. He watches her for a moment before speaking up. “Brian said you woke up from your fainting spell screaming for someone again.”

“I’m fine, just some whacked out dream Kev, no big.”

“He was worried.”

“He always worries.”

“Come on, wouldn’t I tell you if I wasn’t okay?”

Kevin snorts with amusement at the statement. “No.”

Jessica laughs, walking inside the classroom and taking her regular seat. No one takes much notice to her as she does. “I so would!” Kevin walks inside after her and she watches as several people greet him. She sighs, she hates it here, she hates it at home. She feels there’s just no place for her to fit. She feels out of place, like an extra piece to a puzzle that’s already been completed. She sighs, fiddling with her pen as Kevin finally sits down beside her. As the teacher calls roll, Jessica lets her mind wander. Too much has been on her mind lately.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick lays back on the couch sighing, the clock ticked slowly, the only noise within the house. He had decided to just remain home and pretend to be sick, not wanting to deal with anyone after yesterday. He yawns as he turns on his TV, flipping through channels. Lately he has had too much on his mind. Things he wants to forget. Strange things that have occurred throughout his past, and have lay dormant for years until now when it started coming out again just a few weeks ago when he started preparing for basketball. His mind drifts off to the few blurry memories from before he had been adopted. They were more images and feelings than actual memories, but they are all he has. He himself did not understand why they were so fuzzy to him since he had been in the agency for seven years, but up until he hit age six, they were. He strains his mind to remember, he is so curious about his birth parents, but of course would never hurt his mother by asking. He sighs as mentally he hears anonymous voices from his childhood within his mind…

“Come on slowpoke!” He hears himself cry, giggling.

“I’m just as fast as you Nicky!”

“Race ya!”

“Go!”

“Hey no fair…” he hears himself laugh with joy and innocence…

“Nick!”

Nick jumps up with surprise and falls off of the cloud. He hears familiar laughter and looks up to see Alex stand before him laughing. He sets his backpack on the floor and holds out a hand; Nick grabs it and lets him let him up. He runs a hand through his tousled sun-kissed tresses.

“What’s with the space moments man?”

“What do you mean…”

“This, I find you out of it all the time.” He smirks, “Is it a girl?”

Nick shakes his head and flops back on the couch, grabbing the remote and beginning his channel surfing again. “No, not a girl.”

Alex watches him, raising an eyebrow at him. “This about your check up the other day still?”

“No.”

“Nick-”

“I’m fine.”

“Look will you listen to-”

“I’m alright man, I was just a little sick today. Now I feel fine.” he grins, pushing all questioning thoughts out of his mind. Why think about something that won’t ever change? It’s pointless. “Up for some basketball?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jessica walks into the gym, wearing her PE uniform. She hates this class. She knows how her body works so she must make sure she doesn’t let her body relax until she is back at her house. She’s thankful this is her last class at least. It would be very uncomfortable if she had to remain tense though classes until that final bell rang. Not that she is ever eager to go home. If one could call it a home. She thought of it more as a boot camp. What did it matter? This is all she knows, the only life she has had. She just knows there can be something better for her. Brian and Kevin have showed her that.

She does her stretches along with the rest of the class. She stands in the back as always, invisible to others in every sense of the word. At least they were doing something she liked and is good at. Tae Bo. While the exercises got more and more difficult, she is able to keep up when other students struggled or took breaks. She keeps going, feeling more and more energized as time goes on instead of tired like everyone else. As if a fire is being built within her. Then as she does her punches something completely unexpected happens. A blow glow surrounds her hands and she speeds up. She blinks as her hands glow a brighter and brighter blue and seem to be surrounded by a neon blue fire. The brunette next to her watches her with horror.

“OH MY GOD!” she cries out. “She’s fucking glowing! What’s going on with her!” She’s a freak! A freak!”

Jessica looks down at herself and sees her fists surrounded by that light. Her eyes widen. This has never happened to her before. Without thinking she stops, and forgets to keep her body tense. The room spins, everything becoming a blur as consciousness leaves her and her body collapses to the mat.

“Blind Within The Shadows”

“What you see’s not what you get, with you there’s just no measurement, no way to tell what’s real from what isn’t there…….and some lies that dropped like acid rain, you washed away the best of me, you don’t care.” - Kelly Clarkson, “Gone”


Chapter 4: Dark Beginning


The next thing Jessica sees is waking up in the living room of her home. Everything in her vision is blurry and she groans feeling disoriented and not sure of what happened at school. Nothing is making sense to her at the moment, all she knows is the jumbled mess currently swirling about her mind. Out of nowhere she feels a stinging slap and she blinks again, forcing herself to come into her own senses. Standing above her in what was deceivingly false concern was Mike Karona, her foster father. Her hand goes to her cheek and she sits up, trying to wave off the dizziness that immediately follows. She gives him a sarcastic and weak grin.

“Hey there Mikey.” Jessica says with a sneer, knowing he hates being called that.

He stands there before her attempting to intimidate her. She doesn’t want to admit it but he is doing a somewhat decent job of it. He always had a way of making her nervous at the very least. Ever since she was just a small child of six newly adopted by them. Then however it was more than nervousness she got from him, she once had feared him greatly and yearned for the orphanage. Truth be told Jessica did want the orphanage back even now. Though the memories are hazy she does have the memory of feeling happy there if nothing else. Now she doesn’t exactly fear him or Rachael as over time she learned to face them down, but they can still intimidate her, she just won’t ever let them know that. They don’t need to know they still have a small amount of power over her emotions. Jessica always sensed they know something she doesn’t, and that they know why she has blackout sessions, but she could never get anything from them to support that so all it is is a theory.

“What the hell did you do today?!” He roars, not even looking like he cared about her welfare. She sighs mentally. He’s never cared about her, why should he now? Mike has only cared about her getting trained, lord knows why.

Jessica sits up immediately, her short golden locks ruffled about her face. “I don’t remember.” She replies honestly. What happened today is a blur once she had entered PE class. All she remembers is she was doing tae Bo…and the rest is a blank.

“I had to carry your pathetic self home from school today.” He seethes. “They said something about overexerting and then passing out.” he smirks cruelly. “I also heard girls sounding insane as they started claiming you glowed. What happened Jessica?”

“I told your deaf ass I don’t fucking remember!” She isn’t about to let him push her around. How could they let him adopt her? It’s a question she wonders everyday of her life.

He backhands her roughly and Jessica flies off of the couch she had been lying on in the living room. Her cheek stings sharply and the mark of a handprint is very clear upon her young face.

“Then fucking figure it out Jessica Rose Carter. Then come talk to me. Till then your sad friends who I know are waiting outside to hear about you are going to have to wait. Your sickening ass isn’t getting outside of this house for ANYTHING including school, until you tell me just what the hell happened!”

“FUCK YOU MIKE!” She shouts, standing up and not caring about the bruise that will eventually show its way on her face from his smacking her. “You can’t do shit even if I do leave!”

Mike raises a brow and looks at her mockingly. “Who says I can’t?”

Jessica smirks back, her eyes the color of a stormy ocean and full of determination. Her athletic yet smaller frame looking tiny in comparison to her foster father’s buff and filled out and obviously worked out body. The terror she felt as a child hints at reemerging her but she shoves it deep down so it doesn’t show.

“I do. You and I both know that I am stronger of the two of us if you try and stop me.”

“What makes you think that, little girl?”

”The fact I’m not a fucking little girl anymore. I grew up, and now I’m stronger and you know it asshole!” This is such a first for her. Even though in the past she has argued back with him, never had she been as bold as she is being now.

“Grew up eh? A wise old woman at age fourteen? You’re far from grown; you’d never last on your own for a fucking day you little shit. If you leave this house you can find a new place to live.”

“Fine I fucking will!”

He sneers; his onyx eyes even colder than before, something Jessica didn’t think is possible, even for Mike. She wonders for a moment where Rachael is. Probably in her room high or out getting drunk. If she wasn’t she’ll be out at her sometimes job, whatever the hell that is. Jessica doesn’t even know, she just knows sometimes Rachael shows up with a random paycheck.

“Like hell you will. Where you gonna go little lady? You’re a child who no one ever wanted ever till we took you. Not sure why now we did anymore. Where are you going to go? The Littrells? The Richardsons? If they would even be able to take you in, I have legal guardianship, and I will forbid you to stay there and if you stay anyway I will report you to the cops as a runaway. They would be arrested for keeping you; hell I might say it was a kidnapping. You’re stuck here and there’s not a damn thing you can do.”

Jessica stands her ground, the words stinging because deep down she knows he has a point. “I’ll tell the cops how you hit me.”

He smirks in victory. “There’s no proof, I would still get to keep you, and they would just keep an eye on us for a short span of time. You don’t bruise easy if at all, and the few times you do, well people know that you work out, train, practice different forms of fighting. I’ll just tell them the few marks you have are from that.”

She sighs, he won and she knows it. She’s trapped here until she can find a way out. “Fine fucking whatever. I can’t tell you what happened because it’s all a fucking blur. Why the hell couldn’t you and your whore have left me in the orphanage, I would have been a shitload better off!” All she feels in her is rage and frustration at being trapped in this more. Never before had she hated Los Angeles, the city they live in, more. Jessica storms off to her room and Mike Karona watches her go with a smile.

“You would have been better off staying there true,” He whispers quietly to himself, “But you are meant to help me succeed in my goal, once you truly realize what you are capable of. You know nothing of what you are. Nothing of what you have begun to be.”


************


Nick dribbles the basketball down the court with ease; he sends his friend and next door neighbor Howie, a grin. He aims the ball and it goes in without even touching the rim. They were at their high school, playing around after most of the kids went home. Waiting for AJ actually who had detention and was their ride.

“That was swish too! Sweet!” He grins, “Game, I win. Hmm….I like the idea of Air McLeans don’t you? When I make it big and have that shoe line, people will be saying Jordan who?”

Howie laughs, running a hand through his short unruly black curls. “Ego much man?” He takes a few breaths for a moment and watches Nick. “You play like a madman though.”

Nick smirks, “I’m so fast I’m a blur. Hey that can be my NBA nickname, the Blur!”

He chuckles at his younger friend. Howie had grown up with Nick and AJ since they moved to Huntington Beach, and at first he was better friends with Alex since they were closer in age. As years went by however the age difference suddenly seemed so small and the three hang out together often. Every now and then there is something about Nick that isn’t exactly normal that happens but much to AJ’s insistence; those rare instances are always ignored.

“Don’t you like Kaos?”

“True but-” he stops there as suddenly as if something physically slapped him he stumbles back and winces, holding his cheek. A handprint is clearly visible upon his cheek and for a reason unknown to him all he feels is frustration and rage. He looks up at Howie yet isn’t looking truly at him, he’s looking beyond him as if there is something there not visible to Howie. His sapphire eyes for a split second, glow a bright blue and instantly the glow vanishes along with the handprint as if it had never occurred. Nick frowns, it was if he was somewhere else, being hit, being abused, what had happened? His mind races as he tries not to relax. Scared of passing out like he has before. Howie watches his friend, his coffee eyes staring with confusion.

“Nick what just-”

“Yo! Lets go! I knew I’d find you two bums here,” Alex says with a grin as he walks up to them without taking notice of the look of puzzlement settled within his brother’s eyes, and not paying attention to Howie looking slightly startled.

Nick smiles, pushing all of what just went down aside. Maybe he was just daydreaming? Yes that had to be it. There has to be a simple explanation. Nick likes leaning about science, even if the subject is difficult for him, he likes finding out how things work. One of the first things he learned is that there is a logical explanation for this. Just like there is for everything. Sure he isn’t normal and the thought troubles him, like he had told AJ after seeing the drawing he could not remember doing. Still there is a reason he is not average. There is a reason something seemingly weird happened and that was because he was day dreaming. There are no after effects so yes it just never happened. It didn’t.

“Sure lets go Jay.”

The three go off towards the parking lot, neither Nick nor Howie mentioning anything out of the ordinary. They do not see the man in the shadows the large old fashioned building of the school provides. His lips curve into a satisfied grin as he reaches for his cell phone to dial a certain number. As he listens to it ring his eyes keep following the teens.

“It has begun.”

“Blind Within The Shadows”


“In the darkness you will find, dirty little secrets we all hide. Cause we all have a darker side, a place we keep where no one else will find. Cause everybody wants to hide their secrets away, but nobody wants to stand up to the pain.” - Good Charlotte, “Secrets”


Chapter 5: A Secret Worth a Thousand Words


After Jessica calms down from her fight with Mike she goes to her mirror to check and see the damage he had done when he hit her earlier. She raises a brow when all she sees was a bruise faded to the point you would think she had gotten it days ago instead of only a few hours. She touches it gingerly and finds it to be sore but thinks it should be more sensitive than it is seeing that she knows how hard he hit her. The damage should be worse. She sighs and pushes her short hair away from her face, tucking it back behind her ears. Why did her real parents have to give her up? It’s not fair. Jessica doubts very much that her real parents had imagined her stuck in the hell she is forced to call her adopted parents and home.

She hears the door downstairs slam and the door be locked from the outside. Mike must be leaving. The teen rolls her eyes at that. Jessica goes to the window to watch him get into his old run down hummer he claims is left over from his army days before she was born. She’ll climb from her window when no one is looking. She’ll wait fifteen minutes and then meet up with Brian and Kevin and let them know she’s ok. What could Mike or Rachael do even if she was caught? It’s not like they will take her back. Even if that is what she’s aiming for. She sighs as she watches out the window. She’ll have to wait an hour though just so she doesn’t have to get hit if Mike comes back again. Or if Rachael decides to come home after whatever the hell it is she does all day. Jessica stands, changing finally out of the PE uniform she had been in since she passed out. She put on light blue track pants and a white tank top that flattered her trim and slightly muscular frame and also brought out her ocean eyes. She heads out and starts walking up to the third floor where the attic is. Time to entertain herself. What better way than to see if her feelings about her foster parents hiding something were right?

The door is locked but she’s too determined to let that stop her in any way. The teen takes a step back and places a well aimed kick at the door. The force of her kick loosens the lock and the door swings open and only cracked slightly near the handle but nothing truly noticeable. Mike and Rachael would think it just got worn down she figures. If not, well then she’d pay for it then. Who knows, it might be worth it.

She enters the attic quietly, even though she knows no one is “home” but her. As if this place could ever be a home anyway. The dust bunnies scatter about as if fleeing from her unexpected entrance into an area untouched by anything but the dust for years. A ray of light shines into the room, coming from a small upper window just before the slanting roof. The window is dirty and stained sickly yellow, cracked and giving a small amount of illumination. Jessica reaches for the light switch along the wall, and discovers the light bulb to be dead. She sighs and begins to look around anyway. She has an unknown amount of time to do this so better not to waste time so she can make a quick escape later on. The room keeps on an eerie glow as the sun outside starts to slowly set. She has a flashlight just in case she wants to keep looking after, but she’d rather not. Jessica frowns as her eyes skip about. Where to start? Her eyes narrow onto a trunk that doesn’t look as old as the others. The layers of dust aren’t nearly as thick. She heads to it immediately and growls in annoyance when she sees a tight padlock keeping it shut. Jessica examines the other trunks for a moment and raises a brow with curiosity when she realizes none of the other ones are locked.

“What the heck? Why lock one but not the others? Why lock any? This is an attic not a freaking safe.” She muses with a sigh, not sure how to get it open. Force could shatter the entire trunk. She’s not sure if she wants to do that. As she tries to think up a way her eyes spot where the lock is, it is just on a weak hook on the top of the trunk that can easily be broken. If done right the trunk itself won’t be harmed. She can just push it to the back of the attic so no one can see.

She grabs where the small hole where the lock goes through and roughly twists it and it easily snaps off in her hands. Jessica blinks though when she realizes she did more damage than she meant to. The entire top lie was cracked in half and for a split second after breaking it, not long enough for her to really notice, her hand glowed once more.


****************


Nick lies on his bed in his room, studying for his biology class. It is actually something he enjoyed, not that anyone knows. He keeps his intelligence a secret, lest he be teased and categorized as some kind of nerd anyway. He lets them all think he just is all about basketball. It’s fun for him, but to be honest he’d most of the time rather be inside drawing, reading, or writing. He learned early on in elementary and middle school however, that that is not something to brag or talk about. When it comes to the honors classes he takes, he just says that his mom kind of pushes him into it. They know he’s smart but no one thinks he enjoys it. Only AJ really knew, and that’s because back when Nick was nine, he had caught his little brother reading Tom Sawyer and had the video game in his room on for show. He sighs, he can’t concentrate really, despite his attempts to. Nick doesn’t understand why he can’t focus the way he usually can anymore. He likes science, why can’t he just focus?

“Come on McLean, you can’t fail that test. You haven’t studied worth crap since those stupid blackouts started again. Focus before mom kills you for failing.” He tells himself softly with irritation at his lack of motivation.

Yet again his mind drifts back to the rage he felt earlier out of nowhere when he had been goofing around with Howie. He had felt as if he were somewhere else instead of on the basketball course of his school. He had almost thought he was in a small house no one can ever call home. That was ridiculous though right? He sighs, touching his cheek. There was no mark there now but his cheek still throbbed dully. None of it makes sense. He was never hit. Why does it hurt then? Why did he suddenly stumble back from the force of an unseen backhanding? He sighs again and lies back on his bed, pushing the textbook aside. Studying is obviously not an option.

He reaches over onto his nightstand and grabs his drawing pad. His golden locks falling into his face just above his ocean blue eyes that focus in concentration as he flips to a blank page and begins to draw. He draws as if entranced an image forming into his head from nowhere. For no particular reason the form of a young athletic looking girl begins to show upon the page as his eyes begin to illuminate from an unearthly glow. His hand flies over the page madly, the picture becoming more and more intricately detailed. Soon it looks as if it was almost real. Still Nick doesn’t stop. His hand keeps going into the drawing, adding more and more, as if what is one the page is never enough. Then suddenly he stops, the pad is dropped to the floor. Nick collapses into nothingness, his body sliding off the bed. His eyes glow so blindingly bright for one moment before shutting, the gaze directed at his door. Moments later, a soft aquamarine colored flame appears on a corner of the door, slowly beginning to devour it as an unaware Nick lays unconscious on his floor.


*************


Two men come out of the shadows in an alley in downtown Los Angelus. Neither says a word at first they wait until a bum in ragged looking clothing and smelling of rotten fish comes by. They give him some change to shoo him away. He leaves and one glances at the other, he is older and having graying short brown hair and hazel eyes. The other is more concealed, tucking his hat down to cover his face in a shadow, the only thing truly visible being his piercing dark eyes though one cannot even be sure of their color.

“It has truly started,” The older man states gruffly, having his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and glancing around in case of more unwanted visitors.

“The physical prowess in part is growing.”

“The mind in part going beyond expectation.”

“Far better than the plan.” The more mysterious one replies, leaning against the wall and letting the shadows the ever setting sun provides consume him.

“Soon it will all be ours.”

“We shall take the next step. “

“Yes, keep it from discovery. It cannot learn of what it is.”

“It shall be done. Only we shall prevail.”

“The next step must be cautious.”

“Yes”

“It can never meet.’

“It shall die before we let it join.”

“It shall not meet”

“Never.”


*******************


Jessica opens the trunk, too curious to keep thinking about how she just accidentally broke the not so weak lid of a heavy trunk in very good condition before she damaged it. She accidentally makes the dust poof up in a cloud about her and she sneezes rapidly for a few minutes. Annoyed she pushes the lid away and looks inside. At first she sees nothing. Just a ratty old blanket covered in dirt in dust. She rolls her eyes.

“I got excited for a damn blanket. Smooth Jessie.”

Her gaze fixes upon something illegible written upon the old blanket and she lifts it up, making another cloud of dust appear. She covers her nose to prevent another sneezing attack and then wipes the dirt away. There, written on the blanket in a childish script are the words, “Jessie n Nicky”.

At that her eyes widen slightly. Nicky is the name she’s heard in those dreams. Was he just a friend she had at the orphanage? She looks at the writing closer and frowns. That’s not her handwriting. She has things from her childhood and it didn’t look like anything she had written when she was little. Jessica shakes her head, her short blonde hair going about like a miniature golden curtain that stops just below her neck. She probably did write it, heck all kids writing looked the same anyways. She looks along the trunk to see some of the old toys she had brought with her when she had been adopted. The Karonas didn’t buy her many playthings once she was here. As goes to fold the blanket up when she spies something along the bottom of the box, almost completely hidden underneath an old doll of hers. A picture frame, but there is so much dirt and dust along the glass, she can’t see the picture. She quickly wipes it away, curious as to what it is. There were no pictures of her that she knew of before her adoption. She stares at the picture. It’s her at age five, just before her adoption; she could see it was her. She isn’t alone in the picture, there next to her, she recognizes the figure immediately. Even though in the dreams she never sees the face, she knows.

“Holy shit…” She murmurs to herself.

The resemblances between the two children in the picture are unbelievable, even at that age. Jessica stares at the one next to her. “Nick…” She breathes, running her hand along the frame.

She runs downstairs to her room, not caring what evidence that she had been up there she left. She makes the connection immediately, too much evidence. Striking resemblance, two kids the same age, strange dreams? Memories start flooding back to her. Memories of a childhood before Mike and Rachael long forgotten. Memories of a time she was happy. Memories of a twin brother she made herself forget she had…


She’s only six years old and in a strange home. In the corner of a room that doesn’t feel safe to her. Downstairs all she hears is the frightening screams between her new parents. Parents who didn’t want her to call them mommy and daddy. She’s only been there a few months and she wanted to go back to her old home. Where the love is. Jessica starts to wail. She misses her Nicky. Why couldn’t her twin come? Why did he leave her? Mike had said to her that Nick didn’t want to come. Why? She thought he loved her, just like she loved him. They used to be a family, since the two had no mommy or daddy. The two of them, the other orphans, and the nice ladies who took care of them. Rachael ha told her that Nick had forgotten about her already, that he had gotten a new mommy and daddy to replace her instead.

“Fine!” Jessica cries to herself, aching for her best friend who had forgotten her. Her twin brother and other half. That was what the ladies always called them. Two halves of the same person. “If he forgets me, I’ll forget him too….Nicky is gone gone gone…Jessie don‘t need him”….


She had blocked him out of her memory since she realized. Soon after that she was more accepting to her new residence and new life. To escape the pain of losing it all, she made herself forget. She was only five years old, how could she know Mike had likely lied to her all this time? Jessica scowls at the thought. He made her hate Nick and then forget him completely, when he had probably missed her the way she did. The few memories she could have of him fill her mind. All of them slightly hazy since she had been so young, but it’s better than not having them at all. Jessica sighs and stares at the picture, her azure eyes glazing over. She wonders what he’s doing now. Where he is. He could still be at the orphanage for all she knew. The long forgotten yet familiar ache returns full force. They used to be each other’s world. Jessica’s eyes blaze with anger at the lost time and grabs her athletic bag, dumping her things out and stuffing random clothes in. She’s tired of Mike’s and Rachael’s lies. Tired of the abusive treatment. She’s had enough. She didn’t care that she was too young to drive or have a license. She didn’t care if they reported her as a runaway. She bet Kevin would take her if she asked. Even if he didn’t, somehow, someway, she was going back to Huntington Beach, where she was adopted. The one true thing Mike told her, he showed her the papers. Time to go back to Sparking Waters. Time to go find her twin again. For as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And so is a secret.

A/N- I don't do the notes much anymore but I have noticed all the reviews I've been getting and I wanted to say thank you! They really do motivate me to update faster...so thankies mucho! Hehe read on and enjoy!



“Blind Within The Shadows”


“Could you make it on your own? If I could, then I would…I’ll go wherever you will go. Way up high, or down low, I’ll go wherever you will go. And maybe, I’ll find out, a way to make it back someday. To watch you, to guide you, through the darkest of your days…If a greater wave shall fall, and fall upon us all, well I hope there’s someone out there, who can, bring me back to you.” - The Calling, “Wherever You Will Go”


Chapter 6: Everybody Needs Something


Howie walks into the McLean home, after knocking several times with no answer. AJ, he knew, is out with his newest girlfriend of the week, but he had figured him and Nick could hang out. Denise doesn’t get home from work for a couple more hours anyway. He strolls through the oddly silent house with a frown. Something is off. Something he can’t put his finger on is wrong. Perhaps it’s the fact even when Nick is studying alone; Nirvana is usually playing in his room. Or the fact the door hadn’t been locked. Usually the blonde locks it up from a slight irrational fear of invaders that no one’s ever been able to explain. He heads towards Nick’s room first, and pauses when the hallway seems foggy, almost Smokey, yet not. It was more as if there was a deep fog in the house that thickens as he gets closer to his friend’s bedroom. His coffee eyes widen with horror at the flame that’s eaten away most of the door. There, on the floor, he sees Nick lying there without a hint of what is going on about him. The strange fog is so thick one can barely see much else except him, where for some reason it looked like a bubble of air surrounded him because the fog would not touch him. Howie takes a breath, and runs in, dodging the flames.

“NICK!” He yells, shaking him. “Wake up dammit!” He shakes him roughly in any attempt to wake him up but the young teen doesn’t stir. Howie sighs, picks him up, and carries him hurriedly out the door without a second thought and sets him outside on the grass. He then grabs the hose and rushes inside, spraying the water, and the instant one drop touches it, all the flames vanish along with the fog. He doesn’t notice however, because he sprayed all of it a good portion of it at the same time. Once the danger is gone, he sighs, shaking his head, eyeing the area. Not much is damaged except the door and the wall around it. Denise is going to get furious, he knows. Howie goes back out to check on Nick. He sees him coughing as he wakes up from his slumber, his eyes full of confusion.

“Howie? What’s going on? Why am I out here man?”

He blinks in surprise. “I was about to ask you that, are you aight?”

He runs a hand through his floppy tousled locks. “Of course I am, and how would I know? I don’t remember anything.”

Howie watches Nick and sees the lie in his eyes. His friend is lying; he doesn’t remember something, if only just a little. He wants to know what happened, and why the strange happenings always center on his young friend. He sits beside him.

“As long as you’re ok.”

“Yep,” he gives him his winning trademark smile. Mentally Nick sighs, he remembers. But it’s not what happened here that is in his memory. That’s why he’s staying silent. He remembers something he did not do. Something he knows just happened now. Running away with just a duffel bag full of clothing, and running with two people he had never met. One with dark hair and one with strawberry gold hair. Being called a name that’s not his, even though he can’t remember the name it was now. Was it a dream? He looks at his hands which are covered lightly with a navy blue ash. He wipes them quickly on the grass so Howie doesn’t see and then smiles and acts as if all is fine, despite how it’s not. Just what is happening to him? All he needs is answers, why is that too much to ask for?


********


Jessica sits in the back of Brian’s jeep next to Brian as Kevin drove up front. He had sat back there with her seeing she needed the comfort, even though she will never in her life admit it. Both cousins were surprised that she actually asked them to take her to Huntington Beach instead of trying to hitch a ride there. The two had told their own parents that they were going for a camping trip to get Jessica for a much needed outing. Both the Richardsons and the Littrells know that she comes from a home empty of love so they understand their sons’ need to fill that for their friend. The fact both of them have never betrayed their trust helped as well. Jessica hasn’t told them why she needed to get there, or that her adoptive parents don’t have any idea she left, yet they trust her. In fact she hasn’t even told them what happened during PE and when she had been taken home either. Still, Brian’s inquisitive nature is beginning to get the best of him while Kevin’s more relaxed demeanor is letting him wait until she tells them on her own. They have been driving for about an hour now and traffic is terrible as usual for the early evening. Jessica idly wonders what Mike’s reaction will be when he sees she’s gone. She doubts either of them would even care.

“Are you ok?” Brian asks her, his kind sky blue eyes staring into her stormy ocean ones.

She nods, blowing a stray blond strand away from her face. “Don’t worry Bri, I’m alright.”

“You don’t sound it.”

“I am though.”

“Jessie-”

“I’m serious, I’m cool.”

“Why are we going to Huntington Beach? Why do you need to go so badly?”

“Jesus fucking Christ Brian I just have to. Back the fuck off.” She snaps, giving him a look and turning away from him.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, you know…it‘s just easier to do when I know what‘s up.”

“I’m doing just fine doing that for my damn self.”

Kevin glances back as he drives down the freeway with a concerned look. “Hey, let her be man.”

She gives Kevin a grateful look and doesn’t look at Brian as she mutters “You wouldn’t believe this shit anyway…”

Brian gently turns her towards him, his eyes full of concern and compassion for his closest friend. “Try me.”

She sighs, she can never say no to his eyes. Never could, never will. She sighs again and glances over at Kevin. “Pull over to the side.”

Kevin frowns. “You okay Jess?”

“Yeah, I’m good, just can you pull over? I do gotta tell ya, but you need your full attention for this shit.” She tugs on her hair a little, unsure how to explain the building urgency to find her lost twin. Jessica watches as the older man she’s always had a slight crush on pulls over, gets out and climbs into the backseat as well, sitting on the other side of her. They both observe her, waiting her to explain just what’s going on. She takes a breath and looks away. Ready to tell her tale.


********


As Jessica is preparing to tell her friends, and Nick is trying to orient himself again, the two men who had met up before are now yelling with frantic, uncontrolled, rage over the phone…

“It has vanished!!!”

“You were not careful!”

“It went to find the other”

“It cannot not join”

“I fucking know that!”

“You must go retrieve It then.”

“I have no clue where the other is. I need to get it!”

“The other is where It started.”

“I’ll find the damn thing!”

“Stop at nothing.”

“Anything that helps It or stands in my way, has already signed its own death certificate. I’ll do more horrific things than we did to the former experiments. It shall not fucking join!” Then the one yelling slams the phone on the receiver, letting the other man hear nothing but a dial tone.


*******


Jessica takes a breath again, and looks at her friends, as suddenly a chill runs down her spine. Unnoticed by the three teens, rain begins to fall harshly upon the ground. “I have no damn clue if I’ll sound sane to you, but fuck I hate holding this shit in. And I don’t trust anyone else, I have no one fucking else. You both know I’ve never thought I was normal. I’m not. I don’t know why I’m not either. My real mother would know, but I’ve never met either of my real parents. I never thought I knew any of my real family…”

“Well you were adopted at five, and never lived with your parents, and were an only child, why would you?” Brian asks, wondering where this is going.

“That’s the thing…I wasn’t an only child. You guys didn’t know me when I first lived with Mike and Rachael. I used to wail for someone. I used to scream to go back, I was couldn’t be controlled and I cried till my eyes went dry and I lost my voice for a short time. I was that upset. It didn’t stop until I was filled with the idea I had been forgotten so I had to forget my life at the orphanage too. To forget the sisters who took care of me. To forget the other orphans who were almost like siblings….to forget my twin brother…Nick.”

Kevin’s dazzlingly emerald eyes widen with shock. “Nick? That’s the name you wake up saying in your dreams lately….It doesn’t make sense though.” His eyes narrow slightly, “if you had a twin, wouldn’t he have been adopted with you?”

She sighs shaking her head. “No, I remember that day now…for fuck knows why I‘m getting the stuff I blocked out back….he said he couldn’t. I screamed for Nick, and Mike kept telling me Nick didn’t need me anymore. That he forgot me. I was only five/six you know? So I blocked him out…made myself forget, and I became well hell not even content but adjusted anyway. Living with The Karonas was all I remembered knowing.” She reaches into her duffel bag and pulls out the worn photo. “I found this earlier today after Mike and I got into it.”

“About what?” Brian asks, rubbing her arm a little and being careful to keep his emotions for her in check. He’s always had a hidden crush on her but kept it quiet knowing she had a thing for Kevin.

“What happened at school, I passed out during tae bo cause I relaxed too soon.” Jessica is careful not to make any mention of the glow Mike had told her had happened. It was all a blur to her anyway, and though a memory is nagging at her to take note of what Mike said, she dismissed it. It probably isn‘t true. “See I know those pass out spells ain’t normal. There’s a good example. Anyways. So I went up to the attic, broke the lock on the door, and then broke the lock on the trunk.” She pulls out the blanket she had brought as well. “I found this, my old blankie,” She says with a small smile, “Covering the picture up. The few things I had brought with me when I got adopted.”

Kevin nods in understanding, “Now you feel guilty for forgetting him.”

The sandy red haired teen stares at the photograph. “You two look so much alike, it’s uncanny”

Jessica nods. “I want to find the person who actually loved me. My only family. It’s even beyond that. I just have this sense I have to find him and fast. I want to know what happened to him. We were both at the Sparkling Waters adoption agency in Huntington Beach, so I can find out what happened. Hell he might still be there for all I know. Maybe he knows why I’m not normal…why I’m such a fucking freak. I miss him, when we were little, he was my other half, and I hate how most of my few memories of him are so damn vague.”

“I’ll help.” Kevin replies with a hug, and Jessica’s eyes light up as she hugs him back. She has such strong feelings for him. “We may not find him here but maybe they can give you a clue. But Mike’s going to kill you when you go back.”

“If I go back.”

“We’ll discuss that later Jess,” he says with a fatherly type tone, knowing she’s not up for discussing the inevitable taking responsibility for her rash running off.

“Yeah, and we can focus on helping you first.” Brian smiles a little at her as he hugs her as well, ignoring how her eyes don‘t light up the same way when he does it. He understands, she needs a family, and although they were a surrogate one, she needs a real one as well. This Nick might be it for her. They can at least find out where he is now for her, then be back in Los Angeles before anyone realizes besides Mike that they aren’t camping like they claimed. He knows it’s a long shot to find him, but they can try at least, what could happen?

“Blind Within The Shadows”


“A place where no one waits to die before they go into the light…in just a blind eye sight. I follow nothing but the corpus of my instinct, no matter where it leads I know it’ll take me to the brink. And leave me there all by myself and all alone with my dreams. Can you hear my screams? I believe in the sanctity of dreams, no more running from these masqueraders. I believe the society will never dream like me…never dream like me. Society will never dream like me, dream like me…I believe in the sanctity of dreams.” - Live, “Sanctity of Dreams”


Chapter Seven: Dream Like Me


Nick sits in his room, the only evidence of what happened earlier being the half ashen door, and the black marks around it. Howie had told him he had found him on the floor while a blue flame was getting bigger and bigger. Nick frowns, he doesn’t remember any of it. Why did he have the memory or the thought of something that obviously didn’t happen? It feels to him like it did. Nothing is making sense. Has anything in his life ever made sense? No, he realizes, not since he had been adopted. He can’t even remember the time he was at the orphanage. Sure he had been young but he had been six, almost seven when he was adopted. He should at least have a few memories, even if they were vague, but he had none really. All he had were a few images from the past, and feelings. Of acceptance and happiness. Not that he’s not happy here, here he has a family, and love, he just wants answers is all. He picks up his sketch pad off of the floor and blinks at what he drew. A young girl, the same girl he drew a few days before out on the hammock. In the picture she seems to be sneaking into an attic and is gazing at something in her hands. The drawing is so detailed, to a point not even Nick goes to normally. It looks almost real, with the exception of the picture in the girl’s hands, which is too blurry and unclear to see what’s in the frame. He sets it down and rubs his eyes. He’s unusually tired. He doesn’t get much sleep, unbeknownst to anyone. All he needs is sleep perhaps six hours, three nights a week and he’s fine. He stretches as he goes to lay down on his bed. Maybe everything that happened today is a sign that he truly needs to rest. He yawns and closes his eyes, wondering for only a moment why he drew the same girl twice.


*************


Jessica leans again the window of the jeep with a sigh as Kevin tries to navigate it through the heavy traffic along the freeway. She yawns; not because she was tired, for she rarely needs sleep; but because she is emotionally drained. Too much is happening at once. Everything she knows isn’t real anymore. One day she’s hanging out with her friends and the next she passes out at school, is told she glowed, discovered the twin she forgotten, and knew everything Mike told her was a lie. Now here she is running for answers in a city she hasn’t been to since she was just a little girl. She glances down where Brian is resting against her shoulder, wearing a sweet smile of contentment. She can’t help but smile herself. She’s lucky to have a friend like him, and a friend like Kevin. Her eyes travel to the raven haired eighteen year old, who’s deep charismatic voice sings along to an old Boys II Men song as he pays attention to the cars around him. She watches out the window and sees a blue jay fly above them, which strikes her as a little odd because of all the honking cars but she shrugs it off. Her eyes slowly close and she lets herself drift off to a sleep she knows she doesn’t need. Her mind subconsciously calls out for her twin who she knows must be out there somewhere, if she only knew where…


***********


Jessica opens her eyes and gazes around curiously. Instinctively she knows she’s still asleep and this is a dream. Yet, it feels like more than that. It feels real, but in a way still not the reality she has come to accept. Everything is still far to hazy for her to be awake the way she has known all her life. Her ocean eyes gaze around for any type of clue or answer as to where she is and what exactly is happening now. Like everything else in her life isn’t strange enough? Does she really need this. She sighs and wanders around. Her surroundings are a large field type clearing and she can see the hint of woods behind her. The ground is covered, almost consumed by a light gray mist, cool to walk through and touch. Above her is the velvet night sky, clearer and more dazzling than she’s ever seen it before, the stars dazzling like diamonds above her. The only light is the glow of the pale yellow moon which seems larger than ever in her life, and give the area a sort of comforting gentle illumination. A soft wind blows through, ruffling her honeysuckle locks around her face. A figure cast in the shadows begins to approach her and for a few moments she can’t make out any of his features until he is only a foot away from her. Then it takes her a minute to realize just who it is. A young teen boy about her age and height, floppy straight golden hair and the bluest eyes the color of sapphires. A familiar smile settles upon his face and the five year old ages before her in her mind. No it can’t be….


“Nick?” she asks softly.

He nods with a smile, his eyes showing he’s unsure of who she is but he pays it no mind. He runs a hand through his hair as he shifts his leg. “This is my favorite dream…”

“Huh?” Jessica replies, having no idea what’s going on. Still her instinct is running overtime, telling her to go along with what’s happening, to just answer on what comes instinctively. She is never one to question her feelings. They’re rarely wrong.

“This, in it there’s always someone I’m chasing, but I never find out who, but I like it. I like where it takes place. It’s weird though cause this time I’m not chasing anyone.”

Jessica, still not knowing what exactly was occurring, is disappointed by the fact he doesn’t know who she is. Meaning, he doesn’t remember her or know he even has a sibling, let alone a twin sister. Not that it would be hard to guess once you see the two together. Anyone with eyes can guess that. She doesn‘t have what iota how this is happening however. “I think I know why Nick….”

His eyes, so much like her own, brighten. “Why? How do you know me?”

She sends him a playful grin. “You’ll figure it out….”

“You seem familiar”

“I get that a lot.”

“Do you?”

“Maybe.”

“Why are you in my dream?”

“Maybe you do know me.”

“Are you always so cryptic?”

Jessica snorts. “Hell no. I just can’t say anything.” Why though? She’s just answering without knowing why she’s telling him these things. What is all this?

“Why not?”

She shrugs. “I’m a girl who runs on instinct, cause sometimes logic can fuck you up. So my instinct is saying hell no.” She smirks at him, but her eyes, although they are unreadable to Nick, anyone close to her can see she’s fighting so many urges to hug him and never let go. “What I want to know is why we’re here.”

“I’m not sure.”

“You should cause it sure ain’t me who’s doing this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Fuck if I know. I’m just as damn lost in this as you are.” She grins. “Nicky did you always ask so many questions?”

Nicky, that’s something he’s never let anyone call him, yet it stirs in him something familiar and he doesn’t mind it this time. He pushes that aside. Now Nick smirks at her. “No but with you I will I think. Why can’t you tell me now? I’m too curious.”

“You know what can happen to curious people?”

“They learn what they need to know if they pursue it.”

She watches him. “Then find out then.’”

Nick goes up to her with wonder. “What?”

“Don’t ask me, fuck, like I said, I know less about this shit than you do.” Her image begins to fade…

“Wait a second I-” Nick calls out before he...

...wakes up in his bed with a start, disoriented and confused. What was that dream about? He’s had it before but not since he was nine years old. Always chasing something, never knowing what, but always thinking he had to get it. He always loved the dream because of the beautiful place it occurred, but why is he having it now? Why is it so different now? All of it is a muddled mess. Just a crazy dream, he tells himself silently. He shakes his thoughts away and heads downstairs as he hears his mother come in and knows dinner will soon follow.


******


Jessica wakes up with a start, not sure of what happened. She glances over at Brian who is looking at her with concern.

“What?”

“You didn’t pass out again did you?” he frowns, his cerulean eyes always showing his emotions like an open door into his heart.

She smiles softly. “Nope, why do you ask?”

He leans back against the car door to relax. “You talked in your sleep. You only do that during those blackouts.”

She shrugs. “oh.”

Kevin looks back at them both as he pulls up into a parking spot. Jessica blinks. She didn‘t realize she was out that long, she had thought they were still on the freeway. She never sleeps much…weird. “Do you guys mind us staying at the Holiday Inn?”

Brian smiles and shakes his head. “Anywhere with beds is the happiest place on earth to me.”

Kevin laughs. “Your new Disneyland huh cuz? “

He grins back cheekily. “Yep! The guy who checks us in is my Mickey Mouse!”

The three laugh as they climb out of the Jeep tiredly and grab their bags. Jessica shrugs with a smirk. “Anything is better than home for me.“

As they head inside to check in, she can’t help but smile a little. She can’t remember a bit of what she dreamed, all of it a blur again. Still Jessica, not caring how she knows, can’t help but be completely sure of the fact that wherever he is, her Nicky is ok.

“Blind Within The Shadows”


“Don’t know Where she belongs, where she belongs. She wants to go home, but nobody’s home. It’s where she lies…broken inside. There’s no place to go, no place to go, to dry her eyes, broken inside. Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why…you’ve been rejected. Now you can’t find, what you’ve left behind. Be strong, be strong now…” - Avril Lavigne, “Nobody’s Home”


Chapter Eight: Only a Shadow

Jessica sat up on her bed in the hotel room. She had to share one with Brian and Kevin due to their short limit on money. She sits in the darkness, typing into Brian’s laptop, the light coming from the screen being her only illumination in the room. She’s hoping that until tomorrow comes and she can actually try to find her old orphanage once more, she could track something down on the internet. Brian was more her person for that with his computer skills but she doesn’t wish to wake him. She sighs with frustration. Nothing. The closest she can get is where she was adopted from. All other records were locked for the orphans’ protection. Just perfect. She didn’t notice Brian was awake until he sits beside her and puts his arm around her in a brotherly way. Her short locks sway about her face as she turns to face him, slightly grumpy with frustration, and with his interruption. She closes the laptop with defeat.

“You should get some sleep Jess.”

“I can’t.” she looks at him with sad blue eyes.

“Bad dreams?”

“I don’t have those old dreams anymore.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Maybe,

“Tomorrow we’ll pick up a few things, let Kevin sleep so he doesn’t become a monster.”

Jessica laughs softly. “Yeah. So we’ll maybe try to go to Sparkling Waters tomorrow?”

“Maybe, lets just lay low for a couple days, Mike might decide to care and look here first. The orphanage you were from would be the first place.”

“I know, hence the false registration names here. Glad Kev’s eighteen.” Her gaze goes to the window, wishing she had never been adopted to begin with. “I want to know where he is, is all.”

Brian hugs her with a small smile. “I know, and you’ll find him, I promise. I just can’t promise anything about what’ll happen after that…”


****************


Brian follows Jessica through the grocery store. “Jess, we’re not going to be here that long, we don’t need to get everything. All we have is what’s in mine and Kev’s accounts from those evil summer jobs.”

She smirks, tossing some red mountain dew into the cart she was pushing, that was already almost full with unnecessary groceries. “Aren’t you glad you did them now? Where’s Kevin?”

“Still looking for the allergy meds he needed I think.”

“Must suck to have those.” She turns down another aisle quickly. She thrusts the handle of the cart towards Brian, going off ahead.

“Yeah well not all of us have your perfect bill of health Jess.” He sticks his tongue out at her playfully; glad her mind for once isn’t worrying about finding her twin.

“Perfect bill of health?! Yeah right, that explains the pass out spells right.“ She declares with a big roll of her baby doll blue eyes.

“”Well I can’t remember you ever getting sick…“ Now that he thought about it, it was a little odd. Jessica had never gotten sick growing up. Not once. Even when surrounded with contagious Kevin and Brian when they had had the chicken pox. Or when they were sick with flu. She came over and entertained them till they were better, one house at a time, running next door when one cousin she felt was properly entertained. A spunky little girl she had been, but never getting sick despite the exposure.

“Eh so I’m lucky.” She dashes down the cereal isle and he groans. They would have no money left after Jessica spent it all on stuff she doesn’t even need! Kevin walks down up to Brian with a chuckle.

“Having fun cuz?”

Brian smirks. “Yep, and guess what? You get to cover the grocery bill.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re the oldest that’s why!” He says in a little kid voice. Brian chases off after Jessica playfully with Kevin on his tail. Now acting like the teenagers they are for once. Jessica glances back, making teasing faces at them. She didn’t see the two teens also in the aisle and triples into the younger one, causing them to fall into the large display of cereal boxes, built up into a pyramid of sorts. The boxes tumbling about them.


****************


Nick groans as he follows Alex through the store. “I can’t believe mom made us go shopping.” He pushes the shopping cart along grumpily.

AJ rolls his dark coffee eyes as he checks the list their mother gave him before she left to put in extra hours at work. “Could be worse considering you burned your door down.”

“I didn’t set the fire!” He pouts indignantly, still having no clue how that happened. Every time he tries to remember, nothing comes to mind.

“Howie found you on the floor next to where it started.”

“I didn’t do it.”

“Who did then?”

He sighs, tucking a golden lock away from his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Alex rubs his arms and takes over the cart as he goes to find a certain cereal. “Just be happy she was more relieved than mad.” He had been as well. He had walked in that night to find Howie hovering over Nick trying to figure out what happened. Alex called their mom and she had rushed home, just happy her youngest was alright. Then she lectured Nick, but not as harshly as she should have. The idea they came up with for what happened was a chemical fire, which explained the color Howie claimed it was. How Nick could have started a chemical fire, none of them knew. So it became one of the many unsaid and ignored questions within the McLean home. The hear someone walking by and taking no notice of it until someone trips over Nick causing them both to tumble into a pyramid of cereal boxes that crashed on them both. Alex turns to make sure his brother’s okay, laughing at the incident, until he hears a surprised gasp.

There was a young girl a bit slimmer and more muscular than Nick sitting amongst the mess. She stared at Nick with amazement and Nick frowns. And her face although more feminine and a bit slimmer, was eerily similar to Alex’s younger brother’s. One you examined the two there were plenty of differences though.

Jessica couldn’t help but stare. There it seemed was the picture of her twin, aging before her eyes. But was it Nicky? No, there were differences she saw. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him more closely. Differences between his face and her own, many more than just the gender ones. She knew when they were younger they were almost completely identical. It wasn’t him. Just someone who had the right type of face and coloring of eyes. Only a shadow of her or her twin. Someone who looked about Brian’s age reaches down to help the boy up, and he checks the one she tripped over.

“You alright bro?” He asks.

“Yeah yeah Alex I’m fine.” He whines annoyed.

Alex looks to Jessica. “You okay?”

She shakes herself out of her reverie. Also, the two were brothers, she could tell by how they acted. Blood related brothers; she had seen enough adoptees at her school to know the difference. There was always a closeness with adopted ones that couldn’t quite be achieved like with the blood related families. The lights within the ceiling flicked and burst one after another around them. Only the ones directly above them did not do that. Only the ones that if did, would harm them did not burst. All the teens jump at the noise.

Brian raises a brow at the exploding lights around the store. “That’s weird…short fuse maybe…” he muses, heading to Jessica.

Kevin helps her up as Brian is left to bring the cart over. “I’m good. I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry about that.” She gets up and hurries out of the store. Brian and Kevin quickly following her, Nick watches the three go. Alex shakes his head.

“Strange ass people.”

Nick stays silent, lost in thought.

“Yo, Kaos! Let’s hurry up and get the rest. Mom’s gonna kill us both if we’re late for dinner.”

Nick nods and the two continue their shopping as employees clean the mess up. As soon as the three left, the lights stopped bursting around them. Still, he looks back and his eyes follow her close as she leaves. There was something about her that stuck a cord in his mind…


***********


He stands outside the store as one of It rushed out with two oblivious teenaged boys followed her out. He smirks as he pulls out his cell phone, seeing the blue of her eyes glimmer unnaturally even from the far distance between them. He dials a number quickly and waits till someone picks up.

“I found one.” He says briskly to the two men who answered. The two who had argued frantically when It ran off before.

“Good” One says eagerly.

“Where.” The other demands.

“A store in Huntington Beach.”

“Watch that one.”

“Await further instructions.” Then the phone clicked and there was nothing but a dial tone.

Chapter 9: Pursuit

“I dream of rain… I dream of gardens in the desert sand. I wake in pain, I dream of love as time runs through my hand. I dream of fire … Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire. And in the flames… Shadows play in the shape of a man's desire…” - Sting, “Desert Rose”

Nick walks home from school the next day. His mind still confused about all the recent events. The fire, the dreams that have started again for no reason, that girl in the grocery store that for whatever reason, sparked intrigue within. He always knew he wasn’t normal, but this is starting to go beyond what he’s used to. Now Alex and Howie were more worried than ever and he was lucky if he got time to himself. Which is why he left a few minutes early, so he could enjoy the walk home, maybe stop by the beach, sketch a few tourists. His ocean eyes takes everything in, the bustle around him, the familiarity of it all. Las Vegas has nothing on this city.

He hums to himself softly. There’s question’s nagging at the back of his head. Things forgotten that demanded to be seen. Nick sighs, he doesn’t want to know. No, that was a lie, part of him wants it more than anything; while the other half, happy with the simplicity doesn’t.

He walks, glad tourists don’t often come over there. They preferred the shop infested paths.

Footsteps.

He stops. The footsteps stop.

He hurries along, a bit nervous about it all. Maybe he’s paranoid. After all that’s happened in his life, could anyone possibly blame him? Then there was that girl at the grocery store. He hadn’t mentioned it to AJ. Or even got the chance to say a thing for the girl had left the store so quick after the power surge of the store. But she was the one from the drawings. The drawings he could never remember doing. He wants to know who she was. Why she keeps visiting his mind so often without an invite. Yet, it was just another question to add on to the list. His minds leave him when he starts hearing the footsteps once more. He makes a turn to the crowded paths he knows better.

As he passes by the beach, he pauses and turns behind him. He could have sworn he was being watched. Followed.

But… that was ridiculous, right?

************
Her dream this time came in jumbled parts.

Nicky? Her mind asked as they both stood once more in the clearing of the woods. Was this their meeting place? She doesn’t understand. She just knows it is his mind controlling this. Even when he’s not dreaming, his subconscious is there, searching for her as he was deep in thought.

“Who are you?” He asks, coming out into the moonlight. Night, always at night it seems to be for them.

“You should know, this is your mind.”

“You’re a figment in my mind?” He questions, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No, trust me, I ain’t that. As far as I get this shit, this is a safe place in your mind. You invited me here. You’re the one who decides what I can’t answer. Subconsciously anyway. I think. Fuck this is confusing.”

“You’re telling me. Yet I get it… why can’t we go to your place?”

She shrugs with a laugh. “I have no idea how, that’s why. You do. You said this was your fave dream last time right? “

The shaggy blonde haired teen nodded.

“Then you’ve had it forever. I want to tell you who I am. Soooooo bad.” A sigh. “But something in your head won’t let me. Prolly cause it knows.”

“‘m just as lost as you are. I want to find you…” He says, wistfully, unsure of why he said it. Yet his heart knows it true.

The girl spies a dark mist invading the dream and her eyes widen. It begins to surround Nick in a sinister matter. Her twin was in danger. “Nick!” She runs towards him. “NIIIICK!”

Suddenly the ground vanishes under her.

Falling.

Falling to her end.

Or would the end never come and she would fall forever?

She screams.

Then, suddenly, the falling stops and she is by the beach of sunny Huntington Beach, California.

“Nick!” She cries. She has to find him. Now.

Lost within a dream Jessica runs through the crowds, pushing them by with an extreme sense of urgency. She was searching for something. No. Someone. All she knows here is that she must find him. Find him now. Before it was too late.

Gunshots blast around her.

The mob of people becomes suffocating.

Someone is in pursuit of her as well as the person she is seeking. He was getting close. Blood streams carelessly from the innocents caught in the chaser’s path. She runs faster, feeling the energy build within. She can’t stop or she would faint and he would catch her. She cries out when she spies a flash of blond hair.

“NICKY!”

He vanishes into a building. She makes a sharp turn, following him as well. She had to catch him before it was too late. She senses something she knows his innocent heart does not.

“NICKY!” She screams again, her voice feeling hoarse. She keeps racing after him, scratching her arm roughly against the wall as she does and not caring a bit. Her short blonde hair blows behind her from some unknown breeze. Her stomach felt ill, it was close. Time was almost out. Nick was about to go into a trap.

Nick…

Was In Danger! Her mind screams as she shoot out of the stiff hotel bed. She breathes rapidly as her heart pounds within her chest. The dream.

Kevin is sitting on the bed, watching her with those caring jade eyes. “Jess, I’ve been trying to wake you up for awhile now. Are you alright?”

“It was just a dream… Just, the dream had felt… “She glanced at her sore arm. A deep scratch stood out, and her eyed widened. “So real…”

“What is it?”

“I can’t wait till its safe from Mike’s eyes to find Nick.”

“Calm down.”

“No, I…I can’t. Trust me.”

“You’re not making sense!” The eighteen year old tries to reason, pushing a raven lock away from his brow.

Her hair is matted to her forehead, as the beads of sweat glitter on her forehead like stars. She is serious, and knows what she feels is true. Her dream is half muddle, half clear. No matter right now. She has to convince Kevin so he can convince Brian. “Nick is in danger.”

************

“Karona, you mean to tell us you have lost her? Do you realize the importance of your project!?” A voice bellows through the cheap phone in Mike Karona’s home.

The stepfather tries not to rage back at the incompetent man. He knew far far better than he did. Silly man. His onyx eyes glimmer in the pale light. of the bathroom. His wife, lay in her bed, in the peacefulness of a drugged sleep…

No one could interfere now that Jessica had slipped his grasp.

“Yes I know. I have an idea where she could have gone.”

“You realize the others likely have already started tracking her down.”

“I had thought the brat had tried to scare me. So I gave her a few days. She knew I’d keep my threats if she ran. I’m slightly impressed the bitch tried it anyway. “

“Now the others are seeking her and the other half of the project.”

“I’ll find it first.”

“And you know that how!”

A deadly smirk appears on the ruler of the Karona home. A snicker escapes Mike’s throat, sounding far more like a cackle. “I have a hunch on where she is. No doubt she brought her idiot neighbor friends with her. I’ll have her by sundown. I might just take the second project with me.”

“If you can’t get her back, the project will be terminated and we will go on to the solution to this possibility. Operation B.”

“Operation B will prove shit. You need me to get her back in normal society and you know it. I WILL HANDLE THIS!” He slams the phone down harshly, so much that the pale phone cracks in two, sparks jumping out excited.

“Believe me, I will.”