Authors: M.A Casey
“Well, that explains your mother’s behavior I
suppose,” he said.
“Is that all you have to say?” I asked
disbelievingly.
“What did you want me to say?” He asked a little
confused.
“Maybe something about the fact that I’m one of my
father’s science experiments! I mean I thought you would be a little
worried that you’re friends with a genetic mutant.” I blurted out.
“Hayln, I know who are, and this doesn’t change that,”
he said softly squeezing my hand.
“How can you know who I am when I have no idea,” I
questioned shaking my head.
“You’re exactly the same girl as you were yesterday
and the week before that. The only difference is you have more
information now,” he said simply.
I thought about that for a moment, and he continued.
“This isn’t your fault Hayln, none of it,” he
said. “And it doesn’t change who you are unless you let it.”
“Maybe,” I said not really sure if it could all be
that simple.
“What I am worried about, is what you are going to do
now? I mean with that Spencer guy hanging around?” He asked.
“Well, Dad wants Mum, Emin and I to leave and hide
somewhere while he goes with Spencer to try and sort this out. But I
don’t like it, if Spencer killed Able so easily what’s stopping him from
killing Dad even if he does finds a way to do what they want him to do?” I
said.
“Running away doesn’t sound like a good idea either
Hayln, I mean he said they were watching you right? If you did something
like that they might hurt all of you,” he insisted.
“What do you suggest then?” I questioned.
“That your Dad does exactly what they have asked him
to, he goes with them. It sounds like these guys shouldn’t be messed
with,” he said firmly.
“No that’s just it Tyler, they can’t be trusted, not
with my father and not with his work,” I said. I knew now what I had to
do, I had to go home and sort this out with my family, and make sure my father
wasn’t going to do anything stupid. I saw my school bus pulling up across
the road. “I have to go back home Tyler to sort this out,” I said as I
stood up.
“I’ll come too Hayln,” he said.
“No, we need to figure this out on our own Tyler, I
have probably already put you in danger by telling you what I have. You
need to go home, and I'll call you tonight okay,” I said as I crossed the road
to the bus.
He waved goodbye, but he looked more worried now than
when I was telling him my story.
I jumped on the bus ignoring the strange looks from
some of the kids in my classes. I was eager to get home and worried about
what might have happened since I left.
I jumped off at my stop, surprised at how far I had
run this afternoon. As I walked towards my house, I noticed Zeke heading
to the van. I was worried he might be upset with me for running away from
him earlier so I was keen to catch up with him, even though I had no idea if he
knew the truth yet.
“Hey Zeke, wait up,” I yelled as I started jogging
towards him.
He looked up at me, but then looked
away as soon as our eyes met and I knew he knew. He opened the door, got in and
started the engine so I yelled again needing a chance to talk to him.
“Zeke wait,” I pleaded.
But he pulled away without looking at me. My
shoulders fell, and my heart broke, he knew, and he couldn’t face me. I
watched the van turn the corner and wondered if he would ever look at me with
those beautiful emerald eyes again. I walked into the house and Emin was
at the door waiting.
“You told Zeke,” I said knowing the answer.
“Yeah I did, I didn’t think you’d mind,” he said
quietly.
“I don’t, it’s just… he wouldn’t even look at me,” I
said as I tried to hide my feelings of how much his leaving hurt.
“Give him time Hayl’s, this has been a pretty big
shock to all of us,” he said. “How are you going anyway?” I could tell he was
truly worried.
“I’ll be fine, I just needed some time to think,” I
reassured him. “How’s Dad, did I miss anything?”
“Well, he is still insisting on us running off into
the mountains somewhere while we leave him here with those government
pigs. Oh, and he told us what they want him to do. They want the
DNA strain developed to be put into adults, to enhance specific abilities, to
develop a sort of super soldier. But I have another plan,” he said
eagerly.
“As long as we are all together I’m up for it,” I
confirmed.
“Exactly Hayl’s, we have to stick together now – no
more running away if things get tough,” he said sympathetically, but I knew he
was right. “We all love you and nothing that was said today has changed
that, but we need you now okay,” he said almost pleading.
“I promise,” I said to him.
“All right then, let’s go run this idea past Mum and
Dad,” he said positively.
They were still sitting in the lounge where I left
them. Both their faces looked relieved as I walked into the room with
Emin.
“Are you okay Hayln?” my Mum asked.
“Yes, I guess I was shocked that’s all,” I replied.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you from the start,
with all of you,” my father started to say, but I butted in.
“Dad, no apologies okay, we need to figure out what we
do next,” I said confidently. The truth is I just wasn’t ready to talk
about this right now so I decided to ignore the part of my life where I was a
mutant family disaster and concentrate on saving my Dad.
“We need to get you three out of here quickly,” he
said without thinking.
“Well that’s the bit we aren’t happy with Dad we won’t
leave you here, it’s not an option,” Emin said firmly. “Plus we have
another idea.”
“It’s too dangerous Emin – I can’t risk it,” he
replied.
“Too dangerous?” I argued “No, what is dangerous Dad
is you putting your life in the hands of these killers and giving them what
they want, that’s dangerous.”
“Let’s just hear the idea Ethan, Hayln is right,
keeping us safe so they can create some super army for god only knows what,
that is too dangerous,” my mother urged.
He thought about this more a minute more and nodded
ready to hear Emin’s idea.
“Okay, well all four of us need to be able to get away
together and go to this place Dad has, at least until we can think of something
else,” Emin started.
“But they will be watching us Emin,” Dad reminded him.
“I know, so we need a diversion or something right?”
Emin confirmed.
“What did you have in mind,” I encouraged him.
“Well, I was thinking we need a crowd and just enough
time for us to escape without them seeing us and then I thought about Dad’s
benefit dinner. They said you had to cut all ties here so we can tell the
Dean it will be your farewell too and we will all attend. Spencer will
assume you're doing exactly what he told you to
,
and hopefully they will back off a little with everybody there. They
won’t want to raise suspicion. With over two hundred people there I
figure we just need to have another vehicle waiting, slip out and then go
wherever Dad has planned.” He stopped to hear our reactions.
“Sounds good to me,” I said “although I hate formal
wear,” I grumbled attempting to lighten the mood a little.
“It could work Ethan, don’t you think?” My mother
encouraged.
“I guess it’s worth a try,” he agreed. “But we
need to make the whole thing very convincing and time leaving the benefit just
right,” he said almost confidently with a hint of hope.
“We can do it Dad, I know we can. We won’t leave
you here with them okay, it’s just not an option,” Emin said, and we all nodded
in agreement.
“I guess I better ring the Dean and let him know I’m
resigning then,” my father said started to put the plan into place
already.
And then it dawned on me that I only have just over 24
hours of this life left and then I will be in hiding for who knows how long.
“Anyone hungry?” I said as I started my way to the
kitchen wanting a distraction.
“Starving,” Emin responded.
“Zeke brought back some food, I have put it in the
fridge,” Mum called out. “Let me know if you need a hand.”
I was happy to cook on my own, it found it relaxing. I looked
at the supplies he brought. Apart from the basic’s I found a piece of
lamb and I was suddenly inspired.
I went all out, glad for the distraction. I made
a stuffing for the lamb with some herbs, pine nuts, fresh breadcrumbs and soft
cheese, prepared as many vegetables as I could find in the fridge and roasted
some potatoes. By the time I was onto a sauce, they had joined me in the
kitchen. All desperate to know what I was cooking that smelt so
good. Mum set the table and helped Dad take a seat while Emin and I
dished up. Then we all sat down together to eat the meal I had
prepared. It was a strange realization that this was the first meal we had
eaten together in twelve years, and it would also be the last meal we would eat
in this house.
My mum chuckled to herself as she was eating which
worried me so I had to ask. “Is something wrong?”
“Hardly,” she said smiling at me. “It’s just that this
is truly delicious Hayln, have you been taking classes at school?” she
questioned.
“No, I replied,” quite pleased with myself. “I just
pulled a few things together, I have never cooked this before,” I said.
By now, Dad and Emin were both making sounds demonstrating
that they too were enjoying the meal.
“I wonder,” Dad said in between mouthfuls.
“Wonder what?” Mum responded to him.
They had been more at ease with each other today than
I remember seeing them since they were married.
“Well if this is another of Hayln’s talents,” he
concluded.
“Cooking? Really?” I queried.
“I think he is right Hayln,” Mum added. “Your
father was quite a good cook when he got a chance, but this is really
exceptional,” she smiled at me.
“It is really good Hayl’s,” Emin added. He
hadn’t spoken as he was too busy eating but had finished his meal now. “Are
there any seconds?”
“In the oven,” I replied, thinking to myself how
enjoyable this felt, to all be together.
Once we had all finished, and Emin had practically
licked his plate clean, I started to pack up.
“We can do that Hayln,” Mum offered, taking Dad’s
plate to the sink.
“Really, I don’t mind, it helps to keep busy.”
She nodded and her, and Emin helped Dad up. “We will
take him upstairs then and get him ready for bed, he needs his rest for
tomorrow,” she said.
Tomorrow, I thought to myself. It made me
nervous to think what tomorrow would bring. After I cleaned up and packed
everything away I decided I better call Tyler before it got much later, I knew
he would be worried so I grabbed the phone.
“Hello,” he said sounding anxious.
“It’s me Tyler, everything’s fine,” I said wondering
if the phones could be tapped. It’s probably unlikely, and I am just
being paranoid, but I wasn’t going to take a chance.
“What going on?” He asked
“I was wondering if you could come and see me tomorrow
because I won’t be in class,” I asked, hoping that he wouldn’t give anything
away.
“Of course,” he sounded a little confused. “I will
come over right after school, is that okay?”
“Perfect,” I said. “See you then, and thanks for
being so great this afternoon.”
“No problem,” he said, I could almost hear him
smiling.
“Bye Tyler,” I said as I hung up the phone.
“I bet he didn’t act like arse when you told him,”
Zeke said.
I turned on my heel, to see Zeke standing just inside
the back door, my heart was racing, but I wasn’t sure whether it was from being
startled or from seeing him standing there with his emerald eye’s trapping me
again. He looked tired, and he hadn’t shaved but this somehow only made
him more appealing.
“If by acting like an arse, you mean that he ran when
he saw me because he couldn’t look me in the eye – no he didn’t. He was
surprisingly understanding actually.”
“Of course he was,” Zeke muttered said as he walked
into the kitchen. “Wow, something smells good, what did you cook for tea?” he
asked, changing the subject.
“The lamb you bought,” I answered.
“Damn, I hoped I would have been here for that,” he
sounded disappointed.
“Me too,” I replied, and then immediately felt guilty.
I could see that he was upset with himself. “There’s some
leftover’s if you’d like some,” I added.
“Maybe later, I owe you an apology first,” he said as
he walked around the table and stood in front of me. “I’m sorry Hayl’s, I
can’t believe I acted like that, I was a jerk.”
“It’s actually pretty understandable, it was a lot to
take in, believe me, I know,” I said.