The Eve Genome (4 page)

              “Oh?”
Yes
. She officially did have all of the markers.

              “Oh is right. My sister died three days ago because of it.” Immediately, Adriana’s eyes filled with moisture. The tears turned her eyes an almost preternatural shade of turquoise, the colour of a tropical ocean.

              My gut tightened. “Oh, man. I’m sorry.”

Adriana shook her head. “Three days ago, my twin sister, Analiese, was hit by a drunk driver. She died from a blood transfusion.” Two fat teardrops spilled from Adriana’s eyes and made squiggly wet streaks down her cheeks. “And that was the day her jackass boyfriend decided he wanted a piece of the other twin, too.”

              I swept the tears from her cheekbones with my thumb, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Nobody should have to lose their loved one that way, Adriana. And jackass doesn’t even come close to describing the boyfriend.” I wondered if the boyfriend was that guy she blew off in class, Derek.

              She looked down, her eyes re-filling with moisture. “I feel so stupid to be telling you this at school. Now I’ll be bawling my head off all day.”

              “I know this probably won’t help, but…” I watched a huge tear pool at the bottom of her eye, and when it tipped out, I swept it from her cheek.
Idiot. Way too intimate
. “I’ve heard time heals.”

              Adriana’s tears came in hot currents now. She lowered her head.

              All of a sudden, my thumb grew warm and turned into an odd burning sensation. It reminded me of a wound doused in rubbing alcohol. I looked at it. The skin was growing redder by the second.

“I lead the Human Genome Project, which has now revealed all of the 3 billion letters of our own DNA instruction book. I am also a Christian. For me, scientific discovery is also an occasion of worship.”

- Francis Collins Director, National Human Genome Research Institute

CHAPTER FOUR

ADRIANA SINCLAIR

              Kalan returned from the bathroom just as my cell phone rang in my pocket. “Just a sec,” I said, pulling the phone from my jeans. I checked the caller ID. Mom. Undoubtedly checking to see if I’d made it through a class without falling apart. I had. I guess I’d passed a hurdle. Maybe I shouldn’t have. “Hi, Mom. Have you found anything?”

              Kalan watched me with inscrutable eyes as my mother’s voice exploded in my ear. “Nothing yet. I’m going to visit grandma today. Have you told NHGRI you’re not interested? Because if you don’t, they’ll just keep hounding you.”

              I took a deep breath and smiled at Kalan. “I’m going to go, Mom.”

              Silence on the other end stretched out, and I wondered if she’d hung up or dropped the phone. I jumped when she finally spoke again. “No,” her voice was a breathy whisper. I knew from years of interactions with my mother that she was fighting back tears, and if they came out, I probably wouldn’t be able to stand up to them. Her tears could crumble my resolve like rain washing away sand. I had to get off the phone. Fast.

              “Mom, they’re asking for my voluntary cooperation. There’s nothing conspiratorial going on there. I’m a scientific anomaly, that’s all.” I heard gasping through the phone. “Look, I’m talking to someone right now, I’ll call you later and we can discuss it then, okay?”

              She responded with a choked garble. The floodgates were nearly open. Less than thirty seconds left. “Tonight. At six.”

              “Okay. See you then.” I hung up, turned my cell off and shoved it into my backpack. Then I looked up at Kalan. “My mom. She’s still raw from Analiese’s death.”

              “Of course. I’m sure you both are,” he said.

I gulped in a breath. “She doesn’t want me to go to the National Human Genome Research Institute for genetic testing. She thinks they’re going to do terrible things to me. I think it’s really because she’s afraid to let me out of her sights, because she’s afraid she’ll lose me too…”

Kalan’s gaze clouded over, momentarily. “Maybe. Or maybe there’s a reason for her to be afraid?”

What was he talking about? He couldn’t possibly think my mother’s irrational paranoia had any legitimacy? “I’m sorry?”

“I don’t know. Maybe your mother’s on to something.”

I stared at him.
He looks normal. Sort of
. “Can you elaborate?”

Kalan shrugged. “I don’t know. Mothers have eyes in the backs of their heads. They always seem to know.”

I smiled. “Usually her superhero mom-senses are right on target. But lately, the way she’s been acting… I don’t know.” I thought of her odd behaviour in Maryland, with the research team and then on our way home. “This is out of character. She’s not in her right mind.”

“Well, you know her best.”

“Hey, um, I need to make a phone call,” I said. “It’s kind of private.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll get us a quick coffee.” Kalan set off for the Starbucks at the end of the hall and I dialled Dr. McGill‘s personal cell number.

After three rings, he answered. “Hello? Adriana?”

How did he know it was me phoning? “Hi, Dr. McGill, I’m calling to let you know I’ve made a decision to come to the institute for the testing you requested—”

He cut me off. “Look, Adriana. Something has… happened. I don’t know how to tell you this, but something terrible has happened to Analiese.” My heart felt like it fell to the floor. But she was already dead. What worse could possibly happen? “Her body is missing.”

I stared straight ahead, watching Kalan’s tall form as he stood in front of Starbucks paying for our coffees, my voice refusing to speak the astonished words that bubbled around in my head. Like Ping-Pong inside my skull, question after question. Dr. McGill‘s frantic words only causing interference, like a little bee that wouldn’t stop buzzing.
I’m so sorry. We have no idea how this could have happened. We have a state of the art security system. There’s no logical answer for this.

Finally, I forced the words out. “How? How could her body be gone?”

“We have no idea. The police have been notified. I’m certain they’ll be arriving shortly to investigate.” He paused, as if gathering his thoughts. “Adriana, I’m afraid there’s no point in you coming right now. With the police here and Analiese’s body missing, we won’t be able to work on your case for quite some time. But I do hope when this has all been resolved you will consider coming at a later date?”

“I… Look. I’ve got to go.”

“Wait.” Dr. McGill said. “I still need to notify your mother…”

“I’ll tell her,” I said.

“Oh. Okay.” He was clearly relieved.

I hung up.

Kalan returned to me with a hot cup, but after taking one look at me he set my coffee down on a window ledge. “What’s wrong?”

It was all so bizarre. “Analiese’s body is missing from NHGRI.”

Kalan’s mouth gaped as his coffee-holding hand lowered from his mouth, as if his paper cup was suddenly too heavy. “Her body is just gone?”

“Gone.” My lips were cold. My tongue was numb. My fingertips tingled.

“I knew it.” Kalan set his cup on the windowsill beside mine.

What did he mean,
I knew it
?

“What?”

“I know why you and your sister are different,” Kalan said. “And you know it too. You had lain awake, thinking about it, even before Analiese died. Day after day, you stare at your computer screen, knowing you should search something, don’t you?”

“Kalan, you’re freaking me out, here.”

He continued, undeterred. “You’re looking for the truth. You have a question, don’t you? I know because it’s the same question I ask myself. The same question I’ve been asking myself… my whole life.”

My throat was tight. Dry. I swallowed against it. “What’s the question?”

He levelled his gaze on mine, compelling me to answer my own question. I shook my head,
no
.

As each word slipped from his mouth, my skin grew colder. “You ask yourself, why am I different?”

Now I was trembling, though I had absolutely no idea why. Why would I be upset that an albino was saying this to me? Of course he wondered why he was different.
Pull it together! He’s bound to wonder if he was cursed at birth.
Deep down, I knew it wasn’t just that. What Kalan was referring to was clearly something far deeper than the mere chromosomal abnormality.

“And what are you suggesting? That you have the answer?” I asked.

“The answer is out there.” Kalan bit the inside of his cheek. “And I have a feeling if we don’t find it, the answer will find us.”

“You’re looking for answers? To what?”

“Would you like to go for a drive?” Kalan asked. “There’s a lot to explain. Maybe we could get out of here, skip class and talk about it?”

What did I have to lose by skipping class and going with him? I’d already lost everything important in my life, and besides, this guy didn’t look like he could harm a fly. “Sure.”

Kalan and I left the university campus without my returning to Dr. Johansson’s office for my assignment and reading list. It seemed pointless. I could barely pay attention to an hour-long lecture, let alone do homework and assignments. This year was a total write-off, and the sooner I admitted it to myself, the better. Discussing the decision with my mother was another story altogether.
I’ll deal with that later.

I had no reason to trust Kalan, other than the feeling that we had a connection due to our odd genetic makeup. But I also had a deep-seated gut sense that he was
good
, a feeling I knew to the root of my bones was absolutely true.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Kalan drove his white Acura Integra with rapid reflexes and tight precision. “My brother, Marcus, my twin.”

The word twin caused a zap of sensation in my ribcage. Like my heart was hit by lightning. “You have a twin, too?” This was either very coincidental or very creepy. I wasn’t sure which.

“Yes, but we didn’t grow up together,” Kalan said. “In fact, we didn’t meet until we were both fifteen.”

Why would twins be separated? I couldn’t imagine a worse fate, having been separated from Analiese all those years. It would have been like having a phantom limb. I suddenly felt gratitude for the years I’d had with my sister. I blinked back tears.

Kalan explained before I had to ask the obvious. “Marcus and I were given up at birth. Our biological mother relinquished all of her parental rights.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Kalan shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Silence followed this disclosure. Finally, I spoke. “Have you been with the same family all of these years?”

Kalan nodded. “Yeah, they’re the only parents I’ve ever known and they’ve been very good to me. But Marcus and I are looking for our birth mother. She was apparently here in Stonewood the last time she was seen.”

“The last time she was seen?” I asked.

“She was sketchy.” Kalan’s fist tightened around the steering wheel. His knuckles could be seen though his pale skin like it was transparent shrink wrap. “She’s had a few pseudonyms over the years, first it was Janet Kaar, then Jennifer Robinson. When she lived in Stonewood, she was known as Jenna or Jeannie Wright. Have you ever heard of her?”

“No, sorry,” I said. “Do you have any leads?”

Kalan shook his head and looked directly at me. “None. All I know are those names and the fact that her hair was black, she has blue-green eyes and… she has an extra rib.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. “An extra rib?”

Kalan nodded, his gaze fixed on my face. He glanced back at the road.

“I have an extra rib. And so did my sister.”

A wave of emotion passed through Kalan’s expression, an emotion I couldn’t identify. “I knew it.”

Were we related? How likely was it that his mother had the same anomaly that Analiese and I had? “You knew what?” I asked.

Kalan smiled. “Marcus and I were right. You have all of the genetic markers. The blood, the eyes, the rib. More pieces of the puzzle.”

“Do I have something to do with your mother?” I asked. “Are we related or something?”

Kalan shrugged. “Not exactly. We have the same blood type. But as far as I know, we aren’t directly related. You, Marcus and I do have a common ancestor.”

“What do you mean a common ancestor? A grandfather?”

“I mean a common ancestor, from two hundred thousand years ago,” Kalan said.

This was the same information the geneticists at NHGRI told me. “How do you know our ancestor is from two hundred thousand years ago?” I asked.

“I’ve been through the same blood analysis that you have,” Kalan said. “I’ve been to the Human Genome Research Institute. Marcus and I both have.”

Two sets of twins with an unknown blood type. What were the odds? “I have so many questions right now I don’t know where to start. How did you end up at NHGRI?”

“Marcus’s parents found out. I lived in foster care all these years, but Marcus was adopted. His adoptive parents were very controlling and… odd, but I’ll tell you about them later. They wanted to stockpile his blood because they worried he might need it later, if he got sick or injured. Anyway, when they began the process, they learned his blood didn’t quite fit into slot A or B.”

“When did you find out?” I asked.

“Luckily nothing ever happened that required my needing to give or receive blood. I didn’t find out until after I’d met Marcus,” Kalan said. Kalan rounded a corner onto a ramp that led to a huge overpass. I could suddenly see traffic from all directions, cars and cars for miles, all determinedly going somewhere. Where in the hell were we going?

“How did you meet Marcus?”

Kalan sucked in a breath. “His parents were very uptight, as I mentioned before. They treated Marcus like he was some kind of porcelain doll, one that they wanted to be handsome and perfect, but not have any needs. Most people would assume I was the one who would have had a difficult childhood, since I never left the foster system, but I was the fortunate one. Marcus’s parents were really quite abusive. If he’d been born in the Victorian era, it may have been common to have the
children will be seen and not heard mentality
, but not now. Marcus ended up angry, resentful and self-absorbed.” Kalan turned to me. “I’m getting to your answer, just bear with me a moment.” I nodded. “Because his parents, Martha and George, were so controlling, they were adamant to know every aspect to Marcus’s upbringing. Our mother apparently tried to keep the information about our being twins as hush-hush as she could, but hospitals have records and so do state departments. They found out about me and where I lived, and when Marcus was old enough, they arranged for him to meet me.”

“God. That must have been amazing, to find out you weren’t alone, that you had a biological twin?”

Kalan chuckled, a hapless sound. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? But no. Unfortunately, Marcus and I were unable to… connect. You’ll see when you meet him. He and I are very different. He has what I would consider a prickly personality. Through no fault of his own, I guess.”

“So, he’s a jerk?” I asked.

“That is a very accurate descriptor.” Kalan chuckled again, this time a much happier sound.

“You and Marcus came to Stonewood after you heard Annaliese died, in the hopes of finding me, didn’t you?”

Kalan’s smile fell. “Yes.”

I wasn’t sure what to think. Or feel. My skin tingled. “Where are you and Marcus from?”

“I’m from Livingston, Montana. Marcus is from Minneapolis.” Kalan paused but continued before I had the chance to ask the very question he answered. “We read in the headlines that you were enrolled in college here, so we came. I found your name on the class list outside the Dean’s office.”

So much for anonymity and the protection of my confidential demographic information. “Oh.”

“Look, I realize this is a lot to take in, and I’m sure your mind is absolutely overloaded after everything that’s happened… Analiese dying, learning about the blood type, then her body going missing. But I promise you, Marcus and I want the same thing you want. The truth.”