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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 10
"Liberty is slow fruit. It is never cheap; it is made difficult because freedom is the accomplishment and perfectness of man."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Enduring
July 17, 2000
34 weeks to go.
Jarod couldn't help wondering, as the days slipped slowly past, if anyone was missing him, anyone at all. He was keeping busy and there was no doubt that it was helping the days to slip by. The first few weeks had seemed to drag, until the movements of the clock were barely perceptible. Now, with each hour having a designated activity, Jarod had less time to dwell on his situation. That all changed at night.
The nights, often times when Jarod had been awake and searching for answers to certain situations, now stretched ahead as empty voids, to be filled with the memories of people and places he had once enjoyed. The memories played in his mind like a tune, one following another and always in the same sequence. He consciously excluded from this pattern several people - his mother and father, Emily, Sydney and Miss Parker.
He was still unable to rid himself of the dread that they might learn what he had been doing and reject him, despite his innocence, forever. The thought of being without any of them was more than he felt he could bear. As the faces trailed through his mind, one suddenly sprang to the fore, one he had not thought of before.
Kyle.
Suddenly his brother's words came back with astonishing clarity. Don't tell them what I became. Now, for the first time, Jarod understood the hidden meaning in that sentence. His brother's fear then had been the same as Jarod's now - the terror of abandonment and the anxiety of being completely and undeniably alone. The sense of understanding, underpinned by that longing for companionship, brought tears to Jarod's eyes; tears which he brushed away with an impatient hand. Suddenly the knowledge of one important fact seemed to shine through into the sudden despair. This imprisonment would, one day, reach an end. Unlike the time trapped within the Centre, the period away from freedom would, eventually, reach a climax and he would be able to walk in the world again.
July 26, 2000
Miss Parker struggled to fight against the tears that flowed as the scene came to life before her eyes. She told herself that it was natural she should cry and that no one would be ashamed of tears as they watched their father mown down. But still she struggled to maintain composure in front of the others who watched with her. It was the first time in months that she and Sydney had sat in a room together and, even now, there were no words spoken.
In the weeks before the massacre in Washington, she had realized he blamed her for Jarod's lack of contact and, considering their final conversation; she had blamed herself as well. It had been difficult for her to realize how much Sydney was hurting from the disappearance, being too caught up in herself to see it, but every so often an expression came out that revealed his pain, showing it to be even deeper than hers. She had to admit that it was fair enough - the two had always been close and, even as a child, she had seen it. There could have been no other reason for Jarod to stay in contact with the Centre, jeopardizing his own freedom, unless there was a powerful emotional connection.
July 26, 2000
Raines watched the concealed emotion with a smirk. The death of the chairman seemed to be causing some reaction, which made a change from the state in which the woman had been for the past few weeks. He had had hopes that the circumstance, over which he had expressed his regret, would prompt the woman to some response and it appeared that his belief was now justified. He sat back in the chair and felt it creak slightly beneath him. It couldn't be denied that this chair was certainly more comfortable than his old one. In fact the whole office was preferable and he wondered, as he watched the scene progress on the screen in front of him, why he had let his fellow Centre operative have it for so long.
He looked over to the figure in the corner, who had also been watching the scene on another monitor, and, after carefully taking a deep breath, spoke.
"This has been very successful."
The other figure, seated half in shadow, laughed softly. His blue eyes glowed and his white teeth reflected the sparse light. Linking his hands, he stretched his fingers and groaned slightly as he felt muscles stretch across his shoulders before resettling the glove on his left hand.
"Indeed it has. Within a week or two, we should have no trouble convincing her to abandon the search for Jarod in exchange for more - beneficial activities."
He noted the wrinkle of concern that appeared on Raines' face the mention of the Pretender. "Don't worry. I'll find him. Without Miss Parker's concerns and Sydney's hesitations, this will move a lot faster."
"You'll need to find him, otherwise you're future here might be limited."
The figure stood up and, despite the fact that his face remained in the shadow, his eyes gleamed strongly. "Are you threatening me, Raines?
Because I have plenty of support, and yours appears to be mysteriously dying off. This is an arrangement of convenience, you know it as well as I do. But, once this is over, only one of us will have a future here."
