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Chapter or Story
Backdraft
Parker seeing what she was going to do screamed. "Get down!" Parker pushed Becky and Mark to the floor. The guards dove for the floor. Lily aimed the gun and fired at the glass. Pieces flew everywhere. Jarod and Dr. Stedman dove for cover behind nearby boulders. Hitting the remaining shards with the gun, Lily walked through the doorframe.
Life is a lemon and I want my money back.
And we're always slipping through the cracks.
And the movie is over, fade to black.
Life is a lemon and I want my money back.
Back, back, back, back........
Lily stepped past the group on the floor and proceeded to the elevator, the gun lowered at her side. Jarod and Dr. Stedman came running out the doorframe, careful not to hit the glass that hung still from the frame. The guards, who had gotten to their feet, rushed at Lily. She grabbed one by the shoulders, kicking the second in the stomach, knocking him into the third guard. She spun and pushed the first guard to the ground. Jarod assisted Parker from the floor mentally checking that she was OK. Mark was helping Becky up.
Jarod slowly walked down the hallway towards Lily who had now reached the elevator and was trying to undo the cover of the elevator buttons. The guards, who had again gotten to their feet, quickly caught up behind Jarod, two with their weapons drawn. When he was about 10 feet from her, Lily shot a look sideways. She raised the gun so that it was pointed at Jarod's head.
"It seems that we have been in this situation before. You don't want to hurt me. Lily put the gun down." Jarod spoke in a low soothing tone.
The guards immediately raised their guns pointing them at Lily. Becky tried to run down the hall, but Dr. Stedman stopped her. "Becky, don't." Distress was written on her face as she fought the doctor to get past her. "We don't know what she will do under these circumstances."
Lily faced off with the guards. "You don't control me. I can do what I want. Be what I want. You are all puppets and pawns. You think you scare me with those guns?" There was coldness in her eyes. "I decide who lives or dies."
Jarod felt as if an arrow had been shot in his heart as he heard the words first uttered by Kyle. Knowing what Raines had done to him to get him to believe those words. "You know you don't want to hurt anyone. You are a good person with a good soul. What you're feeling now is just the garbage that Raines fed you."
"Don't mention that name to me!" Lily grabbed her head in pain. Jarod moved forward to grab the gun, but Lily straightened and again stood with conviction. "Stay away from me. You all lie. Leave me alone!" She screamed, the gun shaking in her hand. "I won't believe anything you say. Lies. Pain. That's all you know!"
"I have never lied to you. You are my sister and I want to help you. I know what you are going through." Jarod tried reasoning with her.
"You know nothing of what I went through. What Raines does.." She grabbed the side of her head again.
Mark and Joan started to move up behind Jarod. The doctor put her hand on Jarod's shoulder and motioned to let Mark pass him. Jarod responded by shaking his head no and started to say something when he heard Mark speaking.
"Lily. Honey. It's me. It's Mark." He was approaching her slowly.
Lily stood with the gun now pointing at Mark. "Stay away." Lily held the side of her head in pain. A glimpse of recognition sparked in her eyes. The gun started to shake in her hand. "Mark? Mark? Help me." Her eyes turned to pleading. "What's happening to me?" She said through clenched teeth.
Before she could regain composure, Mark grabbed the gun and slid it behind him. Jarod grabbed the gun off the floor. Dr. Stedman stiffened seeing the gun in Jarod's hand. He acknowledged her concern and handed it to the doctor.
Mark went to hug Lily when she collapsed sobbing to the floor. "What is wrong with me?" She kept repeating over and over. Mark cradled her in his arms on the floor. She doubled over in pain holding the side of her head. Dr. Stedman rushed over and pulled the syringe out of her pocket. She injected the medication into Lily's arm. "NO!" Lily tried to fight regaining a little fire, but collapsed into unconsciousness.
Stedman took out and flipped open her phone. "This is Dr. Stedman. I need a gurney on level 6 and get Operating Room 2 ready. Mark take her vitals. We have to make sure she's stable enough for this."
"What are you going to do to her!" Jarod shouted trying to get to his sister past Stedman.
"Jarod. She has a chip implanted that is connected to her brain from Raines. It stimulates the brain to throw the person into fits of anger and rage. We're going to have to go in there and see what kind of damage it has done." She looked into his hurt and scared eyes. "The events of the past week have triggered something, a failsafe. We have to correct it or remove it. It's her only chance now."
Jarod fell to his knees in front of her, tears rolling down his cheeks. Parker, who had now come down the hall, put her hands on his shoulders. Becky came down and knelt next to Jarod. The elevator doors opened and the team with the gurney appeared. Mark picked Lily up and placed her on the gurney. Jarod could see not only concern, but love in his eyes. The team strapped her in. Stedman made her way through the group on the floor and joined Mark on the elevator. Jarod stood up and tried to get on.
"No Jarod. Let us take care of her." Stedman said in an authorative voice.
"I'm coming." Jarod responded determined to get in that elevator.
Dr. Stedman nodded to the guards behind Jarod, who pulled him back by his arms. The elevator door closed.
Jarod turned to Becky. "Please. I have to be with my..."Jarod hesitated knowing that the word would hurt Becky, "sister. Please take me to her." A lone tear ran down his cheek.
The Centre car approached the airport rental agency. It parked in the Guest parking and Lyle, Sydney, Broots, and Angelo got out of the vehicle. Willie also got out the driver's side of the car. Lyle went through the automatic doors of the car rental building followed by everyone else. Sydney, Broots, and Angelo stayed farther back from the counter as Mr. Lyle spoke to one of the Centre's operatives there.
"Sydney, what do you think happened to Miss Parker?" Broots was concerned for the secret love of his life.
"I don't know Broots. We haven't heard from her or Jarod in a week and I would assume that something is physically keeping them from making contact."
"From the buzz at the Centre not something, someone. And a big group of someones. Do you think that the Triumvirate could have something to do with this?"
"I think Mr. Lyle and Mr. Raines would know if the Triumvirate had taken them. The whole matter concerns me. We may have another set of players in the game."
"Jarod and Miss Parker are living with the Angels." Angelo said half looking at them and half-looking at a small child playing with a doll.
"Angelo, is Jarod dead?" Sydney asked not wanting to hear the answer if it was the truth.
"No, with Miss Parker. With the Guardian Angel's." Angelo was smiling at the little girl.
Lyle came away from the desk. "The van is in the back. Get Willie and we'll start going over it with a fine toothcomb. Let's see if the bloodhound can pick up anything on my dear Sis and Wonder Boy." He walked past Angelo. "You're only here because Raines wants you here." Lyle headed out the door.
Sydney and Broots headed for the door with Angelo. "Why does he have such hate for Angelo?" Broots asked.
"I believe that Mr. Lyle doesn't like anyone, but why the hatred for Angelo only he knows." Sydney opened the door and let the two men pass him before going through it himself.
They reached the van in time to see Willie opening the front doors and checking under the front seats. Lyle opened the back doors of the van. Angelo climbed into the rear of the van. Various images appeared to him.
"Angelo, are you getting any impressions?" Sydney asked while Lyle impatiently waited.
"Jarod and Miss Parker. Sleeping amongst the men. Men with guns." Angelo replied spotting something shiny on the floor.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Lyle said tired of wasting his time trying to please Raines.
"I believe he must be referring to the fact that Miss Parker and Jarod were not conscious when they were transported in the van. Whoever took them was armed and took them by force." Sydney surmised.
Angelo approached the shiny object on the floor. He scooped up a necklace that was a round silver medallion with the picture of an angel on it. When he turned it over he saw the words - Angel's Hope, Lily. A flash came to him, a woman with long curly hair lying next to Jarod. Another woman with blond curly hair looking down at her. He smiled when he got a warm feeling from her.
Lyle spotting Angelo looking at the floor of the van called in. "Angelo. Did you find something?" Lyle went around the van to open the side door. Angelo quickly put the necklace over his head and hid it under his shirt.
Lyle opened the door. "Get out." He ordered. "Let me see your hands." Angelo presented his empty hands. "What were you looking at in there?" Lyle climbed in and looked where Angelo had been. Seeing nothing, he got back out. "Did you put something in your pockets?" Lyle motioned for Willie to search Angelo's pockets. Angelo struggled a little, but all that Willie came out with were seven surprise toys from Cracker Jack boxes.
"Leave him alone Lyle. He told you what you wanted to know. Parker and Jarod did not leave of their own accord."
Lyle checked with Willie to find that nothing else but a partial ripped Northwestern flight tag had been found in the van. Lyle flipped open his phone. "Yes. We've searched the van. No. Nothing of any value. Paid for in cash. I'll track the name and address given, but I'm sure it's faked. Yes. He sensed that Parker and Jarod did not leave unassisted. Yes Sir. Yes." The connection was broken abruptly. Lyle growled and motioned with his head to Willie to head back to the car.
Sydney, Broots, and Angelo followed. "I don't think that Lyle is enjoying the parental guidance of his newfound father." Sydney smiled at the prospect that for once it may not have to be them that distracted Raines.
"Would you be happy with him being your father? Though I don't think the apple has fallen far from the tree." Broots added clearly showing his distaste for Raines and Lyle.
Angelo smiled as he headed for the car with his new toy neatly tucked in his shirt. ******** Jarod, Parker, and Becky watched from the operating room observatory. The doctors had located the chip and were working on the bleeding that had occurred from its malfunction. Stedman and Mark stood off to the side observing the procedure. She looked up to see Jarod watching the operation. She acknowledged to Mark that she was leaving, left the room and disrobed out of her surgical gear.
Jarod watched the operation proceed. "I can't lose her Parker. I just found her. I couldn't take finding another sibling to have them die before I get to know them." He leaned his head against the glass, fighting back the tears.
"It'll be all right Jarod. She's a strong woman and a fighter. She reminds me of me. And remember you can't ever kill a Parker. So she can't die." She could admit it now and was sorry that the circumstances may dictate that she would never get the chance to know Lily better. Under different circumstances, they could have been friends. But the Centre doesn't allow that. It complicates matters, makes you emotional. No one at the Centre is allowed to have feelings or emotions. For years she had denied her feelings for anything, her mother, her mother's death, the way her father treated her. She had thrown herself into first her schooling and then her work. Be the best, be the tiger lady, and get what you want. Then maybe her father would pay attention to her. That had started to crumble partially when she fell in love with Tommy. But he got ripped from her too. Now there was Jarod. He had expressed his feelings in Carthis, but she was unable to contemplate the complexity of a relationship with him at that point. Her father was there; the Centre was there. She had chosen survival over emotion. Now she was standing there with the man she had been taught to hate, but truly admired. Truly craved. And he was in such pain. She had seen that pain when Kyle died in his arms and he had carried his body to the helicopter. She knew that he had gotten past all the other trauma in his life and survived, but how long could one person take tragedy after tragedy before going insane. She wanted to put her arms around him, comfort him, help him. But something inside told her that she was a Parker and that it was a fruitless gesture. As long as Raines was still alive. Maybe in the insanity that Lily was going through there was one truth - Raines had to die. None of them would be safe until that oxygen tank-breathing troll was vanquished. But for now she would be there for Jarod.
"If we believe she is going to be all right, then she will be all right." Becky said trying to reassure herself more than Jarod.
Dr. Stedman entered the room. She immediately noticed Becky, Parker, and Jarod's concern. "The operation is going well. You don't have to worry about her. She's too stubborn to let a little chip get her down."
Jarod kept looking through the glass. "How much damage was there?"
"I could lie to you and say that there was no damage, but I know better. You would know I would be lying. There was some hemorrhaging around the site. The doctors couldn't remove nor rewire the chip this time without causing further damage, so when she wakes up there will be no more veils over her memories. She will remember everything that happened to her at the Centre and she will have to deal with them." Joan looked away from the group.
"Or. I know there is an or Joan." Becky stated knowing the answer already.
"Or she will go insane." Parker finished for Dr. Stedman. "Another casualty of the Centre."
Dr. Stedman turned in shock to hear Parker utter those words. "Yes Miss Parker. The Centre has a lot of casualties. Let's hope that Lily is not one of them."
Jarod watched as the nurses got their patient ready for transport to the Post Op. He turned and looked at Dr. Stedman. "They're finished. I want to be there when she wakes up. If anyone knows what she'll be going through, it would be me."
"I will arrange for you to be brought to her room Jarod. Miss Parker, I believe that you may want this." Dr. Stedman handed her a key. "It's the key to your mother's office. It's now yours. I hope you find the answers that you have been searching for." Dr. Stedman left the room. Parker just looked at what may be the key to her past.
Hours later Jarod sat by Lily's bed holding her hand. Hoping that when she woke up the war going on inside her would not destroy her.
Parker put the key in the door to her mother's office. She opened the door and walked in. The guard following her stayed outside the door. She closed the door and walked slowly past the pictures and the open safe. She went to the desk and sat down in the chair. She pulled closer to the desk and started looking through the folders on the desk. She found a dark blue expand folder and pulled the elastic cord off that kept it closed. She poured the contents of the folder onto the desk. A journal fell out and very old papers. She opened the journal and flipped through the pages till she read something that caught her eye.
I have found the papers that my husband kept hidden from me. They are notes from his grandfather depicting the horrible night that he killed his family on the Isle of Carthis. His journey to Blue Cove and his founding of the Centre. Amongst those papers was a detailing of the scrolls that he found on Carthis. The monks made a translation that the Parker's have built their entire existence around. They have been creating children to fulfill their destiny. I fear for my daughter's life and that of poor Jarod. I am going to try one last attempt to get them out of the Centre. One last doctor's appointment and I will be "off to Europe". Little does anyone know, but my little Utopia here is Europe. He will never be able to find us or hurt the children again. Please. God help us.
Parker picked up the papers that had fallen to the desk and started to read the excerpts that had been written:
The Centre shall rise to command great wealth and power............
The chosen will be found. Gemini's possessing unique gifts and abilities...........
A boy named Jarod will be the instrument of either ultimate power or...........
