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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
The Players - Fate, Truth, Trust, and Hope
Truth comes with Consequences.
Fate powers the game.
Can Trust and Hope give them the answers?
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Angels Hope
Rebirth
"She's still conscious. Nurse, get me." Raines was shouting orders to one of the nurses.
She was just about to be wheeled into a cubicle when Lily spotted a young girl laying on one of the gurneys.
Lily bolted up in her bed and screamed, "Miss Parker!"
Mark sat straight up in the chair he had fallen asleep in and Becky rushed up from the end of the bed. She had slipped into Lily's room in the early morning; trying not to wake Mark who she could see needed the sleep.
"Lily honey, it's OK. It was just a nightmare." Mark tried to calm her down.
"I have to go." Lily was trying to get out of bed. "I have to find Miss Parker."
Becky was trying to block her way out of the bed. "Lily, you're going to hurt yourself. Please lay down. You just had surgery."
"I need to see her right now!" Lily was trying to push past Becky, but Mark helped to hold her back.
In grabbing Lily's arm, Becky received a vision. "If I promise to find her, will you please lie back down?" Becky pleaded.
Lily calmed down and Mark helped her back up to her pillow. "Find her now Becky!"
************************
Broots had gotten up early so that he could get ready for work before he had to get Debbie up. He was putting on his multicolored shirt (the one that Miss Parker had told him made him look like a reject from the '70's) and was singing Staying Alive with the radio.
Debbie stood at the doorway of her father's room watching him rolling his arms and moving his rear end to the beat of the music. "No wonder disco died." Debbie said.
Broots, startled, turned and looked at his daughter. "Disco did not die; it just took a hiatus." He smiled at her. "What are you doing up so early honey?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure honey anything you want." Then Broots thought to himself - what if she wants to talk about sex or that time of the month. He started feeling queasy and started to stutter. "I mean uh yes...yes we can talk about anything you want. No matter how embarrassing it may be. I mean you can always talk to me about anything. I want you to be able to talk to me about anything."
"Dad! It's OK. Calm down. You're going to give yourself a coronary." Broots calmed down a little. "I know you never want to talk about work and that you work at that place the Centre. Do you work undercover or something?"
Broots had to laugh. He never considered himself 007, but then he had gotten into some pickles because of the Centre. "Nothing like that Sweetheart. I work in their computer department. Why are you asking if I am an undercover agent?"
"Because I think I'm being followed." Debbie said as Broots sat in shock.
************************
Lily laid on the pillow wanting the whole time to get up and find Parker herself. She was fighting the sleepiness that felt overwhelming. She knew that there had to be medication in the intravenous and she fought to stay awake. The dreams that she was having were terrifying and felt so real. But sleep overtook her and she was back in that awful place again.
The young girl laying on the gurney was unconscious. A tall man in a suit was standing next to her and calling her his Angel. That everything would be all right. The boogey man came up behind him. He was now in scrubs.
"Little Missy Parker will be fine. She has one of the best chances of success for this project." The boogeyman was telling the tall man.
"She better come out of this unharmed William. Nothing better happen to my little angel or your head will be mine." A nurse came behind the arguing men and pulled a curtain closed blocking Lily's view.
A nurse came into the area that Lily had been wheeled into and was lifting her arm to put in an intravenous. Lily pulled all the strength she could and pulled her arm away from the woman. She cupped both her hands into a fist and clocked the woman in the jaw sending her flying. Picking herself up on the gurney, Lily crawled down, fell off the gurney, and landed on the floor. She got onto her feet, teetering, trying to get past all the curtains to escape. The boogeyman and the suited man came from behind the curtain and were yelling. Lily tried to reach the hallway she could see in front of her. An orderly ran up behind her and grabbed her, as she was just about to reach the hallway. He carried her kicking and screaming back to the gurney.
"Why isn't she sedated?" The man in the suit was yelling at the boogeyman.
"She has been. We're having a little trouble with this one and Bobby. They are very strong willed. Everything is under control. The procedure should make them easier to handle." Replied the boogeyman annoyed at being interrupted.
The orderly deposited Lily back onto the gurney. She tried to pull away, but there was no strength left in her. Again the nurse attempted to put in the IV and another administered medication into the line. After Lily settled down, the nurse picked up a razor. She tilted Lily's head sideways, trimming the hair from behind her ear. Everything she looked at was fuzzy and time seemed distorted.
Lily laid there trying to stay awake and fighting the medication. Two orderlies came in and started wheeling her out of the curtained area and through a set of double doors. She tilted her head to the left and saw the little angel girl being wheeled in the opposite direction. There was a bandage on the side of her head behind her ear. Lily was wheeled into an operating room. She could see trays of instruments and people running around in scrubs. A man appeared above her face and was holding a mask that he brought down over her nose and mouth. She tried to push the mask away, but the man kept it steady. The man was telling her to count back from 100. Lily was gasping for breath trying not to breathe in the gas. The boogeyman came into view above her, with a surgical mask covering his face and then everything faded away.
*************************
"Debbie honey, what do you mean you think someone is following you?"
"It was just a feeling at first. Like someone was watching me. But then I saw this car a couple of times. It either sped up when I looked at it or it was parked farther up the street from my school. Miss Parker always told me to be careful and watch everything around me. That there are crazy weirdoes out there and to look for anything out of the ordinary. What should I do?" She looked at him with those sweet eyes that always melted his heart.
"Debbie. I don't want you to go anywhere alone. Stay with your friends wherever you go. Don't go even to the bathroom by yourself. I'll take you and pick you up from school. Maybe you can spot the car while I am driving."
"Dad, what about the play?"
"Oh yeah the play. OK. I'll pick you up after the rehearsals. How does that sound?" Broots did not want to upset his daughter more than she was already upset. "Go on get ready for school. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Debbie left his room and Broots sat on the bed. Broots said out loud. "Thank you Miss Parker for trying to keep her safe, but where are you?" There was only one reason someone would be following Debbie and that would be because of the Centre. With Miss Parker gone, he was going to have to investigate himself why someone was following his daughter.
************************
Becky had run into the dining hall after finding out from Security where Jarod and Miss Parker were. They were eating breakfast with Dr. Stedman when Becky came in. She told them that Lily had woken up and was frantic to see Miss Parker.
"Why would she want to see me?" Parker had asked.
"I had been sitting at the end of her bed. She was having one heck of a nightmare and woke up in a start. Mark and I were trying to restrain her from getting out of bed when I touched her and saw her and another child being carried away. She's remembering things and she needs to see Miss Parker now." Becky went and grabbed Parker's arm.
Miss Parker instinctively pulled her arm out of Becky's grasp. "All right! I'll go with you."
"Not without me." Jarod chimed in and got up from his seat.
"I think we can all go and evaluate the situation." Joan wondered if Lily was remembering what she suspected.
The group went immediately to Lily's room. They walked in to find Mark trying to apply oxygen and Lily gasping for breath. Mark was trying to wake her.
"What's happening?" Joan immediately went to help Mark.
Jarod went to follow, but Parker held him back. "Let them do their jobs Jarod."
"Lily wake up it's Joan." Joan was shaking Lily who opened her eyes, tried to pull herself up, and pushed the mask away.
"Honey it's OK, it's only oxygen." Mark was trying to smile to give her a sense of security.
Lily focused on the two faces and relaxed, bringing herself back down on the pillow. "Where's Miss Parker?"
"Right here Lily. You wanted to see me?" Parker came into view.
Lily touched behind her ear where she was feeling pain and felt a dressing. Mark started to take her pulse and took the dressing off to check the stitches. Lily pushed Mark's hand away and felt behind her ear.
"It wasn't just a dream. Miss Parker please come here and sit on the bed." Lily asked.
Parker came over and sat on the bed. "What is all this about Lily?"
Lily brought herself up to a sitting position. She tipped Miss Parker's head and looked behind her ear. She found what she was looking for right along the hairline. "I was right, it wasn't just a nightmare."
"What the hell are you doing?" Parker jerked herself away from Lily and started feeling behind her ear. She felt what was the reminisce of a scar. "I've never noticed that before."
"Mark, Joan. Look behind Miss Parker's ear."
Jarod joined the doctors and looked behind Miss Parker's ear. There was an old scar about an inch and a half in length. "It's what I suspected." Joan stated as she walked away.
"He implanted them in all of them?" Mark conferred with Joan.
"So will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Lily asked confused. "My head feels like someone has done the Mexican Hat Dance on my brain. I was having a dream that I was somewhere as a child. Children were getting prepped for medical procedures. And there was a boy and I knew him, his name was Bobby. And the boogeyman was there and another man in a suit that called the little girl he was standing by Angel. It was Raines wasn't it? And Mr. Parker." Lily looked at the group and knew by their expressions that she was right. "What did that son of a bitch do to us?"
Parker came to realize what was happening. "Do you mean to tell me that that ghoul placed one of those chips in me?" Parker had fury in her eyes. "And Daddy knew it?" Her fury changed to heartbreak. Jarod moved to her, wanting to console her. But she moved away from him.
"What chips? Would someone please tell me what is going on?" Lily's fury was matching Parker's.
"Honey. When you were at the Centre, they put a chip in that could be regulated to elicit emotional responses." Mark looked into her eyes.
"Like anger." Mark nodded his head yes. "What I don't understand is in the nightmare I was older than four, I was around six years old. But I wasn't at the Centre when I was six." Lily looked at Joan, who lowered her head. And then Lily had her answer. "How long was I at the Centre Joan?"
"Jacob and Catherine brought you and Becky here when you were almost seven years old." Joan replied waiting for the backlash from Lily. But turned in surprise when Becky retaliated.
"Seven years old! First you tell us that we're not sisters, now you're telling us that we were at the Centre for three years!" Having realized what was now coming together, she felt behind her ear. There was no scar behind either ear. "I don't feel anything. Why don't I have a chip?"
"For some reason, neither you nor Jarod were part of that experiment. My conclusion would be that they did not want to take the chance of interrupting your special gift. As for Jarod, we assume that Sydney's monitoring kept them from being able to follow through with any implantation." Joan concluded.
"Why can't we remember any of this? I mean I should know if I had surgery." Parker asked trying to digest all this new information.
"They never wanted you to remember. Or any of us. Little puppets for their own agenda." Lily concluded having lain back down.
"So what do we do now?" Jarod asked.
"Well obviously you removed mine, so remove Miss Parker's." Lily looked at everyone. "You did remove it, didn't you? Didn't you?" Blank stares came back from everyone. "It's still there? Why didn't you take it out?"
"It can't be taken out Lily without causing irrepairable damage. We've tried to modify it so that the mood swings aren't so drastic. And we can't stop the memories from coming back. You'll start to have your full memory over time." Joan tried to explain.
"And what about me? Has this thing been functioning all these years? Did it get turned off? Am I going to pop like a firecracker? Will someone give me some damn answers!" Parker glared at everyone.
"Nope. It's working fine." Jarod smiled at Parker.
"What does that mean Pez Boy?" Parker retorted.
"Pez Boy?" Everyone repeated.
"Miss Parker if it will make you feel better I will let Mark take you to the research team and we can run some tests." Joan tried to placate her. "Besides I think Lily has had enough excitement right now and needs some rest. Everyone." Joan motioned for the door.
"This way Miss Parker. We'll have a look at that chip." Mark escorted Parker who rolled her eyes, which Jarod caught.
"I would like Jarod to stay Joan." Lily asked. "I want to talk to him for a moment."
"Not too long. You need rest. And I mean it." Joan exited the room closing the door behind her.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Jarod asked sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"I am hoping that you will tell me the truth. I don't trust the others not to lie to me. But you have been through the hell that is the Centre." Lily looked into Jarod's eyes.
"I'll tell you anything you want to know. No lies. There have been enough lies."
"Good. Then my first question is - Are you in love with Miss Parker?"
************************
The Players - Fate, Truth, Trust, and Hope
With Truth comes enlightenment.
With Fate comes responsibility.
With Trust comes openness.
With Hope can there be love?
Truth comes with Consequences.
Fate powers the game.
Can Trust and Hope give them the answers?
************************
Rebirth
"She's still conscious. Nurse, get me." Raines was shouting orders to one of the nurses.
She was just about to be wheeled into a cubicle when Lily spotted a young girl laying on one of the gurneys.
Lily bolted up in her bed and screamed, "Miss Parker!"
Mark sat straight up in the chair he had fallen asleep in and Becky rushed up from the end of the bed. She had slipped into Lily's room in the early morning; trying not to wake Mark who she could see needed the sleep.
"Lily honey, it's OK. It was just a nightmare." Mark tried to calm her down.
"I have to go." Lily was trying to get out of bed. "I have to find Miss Parker."
Becky was trying to block her way out of the bed. "Lily, you're going to hurt yourself. Please lay down. You just had surgery."
"I need to see her right now!" Lily was trying to push past Becky, but Mark helped to hold her back.
In grabbing Lily's arm, Becky received a vision. "If I promise to find her, will you please lie back down?" Becky pleaded.
Lily calmed down and Mark helped her back up to her pillow. "Find her now Becky!"
************************
Broots had gotten up early so that he could get ready for work before he had to get Debbie up. He was putting on his multicolored shirt (the one that Miss Parker had told him made him look like a reject from the '70's) and was singing Staying Alive with the radio.
Debbie stood at the doorway of her father's room watching him rolling his arms and moving his rear end to the beat of the music. "No wonder disco died." Debbie said.
Broots, startled, turned and looked at his daughter. "Disco did not die; it just took a hiatus." He smiled at her. "What are you doing up so early honey?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure honey anything you want." Then Broots thought to himself - what if she wants to talk about sex or that time of the month. He started feeling queasy and started to stutter. "I mean uh yes...yes we can talk about anything you want. No matter how embarrassing it may be. I mean you can always talk to me about anything. I want you to be able to talk to me about anything."
"Dad! It's OK. Calm down. You're going to give yourself a coronary." Broots calmed down a little. "I know you never want to talk about work and that you work at that place the Centre. Do you work undercover or something?"
Broots had to laugh. He never considered himself 007, but then he had gotten into some pickles because of the Centre. "Nothing like that Sweetheart. I work in their computer department. Why are you asking if I am an undercover agent?"
"Because I think I'm being followed." Debbie said as Broots sat in shock.
************************
Lily laid on the pillow wanting the whole time to get up and find Parker herself. She was fighting the sleepiness that felt overwhelming. She knew that there had to be medication in the intravenous and she fought to stay awake. The dreams that she was having were terrifying and felt so real. But sleep overtook her and she was back in that awful place again.
The young girl laying on the gurney was unconscious. A tall man in a suit was standing next to her and calling her his Angel. That everything would be all right. The boogey man came up behind him. He was now in scrubs.
"Little Missy Parker will be fine. She has one of the best chances of success for this project." The boogeyman was telling the tall man.
"She better come out of this unharmed William. Nothing better happen to my little angel or your head will be mine." A nurse came behind the arguing men and pulled a curtain closed blocking Lily's view.
A nurse came into the area that Lily had been wheeled into and was lifting her arm to put in an intravenous. Lily pulled all the strength she could and pulled her arm away from the woman. She cupped both her hands into a fist and clocked the woman in the jaw sending her flying. Picking herself up on the gurney, Lily crawled down, fell off the gurney, and landed on the floor. She got onto her feet, teetering, trying to get past all the curtains to escape. The boogeyman and the suited man came from behind the curtain and were yelling. Lily tried to reach the hallway she could see in front of her. An orderly ran up behind her and grabbed her, as she was just about to reach the hallway. He carried her kicking and screaming back to the gurney.
"Why isn't she sedated?" The man in the suit was yelling at the boogeyman.
"She has been. We're having a little trouble with this one and Bobby. They are very strong willed. Everything is under control. The procedure should make them easier to handle." Replied the boogeyman annoyed at being interrupted.
The orderly deposited Lily back onto the gurney. She tried to pull away, but there was no strength left in her. Again the nurse attempted to put in the IV and another administered medication into the line. After Lily settled down, the nurse picked up a razor. She tilted Lily's head sideways, trimming the hair from behind her ear. Everything she looked at was fuzzy and time seemed distorted.
Lily laid there trying to stay awake and fighting the medication. Two orderlies came in and started wheeling her out of the curtained area and through a set of double doors. She tilted her head to the left and saw the little angel girl being wheeled in the opposite direction. There was a bandage on the side of her head behind her ear. Lily was wheeled into an operating room. She could see trays of instruments and people running around in scrubs. A man appeared above her face and was holding a mask that he brought down over her nose and mouth. She tried to push the mask away, but the man kept it steady. The man was telling her to count back from 100. Lily was gasping for breath trying not to breathe in the gas. The boogeyman came into view above her, with a surgical mask covering his face and then everything faded away.
*************************
"Debbie honey, what do you mean you think someone is following you?"
"It was just a feeling at first. Like someone was watching me. But then I saw this car a couple of times. It either sped up when I looked at it or it was parked farther up the street from my school. Miss Parker always told me to be careful and watch everything around me. That there are crazy weirdoes out there and to look for anything out of the ordinary. What should I do?" She looked at him with those sweet eyes that always melted his heart.
"Debbie. I don't want you to go anywhere alone. Stay with your friends wherever you go. Don't go even to the bathroom by yourself. I'll take you and pick you up from school. Maybe you can spot the car while I am driving."
"Dad, what about the play?"
"Oh yeah the play. OK. I'll pick you up after the rehearsals. How does that sound?" Broots did not want to upset his daughter more than she was already upset. "Go on get ready for school. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Debbie left his room and Broots sat on the bed. Broots said out loud. "Thank you Miss Parker for trying to keep her safe, but where are you?" There was only one reason someone would be following Debbie and that would be because of the Centre. With Miss Parker gone, he was going to have to investigate himself why someone was following his daughter.
************************
Becky had run into the dining hall after finding out from Security where Jarod and Miss Parker were. They were eating breakfast with Dr. Stedman when Becky came in. She told them that Lily had woken up and was frantic to see Miss Parker.
"Why would she want to see me?" Parker had asked.
"I had been sitting at the end of her bed. She was having one heck of a nightmare and woke up in a start. Mark and I were trying to restrain her from getting out of bed when I touched her and saw her and another child being carried away. She's remembering things and she needs to see Miss Parker now." Becky went and grabbed Parker's arm.
Miss Parker instinctively pulled her arm out of Becky's grasp. "All right! I'll go with you."
"Not without me." Jarod chimed in and got up from his seat.
"I think we can all go and evaluate the situation." Joan wondered if Lily was remembering what she suspected.
The group went immediately to Lily's room. They walked in to find Mark trying to apply oxygen and Lily gasping for breath. Mark was trying to wake her.
"What's happening?" Joan immediately went to help Mark.
Jarod went to follow, but Parker held him back. "Let them do their jobs Jarod."
"Lily wake up it's Joan." Joan was shaking Lily who opened her eyes, tried to pull herself up, and pushed the mask away.
"Honey it's OK, it's only oxygen." Mark was trying to smile to give her a sense of security.
Lily focused on the two faces and relaxed, bringing herself back down on the pillow. "Where's Miss Parker?"
"Right here Lily. You wanted to see me?" Parker came into view.
Lily touched behind her ear where she was feeling pain and felt a dressing. Mark started to take her pulse and took the dressing off to check the stitches. Lily pushed Mark's hand away and felt behind her ear.
"It wasn't just a dream. Miss Parker please come here and sit on the bed." Lily asked.
Parker came over and sat on the bed. "What is all this about Lily?"
Lily brought herself up to a sitting position. She tipped Miss Parker's head and looked behind her ear. She found what she was looking for right along the hairline. "I was right, it wasn't just a nightmare."
"What the hell are you doing?" Parker jerked herself away from Lily and started feeling behind her ear. She felt what was the reminisce of a scar. "I've never noticed that before."
"Mark, Joan. Look behind Miss Parker's ear."
Jarod joined the doctors and looked behind Miss Parker's ear. There was an old scar about an inch and a half in length. "It's what I suspected." Joan stated as she walked away.
"He implanted them in all of them?" Mark conferred with Joan.
"So will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Lily asked confused. "My head feels like someone has done the Mexican Hat Dance on my brain. I was having a dream that I was somewhere as a child. Children were getting prepped for medical procedures. And there was a boy and I knew him, his name was Bobby. And the boogeyman was there and another man in a suit that called the little girl he was standing by Angel. It was Raines wasn't it? And Mr. Parker." Lily looked at the group and knew by their expressions that she was right. "What did that son of a bitch do to us?"
Parker came to realize what was happening. "Do you mean to tell me that that ghoul placed one of those chips in me?" Parker had fury in her eyes. "And Daddy knew it?" Her fury changed to heartbreak. Jarod moved to her, wanting to console her. But she moved away from him.
"What chips? Would someone please tell me what is going on?" Lily's fury was matching Parker's.
"Honey. When you were at the Centre, they put a chip in that could be regulated to elicit emotional responses." Mark looked into her eyes.
"Like anger." Mark nodded his head yes. "What I don't understand is in the nightmare I was older than four, I was around six years old. But I wasn't at the Centre when I was six." Lily looked at Joan, who lowered her head. And then Lily had her answer. "How long was I at the Centre Joan?"
"Jacob and Catherine brought you and Becky here when you were almost seven years old." Joan replied waiting for the backlash from Lily. But turned in surprise when Becky retaliated.
"Seven years old! First you tell us that we're not sisters, now you're telling us that we were at the Centre for three years!" Having realized what was now coming together, she felt behind her ear. There was no scar behind either ear. "I don't feel anything. Why don't I have a chip?"
"For some reason, neither you nor Jarod were part of that experiment. My conclusion would be that they did not want to take the chance of interrupting your special gift. As for Jarod, we assume that Sydney's monitoring kept them from being able to follow through with any implantation." Joan concluded.
"Why can't we remember any of this? I mean I should know if I had surgery." Parker asked trying to digest all this new information.
"They never wanted you to remember. Or any of us. Little puppets for their own agenda." Lily concluded having lain back down.
"So what do we do now?" Jarod asked.
"Well obviously you removed mine, so remove Miss Parker's." Lily looked at everyone. "You did remove it, didn't you? Didn't you?" Blank stares came back from everyone. "It's still there? Why didn't you take it out?"
"It can't be taken out Lily without causing irrepairable damage. We've tried to modify it so that the mood swings aren't so drastic. And we can't stop the memories from coming back. You'll start to have your full memory over time." Joan tried to explain.
"And what about me? Has this thing been functioning all these years? Did it get turned off? Am I going to pop like a firecracker? Will someone give me some damn answers!" Parker glared at everyone.
"Nope. It's working fine." Jarod smiled at Parker.
"What does that mean Pez Boy?" Parker retorted.
"Pez Boy?" Everyone repeated.
"Miss Parker if it will make you feel better I will let Mark take you to the research team and we can run some tests." Joan tried to placate her. "Besides I think Lily has had enough excitement right now and needs some rest. Everyone." Joan motioned for the door.
"This way Miss Parker. We'll have a look at that chip." Mark escorted Parker who rolled her eyes, which Jarod caught.
"I would like Jarod to stay Joan." Lily asked. "I want to talk to him for a moment."
"Not too long. You need rest. And I mean it." Joan exited the room closing the door behind her.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Jarod asked sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"I am hoping that you will tell me the truth. I don't trust the others not to lie to me. But you have been through the hell that is the Centre." Lily looked into Jarod's eyes.
"I'll tell you anything you want to know. No lies. There have been enough lies."
"Good. Then my first question is - Are you in love with Miss Parker?"
************************
The Players - Fate, Truth, Trust, and Hope
With Truth comes enlightenment.
With Fate comes responsibility.
With Trust comes openness.
With Hope can there be love?
