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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: All the Pretender characters are the sole property of “The Pretender” creators Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle. All other characters are created by the author of this work with no correlation to anyone living or deceased. This written work is produced solely for recreational purposes, to honor “The Pretender” series and to entertain its fans. I also have no claim to Pink Floyd and the album “The Wall”. I just like to play with the music and put it back.
An old song once said…..
The games people play. You take it or you leave it.
Will the strategies of the players be - to take what they’re given and use it?
Or leave it in the middle of the night.
*************************
Angels Hope
Act 1 Scene 3
Lily sat on the plane looking out the window. Her team was sitting around a table getting the final plans solidified. The plane had taken off and they were on their way to Louisiana.
She had reviewed what Parker had put in the folder. Her soul troubled by the thought that because she had left him behind, Bobby had been made into Lyle.
“Lily. Earth to Lily.” Veronica called from the table. “Are you going to come over or do we pull this mission off ourselves?” She waited a few moments. “Lily!”
Lily, hearing her name finally, looked in Veronica’s direction. “What? I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”
“Or with someone else. Honey. We really need you focused here right now.” Mark looked at her with love in his eyes.
But Lily returned the look with coldness. “I am focused. Now let’s get this mission set. I have one change in mind from the previous layout…..” Lily walked over to the table and finalized the groups’ plans.
They landed in a private airstrip just outside of New Orleans. They had gotten a report that Raines and Lyle weren’t that much farther behind them in arriving. Lily’s re-routing of the Centre’s planes had saved them some valuable time.
They arrived at the warehouse and got out of the black sedans.
“Miss Lily. The room has been updated to your specifications.” One of the members from Team A reported.
“Good. The door has been booby trapped to what I requested?” Lily said as she headed for the warehouse door.
“Yes and the sound system has just been completed. It is being tested as we speak.”
“Good. I want Mr. Raines to have a taste of what it’s like to be locked up and have music blaring for hours.”
“It’s a good thing this warehouse was already set up for the Marsh sting.” Becky said as she followed Lily into the Warehouse.
Mark went to Reynold, head of Team A, to review that all safety features had been taken care of including alternate escape routes. “Make sure that the guards are positioned on the outer flanks. I’m sure the Sweepers will try to find the alternate access points of the building the minute they get here.”
“We have three undisclosed outer exits.” Reynold pointed to the building layout. “There are secret passages here, here, and here. They have exits/entrances into the various rooms and the main exits that can only be accessed from inside.”
Lily looked past Mark’s shoulder to see the plans. “Layout the same as the last time Reynold?”
“Yes Ma'am. We just took all the windows and doors in this area and bricked them up like you requested. No one will be getting out of there unless they trip the secret exit button.”
“Good. Everyone. Let’s get ready. I believe we’ll be having company soon.”
*************************
Jarod had arrived in Baltimore and rented a motel room just outside Washington DC. He would have to stay the night and head into the FBI headquarters in the morning. His guard, Fred, had accompanied him on the plane and had set up his equipment next to the second bed. He was researching the morning hours for agents at the bureau. It seemed that Angel’s Hope had some connections with the FBI, but Joan did not want them involved at this point of the operation.
Jarod and Fred worked on inputting the information he would need to be able to get access into the site the next day. Jarod created a new name badge and Fred inputted the data into their personnel database. Jarod had felt funny breaking into the database with someone he hardly knew. But Fred seemed to know his way around the systems as well as Jarod did. He was sure that he had done it before. One day after all this was over, he would have to sit down with Lily and find out exactly what Angel’s Hope had themselves involved in.
After they had established Jarod’s identity, Jarod fluffed up the pillows and laid down on the bed opposite the television. Joan had not allowed him to bring his own computer, so he had decided to look at the local news.
Two other agents from Angel’s Hope had taken up residence in the adjoining room. They had ordered a late night snack of pizza and curly fries. Jarod had been chewing on a piece of pizza, but his mind was a million miles away. Parker was on his mind. What was she doing right now? He could still smell the fragrance of her cologne from this afternoon.
The men had gone to bed and Jarod just laid in the dark silence. There had been many nights when he either couldn’t sleep or had his sleep interrupted by the never-ending nightmares. And then it struck him. For the first time in six years, there was no one chasing him. Raines, Lyle, probably Cox and company were chasing Lily and Parker was back at Angel’s Hope. For at least one night he could sleep knowing that no one was going to come busting through the door. Yet with this newfound breath of freedom, all he wanted was to have Parker there.
************************
It was almost twelve midnight when Raines and Lyle pulled up to the warehouse. Lily’s outside motion detectors had signaled that the prey had arrived. Her team was notified and was on ready status. Lyle got out of the car first, followed by the man named Cox, and then Raines who had positioned his air tank out side the car door before getting out.
Lily positioned herself just inside the front door. There was minimal lighting. When she knew that they were close enough to see her at the door, she stepped into the light. The Sweepers were the first to approach the door. Lily had slipped into the secret passage that was located just behind the front door. Once the Sweepers were inside, she operated the computer controls to block them off and create a separate path for the rest of their company. Raines approached the door and Lyle followed, pulling his weapon. Cox already had his weapon drawn and was ready to shoot anything that moved. As they entered the doorway, they could hear what they thought were the Sweepers in the room up ahead. They were being given the all clear.
The room was sparsely decorated. A table with chairs sat in the middle of the room, a couch, and a small table in front of the couch. On the table was a plate of what looked like meatloaf and another bowl covered with some sort of sealed lid. The lid had been mechanically sealed down. Through the cover it looked like chocolate pudding. There were two curtains hanging on either side of the door.
“Where did she go?” Raines wheezed.
“This place is huge, she could be hiding anywhere. I don’t like this, something isn’t right.” Lyle was surveying the room around them. “Sam. Where are you? Report.” Lyle called out into the darkness.
Cox was checking the room with his gun drawn. “I’d say we’re being set up. Let’s get out of here.”
The group went to turn to leave, when the door they came in closed and locked shut. Cox and Lyle ran to the door and tried to open it. “Damn.” Yelled Lyle as he punched the door. “I knew something wasn’t right.”
A full-length mirror in the room lit up and Lily’s image appeared within the frame. “Welcome gentleman. I’m so glad that you accepted my invitation. I’m sure that you are wondering where your Pretender is. Well I have to say that I don’t want to give him up. He has been telling me some extraordinary stories about the Centre and especially you Dr. Raines.”
Raines, Cox and Lyle went over to the mirror and looked for a way to open it.
“It is pointless to try and get to me through the mirror. Consider me Alice having gone through the looking glass. You won’t be leaving my tea party until you solve my riddle. And while you are solving the riddle, you’ll be getting a dose of your own medicine.
Suddenly the room was blasted with loud music. We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher, leave those kids alone……….. The music was set at a deafening tone. Raines, Cox, and Lyle grabbed their ears. Lyle went to the curtains that hung in the room and pulled them open. The window had been bricked up. Cox had gone to the other window. Also bricked up.
“We’re trapped.” Screamed Lyle over All in all you’re just another brick in the wall. “How stupid could I have been to follow you?” He leered at Raines as the music continued. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat.
“What riddle is she talking about? Do you see any paper or anything that would represent a puzzle?” Cox asked trying to get a handle on the situation.
Lyle took his weapon and fired at the mirror. The glass shattered and went everywhere. Behind it was nothing but brick. “Damn.” The men started checking the rest of the room and the adjoining room. It was the same in both rooms – windows bricked and the door at the end of the last room was bricked closed.
Hours passed as the men were trapped with the loud music. The three men had stayed in the front room and the music was wearing their nerves down. They had looked for the source of the music or the speakers, but could find neither. Cox was lying on the couch, trying to cover his ears. Lyle had randomly fired his weapon around the room, but couldn’t find any escape routes. Raines was at the table, covering his ears with his jacket.
Lyle was pacing the front room where the three men were, when he spotted Lily standing in the middle of the second room. He ran into the room and before the other men could join him, the door slammed shut. He tried the door to find it locked. Lyle turned around and Lily was gone.
“Who the hell are you?” Lyle screamed over the music. Suddenly the music changed. Lyle recognized that it was still Pink Floyd. He looked around the room and a mirror behind the desk glowed with Lily’s image. She was singing to him. He walked over so that he was face to face with her.
Hey you. Out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old, Can you feel me?
Hey you. Standing there alone, with allies unknown, Can you feel me?
Hey you. Don’t help them to bury the light. Don’t give in without a fight.
Open your heart, I’m coming home.
But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high, as you could see.
No matter how I tried, you could not break free.
And the Boogeyman ate into your brain.
Hey you, Out there on the road, always doing what you’re told, Can you help me?
Hey you, Out there beyond the wall, trying to catch me in the hall, Can you help me?
Hey you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all.
Together we stand, divided we fall.
Lily’s image disappeared. Lyle reached for the mirror, as if he would be able to touch her. But only felt the coldness of the mirror.
Lily stood on the opposite side of the mirror and put her hand on his. “I hope you figure it out.”
Mark came up behind her. “I think it is time to go. I think he will figure it out soon.” Mark had been watching the monitor and knew that Lily had contacted him. Something that wasn’t in their original plan. He also realized what she had tried to do. A hint of who she was. The question was whether Lyle would respond positively to that knowledge or use it against her. The two left with their team for the airport.
Lyle thought for a moment. He hadn’t heard the word Boogeyman in years. Not since, he tried to think, but the memories were so fuzzy. Then the puzzled clicked. The puzzle was the music. He went to the door and this time it opened.
The original music was still playing in this room. Raines and Cox were fighting over whose fault it was that they were in this situation. “Will the two of you shut up!” Lyle screamed. He went over to the plate of meat. “If you want out of here, start eating.” He shoved meat at both of them.
“Has the music driven you insane Lyle.” Raines questioned. “I’m not eating this.”
“Listen to the music you tank breathing fool. You can’t have any pudding till you eat your meat.”
A light went on in Raines mind. “Cox. Eat you idiot.” When everything had been consumed, a laser light shot toward the bowl. The lid opened and exposed the pudding.
Lyle looked at Raines with a triumphant look. He started scooping out the pudding with the meat plate and at the bottom of the bowl was a button. Lyle pushed it and the music stopped. The men then heard a click of a lock.
Cox went to the door and opened it. When he went back into the original hallway they had entered in, he could see where another door had been concealed. Raines and Lyle followed him. He opened that door to find Sam and the other Sweepers sitting in reclining chairs, eating munchies, and watching sports on a wide screen TV.
“Get up and get us out of here!” Screamed Raines, who could barely hear himself since having to listen to the deafening music. The Sweepers got up clumsily, embarrassed to have been caught in the situation. Raines and Cox followed the Sweepers through the door.
Lyle looked back into the warehouse, sure that after the mirrored encounter the woman had fled. She was smart enough to know that once she gave Lyle the hint and that he would figure out the exit. He would have a team come through the place with a fine toothcomb. He had to have this woman.
************************
The sunrise had not yet broken, but Jarod was already awake. Fred had heard him stir and asked if he would like to go to breakfast. The two men went to the little diner that was attached to the motel. The woman had asked Jarod if he wanted his eggs over easy or poached. Jarod had replied that he did not care how the eggs were handled as long as they were scrambled dry. Fred had looked at him as if he had three heads. The two men were joined by the other Retrievers, which is what Dr. Stedman had called them. The Centre’s equivalent to a Sweeper.
After breakfast, the group left for the FBI office. Jarod needed to access their database and create an investigation file. He walked through the security clearance area and proceeded to the Information Technology department. Fred was explaining to the area supervisor that he and Jarod were there to do a maintenance upgrade. Jarod found an office, with the help of an area secretary, and started working on inputting his data. He assigned the agent’s name that Lily had given him. When he had completed his download, he found Fred and the two men headed for the Baltimore airport.
Jarod waited anxiously as Fred spoke to the plane in route from Louisiana. “Yes. We will be landing in approximately an hour. Yes. I’ll tell him. Out.” Fred turned to Jarod. “Miss Lily says to tell you – I told you so.”
“I told you so?” Jarod asked.
“Yes. That she could handle things herself. Their mission was a success.”
“That’s great. Then phase two can happen.” Jarod sat back in his seat. He found that his heart rate was increasing. Soon he would see Parker again.
************************
Lily sat in the seat looking out the window. She knew that she should be rejoicing in her victory. She had officially spoon fed Raines his own medicine. But she had also seen Bobby on the monitor. His gun drawn, shooting around the room, and the way he had shot at her image in the mirror. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe Bobby was gone and the only thing left was Lyle. But there was something different when she had gotten him alone. When he touched the second mirror, for a moment she thought she could see Bobby.
Mark sat in his seat across from Lily. He watched her looking out the window. She was thinking about him again and a pang of jealousy hit. She cared more about a boy she hadn’t seen in 30 years, than him. Lily may not see it, but he did. Lyle was as bad, if not worse, than Raines. In the end he would have to take care of Lyle, because Lily would never be able to.
************************
Lyle sat looking out the window of the Centre jet. That woman’s image was in his mind. He was analyzing what the whole situation meant. The music had to mean something. It had to do with control or possibly her control. At one time maybe she had been associated with the Centre or somewhere else that had confined her. She was retaliating to a situation she had been placed in.
And the second song. It had been meant for him. Just him. He was remembering the lines he had heard.
Hey you. Standing there alone, with allies unknown, Can you feel me?
Had it been a line of acknowledgement? Was she telling him that she could be an ally? Impossible. She had the one thing he needed to take charge of the Centre. To get rid of Raines. But she had said if he could feel her. Like there should be a connection. Like he felt there was a connection. Something from his past? He thought about the next part.
Don’t help them to bury the light. Don’t give in without a fight.
Lyle suddenly had a flash from his childhood.
A young girl running down the hall, frantically looking for an escape route. He was coming up the hall, and he recognizes her. Lyle could hear a man issuing orders and men quickly descending on the girl. He had tried to struggle to get free. To help the girl. He knows that she is his friend. Lyle stomps on the foot of the guard and runs to her. He puts her behind him, protecting her. The guards huddle around them trying to get them apart, the whole time the two children fighting their way to stay free.
She says to him, “Don’t give in without a fight.”
Amongst the screams and tears, a man was screaming more orders. The guards finally separated the two as they are screaming for each other. In the end he had sacrificed himself to protect her. He remembered having an injection shot into him and seeing her face as he dropped into unconsciousness.
Open your heart, I’m coming home.
Lyle bolted straight up in his chair. The memory had been so vivid. He recognized the place where he had been. In SL27. He had been there as a boy. And she had said she was coming home. The Centre at some point had been her home.
“Something wrong Lyle?” Raines wheezed from his seat.
Lyle turned and looked at Raines. And in his mind he heard part of the music, the lyrics dancing in his mind.
And the Boogeyman ate into your brain.
The girl. She had referred to the man that was hurting them as the Boogeyman. Lyle flashed to that encounter again. Mentally he looked at the man giving him the injection and he saw the man’s face. In that moment Lyle realized who the Boogeyman was and the man’s name was Dr. Raines.
************************
Strategy
Thesis #1 - Things that don’t kill you, make you stronger.
Thesis #2 – That which made you stronger, usually has pissed you off enough to seek revenge.
The new player in the game - Revenge.
An old song once said…..
The games people play. You take it or you leave it.
Will the strategies of the players be - to take what they’re given and use it?
Or leave it in the middle of the night.
*************************
Act 1 Scene 3
Lily sat on the plane looking out the window. Her team was sitting around a table getting the final plans solidified. The plane had taken off and they were on their way to Louisiana.
She had reviewed what Parker had put in the folder. Her soul troubled by the thought that because she had left him behind, Bobby had been made into Lyle.
“Lily. Earth to Lily.” Veronica called from the table. “Are you going to come over or do we pull this mission off ourselves?” She waited a few moments. “Lily!”
Lily, hearing her name finally, looked in Veronica’s direction. “What? I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”
“Or with someone else. Honey. We really need you focused here right now.” Mark looked at her with love in his eyes.
But Lily returned the look with coldness. “I am focused. Now let’s get this mission set. I have one change in mind from the previous layout…..” Lily walked over to the table and finalized the groups’ plans.
They landed in a private airstrip just outside of New Orleans. They had gotten a report that Raines and Lyle weren’t that much farther behind them in arriving. Lily’s re-routing of the Centre’s planes had saved them some valuable time.
They arrived at the warehouse and got out of the black sedans.
“Miss Lily. The room has been updated to your specifications.” One of the members from Team A reported.
“Good. The door has been booby trapped to what I requested?” Lily said as she headed for the warehouse door.
“Yes and the sound system has just been completed. It is being tested as we speak.”
“Good. I want Mr. Raines to have a taste of what it’s like to be locked up and have music blaring for hours.”
“It’s a good thing this warehouse was already set up for the Marsh sting.” Becky said as she followed Lily into the Warehouse.
Mark went to Reynold, head of Team A, to review that all safety features had been taken care of including alternate escape routes. “Make sure that the guards are positioned on the outer flanks. I’m sure the Sweepers will try to find the alternate access points of the building the minute they get here.”
“We have three undisclosed outer exits.” Reynold pointed to the building layout. “There are secret passages here, here, and here. They have exits/entrances into the various rooms and the main exits that can only be accessed from inside.”
Lily looked past Mark’s shoulder to see the plans. “Layout the same as the last time Reynold?”
“Yes Ma'am. We just took all the windows and doors in this area and bricked them up like you requested. No one will be getting out of there unless they trip the secret exit button.”
“Good. Everyone. Let’s get ready. I believe we’ll be having company soon.”
*************************
Jarod had arrived in Baltimore and rented a motel room just outside Washington DC. He would have to stay the night and head into the FBI headquarters in the morning. His guard, Fred, had accompanied him on the plane and had set up his equipment next to the second bed. He was researching the morning hours for agents at the bureau. It seemed that Angel’s Hope had some connections with the FBI, but Joan did not want them involved at this point of the operation.
Jarod and Fred worked on inputting the information he would need to be able to get access into the site the next day. Jarod created a new name badge and Fred inputted the data into their personnel database. Jarod had felt funny breaking into the database with someone he hardly knew. But Fred seemed to know his way around the systems as well as Jarod did. He was sure that he had done it before. One day after all this was over, he would have to sit down with Lily and find out exactly what Angel’s Hope had themselves involved in.
After they had established Jarod’s identity, Jarod fluffed up the pillows and laid down on the bed opposite the television. Joan had not allowed him to bring his own computer, so he had decided to look at the local news.
Two other agents from Angel’s Hope had taken up residence in the adjoining room. They had ordered a late night snack of pizza and curly fries. Jarod had been chewing on a piece of pizza, but his mind was a million miles away. Parker was on his mind. What was she doing right now? He could still smell the fragrance of her cologne from this afternoon.
The men had gone to bed and Jarod just laid in the dark silence. There had been many nights when he either couldn’t sleep or had his sleep interrupted by the never-ending nightmares. And then it struck him. For the first time in six years, there was no one chasing him. Raines, Lyle, probably Cox and company were chasing Lily and Parker was back at Angel’s Hope. For at least one night he could sleep knowing that no one was going to come busting through the door. Yet with this newfound breath of freedom, all he wanted was to have Parker there.
************************
It was almost twelve midnight when Raines and Lyle pulled up to the warehouse. Lily’s outside motion detectors had signaled that the prey had arrived. Her team was notified and was on ready status. Lyle got out of the car first, followed by the man named Cox, and then Raines who had positioned his air tank out side the car door before getting out.
Lily positioned herself just inside the front door. There was minimal lighting. When she knew that they were close enough to see her at the door, she stepped into the light. The Sweepers were the first to approach the door. Lily had slipped into the secret passage that was located just behind the front door. Once the Sweepers were inside, she operated the computer controls to block them off and create a separate path for the rest of their company. Raines approached the door and Lyle followed, pulling his weapon. Cox already had his weapon drawn and was ready to shoot anything that moved. As they entered the doorway, they could hear what they thought were the Sweepers in the room up ahead. They were being given the all clear.
The room was sparsely decorated. A table with chairs sat in the middle of the room, a couch, and a small table in front of the couch. On the table was a plate of what looked like meatloaf and another bowl covered with some sort of sealed lid. The lid had been mechanically sealed down. Through the cover it looked like chocolate pudding. There were two curtains hanging on either side of the door.
“Where did she go?” Raines wheezed.
“This place is huge, she could be hiding anywhere. I don’t like this, something isn’t right.” Lyle was surveying the room around them. “Sam. Where are you? Report.” Lyle called out into the darkness.
Cox was checking the room with his gun drawn. “I’d say we’re being set up. Let’s get out of here.”
The group went to turn to leave, when the door they came in closed and locked shut. Cox and Lyle ran to the door and tried to open it. “Damn.” Yelled Lyle as he punched the door. “I knew something wasn’t right.”
A full-length mirror in the room lit up and Lily’s image appeared within the frame. “Welcome gentleman. I’m so glad that you accepted my invitation. I’m sure that you are wondering where your Pretender is. Well I have to say that I don’t want to give him up. He has been telling me some extraordinary stories about the Centre and especially you Dr. Raines.”
Raines, Cox and Lyle went over to the mirror and looked for a way to open it.
“It is pointless to try and get to me through the mirror. Consider me Alice having gone through the looking glass. You won’t be leaving my tea party until you solve my riddle. And while you are solving the riddle, you’ll be getting a dose of your own medicine.
Suddenly the room was blasted with loud music. We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher, leave those kids alone……….. The music was set at a deafening tone. Raines, Cox, and Lyle grabbed their ears. Lyle went to the curtains that hung in the room and pulled them open. The window had been bricked up. Cox had gone to the other window. Also bricked up.
“We’re trapped.” Screamed Lyle over All in all you’re just another brick in the wall. “How stupid could I have been to follow you?” He leered at Raines as the music continued. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat.
“What riddle is she talking about? Do you see any paper or anything that would represent a puzzle?” Cox asked trying to get a handle on the situation.
Lyle took his weapon and fired at the mirror. The glass shattered and went everywhere. Behind it was nothing but brick. “Damn.” The men started checking the rest of the room and the adjoining room. It was the same in both rooms – windows bricked and the door at the end of the last room was bricked closed.
Hours passed as the men were trapped with the loud music. The three men had stayed in the front room and the music was wearing their nerves down. They had looked for the source of the music or the speakers, but could find neither. Cox was lying on the couch, trying to cover his ears. Lyle had randomly fired his weapon around the room, but couldn’t find any escape routes. Raines was at the table, covering his ears with his jacket.
Lyle was pacing the front room where the three men were, when he spotted Lily standing in the middle of the second room. He ran into the room and before the other men could join him, the door slammed shut. He tried the door to find it locked. Lyle turned around and Lily was gone.
“Who the hell are you?” Lyle screamed over the music. Suddenly the music changed. Lyle recognized that it was still Pink Floyd. He looked around the room and a mirror behind the desk glowed with Lily’s image. She was singing to him. He walked over so that he was face to face with her.
Hey you. Out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old, Can you feel me?
Hey you. Standing there alone, with allies unknown, Can you feel me?
Hey you. Don’t help them to bury the light. Don’t give in without a fight.
Open your heart, I’m coming home.
But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high, as you could see.
No matter how I tried, you could not break free.
And the Boogeyman ate into your brain.
Hey you, Out there on the road, always doing what you’re told, Can you help me?
Hey you, Out there beyond the wall, trying to catch me in the hall, Can you help me?
Hey you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all.
Together we stand, divided we fall.
Lily’s image disappeared. Lyle reached for the mirror, as if he would be able to touch her. But only felt the coldness of the mirror.
Lily stood on the opposite side of the mirror and put her hand on his. “I hope you figure it out.”
Mark came up behind her. “I think it is time to go. I think he will figure it out soon.” Mark had been watching the monitor and knew that Lily had contacted him. Something that wasn’t in their original plan. He also realized what she had tried to do. A hint of who she was. The question was whether Lyle would respond positively to that knowledge or use it against her. The two left with their team for the airport.
Lyle thought for a moment. He hadn’t heard the word Boogeyman in years. Not since, he tried to think, but the memories were so fuzzy. Then the puzzled clicked. The puzzle was the music. He went to the door and this time it opened.
The original music was still playing in this room. Raines and Cox were fighting over whose fault it was that they were in this situation. “Will the two of you shut up!” Lyle screamed. He went over to the plate of meat. “If you want out of here, start eating.” He shoved meat at both of them.
“Has the music driven you insane Lyle.” Raines questioned. “I’m not eating this.”
“Listen to the music you tank breathing fool. You can’t have any pudding till you eat your meat.”
A light went on in Raines mind. “Cox. Eat you idiot.” When everything had been consumed, a laser light shot toward the bowl. The lid opened and exposed the pudding.
Lyle looked at Raines with a triumphant look. He started scooping out the pudding with the meat plate and at the bottom of the bowl was a button. Lyle pushed it and the music stopped. The men then heard a click of a lock.
Cox went to the door and opened it. When he went back into the original hallway they had entered in, he could see where another door had been concealed. Raines and Lyle followed him. He opened that door to find Sam and the other Sweepers sitting in reclining chairs, eating munchies, and watching sports on a wide screen TV.
“Get up and get us out of here!” Screamed Raines, who could barely hear himself since having to listen to the deafening music. The Sweepers got up clumsily, embarrassed to have been caught in the situation. Raines and Cox followed the Sweepers through the door.
Lyle looked back into the warehouse, sure that after the mirrored encounter the woman had fled. She was smart enough to know that once she gave Lyle the hint and that he would figure out the exit. He would have a team come through the place with a fine toothcomb. He had to have this woman.
************************
The sunrise had not yet broken, but Jarod was already awake. Fred had heard him stir and asked if he would like to go to breakfast. The two men went to the little diner that was attached to the motel. The woman had asked Jarod if he wanted his eggs over easy or poached. Jarod had replied that he did not care how the eggs were handled as long as they were scrambled dry. Fred had looked at him as if he had three heads. The two men were joined by the other Retrievers, which is what Dr. Stedman had called them. The Centre’s equivalent to a Sweeper.
After breakfast, the group left for the FBI office. Jarod needed to access their database and create an investigation file. He walked through the security clearance area and proceeded to the Information Technology department. Fred was explaining to the area supervisor that he and Jarod were there to do a maintenance upgrade. Jarod found an office, with the help of an area secretary, and started working on inputting his data. He assigned the agent’s name that Lily had given him. When he had completed his download, he found Fred and the two men headed for the Baltimore airport.
Jarod waited anxiously as Fred spoke to the plane in route from Louisiana. “Yes. We will be landing in approximately an hour. Yes. I’ll tell him. Out.” Fred turned to Jarod. “Miss Lily says to tell you – I told you so.”
“I told you so?” Jarod asked.
“Yes. That she could handle things herself. Their mission was a success.”
“That’s great. Then phase two can happen.” Jarod sat back in his seat. He found that his heart rate was increasing. Soon he would see Parker again.
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Lily sat in the seat looking out the window. She knew that she should be rejoicing in her victory. She had officially spoon fed Raines his own medicine. But she had also seen Bobby on the monitor. His gun drawn, shooting around the room, and the way he had shot at her image in the mirror. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe Bobby was gone and the only thing left was Lyle. But there was something different when she had gotten him alone. When he touched the second mirror, for a moment she thought she could see Bobby.
Mark sat in his seat across from Lily. He watched her looking out the window. She was thinking about him again and a pang of jealousy hit. She cared more about a boy she hadn’t seen in 30 years, than him. Lily may not see it, but he did. Lyle was as bad, if not worse, than Raines. In the end he would have to take care of Lyle, because Lily would never be able to.
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Lyle sat looking out the window of the Centre jet. That woman’s image was in his mind. He was analyzing what the whole situation meant. The music had to mean something. It had to do with control or possibly her control. At one time maybe she had been associated with the Centre or somewhere else that had confined her. She was retaliating to a situation she had been placed in.
And the second song. It had been meant for him. Just him. He was remembering the lines he had heard.
Hey you. Standing there alone, with allies unknown, Can you feel me?
Had it been a line of acknowledgement? Was she telling him that she could be an ally? Impossible. She had the one thing he needed to take charge of the Centre. To get rid of Raines. But she had said if he could feel her. Like there should be a connection. Like he felt there was a connection. Something from his past? He thought about the next part.
Don’t help them to bury the light. Don’t give in without a fight.
Lyle suddenly had a flash from his childhood.
A young girl running down the hall, frantically looking for an escape route. He was coming up the hall, and he recognizes her. Lyle could hear a man issuing orders and men quickly descending on the girl. He had tried to struggle to get free. To help the girl. He knows that she is his friend. Lyle stomps on the foot of the guard and runs to her. He puts her behind him, protecting her. The guards huddle around them trying to get them apart, the whole time the two children fighting their way to stay free.
She says to him, “Don’t give in without a fight.”
Amongst the screams and tears, a man was screaming more orders. The guards finally separated the two as they are screaming for each other. In the end he had sacrificed himself to protect her. He remembered having an injection shot into him and seeing her face as he dropped into unconsciousness.
Open your heart, I’m coming home.
Lyle bolted straight up in his chair. The memory had been so vivid. He recognized the place where he had been. In SL27. He had been there as a boy. And she had said she was coming home. The Centre at some point had been her home.
“Something wrong Lyle?” Raines wheezed from his seat.
Lyle turned and looked at Raines. And in his mind he heard part of the music, the lyrics dancing in his mind.
And the Boogeyman ate into your brain.
The girl. She had referred to the man that was hurting them as the Boogeyman. Lyle flashed to that encounter again. Mentally he looked at the man giving him the injection and he saw the man’s face. In that moment Lyle realized who the Boogeyman was and the man’s name was Dr. Raines.
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Strategy
Thesis #1 - Things that don’t kill you, make you stronger.
Thesis #2 – That which made you stronger, usually has pissed you off enough to seek revenge.
The new player in the game - Revenge.
