Project Human

by Sean McKenzie

himself.

  As he walked, others cleared away.

  Darryl’s results would be in now. Just from speaking to him though, Whitmere didn’t think that Barton had altered him. There was truth in Darryl’s voice—he hadn’t seen Barton.

  Whitmere rounded a corner and headed for his lab a few doors down and could already see something was amiss. The door to his laboratory wasn’t shut closed. No one would enter without his permission, he thought. No one should.

  Reaching the door, he stepped in and saw no one. Instead, he found his precious work scattered and spilled, shattered and shredded, across his tables and floor. Everything he had been working on was ruined. All of his notes were torn in pieces. His serums, his antidotes, all of them were pooled together in a dripping mess across the table onto the floor.

  Whitmere slammed his fists into the table and screamed. “Barton!”

  Whitmere screamed for several long seconds. His face was red. His eyes burned with malice. He couldn’t contain his anger.

  “Find it and kill it!” he screamed into the hall. “I want that thing locked on a bed, waiting for what it’s got coming!”

  Jean heard and rushed to him. She entered the room and saw the mess. Her mouth sagged open, her eyes opened wide.

  “Whitmere?!”

  The doctor wheeled, glaring at her. “Look at what he’s done! It’s gone! Everything is ruined!”

  “What happened?” Jean was in shock. She was suddenly afraid of the other, of what she saw in his eyes.

  “He destroyed everything! I want everyone in this ward to search for him, Jean. Everyone!”

  Jean nodded. Whitmere stormed past her, screaming and venting down the hall.

  He was nearly out of sight when Jean smiled. She was proud of her work.

  “Should have done it a long time ago,” she said to herself. She casually walked away.

  Darryl stirred slightly in his bed, deep asleep. His face was shifting with lines of worry and hurt.

  He was back at the house again. He was searching for the voice crying, the woman he had hurt. She was there, somewhere in the darkness of the room, hidden like a shadow in the night.

  He stopped in the middle of his bedroom. The bed was a mess of clothes and pillows and balled up blankets. She was there, he knew. He could feel her.

  His anger was boiling. It was time to go.

  He turned to leave, tossing aside a lamp from the dresser—one he had bought for her.

  “Wait!” she cried. “Don’t go!”

  He paused. Don’t look back. Keep walking. Get out. Leave.

  “Please, Darryl!” she cried harder. “Tell me that you still love me! I know you do!”

  He stiffened. The desperation in her voice hurt. Somewhere deep within, she was right. Some part of him still did belong with her.

  But not enough. I have to leave.

  Darryl hardened his heart and continued.

  Something shattered against the wall next to him. Glass. Another lamp, perhaps. He didn’t care. She could break it all.

  As his tears began to form, his legs quickened.

  “Darryl!”

  He ran faster through the house.

  “Darryl!” she called with more urgency.

  He looked back and saw no one. But she was getting closer, he knew.

  “Darryl!”

  Darryl’s eyes opened. For a second he thought he was still running through the house. Sweat beads lined his forehead. His breathing was hurried. It hurt deep within him. He hated the dream. He hated the feeling she gave him.

  “Darryl?” the voice called out again.

  Darryl heard it and thought it wasn’t real.

  “Darryl? Can you hear me?”

  The voice was familiar. He turned quickly to see Adelle staring at him.

  “Adelle?”

  “I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or not. I’ve been calling you.” She groaned then, her face twisting with an uncomfortable expression. “Are you hurt?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “What happened? I remember walking out into the hall to get to Barton and then something came at me…in a blur. Next thing I know I’m waking up in here. And I see you.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” he whispered. “I thought you were Barton.”

  Adelle turned painfully, staring into his dark eyes. She smiled as she could. “What are you talking about?”

  It hurt Darryl to say the words. “The blur…it was me. I hit you.”

  Before Adelle could register what he was saying, she saw his eyes widen in panic and he was speaking faster than he could pronounce his words.

  “But I didn’t see you until it was too late. I was looking for you everywhere and I knew that Barton had you. I just wanted to make sure he couldn’t hurt you. I wanted to make sure you were safe.” Darryl paused, drifting. “Then I struck you down.”

  “You hit me?” Adelle was quiet for a moment.

  “I’d trade you places if I could, I swear.” He felt uncomfortable saying it out loud, “Barton changed you. Whitmere told me so. You’re like him, now.”

  “I know,” she said back quietly. “Darryl, I need to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “I was with Barton. He told me what was happening here. We’re in danger, Darryl. I remember everything. We need to get out of here.”

  Darryl didn’t fully understand her. “Once they catch Barton, we’ll be fine.”

  “No, we won’t. They’ll kill him.” Adelle groaned; she hurt everywhere.

  “I think when Whitmere comes back you can ask him—”

  “Darryl, we can’t let him touch us! Don’t you remember?” Adelle almost cried. “Darryl, I have to tell you something and you’re not going to want to believe me, but you have to. I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never, and have never lied to you.”

  Adelle gathered herself, watching his eyes to make sure he was ready. Darryl nodded for her to continue.

  “What is it?”

  “Darryl, what do you remember about us? About the crash? About them?”

  Darryl was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was less confident. “Well, I remember the car crash and being taken here. I remember our meeting in the hall…and everything since.”

  Adelle frowned. “Darryl, everything that has been told to us is a lie. There was no car crash. Not in the way we were made to believe, anyway. It was a lie.”

  “What? Why would they lie about that?” Darryl was unsure. “I remember it, Adelle. I can see it in my head.”

  “Think harder, Darryl. Think to before the crash. Think about what we were doing.”

  “We?”

  “Think hard. I was with you, Darryl. I sat right next to you, as I always have.”

  Darryl flashed back to the incident. He saw himself being taken out of the car. The passenger side door was already open.

  “Adelle, what are you saying? I don’t remember you. How could you be there?”

  “You’ve lost your memory of me, Darryl.” She began crying softly. “But it’s not because of the crash. They’ve done this to us. They’ve taken our identities. They don’t want us to remember each other. But I was there.”

  Her teary eyes found his and neither looked away.

  “Darryl, I’m your wife.”

  “What?” Darryl almost laughed. “Where’s our rings?”

  Adelle saw the disbelief in his eyes. “We took them off…because we were getting a divorce.”

  “Adelle…” Darryl shook his head.

  Adelle was scared. If Darryl could remember they were married, he might also remember that he was leaving her. It was a risk she was willing to take. He needed to know the truth.

  “Adelle?”

  “It’s true. Every word. June fifth, two-thousand five…our anniversary. I know everything about you, Darryl. Think back, think hard. The night they took us, we were fighting. Our worst fight ever.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” Darr
yl looked away then. It was so unexpected. It was a lot to take in at once. “How did you remember this? Is this what they told you—”

  “No, Darryl. I have my memories back. All of them. Doctor Barton helped me. He allowed me to see things the way they are. I am me again.”

  “Doctor Barton is an alien.” Darryl hushed the words in fear. “You can’t trust him.”

  Adelle’s head shook. “We are the aliens, Darryl. You, me, and Barton—abductees.”

  She saw the look in his eyes then. She was losing his focus. He was beginning to discard everything she was saying.

  “Darryl, listen to me. I’m not lying. They took us, captured us, and erased our memories. Barton went through the same thing. He’s human. He’s the only one we can trust, Darryl. The others will kill us. They’ll change us into…things. Living things, but we’ll be dead on the inside; we won’t be ourselves. I think Barton said they’re trying to make us like them. But that is what’s going to happen if we don’t get out of here. Losing your memory is just the beginning.”

  Darryl couldn’t hide his uncertainty. “Barton told you this? How did he get your memory back? How did you trust him?”

  “He didn’t give me a choice. Just like Whitmere won’t give us a choice.”

  They were quiet for a moment before Adelle added, “I love you, Darryl. I hope you can remember that you love me too. Before it’s too late.”

  Darryl rolled onto his back, not facing her any more. He stared up into the lights. Everything was spinning—the truth, the lies, all infused into one big mess. He cried silently. How could any of this be real?

  “Darryl, trust me. Don’t let them touch you. We need to find Barton and he can help you. If you trust me, then trust him.”

  Adelle knew Darryl was in disbelief. She knew how he reacted to things he couldn’t handle—he gets quiet and rubs his face, mostly over his eyes. Both