“I’m glad you still enjoy my cooking.” Mom laughs when I finish.
“I missed it,” I admit, smiling at her.
I clear the dishes and load the dishwasher, falling into a familiar routine. When I finish, we sit on the couch and Mom turns on the TV.
“What do you want to watch?” she asks, turning to look at me.
“Do you have Netflix?” I grin at her.
“We do.” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Can we watch Vampire Diaries? Tori started me on it the other day.” My grin grows, knowing my mom is a sucker for vampires.
“Put it on.” She pulls up Netflix and hands me the remote.
I scroll through and find the show, starting over at episode one so my mom can catch up. Watching them again is fine with me.
We stay on the couch, binge watching the series. I check my phone occasionally, hoping for an update, but one never comes. We hit episode four and my text alert dings.
Tanner: Have you heard anything yet?
Me: Not yet. I don’t know when they will get here.
Chance: I hate waiting.
Me: Same!
I put the phone back down and return to the show.
“Damon is hot for a bad guy,” Mom comments, totally into the show. “How about some popcorn?”
“Oh, yes please!” I exclaim. I used to love it when Mom and I had movie night with popcorn. It feels like old times again.
I pause the show as she gets up and heads into the kitchen. The microwave makes a series of beeps and a few minutes later the sound of kernels popping and the smell of popcorn permeates the apartment.
Once it slows, Mom opens the microwave and pours it into a large bowl before returning to the couch. We go back to the show and make it through one more episode before there’s a knock at the door. I pause the TV as Mom stands up and answers the door.
My heart catches in my throat. Is it my dad? Is Tony with him? I’m not sure I’m ready to see him yet. I still feel hurt by his betrayal. It feels like time has slowed down as Mom opens the door.
“Dustin!” Mom exclaims and throws herself forward through the door.
“Jo.” I hear the awe in his voice, even though I can’t see him yet.
A moment later they walk through the door with Catherine and Tony on their heels. My anger surges at seeing my uncle. I was really hoping he wasn’t going to show his face.
I grab my phone and text the guys to let them know Catherine is here then put it back on the end table.
“I’m glad you guys made it safely,” I say as I stand up and hug my dad.
“I know you’re mad at your uncle, I am too. But I understand why he did what he did. He was looking out for you in the long run,” Dad whispers in my ear as he squeezes me back.
“Did he tell you how they took us?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“He did.” My dad’s aura flashes red. He was serious about the mad part at least.
“Hi, I’m Catherine.” I hear her introduce herself to my mom.
“Jo.” My mom hugs her. “Thank you for taking Krissy under your wing. It means so much to me.”
“It was my pleasure.” Catherine smiles as she pats my mom’s back before ending the embrace.
The door is still open and the three guys barrel through launching themselves at Catherine, wrapping her up in a group hug.
“What have I told you about suffocating me?” She laughs as they release her then smacks Chance’s arm playfully. “You guys are too big for that.”
“We missed you.” Tanner grins. “I know it hasn’t been long, but a lot went down.”
“That’s an understatement.” Noah glares at him. “Don’t sugar coat it.”
“Dude, we agreed…” Chance flashes him a look of irritation.
“Sorry,” he grumbles.
I wonder what is going on with them? Is this about the whole situation or is it about me?
“Let’s sit down and you can tell us what you guys learned,” I suggest, pointing to the chairs in the dining room then extending my arm to the love seat.
“I don’t have enough chairs.” My mom puts a hand on her chest. “I never imagined I’d have so many people in here.”
“We can sit on the floor.” Tanner elbows the other two who also vocalize their agreement.
The guys plop where they were standing while I perch on the love seat with my mom. Catherine, my dad, and Tony all grab chairs from the dining table and turn them to face the rest of us.
“After you five called Catherine, she called me. I was out of my mind with worry. I called Nikki’s phone several times before Tony confessed what was really going on. Needless to say, that conversation didn’t go over well. I called Catherine and Tori’s dad and let them know what was going on. He’s driving down on his own, by the way.” My dad explains. “Anyways Catherine and I started digging into what Tony said. He had no reason to lie to me, and it didn’t appear his memories had been messed with so I tried to believe him.”
“It was worse than I had imagined. Everything Tony said was true. CODA isn’t good to nongifted people. If you notice, none of our children are ever nongifted, even though memory eaters have nongifted children occasionally. Tori’s father is the only nongifted parent in the entire community and that isn’t right either.” Catherine shakes her head as she speaks. “We decided right away that Tony was telling the truth and hopped in the car and came this way.”
“I get that they aren’t the greatest, but it doesn’t seem all that bad.” Noah shrugs. “Why would that make you leave?”
“There was worse stuff…” Catherines eyes darken. “Don’t worry about that right now. I’m not ready to talk about it.”
“They deserve to know.” Tony stares at her, his eyes demanding her to share.
“Fine,” she says through clenched teeth.
A strand of her aura comes out and splits into seven pieces, hitting each one of us between our eyes.
Catherine is sitting at a cubicle in a large office, browsing through files on a computer. She comes across a letter and reads it.
Experiment five hundred and seventeen is a success. We have completely rewritten the subjects history from birth. Child no longer believes the scientists are strangers, now believes they are birth parents. False memories show as true in aura.
We can now use this ability to rewrite the history of anyone we choose.
Catherine gasps quietly, muffling it with her hand.
She scrolls through further and opens another letter dated yesterday’s date.
Project Assimilation is in full effect. The school will teach best practices while administration will slowly change memories. Children will now believe they always lived in the community and by graduation will believe their foster parents are their birth parents. Any adults who object will be rewritten.
Catherine quickly logs out of the computer and leaves the office.
The room comes back into view as her aura strands return and merge back into her.
“They are planning on changing everyone's memories. I don’t know what they are up to, but that’s fundamentally wrong. Why would they do that to us?” Her voice cracks with emotion. “How much of what they’ve said can we trust if they are willing to do that?”
“My biggest question is what is the end goal? It can’t be innocent. If they were the good guys, people would follow them of their own volition.” I cross my arms across my chest.
“That’s a good question indeed, Krissy.” Victor drawls from the doorway. “We have a crazy idea, but it might just work.”
Chapter 16
“Sorry to interrupt but I’ve came to personally introduce myself to our newcomers. My name is Victor Tripinni, director of Vinco.” Victor steps into the room and shakes hands with my dad and Catherine. “I understand Mr. Hoalt has explained our operation?”
“He has.” My dad nods, staring at the man in distrust.
“What’s this plan?” I ask, wishing I could see the man’s a
ura. It’s really disconcerting.
“It’s a dangerous mission that involves all of you, I’m afraid.” He looks around the room. “You can always choose to say no.”
“Spit it out man.” Noah growls.
“I’m getting there. Since you all just arrived, your guardians could essentially rescue you and take you back to Denver. You will stay in contact with our team and spy on CODA from the inside.” Victor wrings his hands together as he talks, though his voice stays stead.
“Absolutely not!” Catherine jumps to her feet, her aura shining bright red.
“That’s fine. We won’t force you to do anything. It was just an idea. We have it on authority that CODA is offering internships to their teenage students. We were hoping to have someone on the inside, but we can find another way.” Victor turns to walk towards the door.
He’s right. If they have someone on the inside, we could learn what CODA is really up to. And if we join the internship willingly, they would be less likely to mess with our minds.
“Wait!” I stand up. “I want to do it!”
“Krissy, no.” My mom shakes her head as tears well up in her eyes.
“Mom, I want to be here with you, but how can I stay here safe if they are messing with people? If we can help, I want to do something.” I kneel in front of her as I explain. “If no one takes action, that makes us as bad as the people causing harm.”
“Krissy is right,” Tanner says looking around. “If we choose not to help, we are just as bad as they are. I’m in as well.”
“Me too.” Chance raises his hand.
“I’ll ride your train.” Noah stares at me, a hint at something simmering in his gaze that I’m not ready to process.
“If Nikki is going to do this, I have to go with her.” My dad stares at my mom. “I really wanted a chance to spend some time with you, but I have to keep our daughter safe.”
“You little shits are going to make me do this too, aren’t you?” Catherine raises an eyebrow at the boys, but her voice is warm and loving.
“Would you expect anything less from us?” Chance gives her a lopsided grin.
“Very well. We need to present the option to your other friend then we will get started.” Victor claps his hands together.
I don’t know exactly what we are getting into, but if it can help people, it will be worth it.
We follow Victor down the hall to another apartment. He stops and knocks on the door then after a few moments Tori’s mom opens it. He explains the situation to them and Tori’s aura gets very muddied.
“I don’t know…” she finally answers. “I want to see my dad again… but I just found my mom.”
“It’s entirely your choice. The others can go without you if you choose to stay. I’m sure we can think of a plausible reason that they weren’t able to ‘rescue’ you as well.” Victor walks forward and places a hand on her shoulder.
Her aura shifts several times before settling on red and blue swirls.
“I have to go back,” she says quietly. “I’ve been scared my entire life… If I don’t go back, then that makes me a coward.”
“It doesn’t make you a coward. It makes you smart.” Her mom wraps her arms around her. “I’ll support whatever you choose to do, but I was hoping you would stay.”
Tori looks from her mom to me then back to her mom again.
“I’ll be back when this is over. If something happens and they change my memories, you guys need to find a way to fix it.” Tori stares at Victor.
“We will do our best.” He nods at her.
She removes herself from her mother’s embrace and joins the rest of us.
“Let’s do this before I change my mind.” She looks longingly back at her mom then her eyes harden. “CODA isn’t going to break up any more families if I can help it.”
“Follow me and we will get started.” Victor smiles in a way that makes a pit of dread build in my stomach.
We follow Victor out of the apartment to a large training room. There are blue mats set up along the walls and in evenly spaced out squares across the floor. There are men and women sparing in different areas. Some are using weapons, while others are working on hand-to-hand skills.
As we walk further into the room, a man to our right stops what he is doing and drops his bow staff.
“Catherine?” he calls out, his face a mask of confusion. “Is that really you?”
“Brett?” She covers her mouth then takes off at a run and launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “I thought you were dead.”
About the Author
Rose lives in the Midwest with her husband, kids and three cats. She enjoys crafting in her free time and watching movies with her family.
If you would like to connect with me you can follow me on social media, or send an email to [email protected]
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More by Rose Alexander
The Huntsman Clan
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Silverblood -
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Bad Blood- TBA
The Memory Eater Chronicles
The Strange Existence of Krissy Nichole
The Strange Existence of Krissy Nichole (The Memory Eater Chronicles Book 1) Page 11