by Simon Rose
Save me some
Max picked up the empty juice carton and placed it on the counter. He then ripped a couple of sheets off the kitchen roll and mopped up the small puddle of juice on the floor. As he put the paper towel into the garbage can, he heard a door slam upstairs. Max picked up his phone and cautiously went up to his room. His bedroom door was closed, which was unusual. Max slowly opened the door and saw that he’d left the window open. He breathed a sigh of relief. There must have been a strong breeze and that would explain why the door had slammed. However, the box containing his mother’s belongings had also fallen from the desk and the contents were scattered across the carpet. Although he initially wondered if something or someone had caused the box to fall, Max honestly couldn’t recall whether he’d left the box near the edge of the desk the night before. It could easily have been a simple accident. He quickly cleared up the photos, papers, and other items then returned them to the box and closed the lid. Placing the box on the desk, Max turned on the now fully charged laptop. While he was waiting for it to open, he closed the window. He then grabbed the wooden box and took it over to the top of the dresser. Just as a precaution he put a game controller on top of the box, along with some cables. If the box moved again for any reason he’d surely know.
MAX SAT DOWN in the chair and typed “SecretConspiracyXpose” into the search box. He clicked on the link to the now familiar website. He then went straight to the page that claimed to feature authentic photographs and biographies of Kovac’s victims. According to the website, the operation had closed down in 1995. This was when Max had been at the waterfront as David and Carrington had alerted the police. Max quickly counted the entries. There were biographical details of thirty-three men and women that the site claimed were subjected to Kovac’s experiments. All were supposed to have had some kind of psychic ability. Some were from the homeless community and details about those people were vague. The listings for some of the other individuals contained considerably more information. Max returned to his mother’s biography and read it in more detail.
Marina Garrison formerly Kolar. Born Prague, Czechoslovakia, June 15, 1975. May have been a victim of Kovac’s earliest experiments in the former Yugoslavia and other Eastern Bloc countries in the late 1980s. Moved to the US with her family in 1989 or 1990. According to medical records she had a history of mental issues and depression but this could easily have been related to the experiments when she was a teenager. She was possibly a victim of Kovac’s North American operation in the mid-1990s. Marina went missing in 1994 and was later found in a rural area suffering from amnesia. The reason for her disappearance was never solved or explained and was simply attributed to her medical history. Marina Garrison died as the result of an accident at a train station in 2001. It was said to be suicide although Mrs. Garrison was reported to be very happy at the time of her death and had no history of suicidal tendencies throughout her medical history. She was married and had one child at the time of her death.
Max stared in disbelief at the computer screen. All the biographical details were correct. His dad had also mentioned that his mom had gone missing at one point and later been found with memory loss in a remote rural area. Although Max’s dad had no inkling that his mom might have been experimented on, this all matched Kovac’s method of operation: dumping victims in parks or outside cities after having administered the drug that made them forget their recent ordeal. Max had experienced this first-hand when he’d rescued Deanna after she’d been left in the park.
MAX EXAMINED THE rest of the page, starting at the top of the list. Some of the names had no accompanying photographs and other entries didn’t even have names. They just described the circumstances of people found dead in remote places, often thought to be homeless or drifters. And yet Max knew that some of Kovac’s victims had died from their injuries before the police or passersby found them. Others were probably already dead when Kovac’s henchmen dumped them. Max focused his attention on the men and women that had been supposedly abducted in the few years before the operation was closed down. The website made a compelling case that crimes had been committed but Max had to admit that the alleged connection between the individuals and their histories could also be purely coincidental.
There was only very tenuous evidence that any of the people had some kind of psychic abilities or links to paranormal phenomena. Max noticed that Deanna Hastings wasn’t listed on the site but he also knew that she was still alive. Presumably this meant that there could be experiment victims that hadn’t been killed, at least not yet. Perhaps the website owner was only claiming that those likely to remember their experience and talk to the authorities had to be silenced? Many of the photographs were followed by lengthy biographical details but of course there was no way for Max to determine if they were genuine. The pictures could really be from anywhere and the person’s life history simply concocted in an elaborate hoax.
The causes of death varied from car accidents, illness, suicides, and what were supposed to be natural causes. The people had all died beginning around five years after the operation was shut down. Max once more saw the photograph of his mother among all the strangers as he continued down the list. However, one picture caught Max’s attention stop just after he’d scrolled past it. He went back up the page and peered at the image on the screen. The man’s name was Robert James Wallace and although Max was sure he didn’t know him, the man’s face still looked familiar. He’d apparently been born in the same year as Max’s mother and had arrived in the city as a university student in the mid-1990s. Like Max’s mom he’d also been found in a deserted area and had barely survived. It was then that Max realized where he’d seen the man before. He’d been at the waterfront where Kane had attacked him while the man had been blindfolded and tied to a chair. Max had seen the man only briefly after the attack when he’d been on a bed next to the young Deanna, but Max was sure that it was the same person.
Max continued reading Wallace’s details. According to the biography, he’d never recovered from whatever his ordeal had been and dropped out of university, surviving in a variety of dead-end jobs. He’s been working on graveyard shifts at the time of his death at the age of thirty-eight. A car had hit him when he was walking home late at night, but the driver had never been identified. As far as the website was concerned Wallace was yet another victim of those responsible for silencing anyone connected to Kovac’s operation. Yet there seemed to be little to tie all the people together, and although Max knew that his mother’s details were all correct, he couldn’t verify those of Wallace. He thought about seeking out Julia at school but was still worried about what other people would think. Then again Max was determined to find out for himself. He scrolled back up to the top of the page to study the faces again but then heard his dad’s truck arrive. Max glanced at the clock and noted it was already nine o’clock. He quickly shut down the website and stepped out of his room as his dad came through the front door.
“Hey, Max,” said his dad, from the foot of the staircase. “Any pizza left?”
“Oh,” said Max, as his stomach rumbled. “I forgot, sorry.”
His dad grinned.
“It’s not like you to forget about pizza. What have you been up to?”
“Just some stuff for school. I must have lost track of time.”
“Okay, no problem. You still hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll give them a call.”
He went into the kitchen and tossed his keys onto the counter. Max went back into his room and turned off the laptop before going downstairs.
MAX TRIED TO make conversation with his dad before and after the pizza arrived but couldn’t help thinking about what he’d seen on the website. Could all the people on there really be connected?
“Anyway,” said his dad, as he finished the pizza, “I just want to catch the late news. You staying up for a while?”
“No, I’m pretty tired. Think I’ll get an early night.”
; His dad nodded as he closed the empty pizza box. He stood up from the kitchen table and took the box over to the garbage.
“Okay,” said his dad. “Maybe I’ll see you before you head out for school in the morning?”
“Sounds good,” Max replied.
His dad smiled before heading into the sitting room. Max stood up and went upstairs. Once he got back to his room, Max contemplated doing some more research but then decided that he’d try and get a good night’s sleep. As he climbed into bed, he was still thinking about the website and the possibility that its information might be true.
Chapter Six
Making Contact
MAX’S MORNING AT school passed uneventfully. He kept a look out for Julia whenever he was in the hallways but didn’t see her around and had to admit that he had no idea where he might be able to find her.
At lunchtime Max headed to the basement cafeteria. The place was quite busy, and there weren’t any empty tables. He was about to buy a sandwich, some chips, and a drink when he spotted Julia sitting alone in the corner, deeply focused on her tablet while she ate her lunch. Max swallowed hard and began walking across the cafeteria. For a moment, he thought that Julia could be a cool person, perhaps outside of school, or even at school. Yet she had no friends that he knew of and remained aloof from the other students who were often so cruel to her.
“Hi,” said Max, as he cautiously approached the table.
Julia looked up at him from beneath her thick mane of hair. Her tee shirt featured the logo of yet another band that Max wasn’t familiar with. She’d also added a few bright red streaks to her black hair.
“Well, well,” she said, with a sneer. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Do you mind if I join you?” asked Max.
“It’s a free country,” she replied, looking back down at her tablet.
“Well, I guess there’s no one sitting here,” said Max.
“No one ever wants to sit with me. I’m always on my own, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” said Max.
“You don’t seem to have any lunch,” said Julia.
“No,” Max replied. “No, I’m not that hungry.”
Julia examined him, curiously.
“So is this a social call or do you want something in particular?” she asked, as she bit into her apple.
Max paused before answering.
“I was wondering about that website that I was looking at yesterday. You said you were familiar with it.”
“The conspiracy one? I guess so. Oh yeah, that’s right. I recognized your mom’s picture.”
She pushed up her right sleeve to scratch her arm, revealing a small tattoo. She noticed Max looking at her arm.
“I got it in the summer. My mom said there was no way she’d ever let me get a tattoo but I did it anyway. What’s she going to do? I keep it covered when I’m at school. So what about your mom?”
Max wasn’t going to get drawn into a discussion about the paranormal and Julia seeing ghosts in the school hallways.
“I have no idea why my mom’s picture is on there,” he said. “But all the details about her, her date of birth, age, how she died, are all true.”
“That page is all about those secret experiments and kidnappings by that doctor with the weird name, isn’t it?”
“I think so,” said Max. “There’s another photo on there that I’m curious about.”
“Why don’t you ask Jesse?”
“Who’s Jesse?”
“He runs the site,” Julia replied, smiling. “He’s a good guy.”
“You know him?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but we’ve chatted online a few times. I’ve no idea where he lives or anything like that. You could send him a message but he’s pretty choosy about who he talks to. Not surprising really, when you think about what’s on that website of his.”
“What do you mean?”
“He has to be very careful,” Julia replied. “He told me once that government agents have posed as somebody else on there before, just to try and track down where he’s located. It’s scary stuff.”
Before Max could ask any further questions, he saw Jeff and Jason entering the cafeteria. He didn’t want them to see him talking to Julia. Max stood up quickly from the table.
“I have to go.”
Julia glanced across the cafeteria and saw Jeff and Jason heading to the counter to get some lunch.
“Ashamed to be seen with Mad Julia?” she said, with a smirk.
“No,” replied Max, a little defensively. “Not at all. It’s just that my friends are waiting and—”
“Don’t worry, Max,” she interrupted him. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Jeff and Jason had their backs to him and were busy at the food counter as Max slipped out of the cafeteria. He saw them both in his classes that afternoon but neither of them mentioned having seen him chatting to Julia. They often went to Jeff’s house after school to play games or just hang out for an hour or so. However, Jeff was busy getting ready for the trip and Jason had to look after his little sister, so they all went their separate ways at the end of the day.
WHEN HE GOT home, Max put his laptop on the counter beside his dad’s coffee mug and grabbed a can of pop from the fridge. He took a drink from the can but when he lowered his hand he choked and almost spat the liquid onto the floor. Through the living room window, he could clearly see the young woman in the blue dress on the opposite side of the street. She was standing on the sidewalk in front of a house. Max put the can on the counter beside the kettle and walked over to the front door. When he opened it, the woman was no longer there. Just as in the hallway at school she couldn’t possibly have gone anywhere so quickly.
Was his mother really trying to contact him? This time she’d almost been at his home. Was he going to experience a conversation with her like he’d done with David on the bus in the summer? He felt a cool breeze brush his hand as he stepped inside and closed the front door. Thinking nothing of it he went back into the kitchen and had another drink from the can. The bulb in the ceiling light suddenly flickered. Max shivered as he felt the same cool breeze again, this time right beside his face.
“Is someone here?” he said, trying to remain calm, looking straight ahead.
The light above him stopped flickering. Max turned around in astonishment as the kettle briefly turned on then off again. The kettle could only be activated by physically pressing down the switch and Max knew that he hadn’t done that. He shivered again before cautiously reaching over and unplugging the kettle’s power cord from the wall outlet.
“Is someone here?” he repeated, peering around the kitchen and into the sitting room but there was only silence.
Max finished the pop and put the can in the recycling bin under the sink. As he picked up his laptop and turned away from the counter, the coffee mug fell to the floor and smashed. Max took a step back. He was pretty sure that the laptop hadn’t been that close to the mug, but he couldn’t be certain. He could have knocked it off himself, but that didn’t explain the light, the kettle, and the breeze inside the kitchen. He once again examined his surroundings although he had no idea what he was looking for.
He got to his knees and began picking up the broken pieces of the coffee mug. He was just sweeping up the final few shards into the dustpan when his dad opened the front door.
“Hey Max, what’s up?”
“Oh, hi Dad, just clearing up the mess. Sorry, but I knocked a mug off the counter. It was an accident.”
“Okay, not to worry. I just stopped by to get some tools. I’ll be over at your grandma’s until quite late tonight. Did you want me to make you something to eat before I go or will you take care of yourself?”
Based on what he’d experienced since arriving home, Max didn’t much like the idea of being alone that evening.
“Can I help?”
“What?”
“Can I come with you and help at Grandma’s
with the deck?”
His dad looked at him curiously.
“I guess I could always use a hand, but you’ve never been interested before. Don’t you have anything to do for school?”
“No, no homework. I figured you’re working hard on that project and always running late. I just thought that some help might let you get it done quicker.”
His dad smiled.
“Okay, let me just those tools from the basement and we can go.”
“Great.”
Max took his laptop up to his room and was back downstairs by the time his dad returned from the basement.
“If we’re lucky Grandma will cook us something nice for dinner,” said his dad with a wink, as they stepped outside and he locked the door.
MAX NATURALLY COULDN’T prevent the incidents that had occurred in the kitchen from crossing his mind that evening. He also kept going over what he’d seen on the website, trying to make sense of the pictures of the people that SecretConspiracyXpose claimed were all connected. However, his dad kept him reasonably busy all night. When they weren’t working on the deck, Max was talking to his grandmother, who also cooked them a delicious dinner. His dad was really appreciative of Max’s help and they made great progress with the deck.
It was almost ten o’clock by the time they got home. Max’s dad decided to catch the news but Max was feeling pretty tired and decided to go to bed. He thought about looking at the website again but didn’t have the energy. He also knew that he’d only get more frustrated trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Max didn’t need any more questions. He needed answers. Despite what his friends might think, he was going to speak to Julia at school the next day. Max’s thoughts were still churning as he settled into bed but he was soon asleep.
MAX WAS LYING on a table in a darkened room. He was only half-awake but was unable to move his arms and legs. He couldn’t make out much of his surroundings in the gloom but saw several people in white lab coats walking around and speaking in an unfamiliar language. He heard voices beside him but couldn’t understand the words they were saying. Two men in military uniform then appeared on either side of the table and began lifting him up. Supporting Max with his arms over their shoulders, they took him from the room, his feet dragging along the hard floor. They entered a shadowy corridor where some of the overhead lights flickered while others weren’t working at all. Signs and notices on the walls featured strange lettering that Max couldn’t read. One of the men released Max’s arm when they reached a door. The man then pulled some keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. Max was led into a dimly lit room and pushed onto a dirty mattress on the floor under a barred window. The door clanged shut as the man left and locked the door behind him. Max stood up and staggered over to the damaged sink in the corner of the room. When he looked into the broken mirror he saw the face of his mother when she was a girl.