The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I

by Stephanie Steele

  Valie felt that there was something very comforting about Jackson, like an old friend. She got the feeling she could tell him almost anything and he wouldn't judge her.

  Valie looked at him as he stared straight ahead and when he caught her looking, she didn't feel embarrassed and she didn't look away, much like the very first time she saw him.

  He leaned in close to her, "It's going to be okay, Valie. We'll figure something out."

  His reassurance was nice to her, but she really didn't want to allow herself to be hopeful, she didn't want to tempt herself with believing that she might live through this, only to find out that Decker Beckett couldn't help them. Jackson and Carson both knew the same thing she did--they each had one pendant, that was it. That's what Phaedra had said and that's why their parents took such elaborate measures to hide them. Valie could only berate their parents silently for making that call, but it wasn't doing any good now.

  Valie looked down at her nails, at her chipping purple nail polish, then back to Jackson. "Can I ask you something?"

  He nodded.

  "Why did you decide to help us? It was almost like betraying your father, wasn't it?"

  He hesitated. Valie wasn't sure that he heard her at first, but then he took another deep breath.

  "I have love for my father, but only for bringing me into this world. He's an incredibly smart man, but not a humble one, and he resented me for having to keep the secrets he did, he figured it was my fault that we had to go into hiding."

  "But it wasn't!" Valie said a little too loudly, mostly because she was appalled by what he was saying. How could it have been Jackson's fault? He was a baby when it all happened.

  Jackson continued in his low tone, "It didn't really matter, he needed to blame someone and I was there. You're not going to die, Valie," he said, like somehow he knew that's what she was thinking about.

  "How do you know that? How could there be any other way?"

  Then, without missing a beat, "Because I know."

  “What ever happened to Stan Wozniak? Do you think maybe there's a way he could help us?” It was the first time Valie even thought about asking about the man who started it all.

  Jackson shook his head, “No one knows what happened to him. He vanished just like everyone else.”

  Coward. To Valie, Stan Wozniak was a coward, taking no responsibility for what he helped create. He was undoubtedly unconcerned about The Wozniak Five now.

  Valie fell asleep after that.

  The next morning, they were back in Wisconsin. Although it hadn't been two full days, there was comfort in being back in her home state. The air was familiar. She had breathed it before, and somehow, that alone made it feel better.

  The three of them got off the train, Jackson helping her step down as she was becoming more and more dependent as each hour ticked by.

  They had run out of money, but Jackson was able to contribute with what he had left. They were still almost an hour away from Decker Beckett's house. Jackson had his address, he had taken it from his father's address book before his journey began.

  They stood in the train station parking lot.

  "We're going to have to steal a car," Carson announced.

  "What!? Carson, we can't steal a car!” Valie argued.

  Carson looked down at her, grabbing her upper arms and shaking her a little. "We don't have time and look at you! There's no way you can walk all the way there, there's not enough money for a cab!"

  He stalked away and started scanning the parking lot. Valie looked at Jackson, he didn't say anything. Luckily there were only a few people in the parking lot to observe a muscular young man with thick framed glasses looking suspiciously into the windows of cars.

  "Valie, while the two of you go to Decker's, I'm going to try and find Trent and Maddy."

  "What, but..."

  "It's the best thing for me to do right now."

  "How are you going to find them?"

  He looked down, “I don't know...but I have to try. I need to find them while there's still time.”

  Valie remembered the emergency number Phaedra had given them. She pulled it from the pocket of the backpack. She thought it to be kind of ironic that Jackson would be the one trying to get a hold of Phaedra after he spent so much time eluding her capture. She really didn't think Phaedra would find it so humorous though.

  "Here," she handed him the piece of paper, "Phaedra might know where they are."

  He took it, "Today, no matter what," Jackson glanced at the watch on his wrist, "at five o'clock, meet me at the sight of Maddy's pendant. You still have the address, right?"

  Valie nodded.

  "I'll see you then."

  “Okay. Te--tell my cousin...well, tell him that I love him.”

  Jackson bowed his head, turned, and started to jog away.

  “Good luck,” she whispered.

  Carson called for Valie and waved her over. She explained where Jackson was going and again, he seemed irritated with her. Probably because the plan wasn't run past him, but whatever.

  Carson had found a car that's doors were unlocked.

  It was an old gray Buick with rust spots, not terribly surprising that the owner left the car unlocked, who'd want to steal it? Well, aside from two of The Wozniak Five.

  The keys weren't in it, but Carson ducked his head under the steering wheel and started pulling at wires.

  "What are you doing?" Valie asked sticking her head near his.

  "Hot wiring."

  Duh, she figured.

  She left him to it, got into the backseat, and lay down. Valie was too tired to argue about the dishonesty of grand theft auto, or whatever crime it was considered.

  A few minutes later the car was running and they were heading down the road. Carson stopped at a gas station in town to ask for directions.

  Valie fell asleep yet again and woke up to the sound of a car door slamming. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and as she did, she had to take a couple of slow, deep breaths. The air felt thicker and making it harder to breathe.

  "Are we there?" Valie asked tiredly.

  "You can wait in the car if you want to."

  She shook her head and hoisted herself up, Carson helped her out of the car. Valie was feeling more and more like an elderly woman.

  They stood outside the house and looked at it.

  "I don't know if this is such a good idea," Valie was nervously standing next to Carson, holding onto his shoulder for stability. “I have...a weird feeling. One that I don't understand,” she said honestly.

  He looked at her crossly, “You have a feeling?”

  She shrugged, “I get feelings.”

  Decker Beckett lived in a little brown house with overgrown weeds in the yard and three tires stacked on top of each other. The front screen door was ripped, the paint on the house was chipping, in short, the place was a dump.

  "Let’s just get this over with," Carson said taking a step up the walkway. Valie followed.

  She pulled open the screen door, knocked softly, and let the screen door close again.

  "What do you think he's like?" she asked curiously.

  "Let's just hope he can help us."

  They waited for about a minute, awkwardly standing on the front step. Valie leaned against the railing.

  This time, Carson took a step forward and pounded on the door with his fist.

  "Well, if that didn't get his attention..." Valie teased and then fanned herself with her hand. "Is it hot to you?"

  Carson shook his head.

  "Oy! Alright, alright, I'm coming!" a man yelled from inside the house. Valie stood up straight.

  The front door flung open. Valie gasped and shielded her eyes. The man that stood there was tall, thin, and was wearing only pink boxers with red hearts on them.

  "Yeah?" he asked.

  Neither Carson nor Valie said anything. Until he opened the door, Valie didn't really think about what we were going to say.

  “Selling Girl Scout cookie
s or what?” he asked impatiently with an undeserved chuckle.

  Valie kept her eyes covered, "Do you have some clothes or something?"

  "Don't be so uptight, love. I'm clothed."

  She shook her head. “So wrong.”

  "Hang on...you..." he said cautiously.

  Valie slowly uncovered her eyes and looked up at him.

  Her first, well, her second impression was that he was a handsome, chaotic mess. His brown hair was going every which way on his head and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of weeks, behind the mess, was a handsome man.

  "I know you." He pointed, moving his finger back and forth between Carson and Valie. "You're a couple of the Wozniak brats."

  Chapter 17

  Decker had invited them in. There were empty beer cans on the floor and littering his coffee table. Carson and Valie sat on his couch, Valie looked around warily. It was almost completely dark in there. Sheets were covering his windows. Decker sat in his recliner across from them and lit a cigarette. Valie considered expressing her disgust, but she kept quiet, silently reminding herself that he might be able to help her.

  "This is completely radical, you know I had a feeling I would be seeing a couple of yous.” He leaned forward with his cigarette in his mouth and rubbed his hands together. "So, let me guess, you're the Fontaine," he pointed to Carson, then looked to Valie, "and you're...which one are you?"

  "My name is Valie," she said obviously, feeling offended that he knew who Carson was, but not her.

  Decker narrowed his eyes, "Valie? That's an odd...Well no matter, don't feel bad, peaches, the only reason I recognize Clark Kent there is because I've known him since he was just a fourth of the stunning yet, masculine man he is today."

  "I don't know you, dude," Carson shot back.

  "Well, sure. Your brother and I have known each other since we were wee lads."

  It was clear that Carson didn't know what he was talking about; it was made obvious by the blank, yet somehow hostile expression on his face.

  Carson and Valie didn't know anything about Decker, just that he wrote a book, with the help of Hooper Bromwell. For all they knew, he could've been some crazy guy who was about to lock them in his basement.

  "How do you know about my brother?" Carson asked.

  "You guys don't know a single thing about any of this do you?” He didn't wait for them to answer. “It figures. They were always so damn secretive. You gotta wonder, was it worth it to hide the truth knowing this would be the consequence?"

  "I'm not following you," Valie complained.

  Decker leaned back in his chair, "Tell me what you know."

  "No, that's not how this works. You tell us first," Carson ordered in his best authoritative voice.

  Decker didn't hesitate. Valie got the feeling that he wanted to get some things off his chest. "What do you know about Stan and Phileana Wozniak?"

  Valie looked down thinking somehow the answer was written on her shoe, Carson didn't say anything either.

  "Well, it goes something like this..." Decker began to explain that Stan and Phileana Wozniak were a married couple. Stan was a brilliant scientist that found seven of the brightest young scientists across America--their parents--in 1994. He assembled the team with the goal of becoming the first people to genetically engineer human beings by way of science. So they did, and by doing so they created some enemies, but the most important enemy was Magnus Pierce, an old colleague of Stan's. When Magnus and Stan were younger, they were both mentored by the same man. A man named Eustace Schrodinger. Magnus and Stan were both constantly competing against each other, both with the same goal--to create human beings, basically. Stan was able to do it first, and Magnus, Decker said, has been trying to destroy The Wozniak Five ever since, but he was never able to because their parents took them into hiding.

  "So...how old were we when they took us into hiding?" Valie asked.

  "Only about a month old. They were having a picnic in the park celebrating and they were attacked by Magnus and his people."

  "Oh my God," Valie shuddered.

  Carson didn't have an opinion, or at least one that he vocalized.

  "Stan's wife, Phileana died that day and so did Talia Fontaine."

  Valie looked at Carson, his eyes flashed to her, but quickly went back to the floor.

  "Carson? Your mother died that day?"

  He shrugged.

  "Phileana's baby was taken that day too,” Decker continued, “Phileana had a baby, you know, the normal way, just two weeks after you all were made. For some reason Magnus wanted it, so he stole the baby after they killed Phileana. You should be grateful too, while they were killing off Talia and Phileana and stealing the baby, your parents were able to escape with you.”

  "What happened to the baby?" Valie asked.

  Again, he shrugged, "Could be dead, could be alive. Don't know, but if you ever come across her, you ought to give a great big 'thank you' pat on the back."

  Valie disregarded that last part. "How did you get involved in all of this?"

  Decker took a puff of his cigarette, Valie wanted to hold her breath, but her lungs wouldn't let her.

  "Why did you try and write a book on us? Why would you do that if you knew we were facing danger?" Valie said, with growing rage.

  Decker waved a hand in her direction, "I didn't put any of you in danger, I just spilled some secrets. The world had a right to know and it's not like I did it on my own...okay? The biggest blabbermouth of all, Hooper Bromwell, contributed to most of it. I just wanted my revenge."

  Valie could see in his face that there was something that bothered him, something he wasn't saying, something that wasn't on the surface of his laid back attitude and demeanor.

  "Revenge for what?" she asked carefully.

  Decker took a long moment to answer. “A wise man once told me: don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to.”

  Valie and Carson exchanged a glance. It was a menacing statement, eerie almost in the way he said it.

  “The book shouldn't matter anyway; Ambrose put a stop to it before I could make any real money. People had a right to know...you all were a piece of history, don't you get that? No one had ever done it before, or even come close. People should know the truth.”

  “We're just kids...trying to live our lives, how could we ever live normally if people knew?” Valie said sadly.

  “Have you been living normally? You think your lives have been normal? Come on, your parents were geniuses, surely some of that should've rubbed off...No?”

  Valie had thought about the way her life had been, how it would've been different if she had not been one of The Wozniak Five. She could only imagine.

  “How did Ambrose stop you from selling the books?” Valie asked.

  “He threatened to sue me and bought all the books that were put into print."

  "He bought all of them?"

  "Eh, there were only 500 put into print anyway, well, he was only able to locate 493 of them. Seven of those books are still out there," Decker had to fight back a laugh, then continued with a sly grin on his face, "There is one thing you should know. Magnus Pierce has his own team, just like your parents were on Stan's team. Seven scientists started out on Stan's side, but by the time you five were created...there were only six. Someone went to the other side. His name was Vincent. He turned against Stan--no one ever knew why. It was between Stan and him, and now I hear that Hooper drifted to the other side. Makes you wonder, right?"

  Valie thought back to the picture that Carson had unfolded from his wallet back at the cabin, the picture of all of their parents and the men that they didn't recognize, one had to be Hooper and the other had to be Vincent. Valie didn't let her mind wander into what could've possibly happened that made Vincent betray not only Stan but his colleagues in that way.

  Valie asked Decker an obvious question, how was he tied to everything?

  Decker was obscure with the details, but said that he he'd been around it
all since he was young. He was the great-grandson of Eustace Schrodinger, the man who mentored Stan and Magnus when they were young, essentially the man who started everything. The man who put it all into motion.

  "Why did you two come here?" Decker asked, "Shouldn't you be off getting your pendants?"

  Valie swallowed hard and looked to Carson, but he was not helping, like he completely zoned out of the moment.

  "We have until tomorrow... Carson has his...but mine was destroyed."

  Decker looked down and rubbed his forehead, "Where are your parents?"

  "We don't know, they've disappeared. Phaedra got us all together and we were able to figure out where the pendants are on our own, but--"

  "Phaedra helped you?"

  "You know her?"

  "Vaguely. Listen...I said goodbye to all of this a long time ago and I made peace with it. I can't help you."

  It was like a punch in the gut. “You clearly didn't make peace with it, look at how you're living.”

  Decker scoffed at Valie's statement and took another puff of his cigarette. “There's nothing I can do for you.”

  Carson abruptly stood, "She's going to die if you don't help us!"

  "She's already dying. Look at her. They only created one pendant for each of you. I'm sorry. Truly, I am.” He actually looked sincere.

  "Valie, let's go," Carson pulled her up by the arm, she pulled it back.

  "Decker, please..." She begged, "Please, please, please. I don't want to die."

  He didn't say anything.

  "Let’s go, Valie," Carson helped her up and they started towards the door.

  "Can you just do one thing for us?" Carson said, with that edge back in his voice. "Can you not tell anyone we were here? Think maybe you could just do that?"