The Protector

by Stormi Lewis

  He loved her. Sophie couldn’t deny it. James had spent all night proving such to her. His gentleness and his desire and passion that made her explode repeatedly throughout the night was enough to make any girl go mad. Sophie worried if it would be enough for him.

  She dreamt of a future. Walking down the aisle in a gorgeous white dress, to the man that would forever hold her heart from the first day they met. However, a future would never exist as long as the man with the cane hunted Sophie and those she loved dearly.

  Would setting James free keep him safe? Or would he simply become a bargaining chip after they had parted ways and he found someone safer to be with? Sophie knew she would never love anyone else. Even if the man with the cane allowed her to be free. No one would touch her heart as deeply as James did.

  Sophie slid out of his arms and stared at the beautifully naked man lying under the sheets. She only wanted the best for him. She just didn’t know if staying or leaving was what was best. It would kill her, literally, to ever walk away. Sophie honestly didn’t know if she even could at this moment. Only death would be able to help her do so. She studied his face in the dawn’s early light seeping in from the crack of the curtains. Then the alarm on her watch went off yanking her back to reality.

  “James!” Sophie called over her shoulder as she rushed to get dressed. “We need to get out of here!” She heard his mutter of protest. “Seriously!” she begged.

  “Can’t we just stay here forever?” James muttered pulling the covers over his head. Sophie yanked them off the bed leaving his beautiful muscular body to feel the cold air around it. “Hey!” he shouted, but he had his boyish grin on. “If you want more, all you have to do is ask,” James chuckled as he sat up to rub his eyes. Sophie threw his clothes at him.

  “We don’t have time!” Sophie shook her head and laughed. “And unless you want to die in this bed, we HAVE to get moving!”

  “As long as I am with you, I’m good,” James said with a smile and sleep still in his eyes, but he knew she was right. “We should do that more often,” James said sheepishly as he forced his body to get dressed.

  “Do you ever think of anything else?” Sophie laughed as she tossed his bag at him.

  James thought of the ring burning a hole in his bag. “Just you, Babe,” he said with a shrug. They grabbed their things and James grabbed Sophie’s hand to pull her into his arms for one last passionate kiss. “See you on the other side,” he breathed once they parted.

  “See you on the other side,” she breathed back.

  God, she loved him. They exited the apartment and walked in opposite directions. Both determined to send the man with the cane on the wildest goose chase they could think of.

  Sophie sat on a bus bound for Utah. She looked out the window and watched the colorful leaves fall quickly towards the ground as the bus whizzed by. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the man she loved and the amazing night they just shared together.

  James had such a need to prove his love to her last night, and she had accepted it willingly. However, the thought of him having a normal life if she wasn’t with him still tugged at her heart.

  “Sleep, Peanut,” her mother whispered lightly in her ear. Sophie didn’t have the energy to argue and closed her eyes eagerly for some rest. The wooden door appeared before her, and Sophie’s shoulders slumped over automatically.

  “I thought you wanted me to sleep,” she whined to no one.

  “Open it,” her mother said with a warning tone.

  Sophie rolled her eyes as she pushed open the door. Before her laid a younger teenage version of her mother sleeping in a bunk of some sort. Gas began to seep through the vent.

  “Mom!” Sophie yelled. The girl remained asleep. Sophie stepped forward to go to the girl, but a hand on her shoulder made her stop.

  “Just watch, Peanut,” her mother whispered with sadness in her voice.

  A team came and collected the girl’s body and placed it on a gurney. They wheeled the unconscious girl out the door. Sophie found herself following them. “Where are they taking you?” she asked in a whisper.

  “Just watch,” was her mother’s only response.

  They placed the girl on a metal table. A younger man in a dark brown suit entered with a mask on his face. “Do it again,” he ordered in a growl.

  “Sir…” hesitated a female black headed nurse. “I’m not sure this is safe. If she’s not showing signs of advancement, then she most likely never will,” she responded nervously.

  “Do. It. Again,” the man stressed with much warning in his tone.

  “Is that…,” Sophie whispered.

  “Yes,” Jess confirmed.

  An IV was put into the girl’s arm, and gold liquid dripped from the bag into her body.

  “Cut her open if you have to,” the man offered eagerly as he watched with excitement.

  “It’s not necessary,” the nurse replied. “She has already had dialysis and we replaced her blood with the synthetic. This is just an added supplement to charge the DNA already placed within her body.”

  “Cut her if it’s needed,” the man said again not lifting his eyes from the sleeping girl. He paced the floor with much anticipation. “How long before I will know?” he asked, suddenly stopping to brush the girl’s hair from her face.

  “This is entirely experimental,” the nurse responded with fear in her voice. “It’s hard to tell. She is the first.”

  The man’s dark eyes glared at the nurse, before he turned to kiss the girl on her head. “Keep me posted!” he barked as he left the room. The girl and everything before Sophie disappeared into smoke. They were replaced with the same man and the same nurse in an office with a large red chair behind a huge wooden desk.

  “NOTHING!” he shouted as he slammed his fist on the desk.

  He had a short military haircut, but you could see the dark brown roots of what remained. His eyes were dilated in his furry. There was a hint of a chocolate brown around the widened pupils. He stood about 6’5” with broad shoulders, and very distinguished facial features. His brown suit matched his eyes, and he had obviously not yet acquired the need for a cane yet.

  “We told you that it was experimental,” stammered the nurse, clearly fearing for her life. “There were NO guarantees,” she tried to emphasize.

  “Leave,” the man ordered. “Before I change my mind,” he barked as he spun his back to her in the red chair. The girl didn’t hesitate to follow her orders and raced out of the office. The scene before Sophie quickly turned into smoke.

  “Why are these different?” Sophie asked with curiosity.

  “Because they’re my memories,” Jess stated flatly.

  “You witnessed that last one?” Sophie asked confused.

  “From the vent in the wall. He never knew,” Jess said walking away.

  “What did he do?” Sophie asked as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat and raced after her mother.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Jess said continuing to walk away from her daughter. “I only wanted to show you what I did know, so you knew it was not my choice.”

  “Mom,” Sophie said suddenly stopping. “I’m sorry for thinking otherwise. I didn’t know,” she said staring down at her feet.

  Jess quickly swatted at the tears that threatened to escape her eyes before she faced her daughter.

  “I did my best to make your gifts your assets. Don’t ever think of them as anything other than that,” Jess said in her motherly voice.

  “Yes, Mother,” Sophie said giving her a smile.

  Jess walked up to Sophie. “Now sleep, Peanut,” she whispered before touching her forehead and forcing Sophie into a deep restful sleep.

  “Hey,” Jack said, wrapping his arms around Jess’ waist as she stared at the wooden door that had closed once Sophie was through. “She’s going to be fine,” he assured in her ear.

  “We don’t really know that, though, do we?” Jess stated not moving her eyes.

  Jack stepped i
n front of his wife and caressed her face with his hands.

  “Actually, we do. We have done our best to give her the tools she needs to survive, and she excels beyond our dreams with every task. You should have more faith in her.” He caught her as she crumbled before him and held her as she cried all of her guilt and frustration away.

  “Do we have any clue where they are today?” Clarice sighed dramatically. It didn’t matter where they were now. She knew where they were headed, and she would beat them there.

  “I’m afraid not, Ma’am,” the eager blonde tech replied sulkily.

  Eddie waited patiently for Clarice to explode like she always did when they didn’t have answers, but Clarice remained impassive. Eddie watched her intently. Everyone had a pattern, and Clarice’s was off.

  “I’m going to prep the team,” Clarice shrugged. Realizing Eddie was watching her, she changed tactics. “If you don’t find her in the next 48 hours, you’ll be used as bait,” she barked to the lab rat. “And your boss will be joining you,” Clarice added sweetly before she headed back to the training room.

  There would be no team going with her on this trip. Clarice had left enough breadcrumbs and given Eddie the idea to reach out to Sophie’s friends and Mario both, and he had taken it all in eagerly. You would think he would be smarter by now, but Eddie wasn’t as bright as he claimed to be. Her father might think highly of him; however, Eddie was no different than any other human being. Easy to manipulate if given the proper material.

  Clarice whistled as she headed down the hall. Unfortunately, Eddie heard her as she did.

  Patterns never lie, and Clarice’s had changed drastically over the last couple of days. Eddie tried to replay all the conversations that had taken place before he sent those coded messages.

  It wasn’t until recently that Eddie, himself, realized that Mario was an old friend of Mrs. Harris. Eddie had never met him in person, or seen pictures of him, but it would only make sense for Mrs. Harris to trust Mario with Sophie when all was said and done.

  Although Mario’s records were scarce and mostly blacked out, Eddie had still put two and two together regardless of the fragmented trail left behind. It had always been suspected that someone came and saved Sophie, or she was already with them when Mr. and Mrs. Harris were taken out. There were just no clues that pieced together who that person was. It was the patterns that led Eddie to Mario. But did Clarice already know?

  The old man had also changed his patterns, indicating that he believed to be gaining the upper hand. Despite all of Eddie’s attempts, he hadn’t been able to find out what the old man was up to just yet.

  It didn’t help that Eddie had to be extremely careful when he did his digging. Mr. Eager Beaver, aka Clark, wasn’t helping matters either. The kid was good. Eddie was better. However, Clark’s constant nosing around made it almost impossible for Eddie to do the same for himself.

  The combined shifted patterns put Eddie on edge, and not feeling great for Sophie and her friends. Clarice was getting closer to Mario, and without knowing what the old man was up to Eddie realized that he couldn’t stand by waiting for Sophie to come save him anymore. Maybe he could still help her, within reason of course. It didn’t help that Mr. Harris had come to haunt Eddie’s dreams either.

  “Hello Edward,” Jack had said smiling once Eddie was convinced to open some random wooden door.

  “Mr. Harris?” Eddie had asked.

  “Yes, my son,” Mr. Harris had said, suddenly tossing a football at Eddie. It hit him lightly in the chest and fell to the ground. Eddie had stared at it. “You can’t catch it if you don’t even try,” Mr. Harris had chuckled.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening,” Eddie had said looking up to Mr. Harris in a fit of confusion.

  “You’re having a dream,” shrugged Mr. Harris. “How about we play your favorite game,” he smiled as he stepped aside and a giant chess board appeared. “I’m just here to talk,” Mr. Harris had assured as he sat down and waited patiently for Eddie to come join him.

  After much hesitation, Eddie had taken the seat across from Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris studied the board carefully before moving a black piece forward a square. Eddie had stared at him.

  “Seriously?” Eddie had asked.

  “Yes, Edward,” Mr. Harris had laughed at him.

  “It’s Eddie,” Eddie had mumbled.

  “Ok, Eddie,” Mr. Harris smiled warmly at him. “Then I’m just Jack,” he said winking. “Your move.”

  Eddie stared at Jack for a bit before shaking his head and staring at the board. He finally took a turn, then Jack had whispered, “It wasn’t our choice to leave you.”

  Eddie jerked his head up to stare at the man before him, but Jack kept his eyes on the board as if contemplating his next move.

  “I guess not,” Eddie had finally mumbled after Jack had made his move.

  “It was not ideal to die and leave you two abandoned,” Jack had said a bit more firmly than he had intended before studying the board again.

  “I didn’t know he killed you,” Eddie had offered while Jack looked for his next move.

  “I know, Son,” Jack had said while he waited for Eddie to make the next move.

  “And now I can’t leave,” Eddie had said still staring at Jack.

  “I know, Son,” Jack said in a softer tone looking back at Eddie. “No one is mad at you,” he assured. “Not even Jess,” he added.

  Eddie smiled and looked down to make his next move.

  “Eddie, there’s a much bigger chess game happening on the other side of that wooden door,” Jack had said in warning. “And I need my best player on board to help me win.”

  Eddie didn’t move his eyes off the board. He knew exactly what Jack was asking him to do. He tilted his head as he weighed his options.

  “She didn’t knowingly leave you behind, either,” Jack had stated while he stared at the board with Eddie.

  “She hasn’t exactly come looking either,” Eddie had said, with more anger than intended before moving his piece to take over one of Jack’s on the board.

  “It’s hard to come looking when you’re constantly running,” Jack had said as he stared at the board before him. “But getting amnesia doesn’t exactly help either,” he shrugged speaking in his fatherly tone.

  Of course! The van had done the damage that Eddie feared. That’s why Sophie’s pattern altered for so long.

  “How much is still lost?” Eddie had asked trying to sound casual.

  “Enough to be in more danger than usual,” Jack had stated once he made his move. “It’s coming back, but it’s a slow process.”

  “So, she doesn’t remember me,” Eddie said flatly as he made a second attempt to take over Jack’s pawn.

  “More than you would think,” Jack had said with a Cheshire grin as he moved his pawn to safety. “Everyone wants to win the game,” Jack had said looking up at Eddie. “Some games require assistance, and this is one of them.”

  “He’ll kill me, you know,” Eddie had said staring back at Jack.

  Jack’s face had fallen. “Yes, it’s a possibility,” he had said with sorrow in his voice. “Stopping him is worth the price, don’t you think?”

  Eddie stared at Jack.

  “Letting Sophie be free for the first time in her life would be worth bending the rules a time or two, wouldn’t it?” Eddie didn’t answer. “Knowing she was finally safe would be worth everything, wouldn’t it?” Jack had pushed.

  Eddie’s eyes grew misty. Jack had stood up and come to pull Eddie into his arms and rock with him like Mrs. Harris used to.

  “The choice is yours, Son,” Jack had continued on. “But right now, you need to get some sleep,” he had said pulling back and touching Eddie lightly on his forehead.

  Eddie didn’t wake up until the next morning, feeling fully rested, and his heart full once more. Eddie knew exactly what he had to do. Help Sophie reach safety.

  So, when he had learned of Clarice’s plan to attack Mario in Ma
ine, Eddie had sent everyone home. He had carefully hacked Tina’s burner phone to send a message from Mario so they would surely go, and one to Mario from Tina to come. He had erased his tracks and prayed that it had worked.

  Eddie knew Clarice was excited to take out Mario. It would be an extensive blow to Sophie, even Eddie knew that much. So, he had done everything in his power to spare her. They had pulled the teams long ago from Sophie’s house. Only one agent remained to watch it.

  Sophie would be able to take them out in a heartbeat. And maybe going home would help her with her memory loss. Maybe going home would help her remember him. Eddie knew better than to get his hopes up, but it didn’t hurt to try. However, Clarice’s pattern remained off. Something still wasn’t right…

  Everyone had been traveling to various places across the United States, being caught occasionally on camera and enjoying the fact that they were taunting the man with the cane to find them. It was almost time to head to Kansas City and meet up, but Sophie’s head had been spinning since Halloween.

  She had always known she was different from everyone else. It never dawned on her that it was more than just weirdness that kept her different from the rest of the human population. Was she even actually human after everything the man with the cane did to her mother? This was a very unsettling thought.

  Her mother and Tina had called her “the protector.” The protector of what? The key had led to a dead end, and although it was a powerful weapon for the man with the cane, it was purposely incomplete. It made no sense to hold onto it for Sophie’s whole life when it was useless without the code to the satellite her father had altered. Nothing made sense.

  Why did Mario ask them to go home? He had never done that before. He knew how painful it was for her, so they had avoided it at all costs. So, why go back now?