The Evolution Trilogy: Hybrid, Complications & Return

by Vanessa Wester

  ‘Is she alright?’ Ian could not help but be concerned. A part of him still felt guilty for rejecting her all those years earlier. She was a lovely woman, but he had fallen in love with Carmen. It was not his fault.

  ‘I can’t tell you what the problem is, but we’re doing what we can to help her. She’s got herself into a tricky situation.’

  Ian had no idea of what that could be. ‘Do I need to know what it is?’

  ‘No, you don’t need to know. Not right now, anyway.’

  ‘In that case, I leave her under your care. I’m sure you know what you’re doing. Is Tobias ready, does he know he’s our guinea pig, so as to speak?’

  ‘We’ve explained it to him, he’s happy to try,’ Catherine blinked a few times, ‘we know what to do if it fails.’

  ‘Success could change everything.’

  Catherine smiled. ‘It could indeed. What a life we could lead then. It’s a shame there’s no Noble prize in the community, I’ve always fancied having a few accolades’ behind my name.’

  ‘Vanity,’ Ian sighed, with a cheeky grin.

  ‘You know Ingrid has been a big help. She’s exceptional really. She explained the test to Tobias. I believe it would help me if she came, just in case Tobias decides to run. She can calm him down.’

  Ian shrugged his shoulders. ‘Talk to Eilif, if he wants her to go I don’t have a problem with it.’

  ‘In that case I will.’

  ‘Thanks for everything, sis, Dad would be proud of you,’ Ian smiled.

  ‘Both of them were proud of you, little brother. Sis, huh,’ she shook her head. ‘I am your elder, wiser sister, I’ll have you know.’

  ‘If it makes you feel better, then fine. We all know the truth,’ he smirked.

  Catherine laughed. She stopped, on another thought, ‘Do you think Anna will be back to her normal self soon?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ian squirmed, ‘she seems lost. I don’t know what any of us can do. You would have thought that with Emily gone she would be free. She always said that she hated their connection, whatever that was. It’s almost as though something else is affecting her. But, I can’t imagine what that would be?’

  ‘No, neither can I?’ Catherine agreed, her eyes focused now.

  ‘You look like something has come to your mind?’ he could tell she was lost on another thought.

  Catherine moved towards the door. ‘No, nothing at all. Best get on. Keep up the good work, little bro.’ She gave a little giggle and made her way out.

  Ian shook his head and chuckled as locked the door. He was glad he had a big sister, he could not imagine coping with any of this without her.

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  Chapter 29

  New Blood

  Catherine hurried back to the laboratory. She wanted to talk to Ingrid and Eilif first, and then catch up with Else and Lucy. The past few days had gone by in a whirlwind. She had neglected her teaching and assigned other leaders to take her place. Her decision to leave the community impacted her role as mental agility coordinator. If she was honest, she missed it. There was beauty in using the mind. Numbers fascinated her. And yet, over the past few months she had learnt a lot about herself. Things she never knew she would enjoy.

  The fact was she liked taking charge. Even Isaac seemed to enjoy his newfound position of power. Things were going to change for them as they took on the role of leaders in Borneo. She strangely relished the challenge. In the community, they had opted to raise their family and work hard. They never wanted to lead. In a way, she hoped they would be good leaders because of the fact they didn’t necessarily want the job. She doubted the role would go to their heads, at least she hoped it wouldn’t.

  Once at the lab, she tapped on the window to get their attention. When Ingrid looked up, Catherine smiled and pointed to the entrance. Ingrid held up her hand to indicate five minutes, and then spoke to Eilif, who glanced in Catherine’s direction and nodded.

  Catherine was glad Else was in her office. She walked through the open door, ‘Can we talk?’ She closed the door behind her. Once she was within reaching distance, she whispered, ‘How is Lucy?’

  ‘Bigger,’ Else raised her eyebrows.

  ‘I found a way to keep everyone from looking for her.’

  ‘That’s good,’ Else said, ‘No questions?’

  ‘No. In fact, she could be gone a long time and no-one would bat an eyelid.’

  ‘Impressive. In that case we can relax. She still has a few more weeks before she has to deliver, at best it might be two months.’

  ‘Would she be able to travel before then? Catherine asked.

  ‘Travel?’ Else frowned, ‘No, I wouldn’t encourage it.’

  ‘Okay, so she’ll have to have the babies here then.’

  Else stood up, ‘We’ve never dealt with a multiple birth. I’m making all the arrangements and have set up an incubation room. The chances are that the babies will need help when they’re born. I’ll need some of my staff to help. They will of course keep quiet. I only employ staff I trust, those with discretion.’

  ‘Thank you, I know you’ll do your best. I’ll go and check on her later. First, I need to talk to Ingrid and Eilif. They’ll leave with Tobias tomorrow.’

  Else nodded. ‘Are you convinced the new blood will work?’

  ‘Are you not?’

  ‘I have some doubts,’ Else shrugged her shoulders, ‘but we’ll see.’

  Catherine made her way to the door, glanced back and gave a small smile before she left. At least Lucy was in good hands.

  She met Ingrid and Eilif at the entrance to the lab. ‘Ian has given you the go ahead to come and help with Tobias.’

  Ingrid beamed and lightly punched the air. ‘Excellent.’

  ‘I’m happy for you,’ Eilif said, ‘are you coming to see Tobias with us?’

  ‘Sure,’ Catherine said. She followed them down the corridor to the medical suites. She was relieved Lucy was well hidden. Else had made sure no-one would bump into her unless it was intentional.

  They came to a small room where Tobias was housed. They did not want to risk him being in the general accommodation this time. They needed to get to their destination well on time, so that he was not comatose when he had to drink the blood.

  Eilif opened the door. Tobias was lying down on the bed reading a book. He sat up and put the book aside as they walked in, he stared at Ingrid and his cheeks flushed.

  ‘Tobias, all well?’

  ‘Ye-Yes,’ Tobias said, he peeled his eyes off Ingrid and stared at the floor.

  Catherine ignored the reaction, and said, ‘Good news, we’re leaving in the morning.’

  ‘W-We are?’ Tobias asked.

  ‘Yes, the three of us will be with you. Ian has agreed that it’s best for Ingrid to come along. You’re in good hands,’ Catherine said, ‘we wanted to make sure you’re happy about everything.’

  ‘Th-Thank you, I’m glad Ingrid’s also coming,’ Tobias hesitated, as two deep dimples formed, ‘and I’m fine about the new procedure.’

  The way he glanced quickly at Ingrid before he averted his eyes left Catherine in no doubt that a serious crush had developed. It amused her, yet she suppressed the smile. She sat on the chair. ‘Procedure is too harsh a word. All you have to do is drink. If we do our job right you’ll change and become one of us. For the first time ever, one of us will have changed without the need to kill an ordinary human. It’s ground breaking.’

  Tobias kept his eyes to the floor.

  ‘Tobias, we’re all really proud of you for agreeing to do this,’ Ingrid added.

  Tobias raised his head and smiled at her, the colour on his cheeks now a deeper red.

  Eilif raised his eyebrows suggestively and gave a half-smile in Catherine’s direction. This time she couldn’t hold back, her lips curled and she bit her inner cheek.

  ‘Right well, if you’re happy about everything then I’ll leave you with Eilif and Ingrid and see you tomorrow,’ Catherine said, t
hen made her way out of the room.

  She heard Eilif get out the equipment to check Tobias blood pressure and symptoms. They were leaving nothing to chance with this one. Tobias would turn twenty in three days. Then they would find out if the new blood they had designed worked. If it did many opportunities would arise.

  Catherine made her way over to Lucy’s room. It was at the end of the corridor where they had converted one of the soundproofed research rooms. It was best to not think about the research that had been carried out there in the past.

  She typed in the code and heard the door click as it unlocked. She opened it, and found herself in a box room, with another door on the other side. Once she had secured the main door she opened the secondary entrance. The sight of Lucy lying on the bed made her hold her breath. Lucy had got a lot bigger in the space of days. Lucy was fast asleep, perspiration dripped down her forehead.

  Catherine dipped a cloth in the water basin, scrunched it, and pressed it against her forehead.

  ‘Thank you,’ Lucy whispered, as her eyelids fluttered and she slowly opened her eyes.

  Catherine took the cloth off her head, immersed it in the water and repeated the process.

  ‘Can I have some water?’ Lucy asked.

  Catherine filled the empty glass with water from the jug and helped Lucy sit up as she handed it over.

  Lucy wiggled up and took the glass. She downed it in one, and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

  ‘Better?’ Catherine asked. ‘You should eat something. Your food looks untouched.’

  ‘I know. I just felt queasy before. I might try to eat again.’

  Catherine picked up the plate of food and handed it over. Lucy tentatively took a bite of the bread and chewed slowly.

  ‘Do you need more blood?’

  Lucy sighed, ‘Yes.’

  Catherine opened one of the bottles. Lucy held out her hand and drank it quickly. Her eyes took on a new shine, but her shoulders remained slumped.

  Suddenly, Lucy gave a shriek of pain and dropped the plate on the floor as she grabbed her side. Catherine quickly held Lucy’s upper body and rocked her gently. Tears saturated Catherine’s top.

  ‘Catherine, I don’t know if I can handle this,’ Lucy winced, ‘it’s so painful. The way they kick me, it really hurts.’

  ‘Let me get a bath ready for you. It might help,’ Catherine pulled back and helped Lucy on to the bed.

  ‘Okay, thank you.’

  Five minutes later, Catherine returned to help Lucy get to the bathroom. When Lucy got up her knees bent down and she grabbed her huge belly, and then groaned, ‘My pelvis. It’s in agony.’

  ‘Okay, take it slow.’ Catherine felt so sorry for Lucy. She had been pregnant several times, but she had never been in that amount of pain. She knew other women had difficulty, but she was one of the lucky ones.

  She started to help Lucy undress.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Lucy froze, ‘just give me some time alone. I can do this. I’ll call you if I need help.’

  ‘I’ll be outside,’ Catherine eased out of the room.

  Twenty minutes later, Catherine knocked on the door,’ Lucy, are you okay?’ When there was no reply, she gently pushed open the door. ‘Lucy?’

  The sight of red water made her gulp. She lifted an unconscious Lucy out of the water and quickly laid her on the bed, before she pressed the emergency button. The babies did not want to wait another minute. She raised Lucy’s legs to check for dilation and was not surprised to find she was fully dilated.

  Catherine shook Lucy’s face slightly to try to wake her up, but had no success. She took her blood pressure and found it was really weak. She had lost too much blood.

  A few minutes later, Else entered, quickly followed by Doctor Johannes and a few other assistants.

  ‘How long has she been unconscious for?’ Else fired.

  ‘No longer than ten, maybe fifteen minutes. She was in the bath, I didn’t realise,’ Catherine hesitated, ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Doctor Johannes snapped, ‘the babies need to come out now. With her unconscious, we’ll have to do a C-section. Get the prep room ready now,’ he barked at the assistants.

  They scurried off into the adjoining room and returned to carry Lucy into the next room after no time at all.

  Doctor Johannes raised his voice again, ‘We’re losing her. Let’s hurry.’

  Catherine’s eyes widened. She could not understand what they meant by losing her. They could not lose her. All they needed was blood, she rushed out the room in search of Eilif, and tried to ignore the fact she was splattered in Lucy’s blood.

  As she reached Tomas’s room, she found Eilif outside. At least he was alone. ‘I need some of the new blood, I need it now.’

  Eilif held out his hands, ‘We only have a small amount, and it’s for Tobias. You look a state, what’s happened?’

  ‘I need the blood, don’t ask me to explain now, please.’

  Eilif scrunched his eyes, ‘Okay. Follow me and give me a quick explanation, it’s the least you can do.’

  ‘Okay, let’s go.’

  As they raced down the corridor and made their way to the lab, Catherine explained someone was injured. She could not tell him it was Lucy.

  From the tone of his voice she could tell Eilif was not impressed, but he gave her the blood he had, ‘I hope you know what you’re doing. I’ll start production and try to make more in time for Tobias. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice. He will have to kill.’

  ‘Okay, thank you. Don’t follow me, please.’ Catherine raced back.

  Once she had got past the security doors, she raced into the room. She could see them all working quickly around Lucy. She was sure she could hear a faint whimper. She was amazed the babies might have been born already. ‘Use this blood to save Lucy.’

  They set up an IV quickly and the blood was put in pouches just as the monitor let off a continuous beep and Lucy flat lined. The blood started to flow into Lucy and still the heartbeat was gone. After a minute, it was obvious the blood was not working. She had been too late. And yet, she considered another way. ‘Pump, her heart, please don’t give up, I’ll be back as soon as possible.’

  Else faced her, ‘Catherine, Lucy’s gone.’

  ‘No, she’s not gone. I’ll be back,’ she shouted, ‘pump her heart.’

  She raced out again in search of Caitlin. It was a distant hope, but perhaps her blood could heal her. She could not bear to think that Lucy was dead.

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  Chapter 30

  Last Hope

  Caitlin was starting to get fed up of being cooped up in Steven’s room. It was great to be all in love with Steven again, it really was. But, she wanted to see more than four walls and they had already watched every DVD and played every game he had. She was approaching a brain dead state, and that was saying something for her. In her past life, she always wanted to stop and do as little as possible. Somehow, she was always too busy to stop back then, but now she finally had she could not help resenting it. Boredom was a killer.

  Steven came and went as he pleased; he was not hidden from the community. He tried to keep her up to date with it all. The problem was she was done with hearing about it. She wanted to be a part of it. The sound of the key in the door made her breathe a sigh of relief. She could do with the company even though she wondered why Steven had returned early.

  When a flustered Catherine peeked through the door, Caitlin frowned as she said, ‘Catherine? Nice to see you here, I think?’

  ‘Caitlin, I need your help,’ Catherine said, her tone urgent, desperate, ‘it’s a difficult situation and I know you’ll have questions, but can you just trust me and come with me. Please?’

  Caitlin was desperate to get out of the room, so it was not exactly a tough decision.

  The word rolled out easily enough, ‘Sure.’

  As she raced after Catherine in the direction of the laboratories and the medical
suites, Caitlin started to get concerned. The place didn’t bring any fond memories. She was convinced she put her depression behind her, yet she knew her emotions were still brittle. She was not sure she wanted to go back there.

  ‘Catherine?’ She stopped.

  Catherine turned, quickly retraced her steps and held Caitlin’s hand. ‘Trust me, please.’

  Caitlin did not want to carry on, but she had always found it hard to say no to anyone and Catherine did look beside herself. ‘Okay.’ Even though the words come out she really wanted to take them back, but she couldn’t. Instead, they raced on.

  At a junction in the corridor, they turned in the opposite direction to where she had stayed. That gave her a small relief. Eventually, they reached a keypad activated door. She was getting more curious by the minute. She wondered what or who needed to be hidden so well.

  Once inside, her jaw slackened as she saw the amount of medical staff around.

  ‘Wait here,’ Catherine said.

  Caitlin stood straight and watched as people entered and left the room in a flurry. She could hear some strange muffled noises that she could not place.

  Barely a minute has gone by before Catherine came back. ‘Caitlin, please come with me. I’ll explain all later. Try to keep calm and keep an open mind.’

  Caitlin walked towards the door and entered the hive of activity. The first thing that caught her eye was the body on the bed. A woman, with a mask over her mouth and nose and a load of devices around her. She could see a heart monitor beeping away, but it seemed erratic, wrong somehow. Then she realised there were three massive incubators to the side of the room. This was where a lot of the activity centred. She focused on each one in turn and realised each housed a baby. She had not seen a new-born before but she imagined that’s what they were.

  Catherine’s eyes darted between the body and the incubators. ‘Lucy, a dear friend of mine, is dying. They have managed to resuscitate her, but only just. She is hanging on by a thin thread. The new blood might have helped, but she is still critical. Caitlin, please, can you help?’