Corinne's eyes fell shut as she gave him one final push that made her stomach clench with disgust.
She heard the gun go off, with her eyes still closed, she felt the bullet tear through her skin and skull. She felt it slice through her brain as if it was thin air, and burst out through the back of her head.
“Corinne!” Lisa hissed sharply as in the same moment of confusion Aaron launched himself forward, tackling the female robber to the ground. He disarmed her easily, and grinned maniacally as he finally had his hands on a weapon.
As soon as the shot had been fired the SWAT had surged into the bank, and soon they were lost in the midst of rescued hostages and uniformed SWAT with weapons drawn. Aaron was gleefully inspecting his weapon when he suddenly found himself with four men surrounding him, weapons drawn and pointed at his head.
“Really?” He sighed as he lowered the weapon and reluctantly dropped it to the ground. Aaron was momentarily restrained while the SWAT tried to sort out what had happened.
Lisa was crouched over Corinne her trembling fingers stroking back through wisps of Corinne's blonde hair.
“Wake up.” She pleaded beside Corinne's ear. As the woman and her son were ushered past Lisa and Corinne, the woman could not stop repeating the same words.
“He was going to shoot me, I don't understand, he was going to shoot me.”
Lisa watched as the woman walked past. To her it was like seeing a ghost, as she should have been dead. Were it not for Corinne's interference, she would have been dead, yet the woman would never know that.
Only Aaron had actually taken any visible action, and that would be swept under the rug as him being an overzealous hostage that had jumped up to help when he saw the chance. A pool of blood was spreading quickly across the floor, stretching out in all directions. Corinne's eyes hesitantly opened. The dark green shade of her gaze was haunted by what she had just done, and the sensation she had shared with the man who lay in the middle of the puddle.
“He was going to shoot her.” Corinne whispered, as if to exonerate herself of responsibility. Lisa nodded as she continued to stroke Corinne's head soothingly.
“I know, you did well.” She offered in an awkward attempt to reassure her. As Corinne got to her feet she did not feel as if she had done well. She felt as if she had been shot in the head. Because she had been so connected with the man, when he shot himself, she felt what he felt.
Once Aaron was released they left the same way they came in. Daniel glanced up from where he was speaking with the police chief and the leader of the SWAT team. His eyes found Corinne's, and the sheer horror that inhabited them.
He watched the three until they were settled into their vehicle, then turned his attention back to Ernie, who was thrilled that he had been able to return the Mayor his wife and child, and of course, the safe rescue of the other hostages.
“What I don't understand,” He said as he scratched the top of his head. “How did that coin machine get in there?”
Daniel smiled faintly. “Some things are a mystery.”
4
“You were reckless.” Corinne accused as Aaron slammed the front door of the house open and stormed inside. She followed right behind him, with Cori and Lisa hanging back in anticipation of the sibling explosion that was about to occur. The entire drive home Corinne had been lecturing Aaron about his impulsive actions, and how dangerous it could have been for all of them. Aaron sat silently, as if unaffected by Corinne's words.
He tried to head out the back door to avoid his sister, but she was there before he could escape, with her hand pressed against the door. He stared hard at the door, as she continued to harp on his mistakes.
“We are a team, Aaron, if you don't start acting like it, we're all going to end up dead.”
Aaron turned his head sharply to the side, and the moment that his eyes met Corinne's he lost his last shred of control. She could see within the depths of his gaze the wildness that had been released and immediately regretted not letting him slip away.
“I did what I had to do Corinne!” He shouted directly in her voice, his words edged with control but still loud enough to be heard by Cori and Lisa who had reluctantly entered the living room. “What would you have done?” He demanded as he did not leave an inch of space between them. “Waited until they all got shot?” He narrowed his lashes tightly leaving only slivers of green to asses her with. “Life is messy Corinne, life is risky.”
He stole a glimpse at the kitchen door, knowing that Cori and Lisa were not far beyond it. “You treat us like we are fragile, well maybe you were raised that way, but none of us were.” He growled his words as if she disgusted him. “Stop trying to protect us, we can handle that ourselves, and if you do not like the way I do things, maybe you are the one who is not part of the team.”
With that he shoved his hand hard against the back door, threatening to break it in half if Corinne did not move aside. Corinne was so stunned by his words that she did back away. She did not have time to speak before he was through the door. He slammed it shut behind him. When Corinne turned away from the door, she found Cori and Lisa standing in the kitchen entrance.
“Are you okay?” Lisa asked tentatively, she was never sure if it was appropriate to ask.
Corinne sunk down the wall as she felt the weight of the day overcome her. She ended up sitting flat on the floor, with her head hung low and her hands covering her face. Lisa and Cori looked on with confusion. Neither understood the enormity of the emotions that Corinne was experiencing.
“Do you want me to cook you something?” Lisa offered. She had heard of comfort food, and thought that might be helpful.
“No.” Corinne said from behind her hands. Her head was still throbbing with the remnants of the pain she had experienced when her victim had been shot. She realized as silence swallowed her up that she had caused that pain that she had taken a man's life, and had not hesitated to do so. Aaron was right about one thing, she had not been raised that way.
She had not been raised to treat people as if they were things rather than people. Her past had been full of abuse and neglect, but in each experience she had known that her abusers were human, whereas it seemed Aaron, Lisa, and Cori had been taught that the rest of the world was expendable.
She was still sitting in the same place when Daniel arrived a few hours later. Lisa and Cori had given up and retreated to their rooms.
“Corinne?” Daniel murmured as he pulled her hands gently away from her face. “Hey, it's me.” He reassured her when a wild look of panic that he had not seen for some time surfaced in her eyes. He did not ask if she was okay, or what she needed, he only pulled her into his arms and held her close.
Corinne was soothed by his presence, in a family full of strangers, Daniel knew her best.
5
Mr. Reynolds leaned his hands heavily against the railing that lined the rooftop of his building. He gazed out over the skyline of the city, at the numerous other skyscrapers that were testaments to what wealth and power could create. He smiled to himself as he passed his gaze below him, to the street that was filled with ant-like creatures, hurrying and scurrying for that next crumb. Soon they would be fighting for what he offered, a chance to be great, a chance to be superhuman.
The research that had been recovered from the remains of Conner's facility had been “lost” in the chain of evidence. It now resided in the more than capable hands of various scientists. Each was given a portion of it, so that they would not grasp the whole picture.
This was how the Red Diamond Project had been born. A generation ago, when his own father was the driving force behind a need to evolve the human mind and capability with technology surging and overtaking the world of science, his father had become obsessed with the notion that the human machine could be improved as well.
He and a group of other wealthy high-powered men from around the world had hand-picked their most promising minds and scientists and without revealing the truth behind their intent
ions they assigned them the task of discovering the next step in human development. Most believed their research was for the sake of eliminating fatal illnesses, or regenerating injured organs and body parts. Most would be horrified to know Mr. Reynolds’s purpose, and mortified that their own work, had made it possible.
Genetic design was just being born fifty years ago. Along with it, Conner Mitchell was born. He had a trend within his blood line toward supernatural abilities, his ancestors were speckled with skilled psychics and faith healers. His parents were both highly esteemed scientists who were more than eager to discover whether genetic design could create the perfect child. Unbeknownst to Conner he became the first successful genetically engineered infant.
Though his skills were powerful, and his intelligence was off the charts, he had no greater capabilities than his ancestors had. Believing that his genes could continue to be altered and amplified they dosed him from the time he was two years old, well into adulthood, under the guise of medical treatment.
Since he was raised with the same passion as his parents had, and in a scientific environment, when it was revealed to him that those treatments had been for the sake of augmenting his already superior genetics, he was more than happy to comply with testing and experiments. However, his parents insisted that the truth of his conception never be revealed to him.
It was not long before Conner discovered the flaw in the original research. He pointed this out to a team of scientists that he worked with. Although altering the egg and sperm before conception did have an impact on the infants created, their real development occurred while in the womb. At first he attempted to “grow” infants in artificial wombs that could be accessed so that their development could be altered on a weekly basis.
However none of these embryos survived, and in the end Conner was discouraged. It was not until he began studying pregnant women, and actually taught himself to be an obstetrician so that he could be in direct contact with several women during their pregnancies, that he came to the conclusion that the womb was a necessity for healthy development. This posed a new concern, as attempting to access an embryo inside of the womb was usually very dangerous for both the growing baby and the mother.
He tried dosing the mothers with an enhancement drug that he hoped would reach the embryo through the mother's bloodstream, however this only caused severe illness in the mother, and often debilitating birth defects in the infants.
It took him several more years to finally figure out the key. He designed a long thin needle, similar to that used in amniocentesis that could be inserted into the womb, rather than slicing through it. Because it needed to deliver a drug its tip was diamond shaped, and had to be inserted in the same vein each time. Although it posed a risk of infection, it was a much lower risk than his previous treatments.
Soon he was recruiting healthy young adult women whose genetic map mirrored his own. He harvested their eggs, and fertilized them with what was classified as donor sperm in his paperwork. Both the egg and the sperm were augmented first, their already stellar genetic makeup designed to be even better. Once inseminated, the embryo was injected once a week with additional genetic enhancement drugs.
The mothers were told that the injections were to prevent birth defects and future illness, in the hopes that their research would end all fatal illness in children. What actually happened was several pre-term labors. The infants that did survive suffered from such extreme birth defects that they did live very long after birth. The mothers were either paid off or silenced in other ways. When Conner found Bethany, he was certain she would be the right match. He documented every aspect of her life, both physical and emotional.
Because of so many previous failures Conner decided to try a different kind of experiment with Bethany. He inseminated her with two embryos. Embryo A was dosed weekly. Embryo B was not. Conner wanted to study the difference in the two, so that he could prove that directly dosing the embryo as it grew could alter it beyond what the genetic design could.
Both babies grew at a healthy rater. Bethany showed no signs of illness beyond what would be expected with a twin pregnancy.
When the infants reached full term, his notes were filled with expectations of the birth. He assumed that the infants would be healthy and free of birth defects. He was certain that his research had finally succeeded.
The only factor he did not plan for, was the will of a mother to protect her children. The babies were born healthy. Baby B was born first screaming and squirming as any infant should, without a mark on him. Baby A was born next, silent and pale. The only hint of color on her body was a bright red diamond shaped birthmark where she had been injected with the drug on a weekly basis.
“Red diamond.” Was noted several times in Conner's papers.
Although the baby appeared to have been born without life, her vital signs were perfect. She simply did not open her eyes, nor did she offer a sound. Conner was puzzled by this and did everything he could to stimulate the baby. Nothing worked.
In the end he lay both babies in their mother's arms, hoping that skin-to-skin contact would enliven the silent baby girl.
The moment her skin touched her brother's, her eyes slid wide open. She gazed at Conner with such sorrow that he was certain she knew exactly what he had done to her. She fell asleep in her mother's arms. Bethany began to feel as if her babies were in danger, even more so than she had when Alice disappeared.
She felt a sense of urgency, as if her mind was compelled. She knew without question that she had to save her babies and get them away from Conner. She had no real plan or reasoning. She felt driven by a force beyond herself.
She escaped by threatening to harm the babies. There were armed guards ready to harm her, but Conner was terrified of his perfect projects being injured, so he made them stand down.
Bethany knew she did not have much time, and she was still suffering from giving birth, her body hurt so badly that she was certain she could not make it through the doors.
Despite her pain she continued to move, one foot after the other. Her baby boy was screaming, but her baby girl was silent as if she was sleeping. She managed to get into her car and bundled up the babies in the blankets she had made for them. One was embroidered with the name Corinne, the other, with the name Aaron. It had been a small gift she wanted to offer to the children, though she knew she would not get to raise them. With one hand on the infants she drove to the hospital. She had no car seats, no bottles, she had not expected the babies to come home with her.
She nearly crashed the car in the parking lot, but nothing could slow her down. She knew that Conner's men would be right behind her. She hurried through the sliding glass doors of the hospital and was handing the babies over to a confused nurse when the fire alarm in the building went off. The nurse hurried away with Corinne, expecting Bethany who was still clutching Aaron to follow. Bethany was certain it was Conner's men that set off the alarm. She was too scared to hand Aaron to any of the faces that hurried by her, unsure if they would be working for Conner. She ran with Aaron out of the hospital and back to the car.
The further she drove from Corinne the less she was able to overcome the exhaustion and physical depletion of her body. She knew that she would die soon, and if she did, either Aaron would be killed in the accident, or Conner's men would find him. She pulled off on the side of a busy highway and laid Aaron, only in a diaper, on the edge of the road. She hoped that a driver would spot him quickly and take him to the hospital. Then to throw off Conner's men she forced herself to climb back into the car. She drove as far as she could before she passed out behind the wheel. The last thing she saw was the headlights of an oncoming car.
6
Mr. Reynolds did not know the whole story, he only knew that Conner's flaw of feeling empathy for the woman who carried his projects was the reason that one of their test subjects was tainted by the interference of the hospital staff and their inability to comprehend how the infant could be so silent. She was put th
rough several tests and exposed to far too much human interaction to be unblemished.
So instead of reclaiming Corinne, Conner decided to monitor her from afar. It was a decision that Mr. Reynolds was infuriated over, unfortunately he was not made of aware of it until Corinne was deep into the foster child system. Reclaiming her at that point ran the risk of exposing Conner and his other projects, or even in the long run, Mr. Reynolds' connection with Conner.
As far as he knew, Corinne had demonstrated no outward display of supernatural abilities, and Mr. Reynolds had assumed that she was yet another one of Conner's failures. Aaron on the other hand, exhibited a skill beyond expectations. He had the strength of ten men from the time he was a toddler. Because of the chaos he could create with a temper tantrum he was isolated and restrained on a regular basis.
Often he had to be kept on several sedatives to prevent him from hurting himself or others. Conner worried the medication would interfere with his development but instead Aaron proved to be extremely intelligent. The enhanced strength in his system did seem to have one side affect, his temper was very short.
Conner was not certain if that was due to personality or a potential hormonal imbalance, but either way when combined with Aaron's strength it was quite dangerous. Conner used a mixture of his own ability to manipulate energy, physical abuse, and carefully measured out bouts of affection to dominate Aaron and prevent him from becoming out of control.
Now it had been quite some time since Aaron had escaped, and Mr. Reynolds was waiting for the day when the inevitable time bomb that he was would explode. He had seen the news reports of the bank robbery that had been foiled by unknown means. The media alluded to mysterious circumstances including the suicide of one of the robbers.
Mr. Reynolds knew of Corinne's entire life. He knew of her intention to marry a police detective. He was completely aware that she, Aaron, and Lisa were working with the police. He was fine with allowing it for the moment, it was a great way for him to get a clear, open view of the extent of their abilities. He would allow them the illusion of freedom, but his men were constantly surrounding all of them. At any given moment he could destroy them all, or simply bring them home.
Terregon (Book Two of The Red Diamond Saga) Page 2