by M. A Casey
“Is she as good a cook as you?” Ian asked doubtfully.
“Better actually,” Mum replied confidently.
He seemed surprised at this and headed back into the lounge to join Davis. I kept adding then tasting until it was nearly perfect.
“Just a smidge more oregano,” I said as I sprinkled it in, "there.”
I grabbed the oil to return it to the pantry and told Mum to have a taste. As I returned, she was chuckling to herself.
“Hayln, this is perfect. You certainly do have a talent for this.”
I just shrugged not knowing what to say.
“You know, if you ever decide to give science away, you should really start cooking.”
Now I was laughing. Of course, I had never tested my talents on anything other than science so it could be intriguing to see what else I was capable of. I noticed Zeke was still outside with the rabbits so I went to join him. As I left the kitchen, Mum reminded me that dinner wouldn’t be long.
“What’s so funny?” He asked.
“Apparently Mum thinks I should ditch science and become a chef.” I said still smiling as I sat next to him.
“Have you been cooking?” He asked, sounding a little excited.
“No, Mum is making bolognaise I just helped with the herbs.”
“Awesome, I’m starving.”
He lay on the grass with his arms behind his head as the sun set. The last of the day’s sunshine flickering across his body. I couldn’t help but admire him. His eyes were closed which was a shame of course but his face was peaceful. His shirt clinging to the muscles in his chest and arms. I wished everything could fade away behind us so we could lay here together – just the two us.
And, as if he could hear what I was thinking, Emin bounded out of the house, to interrupt us.
“Do you smell that?” He closed his eyes inhaling the last of the smell as he left the house. “I’m starving.”
“Me too,” Zeke said propping himself up onto one elbow.
“How was your afternoon in the lab?” Emin asked in a whispered voice.
I glanced over my shoulder before answering. “Pretty good actually, we might have figured it out, but we need to do some tests with the rabbits. Dad thought we should wait until Tyler leaves.”
“Good idea,” Emin confirmed.
“I was just getting used to them,” Zeke said patting the one with the black patch.
“Well if we are right, it won’t bother them at all. It will actually help them. But I certainly won’t start with our friend here.”
“He’s getting better, by the way, he sat up to get the food a couple of times,” Zeke said cheerfully.
He sat now and pulled some food from his pocket. He put the rabbit in front of us and tested him. Just like he said he sat on his hind legs and reached for the food.
“Well done,” I said patting our little friend. “Try again.”
Zeke held the food, but this time the rabbit ignored him.
“Like I said, he doesn’t get it right all the time, but he’s improved don’t you think?”
Emin shook his head at us getting excited over this little rabbit, but we ignored him.
“Very clever,” I said putting him back into his cage. “Hopefully we can try again tomorrow.”
“Dinner’s ready kids,” Mum called out to us after a while.
Both boys jumped up to get inside as quickly as possible, and I followed. Dad and Tyler came up from the lab, Tyler looked a little apprehensive.
“Are you staying for dinner Tyler?” Mum asked.
“No Mrs Knox, I better get back to Aunt Maive - and Spencer.” He sounded deflated, but I didn’t want to encourage him to stay when we needed him out of the lab.
We all said goodbye to him, and Mum dished up two plates for Davis and Ian. The rest of us took our seats at the table to enjoy our meal, it actually was delicious. All the boys including Davis and Ian had seconds saying it was the best spaghetti they’d ever had. Mum looked at me with a knowing smile which I returned to her. I sat back and watched them eat their meals, all thoroughly enjoying it. I felt satisfied, although I didn’t do much really.
Ian brought the plates back when he was finished, Davis rarely interacted with any of us unless it was to boss us around. Ian’s eyes found mine at the table, and gave me a slight nod to show his approval of the meal. Even this made me happy. Ian left the room again, and I turned to watch Emin practically lick his plate clean.
“It’s like you’ve never been fed before,” I said laughing.
“Well to be fair you and your mother have outdone yourselves,” Dad added.
“Hayln was the star today,” Mum said cutting him off.
“In the kitchen and the lab,” Dad said softly.
Now I felt embarrassed, I started clearing the table feeling everyone’s eyes on me.
“I’ll meet you in the lab Hayln, don’t forget the rabbits.”
I nodded and went outside to get the cages, Emin joined me.
“Try to get to bed by midnight,” he said quietly. “And don’t forget to wear the same pajamas as last night. I will wake you when were ready.”
We took the cages back inside when Davis met us at the stairs of the lab.
“What’s going on?” He asked sternly blocking the entrance.
“Dad asked us to bring the rabbit’s inside,” I confirmed stating the obvious.
“But why frea…. I mean Hayln” he said correcting himself. He must really like Mum’s cooking I thought to myself.
“He said he just wanted to try something, I’m not sure what he is up to.”
“Well, I’ll be watching, and if I think you’re up to something I’ll call Spencer - do you understand?”
“Well, when we figure this out we will want you to call him won’t we, to end this. You’re not the nicest house guest to live with you know.” Emin added, and we stalked past him down the stairs.
“Be careful,” he added to me quietly at the bottom of the stairs.
“Everything alright?” Dad asked, assessing our moods.
“Nothing a baseball bat wouldn’t fix,” Emin said.
We all smiled at each other and then Emin went back upstairs. I filled Dad in on what happened and that we were going to have another meeting tonight.
“Well we better get started,” he said pulling my rabbit from the cage.
“Let’s not start with that one – he’s my favorite,” I told him.
Dad smiled at me and grabbed the other rabbit. We injected the strain into the rabbit and made ourselves look busy while we waited for him to either accept or reject the strain. Finally, Dad took some samples and once again he was extremely casual when he glanced under the microscope. I held the microscope now, to have a look, and mirrored his response on the outside, but was jubilant on the inside – it had worked.
We now could start introducing the viruses. This was a long, arduous process, waiting to see the results between each virus. But worth the wait, every test was successful – we had done it.
“How can we be sure we haven’t strengthened any of their abilities?” I questioned.
“I doubt it is even possible with the way you designed this strain. However, the past subjects showed signs within the first hour last time.”
“So we wait?”
“Yes, we wait.”
That hour seemed to last forever but once passed we couldn’t find any additions to their abilities.
With a sigh of relief, I looked at Dad wanting to know what our next move would be. He checked the time it was just after eleven.
“I think we should ask Davis to have Spencer here tomorrow,” he said.
“Should we wait and talk about it tonight?”
“I would, but I don’t think we will get to our rooms without being questioned.”
I nodded in agreement as we packed up for the night. We turned off the lights and went upstairs and as predicted Davis was waiting for us in the hall.
“What’s goi
ng on Professor?” Davis asked sternly.
“We may have had a breakthrough actually, would you mind letting Spencer know so that he could visit us tomorrow. I would like to show him where we are at.”
“I’ll let him know,” Davis said pulling his phone from his pocket and returning to the lounge room.
Dad and I went upstairs and got ready for bed quickly hoping to get a little sleep before we would be woken up.
Proposition
I was lost in the most beautiful dream with Zeke. I could feel the warmth of his body above me whilst his lips were kissing me so softly they felt like velvet. I reached for him, pulling him closer when I realized, I wasn’t dreaming.
I jumped a little and he stopped kissing me. I could still feel his breath on my face and see his silhouette above me from the moonlight sneaking through my curtains.
“I thought I was dreaming,” I said reaching to touch his face.
“I know,” he chuckled to himself. “If you hadn’t woken up, who knows what I would have been allowed to get away with.”
“With my parents and Emin across the hall, I doubt you would have gotten away with much at all.”
He smiled and helped me up from the bed, and we went to Emin’s room in silence.
“What took you two so long?” Emin asked in a brotherly tone.
Neither of us said anything and Mum glared at Emin so the topic was dropped.
“So, how did you go” Emin pushed, desperate to know what happened in the lab.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Mum asked. “I would know that look anywhere.” She was looking at Dad smiling, she looked proud, but I also thought I could see more than that in her eyes.
“Yes, we successfully separated the strain, or should I say Hayln did.”
Zeke took my hand in both of his while Mum, and Dad looked at me proudly.
“I knew you had it in you Prodigy,” Emin said lightheartedly. “Now what?”
“I’ve asked them to get Spencer here tomorrow. Davis was waiting for us upstairs he knew something was up,” Dad confirmed.
“And what, we try to sell him on the idea that this discovery will make him rich and a worldwide hero?” Zeke asked.
“Pretty much,” Dad confirmed.
“We could probably use his brother as well, as long as you think that won’t get Tyler into any trouble,” I added.
“I think we will have to try everything, and that is a good idea,” Dad agreed.
“What’s this about Spencer’s brother?” Mum questioned.
“Tyler told us today that Spencer’s brother was the other scientist who had been working on the strain. He died from pneumonia the day of the benefit. Spencer was extremely close to him. Maybe, if we add a sympathy angle, that might appeal to his better nature,” I explained.
“Or it could infuriate him,” Emin said sounding concerned. “He’s not exactly stable.”
“I think your father and Hayln are right, we should use whatever we can, to finish this,” Mum confirmed.
“Okay it’s settled then, let’s all gets some sleep and pray that tomorrow might bring us all some peace,” Dad said as he stood to leave.
We all followed him except Zeke, he and Emin were still talking quietly. I waited for him at the door, but their conversation seemed pretty tense. Emin stopped talking and looked at me obviously wanting me to leave the room. Zeke turned and winked at me.
“Sweet dreams Hayl’s, I love you.”
I smiled back him, Emin was losing his patience – if he had any to begin with.
“I love you too,” I said as I left the room.
I wasn’t sure if their conversation was to ensure I went to my room alone, but if so, it worked. I thought about their faces when I went to bed, and began to think there was more too it. They were both extremely intense about something.
I shook that image away as I was feeling confident about what tomorrow would bring and then went to sleep praying that this would soon be over.
My room was dull in the morning, clouds covering the sky. But nothing could ruin my mood today, I felt jubilant that this saga was nearly over. I decided to wear some lucky clothes. I grabbed my yellow bra that Zeke had admired whilst I was packing and my emerald green tank that I wore the night he kissed me and headed to the bathroom.
With the towel strategically placed, I enjoyed a long shower, releasing all the tension from my back. It felt good to relax. I took my time to get dressed and do my hair, it had been days since had paid any real attention to my appearance.
I nearly skipped to the kitchen, Davis watched me pass the lounge with one eyebrow raised, suspicious of my mood. I ignored him and found my family in the kitchen eating breakfast. I grabbed some bread and put it in the toaster and turned to my family, they had barely noticed my entrance all except Zeke who was watching me with a small smile. I took my toast to the table and sat next to him.
“You look really nice in that top.” Of course, he had seen me in it before, but I knew he was remembering our first night together.
Emin groaned at his comment, which made me laugh, Zeke joined in.
Davis entered the room, and we all went silent waiting for him to say something.
“Spencer will be here in an hour or so, he will want you to be ready.”
No one replied as he left the room, we knew that all our fates depending on what happened when he arrived. I took my time with breakfast and grabbed some rabbit food and went downstairs. I checked on all the rabbits but carefully watched over our test subject who seemed as normal as the others. I spent the extra time with Patch – I decided it was as good a name as any for my favorite bunny. He was responding well to our training and was managing to reach for the food two out of three times. I was pleased.
It wasn’t long before Dad joined me also checking over our test subject approvingly. Then Mum, Emin and Zeke joined us too. I looked at them a little confused.
“We decided we should all be here just in case,” Emin answered.
I wondered if this had anything to do with last night.
We all sat together talking and playing with the rabbits watching the time pass. A couple of hours later just as I was starting to get nervous we heard voices upstairs and then footsteps as they made their way to the lab. Now the nerves seriously kicked in – this was it.
“Let me do the talking,” Dad said. No one argued.
All four of them entered the room. Spencer with a wild excitement in his eyes, whilst Tyler looked almost sick. Davis and Ian stood between us all, to ensure they could still control us if we tried anything. Then Dad spoke his words full of caution.
“Thank you for coming, Spencer. We hope you will be pleased with what we have done.”
“Of course Knox, I was very pleased to hear that you had worked it out so quickly.” He could hardly stand still he was so excited.
“Actually, we haven’t been successful with your request,” he paused Spencer held his breath looking more furious by the minute.
“We have, however, found something that might be more beneficial to you. Something that will earn you just as much money.” He paused again Spencer seemed content to let him continue. “Not only that, but you would most definitely be regarded as one of the most influential men in history.” This too perked his interest, I could feel this working.
“We were able to separate the strain. Leaving us with a way to make a person almost impervious to viruses, bacterial and viral. Of course, we have only done limited testing at this stage, but all tests have been 100% positive. You would be a hero Spencer – to the world.” His expression changed a little, I thought we may have been losing him. Dad seemed to notice as well and continued.
“Think about it Spencer. How many people’s lives would be better with this creation? Think about how much good you could do.”
It wasn’t working, he started pacing shaking his head. Tyler moved closer to me as if he could sense something. Emin and Zeke followed.
“Spencer this could
have saved your brother – it could save thousands – millions of people worldwide. People who don’t need to be sick or die.”
In this moment, I knew Emin was right – we shouldn’t have used his brother. He lost it. He pulled his gun, Davis and Ian did the same – I wasn’t sure where to look. Spencer was pacing again with his gun, we all watched him.
“Don’t speak about Christian!” He bellowed.
“I’m sorry,” Dad said taking a step towards Mum to put himself in between her and Spencer.
“Why didn’t you do what I told you to – you knew the consequences,” he said still yelling.
“Please consider this Spencer – you will make just as much money, and it won’t hurt anyone – you will be saving people.”
“You don’t get it, you idiot. Do you have any idea how much money people, certain people, would pay for these superpowers you could create? Do you know how much power I would have?”
He was ranting, I started to get scared about what would happen next.
“And you don’t care what these people would do with their powers, how many people might die or get hurt from them?” Dad pleaded.
“What I do and don’t care about is not your concern. Neither is what I do with the strain once you have created it.” He was pressing the sides of his temples now clearly under pressure. “What you should be worried about it what is going to happen to your family now that you have wasted all this time.”
“Spencer be reasonable, you’re asking me to create something evil. I don’t think I can do it.”
“Are you prepared to let your family suffer while you decide?”
His arms stopped shaking now, and he held the gun firmly pointed in my direction. My father’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“You don’t have to hurt anyone Spencer, I’ll do what you ask.” I saw Mum take Dad’s hand in hers.
“Very good Knox, but I’m afraid someone will still have to pay for this mistake.”
“What?” My father said confused and desperate.
“You need to understand what’s at stake here Knox, I warned you, but you didn’t listen. Now you might.”
I knew this was how this man had treated Tyler for years. This is why he looked sick as he entered the lab any why he moved to my side earlier. He was afraid for us. Before I could even finish collecting my thoughts Spencer drew his arm back, he was going to hit me. Several things then happened at once.