by M. A Casey
No one argued there was no point, and there wasn’t much more we could say so we went back to our rooms. All desperately needing some rest.
After a restless night, I woke to another day being held hostage in my own home. I had laid awake most of the night thinking about Dad. I wanted to help lift some of the burden he had decided to carry on his own, but I knew nothing I said would change his mind.
I showered and got dressed and went to Zeke’s room. Mum was there checking over his wounds. His chest looked worse, if that was possible. He must have seen the expression on my face.
“It’s just the color changing in the bruises,” he assured me. “Apparently I am healing very well.”
I looked at Mum for some confirmation not wanting him to pretend for my benefit. She helped slide his t-shirt back on.
“He still needs some rest, but he really is doing quite well.”
“Hayln is a wonderful nurse,” he commented lightly.
“Well just make sure you are resting,” Mum said sternly although I could see she was putting it on. “I will send Emin up later to help you in the shower,” she said with a grin as she left the room.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. “I wish I could see that,” I teased.
“Do you think I should make him wash me?” Obviously deciding to take advantage of the situation and make it worse for Emin.
“Absolutely,” I said killing myself laughing.
“I don’t think I have seen you laugh like that in ages,” he mused.
I sat next to him on the bed brushing his hair from his eyes. “There hasn’t been much to laugh at lately.”
“True, so what are your plans today?”
“Since Dad won’t let me help him, I might do some work on my project. I have some new ideas since reading Dad’s notes.”
“Your project?” He suddenly sounded particularly interested.
“Yeah, I have being working with brain cells, trying to restimulate dead ones.”
“Really? Do you think you can do it?” He sounded quite surprised.
“I have already done it once actually – it just wasn’t permanent.”
“Wow, that’s pretty incredible Hayl’s. What did your Dad say?”
“He doesn’t know, no one does – I didn’t want any extra pressure. That seems pretty silly now though.”
“Well thank you for telling me,” he smiled sweetly like I had just given him a present. “Now don’t let me stop you from saving the world. Besides, I have a sponge bath with your brother to look forward to.”
I leaned forward to give him a kiss, lingering a little longer than I had expected to.
“I’ll come back later to check on you,” I promised.
“I will be waiting – tormenting your brother,” he grinned.
“Have fun,” I said as I left to grab some breakfast.
When I got to the kitchen, I noticed Dad and Emin weren’t there yet.
“Where are the boys?” I asked Mum.
“Your father is already in the lab, and I think Emin just got up,” she said buttering herself some toast,
“How was Dad?” I asked concerned.
“Very quiet, I'm not sure I have ever seen him so torn.” Mum sounded just as worried as I was. There must be a way I can help him.
I played with my cereal bobbing the pieces in the milk when Emin came into the kitchen. A grin spread across my face from ear to ear.
“What’s up with you?” He asked.
I shook my head deciding to leave it as a surprise for later. He brushed me off quickly to find something to eat. I was about to go out to check on the rabbits when the doorbell rang. We all froze and looked at each other.
Ian came to the kitchen quickly.
“There’s a girl at the door about his age, tall, blonde, attractive.”
“Tasma?” Emin suggested.
“You have to get rid of her,” Ian said. “Davis will be watching, so nothing crazy, please.”
He seemed genuinely concerned about what might happen to us if I stepped out of line. I looked at Emin.
“I like this girl Hayl’s, please be nice.”
I thought about what he had in store for the rest of the day and knew I would take it easy on him.
“Quickly,” Ian said rushing me to the door. “I will be right behind the door listening.” Again I thought I saw in his eyes that he didn’t want anything bad to happen. Maybe he wasn’t as barbaric as I thought he was.
I opened the door trying to look as normal as possible. It was Tasma, and she seemed happy to see me. She looked even prettier outside the dim lights of the Sweat Room.
“You must be Hayln,” she said happily.
“Yes, and your Tasma right?” She seemed surprised that I knew her name.
“Yes, I wasn’t sure whether Emin had mentioned me,” she said shyly. “That’s why I am here actually, have you seen him? We were going to catch up a few days ago, but he didn’t call,” she seemed embarrassed that she had to explain herself. “It’s just not like him that’s all, and he isn’t answering my calls either.” She paused, “don’t tell me, I sound crazy right?"
“No not at all,” I tried to put her at ease. “He had to leave quite urgently with my mother. One of our relatives is ill, Mum was going to go on her own, but he thought she might need some help.”
“He's so sweet,” she sighed. I suddenly got a small taste of what it might be like for Emin when Zeke and I are together.
“I thought he would have called though,” she said still not totally sold on my story.
“Well he left his mobile here, but I don’t have his charger, it went flat after the first night.”
“Can’t he call from your relative’s house?” She questioned.
I suddenly realized I wasn’t very adept at this.
“We haven’t heard from them since they left, things have been pretty full on there. We are expecting to hear from him in the next day or so. If you like, I can let him know you called over.”
She thought about that for a moment.
“Thanks that would be great. Do you have any idea when they will be back?”
Wow I thought to myself, this girl was pretty keen on Emin. “I’m not sure sorry, but I know he will be happy to hear that you called over.”
I smiled at her hoping that this would satisfy her, I wasn’t sure if I could keep lying to her and I didn’t think I was particularly convincing.
“Really?” She sounded pleased. “Thanks Hayln, it was nice meeting you.”
“You too,” I waved as she left and then closed the door.
I looked at Ian. “How did I do?”
He shrugged his shoulders, and we walked back to the lounge room, Emin and Mum had joined Davis to watch us on the monitor.
“Well?” I asked, hoping someone thought I was convincing.
“You’re a terrible liar, but she bought it, so whatever,” Davis said.
I was after Emin’s opinion actually, but he had gone quiet. Mum and I followed him to the kitchen.
“Do you think she’ll understand?” He asked apprehensively.
“I’m pretty sure you won’t have to worry about that. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s quite into you,” I confirmed.
“You think?” He asked a little excited.
I looked at Mum confused, wasn’t he watching this girl swoon on our front porch? She laughed to herself and started making him some toast. It was strange to see Emin like this.
“You’ll be fine, trust me.”
He seemed to take me at my word then, so I grabbed some rabbit food and went outside. They all looked fit and well, even our little test subject. I grabbed Patch and put him down on the grass in front of me, then held the food above his head. He sat straight back and reached for the food, just like we had been training him to do. I tried several more times and each time he carried out the same actions. I felt strangely satisfied that we had trained this little rabbit to perform this trick. I wanted
to show Zeke but knew that it could wait until he felt better. Besides it was time to head back to the lab.
“Hey Dad, how’s it going?” I said as I took my seat at the bench beside him.
I watched him as I pulled together my work. I don’t ever think I have seen him look so, so despondent. He managed to look up to acknowledge my presence but didn’t say anything. I worked quietly, and it wasn’t long before Tyler arrived.
“How’s Zeke?” He said, taking his seat by the window.
“Mum said he’s doing well considering, although after Emin helps him shower it might be a different story.”
Tyler laughed out loud obviously finding the situation as amusing as I did.
“How’s the strain coming along?” Tyler asked. I was surprised to hear Dad answer, I didn’t think he was paying us any attention.
“We’re making progress, you can tell Spencer it should only be a day or so.” He sounded frustrated. Tyler seemed to notice as well and didn’t say much after that.
I had plenty of ideas for my research after the last couple of days so I got to work straight away. It didn’t take long before I made a few breakthroughs; I was immensely pleased with myself. With my new outlook Dad had provided me, I was quite optimistic I would be successful in restimulating the brain cells permanently. Tyler must have been watching as he came over to where I was working.
“You’re not working with your Dad today?” He asked quietly.
I looked at Dad for his guidance, but he simply nodded without looking up. I knew he trusted Tyler, and I realized then so did I.
“Dad doesn’t want me to be responsible for this creation and what it will be used for,” I answered simply.
Tyler understood but didn’t say anything. I remembered I had a few questions that I wanted to ask him, and I thought now was as good a time as any.
“Could I ask you something?” I said a little nervously.
He still didn’t say anything just nodded that I could proceed.
“Well I was wondering about your enhanced abilities actually. What you can do and what you have learnt.”
I waited to see his reaction; I was worried he might not want to talk about it. I really wanted to know more about what was possible, and who better to ask than the only other person in the world like me. After the last few years with Spencer I was sure they would have tried to find out everything they could about his abilities, and maybe that could help me to. I looked at his face now, and his brown eyes seemed more at ease.
“I have been dying to talk to you about this for ages,” he said with a familiar smile on his face. He moved to the other side of me with his back to the camera. “Just look like you are still working alright.”
I nodded and started writing in my notebook while he talked.
“Well obviously my abilities for science were improved although still not to your level.” I held back a smile as he continued.
“And I am strong – I mean, really strong.” I remembered when Tyler grabbed Spencer’s arm before he could hit me yesterday. He rubbed it afterwards as if it really hurt. This was intriguing, and he must have sensed my interest.
“They make me train a lot in the gym, it’s actually pretty hard for them to find something I can’t do. Weights, running, cycling, swimming none of them faze me. That’s why I don’t do sports at school, it could draw a lot of unnecessary attention to me.”
He seemed pretty impressed with himself, I could tell he would have loved to show me some examples if we were in any other situation.
“Anything else?” I asked quietly still pretending to do my lab work.
“Well yeah, my senses.”
I hadn’t been expecting that, it made me stop and look at him.
“What do you mean your senses?”
“You know, sight, sound, taste, smell - even intuition to a degree,” he said. I must have still looked confused because he kept explaining.
“I didn’t even know I was better at that stuff, I mean that’s how it has always been for me since I was born. But when they tested me, I could hear heaps more stuff than normal people, and when I am shooting in the range I rarely miss with my eyesight.”
It made me feel a little uneasy hearing that he had been using guns, but he seemed so impressed with himself that I didn’t say anything. Dad spoke then. Our conversation must have interested him because he hadn’t paid us any attention for ages.
“What about drawing?” He asked.
“Drawing?” Tyler seemed confused by the question.
“Yes, your father was exceptionally talented, so much so we nearly didn’t become partners all those years ago. He had offers for further training and even sold some pieces, but, in the end, his love for science won through.”
“I used to love to draw before my mother died.” Tyler remembered. “Spencer doesn’t really let me try stuff like that though. If he can’t see some benefit in my skills, we don’t pursue it.” His voice was now soft and stained. “Sometimes I just wish I could forget all this stuff and be normal,” he said as he left my side to return to his seat at the window.
“I wonder if your father would agree,” Dad mused. “If given the same choice again I wonder whether he would choose art or science.”
“He was that good?” Obviously Tyler was still a little surprised.
Dad smiled for the first time in twenty four hours. “He was – why don’t you give it a try?”
Tyler considered this for a moment and grabbed some blank paper and a lead and started drawing. I thought about what he had just told me, and something dawned on me.
“Tyler, is he training you to be a super soldier?”
He stopped sketching for a minute, to answer. “I think I am the base model. He hopes by putting your strain into fully trained soldiers they will be almost unstoppable.”
“And what happens to you?” I asked apprehensively.
“I’m pretty sure he wants me to be his bodyguard and personal scientist.” He picked up his lead and started sketching again, obviously not comfortable with talking about the future with Spencer. Neither was I, so refocused on my work. After talking to Tyler, I actually had an idea which may help us, so I decided to work on that.
I was having limited success with my idea when my mind started wandering again to my possible talents. Tyler was still busy sketching so I decided to ask Dad.
“Do you think my senses are enhanced?”
He answered quickly without even giving it a second thought.
“Yes I do.”
“You seem pretty sure about it.”
“I always suspected, even when you were younger. I have never done any tests to prove it, but there were signs. And after hearing about Tyler’s experiences I am sure of it.”
“What sort of signs?” I questioned.
“Your eye sight for one. You could always see so much more than me, and in much more detail. I even went to get my eyes tested because I thought I might have had a problem. When the optometrist told me that I had 20:20 vision, I realized that your vision was easily twice as accurate as mine.”
“Your hearing is as good as mine too.” Tyler interrupted, and I waited for him to continue. “I knew about my abilities and what I was capable of and you could always hear everything I did. It’s just that you didn’t realize no one else could.”
“Have you noticed anything else comes easy to you?” Tyler asked me.
“Cooking, and I am pretty sure running as well.”
“There will be more, now you know about it - it’s easy to test.”
I nodded hoping that I would have time to find out if I have any other abilities. For now though I had one more question before I got back to my work.
“What about feelings?”
I got both of their attention immediately, but neither of them answered straight away. They both took their time before they spoke.
“I don’t see why not,” Tyler said.
“Although I don’t think it could change them,” Dad
said obviously seeing I was a little uncomfortable with this prospect.
“They are your feelings after all, I just think it would just make them more… vibrant.”
I accepted this as being a reasonable answer and continued with my work. I started to make pretty good headway with my new plan, but something was missing. I needed a break, and I wanted to see Zeke again plus I was extremely hungry.
I went to the kitchen to find something for Zeke, and I to eat, Mum wasn’t there so I grabbed what I could and headed upstairs. I met Mum at the top of the stairs, and she eyed my load and smiled.
“Lunch time for the patient?”
“Yeah, I need a break from the lab,” I said a little awkwardly.
“Are you okay Hayln?” Mum reached out and touched my shoulder. We had made so much progress over the last few days I didn’t want to brush her off. So I decided to let her know what I was thinking.
“We have been talking about what extra abilities I may have. Dad and Tyler seem to think my senses are enhanced as well as my feelings.”
“And it's the feelings part, you're worried about, isn’t it?” She said as if she could read my mind.
“Yeah I guess so. Dad said it wouldn’t change my feelings, but it would make them more - vibrant I think was the word he used.”
“You’re worried about your feelings for Zeke,” again she hit the nail on the head. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about Hayln. Your feelings for him are your own – just like your father said. They may have become more intense faster than anyone else’s may have, but that’s all. If you had any doubts, you would feel that too – but you don’t, do you”
I wasn’t a question but rather a statement.
“None, but I guess it does explain why I feel so deeply about him so soon. But I was also worried about his feelings, maybe they aren’t as strong for me – I mean he isn’t the one with enhanced abilities.”
She pulled me closer and laughed. “Hayln, for someone who is so intuitive you truly are blind. Zeke couldn’t be more head over heels for you if he tried. Which reminds me, I know how you both feel for each other, but I want you to be safe alright.”
Wow, that took me by surprise. Not the parental warning part but the part where she told me to be safe – like she assumed we would be together and she was giving me permission. Okay, maybe not permission but she certainly wasn’t warning me against it.