He took one step at a time, and the light beam was straight down the stairs. There were boxes upon boxes everywhere his light landed. With a loud crash, the friend was tackled to the ground. My door opened at the same time. I let out a scream and sat up. My door was quickly closed, and the figure was silencing me. It didn't take long for the person to be standing over me with his hand over my mouth.
"It's me, Sawyer."
My heart was racing, and my chest was rising then falling rapidly.
Sawyer took his hand off my mouth and sat down next to me. The moonlight traced him, creating a silver outline of the person I had once known. His hair was cut a little shorter. He seemed a little broader, maybe a little taller as well. My hands went up to his face. Tiny prickles greeted the palms of my hands on his cheeks.
"What are you doing here?" my voice was faint.
He pushed some hair behind my ear.
"I saw your latest press conference, and I needed to see you." Sawyer's voice was more profound than the last time I saw him, only a little, but I could still recognize that voice. "I needed to see how you were doing. I'm prepared to take you with me to Boston if I need to."
"Your dad won't allow that."
"I could give a rat's ass about my dad. I need you to be safe."
My head was spinning with a million different thoughts, but each one seemed to push and shove each other to come out first. My hands stroked his face. My eyes scanned his hair, his eyes, and every bit of him. I wanted to imprint every part of him into my brain. The Sawyer in front of me wasn't real. I would wake up, and he would be gone. It wouldn't be the first time that I dreamed of Sawyer.
"Madeline-" he started but stopped as I placed my fingers against his lips.
"Shhh," I whispered. "Let us not talk about my dad. Let us, please enjoy this moment. I'm not ready to wake from this."
A smile spread across Sawyer's face. My insides fluttered. Sawyer leaned forward so that his forehead touched mine, and I closed my eyes and held my breath.
"This isn't a dream." Sawyer's voice was as smooth as silk, and it sent chills down my spine.
The warmth of his palms radiated through my cheeks as he mirrored my hands. He shifted, and I wanted to lean back in to be near him once again. Then he ran his nose along with mine. Sawyer pressed his lips in a feather of touch against mine.
"Maddie-"
I pressed into his kiss. Sawyer claimed this wasn't a dream. If it wasn't, that only meant that Dr. Vodola was going to drop the hammer and pop my bubble once again. For the first time in my life, I wasn't going to think about something. I was going just to jump headfirst and enjoy life, even if it was just a moment. Tomorrow was not going to be in my hands, but tonight I was going to take the reins.
His short brown hair tickled against my fingers. Sawyer's lips were soft against mine despite the growing pressure. Arms wrapped around each other, securing me at the moment instead of drifting away.
"I need you to keep this strength for one more day." Sawyer pulled away and locked eyes with me.
It was dark in the room, but those eyes held onto mine clear as a bell.
"Sawyer-"
"Just one day. I'll be back for you tomorrow."
My stomach dropped. "Are you leaving me already? You just got here."
His forehead touched mine.
"I'm honestly afraid to stay," Sawyer whispered and chuckled.
I smirked. "Then stay."
He kissed my forehead. "Only until you fall asleep."
Sawyer shifted away and had his back against the headboard. I sighed and resisted an eye roll. Crawling closer to the end of the bed, I pulled the sheets over me once again. Like so many other nights, I curled myself against Sawyer and draped my arm over his middle.
"I've missed this," I mumbled and closed my eyes.
Behind my eyelids, I could almost see that smile from that face I knew long ago.
"Soon enough, it will be a regular thing again."
I didn't have the energy to argue with him. Instead, I let the stillness take over. My breathing evened out. My muscles loosened, and my mind drifted away.
19
Sawyer
Leaving Madeline sound asleep crushed me. I didn't realize how much I missed just being near her. I felt like a total jerk, but just sitting near her as she slept felt different than when Lacey would stay over. That probably made me ten degrees of an asshole. At the end of the day, I didn't know how healthy our attachment was, but Madeline made me want to be better, wasn't that what relationships were supposed to do?
Madeline's face didn't have a line creased in her face as she laid there with her eyes closed. I snuck out of her room before the sun was considering peeking over the horizon. I hid Dr. Green's ID under the one bush near he parked. I walked out of the parking lot and down the street where I had parked my car. Then I got into my car and drove towards my dad's. My thumbs drummed against the steering wheel. The music thumped in the car, but I couldn't tell what song was playing. My ears heard the music, but it was disconnected, breaking in and out of my thoughts. I still didn't have a plan with my dad. Opening my windows, I turned the music up louder. Screw planning, I was going to go in freestyle.
When I got to the house, I pulled into the driveway. Putting the car into park, I turned it off. I took a deep breath and let it out gradually. Getting out of the car, I marched up the front door and used my key to get in. Surprisingly, he didn't change the locks since I moved out.
"Dad?" I called out, but there wasn't an answer.
Heel toeing down the hall, I never heard a response. Craning my neck around corners, I noticed that the basement door was open. Getting closer, I peered down the stair's lights were on. Taking measured steps down the stairs and the flashbacks to that one day nearly eighteen years ago, had it been that long since I'd been down here? I had my mom with me at that time.
"Dad?"
My dad jumped as he walked out of the large freezer. His eyes were wide, and he dropped whatever was in his hands.
"Sawyer? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk."
"You haven't reached out to me since you were home a couple of years ago. What do you want to talk about now?"
"I saw your last press conference."
I crossed my arms and leaned my back against the counter near him.
"And?"
"What are you doing to Madeline? She looked terrible."
Dad shrugged. "She's just tired, that's all."
"She looked more than just tired."
"You don't understand."
My dad walked around me. I got off the counter and spun around to look at him.
"You're not seriously thinking of using her to breed, are you?" the question came out weaker than I had intended.
My dad raised an eyebrow.
"I'm only going to take an egg from her and then implant a fertilized embryo into her. I'm not going to have sex with her. Hybrid animals aren't able to reproduce, and people will want to know if clones can as well."
"Do you hear yourself?" I spat.
"It's easier to think about this stuff if you don't humanize the subject."
"She is a human. Maddie was not created like me, but she's still human. When she turns eighteen, she will be a legal adult and can leave your ass. What will stop that?"
His face reddens.
"She wouldn't do that."
A smirk grew on my face.
"What's to stop her from not leaving you? Your kindness?"
"You think you're so smart now?"
"No, I'm just stating facts. She'll be a legal adult."
"The law isn't caught up to her yet."
My stomach twisted. I should've prepared myself for pre-law. Was my dad right? Would a judge use the fact that she was a clone as a technicality?
"You have Adam now, and you're treating him better than you ever treated her. I never understood why you were so hard on her."
This time it was him who crossed his arms over
his chest. Yet his eyes never left mine.
"I was tough on her to make sure that she lived up to the potential."
"You were more than tough. Who the hell is she a clone of?"
My dad narrowed his eyes at me.
"Why won't you ever answer that?" My arms were loose and up by my chest.
"It's not important."
"It's not important? She's the first human clone, and it's not important who she is a clone of?"
"How did you go from trying to get Madeline away from me to ask who she is a clone of? You are so all over the place." My dad's head bobbed as he rolled his shoulders.
"When I went to that ball with you all that one year, there was an older couple at one of the tables. The man said Madeline looked familiar from before this clone thing started."
My dad's jaw clenched.
"Fine, she's just someone I grew up with." He rolled his eyes.
"Who?"
"Just an old friend."
"Friend or girlfriend?"
"What does it matter?"
"It matters because that's pretty sick to have mom help raise an old girlfriend of yours. How does the girlfriend even feel about having a clone of her out in the world?"
"Your mom's opinion is invalid because she didn't stick around." He spat. "She didn't stick around for you, so why are you defending her. Madeline is a clone of someone who is dead."
My back straightened, and my hands clenched at my sides. I tried to take in a deep breath. I opened my mouth only to close it once again as I glanced at the floor, and my eyebrows fused. Something shined on the floor close to the fridge door my dad had come out of. I bent down, my stomach dropped, and my heart stopped. Between two of my fingers was a pendant of a four-point star on a long gold chain. The front had a small clear diamond in the middle of the star. I flipped it over, and on the back were the letters SV. My head began to spin.
"This was mom's."
His face dropped, and his shoulder fell.
"What are you talking about?" My dad's voice was weaker this time.
I gulped.
"Why the hell is mom's necklace down here after all these years?"
"It's not hers."
"These are my initials on the back!" I yelled as the star clenched in my fist. "She wore this every single day."
He moved closer to me. I spun on my heel and opened the walk-in freezer door. My hand went to my mouth, and I took a half-a-step back. I could feel the burning sensation of bile rolling up. The back corner was a body wrapped in plastic, but the features were still there despite the ice crystals crawling over the material. A pair of women's eyes were open, staring blankly at me. Her hair tied back, and her shoulders curled in slightly.
"All these years," I stammered. "All these years, you had me believing mom had left us, but she's been in the basement this whole time?"
I turned to stare at him. I had come into the house ready for a fight or one of our loud yelling matches. My current voice and aching heart were not in the plans. Taking a few steps over, I gripped the side of the counter and leaned over. I began to dry heave.
"It's for the best." He mumbled.
My eyes narrowed.
"For the best? You married her because you loved her, didn't you?"
"I did. However, your mother lost sight of the vision."
I shook my head.
"I swear I can't be your son."
"I will say your mom was loyal. You are my son, without a doubt."
"Maybe genetically, but that's it. I'm nothing like you."
One corner of his lips curled in.
"Your temper says otherwise."
The muscles in my jaw clenched.
"I won't become you. Torturing little girls and all."
He got closer and shoved me.
"I don't torture anyone."
My face scrunched.
"You have my mother's body in a freezer and used to lock Madeline up in her room so that she couldn't get out!"
"When you're paving the road of the future, it isn't going to be clean-cut."
My elbow wound back, allowing my fist to drive into his face dead-on, cracks broke through. I cursed under my breath and shook my hand. My dad brought one of his hands to his face, but red liquid poured out from between his fingers. His eyes kept blinking, focusing, and un-focusing. My dad lunged at me with his free hand, but I jumped back. Quickly I turned around and darted up the stairs, trying to take two at a time. I heard his feet behind me, and I flew out of the front door. Getting into my car, I locked all the doors. My hands trembled as I tried to put the key into the ignition, but curses just spilled out until I finally got it in. My dad's face covered in blood was coming towards me. I backed out of the driveway, forgetting about speed limits. I heard a car horn scream out as I turned and headed down the street. Gripping my phone, I dialed 9-1-1. I started to talk the second a person answered, not giving them a second to greet me.
"Hello, there is a human body in Dr. Vodola's basement. It's of my mother who disappeared like sixteen or fifteen years ago."
"Are you sure?"
"I saw her with my eyes in his basement freezer. Get over there now before he gets rid of the evidence!" I yelled into the phone and gave her the address.
I clicked to hang up and parked in the nearest parking lot. I was at the park. My mom and I used to go here all the time. It was within walking distance. I used to ride my bike on the path. I went over to my dad's house to get Madeline free, only to learn that he had killed my mom. She never left me like I had been taught. My breathing was coming out shallow, and my hands wrung the steering wheel. I needed air. I opened the car door and pressed my lower back into the car door. Leaning over, I put my hands right above my knees. I saw spots. There was a ringing in my ears.
Sirens broke through the ringing. Turning my head, I watched a cop car, ambulance, and a fire truck all zoom by me, their lights flashing as they passed and headed to my dad's. He'd be caught and would be on the news. My family being in the news wasn't that unusual, but it wouldn't be for good this time. This time my dad will be shown being in handcuffs, court cases, and dragged through the mud he created.
My mom will be brought up. He told so many people that she had left him. Now the truth of him killing and hiding her body in his lab will be spread worldwide. Years ago, I had wondered where she had gone, but as time went on, I pushed her out of my thoughts. If she didn't care to stay with me, why should I continue to think about her? All those years, she was beneath my feet. All the times we lost electricity, was she defrosting then freezing up again. Groaning, I held my head and slid so that I was sitting on the ground. All those years, she and I had lost because of my dad.
Then it hit me. Madeline used to talk about a frozen lady…
Turning to the side, I dry heaved. I sat back up and tilted my head back, so the cool metal touched my head. My eyes watered. Closing my eyes, I could still see the old her. The way she held me and kissed my cheek. The way she threw her head back when she was laughing, she had a contagious smile. I could still see her playing with cars with me in the hallway. That day she held Madeline for the first time when I met her.
Taking in a deep breath, I brushed my fingers against my eyes. I pushed myself up from the ground and brushed the dirt off the back of my pants. I got into my car and drove back towards the center. I opened the car window, my left arm leaned against the top of the car door, the windswept across the top of my arm. My eyes still stung, and the heat was still in the back of my throat. I swung my car into a parking spot at the office where my dad worked. This time I went through the front door instead of the side door. The receptionist looked up from the computer.
"ID-" she started, but I ran past her. "Sir, I need your ID."
I turned down hallways until I got to the wing with the offices. Madeline's door was locked this time. I didn't have Dr. Green's key to unlock it.
"Madeline!" I screamed.
I rammed my shoulder into the frame and the door didn't bud
ge. A scientist popped her head out of the door of another office.
"Call Dr. Green and tell him Sawyer is outside of Madeline's door."
She nodded her head and disappeared. It wouldn't surprise me if she were calling security.
"Sawyer?" a voice called through the door.
"I'm here. I'm getting the door to open, don't worry."
A few minutes later, Dr. Green was rushing down the hall. His brows scrunched, and his focus was on me.
"Sawyer? What's going on?"
"Open the door. Then we'll talk."
He nodded his head. Dr. Green took his keys off his ID badge and opened the door. Madeline was standing in the middle of her room, staring at the two of us. We walked in, and I closed the door.
"My dad was arrested." Madeline's eyes widen, and Dr. Green opened his mouth then closed it. "He and I were arguing at the house in his lab."
I turned to look at Madeline.
"The frozen lady? Do you remember talking about her?"
Madeline nodded her head. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, she's real." I took a deep breath and sighed. "Dad killed mom and had her hidden in his freezer all these years."
"Are you sure?" Dr. Green's mumbled.
I nodded. "I'd recognize my mom."
A curse slipped from Dr. Green's mouth. I didn't know he knew those words.
"I punched him, I might have broken his nose, and I booked it. I called the cops when I was driving. He's going to jail. He has to."
Dr. Green shook his head. "No doubt."
Dr. Green glanced at Madeline.
"Are you going to take her?"
Madeline looked over at me.
"Yes, if she'll come with me."
Beaker to Life Page 14