A “Dead” End

Chapter 19

He looked, through the one way glass, at the young boy …. a 10 year old ‘asset’ that has lots of potential. He had selected this boy to carry forward his legacy. He will bring him up to be a clone of himself, in every way possible and his name will be Gedeon (meaning Destroyer) …. yes, that will suit him just fine, for he will destroy anyone who dares to defy him or his creator. 

He clearly remembers the day he had stumbled upon this boy, quiet by accident …. 

He was in New York for a meeting with some of the key members of their groups. His return flight wasn’t till the next day so he had gone out for a stroll and stopped at a nearby restaurant, one of those mom and pop kind of places, to get something for dinner. 

He liked to study human behaviour, so like always he sat, tucked away in a quiet corner so he could see and observe everything and everyone … without anyone noticing. His attention was caught by a young boy as he opened the restaurant door and came in. 

For some reason he started looking at the boy closely, maybe because of the way he walked …. like he owned the world or it might be because of his eyes, that looked too dark and knowing for one so young or was it his aura … it seemed as if the boy was surrounded by or rather drowning in evil. 

On first glance there was nothing remarkable about him, just a skinny boy wearing scruffy clothes and shoes. The only reason he was able to recognize the meanness …. the hatred in him was because he was programmed to look for these traits, if he was the fanciful sort then he would say that maybe ‘like recognizes like’. 

The boy wanted to get something to eat and was counting all the change he had. Some loud teenagers sitting nearby started were making fun of him … mocking and taunting him. The boy clenched his fists but did not say a word to them …. he just picked his food, paid for it and left the restaurant. 

He decided to follow the boy, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air…. he kept looking around with no luck. He was just about to move on, when he saw something from the corner of his eyes that made him stop and observe further. A couple of minutes later the boy came out from under a car, smiling evilly …. looking in the direction of the restaurant.

He walked up to the boy and asked him what he has done. The boy looked at the stranger defiantly, not scared at all for getting caught. Nothing much, just cut their break line and caused the oil to start leaking. After a few minutes of driving the engines would blow up, that is if they don’t crash before then … due to the absence of their breaks. He was stunned for a second and then smiled at the boy ….. “good work but how do you know that it’s the right car? 

“I have eyes, don’t I? I saw them come in, the Idiots almost crushed me under their car”.

“Why kill them though? Isn’t that extreme? Aren’t you not afraid of getting caught”?

“No reason to fear … after all life is all about survival of the stronger evil. They will destroy me if I don’t eliminate them first … I’d rather kill then be killed”, the boy replied with calmly as if he was talking about the weather, instead of taking several lives.

“Huh …. your point is valid but living here, on the streets will at best get you a place with some thugs or some low legal gang. Come with me and I will make you so strong that everyone will bow down to you”.

“Yes”, replied the boy after thinking for sometime and that day Tony …. an orphan, a homeless … a nobody became Gedeon. 

The scientist and researcher inside Abby was very intrigued by what she was seeing but Abby’s human self and her inner mother was horrified at the multiple mutations that have been done to this poor child. The more samples she studied the more she discovered.

Everything Luke had told her about ‘enhancing subjects’ has been tried on Sarah. This information was stored in a folder marked ‘Special’. They also discovered some information regarding a ‘secret formula’ that Sarah was often given through her food and water. This liquid was named S1, S2….etc…the last dose being S18, given a week before her 18thbirthday. 

Abby was baffled, Sarah was a genius so how is it possible that she never had any suspicions about the injections she was given … did she not feel any changes or reactions in her body? Guess we’ll have to wait for Sarah to wake up in order to get our answers.

So far Abby knew that Sarah’s genes have been modified to ‘enhance’ her …. going by the notes and the number of treatments she underwent, Abby knew it was something major. She also knew that they were also giving Sarah some sort of liquid … the most recent dose had been administered just about 5 weeks ago … her gut was telling her that this liquid may have something to do with Sarah’s current condition. 

It has been almost 52 hours since Sarah went back into coma. Her body continued to have seizures every 4 hours since then. Hope, Susan, Luke were all taking turns sitting besides her while Abby was working day and night, trying to solve the puzzle behind this sudden sickness. It was Hope’s turn to monitor Sarah tonight. She was lost in deep thought when she heard a faint whisper and looked up to see Sarah calling her.

 “Thank god you are awake … you scared the hell out of us …” 

“I am sorry for giving you guys a scare … I didn’t mean to …”

“Shhh … I know sweetheart … let me call mom and tell her that you are awake. She would like to check up on you, right away”.

“No, don’t leave yet …. I want to tell you something, it’s really important …  There is something weird going on inside my body …. like some changes are taking place and I am not in control at the moment. It seems like my body is being held captive and I’m inside a barrier that I can not break through”. 

“What do you mean …. how can that be”.

“It’s true Hope, I can hear and feel everything happening around me …. I can hear you guys talking, moving around …. taking shifts to monitor me and your concern but like a prisoner I can’t react or respond to anything. It’s like I’m watching a movie being played in front of me and I am silent spectator. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to speak and break the silence but don’t worry … you know that I am a fighter … I will break free of it … just wait for me”

Hope couldn’t control her tears anymore “don’t worry sweetheart everything would be fine … you would be fine … you are not alone anymore”. She got up to hug Sarah but the more she tried to reach her, the farther away she went …. until she vanished into thin air …  

Hope woke up screaming Sarah’s name. Hearing her screams Abby and the others rushed into the room. Abby was desperately trying to calm down a hysterical Hope …. who kept shouting “don’t go away please Sarah … don’t go. Mom what do we do now …. Sarah has left. Please stop her. She promised not to leave …. mom please stop her”. 

In the end Abby had to slap Hope to bring her back to her senses. “calm down sweetheart … Sarah is still here … lying on the bed. Here look for yourself”

Hope ran towards Sarah, relieved that her friend was still there and held her hand “I won’t let anything to happen to you …. I promise you would be fine …. just don’t give up hope, please.”

Once assured that her friend was still with them, Hope narrated the entire incident to Abby. “Mom I swear Sarah was awake and even spoke with me .. she told me about being in a barrier able to hear and feel everything but unable to react or respond …. she said that she is trying to break free”.

“Hope sweetheart, Sarah is in a coma. I know you desperately want Sarah to wake up … we all want her to get back on her feet … but the truth is that she’s still not out of it ….. you might have dreamt all of this”. 

“If it was a dream it was then it was the most vivid and realistic dream I’ve ever had mom”.

“Trust me sweetheart, it can happen. Our mind is very powerful, you must have dozed off and because we are all so focused on Sarah … your subconscious mind made you see her as she was, even if it was in a dream”. 

“I don’t know mom … I honestly don’t know what to say or believe anymore … we were able to meet and talk once before in the limbo. Even though it sounds bizarre and impossible, but it did happen. Now that I recall, there was that weird dream that night too …. the night Sarah fell ill. I heard her calling for help then too … yes … mom, I definitely heard her calling for help … that’s why I went into her room, to check on her. May be Sarah is able to connect with me …. trying to tell me something”.

“Calm down sweetheart … calm down … mom trusts you. You found her once I am sure you will be able to bring her back again but you need to take care of yourself too, so that you can look after Sarah”, Abby said.

“Yes mom, don’t you worry. I’ll be taking care of Sarah from now on, If she is trying to connect with me …. tell me something then I should be near her”, Hope said … determined to do anything and everything to get her friend …. her sister back.