The Spy You Trust

Chapter 12

“So, as you know, Marcello and your parents were friends long before you were even thought of. Your parents trusted Marcello completely. So, when your mom found out she was pregnant with you, and Marcello suggested a doctor that he knew, they didn’t think twice. They agreed to see her, and she became your mother’s OB-GYN. The thing was though, she wasn’t actually a doctor.

“Marcello had sent them to a scientist he was working with to ‘better the future of humanity’. He believed that he could increase the intelligence of humans and make our world a better place. A place where rules didn’t need to be so strict and everyone was able to get along. In the beginning, Marcello had the right idea. I mean, who wouldn’t want a world where there’s less wars and more people acting together?

“Doctor Bonham gave your mother some pills and told her that they were prenatal vitamins. She told her to stop taking the ones she was already taking and to only take the ones that she prescribed. If she wanted to take any medicine for a headache or a simple cough, Bonham made her come in for her special pills. Your parents didn’t think anything of it. You were their first child. How were they supposed to know what was normal and what was not?

“Your mother carried you until she hit 34 weeks. There were some complications from the pills Bonham gave her. She had extreme nausea and was severely dehydrated. Your mom could barely keep her eyes open. Bonham insisted that you be taken out before any harm came to you. Your father wouldn’t hear of it. He told her just to give your mom fluids and to help rehydrate her. Nothing was working. Your moms heart beat and yours were dropping. Bonham begged your father to let her do an emergency C-section, but your dad thought that you were too little to survive if you left your mother’s womb.

“Bonham called Marcello and insisted he came in and talked to your parents. He did and somehow convinced your father to let her operate. You were only four pounds and you couldn’t breathe on your own. You lived in an incubator for over a month. During that time, the doctors wouldn’t let your mother or father come see you. They told them that it was because they didn’t want to risk spreading anything to you, but that wasn’t true.”

Molly’s eyes widened in surprise. She never knew these things about her birth.

“You see, Marcello and his followers were conducting experiments on you and didn’t want your parents to know. The ‘vitamins’ Bonham gave to your mother were her own concoction of brain amplifying drugs. Marcello was hoping that if you were introduced to these drugs while you were still in gestation, your body would accept them better. He didn’t know that the drugs would have an effect on your mother also. They were causing you to literally suck the life out of her. Of course, Marcello only wanted to save her because if she died with you still inside her, you’d die too. He couldn’t risk losing his perfect experiment.

“When you were about a month old, your parents forced Marcello to let them see you. Having to keep his cover, Marcello agreed. He made sure that everything looked normal and that your parents wouldn’t suspect anything that he was doing to you. When your parents weren’t around, there were scientists everywhere and you were constantly given different types of drugs. He kept up with the experiments up until the day he let your parents take you home.

“Now that you were with your parents, he had to find ways to test his theories and see if the injections had worked. He would constantly insist that your parents went out on date nights and that he’d babysit you. They complied and would leave you alone for hours with him. How were they supposed to know that he was doing anything to you? They just thought that he was being a good friend and wanted to be close to you since he didn’t have any children of his own. This went on for years.

“A month before your parents were killed, they came home early and saw what he was doing with you. You see, Molly, his experiments had worked. He was able to amplify your brain. You were given these… abilities. You were able to jump from one place to another in an instant, slightly go into the past, and move things with your mind. Basically, you could teleport, time-travel, and use telekinesis. When you teleported, you could only go a couple of feet away. With telekinesis, you could only move things that were in your eyeline. Time-travel only took you back five minutes at the most. Marcello worked with you as much as he could to strengthen your abilities.”

‘I could what? I don’t remember any of this.’ Molly thought, not wanting to interrupt the story.

“When your parents found out, they were outraged. They forbade him from ever seeing you again and did everything they could to reverse what he had done to you. That’s when they went to Gladstone. Gladstone is the president of all the organizations like the institution. There isn’t just one institution in the world, Molly. There’re dozens. They each have their own directors like Marcello. Only Marcello went rogue. He abused the power he was given. You’re not the only child he’s experimented on. You’re just his only success.

“Your parents told Gladstone what Marcello had done and pleaded for him to help them. Gladstone didn’t believe them and wanted to see your abilities himself. There was nothing he could do about Marcello unless he had proof. So, your parents gathered all the evidence they could. They convinced Doctor Bonham to testify against him and provide samples of the drugs he used on you.

“The day before they were showing everything to Gladstone, Marcello showed up on their door and begged them to let him take you to the institution. He wanted to train you and help your abilities grow. They turned him down and kicked him out. Marcello had a plan though, and his plan included you. He knew that it would take too long and be too complicated to create another with your abilities. So, the next day, he sent Durell to kill your parents. You were supposed to be at gymnastics class. He didn’t know that your parents didn’t take you because you were going to go see Gladstone instead.

“Marcello never planned on you witnessing their dead bodies. In fact, it ruined his plans. No one knows why but the day you found your parents, your abilities disappeared. When Marcello discovered this, he decided to bring you to the institution. Before, he was going to keep you at home and continue to train you. That’s where Layla and I come in.

“When your parents didn’t show up for their meeting, Gladstone got worried. He sent some of his agents to your house and they saw the cops and you in Marcello’s arms. Gladstone knew there was nothing he could do. He didn’t have any proof against Marcello and his only witnesses were dead. When he heard that Marcello put you in the institution, he sent me to watch over you and report back to him.

 “I was raised in one of the other facilities in Arizona, and I was the best agent in the junior department. However, he thought that it may be too much for one person. Especially a six-year-old. That’s why he also sent Layla. She was the best of her class in Oregon. He wanted someone who was older than you but was still young enough to be friends with. Gladstone hoped that we’d both befriend you. Obviously, it didn’t turn out that way.”

Molly remembered the first time she’d seen Charles and Layla. She always assumed that they had been raised in the Los Angeles institution like she was.

“You latched onto me right away but didn’t really care for Layla. When we told Gladstone, he told us not to force it. That’s why Layla backed off and let you hate her. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of Layla either. I thought she was a know-it-all and was too uptight. That’s totally beside the point though. The point is that we were supposed to make sure Marcello didn’t harm you and to find proof, like your parents did, about his betrayal. Any questions?” Charles concluded.