“Layla, I know who you are. I knew the moment I first saw you. The funny thing is you don’t seem to remember anything,” Dr. Mills stated and smiled.
“My father never injected me with anything. I was never sick,” I blurted out.
I knew I was saying too much but it didn’t matter.
“Silly girl,” he laughed, “you are right, you never were sick and you are not the daughter I seek.”
“I don’t understand,” I muttered.
“Your sister was sick. You are a triplet. I have been searching for your sister for years.”
“No,” I whined, “I am an only child. I have no sisters. You are mistaken.”
“Your father and I go back many years, before you and your sisters were born. Your parents tried everything to conceive a child. They were unsuccessful until they came to me that is. With my help your mother gave birth to three baby girls. You and one of your sisters were healthy. The other was frail and ill. It was agreed upon that your parents could choose two of three babies. They chose you and the sick baby. I tried to convince them to leave the sick one but your mother insisted on saving her.”
“What happened to the other baby?” I asked feeling the walls closing in around me.
“I raised her here at the facility as my own daughter. She was safe here with me. That is, until you showed up and she saw you. She ran away. I believe she went to find you.”
“How did she know who I was if she thought you were her father?” I asked.
“Your face is her face. She found files I had hidden away. She told me she kept having dreams and seeing you in them. I laughed it off at first but with everything that had occured I believe she was telling the truth,” he explained.
For the first time I saw something in his expression that showed he actually cared for my sister. A sister I never knew existed. Two sisters to be precise. One dead the other missing. Pieces started to click into place
in my mind. The girl Gabe and I found in the tub and the screamer in the field. I was drawn to them and I didn’t know why. They were in my dreams as well. They had spoken to me and had tried to warn me and help me. I felt it clearly now, they were my missing sisters.
“All three of us look the same?” I questioned.
“Yes, very much so, identical,” he said.
“Julia always wore dresses,” Zola added.
“I know where she is,” I stated.
“You do? Where?” He asked.
“At the warehouse. She is unwell. We also have my other sister. She is a screamer and Dr. Nickels has been doing testing on her,” I explained.
“What did you say?” The doctor’s eyes widened and his face paled.
“They are at the warehouse,” I repeated, confused.
“No. Dr. Nickels? Are you certain?” He gulped.
“Yes he is at the warehouse and working on a cure,” I replied.
“Zola get every soldier together now. We have to get to the warehouse,” he commanded.
Zola rushed out of the room while I stood baffled.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“Layla, I know you don’t like me very much but I need you to listen to me very carefully. Dr. Nickels is a very dangerous man. We have to stop him before it’s too late.”
“Too late for what?” I asked, “The world is full of screamers, I don’t think it can get much worse.”
“He created the virus that caused the humans to turn into screamers. He is a sick and twisted man. He believes the human population is faulty and needs to be cleansed. He made a mistake and instead of killing everyone he altered them to the screamers. He is going to alter everyone again and if he succeeds this time, he will wipe out the human population. No humans will remain,” he groaned.
Zola reentered the room where we stood talking.
“Sir, the sun is setting and it is not safe to venture out at this time,” Zola stated.
The doctor sighed and ran his hands over his face.
“Very well at dawn's light we will depart. I only hope we aren’t too late,” he said walking out of the room.
I walked to my fathers bed and scowled at his sleeping figure.
“I hate you,” I whispered.
A red hot anger ran through me. A tear fell down my face and I tried to wipe it away before Zola saw my weakness.
“He was always nice to us,” she said making her way to the foot of the bed, “He came here all the time to check on his daughter and on us. He is the one that brought us here.”
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed.
“Don’t be sorry. He saved our lives. We came from broken homes or were abused or in foster care. Your father took care in finding us. I know you think Dr. Mills is bad but he has taken good care of us. He has done bad things but only because he had to. He shaped us into the soldiers we are today.”
“He has brainwashed you and you can’t see it,” I stated.
“No,” Zola yelled.
“Why is my father here and in this bed?” I asked, needing to change the subject.
“Like I said, he chose to be here. The doctor and your father worked together. When the doctor found out what was going to happen he told your father but it was too late. Your father wanted to get to your mother and to you but he had to be put under right away. Until the doctor finds a cure your father has to stay asleep. It is all that is keeping him alive right now.”
“If he woke up he would die?” I trembled.
“Yes and no, he would become a screamer but as long as we are here to care for him, he will be safe,” she explained, hope in her voice.
“I have to get back and warn the others of Dr. Nickels plans. He told Silas he has a trial cure ready to go. They are going to inject my sister,” I announced.
“Why would he inject Julia? She isn’t a screamer. He wants population control and that means he will first focus on killing the screamers,” Zola said confused.
“Not Julia, my other sister,” I explained.
“Nickie?” Zola asked.
“She is a screamer and Dr. Nickels has both of them,” I replied.
“It doesn’t make sense. The injections she was given didn’t work. As far as I know your sister Nickie, spent her childhood in the hospital. Your father told Dr. Mills she had died but that was a lie. She was alive but hidden away somewhere. We searched for your sister but were unsuccessful in finding her. Dr. Mills believes her blood holds important information,” Zola said sounding confused.
I blurted, “Both of my sisters are wearing white dresses and they look just like me. We have a weird connection and I had visions or dreams. Why can’t I remember the sister that was sick? If my parents raised her why wouldn’t I remember her and why would they have kept her from me?”
“I sorry but I don’t know. I have some work I need to do. Feel free to stay with him if you like,” Zola said backing away from me.
I watched her leave and I knew she wasn’t telling me everything. She knew more than what she was telling me. I wanted to chase after her but knew it would be pointless. I had to get back to my group. I thought out my options carefully. I could try and teleport but I worried I would lose control and end up hurting someone. Then I thought about taking a truck. If I hurried I could make it back before the sun was gone but the road conditions would make it tough. I had no other option, I decided to teleport. I felt anxious but knew I could do it if I concentrated and focused my energy. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I focused my energy on the warehouse and on my sisters. I thought I had control until my mind started to drift from my sisters to my father and then my mother and then Silas. My thoughts finally stopped on Dr. Nickels. I shook and felt my body leave the floor. I opened my eyes and found I was standing in the makeshift lab in the warehouse. My sisters were still in the hospital beds. The screamer sister was completely still and I wondered if I was too late. I started to walk up to her when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. The room spun and then everything went dark.