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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Brown-Eyed Girl
pretender_gurl
5th Street Apartment Complex
River Valley, North Carolina
April 10, 1994 ~ 15:27
"Hey, Mom! I'm home!" Emily called as she tossed her keys on the table just inside the door.
There was no response. Still carrying her backpack, Emily wandered into the kitchen and saw a note lying on the counter.
Em ~
I'm working late tonight.
Be home around eight with dinner.
No TV until your homework is done!
~ Mom
P.S. Make sure the doors are locked and don't open the door to strangers.
Emily rolled her eyes. She couldn't count the number of times her mother had reminded her to secure the house and exercise caution around strangers. It had been a struggle to get her to let Emily go to school. When she was finally convinced, Margaret had insisted that Emily attend The North Carolina Institute for Gifted Studies that was eighteen miles from home instead of the neighborhood public school. Emily would watch as all of the other sophomores in the building happily boarded the school bus for River Valley Senior High as she began the lonely twenty-seven minute drive to school.
At least I don't have to wait for Mom to pick me up after school anymore, Emily thought. She had passed her driver's examination over a month ago and purchased a used Jeep from the bachelor on the second floor who was always flirting with her (she had purposely worn her tight-fitting jeans when they discussed the terms of the sale and gotten a great deal).
Crumpling the note in her fist, Emily tossed it into the garbage can from across the room.
"She shoots, she scores!" Emily narrated. Grabbing an apple from the refrigerator, Emily went down the hall to her room and plopped down in her desk chair. She turned the radio to her favorite station, grabbed her Calculus III book from her backpack and crunched contentedly into her apple.
The radio was playing "I Saw the Sign" by Ace of Base. Emily found herself tapping her foot to the music as she scribbled out page-long differential equations. The song ended and the DJ announced the next number. Emily dropped her pencil and listened as "Brown-Eyed Girl" filled her room. From somewhere in the distance, it seemed another voice was singing, a familiar voice.
Her father used to sing this song to her when she was little. Emily would stand on his feet and the two of them would dance around the room. Her eyes filled with tears as the familiar lyrics blared into the room.
So hard to find my way
Now that I'm all on my own.
I saw you just the other day,
My, how you have grown!
Emily opened her desk drawer and pulled out a photograph of her and the Major. He was sitting in a rocking chair, his face creased with laughter. In his lap sat a three year-old Emily, with curly black hair and big brown eyes, reaching for her father's hands. The picture had been taken just two months before the last time she saw her father.
Dover, Deleware
April 2, 1980
Margaret had just finished drying the last of the dishes from dinner when a loud baritone voice began to sound from the next room.
"Slipping and a-sliding, all along the waterfall with you, my brown-eyed girl"
Margaret smiled as her husband's singing mingled with her daughter's giggles. These moments of happiness were a rare blessing for her family.
Margaret's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the front door. She dried her hands and went to answer it.
"Catherine?" Margaret gawked when the door opened to reveal her childhood companion.
"Hello, Maggie. It's been a long time," Catherine Parker began hesitantly.
"Catherine! It's wonderful to see you again!" Margaret soon allayed her friend's fears as she drew her into an embrace. "But who is this?" she broke off, noticing a young girl holding Catherine's hand.
"Margaret, I'd like you to meet my daughter."
The little girl looked like a younger version of the Catherine that Margaret had known at boarding school. She had soft blue eyes that danced over her surroundings and her mousy brown hair was beginning to darken to match her mother's raven tone.
"Well, hello, little Miss Parker," Margaret greeted. "I'm a friend of your mother's."
"That's what Momma said," Miss Parker answered softly. Catherine gave a laugh and turned back to Margaret. Her expression became solemn.
"I have some news that I must share with you. May I come in?" Catherine asked.
Margaret hesitated. "Charles is here, and you know that he isn't fond of anyone connected with the Centre."
"I know Maggie, but this news concerns him as well."
Margaret saw the pleading in her friend's eyes and reluctantly stepped to the side, inviting the Parker women in. She led them to the living room where Major Charles and Emily were still dancing.
"Charles?" Margaret interrupted. "We have company."
Major Charles turned to look at his wife. When he saw who was with her, he stiffened. Margaret walked over to her husband and lifted Emily into her arms. As she did so she whispered in Charles's ear.
"Be nice, she has news for us." Then Margaret turned to Emily and said in a patronizing voice, "Emily, honey, maybe you could go to your room and show little Miss Parker some of your toys, okay?"
Taking the hint, Miss Parker chimed in. "Yeah, I'd really like to see your room, Emily."
Emily smiled and wiggled to get out of her mother's arms. Margaret set her down and she walked down the hall with confident steps uncommon to other toddlers. Miss Parker followed eagerly.
When the girls were out of sight, Margaret motioned for the three of them to take a seat. "So, you have something to tell us, Catherine?"
Mrs. Parker sighed. "Yes. Both good and bad news I'm afraid."
"Better give us the good news first," Major Charles interjected. Margaret gave him a withering glance.
"The good news is that I have found Jarod and Kyle."
Margaret gasped and turned to her husband. Major Charles's eyes began to glisten with tears. The couple embraced each other for a moment before remembering that there was bad news.
"The boys are at the Blue Cove facility as you suspected, Major. Less than a year ago, my husband used our daughter as a subject in a scientific study while I was in Harlem," Catherine spat with disgust. "My daughter recently told me about the experiment. Apparently her father had threatened her into silence…" Catherine's voice broke as angry tears filled her eyes. She quickly brushed them away.
"Catherine, I'm sorry," Margaret soothed. She handed her friend a tissue and gave her a quick squeeze.
"Thank you, but I don't deserve your sympathy. You see, there was another subject - a boy."
Margaret's face fell.
"It was Jarod. I hadn't recognized him, but further investigation proved him to be your son. Kyle was harder to locate. Officially he has been released from the Centre, but he is being kept in an unknown location within the complex. A source informed me of his whereabouts and I visited him just last night."
"Catherine, how are they? How are my sons?" Margaret asked, tears of joy and longing streaming down her face.
Catherine sighed. She looked away for a moment wondering how to answer. Major Charles saw her hesitation and his expression darkened.
"What has your husband done to my boys?" the Major growled.
"Jarod's mentor is a good man. Though he would never admit it, Sydney has feelings for the boy and protects him. Kyle has not been so lucky, but I plan to watch over him now that I know where he is," Catherine assured.
"You didn't answer my question," said Major Charles.
"Please, Catherine. We want to know what has happened to our children," Margaret pleaded.
Catherine turned back and looked the couple straight in the eye. "Very well. As you both know, Jarod and Kyle are Pretenders. They can become anyone they want to be. The Centre isolated the boys for this reason and has spent the past seven years developing their gifts. Currently, the Centre is exploiting Jarod and Kyle's geniuses for unofficial research. The results of these experiments, or "simulations" as the Centre calls them, are then sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, the majority of the simulations are quite traumatic - especially for a nine and a seven year-old. I'm so sorry," she added quietly.
Margaret burst into tears and buried her head in the Major's embrace.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that you already have a plan for rescuing the children," the Major said after a long silence.
The corners of Catherine's mouth turned up slightly. "As a matter of fact, I do."
While the adults went over Catherine's plan, Miss Parker and Emily played with the blocks in Emily's room. Emily was building a rough model of the Empire State Building, her favorite structure since she had lived in upstate New York until recently.
"You look just like your brother," Miss Parker said after observing Emily for a while.
"Kyle?" Emily asked, the 'l' making more of a 'w' sound.
"No, Jarod."
"You know Jarod?"
Miss Parker smiled at the little girl, acknowledging the familiar brown eyes. "Yes, I know Jarod very well."
Emily looked up at the girl sitting beside her. "You're friends."
"Yes, we are. Your brother's a very special boy. Would you like to hear more about Jarod?"
Emily nodded and Miss Parker lifted the little girl onto her lap.
"Well, Jarod is much taller than me and thinks he's quite clever, but we girls know how boys like to think that, don't we?" Emily giggled as Miss Parker continued to tell her about the older brother she had never met.
The DJ's voice on the radio brought Emily back from her trip down memory lane. Less than two weeks after Catherine Parker had showed up on their doorstep, her father accompanied Catherine on a mission to rescue the children of the Centre. Something had gone wrong and Emily and Margaret were forced to flee in the middle of the night. They had been moving around the country ever since - always searching for Emily's father and news of her brothers.
Emily replaced the photograph of her and the Major as another snapshot caught her eye. It was a picture of her parents and Jarod. The boy was leaning against his mother's swollen belly, listening to the baby growing inside - Kyle. Both of her parents were smiling at their son, oblivious to the tragedy that would soon come crashing down upon them.
With a sigh, Emily put the picture inside her desk drawer. Dwelling on the past wouldn't help anyone.
"Em? Em, I'm home!" Margaret called from the front door.
Emily ran to help her mother with her things.
"Hi honey! How was your day?" her mother greeted, giving her daughter a quick kiss on the forehead.
"Fine, Mom. What is all of this stuff?" she asked, referring to the multiple brown bags her mother was carrying.
"Oh! I asked Wong for some extra carry-out boxes for a project I'd like to do with the kids. He went a little overboard," Margaret laughed.
Emily rolled her eyes. Her mother was a pre-school teacher at the local elementary school and was always coming up with new ideas for art projects. Ever since Emily could remember, her mother had worked with children. Emily had her suspicions about her mother's motivation to work with the little monsters. She believed her mother was hoping that one day Jarod or Kyle might walk into her classroom as though nothing had ever happened. Let her dream, Emily thought. After all, it's the only thing that makes her smile. With a sigh, Emily picked up the bags her mother left outside the door and brought them into the apartment.
