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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Information sent. Jarod. Daughter. Come. Must come. Sister. Centre. Lost. Lost. Centre. Lost.
The thudding of two curious feet dissipated into silence.
*****
The sunlight poured in and flooded the dozing man. His eyes struggled to flutter open and he woke to the feeling of drowning in light. Blocking the rays with his arm, Broots groggily put his feet on the cold floor and hurried to the window, throwing the curtains shut. He immediately flung them open again. There, outside, was a picture-perfect scene of his daughter and Jarod. Both were walking along the perimeter of the lake, laughing. Broots was glad that his daughter wasn't afraid of Jarod after all the horrific things The Centre had done to him. He had made sure when telling her about it, to leave out some of the more gruesome details, but still, the fact that he was kidnapped and had yet to meet his family was awful enough. He opened the door leading to the hallway, and heard Miss Parker's voice and the laughter of another, presumably Molly. Miss Parker would never permit Loony Tunes pajamas in her sight, especially Porky Pig. He shut the door silently and hurried to the pile of clothes lying on the end table. There had been no time to pack, so he was forced to wear yesterday's wrinkled apparal. Finally decent, he wandered into the kitchen where he found Miss Parker and Molly drinking coffee at the kitchen table. He had never seen either so happy.
"Well good morning Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice night?" she greeted him.
She was being awfully kind, he thought, "Uh yeah as a matter of fact I did. Well, wait no not really, I couldn't sleep. I kinda had a dream about llamas taking over the planet and-"
"Llamas?" Miss Parker said bluntly as if she'd never heard of them.
"Yes. You know, they look kinda like goats and camels combined and they like to spit-"
"Save me the Animal Planet trivia, Broots." She rose a hand and took a sip of coffee.
"Good morning, Broots," Molly spoke up before an arguement could arouse.
"Oh uh, morning Molly," Broots replied, glad to be properly acknowledged.
He poured himself some juice and stared at the clock, 9:26. He had overslept.
"Wow. I can't believe its so late. I've never slept this late before. I only went to bed at around um 3:30 or something."
"What in the world could have kept you up so long?" Miss Parker asked, rising from the table.
"You mean aside from two people who decided to take a swim and-" Miss Parker cleared her throat abruptly, her eyes looking daggers at him, so Broots stopped his train of thought, "uh, I found something in The Centre database."
"And you didn't notify me?" her eyes were wide and piercing eyes of ice.
"Well, uh, it actually, um, has to do more with Jarod than with you, so I thought he should be the first t-to know," he stuttered out.
"Obviously he can't be since you already know, so why not just tell me!?"
"I just thought Jarod should know first. That's all."
"Know what first?" Jarod's voice echoed.
Debbie looked curiously from her father to her new-found friend. Silenced fogged up the room.
"Hey Debbie, why don't you fill me in on the average teenager's life?" Molly piped in. Her sapphire eyes glancing nervously at Jarod and then to Debbie.
Understanding, Broots reinforced her propostion, "Yeah, Honey, go show her some cool stuff to do."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Like braiding your hair," Miss Parker murmered solemnly. The room grew quiet as Debbie nodded and led Molly back to her room to find a brush. Jarod looked sympathetic toward Miss Parker's grim expression. Broots was in obvious confusion, so Jarod took over.
"What did you need to tell me, Broots?" he asked cautiously. Most news directed to him had never been good.
"Well, I found something that I thought you should know before Miss-"
"Yeah yeah we get that. We don't need an entire overview," she faced Jarod, "Broots found something in the mainframe that he thought you should know before me. Which is ...?" she waved her hands a little to show that he was supposed to fill in the thought.
"A prisoner in SL 26. As I'm sure you already know, prisoners, or 'patients' as they are referred to, in SL 26 are under maximum security, therefore they are vitally important to The Centre."
"Who is the prisoner. Do we know him?"
"She. And well, yes, you do."
Jarod's eyes grew into round circles of chocolatey concern, "My mother." He hurried to Broots' side and grabbed his arm tightly, "Broots, please, tell me they don't have my mother!"
*****
Cox looked at the security monitor. A black and white view of their 'patient's' world. She looked frustrated, and with good reason. His arms were folded over his neatly ironed navy-blue suit. He smiled at her apparant agony and decided to pay her a visit. Maybe he could cheer her up.
Walking down the halls of SL 22, Cox reached the elevator and once inside, stood, perfectly centered, facing the duo of bullet holes. Holes of remembrace. Almost a warning to all those inside The Centre of what fate they would meet if they did not act on The Centre's behalf only. Not that he had been around at that time, but even he knew that Catherine Parker had been a mistake and had lost The Centre billions. Where they would be today if she had not gotten in the way, they would never know. He had no doubt that things would be for the better. Jarod may still even be here. She is the one who turned Sydney into the feeling teddy bear he is now. And that is what made Jarod long for an identity. That is where they went wrong. They wouldn't go wrong with Cade. As long as there were no interferences. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.
Cox heard a loud squeal and felt a jolt. The elevator suddenly came to a halt and he grasped the railings along the wall. He had barely moved up one level, and stopping now was certainly not on his agenda. He was stuck in an elevator. The same elevator that had killed Catherine Parker. This was foolish thinking. The elevator hadn't killed her. The bullet of that gun had. Well, technically, but everyone knew what could have happened. The real story wasn't what was important. The fact that he was trapped in here was.
*****
Briggite grinned slyly. Now that Cox was out of the picture for the next few hours, her plan could take place. There were only a few more factors that she needed to take care of and then, her future would be set in stone. Scratch that. Set in marble. Time for step two. She clapped her hands together and popped a candy into her mouth before gleefully slipping around the corner.
Mischief dancing in her eyes.
*****
Broots looked from Jarod's hand grasping his arm panically, to Miss Parker's curious and almost concerned face, back to Jarod's eyes of fire. "I- uh, b- I" he looked back at Jarod's grip, "no."
"No?" Jarod's grip loosened and Broots subconciously rubbed his arm gently.
"They don't have your mother, Jarod."
"Then who?" Miss Parker demanded impatiently. Broots stared at her, bewildered, "enough of the melodramatics. Just spare Jarod the torment, though he may deserve a little, because I want to know, too."
Jarod attempted a grin, but the worry was more evident, "Broots."
"They have your sister," his eyes focused on the wood designs of the floor.
"Emily," he exhaled. He sank into one of the kitchen chairs and rested his chin on his clasped hands, thinking.
Miss Parker and Broots both knew what he was doing. Already, he was trying to devise some coy plan to free her.
"Jarod," Miss Parker said, sitting down next to him. He looked up at her as she continued, "don't do something stupid."
"I wouldn't-" he began.
"But you would. You and I both know that you would gladly run into that house of horrors alone to get your sister out. You've never had anything to lose before. This time you do. You have your sister to lose."
"Well, then what do you propose I do?" he asked.
"Let me go with you."
"What? And risk another life? I don't think so, Parker."
"Sorry, but you are not playing super hero this time. I have to help her get out. I owe it to myself, to my mother, to you," she added slowly, "please, Jarod. I need to start being a part of something positive, now. My mother always told me that if you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I will no longer be a part of the problem."
Jarod sighed in defeat. How was he supposed to argue with the memory of Catherine Parker? Parker always made things more complicated than they had to be. "All right, but just you. I'm not going to risk any more lives."
She smiled one of those rare Parker smiles, "Thanks, Jarod. That means a lot to me."
"I know," he stood up slowly, "I'm going to go check on Sydney."
Broots stared, confused as usual. Since when had they been so- what was the word? Civil.
*****
Sydney was in a half-upright position and struggling to finish his journey to a vertical status. Once leaning against his pillows, he felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him. He slowly moved his feet over the side of the bed. A wave of dizzyness passed over him and he closed his eyes until it passed.
"And just what do you think you're doing, Sydney?"
"Jarod. I just wanted to see if I could manage getting out of bed. Just experimenting."
"With your health," Jarod lectured, "don't ruin a miracle, Syd. Because that's what this is. We all thought you were dying."
"So did I, but I'm not."
"I'm not taking any risks," Jarod maintained.
"Fine. What if you helped me then?" Jarod's look of stone determination caused Sydney to know that he wouldn't be changing his mind anytime soon. He always knew that that determination was going to backfire on him some day, "I'm getting cabin fever. Come on, Jarod."
"That's probobaly because you are in a cabin."
"Its just an expresion meaning that I can't stay immobile for so long."
Reluctantly Jarod gave in, "Fine, but you're only going as far as the couch. And you have to promise to eat something."
Sydney smiled at his prodigy's sense of protectiveness, "Its a deal."
As Jarod bent an arm around his teacher Sydney cleared his throat, "I saw you and Miss Parker last night through my window. I assume you've made up with eachother?"
Jarod's face blushed red and Sydney smiled compassionately at the younger man's obvious embarassment, "Uh, yes. We're on good terms now."
The two hobbled along the hall, slowly preventing more injuries or damage to the bullet wound he already had.
"That's good to know," Sydney reassured. Jarod simply nodded in response.
Finally after a good five minute struggle, they reached the couch.
"Sydney! How do you feel?" Miss Parker asked.
She and Jarod helped Sydney to lay back, propping him up against two pillows.
"I feel better. A bit sore as can be expected."
"Well, I have something that can help with that," Jarod proclaimed, pulling a bottle of magic out of his pocket, "Voila."
He presented the bottle as though it were the cure for the common cold. "And what is it, Houdini?" Miss Parker skeptically inquired.
"Just a maximum pain killer. It will help with the pain. I promise."
"Well, good to know you're not poisoning me," Sydney said, attempting humor.
"I would never do that," he reassured him while opening the bottle. Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged looks and tried to hide their amusement.
"So Parker, are you ready?" he continued on.
"Ready? For what?"
"To get my sister."
"Your sister?" Sydney inquired.
"Emily is being kept prisoner in The Centre and I have to get her out," Jarod explained.
"Already?" Miss Parker asked.
"I won't have her in that place any longer than possible, Parker. Broots and Molly will take care of you until we come back, Syd. Do you think you can manage?"
"Of course, Jarod. Be careful. Watch eachother's backs."
"We will," Miss Parker affirmed, "Broots!"
No response, "Broots! Get in here, now!"
The feeble man entered the room, afraid for his life, "I'm s-sorry."
"You didn't do anything. Jarod and I are leaving. We'll be back- Jarod when will be back?" The words came out slurred together in a hurry.
"A day at the latest," he answered casually while tending to Sydney's wound.
She rose a brow and cocked her head towards Jarod's direction, waiting for his reaction, "Doctor Jarod says a day."
"Um, okay. Do you need any h-help?"
"No. We've got it covered," Jarod answered the question for her.
"Do we? Got a plan, WonderBoy?" Miss Parker
"I'll think of one in time."
"Comforting."
"Mmm." Jarod nodded and finally stood and faced Broots, who flinched when he knew he was about to be addressed, "make sure Sydney recieves three of these every four hours, Broots."
"I-I will."
Jarod handed something to Sydney and whispered, "Only for emergency."
Then, he stood and ushered Miss Parker to the door.
"Good luck," Sydney blessed them.
*****
Emily paced back and forth in the tiny room she occupied. How was she going to get out of here? Everything about this place just seemed to eat away at her innocence. Suddenly, Angelo dropped onto the floor beside her. She gasped in astonishment before realizing who it was.
"Oh, its just you. What is your name anyway?" she asked the strange man.
"An-ge-lo." It seemed to be quite an effort to get that out, so she just nodded and didn't press him to go on.
"Soon," he uttered.
"Soon? What's soon."
"Soon," he assured her as though that should have clarifed everything.
She shook her head, her gentle-blue eyes revealing her confusion. Angelo grasped her hand, "Sister. No fear. Soon."
"Sister? I'm Jarod's sister, yes. Angelo what are you trying to tell me?" Emily pleaded with him desperately.
He climbed back up into his vent and grinned down at her, "Soon."
"Yes," she said, solemnly slumping against the wall. She slid down until she was sitting on the cold ground, defeated. "Always soon. Never now."
The thudding of two curious feet dissipated into silence.
*****
The sunlight poured in and flooded the dozing man. His eyes struggled to flutter open and he woke to the feeling of drowning in light. Blocking the rays with his arm, Broots groggily put his feet on the cold floor and hurried to the window, throwing the curtains shut. He immediately flung them open again. There, outside, was a picture-perfect scene of his daughter and Jarod. Both were walking along the perimeter of the lake, laughing. Broots was glad that his daughter wasn't afraid of Jarod after all the horrific things The Centre had done to him. He had made sure when telling her about it, to leave out some of the more gruesome details, but still, the fact that he was kidnapped and had yet to meet his family was awful enough. He opened the door leading to the hallway, and heard Miss Parker's voice and the laughter of another, presumably Molly. Miss Parker would never permit Loony Tunes pajamas in her sight, especially Porky Pig. He shut the door silently and hurried to the pile of clothes lying on the end table. There had been no time to pack, so he was forced to wear yesterday's wrinkled apparal. Finally decent, he wandered into the kitchen where he found Miss Parker and Molly drinking coffee at the kitchen table. He had never seen either so happy.
"Well good morning Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice night?" she greeted him.
She was being awfully kind, he thought, "Uh yeah as a matter of fact I did. Well, wait no not really, I couldn't sleep. I kinda had a dream about llamas taking over the planet and-"
"Llamas?" Miss Parker said bluntly as if she'd never heard of them.
"Yes. You know, they look kinda like goats and camels combined and they like to spit-"
"Save me the Animal Planet trivia, Broots." She rose a hand and took a sip of coffee.
"Good morning, Broots," Molly spoke up before an arguement could arouse.
"Oh uh, morning Molly," Broots replied, glad to be properly acknowledged.
He poured himself some juice and stared at the clock, 9:26. He had overslept.
"Wow. I can't believe its so late. I've never slept this late before. I only went to bed at around um 3:30 or something."
"What in the world could have kept you up so long?" Miss Parker asked, rising from the table.
"You mean aside from two people who decided to take a swim and-" Miss Parker cleared her throat abruptly, her eyes looking daggers at him, so Broots stopped his train of thought, "uh, I found something in The Centre database."
"And you didn't notify me?" her eyes were wide and piercing eyes of ice.
"Well, uh, it actually, um, has to do more with Jarod than with you, so I thought he should be the first t-to know," he stuttered out.
"Obviously he can't be since you already know, so why not just tell me!?"
"I just thought Jarod should know first. That's all."
"Know what first?" Jarod's voice echoed.
Debbie looked curiously from her father to her new-found friend. Silenced fogged up the room.
"Hey Debbie, why don't you fill me in on the average teenager's life?" Molly piped in. Her sapphire eyes glancing nervously at Jarod and then to Debbie.
Understanding, Broots reinforced her propostion, "Yeah, Honey, go show her some cool stuff to do."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Like braiding your hair," Miss Parker murmered solemnly. The room grew quiet as Debbie nodded and led Molly back to her room to find a brush. Jarod looked sympathetic toward Miss Parker's grim expression. Broots was in obvious confusion, so Jarod took over.
"What did you need to tell me, Broots?" he asked cautiously. Most news directed to him had never been good.
"Well, I found something that I thought you should know before Miss-"
"Yeah yeah we get that. We don't need an entire overview," she faced Jarod, "Broots found something in the mainframe that he thought you should know before me. Which is ...?" she waved her hands a little to show that he was supposed to fill in the thought.
"A prisoner in SL 26. As I'm sure you already know, prisoners, or 'patients' as they are referred to, in SL 26 are under maximum security, therefore they are vitally important to The Centre."
"Who is the prisoner. Do we know him?"
"She. And well, yes, you do."
Jarod's eyes grew into round circles of chocolatey concern, "My mother." He hurried to Broots' side and grabbed his arm tightly, "Broots, please, tell me they don't have my mother!"
*****
Cox looked at the security monitor. A black and white view of their 'patient's' world. She looked frustrated, and with good reason. His arms were folded over his neatly ironed navy-blue suit. He smiled at her apparant agony and decided to pay her a visit. Maybe he could cheer her up.
Walking down the halls of SL 22, Cox reached the elevator and once inside, stood, perfectly centered, facing the duo of bullet holes. Holes of remembrace. Almost a warning to all those inside The Centre of what fate they would meet if they did not act on The Centre's behalf only. Not that he had been around at that time, but even he knew that Catherine Parker had been a mistake and had lost The Centre billions. Where they would be today if she had not gotten in the way, they would never know. He had no doubt that things would be for the better. Jarod may still even be here. She is the one who turned Sydney into the feeling teddy bear he is now. And that is what made Jarod long for an identity. That is where they went wrong. They wouldn't go wrong with Cade. As long as there were no interferences. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.
Cox heard a loud squeal and felt a jolt. The elevator suddenly came to a halt and he grasped the railings along the wall. He had barely moved up one level, and stopping now was certainly not on his agenda. He was stuck in an elevator. The same elevator that had killed Catherine Parker. This was foolish thinking. The elevator hadn't killed her. The bullet of that gun had. Well, technically, but everyone knew what could have happened. The real story wasn't what was important. The fact that he was trapped in here was.
*****
Briggite grinned slyly. Now that Cox was out of the picture for the next few hours, her plan could take place. There were only a few more factors that she needed to take care of and then, her future would be set in stone. Scratch that. Set in marble. Time for step two. She clapped her hands together and popped a candy into her mouth before gleefully slipping around the corner.
Mischief dancing in her eyes.
*****
Broots looked from Jarod's hand grasping his arm panically, to Miss Parker's curious and almost concerned face, back to Jarod's eyes of fire. "I- uh, b- I" he looked back at Jarod's grip, "no."
"No?" Jarod's grip loosened and Broots subconciously rubbed his arm gently.
"They don't have your mother, Jarod."
"Then who?" Miss Parker demanded impatiently. Broots stared at her, bewildered, "enough of the melodramatics. Just spare Jarod the torment, though he may deserve a little, because I want to know, too."
Jarod attempted a grin, but the worry was more evident, "Broots."
"They have your sister," his eyes focused on the wood designs of the floor.
"Emily," he exhaled. He sank into one of the kitchen chairs and rested his chin on his clasped hands, thinking.
Miss Parker and Broots both knew what he was doing. Already, he was trying to devise some coy plan to free her.
"Jarod," Miss Parker said, sitting down next to him. He looked up at her as she continued, "don't do something stupid."
"I wouldn't-" he began.
"But you would. You and I both know that you would gladly run into that house of horrors alone to get your sister out. You've never had anything to lose before. This time you do. You have your sister to lose."
"Well, then what do you propose I do?" he asked.
"Let me go with you."
"What? And risk another life? I don't think so, Parker."
"Sorry, but you are not playing super hero this time. I have to help her get out. I owe it to myself, to my mother, to you," she added slowly, "please, Jarod. I need to start being a part of something positive, now. My mother always told me that if you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I will no longer be a part of the problem."
Jarod sighed in defeat. How was he supposed to argue with the memory of Catherine Parker? Parker always made things more complicated than they had to be. "All right, but just you. I'm not going to risk any more lives."
She smiled one of those rare Parker smiles, "Thanks, Jarod. That means a lot to me."
"I know," he stood up slowly, "I'm going to go check on Sydney."
Broots stared, confused as usual. Since when had they been so- what was the word? Civil.
*****
Sydney was in a half-upright position and struggling to finish his journey to a vertical status. Once leaning against his pillows, he felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him. He slowly moved his feet over the side of the bed. A wave of dizzyness passed over him and he closed his eyes until it passed.
"And just what do you think you're doing, Sydney?"
"Jarod. I just wanted to see if I could manage getting out of bed. Just experimenting."
"With your health," Jarod lectured, "don't ruin a miracle, Syd. Because that's what this is. We all thought you were dying."
"So did I, but I'm not."
"I'm not taking any risks," Jarod maintained.
"Fine. What if you helped me then?" Jarod's look of stone determination caused Sydney to know that he wouldn't be changing his mind anytime soon. He always knew that that determination was going to backfire on him some day, "I'm getting cabin fever. Come on, Jarod."
"That's probobaly because you are in a cabin."
"Its just an expresion meaning that I can't stay immobile for so long."
Reluctantly Jarod gave in, "Fine, but you're only going as far as the couch. And you have to promise to eat something."
Sydney smiled at his prodigy's sense of protectiveness, "Its a deal."
As Jarod bent an arm around his teacher Sydney cleared his throat, "I saw you and Miss Parker last night through my window. I assume you've made up with eachother?"
Jarod's face blushed red and Sydney smiled compassionately at the younger man's obvious embarassment, "Uh, yes. We're on good terms now."
The two hobbled along the hall, slowly preventing more injuries or damage to the bullet wound he already had.
"That's good to know," Sydney reassured. Jarod simply nodded in response.
Finally after a good five minute struggle, they reached the couch.
"Sydney! How do you feel?" Miss Parker asked.
She and Jarod helped Sydney to lay back, propping him up against two pillows.
"I feel better. A bit sore as can be expected."
"Well, I have something that can help with that," Jarod proclaimed, pulling a bottle of magic out of his pocket, "Voila."
He presented the bottle as though it were the cure for the common cold. "And what is it, Houdini?" Miss Parker skeptically inquired.
"Just a maximum pain killer. It will help with the pain. I promise."
"Well, good to know you're not poisoning me," Sydney said, attempting humor.
"I would never do that," he reassured him while opening the bottle. Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged looks and tried to hide their amusement.
"So Parker, are you ready?" he continued on.
"Ready? For what?"
"To get my sister."
"Your sister?" Sydney inquired.
"Emily is being kept prisoner in The Centre and I have to get her out," Jarod explained.
"Already?" Miss Parker asked.
"I won't have her in that place any longer than possible, Parker. Broots and Molly will take care of you until we come back, Syd. Do you think you can manage?"
"Of course, Jarod. Be careful. Watch eachother's backs."
"We will," Miss Parker affirmed, "Broots!"
No response, "Broots! Get in here, now!"
The feeble man entered the room, afraid for his life, "I'm s-sorry."
"You didn't do anything. Jarod and I are leaving. We'll be back- Jarod when will be back?" The words came out slurred together in a hurry.
"A day at the latest," he answered casually while tending to Sydney's wound.
She rose a brow and cocked her head towards Jarod's direction, waiting for his reaction, "Doctor Jarod says a day."
"Um, okay. Do you need any h-help?"
"No. We've got it covered," Jarod answered the question for her.
"Do we? Got a plan, WonderBoy?" Miss Parker
"I'll think of one in time."
"Comforting."
"Mmm." Jarod nodded and finally stood and faced Broots, who flinched when he knew he was about to be addressed, "make sure Sydney recieves three of these every four hours, Broots."
"I-I will."
Jarod handed something to Sydney and whispered, "Only for emergency."
Then, he stood and ushered Miss Parker to the door.
"Good luck," Sydney blessed them.
*****
Emily paced back and forth in the tiny room she occupied. How was she going to get out of here? Everything about this place just seemed to eat away at her innocence. Suddenly, Angelo dropped onto the floor beside her. She gasped in astonishment before realizing who it was.
"Oh, its just you. What is your name anyway?" she asked the strange man.
"An-ge-lo." It seemed to be quite an effort to get that out, so she just nodded and didn't press him to go on.
"Soon," he uttered.
"Soon? What's soon."
"Soon," he assured her as though that should have clarifed everything.
She shook her head, her gentle-blue eyes revealing her confusion. Angelo grasped her hand, "Sister. No fear. Soon."
"Sister? I'm Jarod's sister, yes. Angelo what are you trying to tell me?" Emily pleaded with him desperately.
He climbed back up into his vent and grinned down at her, "Soon."
"Yes," she said, solemnly slumping against the wall. She slid down until she was sitting on the cold ground, defeated. "Always soon. Never now."
