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Chapter or Story
Present
Molly eyed the elder man lying on the couch in the other room. Sydney seemed to know much more than he let on. Though Miss Parker had informed her subtlely that Sydney was just a lost baboon bumbling around searching for a purpose with phsycological evaluations on why you have to push a button and pull a handle, Molly doubted that that was all he knew. Silently reaching a conclusion of her own, she strolled into the room, taking a seat across from the couch and trying to relax.
"So, why haven't you told them?" she inquired timidly.
Sydney glanced up from his novel before setting it on the coffee table, "What are you talking about, Molly?"
"Miss Parker and Jarod. Why haven't you told them your secrets?" she leaned forward and the sapphire pools in her eyes seemed to drown Sydney. The intimidating stare reminded him a little well of a young woman he knew.
"I keep no secrets from them. I love them like my own children."
"Yet, you have never told them that. Does it take tiptoeing on the line of death to come to a realization that they need to hear those words?"
"I told them. Remember? In the van that day," Sydney protested anxiously.
Shaking her head, "You thought you were going to die. Miss Parker needs to know the truth. They both do. How can you stand by and watch them spend their lives searching for the truth, the one thing that can be cherished in The Centre, when you posess the key to all of their struggles?"
"We've only known you for a few days, Molly. You don't understand at all." Sydney pulled the quilt up around him tighter and turned his head to face the dying flames of the fire.
"I have my own gifts as you know. I know what you're keeping hidden inside. Answer the question. Why?" Her voice was almost pleading.
"I can't. Wishes must be honored. I couldn't live with myself."
"Well, from what I can tell," she stood and walked to the door, "you've already reached that point."
Sydney stared on in aghast as she left. Molly's words lingered in the air for a moment before finally settling into his soul. Maybe it was time for the truth.
*****
"What the Hell are we supposed to do now, Wonderboy?" Miss Parker asked hurriedly while being dragged down the sterile halls of The Centre.
Jarod, clutching Miss Parker's hand as he yanked her from one side of the hall to another and back again, was searching for a specific room number. Miss Parker groaned when she heard illiterate mutterings as a response.
"Would you quit talking to yourself and tell me what's going on?!" Miss Parker ordered, frustration evident as she tore her hand away from him.
"Ah hah," he said quietly while beginning to decode the lock to one of the doors.
"That wasn't exactly the brilliant explanation I was looking for."
Suddenly, a click from the door caused her to pause and halt the sarcastic comment threatening to erupt. Jarod swung the door open and casually walked into the room while Miss Parker, after following suit, armed herself and revelled in the sweet familiar sound of her gun's safety clicking out of place. There, in the middle of the near-vacated room, stood Briggite, a coy smile littering her devilish face.
"Oh Lord, Barbie's the one who stole Emily?" Briggite's grin grew, yet she remained silent. "Well, I'm sorry if we intruded on the tea party, but the chap and I are here to collect his sister," Miss Parker announced.
"Love, if I could, I would, but honestly, this game has gone too far. Even for me. Don't try to interfere, or else little sis will be suffering from a nasty bullet wound." She pulled her gun up to Emily's temple.
Emily, eyes in contact with Jarod's, groaned, "Oh please, just shoot the bitch!"
"That's my kind of girl," Miss Parker smiled and aimed her gun, but was interrupted when Jarod knocked her gun's aim off.
"Wait, Parker," Jarod turned to Briggite, unwilling to compromise with his sister's life, "don't hurt her, Briggite. Please, tell me what you want. I'll give it to you."
Cocking her head, she pondered his offer, "Valiant attempt, Love. But there is nothing even you could do."
"No. There has to be something. Just name your price. I'll get you anything you want. Anything," he whispered at the end. Tears on the verge of springing to his eyes as he desperately baragained for Emily's life.
"Screw this. I'm going in for the kill-" Miss Parker began.
"And risk killing little Emily? I doubt it, Miss Parker." Briggite pulled Emily in front of her.
"How pathetic are you? Holding someone else in front of you to save your neck?" Emily inquired sarcastically.
"Not pathetic. Resourceful," Briggite retorted.
"Enough!" Jarod declared, frustrated with the three womens' tactics, "Briggite, what could the Centre possibly give you that I couldn't?"
"Anything," another voice answered for her.
"Come to jump on the bandwagon, Cox?" Parker sneered, swiveling on her heels to face him with her gun.
"Only if Jarod decides to hitch a ride as well," Cox answered.
"Sorry, I'm not particularly musically inclined, and I would never stay in The Centre. Especially with you." Jarod replied.
Miss Parker smiled in amusement at his naive reply. The scene was rather pathetic when looked at from an outsider's point of view. Miss Parker stood, gun poised, close to Jarod who was in a deadlock stare with Cox. Briggite, still clutching Emily in front of her, was watching the exchange. Probably hoping they would just finish eachother off, the weasel.
"Enough reunions. Jarod, shoot them so we can get the hell outta here," Emily insisted.
"Shutup," muttered Briggite, ramming the barrel of her gun harder into her neck.
"You can't all make it, Jarod. You know that. One of you will remain here and I know which one. Make the logical decision."
Jarod's head turned desperately from Briggite to Cox and back again, obviously fighting an inner war. His warm cocoa eyes were racing and Miss Parker assumed he was attempting to sim a way out of this.
"If I," Jarod swallowed hard, "if I gave myself up, would you let Emily and Parker go?"
"Of course, Jarod. I'm a man of my word."
"Hah, that's a good one. What else you got?" Miss Parker grimaced.
Jarod ignored her, though he knew he could never trust anyone who wanted him in The Centre, "I-"
Suddenly, Emily's foot sprung up and back down on Briggite's delicate foot. Twisting around, she took hold of Briggite's arm. All the while, Miss Parker had taken her cue and shot Mr Cox in the stomach. Clutching the wound, he sank to the ground.
"Go for the gold, girl," Miss Parker said, impressed with the girl's spunk. Emily was still wrestling Briggite when Jarod came to her aid. With a square kick, Emily had Briggite off of her and gun in her hand. Jarod flung himself on top of Briggite and she lay helpless on the floor, hands forced together in one of Jarod's larger ones. Miss Parker kicked Cox out of the way so that she could stand by the scene. Emily was pointing Briggite's own gun while she herself was pinned underneath Jarod.
"Comfortable?" she asked the distressed blonde.
"Oh, I always knew Jarod wanted on top of me," Briggite muttered while trying to free herself from Jarod's tight grasp. Jarod grimaced.
"Hmph. I think its time to go, Muffin," Miss Parker directed to Jarod mocking Briggite's lousy accent.
He smiled and in his own Brittish mimick replied, "Sure thing, Love."
*****
"Secrets and lies! Secrets and lies!" Angelo roared, thrusting a chair across the empty room. Suddenly sinking into a corner, her began muttering incoherantly. Eventually words began to make sense, "Sydney's secrets. Sydney's lies. Sydney's secrets. Sydney's lies. Sydneys secrets," he took a breath and then boomed, "Sydney's lies!" The walls echoed with his eerie voice.
Molly eyed the elder man lying on the couch in the other room. Sydney seemed to know much more than he let on. Though Miss Parker had informed her subtlely that Sydney was just a lost baboon bumbling around searching for a purpose with phsycological evaluations on why you have to push a button and pull a handle, Molly doubted that that was all he knew. Silently reaching a conclusion of her own, she strolled into the room, taking a seat across from the couch and trying to relax.
"So, why haven't you told them?" she inquired timidly.
Sydney glanced up from his novel before setting it on the coffee table, "What are you talking about, Molly?"
"Miss Parker and Jarod. Why haven't you told them your secrets?" she leaned forward and the sapphire pools in her eyes seemed to drown Sydney. The intimidating stare reminded him a little well of a young woman he knew.
"I keep no secrets from them. I love them like my own children."
"Yet, you have never told them that. Does it take tiptoeing on the line of death to come to a realization that they need to hear those words?"
"I told them. Remember? In the van that day," Sydney protested anxiously.
Shaking her head, "You thought you were going to die. Miss Parker needs to know the truth. They both do. How can you stand by and watch them spend their lives searching for the truth, the one thing that can be cherished in The Centre, when you posess the key to all of their struggles?"
"We've only known you for a few days, Molly. You don't understand at all." Sydney pulled the quilt up around him tighter and turned his head to face the dying flames of the fire.
"I have my own gifts as you know. I know what you're keeping hidden inside. Answer the question. Why?" Her voice was almost pleading.
"I can't. Wishes must be honored. I couldn't live with myself."
"Well, from what I can tell," she stood and walked to the door, "you've already reached that point."
Sydney stared on in aghast as she left. Molly's words lingered in the air for a moment before finally settling into his soul. Maybe it was time for the truth.
*****
"What the Hell are we supposed to do now, Wonderboy?" Miss Parker asked hurriedly while being dragged down the sterile halls of The Centre.
Jarod, clutching Miss Parker's hand as he yanked her from one side of the hall to another and back again, was searching for a specific room number. Miss Parker groaned when she heard illiterate mutterings as a response.
"Would you quit talking to yourself and tell me what's going on?!" Miss Parker ordered, frustration evident as she tore her hand away from him.
"Ah hah," he said quietly while beginning to decode the lock to one of the doors.
"That wasn't exactly the brilliant explanation I was looking for."
Suddenly, a click from the door caused her to pause and halt the sarcastic comment threatening to erupt. Jarod swung the door open and casually walked into the room while Miss Parker, after following suit, armed herself and revelled in the sweet familiar sound of her gun's safety clicking out of place. There, in the middle of the near-vacated room, stood Briggite, a coy smile littering her devilish face.
"Oh Lord, Barbie's the one who stole Emily?" Briggite's grin grew, yet she remained silent. "Well, I'm sorry if we intruded on the tea party, but the chap and I are here to collect his sister," Miss Parker announced.
"Love, if I could, I would, but honestly, this game has gone too far. Even for me. Don't try to interfere, or else little sis will be suffering from a nasty bullet wound." She pulled her gun up to Emily's temple.
Emily, eyes in contact with Jarod's, groaned, "Oh please, just shoot the bitch!"
"That's my kind of girl," Miss Parker smiled and aimed her gun, but was interrupted when Jarod knocked her gun's aim off.
"Wait, Parker," Jarod turned to Briggite, unwilling to compromise with his sister's life, "don't hurt her, Briggite. Please, tell me what you want. I'll give it to you."
Cocking her head, she pondered his offer, "Valiant attempt, Love. But there is nothing even you could do."
"No. There has to be something. Just name your price. I'll get you anything you want. Anything," he whispered at the end. Tears on the verge of springing to his eyes as he desperately baragained for Emily's life.
"Screw this. I'm going in for the kill-" Miss Parker began.
"And risk killing little Emily? I doubt it, Miss Parker." Briggite pulled Emily in front of her.
"How pathetic are you? Holding someone else in front of you to save your neck?" Emily inquired sarcastically.
"Not pathetic. Resourceful," Briggite retorted.
"Enough!" Jarod declared, frustrated with the three womens' tactics, "Briggite, what could the Centre possibly give you that I couldn't?"
"Anything," another voice answered for her.
"Come to jump on the bandwagon, Cox?" Parker sneered, swiveling on her heels to face him with her gun.
"Only if Jarod decides to hitch a ride as well," Cox answered.
"Sorry, I'm not particularly musically inclined, and I would never stay in The Centre. Especially with you." Jarod replied.
Miss Parker smiled in amusement at his naive reply. The scene was rather pathetic when looked at from an outsider's point of view. Miss Parker stood, gun poised, close to Jarod who was in a deadlock stare with Cox. Briggite, still clutching Emily in front of her, was watching the exchange. Probably hoping they would just finish eachother off, the weasel.
"Enough reunions. Jarod, shoot them so we can get the hell outta here," Emily insisted.
"Shutup," muttered Briggite, ramming the barrel of her gun harder into her neck.
"You can't all make it, Jarod. You know that. One of you will remain here and I know which one. Make the logical decision."
Jarod's head turned desperately from Briggite to Cox and back again, obviously fighting an inner war. His warm cocoa eyes were racing and Miss Parker assumed he was attempting to sim a way out of this.
"If I," Jarod swallowed hard, "if I gave myself up, would you let Emily and Parker go?"
"Of course, Jarod. I'm a man of my word."
"Hah, that's a good one. What else you got?" Miss Parker grimaced.
Jarod ignored her, though he knew he could never trust anyone who wanted him in The Centre, "I-"
Suddenly, Emily's foot sprung up and back down on Briggite's delicate foot. Twisting around, she took hold of Briggite's arm. All the while, Miss Parker had taken her cue and shot Mr Cox in the stomach. Clutching the wound, he sank to the ground.
"Go for the gold, girl," Miss Parker said, impressed with the girl's spunk. Emily was still wrestling Briggite when Jarod came to her aid. With a square kick, Emily had Briggite off of her and gun in her hand. Jarod flung himself on top of Briggite and she lay helpless on the floor, hands forced together in one of Jarod's larger ones. Miss Parker kicked Cox out of the way so that she could stand by the scene. Emily was pointing Briggite's own gun while she herself was pinned underneath Jarod.
"Comfortable?" she asked the distressed blonde.
"Oh, I always knew Jarod wanted on top of me," Briggite muttered while trying to free herself from Jarod's tight grasp. Jarod grimaced.
"Hmph. I think its time to go, Muffin," Miss Parker directed to Jarod mocking Briggite's lousy accent.
He smiled and in his own Brittish mimick replied, "Sure thing, Love."
*****
"Secrets and lies! Secrets and lies!" Angelo roared, thrusting a chair across the empty room. Suddenly sinking into a corner, her began muttering incoherantly. Eventually words began to make sense, "Sydney's secrets. Sydney's lies. Sydney's secrets. Sydney's lies. Sydneys secrets," he took a breath and then boomed, "Sydney's lies!" The walls echoed with his eerie voice.
