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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: See chapter one
~~~~~~~
Turn Evil Into Good
Part 4
Hell itself
“Ready?” Parker asked and reached out to grab Jarod’s hand.
“No, but that won’t change the fact that we are going in there,” he repeated the words she had spoken before walking into the agencies headquarter only a few days earlier.
Parker grinned and squeezed his hand.
Ethan divided his attention between watching his siblings and looking at the imposing building that had held such a dark and dangerous prospect in all their lives. Through the car’s tinted windows one could see that the whole scene was still crawling with agents despite the fact that the raid had taken place over one and a half weeks ago.
The place had lost part of its evil atmosphere.
“Ok, people. Let’s move in,” he suggested.
Everyone produced dark glasses from their pockets and put them on. Next they flipped up their collars.
“Ok?” Ethan asked.
Parker nodded and looked over to Jarod who pushed the door open at that.
All three got out of the car quickly and moved towards the entrance. Within seconds a swarm of news reporters had gathered around them.
The story that revealed itself around the Centre had yet to get irrelevant.
“What do you have to do with the Centre?”
“Why are you here?”
”Do you have any information about the people heading this gruesome organisation?”
Jarod, Parker and Ethan pushed past the reporters without speaking and without even acknowledging their presence.
They quickly speed through the entrance doors. The second it closed behind them, everything was quiet. The sounds of the reporters faded away.
Once inside the Centre’s walls, all three heaved a collective sigh.
“Wow, I never thought that one day I would be glad to be within Centre walls,” Parker breathed.
Both Jarod and Ethan nodded.
“Jarod,” Danny welcomed the newcomers.
The trio turned around. “Danny. I didn’t know you would be here,” Jarod frowned.
“Yeah, and before you say anything, you are right. The agency sends me. They want me to keep an eye on you. Sorry,” the young agent grimaced.
Jarod shrugged. “Well, then… follow us.”
Jarod, Parker and Ethan started to move towards the elevator.
“Where do we start?”
“From the bottom. SL 26,” Parker replied, looking at Jarod and Ethan who both narrowed their eyes and then nodded.
“You want to go through every single level?” Danny asked astonished.
The three siblings shrugged and got into the elevator when the doors opened.
“This will be a long day then,” Danny muttered and joined them.
“Danny, I’m sorry I forgot. This is Ethan, my brother. Ethan, this is Danny,” Jarod introduced them, leaving out the fact that Ethan was also Parker’s brother.
Ethan and Danny shook hands firmly.
There was a little ‘ding’, announcing the arrival on SL 26. They would slowly work their way up and obtain themselves a general overall view of the situation the labs were in.
Originally they had wanted to start their tour on the closed down SL 27 but since the agencies never knew about that level, they had agreed that too many questions would arise if it was shown to them. There were a few too many dead bodies down there.
There was enough incriminating stuff in the whole building to get the key players locked away for centuries and there was no need in adding the ghosts from this deepest level.
~~~~~~~
Jarod breathed deeply and swallowed.
Parker looked over at him and frowned suspiciously.
Throughout the last few hours he had made a good impression. He had calmly assessed the state the labs and utilities were in together with Ethan and herself. At first he had been a bit edgy and nervous but that was to be expected, considering the place they were in. His nervousness had passed away slightly during their stay at the Centre.
Jarod had remained highly alerted and on his guard but Parker had seen some of the fright and tensions diminish.
When Jarod felt her gaze, he turned towards Parker. He straightened and shot her a reassuring smile.
Parker still frowned but didn’t voice her concern.
‘Keep an eye on him,’ her mother’s voice rang inside of her head. Parker grimaced and then nodded imperceptible.
They silently went on with their tour, stopping in front of one of the labs on SL-24.
Ethan opened the door and they proceeded through it to get a better look on the inside. They had sporadically searched through some labs and had only gotten a superficial gaze into others.
After looking through the lab, they moved further through the halls of the huge sublevel.
Jarod was walking at the end of the little group, a resistance forming in his every fibre.
They rounded a corner and left the main hallway to get a look on the labs and the other rooms there.
Ethan looked back and saw Jarod hesitating briefly only to push himself forward.
Jarod clenched his teeth. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. During most of the time they had spent inside of the Centre today, he had felt good. Ok, it wasn’t as if he was completely at ease with his being here but he got along fairly well. But ever since they had left the elevator on this sublevel, every cell in his body was screaming:
‘Bad idea, stop here, turn around; danger!’
He didn’t understand his feelings. He was fairly sure that he had never been on this sublevel before and so he didn’t know what to make out of the signs his body was screaming at him. He didn’t even contemplate asking to stop their tour for he was far too busy with sorting through his feelings.
The lights flickered and dimmed a bit, providing only little light in the corridor.
“Damn, the electricity again,” Danny grumbled. “It happened a lot the last few days; especially on these sublevels. We had to cut some of the generators short when we did the raid and since then the light down here has been flickering on and off. The technicians said that they had the problem under control today and until now they seemed to be right.”
Parker waved a dismissive hand at him. “Forget about it. As long as there is still some light, there is no problem here. Jar, do you know where this corridor leads to?” Parker asked.
Jarod looked over his shoulder, back to where they had come from and narrowed his eyes slightly. He shook his head vaguely. “N-no,” he shrugged.
The group moved on.
Jarod followed the ongoing conversation only half-heartedly. Suddenly a picture flashed in his mind; a déjà-vue. He was standing in the elevator held by several sweepers. The small light behind the numbers in the elevator showed SL-24 and then the doors opened, revealing the long main corridor.
So he had been here before.
Absentminded he followed Parker, Ethan and Danny through the corridors, his gaze cast downward on his shoes, absorbed in thought. He was just walking, putting one foot in front of the other in a monotone motion.
He was trying to find out when he had been here and why he didn’t remember being here in the first place.
They stopped in front of a door and Danny reached for the handle.
Ethan crocked his head to the side and listened to his mother’s voice.
Parker, too, had a faraway expression and listened to her Inner Sense.
‘No, move on; not here… Jarod….,’ Catherine mumbled incoherently into her children’s ears.
Danny on the other hand didn’t notice the strange tension coming from the persons around him.
Jarod looked up and winced at the site in front of him. Another picture flashed before his eyes. The same door they were standing in front of now, the same lab number on the right hand side.
Suddenly adrenalin was searing through his veins.
He tensed.
Parker and Ethan both turned towards Jarod at their mother’s strange message just when Danny opened the lab door. Jarod’s breath was shallow and he was pale. There were little droplets of moisture on his forehead.
When Danny moved out of the door frame and gave way to the sight inside the lab, another picture flashed before Jarod’s eyes. A strangled cry followed the look of pure shock and fright on Jarod’s face.
Jarod stumbled backwards, moaning. “No, no, please, don’t… noooo,” he mumbled, his voice getting louder and more frightened with each syllable.
Danny, Ethan and Parker were shocked at the expression on Jarod’s face.
Parker closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm down. She then made a step towards the frightened man.
Jarod’s eyes dashed over to her but there was no recognition in them. He put his hands in front of him to protect himself.
“Jarod. It’s ok, it’s me, Mel,” Parker murmured soothingly.
Before Ethan could stop him, Danny made a movement towards Jarod.
The pretender’s eyes flew to the man and got even wider. There was another yelp of pure terror and before anyone could react, Jarod spun on his heel and dashed away.
“Shit,” Parker swore and set after him. “Jarod!”
Danny was about to storm of behind Parker but this time Ethan grabbed him. “No, Daniel. One person running after Jarod is enough. If there is somebody getting through to him, it’s her.”
Danny looked at Ethan confused and then relented.
When they looked towards the corridor where Parker and Jarod had been just seconds ago, it was empty.
Soft footsteps could be heard in the distance fading away and several times Parker called out Jarod’s name.
When there was not a sound anymore, Danny turned back towards Ethan. “What the hell was that about?” he asked.
Ethan shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea but maybe we should have a look at the lab so that we can find out,” he suggested.
~~~~~~~
They were back in front of the lab, waiting, when Parker returned more than half an hour later.
Alone
Ethan looked at her questioningly and highly alarmed. “Where is Jarod?” he called and jogged towards her when he saw her coming.
Parker returned his look with despair in her eyes. It was easily to be seen that she had been crying. “I don’t know. He’s gone,” she sobbed and a hand flew to her mouth.
To be continued…
~~~~~~~
Part 4
Hell itself
“Ready?” Parker asked and reached out to grab Jarod’s hand.
“No, but that won’t change the fact that we are going in there,” he repeated the words she had spoken before walking into the agencies headquarter only a few days earlier.
Parker grinned and squeezed his hand.
Ethan divided his attention between watching his siblings and looking at the imposing building that had held such a dark and dangerous prospect in all their lives. Through the car’s tinted windows one could see that the whole scene was still crawling with agents despite the fact that the raid had taken place over one and a half weeks ago.
The place had lost part of its evil atmosphere.
“Ok, people. Let’s move in,” he suggested.
Everyone produced dark glasses from their pockets and put them on. Next they flipped up their collars.
“Ok?” Ethan asked.
Parker nodded and looked over to Jarod who pushed the door open at that.
All three got out of the car quickly and moved towards the entrance. Within seconds a swarm of news reporters had gathered around them.
The story that revealed itself around the Centre had yet to get irrelevant.
“What do you have to do with the Centre?”
“Why are you here?”
”Do you have any information about the people heading this gruesome organisation?”
Jarod, Parker and Ethan pushed past the reporters without speaking and without even acknowledging their presence.
They quickly speed through the entrance doors. The second it closed behind them, everything was quiet. The sounds of the reporters faded away.
Once inside the Centre’s walls, all three heaved a collective sigh.
“Wow, I never thought that one day I would be glad to be within Centre walls,” Parker breathed.
Both Jarod and Ethan nodded.
“Jarod,” Danny welcomed the newcomers.
The trio turned around. “Danny. I didn’t know you would be here,” Jarod frowned.
“Yeah, and before you say anything, you are right. The agency sends me. They want me to keep an eye on you. Sorry,” the young agent grimaced.
Jarod shrugged. “Well, then… follow us.”
Jarod, Parker and Ethan started to move towards the elevator.
“Where do we start?”
“From the bottom. SL 26,” Parker replied, looking at Jarod and Ethan who both narrowed their eyes and then nodded.
“You want to go through every single level?” Danny asked astonished.
The three siblings shrugged and got into the elevator when the doors opened.
“This will be a long day then,” Danny muttered and joined them.
“Danny, I’m sorry I forgot. This is Ethan, my brother. Ethan, this is Danny,” Jarod introduced them, leaving out the fact that Ethan was also Parker’s brother.
Ethan and Danny shook hands firmly.
There was a little ‘ding’, announcing the arrival on SL 26. They would slowly work their way up and obtain themselves a general overall view of the situation the labs were in.
Originally they had wanted to start their tour on the closed down SL 27 but since the agencies never knew about that level, they had agreed that too many questions would arise if it was shown to them. There were a few too many dead bodies down there.
There was enough incriminating stuff in the whole building to get the key players locked away for centuries and there was no need in adding the ghosts from this deepest level.
~~~~~~~
Jarod breathed deeply and swallowed.
Parker looked over at him and frowned suspiciously.
Throughout the last few hours he had made a good impression. He had calmly assessed the state the labs and utilities were in together with Ethan and herself. At first he had been a bit edgy and nervous but that was to be expected, considering the place they were in. His nervousness had passed away slightly during their stay at the Centre.
Jarod had remained highly alerted and on his guard but Parker had seen some of the fright and tensions diminish.
When Jarod felt her gaze, he turned towards Parker. He straightened and shot her a reassuring smile.
Parker still frowned but didn’t voice her concern.
‘Keep an eye on him,’ her mother’s voice rang inside of her head. Parker grimaced and then nodded imperceptible.
They silently went on with their tour, stopping in front of one of the labs on SL-24.
Ethan opened the door and they proceeded through it to get a better look on the inside. They had sporadically searched through some labs and had only gotten a superficial gaze into others.
After looking through the lab, they moved further through the halls of the huge sublevel.
Jarod was walking at the end of the little group, a resistance forming in his every fibre.
They rounded a corner and left the main hallway to get a look on the labs and the other rooms there.
Ethan looked back and saw Jarod hesitating briefly only to push himself forward.
Jarod clenched his teeth. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. During most of the time they had spent inside of the Centre today, he had felt good. Ok, it wasn’t as if he was completely at ease with his being here but he got along fairly well. But ever since they had left the elevator on this sublevel, every cell in his body was screaming:
‘Bad idea, stop here, turn around; danger!’
He didn’t understand his feelings. He was fairly sure that he had never been on this sublevel before and so he didn’t know what to make out of the signs his body was screaming at him. He didn’t even contemplate asking to stop their tour for he was far too busy with sorting through his feelings.
The lights flickered and dimmed a bit, providing only little light in the corridor.
“Damn, the electricity again,” Danny grumbled. “It happened a lot the last few days; especially on these sublevels. We had to cut some of the generators short when we did the raid and since then the light down here has been flickering on and off. The technicians said that they had the problem under control today and until now they seemed to be right.”
Parker waved a dismissive hand at him. “Forget about it. As long as there is still some light, there is no problem here. Jar, do you know where this corridor leads to?” Parker asked.
Jarod looked over his shoulder, back to where they had come from and narrowed his eyes slightly. He shook his head vaguely. “N-no,” he shrugged.
The group moved on.
Jarod followed the ongoing conversation only half-heartedly. Suddenly a picture flashed in his mind; a déjà-vue. He was standing in the elevator held by several sweepers. The small light behind the numbers in the elevator showed SL-24 and then the doors opened, revealing the long main corridor.
So he had been here before.
Absentminded he followed Parker, Ethan and Danny through the corridors, his gaze cast downward on his shoes, absorbed in thought. He was just walking, putting one foot in front of the other in a monotone motion.
He was trying to find out when he had been here and why he didn’t remember being here in the first place.
They stopped in front of a door and Danny reached for the handle.
Ethan crocked his head to the side and listened to his mother’s voice.
Parker, too, had a faraway expression and listened to her Inner Sense.
‘No, move on; not here… Jarod….,’ Catherine mumbled incoherently into her children’s ears.
Danny on the other hand didn’t notice the strange tension coming from the persons around him.
Jarod looked up and winced at the site in front of him. Another picture flashed before his eyes. The same door they were standing in front of now, the same lab number on the right hand side.
Suddenly adrenalin was searing through his veins.
He tensed.
Parker and Ethan both turned towards Jarod at their mother’s strange message just when Danny opened the lab door. Jarod’s breath was shallow and he was pale. There were little droplets of moisture on his forehead.
When Danny moved out of the door frame and gave way to the sight inside the lab, another picture flashed before Jarod’s eyes. A strangled cry followed the look of pure shock and fright on Jarod’s face.
Jarod stumbled backwards, moaning. “No, no, please, don’t… noooo,” he mumbled, his voice getting louder and more frightened with each syllable.
Danny, Ethan and Parker were shocked at the expression on Jarod’s face.
Parker closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm down. She then made a step towards the frightened man.
Jarod’s eyes dashed over to her but there was no recognition in them. He put his hands in front of him to protect himself.
“Jarod. It’s ok, it’s me, Mel,” Parker murmured soothingly.
Before Ethan could stop him, Danny made a movement towards Jarod.
The pretender’s eyes flew to the man and got even wider. There was another yelp of pure terror and before anyone could react, Jarod spun on his heel and dashed away.
“Shit,” Parker swore and set after him. “Jarod!”
Danny was about to storm of behind Parker but this time Ethan grabbed him. “No, Daniel. One person running after Jarod is enough. If there is somebody getting through to him, it’s her.”
Danny looked at Ethan confused and then relented.
When they looked towards the corridor where Parker and Jarod had been just seconds ago, it was empty.
Soft footsteps could be heard in the distance fading away and several times Parker called out Jarod’s name.
When there was not a sound anymore, Danny turned back towards Ethan. “What the hell was that about?” he asked.
Ethan shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea but maybe we should have a look at the lab so that we can find out,” he suggested.
~~~~~~~
They were back in front of the lab, waiting, when Parker returned more than half an hour later.
Alone
Ethan looked at her questioningly and highly alarmed. “Where is Jarod?” he called and jogged towards her when he saw her coming.
Parker returned his look with despair in her eyes. It was easily to be seen that she had been crying. “I don’t know. He’s gone,” she sobbed and a hand flew to her mouth.
To be continued…
