The Fledge Effect (16 page)

She surveyed the room, noting she found herself
in a dank hallway. Barred rails, separated in
groups every ten bars, and lined the wall in front
of her. Barely conscious, her shifted gaze made
out the face of the young girl. Her eyes, blue
with a golden ring around the pupil, were cowardice and disconnected. Her chestnut hair
flowed inches below her shoulders.
Restraints tied across her chest and
arms, bounded her to an old, creaky, chair.
Emily went to gasp, grunting at a sharp pain inside her chest cavity. A rope contained her. She
twisted her wrists, rubbing them raw. A small
squeal of pain remained in the back of throat,
but didn’t fail to make a noise.
“Hey, kid, where are we?”
Katie was gone. Physically, she remained, but her mind focused on the dark figure across the room, hidden in the shadow of
the far corner. Emily assumed she was dead.
Her lifeless color and sunken cheeks suggested
a time of death not so long ago.
Darkening edges of fear, razor-sharp,
sliced through present being. Emily’s head
banged heavily into her clavicle, closed to the
visual world she fears will be the last scene she
sees. She didn’t realize making memories, for
terrible times like these, would have been useful
at this moment. She instantly regretted ever
agreeing to aide Marcel, and dwelled in the past
she could have had.
Lighthearted in certain situations, such
as her job change, caused her to grieve more
than laugh. She knew where her heart belonged,
yet, for a second time, allowed a man to persuade her otherwise.
Reasons, Hank had handed out, defied
her logic. He had said, “Being an agent is too
smart for you, maybe you should just be a scientist. I can see what I can do.” Then, he left for
work.
She shook her head. “Pffft. Can’t believe
it. The one thing I remember is the one day I
want to forget. Go figure.”
“It’s okay…,” she cooed.
Emily jolted in her spot. “You are
alive?”
“…In a sense, yes…” she sighed, “I know
what you mean. I keep remembering the day before I was cured. I kept coughing, uncontrollably. The Hospice nurse came to the house, with
my mother crying hysterically. The nurse said I
didn’t have long. Maybe a week or less.”
“What were you dying from? If you
don’t mind me asking.”
“There was tumor, the size of a baseball
inside my frontal lobe and nasal cavity. No doctor would touch it. No treatments were successful.”
“But, you’re fine now. How?”
“My dad,” she said exuberated. Then
her eyes fell sullen. “He saved me… But, I’ve
done horrible things to innocent people. What
is happening to me, Emily?”
“H-how do you know my name? You’re
a Fledge?”
“Yes, that is what Agent Brinks said to
me. She had tests done on me. More injections.
And, I know your name because your friends are
looking for you.”
“Friends? Who? Marcel?”
“No… Nick and a darker man named
George.”
“I don’t know a
George
.”
“Agent Brinks does.”
“Where is Brinks? Do you know?”
“Yes,” she pointed her nose up to the
dark figure across the room. “Right there.”
Brinks revealed her face in the light.
She smiled thinly, clapping her hands three
times slowly. “Good job. I knew that night vision
injection would work.”
“Let us go!” Emily said.
“And why should I do that? I need you,
just like you need me.”
“I don’t
need
you.”
Brinks cackled, reaching behind Emily.
The smell of her perfume made her gag. The
pungent mix of orange and rose blossom sent a
scurvy trail up Emily’s nose.
When Brinks pulled back, she held a
box tightly in her fingers. The light reflected off
its golden exterior.
“That’s mine! Give it back, you bitch!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Now, is that a way to talk
to someone who holds your dearest, most protective, secret?”
Boiling with rage, Emily bit her tongue.
She may regret her past, but because of her
forced trauma, she never wanted to rid of the
proving existence of her daughter.
“Good, I have your attention,” Brinks
chided, almost chirpy with delight.
“Yes. Uninvited, I may add.”
“Nevertheless, you are close to Doctor
Johnston. Are you not?”
“In a way. What do you want?”
“To work for me.”
“Never! I am no monster like you.”
“Really? Is that so? Your friend, Calista,
—stupid name by the way—, and I have more in
common than you think. So, in a sense, you are
calling her a monster as well.”
“
What?
”
“Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that
I am a Fledge? Have been for over a hundred
years.”
“Whatever… What do you want?”
“For you to stop Marcel from having
any further involvement in this project.”
“Why? Are you afraid he will find a
cure? You want me to kill him! That’s it, huh?”
“There is no cure. Look, if you don’t
stop him, I will. And he will die! You want to
save his life, and then do as I say. And after I’m
done with you, I will return this box without
hassle. However, if you fail me, Nick will learn
your little truth.”
“I don’t care. I wanted to tell him anyhow.”
“Fine,” Brinks sighed, shifting across
the room. “I thought you’d might say that. So, I
have another proposal. Not only will Marcel and
your daughter survive, if you stop him, and follow my commands, but I will tell you where
your daughter lives and return your memory
box.”
Emily’s heart skipped. Finding her
daughter seemed almost impossible. “I don’t
believe you.”
Brinks opened an envelope, displaying
several photos of a beautiful woman. Blond, tall,
with Nick’s pointed nose. Emily, however, refused to acknowledge it as her own flesh and
blood. “That could be anyone.”
“Birth records… Adoption papers…
DNA proof.”
“How did you get her DNA?” But, one
thing stuck out to Emily. Under her daughters’
adoptive name was the story of how she came
about to be adopted. As a baby, she was labeled
as ‘
abandoned and found outside of hospital
doors.
’ She didn’t press on it.
Maybe that is
what they just say when the mother is a teen
and the orphans are so clogged up in the system that they need to rid of them by pulling the
sympathy card,
she thought.
“I have my ways. Besides, I didn’t find
her. Boss did.”
“What’s her name?”
“Brooke. Brooke Davidson. So, do we
have a deal?”
She agreed to conform, but did not answer Brinks, inured by the obscurity of her need
to acolyte with her belief in Boss’s despotism.
She felt inundated with the existentialism of her
own paradox.
The pith of faith, substantiated from
her past, withered. Every Sunday, she attended
church. However, her surly demeanor kept a
smile away from her face, driving her away from
hope she lost long ago.
Her feral hatred centrifuged under her
emotional rug, breaking through from her being. To live without love, would drive anyone
crazy. But to hurt someone that is deeply cared
about, in order to gain someone who will always
be missed the longer they are gone, can destroy
a beating heart. Emily feels it will destroy
her
heart.
“Do we have a deal, Emily?”
“N—um, y-yes. W-we do,” she quivered.
“Good. I will let you free.”
“What about Katie? She is just a little
girl.”
“She’s mine, now.”
“She’s coming with me.”
“No.”
“Look, she is coming with me.”
“Or what?”
“I will kill you.”
Brinks threw her head back, cackling
like an old witch. “You know what? I like your
spunk. You remind me of me. Fine, if the runt is
so important to you, take her. Just know, if she
ever
gets out of control,” she smiled menacingly, “
you won’t be able to bring her back to
me
.”
Even though her mind whirled with
questions, Emily didn’t hesitate to grab Katie’s
hand after being untied. “Let’s get the hell out of
here. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
George, hidden the entire time, stepped
out into the light. “What are you planning on
doing?”
“Activating one of the Fledges.”
“Who?”
“So, you are positive Nick went to New
Haven, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She half-grinned. “Good.” Her thumb
hovered over the button on her laptop. She
looked up, realizing George never left. “Oh,
right. Here,” she said tossing him a tiny, metallic cube, “just as I promised. Their lives for
yours.”
“So this will do it? This will surely kill
me?”
“If it is what you desire, yes.”
“What is it?”
“Alloy. The only thing that kill our
kind.”
“Why are you helping me? I thought
this is what you wanted. For everyone to be just
like you.”
She tossed her glance down at her
hand. She frowned. “Leave.”

Years of sitting there every morning,
left a slight divot in the spot her mother typically sat, providing Maddie some comfort. It
was half past seven, and Emily remained gone.
She tossed her hands up, covering her damp
eyes. “
Please, be okay
.” Ten hours have passed,
which made her worry.

The crunch of tires against the gravel
driveway alerted her every sense. She rose in excitement, which soon turned dull. Whom she
thought was Emily, turned out to be Nick. She
sighed, disappointed. He stepped out of the car,
and approached her.

“Where is Emily?” Nick’s voice, shaken
with fear, sent a frigid chill up Maddie’s spine.
“She’s at her house picking something
up. Why? What’s wrong?”
“You mean she was. She’s gone. Wasn’t
there.”
“Wait, you went to her house? Why? I
thought you left state by now.”
“I was going to. I didn’t think this was
going to be a problem, but then I realized something wrong with that plan.”
“Where did you get that jeep?”
“I was traveling with someone. A person from the inside. He may know where Emily
is, but I haven’t heard anything back yet. We
have an idea that her and Katie may be together.”
“Katie?”
“A little girl I saved.”
“How do you know you can trust this
man?”
“I don’t. But, I also don’t trust anyone
who wants to harm children, making them into
beasts. We have to… I need to help stop this.
Whatever this is that is going on here. And kill
whoever is responsible.” A surge of burning rage
spiked through his lifeless veins. It leads to his
clenched fist, swung into the baluster on the
porch. “Argh! I hate this!”
“Shhh, Nick, what is it? Whom have
they hurt? What children?”
His head, swimming with the darkening of demonic urges, ached. The yellow ring in
his eyes, enlarged around his pupil. He bellowed a growl.
Emily darted in the house, came back
outside, and handed him the box of Red Fates.
Within seconds, the seed from the one he
snatched out only remained.
“I can’t keep doing this,” Nick said. “I
want to be normal. I want to
live
.”
“Fledge or not, I think we all want to
live,” she said, patient. “So, do you have any idea
where she might be?”
“No. But, I think Mayor Daly is up to
something. I can’t really explain it, but I feel it.”
Nick sunk down on the porch, joined by Maddie.
“I know how you feel.”
“Why did she leave? What was so important, that she would return to Middletown
for?”
Instead of answering with the truth,
that would surely lead to a fight or answering
with a lie that could possibly backfire, she noticed something peculiar about Nick’s presence.
“You’re worried about her. Aren’t you?”
He scoffed.
She raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t you? I
mean, that is why you are here. You have just
continued your way, and left. But, instead, you
came here.”
“Look, I didn’t turn around for her. I
was trying to save a little girl. Emily, a nurturer
by heart, would have helped her.”
“But, if you think they might be together, then why did you still come here?”
He tossed his head back, stood up, and
reached to open the door to the house.
Maddie stopped him. “You can tell me.
I won’t tell Emily, if that is what you are worried
about. What happened between you guys? I
know her side, but what is yours?”
“I can’t lie. I never stopped loving her.
We agreed on a divorce, six years ago, after fifteen years of being together.”
“Yeah, I remember. She told me, but I
was all who she told. But, why?”
“I made the mistake of pressuring her
into having kids. She said it wasn’t for her.” He
thrusted the door open, growling under his
breath.
Maddie stood, holding out her hand.
“Nick… Wait! I have to tell you something…”
“What is it?” he grouched.
“I, well, uh,” she stuttered, looking off
towards the road. Words failed what she felt was
necessary to share. Then, as if out of nowhere,
two beaming headlights headed towards the
house. “Who’s that?” she said, as a darker gentleman stepped out of the running car.
“George. My friend.”
As he stepped out in front of the headlights, Nick noticed darkened lines running
through his face and neck.
“Where have you been? Did you find
them?” Nick edged closer to him. But, he stared
blankly towards Maddie.
“Hello,” Nick said, waving his hand in
front of George’s face. “Anyone there?”
He gripped Nick’s neck, raising his feet
off the ground. He squirmed in the air, trying to
pry himself free. “George… Stop! It’s me!”
George’s eyes were glowing yellow,
much like fireflies on a warm summer night.
Nick, now knew, this was no longer George. His
capricious endeavors startled anyone watching.
“H-help me! Someone!”
Sight began darkening in his eyes. He
fought, fearing what he might do to Maddie, or
worse, if Emily were to show up.
What if he
hurts her
?
Two gunfire shots cracked through the
air, piercing his eardrums. He thought he had
been shot, but when he looked down, the only
person bleeding was George. Shot square in the
stomach.
Nick dropped to the ground, rubbing
his neck. He watched as George squirted like a
fountain. He twitched for several seconds before succumbing to his fatal fate. His arm flung
down on the ground, unclenched his fist, and a
tiny cube rolled from his palm. Nick grabbed it,
looking around.
Behind him, another man, an older
gentleman in his sixties, held a shotgun tightly
under his armpit. “You okay?” he hollered.
He nodded. George’s lifeless eyes, back
to his normal state before becoming a Fledge,
shocked him. Maddie, with clasped hands over
her mouth, stood like stone at what just took
place. Nick mouthed, “Go.”
She bolted inside, locking the shut
door. Nick relaxed his muscles, knowing she is
safer in there than out here. But, still, he didn’t
want to perish like George if he decided to attack a man with a loaded shotgun.
The older gentleman stepped towards
Nick, hesitating with trepidation in his feet; he
kneeled down three feet away. He tossed a rock
at George’s scalp, awaiting a response. When
nothing happened, he got up, dusted his knees
off, and smiled. “Ah, still got it,” he praised himself.
“How did you kill him? We can’t die.
How did you do it?”
“You a Fledge, too?” The gun cocked
back in his hands, met Nick in the face, and held
steady.
Nick held back a response. Fighting the
urge to say anything at all. Nothing he wanted
to say seemed competent enough to speak.
“Don’t… Shoot… I just need to know how you
did what you did.”
“I can explain.” The man sighed, dropping the gun to his side. “But, first, let me tell
you who I am.”
•••
Doctor Seizer sat, aloof, at the kitchen table.
Nick stared heavily at the old man, who thanked
Trudy for bringing him a cup of tea. He sipped
without noise. Tapped the bottom of the glass
on the table, taking a deep breath in. With an
exhale, he said, “I didn’t mean to scare you guys.
I know it must be terrifying to see a gun actually
fired. You see it on the television, and find it entertaining, yet when it happens right out in front
of your house, it scares the living hell out of
you.” He chuckled lightly.
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Trudy patted his
arm, “You were only trying to protect us. I
thought you looked familiar. But, you spend all
your time locked up in your basement, not even
Maddie recognized you.”
“I apologize. I have been very busy.”
“You’re retired, now start acting like it.”
“Ack! You sound like my old bosses.
Seizer, take a vacation. Seizer, retire
. It’s is
quite annoying. I want to work; I need to work.”
After checking on Calista, Marcel
joined Emily and Nick at the table. Trudy left,
leading Katie into Emily’s old room. Calista
hung out in Maddie’s room. She stared out onto
the moon, unmoving. She insisted on being left
alone.
“Doctor Johnston, glad to tell you, I finished reading the files. I must say, I am quite intrigued. The complexity, in short, is much to
study.”
Emily noticed half of his clandestine,
branded on his wrist. She frowned, jumping up.
“Do you work for a man named Boss?”
“Whatever do you mean?” he chuckled.
She cocked back her gun in his face. “Do
you understand me now?”
“You’re a bit looney, aren’t you?”
“The sun on your wrist. Explain! The
mayor, and the man who kidnapped me, both
had that same sign. What does it mean?” Her
heart echoed inside her ears. Several seconds
passed, with all eyes on him.
“Fine. No, I no longer work for Boss. I
quit when he decided to use my work, and discovery, against humanity someday. Honestly, I
had no idea it would get this far. I, myself,
couldn’t even decipher how to get it successfully
to embed within a human genome.”
“The Fledge gene was your lame-brain
idea?”
“No, heh, discovery. I only worked with
monkey DNA, to determine how to clone a dying species native to India.”
“Explain,” Emily demanded, lowering
the gun.
“I journeyed into the Western Ghats of
South India, to research more about lion-tailed
macaque—Macaca Silenus—, or the wanderoo.
Because they were substantially declining. But,
it wasn’t anything like I assumed. Bodies, of the
macaque, covered a shady, sylvan glade.
Amongst all of the blood stood a radiant, grotesque-looking woman. She was beautiful, more
than words could describe, but she wore leaves
to cover her womanly parts. Anyhow, she had
this frightened look in her eyes, and she bolted
out of sight. Nobody believed me beside the locals. They formed together a search group for
me. I feared for this woman’s life, having to feed
off wild animals as if wolves or something raised
her. In short, several years later, we caught her.
She spoke perfect English. Her name was
Janeska, or Jane for short. No last name.” Doctor Seizer leaned forward in his chair, and
propped his elbows on the table.
Emily felt impatient. “So, what? Whoopee, you found a feral person, obviously abandoned by her parents. What’s new? When I was
on the force, we had a handful of those cases a
year.”
“She was different.”

“How so?”
“We took her back to my lab to find out
more about her. She appeared very domesticated, which surprised us. We couldn’t even
stick a needle inside her to test her blood for any
viruses or possible pathogens. But, after plucking some hair from her scalp, I discovered her
DNA was vastly different. I tried to replicate it,
succeeded, but not entirely.”
“What do you mean?”
“The current Fledge gene running rampant is only a mere copy of hers. If she dies, so
does the gene, and her bite is not infectious like
the new emerging Fledges.”
“So, this can be stopped?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. It could mean
that, or maybe mean it will kill anyone infected.
Either way, Boss took her in under his wing. So
far, the only thing that can kill these copies are
quarter-inch alloy cubes. Lodge one in the
stomach, and they keel over.”
Nick tapped his finger on the table.
“What if one is removed?”
“Don’t know. Never been stupid enough
to try to.”
“I may be stupid enough,” he said,
scooching the chair away from the table. “I’m
getting George.”
“I don’t recommend it. Besides, the
blood loss he endured is not of something anyone can survive.”
“Nick,” Emily said with a soft voice,
“Just drop it. We will find another way. And,
Marcel, we all need to drop it and forget it.”
“Why? We are on the edge of a scientific
discovery that could change science forever!”
“Just drop it. Please.”
“I have to continue. I need to find a way
to save my daughter.”
“There is no cure.”
“Why are you giving up? You never give
up!”
“Trust me. If I never give up, then you
know I have a viable reason for giving this one
up.”
“Calista is facing eternal damnation if I
don’t do something to change the course of her
destiny. To live forever, is no way to live at all.”
“Look, you of all people know how
much I care about her. But, there is nothing
more anyone could do. You just have to accept
what is.”
Creeping around the corner, Calista
overheard everything. She grabbed a pen and
paper, and scribbled something down, listening
to the rest of their conversation.
“Maybe you do, but not me.”
“Marcel, please! I was hoping you

would just pass this off on some other poor soul,
but you’re obviously not. But, I can assure you,
this will only end with your blood on somebody
else’s hands. A somebody you do not
want
to
have your blood.”

She stopped breathing for a moment,
stuttering over her reluctance, “I-I… I can’t tell
you. Just, please, trust me.”

“I do trust you, but you needn’t worry.
Now, if you all excuse me, I’m going to spend
time with my only remaining relative left thanks
to this scientific discovery.”

“His wife passed away from the first
couple batches, I think, of his replication of the
Fledge gene before he finally succeeded.”

“He succeeded. How?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Ah, well, the answer is probably in his

“Wait, do you know anything about
Boss, or his people, taking newborn babies away
from their mothers?”

“Well, it was speculated that a baby’s
stem cells could hold a potential, important, attribute towards a successful replication of the
Fledge gene, but it was only speculation. Nothing was proven. Not that I know of for certain,
anyhow. Why?”

Emily stole a quick glance at Nick, then
back at Seizer. “No reason. Old case. Were the
babies harmed, or k-k-killed?”

“No, of course not. Their blood, from
the umbilical cord was taken, along with a series
of other things such as ovaries or testicles, but
after that, they were placed for adoption under
some type of ‘
abandoned and found
’ status.”

Imaginary weight, pressed down on her
like a stack of bricks. Storms flooded her eyes,
but her walls bricked them inside. She was
fazed, but strangely not surprised.