Dangerous Game

Chapter twenty three: The Horrible Truth

I slowly sat back down as I listened to what Jillian had to say. I was aware of her thoughts the whole time so I'd be sure if she was lying or planning something. I searched her body for any type of silencer, including jewelry like the one Ellie used. She had nothing of the sort, not even earrings.

"I want you to know that I have no plans to hurt any of you. I only wish to help." she started, "Thirteen years ago I was a novice scientist at what you refer to as The Lab. I was interested in their technology that regular science just didn't provide."

I rolled my eyes as she continued, "I didn't know about the human experiments when I went in to work for them. I was strictly intrigued by their new studies, though I knew some of their practices were illegal. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I was in way over my head."

"So you left?" I concluded from her mind.

She nodded, "Not before doing as much damage as I could. I stole valuable information and technology from them and I saved Nadia as well. You probably gathered she's not my biological daughter just by looking at us. She was my first experimental assignment and I couldn't go through with it. For some reason I thought if I could just save one of them, I could somehow excuse my mistakes." she scoffed at the thought, "Nothing could excuse that I guess. I'm just glad we got out of that place."

I saw her as she loaded up all kinds of confidential files and documents from their data base, and a smaller version of Nadia cowering in her cell as Jillian calmly approached.

"So Nadia is one of us?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yes," she confirmed, "She too has abilities as well. Mainly, she is superior in knowledge. She's even smarter than me. She's been helping me carry out our research without using human experiments." she chuckled. "She was only ten years old when I broke her out."

I crossed my arms, "Why didn't you ever report anything? Go to the police?"

"Same reason you didn't," she shrugged, "They have facilities like that all over the world. I had the problem of the police believing what I had to say, plus as soon as word got out that I'd left with stolen information, that whole facility packed up and moved. I lost track of them after that."

"Didn't you try to find Nadia's family? You can't just keep a stolen child for yourself." I scoffed.

She nodded as if expecting the question, "That's what I've been leading up to. I've learned a horrible truth, Aislin. Shortly after we escaped, I began tracking down Nadia's parents. With the files I stole, it wasn't long before I located them, but with that came terrible findings." Jillian's face was contorted with pity.

I gulped, "What did you find?" I was too afraid of the answer to look ahead in her mind.

"There's a reason the law hasn't tracked them down yet. What I'm about to tell you will most likely break your heart, but it is vital that you know this, Aislin. I'm so, so sorry." Jillian was tearing up and I was sweating from anticipation. I finally invaded her mind when I was tired of waiting for her to talk. What I heard next changed everything...

*********

"Feel free to let the others know this information. It's no secret, I simply wanted you to know first because you seem to be the most understanding. Plus, I knew you'd find out anyways with your abilities and I wanted to explain myself." Jillian suggested as we walked out of her office.

My fists were clenched and my mind was still reeling from the information I'd just acquired. How was I going to tell the others?

Jillian was leading me to where the group was gathered on the other side of the lab. Nadia was babbling on about an expensive looking piece of equipment and flipping her golden hair every time Seth glanced at her. She was what...twenty three now? There's got to be a law against that or something.