Far From Normal (Phenomenal Teens Series - Book 1)

Chapter Twelve - Take Action

Chapter 12 - Take Action

It took me awhile, but I had finally calmed down. No, abort couldn’t possibly mean what I’d thought it did. My parents weren't killers. “He probably meant to stop the experiment.” I said, trying to assure myself. But I knew deep down I was wrong.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. No, I couldn’t jump to any conclusion just yet after reading one silly word. I needed to dig around some more.

I exited out of that page and clicked on the next file. This one appeared to be typed in bulletin form also like the last one except it was shorter. I was surprised to see a list of everyone’s name on this page. There were also some other information. My eyes widened as I read the first line.  

Stella Powell - Missing – Possible location in Los Angeles, California

“Stella,” I repeated the name to myself. I furrowed my brows in thought. Did I know anyone named Stella? The name didn’t ring any bells, so most likely she didn’t live in this town or I would had met her by now.

So who was she?

I read the sentence once more before something finally hit me. Minimizing the window, I clicked on the previous file and opened it back up.

- Subject 003 escaped, missing after others were terminated

Just as I had thought. Stella Powell must be Subject 003 that they were talking about. They mentioned others, but who were they? And what did terminated mean exactly now? The word gave me a bad feeling. Did it really mean…? No. My parents weren’t capable of being a part of killing. Right? I was sure of it. Or was I?

Again, my answers so far have only been met with even more questions.

But this information did answer one question I had been wondering. There were others out there who possessed an ability like us in Project Exo. I was sure of it now. I minimized the file and opened back up the second one before reading the sentence once more.

It seemed the girl had escaped to Los Angeles somewhere and the Facility are still looking for her. But why did she run away? Did something bad happen between her and the Facility for them to drive her to escape? I pushed the question to the back of my mind as I continued on reading the rest of the document.

My heart dropped as I read the next two lines.

Brandon Askew - Terminated

Emma Winters - Terminated

Brandon Askew. He was that boy who was found on the side of the road about a week ago. Emma Winters. She was the cheerleader who was also found murdered a month ago. And there was that word again. Terminated. That word would forever be buried in my mind. I realized it had such a similar meaning to abort. A shiver ran down my spine as I made the connection.

It confirmed what I’d been hoping wasn’t true.

I turned away, a lump beginning to form in the back of my throat. I felt myself fall to my knees. I knelt in front of the desk, grabbing onto the edge to stop myself from falling to my side. My vision blurred as tears sprang up. I instinctively wiped them away with the back of my hands as I cleared my throat.

At that moment, I knew my life would never be the same ever again. Before, there'd been a foolish part of me that’d wished and hoped that my parents were innocent in all of this. But looking back at the screen now, the evidence was all there in my face, clear as day. It’s funny how I’d been so excited to snoop and find answers, and now that I had them, I didn’t want to even look at it.

I closed my eyes and steadied my breath, drawing them in slowly as I tried my best to calm down. But how could I? There was no deranged axe-wielding murderer out on the loose in town. There never was. The murderer this whole time was the Facility, the ones who we’ve all grown up trusting and going too.

And our parents had been in on everything this whole time. They worked for the Facility. They report everything back to them. They killed two innocent teenagers. And why? Because their experiment somehow had gone horribly wrong? So now that we didn’t turn out the way they’d like, they just wanted to throw us away like trash?

So many emotions came rolling through me. Anger. Sorrow. But mostly betrayal. My parents truly weren’t who I thought they were. If they’d loved me, they wouldn’t have allowed me to be part of some freak experiment.

I reached over and pulled the chair to me before sitting in it. I willed myself to look back at the document. There were still things on the list that I needed to read.

Alex Smith - On high alert - Termination date in two days

Kiernan Stone - On high alert - termination date to be announced

Tyler Wellington - Could be dangerous – reminder to update security systems

Vivian Jones - ???

Elara Lancaster - ???

Sitting there, I stared at the screen for about five minutes straight. I didn’t know what to think. My eyes kept rereading the notes over and over again, especially the ones next to Alex and Kiernan’s names.

I had to tell and warn them. They’re the ones next to be killed off and made to look like a murder. I didn’t know how much more of all of this I could take. I felt so emotionally drained.

No longer could I just sit back and wait for something to happen anymore. I took my cellphone out from my pocket and took a quick snapshot of the computer screen. Opening the 1st document, I did the same.

I knew what I had to do now. I couldn’t be the sweet, perfect Elara they expected me to be any longer.

I needed to take action. No, we needed to take action.