Into The World

#20 - Quality Time

"We were living happily here, you know?" The clueless owner turns to the residents, her uncle holding her upright. "I'm being selfish," she sobs, clasping her grey, long-sleeved shirt. "I know better than this." She glances at Anthony, her ebony eyes wavering, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have helped you catch the Xenos gang."

The residents concurrently arch their brows. What!?

The red-cheeked owner leers, tapping her earpiece, "Je-ss-ee." She straightens her stance for a moment, clearing her throat. "Tell the President that I'll be visiting her at the Emuroll Hose." Tom sighs, struggling to lift his tottering niece, "Tony!" A bewildered Anthony rushes to his daughter, the loaded syringe clasped in his bleaky hand.

"Who's the boy?" She asks as the other residents steady her in her upright stance. Her uncle lifts his head, "Who?"

"The locket," she says, clasping the gilded accessory around her neck. Heads turn to her. "My photo's on the left, while the boy's on the right." She frowns, eyes on her dad who administers the healing serum, "Why am I angry in that photo?"

The residents catch the owner who collapses. "Bring her here," Mark says, sprinting to an empty bed in the ward. Tom and Alexa carry the novice shapeshifter over their shoulders, who in turn get support from the other residents as they move across the room. Except for squeaky footsteps and hushed grunting, silence prevails in Hybrid Room 1.

I thought Fred erased every memory related to the gang. Anthony muses, glancing at his daughter who now lies in bed. So how does she know...

I remember deleting everything from the database. Alexa muses, rubbing her sore shoulder. Fred, what did you do....

She knows about the Xenos gang? Nathan muses as he steps away. Do the other kids know about this....

She's a shapeshifter. Mark muses, glancing at the stability device around the new patient's neck as he connects her to the monitors. That means Fred started the procedure months ago...

Fred's with the Xenos gang! Amelia muses, stepping away from the bed. We all were living with a Xenoxian...I mean, how could he do this to Adam and Jenny...

The legend... Tom muses, raising his brows as he glances at his niece. Fred wasn't blabbering. He lifts his head to see the surveillance camera above the door-frame. But the legend... He shifts his gaze to the unconscious diver. It can't be...

"Frederick Thornwood has been arrested on charges of treason and five others," Jessie chimes, through the speaker in the overpopulated hybrid room. Everyone snaps out of their daze, not by this announcement, but by the awakening owner of Pearl Manor.

"Fred's been arrested?" She mutters, rubbing her forehead as she sits up. She belches when she sees six pale, blurry faces before her. "Eliza, are you okay?" Amelia asks. She nods, squinting her eyes to see the sprinter. "My headache's gone-" She trails off when she views her mentor, "Alexa, what happened to you?"

The herculean casts a weary grin, "While I was checking the main systems, Fred appeared out of nowhere." She pauses, rubbing her green forehead, "And the next moment, I was in Hybrid Room 2."

She might have heard the call. Tom muses, placing his blistered hands in his black trouser pockets.

The owner exhales sharply, clenching her fists, "Fred." She darts her gaze to her dad and uncle, both with green swirls on their forehead. "He did it to you too." She widens her eyes when she realizes something. "Jenny and Adam," she whispers. Amelia stops her from getting off the bed, "They don't know."