Removing Them One By One

Chapter Two

There was no-one in the park but an old gent who appeared to be reading a newspaper. Ellie paused at the gate, the greenery and two dimensional grey path was melting into the night. She shivered. It sure was cold; now that jacket her father had tried to force on her that morning didn't seem like such a bad idea. Across the park cut ten minutes off her trip home, more if she ran. But that man, just sitting there, how does he even see the print? She resolved to walk quickly, the cheap black trainers she'd bought for work moving quietly over the tarmac until she stepped on a twig or dried leaf left over from the fall. She didn't want to stare but her eyes kept flicking to the man, so still, so decrepit. Now that she was closer his attire was discernible from the darkening gloom. It was theatrical but modern, a coat like a banker, but with a flash of white silk beneath the blazer. As she approached, she locked her gaze dead ahead, but once she reached his bench he was gone.

"Excuse me Miss, but is your name Ellie?" She whipped around and stared straight at the man, not sure what to do she hesitantly nodded, she wasn't used to the formality of the question. "Your mother died roughly a year, ago right?" again she nodded this time she was more curious than scared. "Please follow me, there is an important matter we need to discuss." Ellie hung back not sure what to do, "I don't even know you, and you ask me to follow you. Do you think I'm some sort school girl? I'm sorry but no." he didn't even turn around, he just kept walking while explaining reasons why I should follow him. "do you know your mothers job, didn't think so. You obviously noticed she was always up early and out late? I know why. How about how she died? What stupid story where you told this time? See I know everything about your mother. I was her co-worker, we worked together often." He turned around finally, smiled and walked back towards her. Holding her hands gently he patted them. "I can talk to you about it, just not near your dad. He doesn't know, and he can't know. How about a Café, it can't be a busy one as it's a very confidential conversation. You can choose it, we just need to have the conversation." Ellie nodded slowly.

She chose a small café by the main road. It wasn't quite deserted, but because it was getting darker very quickly she guessed it would be soon. The conversation started very normally. "so how was your day Ellie?" she glanced over, like normal not sure how to answer. "it was fine I guess, Same as usual." He smiled to her while scanning the room. He nodded, "Your mother died from a scientifically generated disease, it wasn't however created by us. She was an undercover agent for us, she went to Mongolia to find some stolen goods for MI5 but when she came back she was very ill, she said she had been caught and that they had r-" he paused and turned to Ellie. She nodded so he would continue. "they injected her with some sort of illn-" Ellie shook her head "that's not what you were going to say you started with an r." he shrugged tapped the table a few times and called a waitress over, "can I have a cup of tea please." Once the waitress had walked away he continued to talk, "I chose to leave that part out, you don't need to know that part. Your mother and I are genetically different to humans. a long time ago humans set out to find other creatures and found us, People that looked exactly like them, we had just evolved to control different amazing powers. We ended up hiding them from the humans in fear and in belonging, we had stayed like that until your mother. She insisted her powers be used to help, she never fully knew her powers, so we used her for missions that normal humans couldn't do. We, we never realised that she would end up being given a scientifically generated disease. We didn't even know it would harm her." He stopped and breathed in harshly.

He Looked up and smiled, the kind of forced smile that had no reason behind it except that it was for comfort, to lighten the situation. Ellie looked down avoiding eye-contact. As her eyes slowly began to prickle with tears, tears full of pain and anguish. Soon her face was sticky with tears. Pulling her sleeve down she wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Ellie, I'm sorry I really am, I had to. I didn't know if they would come after you. We had to put it on her file because well you see, you're like her, genetically you are not human. we got one of our own doctors to keep an eye on you. I'm sorry I truly am. We have to train you an-" Ellie looked up, "what is it this time you are leaving out?" she knew the pause, she got it often enough. "and, we must remove all memory of you from your, from your father." She paused saying nothing, not sure what to even say. "why my father, he has nothing to do with this at all." The man turned to her. "my dear, he has everything to do with this, he is your father, her husband. He may know things that can be taken from him. We cannot risk it." Ellie shook her head, the belief that she or her father were in danger, was something she didn't believe.

"My father will be worried about me, I should get back." she stood up and picked up her coat. "Let me walk you home, its dark now." She looked out the window, it had got darker quicker than she expected. Nodding she paid the waitress and started to walk out. "I never got your name?" she looked over at him. "My name is , sorry I thought I mentioned it earlier?" She shook her head and picked up the pace. Time went by slowly she felt, but finally she could see her house. "It's just there the house with the lights on, wait why is there a van there, we weren't expecting any work to be done today." She looked at Aeden and stopped, "Its nothing, you can watch me get home from, here right?" he nodded but when she continued so did he. "you don't recognise the van. I'm walking you home it could be dangerous." She sighed loudly her head Shaking and continued briskly walking home. "I've only just met you, they can't have found us already." She said as she turned around and walked backwards in front of him. He pushed her back beside him and spun her back around. "They can. And they would." He watched intensely as four men ran out and jumped into the van. Ellie had noticed it too, she was soon running full pelt towards the house. no matter how hard Aeden was pulling her back she was still overpowering him and continuing to run home. "Ellie, Stop it's not safe." She ignored him and ran faster; her father could be hurt. One of her pumps fell off her feet as she ran, she contemplated stopping to retrieve it but decided against it. She stopped at her front door, her foot was bleeding from running bare foot. It stung like hell, but she continued to open the front door. Behind the door was a pile of bullet shells, something was obviously wrong, they didn't keep guns in the house and she knew that. Walking round to the living room, she rested her hand on the door and begged for him to be in there. He was, just not the way she expected.