Exposed (11 page)

Chapter Fifteen

     “Well, well, well. Isn’t this a cozy sight?” Jake’s father said as he entered the room.

     “I was just...”

     “You were just what, Jake? What were you doing? Tending to their needs?”

     “Exactly! They haven’t bathed in a while and I was just washing them down with a damp rag. Good hygiene is very important. You always taught me that.”

     Under an oversized lab coat, Jake’s shirt clung uncomfortably, sticking to the hairs on his back. His weight shifted side-to-side as he struggled to maintain eye contact with the man he believed to be a monster, the man with whom he shared DNA. His father remained silent. Jake held his breath, praying that the pounding of his heart wouldn’t give him away as he waited for a response. After rubbing his chin a few times, his father finally spoke.

     “I suppose I did.”

     Jake let out a long breath, hoping his father didn’t notice.

     “We don’t want them getting sick. Think what that would do to your research. To our research.”

     “You’re always thinking, Jake my boy. I guess I’ve been a little single-minded lately. I didn’t realize the impact of a compromised immune system on my results. Good thinking! Keep it up!”

     “Thanks, Dad.”

     “Let’s go have lunch. My treat. They have some killer meatloaf in the cafeteria.”

     “Sounds great, Dad. Let’s go.”

     Jake gave a longing look to Alyson as he followed his father out, the door locking behind them. Once the door clicked, the girls broke their silence.

     “I can’t believe him, Cassie. Does he really expect me to forget everything and just blindly trust him?”

     “You know him better, but I think he’s sincere. I really think he wants to help us.”

     “But that’s his father. He’s not going to choose us over his own father.”

     “I think he will, Alyson. He must have seen the change in him. Even I’ve seen a change in him since he kidnapped us and stashed us here. He’s become more delusional and obsessed since we first met him. He even killed his own partner.”

     “But Jake doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know that his father is a murderer.”

     “He does know that he kidnapped us. We have to believe in something, Alyson.”

     “I do. I believe in us. Keep working those straps. We’re going to find a way to get ourselves out of here. Without Jake’s help.”

     “I hope you’re right, Alyson. I can’t take much more of this. I feel like a plucked chicken.”

     Alyson cracked a smile.

     “A plucked chicken?”

     “Yeah, a plucked chicken. Except instead of them plucking feathers, they’re plucking hair.”

     “I can’t believe you said that.”

     “I told you I was losing it, Alyson.”

     “You certainly are. Keep working those straps. If Jake really wanted to help us, we would be out of here by now.”

     “I know you feel that way, but I don’t think it’s that simple. His dad has gone completely psycho. Jake has to be careful. For everyone’s safety.”

     “I know you’re probably right. It’s just that it still hurts. I really loved him. I trusted him. He made a fool out of me.”

     “I know you’re still hurting, but first things first. After we get out of here you can hate him forever if you want to. Right now, he’s our best shot at freedom. Even after we get out of these restraints, we still need to get out of this room. This locked room.”

     “I’ll put my feelings aside. At least for now.”

     “Good. We need to conserve all our energy to stay alive in this place.”

     “You’re right, Cassie. We should get some rest while it’s safe. We need to give our bodies a chance to heal. If Jake can get us out of here, we’re going to have a long road ahead of us. We can’t just go back to our dads and our old life. Too much has changed. We wouldn’t be safe.”

     “Where are we going to go?”

     “I have no idea. My dad has always been there for me. I’ve always been able to depend on him for everything. Now, I don’t know if I can even trust anything he says. I mean, he lied to me. He lied about everything. He created me for body parts. Created us for body parts.”

     “With everything going on here, I almost forgot that’s how it started.”

     “Because of our dads and their lies, we ended up being kidnapped by my ex-boyfriend’s psycho father. If I wasn’t living this nightmare, I wouldn’t believe it.”

     “It’s all going to be over soon. I can feel it. I believe in Jake.”

     “How can you? After all he’s done? After seeing him work side-by-side with his father? Following his orders? How can you believe anything he says?”

     “It’s just a feeling. Something when I looked into his eyes before. I could just tell. He was telling the truth.”

     “I hope you’re right, Cassie. We don’t really have any other options. Let’s try to get some sleep.”

     Day turned to night while the girls slept fitfully. The hours passed and Jake returned to the scene of the crime. He crept into the room quietly, careful not to wake Alyson or Cassie. He stood over Alyson’s bed. Her eyes fluttered as she dreamed of being anywhere but where she was.

     “How could I have been such an idiot? She’s perfect. She’s absolutely perfect. Who cares how she was born. She looks like an angel. A wounded angel thanks to my dad. I promise I’m going to get you out of here, Alyson,” Jake whispered.

     Alyson, feeling his breath on her face, started to stir. Jake smoothed her matted hair and shushed her back to sleep.

     “You need your rest,” he whispered as he continued stroking her hair.

     His fingers tangled in the knots and he carefully loosened himself from her auburn locks. He looked over at Cassie -- same face, yet so different from his Alyson. Her head shook side-to-side as she slept. He could hear the faint sound of her teeth grinding as her jaw clenched and unclenched.  Jake could only imagine what she was dreaming. Probably having visions of his father torturing her. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t want to leave Alyson’s side.

     As they slept, ideas spun around in his head. How could he get them out of the building without being seen? How was he going to keep them safe? He didn’t even know if they would be able to walk. They were immobile for so long, their legs might be too weak to support them. The first thing he needed to do was help them regain their strength.

     He gently pushed up Alyson’s pant leg. To his horror, her muscles were already starting to atrophy. He massaged her legs while she slept, careful not to wake her while he gently kneaded the flaccid skin between his fingers. Pallid flesh hung loosely over her skeletal figure. He worked feverishly going back and forth from Alyson to Cassie, hoping he wasn’t too late.  The IV fluids were just barely enough to keep them alive. 

     For now, they were safe while his father ran tests in the laboratory. They could sleep and even dream of their freedom. In a few hours, their tormentor would return and their torture would continue. Jake stayed with them through the night hours. Eventually, he fell asleep at Alyson’s side. The click of the door jolted him awake.

     “Wha? Huh?” he muttered, still half asleep.

     “Did you spend the entire night with the clones?”

     “I can explain, Dad,” Jake said, scrambling to think of a plausible explanation.

     “No need,” his father said. “I know why you’re still here. You are my son after all. You finally get it. You finally see what I see.”

     “Of course, Dad,” Jake said, feeling relieved and very confused.

     “I’m so proud of you, Jake. You finally understand what it feels like to be a scientist. Once you’ve had a taste, you want more.”

     “That’s exactly it,” Jake said, trying to cover for his confusion.

     “We’ll do this together then. All the procedures. All the research. It will be us. Working as one until we’ve discovered all there is to know. I have so much to teach you.”

     “That’s...great. I can’t wait to learn everything you know.”

     Jake was glad the girls were still asleep. He didn’t want them exposed to his father or their conversation.

     “Why don’t we go back to the lab? You can show me how to run the tests and understand the findings.”

     “Nothing would make me happier. I finally have my son. You are an extension of me now.”

     Jake swallowed hard on his father’s words. He didn’t want to be anything like him. Certainly not a self-obsessed egomaniacal scientist. Jake took one more look at Alyson, then followed his unwitting nemesis down the hall to carry out his plan.

Chapter Sixteen

     For the next week, Jake assisted in the lab, earning more of his father’s trust each day. He followed every order, never questioning even the most difficult request. Trying to expedite the situation, Jake volunteered to obtain all the samples so while his father was occupied running tests on the girls’ DNA samples, he was free to explore the building. He checked every hallway, searching for the perfect escape route from the girls’ room.

     After securing the best path, he spent every moment with the girls to wean them off the IV and slowly start introducing solid food. Little by little, they grew stronger, gaining weight and increasing their muscle mass.

      He loosened their restraints, but kept them in place for appearances when his father did check on them, which wasn’t very often. Howard was so consumed with running the tests in the laboratory, he usually left that task to his son, Jake.

     Finally, the day came when Alyson and Cassie were strong enough to be moved. Their wounds were almost healed and their muscles were gaining strength.

     “I think it’s time, girls. We’ll plan the escape for tonight. I’ll make sure my dad is home asleep so he won’t be able to stop us. You just have to hang on for a little while longer.”

     “Is this for real? Are we really going to be getting out of this prison?” Cassie asked.    

     “I want to believe you, Jake. It’s just...it’s still very hard to trust you. How can we be sure this isn’t some kind of trick and the second we put our guard down your lunatic father isn’t going to do something even worse to us?”

     “I give you my word, Alyson. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I do still love you.”

     “You’re wrong, Jake. I do want to hear it. I just can’t believe it. Not yet. You really hurt me. I don’t know if I can ever trust you, but part of me so wants to. I still love you, too.”

     “Then believe in that love. Believe in us. I’ll prove myself to you. To both of you,” Jake said, glancing in Cassie’s direction.

     “I need to call your father, Alyson. I can’t get you out of here by myself. I’m going to need his help.”

     “No! I don’t ever want to see him again. He’s the reason we’re in this mess right now. Because of his lies, Cassie and me are paying the price. Besides, he doesn’t care about me.”

     “Are you kidding? He’s been going crazy out of his mind with worry about you. We’ve been working together since the beginning to try to find you. I haven’t spoken to him in a while because I was afraid of what he might do when he found out it was my dad keeping you here. I didn’t want him to do anything to jeopardize your safety. I’ll tell him now, though.”

     “Don’t you dare!”

     “But, Alyson. He has to know. We need his help.”

     “We’ll be fine without him.”

     “No, we won’t. Besides, he really does love you. He’s sorry for what he did to you. Especially for keeping the secrets. He didn’t know how to tell you without hurting you.”

     “He’ll get over it. It’s not like I’m his real daughter. I was always just a means to an end. He planned to use me for body parts to save his precious Samantha. He never wanted me.”

     “That’s not true. He does think of you as his daughter. His real daughter. Over time, he grew to love you. We both love you. Please, Alyson.”

     Alyson listened to the desperation in Jake’s voice. His urging and pleading. Then, she looked into his eyes -- his deep, soulful eyes. They were bloodshot, slightly glazed, and about to cry. She had never seen him like this before.

     In that moment, Alyson realized she and Cassie weren’t the only victims of Howard Parker. Jake’s life was devastated also. He didn’t just lose his mom. He lost his father, also. The man Jake knew to be his dad was gone. Jake must have seen it by now. She could see the pain he was in. His face looked strained, not the relaxed happy-go-lucky expression she was used to seeing. Things were different now. He was different. She could see his sincerity.

     “Okay. You can call him.”

     “Thank you.”

     Jake smoothed Alyson’s hair, then gently caressed her cheek.

     “I won’t let you down, Alyson. Not again. Never again.”

     Alyson wanted to say something, but didn’t. She just returned his loving look and stayed silent.

     “If this is going to work, I need to leave now. I can’t have my dad getting suspicious. I’ll make sure he’s home tonight, then slip him a sleeping pill so he won’t wake up before you’re safely out of here. I’ll be back later. Just a little longer. The nightmare is almost over.”

     “Jake,” Cassie called as he was about to open the door.

     “What is it?”

     “Thanks,” she said, smiling easily and closing her eyes to rest.

     “Your welcome,” Jake said, stepping confidently out the door, letting it lock behind him.