Exposed (2 page)

Chapter Three

     The final bell sounded and crowds of students emptied into the halls of Webster High. The lockers clanged as anxious teenagers grabbed their books and bolted toward the exits. Alyson was reaching for her chemistry book when Jake snuck up behind her.

     “Hey! You scared me half to death.”

     “Sorry about that. I just couldn’t resist. Did you get your report done?”

     “Just in time. I finished ten minutes before class started.”

     “I don’t know how you do it.”

     “I work better under pressure.”

     “You must. I’m going to start calling you Last Minute Alyson.”

     “If you do, you’re going to be calling me that long distance.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “I got the internship! I’ll be doing research in Geneva for two whole months this summer.”

     “Why can’t you stay here and do research? You could work with your dad.”

     “I love my dad, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to work together.”

     “You could work with my dad.”

     “You’re funny. I don’t think so. Nothing personal. Besides, Geneva is incredible. It’s a real opportunity for me.”

     “When do you leave?”

     “Right after graduation. My plane leaves the next morning.”

     “How did your dad react when you told him?”

     “My dad! I have to tell him! He doesn’t even know I applied for the internship. I’m not really sure how he’s going to react.”

     “I’m sure he’ll be very proud and excited for you. After all, you’re following in his footsteps.”

     “You’re right. I know he’ll be happy for me. He’s working for the next six hours though and I can’t wait that long to tell him. I’m so excited I feel like I could burst.”

     “Go to his office. You can tell him now.”

     “You don’t mind if we skip the movie today?”

     “We’ll watch two tomorrow,” Jake said, hugging Alyson tightly.

     “You’re the best!”

     Alyson kissed Jake goodbye and headed over to New View Biotech. She arrived at the research facility and was greeted by Rebecca, the new receptionist.

     “I’m here to see my dad, Charles Pierce,” Alyson said very matter-of-fact.

     “And you are who?” Rebecca asked, trying to be cautious.

     “I’m his daughter, Alyson.”

     “Do you have any identification?”

      “Are you kidding? I’ve been coming here since the day I was born. Everyone here knows who I am.”

     “Everyone but me. I’m sorry to have to ask, but I’m new and we can’t be too careful around here. I’m sure you understand. It’s for your father’s protection as well as everyone else here.”

     “Sorry. I’m just very excited to tell my dad something. Here’s my ID,” Alyson said, pulling out her driver’s license.

     “Your father just stepped out for lunch, but you can wait in his office if you would like.”

     “Thanks. I know where it is,” Alyson said as she headed down the hall.

     After reaching her father’s office, Alyson became impatient waiting for him to return. She started wandering around the research lab opening door after door. All she found were test tubes, beakers and books. Quickly growing bored, she headed over to the S wing. She knew it was a restricted area and wasn’t supposed to be there, but she couldn’t help herself. She was curious. What were they experimenting with that was off limits? Why did her father always keep her from seeing it? She had to know.

     Having watched her father numerous times, Alyson punched in the access code and pushed the glass door open. The hallway was empty. The silence deafening. With every squeak of her sneakers, she felt like turning back, but didn’t. She imagined herself being in a ghost town in one of those old western shows, half expecting a tumbleweed to roll by.

    The clomping sound of a man’s footsteps broke the silence, rapidly growing in intensity. Alyson ducked into the nearest room. The moment she entered, she knew it was a huge mistake, but it was too late. Some things were better left unknown. She was about to find that out the hard way.

     Slowly, she navigated through the darkness, careful of each step she took. The only light in the room was the blue glow emanating from life size human aquariums. After reaching the center of the room, she stopped. She was surrounded by glass tanks housing several females. Females of different ages who all looked alike. Females who all looked -- like her.

     Charles entered the suspended animation lab, flicked on the light, and sucked in a deep breath. His heart pounded as sweat beads formed along his receding hairline. There in the center of the room, standing motionless, was his daughter, Alyson -- arms hanging limp at her sides, fingers trembling, feet frozen to the floor. Her eyes in a cold stare as they flicked back and forth between the glass chambers which housed the floating females.

     Alyson was oblivious to her father’s presence until the whir of a generator shattered her trance. She slowly turned her head toward the man who raised her. Her eyes fixed on his face.

     He returned her look, but said nothing. His brows arched, exacerbating the weathered lines in his ever expanding forehead. Shifting his stance, he waited for a response. An uncomfortably prolonged silence grew between them. Alyson turned her gaze to the floating bodies and back to her father’s eyes. Her bottom lip quivered as she struggled to form words.

     “What..what is this place? Why? Who are they? Why do they..why do they look..like me?

     Charles looked at Alyson without saying a word. The pink hue returning to Alyson’s cheeks, her tone changed from wounded soldier to accuser.

     “Answer me!”

     “It’s complicated.”

     “Complicated? I’m standing in a room filled with floating bodies that look like a timeline of my life. And you say it’s complicated?”

     “It’s part of my research, Alyson. It’s better if you don’t know. It would be better for everyone if you could just forget what you’ve seen here.”

     “How can I possibly do that? How could you even ask me to do that? You owe me answers!”

     “You’re right. I do owe you an explanation, but it would only hurt you. Can’t you see I’m trying to protect you?”

     “Protect me? Protect me from what?”

     “From the truth and everything that goes with it.”

     “I’m almost eighteen. I can handle whatever truth it is you have to tell me.”

     “I know you think you can, but that’s only because you don’t know what it is yet. You have to trust me, Alyson. I know what’s best for you.”

     “I think I...”

     Alyson cringed, her face contorted with pain.

     “Are you having another one of those headaches?” Charles asked, leaning close to see his daughter’s strained expression.

     “Don’t try to change the subject,” Alyson demanded, her head in her hands.

     “You can barely stand. Let’s go home. You’ll take your medicine and get some rest. We can talk about what you’ve seen at another time.”

     Alyson didn’t want to concede, but she knew her father was right. She was in no condition to hear any kind of news until her headache was gone. It bordered on debilitating, occasionally leading to seizures. He led her out of the building, her head resting on his shoulder.

     When they arrived home, Alyson took her pills and went upstairs to rest. Charles checked on her, then settled into his office to figure out a plan. He had no idea what he was going to say to her. How could he possibly tell her the truth? How could he tell her what he had done in a way that wouldn’t destroy her? It wasn’t possible. He needed to keep the secret.

Chapter Four

     Just past midnight, Alyson slowly woke from her medicated stupor. She pushed the covers off, looked at the clock flashing 12:13 and tried getting back to sleep. Twisting. Turning. Covers on. Covers off.  Her body refused to settle down, her mind flooded with flashing images of floating females. She fought, but couldn’t get them out of her head.

     Restless and frustrated, she bolted out of bed, pulled on some jeans and crept quietly out of her room. From the top of the stairs, she could see her father’s balding head bobbing up and down in front of the television. He wasn’t quite asleep yet. She tiptoed into his office, retrieved his spare office key and feeling her way in the dark, climbed down the trellis outside her bedroom window.

     Alyson got into her car and gently pulled the door closed. Lucky for her, the engine was practically silent so her father didn’t hear the rev when she started it up. Needing a clear head and not wanting any distractions, the radio which was usually blaring was silent as a cemetery. When she reached the parking lot of New View Biotech, she pulled into her father’s assigned spot. He certainly wouldn’t be using it for a while. Alyson entered the building and greeted the security guards as if they were old friends. They knew her since she was a baby, so when she said she needed something from her father’s office, they didn’t question her.

     “I shouldn’t be too long,” Alyson said, turning away from the guards.

     “Take your time, Miss Pierce. We’ll keep you safe.”

     “Thank you,” Alyson said, heading down the hallway to her father’s office.

     She wasn’t really sure what she was looking for, or what she would find, but she knew she had to investigate. Alyson unlocked her father’s office with the spare key he kept hidden under his desk drawer at home. She knew he had an extra copy made in case of emergency. She never needed it before, but this qualified as an emergency.

     Once inside, she turned on the light. Her eyes scanned the room. It seemed so different at night without her father there. Sort of a cold, empty feeling.

     A weathered grey file cabinet sat in the corner of the room. Alyson rushed over and tugged the handle. Of course it was locked. She searched for the key. Charles always kept an extra key for everything. He was meticulous that way. Knowing her father, she looked under his desk drawer first. Sure enough, there was the key. In some ways, her father was very predictable. A creature of habit. Yet, she knew almost nothing about him. At least not the big stuff. At least not yet. 

     Alyson unlocked the cabinet. Folder after folder she sifted through, searching, hoping to find answers to her questions. File after file she found nothing. Collapsing into the Corinthian leather chair, she leaned back, wracking her brain for ideas. Waiting for inspiration, her eyes rolled up as she stared at the tiles on the ceiling. Sighing, she leaned forward, the heel of her palms digging uncomfortably into her forehead.

   
 
Where can it be? Where is it? Where is it? Think, Alyson. Think. If I were a secret file, where would I be? The computer! Of course! He would have stored it in an encrypted file where nobody would look for it. 

     Alyson tapped the keys furiously, bypassing obstacle after obstacle. She knew every one of his codes and typed them in as quickly as the prompts popped up. She looked in site after site, file after file. Nothing. She found nothing.

   
 
How can this be? He must have kept a file here somewhere. I know him. At least I thought I did. I’ve looked everywhere. Where else could he have put it?

     Alyson closed her eyes and waited for the throbbing to stop. Suddenly, the lights in the room seemed to be glaring in her all too sensitive green eyes. She knew she would have to quit before her headache returned. Feeling defeated, she reached under the desk to return the key to its rightful place. Her hand brushed against what felt like a small latch. Pushing the chair aside, she carefully crept beneath the mahogany desk. Sure enough, there was a latch.

     Alyson pulled it, revealing a secret compartment which contained a plain manila envelope. Inside the envelope were five plain manila folders, each with a different name printed on the side. She read each name until finding her own. She held it up, just staring at it, afraid of what she would find. Inside this folder was eighteen years worth of secrets. Eighteen years worth of lies her father told her. The headache could wait. Alyson sat on the floor, the folder perched on her lap.

   
 
This is it. No turning back.

     Alyson opened the folder, careful not to disturb the order of the papers inside. It wasn’t what she was expecting to see. There were some photos, but mostly just medical jargon. This was going to be more difficult than she imagined.

     The folder contained a chronicle of her medical history, documenting every headache, seizure and monthly injection. She started at the beginning, reading every footnote, every notation.

  
 
This is very strange. The notes start with day one and continue day by day until I turned six. Then, he has weekly progress reports until... What the heck is all this? Maybe one of the other folders will make more sense?

     Alyson picked up the next folder. Cassandra Stephens.

   
 
Stephens? Where have I heard that name?

     She opened the file. Deja vu. It also started with day one and continued day by day until she turned six. Photo after photo, she saw her own face.

   
 
This is crazy! I know it’s not possible, but Cassandra’s pictures look just like mine. She looks exactly like me
.
What the heck is going on? Do I have a sister? A twin sister? Is that what all this is about? Did he give her up and just keep me? This doesn’t make any sense.”

     Alyson read the name on the next folder. Tina Mullins.

   
 
My dad works with a Mr. Mullins. Is Tina his daughter? What is my dad involved in? What am I involved in? This can’t be real. This can’t be happening.

     Alyson’s hands trembled as she turned the pages in Tina’s folder. Again, identical information. Identical pictures. One difference. Her day-by-day ended when she went into a coma at age four. Alyson read on.

     She’s one of the floaters. She’s one of those bodies floating around in that room. They must have put her into suspended animation so they could preserve her until they figured out a way to save her. Apparently, no one figured out a way to save her yet.

     Alyson had the answer to one of her questions, but still no idea how she tied in to all of it. The next file she picked up had the name Samantha Leigh written across it. This one was very different from the others. In parentheses, next to the name, it read DONOR.

  
 
Donor? Donor of what exactly?

     Alyson opened the file and read on.

   
 
No, no, no, no, no. It can’t be. It just can’t be. I don’t believe it. There has to be some kind of..some kind of mistake. No. I must have read it wrong. It’s not...it’s not...possible. This would mean...I’m a...I’
m
a
.
..

     Alyson dropped the file to the floor, the color draining from her face.

  
 
This has to be a joke. Just some elaborate joke. Some crazy research scientist humor. It..it can’t be real.

     But it was real. Inside the file, it read DNA DONOR. The recipients were named: Tina Mullins, Cassandra Stephens, Alyson Pierce and Jenny. Alyson Pierce. She read the name over and over. It had to be some kind of mistake. It couldn’t be her. It just couldn’t be. But it was right there -- ALYSON PIERCE, DNA RECIPIENT. She couldn’t deny it.

  
 
If I’m a DNA recipient, that would make me a ... a clone.

     Alyson grabbed her file, flipped it open and stared at the words before her. There it was on the first page - DNA RECIPIENT.

   
 
How did I not see that before? How could I have missed that? It’s right there at the top of the first page. Alyson Pierce - DNA recipient. How could I not notice?

     Alyson closed the file and placed it with the others.

   
 
I have to think. What to do? What to do? This is all just too much. It’s...it’s unreal.

     Alyson gathered all the files and neatly lined them up on the floor in front of her. She read each of the names aloud.

   
 
Tina Mullins, Cassandra Stephens, Alyson Pierce, Samantha Leigh and Jenny. Jenny? No last name. That’s odd. Even with all this, that’s odd.

     Alyson opened Jenny’s file. Hers was the shortest. She never made it past the age of two. She was the youngest floating body in the lab.

   
 
I need to find out more. Who is this..Samantha Leigh? Why did they clone her? Why is she being kept in a state of suspended animation? I feel like I walked into one of my movies and landed the lead role. This is all just too incredible to be true.

     Alyson looked through Samantha’s file, but it wasn’t giving her the answers she needed.

  
 
I have to talk to my father, or whoever he is. I don’t even know who I am right now. I understand why he didn’t want me to find out about this, but why did he do it in the first place? Was it just for research? Was I just a research project for him? No, I can’t ask him. He’ll never tell me the truth. I need to find Cassandra.