The Samantha Project (32 page)

Jack took a deep breath and sat down directly across from Erik. Erik kept his eyes on the table. I sat down, too, waiting for Jack to continue. “One day, when Erik was just 5 years old, they took him to a sealed off room in the building. They wouldn’t tell me where he was going. They knew I had become too attached to him. Days later, they put him back in my lab and I knew that they had done it. They had turned on those genes knowing it could kill him!” Jack raised his voice and slammed his fist on the table.
 

“Dad, calm down,” Erik said.
 

“I had to get him out of there.” Jack lowered his voice again. “I drugged him with something so strong that the on-staff medical doctors pronounced him dead. And then those people, my bosses, told me to get rid of him! No funeral. No burial. Like he wasn’t even human! They knew how much I loved him—like my own son—and yet they picked
me
to get rid of . . .”
 

Jack stopped to compose himself then waited before continuing. “Well, that never happened, of course, because he was alive. I took him and ran. When he woke up, he was fine. A typical boy, full of energy. He showed some abilities right away. Well, I don’t need to go on.”

“Why are you telling us this, Dad?” Erik finally looked up again.

“For several reasons, Erik. One is that nobody really knows what these enhanced genes do to the body. Obviously, GlobalLife waited much longer to activate yours, Sam, because of what happened in the past. But given what
did
happen and what
could
happen, it’s entirely possible that a twin was made purely to serve as a human donor. To save the enhanced twin if needed.”

I shook my head in disgust at the thought of it.

“The other reason I told you this is because I need you both to understand how invested GlobalLife is in this project. They’ve been working on it for years. I thought they might have given up after Erik. In fact, I had a contact at GlobalLife who said that the project had been shut down because it cost too much and wasn’t yielding results. But then you showed up, Sam, which is proof that they haven’t given up. That tells me that whatever their end goal is, it’s big—really big. They need this technology to work. And Sam, you may be their last hope.”

“What do you mean by that?”
 

“They waited a long time to turn on your switch. They wanted to make sure you would survive so they could finally see what these enhanced genes could do. And it sounds like you really impressed them at the lab.”

“I didn’t have a choice!” I yelled at Jack.

“No, I’m not blaming you, Sam. I’m saying that now they know the technology works. And they aren’t going to just let it go. They see you as an asset. A very expensive asset that they own. So they’ll do anything to get you back. That’s why we need to keep you safe, Sam. You can’t be seen in town. And you can’t go running off on your own. You need to stick with us.”

“Great. So I’m a prisoner. My life is over.” I knew Jack was only trying to help. But I was mad. I was mad at GlobalLife. I was mad at Dave for not knowing or telling me more. I was mad at my parents for not going to a regular fertility clinic all those years ago. And I was mad at Jack for acting like I had no choice but to sit in that old farmhouse for the rest of my life.

“Can we back up a minute here?” Erik finally spoke. “So if Sam has a twin, then wouldn’t I have one, too?”

Jack scratched his beard. “I thought about that, Erik, and I don’t know. Those old research files didn’t mention any twins. And I never heard talk of a twin when you were in the lab, not that they would’ve told me. But it would make sense for them to have initiated the twin experiment when they moved the project here, to the U.S. After having so many failures in Europe, they could have seen the need for a twin, for all the reasons I mentioned. So the truth is, Erik, it’s entirely possible for you to have a twin brother.”

We all waited in silence, each of us trying to wrap our minds around all that was said and what the future would hold if Jack’s theories were true.
 

Erik broke the silence. “So my brother, if I have one, he’d be safe, right? I mean, if GlobalLife thinks I’m dead, they would just leave him alone.”
 

“I don’t know, son,” Jack said. “They could have, well, taken care of him long ago. Cleaned up any evidence that the project ever existed. Or maybe they’ve kept an eye on him all these years.”

“Wait,” I said, thinking it through. “So if Brittany is really my twin, how is it possible that she lives in the same town where you two live? Is it merely a coincidence that you ended up living right next to one of GlobalLife’s experiments?”
 

Erik and I both looked at Jack as if he was hiding more information from us. “I really don’t know. As I said earlier, the only person I ever told about living here was Dave. And that was years ago. And I said I might consider this area. I didn’t say I would actually live here. And I never said a specific town. Plus, like you said, we don’t know for sure if she’s a twin. It’s all just a theory at this point.”
 

Jack’s tone was sincere but it still seemed like too much of a coincidence. “Let’s assume that she is my twin. That would mean that GlobalLife has been watching her all these years. And since I’ve gone missing, what does that mean for her?”

Jack’s theory hadn’t included all the possible consequences for Brittany. He was too focused on his son and me. Panic took over his face.

“We’ve got to kidnap that girl.”
 

“What did you just say?” The word “kidnap” got both Erik’s and my attention. “Dad, don’t be ridiculous. We’re not kidnapping Brittany.”

“It’s either us or them. Someone’s going to get her.” Jack sat down across from his son. “Sam’s right. If Brittany is her twin, GlobalLife has been monitoring her. Now that Sam is gone, they’ll move in and take Brittany.”

“Why? What do they need her for?” Erik asked.

“Any number of reasons. They can use her to lure Sam back. They can lock her away in a lab so they have her when they finally retrieve Sam. Or they can—get rid of her.”

“And what if she’s not really Sam’s twin?” Erik asked.

“I’ll run tests and find out. That way we’ll know for sure.”

“You have equipment for that here?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t believe all the equipment he has. Some of it he had to make himself.” Erik turned to Jack. “So you need a sample of her DNA. That’s easy enough.”

“But we can’t wait.” Jack got up again. “We don’t have time. For all we know, they’ve already got her. If not, they’ll be coming soon. Erik, I need you to get the sample today.”

“No problem. I’ll go over to the high school. They’ll be outside for lunch soon.”
 

“Why don’t I just do it?” I suggested. “I’ll go in the girls’ locker room. Get some clothing from her locker.”

“No, it’s too risky. You look just like her. She sees you, she’ll freak out.” Erik got up to get his keys.
 

“Well, how do you think you’re going to get her DNA?”

Erik thought for a moment. “I’ll tell her I need to talk to her. Then I’ll flirt with her and ask her to get in the truck. She’ll start putting her hands all over me and I’ll be covered in her DNA.”

The thought of Erik flirting with this girl made my blood boil, even though there was no logical reason for me to be jealous. The whole thing was for show. And he wasn’t my boyfriend. I just met the guy. I had to keep reminding myself that despite the strong feelings I had for him.

“That plan is ridiculous. She’s not gonna just get into your truck.” I hoped my comment would make him change his plan.

Jack sighed. “Trust us. It’ll work. The girls in this town love Erik. He’s a good-looking kid. That’s why I try to avoid taking him into town with me. We can’t go anywhere without girls coming up to him. When Brittany sees him paying attention to her, she’ll go wherever he says, even if it’s just to make her boyfriend jealous.”
 

Erik cheeks turned red. “Okay, Dad. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ll be back soon. Get your lab ready. See ya, Sam.”

I didn’t answer, still angry that he was going to flirt with Brittany. Jack wasn’t exaggerating about his son. Any girl would be drawn to Erik. He was gorgeous and he didn’t even realize it—a rare quality.

I had never been the type of girl who gets jealous over a guy, especially one I just met. But somehow I had turned into that girl after meeting Erik. If
I
reacted that way, it was easy to see that someone as boy crazy as Brittany would follow Erik wherever he told her to go. And she would definitely have her hands all over him.

While Erik was gone, Jack hid himself downstairs in the room with all the computers and lab equipment. I took a shower, then changed into one of Erik’s t-shirts while I waited to put on my one and only outfit, which was still in the dryer.
 

As I got ready, I wondered how I would feel if Brittany really was my sister. Part of me was excited to think that I might have family again—an actual sister. I wondered how Brittany would react to the news. I figured that she wouldn’t be too happy after finding out that I’d grown up in a safe, healthy home with two parents when she was stuck with a drunk mother and hardly anything to eat. I wished I had known about her years ago so I could have helped her.
 

Within an hour, Erik was back. He took off his shirt and gave it to Jack.
 

“Everything’s ready,” Jack said. “Sam, swab the inside of your cheek. That’s easier for me to analyze than the cells I have to use for Brittany.” I did as he said. Jack took the samples and disappeared into his lab.

“Doesn’t it take weeks to do DNA analysis?” I asked Erik, who was sitting next to me on the sofa.

“No, it’s actually quick. They just say it takes forever on the news and those court shows. I don’t know why. My dad will have an answer in an hour, I’m guessing. He’s studied my genetic code for years. He’s really good with that stuff. He built his own analysis software. That’s another reason the process is so fast.”

“So how did your plan go?” I tried to act casual, but I was dying to know.

“It went well. No problems. Easy, really.”
 

I stared at him, annoyed by his lack of details. “And? What happened?”

“Well, when I got there, people were just starting to come out for lunch, so hardly anyone even saw me, which was good. I don’t think Brittany eats lunch. She was just sitting at one of the tables messing with her phone. I went up to her, said something about how I had noticed her, blah, blah, blah. And she got in the truck.”

“What’s the blah, blah, blah mean?” Erik, like most guys, did not understand the importance of details.

“I don’t remember what I said. Something about her being pretty. How I wanted to get to know her. Wanted to talk. I don’t know. Stuff like that.”

“And what did she say?” I sounded like Allie, who used to fire questions at me before I could finish talking.
 

“I don’t know. I can’t remember. Does it really matter? We have the sample.” He put his feet up on the table and leaned back, as if planning to take a nap.

“What are you doing? You can’t sleep now. There’s too much going on.”

“I’m tired. I got, like, two hours sleep last night.”

“I didn’t get any sleep either and I’m not napping.”

Erik sat up and put his feet back down on the floor, turning toward me. “Are you kidding? You slept on me on that swing for like three hours. I couldn’t move.” I could tell that it was not as big an imposition as he made it sound—that he actually liked it.

“Oh, I didn’t realize. Sorry about that. How did I get downstairs?”

“When I was finally able to move my legs again, I carried you down here. So I know that you got at least three hours of sleep.”

“I guess I was really tired. I don’t remember any of that. Well, you could have woke me up.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t wanna wake you. You’re cute when you sleep.” He smiled, knowing I was embarrassed.

“So finish the story.” I was desperate to change the subject. “Brittany got in the truck and then what?”

“That was it. She did just what I said she’d do. She got all flirty, and then she was all over me.”

“All over you? What does that mean?”

“Why are you so interested in this? Wait a minute!” He laughed. “Are you jealous?”

“Of course not.” I moved away slightly and folded my arms.
 

“Because you have a boyfriend, right?”
 

“Yes, I do. I only asked about Brittany because if she’s my sister, I need to know what she’s like. That’s it.”

He smiled again. “Okay. Then yes, she was a little more aggressive than I had anticipated. I told her I had to go and then asked for her phone number.”

I decided not to ask what “more aggressive” meant. I had already made an idiot of myself with the 20 questions.
 

“So what do you think about all that stuff your dad said?” I asked.

“About those other kids? I don’t know. I mean, I already knew about how and why my dad got me out of that lab, but I wish he would have told me that there had been others, you know? I’ve felt like some kind of freak my whole life, thinking I was the only one.”
 

I felt sorry for Erik. I’d only known about my abilities for a few weeks and felt completely alone and unsure of how I fit in the world. But Erik had lived with that for almost 15 years.

“I guess it wouldn’t have mattered,” he said. “None of those kids survived. Well, except you.” He grabbed my hand and I could feel our strong connection again. “I guess we’ll always have to be friends because nobody else will understand us.”

We both knew that we could easily be more than friends, but neither one of us would admit it.
 

“So do you think you have a twin?” I said, not letting go of his hand.

“No, probably not. If I did, I’m sure it would have been in those files Dad talked about. What about you? How do you feel about having a sister?”