The Syndicate: Darkest Before the Dawn - Part Eleven by: Enemyoffun Rick Grant has always been in control of his life, whether its living on the streets or stealing to survive. But when things get out of control he finds himself facing off against a very dangerous organization with vicious tactics, persuasive agents and a deadly agenda.

-----

Author's Note: This chapter is a little different than the others. I'm sure a couple of you might not like me for this chapter but I felt it was important for the overall story. It may not make any sense now but it does set up the rest of the story. I like to call it the wrench in the works because let's face it everything was running a little too smoothly for our heroine.

-----

Chapter Fifteen:

“Why can’t I see her?”

Trish was putting rubbing alcohol on my elbow, treating the abrasions there. I had several similar cuts and scrapes all of my back. That’s what happens when someone practically kicks you into a wall. Luckily it was the only damage I had sustained. Clara had similar cuts but she wasn’t so lucky as far as everything else.

It had two hours since they pulled us from the mall and I do mean pulled. After security shut up the gang, I’m not sure how and I don’t really want to know, we were “extracted” as Greg called it. They ushered all of us back into the vans. Beatrice and the Clones +1 were pretty pissed and gave me nasty looks. Donovan was a bit confused and could you blame him. Then he was hysterical as he saw Greg carry Clara into our van. Well hysterical wasn’t the right word but he sure was pretty agitated. Trish had to calm him down.

In the van ride back the others played twenty questions with me.

I filled them in with the quickest summary. I told them about going to the arcade with Clara and how we were having some fun and that’s when I noticed the guy scoping her out. When new left, through the back way that’s when he and the others followed. I’m not even sure what he was trying to accomplish. Now that I look back on it, it made no sense. But I finished telling them the story and then I had to repeat it in as many details as possible to Blue and Green as soon as we got back.

I repeated my earlier question.

Trish took another alcohol soaked gauze and started to dag at a reddish bruise on my lower back.

“She’s been sedated”

Those bastards, there was nothing wrong with her. I opened my mouth to protest and Trish silenced me with a finger.

“I know she was fine in the van but as soon as Dr. Violet started to question her she became agitated. She apparently went hysterical and the good doctor had to sedate her”

I knew it was the “company line” as they say. I saw the look of unbelieving on Trish’s face. She didn’t buy it anymore than I did. I knew they wouldn’t let anyone see her but I couldn’t help to wonder what they were up too. Was she a candidate for a BMC? So far she hadn’t been but I’m not sure now. I mean whatever she did was absolutely crazy. It was awesome but it was insane. Did it mean that Barry and I weren’t the only ones with a second ability?

“What did she do to him?”

She shook her head. “If I were to guess I’d say she sapped him somehow. We have the young man downstairs in Lab Three but I haven’t heard the results of the tests yet”

Sapped him? He sure looked like someone sucked something out of him.

Trish treated my injuries for the next half an hour or so. We talked about less depressing things. She wanted to know how Mattie had talked me into getting my ears pierced. I’d completely forgotten about them but I told her it was a mutual decision. Then I told her about some of the clothes I got roped into buying and she laughed. I wasn’t in the laughing mood though. She figured that out and so we switched topics. I asked her where she and Greg wandered off to when we were all at lunch. She got allusive and blushed a bit. Trish and Greg, huh? I guess that could kind of work, they are both beautiful people after all.

When she was finished and I put my shirt back on, there was a knock at the door.

Trish got up to answer but the door opened by itself and Green entered. Blue was with him, as well as my two goons. They looked from Trish to me and back again. I got the impression that this wasn’t a regular social call. Not good.

“Dr. White would you please give us a moment with Miss Howe”

Trish wasn’t about to let them boss her around though. “This is my office and my patient; I’m not leaving her with you and your goons”

Green turned to the goombas. “Escort Dr. White out, please”

I jumped off the exam table, ready for a fight. Trish stopped me with a restraining hand. She didn’t give the goons the satisfaction of throwing her out. She cast a nasty look at Green and a sad one at me. I squeezed her hand, reassuring her and watched as she left. Green grabbed Trish’s chair and dragged it in front of me. He sat down, smoothing out the front of his coat as he did so. He was wearing a skinny black tie today and his hair was as slimy as ever. But he looked as if he swallowed a bug.

He cleared his throat and I knew the reprimand was coming.

“Miss Howe we have reviewed the mall security tapes and after our investigation of them I must say it has made us all very pleased”

I did a double take. Did he just say pleased? They were pleased that we almost got killed and that Clara was now heavily sedated. How could that please them? These people were messed up.

Green continued, “Mr. Zero believes that you acted with great authority, leadership and skill. He was very impressed with the way you handled yourself. He sees know that it was in his best interests that Mr. Black trained you and wishes to congratulate you on surviving a clearly impossible scenario”

‘A scenario I wouldn’t have been in if your people were actually doing their job”

Green cast a quick and nasty look at the goons standing behind Blue.

“Yes” he said with as much decorum as possible. “Be that as it may, Mr. Zero wished to extend an invitation to you”

I scuffed. “I don’t want anything from him”

Green ignored my comment. “Mr. Zero believes you are a valued aspect of this facility and thinks you ideal to lead his Tactical Reconnaissance Squad”

A job, the bastard was offering me a job. My anger started to flare but I kept it in check. I felt like punching him but that wouldn’t solve anything but make me feel real good. Instead I did the only thing I could think of and spit in his face. It was rash and didn’t really solve anything but it felt pretty good. Unfortunately as you can expect it didn’t go over very well.

‘You little bitch” snapped Green as he swung at me, trying to slap at me.

Yeah I know.

I caught his wrist in mid-swing and was about to snap it when I heard a click. I felt the cold barrel pressed up against the base of my skull. How I missed Blue having a gun I don’t know. I was so used to him with a flashlight on his belt it never occurred to me to look. I let go of Green’s wrist, the bureaucrat smiled smugly at me.

He reached into his pocket, took out a handkerchief and wiped his face.

“You see Miss Howe the formal invitation was a curtsey” he said as he as crossed his fingers in front of him. “Did you honestly think that you could refuse it?”

I felt the sharp prick on the back of neck. I should have expected it but I didn’t. These guys were full of surprises today. It didn’t take long for my world to start to go fuzzy. I saw Green stand up, straighten his tie and laugh. I was so going to enjoy watching that bastard die. I tried reaching for him but my arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds.

Green leaned down so our noses were touching. “Seeing as you’re not going to remember any of this” he said as he leaned back and punched me in the face. “I’ll give you that parting gift”

I told him to fuck off but it came out all slurred. Everyone in the room laughed and I fell forward, off the table and out into blackness as the drug finally ran its course.

_______________________________________________________________

When I woke the first thing I noticed was I couldn’t move. Looking up the length of my body I discovered that I was strapped down to some weird metal table. I’d say it was cold because it probably was but I couldn’t feel it. The room was dark of course and though I could see everything there wasn’t anything to see. The only other feature in the room was a large circular light, high above my head. It looked like one of those ones in those medical shows. You know the ones they use to light the surgical table with. Thinking about surgery made me groan.

I tried to listen for people. But there was no one nearby. I had a pretty good idea where I was though. This was Lab Four, the place where they implanted the BMCs. On the info, that Barry received there was also a detailed procedure, which was said to take place in Lab Four. I racked my brain, trying to remember exactly what the thing said. I remembered it saying something about shaving the subject’s head (I’ll kill them), then numbing the subject’s extremities and finally making a small incision into the back of the subject’s head. I couldn’t remember anymore and maybe I didn’t want too.

I started to struggle, seeing if I could free myself from the straps. But they were held tight. There had to be something I could do. I opened my mouth to shout but thought better of it. I wish I could transfer my thoughts or something. I also wish Mattie and I had come up with a better code of two snaps for “yes” and one for “no”. But maybe there was still a way to contact her. I took a chance and whispered her name. I waited a few seconds for a response and then tried again. When there was still nothing, I tried a little louder. But when my voice echoed back at me I realized I was too loud. I sighed; trying to contact was getting me nowhere. Even if I did manage to do it there was nothing they could do to help me. I was underground, surrounded by an army of armed commandos and by the time they got here I wasn’t going to be anything worth saving. God I was probably going to be Clone Number Six (I’m not calling myself +2).

I heard soft padding coming down the hall. It was a person so I closed my eyes and waited. It was a woman, that much I could tell and she was walking at a rather fast pace. I heard her stop at the door and slip into the room. When she walked to me it was a little slower. I opened my eyes a little and saw a woman in green OR scrubs, wearing a white surgical mask. She was a complete stranger to me until I recognized the eyes I saw hidden behind her night vision shades.
It was Trish. Thank the Gods.

She approached me as if she was doing her job, pushing a wheeled tray to my bedside.

“I don’t have a lot of time” she whispered as she started to prep a syringe.

“Good. Just unbuckle the straps and the two of us can get the hell out of here. I can take out the guards, guns or no guns”

She shook her head. “And get yourself killed. There’s too many of them and they’re expecting something like that. Why do you think I came in disguise?”

“Then how am I getting out of here?”

“You’re not, at least not at the moment”

She started swabbing my skin, prepping me for the syringe. I was pissed. She was supposed to be saving me, not helping them brainwash me.

“You have to get me out of here!” I said frantically. “They’re going to turn me into some preppy zombie”

She stopped swabbing and leaned in closer. “I know all about it. Who do you think tipped Barry off in the first place?”

I was floored. My eyes opened wide. Trish gave him the info. How the hell did she manage to out hack Barry? She winked at me when she saw the look of astonishment on my face.

‘If you know all about it you can’t let them put one of those things in me”

“We don’t have a choice at the moment” She sighed again. “There’s no way to fake it but there is a way to disable it”

“Barry got the device working?” She nodded her head. “How long have I been here?”

“Two days”

What the hell was it with these people and keeping me sedated? I made the comment and Trish laughed. She stopped quickly, realizing my situation. She gave me a quick explanation though: they were trying to figure out how to do brain surgery in the dark. It made perfect sense when you looked at it. You needed a lot of light to do surgery and that much of it would probably kill me.

“So what’s the plan then?”

“After the surgery is over they’ll take you to the recovery room” she said as she went back to her work with swabbing, doing it slowly to give us time to talk. “It will probably be a few days before I can get close to you; they’re not taking any chances. But as soon as I do I’ll use the Frager. You’ll still have to pretend to be one of the Clones for a while”

I was floored. How did she know we called Beatrice’s lackeys The Clones?

“I know more than you think” she said, winking.

Just then I heard more footfall from the hall, three or four people coming our way. I looked at the door and she seemed to get the hint. She told me to lie still and relax as she stuck the needle in my arm. I felt instantly better and my whole body started to feel real numb. Trish leaned forward and kissed my forward. She whispered that everything was going to be fine in my ear and then she made it for the door. She bowed her head as the surgical team entered and then slipped out behind them.

I watched her go and then everything got fuzzy.

________________________________________________________________

The hand touching my cheek woke me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the blurry image of a woman sitting next to me. At first I couldn’t make out her face but slowly it started to come into view: it was Dr. Violet. She was stroking my cheek and smiling. I smiled back. She looked a bit haggard. Why is she so tired, I’m the one who had the operation. Wait…what operation? I tried to think about it but it was drawing a blank. In fact when I thought about it, a lot of things were drawing blanks. Like who my friends were and why when I looked at the doctor did I want to punch her in the face? She was here to help me, she was my friend.
She took my hand, squeezing it gently. “How are we feeling today, Becky?”

Becky, was that my name? I knew it was Rebecca, Rebecca Howe but did people call me Becky. God this was so darn confusing. Darn, did I say darn?

“I’m a little confused”

“What do you remember, dear?”

What did I remember? I tried to think. What was the last thing I was doing? I vaguely remembered a mall and some kind of accident. There were a bunch of thugs and they were attacking me. I think I beat them up. No, I didn’t just beat them up; I kicked the crap out of them. I remembered it clearly now. They were attacking Clara and me and I cleaned their clocks. I couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten something like that. I tried to remember what happened after but couldn’t.

“I remember the mall”

She smiled. It was such a nice, sweet smile.

“That’s a good girl. But you can’t remember anything else?” I shook my head. “It's only natural, after an accident like yours”

“I had an accident?”

She nodded. “One of those thugs hit you in the back of the head with a baseball bat. You got a concussion and your brain started to swell. We had to give you an operation to bring the swelling down” She paused a second, trying to choose her words. “I’m sorry sweetie but we had to shave all that beautiful hair of yours off”

My hair? I reached up and touched my head; sure enough I was completely bald. I ran my hands down the back of my head and found a bandage. Why did they sedate me if I could feel no pain? It made no sense.

“I brought you some wigs to look at”

Dr. Violet got up from her chair and brought over to two wigs on those fake Styrofoam heads. Both of them were blonde, one shorter than the other. I wasn’t a blonde before, was I? I tried to picture my head and did but I couldn’t see my hair. How could I forget my own hair color? I used to like blondes, when I was a guy. But could I be a blonde? I tried to picture myself as a blonde and smiled. I think I could pull it off.

I looked at the two wigs. One was long and straight, the other was a short bob. I liked the long one better; it would do good to frame my face. How did I know that? I pointed to the long haired one and Dr. Violet nodded.

“I agree” she said, setting the wig on the bedside table.

When I looked around the room, I realized it wasn’t my own. For one thing the walls were a pale pink. For another the furniture was white and there was white aerial rug on the floor. I looked about, trying to figure out where I was. When I asked Dr. Violet she told me my room was being renovated at the moment and this one would be mine for the time being. Could I live with that? I wasn’t a big pink fan but I think I could manage.

There was a knock on the door. Dr. Violet got up and answered it.

The guy who stepped into the room was tall and familiar looking but I couldn’t quite place him. His hair was blonde and slicked back like Mr. Green’s but he had a warm smile. He was dressed in a red polo shirt and jeans. In his hand was a bouquet of purple roses. They were my favorite but how did he know that. He smiled at Dr. Violet, she excused herself and I was alone with this tall, semi-handsome stranger. He walked over to me, set the flowers on the bedside table and sat in the chair that Dr. Violet just vacated.

“Hi Becks” he said, his warm smile made me giddy inside.

“Umm hi” I said, blushing a bit.

Why did this guy look so familiar? Was he a friend of mine? Or maybe he was a teacher, he did look older but maybe that was because he was so tall.

He reached to touch my hand but stopped. “You don’t remember me do you?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I’m trying too but it’s a complete blank. Your face looks familiar but I have no idea who you are”

He nodded and took my hand. I felt this warmth when he held it, like he could wash away all the cares in the world.

“I’m Declan, sweetheart” he said as he kissed my forehead. “I’m your boyfriend”

My boyfriend? A fuzzy warm feeling overcame me and I got a bit lightheaded. He smiled at me and I felt safe. But there was something about him I was supposed to know, wasn’t I? There was something nagging at me, something about Declan. A slight buzzing filled my ears. I tried to force it away but it got louder and louder. It sounded like a bee and it sounded so familiar. Where had I heard it before? Two images flashed into my head: one was Greg’s classroom and the other was the cafeteria. What the heck did they have to do with anything?

“Are you ok, sweetie?”

I nodded, the buzzing was still there but it wasn’t as loud. “I’ve got a headache that’s all”

“Of course you do. If I took a blow like that I’d have a headache too”

He kissed me on the forehead and stood up. He took the flowers from the bedside table and handed them to me. As soon as I sniffed them. I was overwhelmed by the smell. It was intoxicating just like the time at Zero’s office. Declan took my hand again and told me everything was going to be all right. I felt nauseous again. It was like before but stronger and familiar too. Hadn’t I felt similar too this when I was meeting with Zero the first time. Then a thought came to me: maybe it’s the flowers. I looked at the bouquet in my hand and frowned. It had to be the flowers; I must be allergic to them.

“Here let me have them. I’ll have one of the nurses put them in a vase for you”

He took my flowers and smiled.

“I’m sorry I can’t remember you but Dr. Violet said it was a pretty bad concussion”

“It's ok Shrimp. I’m sure tomorrow will be better”

He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. Then he walked to the door, waved and left.

Shrimp? I remembered that: it was his pet name for me. It was so cute. I remembered why he called me that too. It was when we first meant a few weeks ago and I accidentally ran into him on my way to class. He shouted “watch where you’re going shrimp” because he was so much taller than me. I had been pretty annoyed at the time but he was kind of cute so I let it slide. But the next few days I kept running into him. About a week ago he finally confessed that it was he running into me and that he was too shy to ask me to go to the E-1movie with him. I remembered the movie too, I loved it, and it was some cute Adam Sandler movie.
“You can’t believe a word he says”

The whispering voice swirled into the room, wrapping itself around me head. I jumped about ten feet in the air, throwing the blanket off.

“Who’s there” I squeaked “what do you want?”

“This isn’t you” said the whisper “get me and look in the mirror, now!”

The whisper scared me but I did as it said. I walked over to the mirror and got half way there before vanity took over. I didn’t want to see myself bald. So I grabbed the long blonde wig and stuck it on my head. I adjusted it just right then walked over to the mirror. When I looked into the mirror, the face staring back at me was strange. It looked like me but there was something wrong about it. I thought for a second and then realized what it was: I looked like hell. I was wearing no makeup and there were these huge bags under my eyes. My hair looked good though; it had cute bangs and fell right below my shoulders. I smiled and purple eyes sparkled.

“What’s wrong with me?”

I harrumphed, crossing my arms underneath my breasts. I felt a little exposed standing there in my sheer pink nightgown and felt like a fool listening too and talking to a strange disembodied voice.

“You’re being brainwashed you idiot”

“No I’m not” I said nastily. “And I’m not an idiot either”

At least I didn’t think I was. How could I be an idiot and the Field Commander of Mr. Zero’s Tactical Reconnaissance Squad? You had to be smart to lead them, didn’t you? I pouted at the mirror, wondering how pink lipstick would go with my new hair. I bet it’d look fab. I turned left and right, admiring myself from all views. Maybe this hair will work. Declan and I could be the blonde power couple. I bet those losers would be jealous.

“They’ve done something to you” said the whisper. “And now you’re a completely different person. Declan did something too, he can control minds with a touch. Surely you remember that?’

“Who are you? Why are you telling these lies?”

“I’m Mattie, your best friend”

Mattie, did she mean that pipsqueak Matilda. Why would I be friends with one of those losers? I quickly told her that. The buzzing got louder and it was irritating. I stuck my fingers in my ears and started to hum real loud. The whisper came back, the loser’s voice, trying ot get to me. But I blocked it out. She was the liar. She and her loser friends were probably trying ot play some nasty trick on me. Sure let’s mess with the girl who can hear everything. Let’s pick on the freak who can’t go out in the sun without burning herself. They were real immature.

I ran back over to my bed crying. I climbed under the covers, still plugging my ears and slowly cried myself to sleep.