CHAPTER 10
Sparks
Normally, I would force myself to roll my shoulders back, walk into every situation with my head held high, no matter how much it terrifies me. But that’s not what I do.
My shaking hands fumble with the door handle as I exit the hatchback. Astrid grabs my go-bag and then holds my hand the entire walk up the driveway. I’m trembling so bad that my vision is blurry, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Astrid slips through a window to enter the front lobby before unlocking the main doors for me.
I walk in. Everything looks the same, dusty as hell, but the same nonetheless.
Shadows of memories flash through my mind.
The smiling receptionist. The ringing phone.
Astrid’s footprints from her earlier visits are still clear.
I can see where she paced along the back wall, probably trying to piece together some part of my past.
I shake my head and walk through the lobby, past all the offices.
I know where we need to go. I find the metal door at the end of the hallway, the entrance to the lab.
There’s an electric lock on the door. Well, that’s what they want you to think, but I know the secret.
I lift the lock off to reveal a normal keyhole.
“What’s that?” Astrid asks, confused.
“The electric lock was just a cover,” I explain, remembering stories from my mom. “Budget cuts, couldn’t afford proper security features.”
I pull my lockpicking set out from a small case concealed in my belt. Never know when you’ll need a good pick. Within a few seconds, I turn the door handle and we are in.
We walk along the catwalk overlooking the main lab. This is where it happened. This is where I was. I take a few steps forward to the exact tile and kneel to the ground.
“Mom, can I just go home?” I complain. I’ve been here for hours. If I hear one more thing about the Law of Conservation of whatever, my head might explode.
“C’mon, Charlotte.” My mom tries to get me excited. “Let’s go look at the machine again! I think we’re getting ready to turn it on. If you ask nicely, maybe Zach will let you push the button.”
“I don’t want to push the button,” I complain, looking over the railing. “I just want to go home.”
“Lottie, I know this isn’t the birthday you wanted, but we can try to make this fun!” For a second, I almost believe her. “I think Glenda from HR brought some ice cream.” Now, I believe her.
“Excuse me.” Someone bumps into my mom. That voice sounds familiar.
Mom just steps aside and leans against the railing. I notice my shoe is untied. I crouch down and pull on the laces, making sure the shoe is tight on my foot. I don’t even get to finish making my bunny ears when I hear it.
BOOM!
My mother’s face goes pale. She opens her mouth to scream but the airwave’s impact takes the sound away.
No! Mom!
I leap up to grab her as she flies over the railing.
My fingers tighten around her necklace. The pain is unbearable.
Is this what dying feels like? I clutch to the necklace as my mother hangs limply.
I know she’s dead. I can just tell. But I can’t let go even as the electricity pulses through my body.
I can’t let go. I won’t let go. The chain snaps and I watch in horror as she falls to the floor below, her skeleton posed in an unnatural position. Mom…
An arm wraps around my shoulders as Astrid kneels next to me.
“I didn’t know Holly,” she begins solemnly with her head bowed.
“But I know she was a brave, intelligent mother who only wanted the best for her daughter. She was a caring woman, with a passion and a zeal for using her knowledge to improve the world around her. I hope that wherever she is, she finds peace.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
We sit there for a few moments, paying our respects.
Then we proceed down the walkway towards the special experiment division.
I don’t know what experiments happened in the lab below, that wasn’t where my mom worked.
She was a specialist brought here to work on one thing and one thing only – the machine. Whatever it did.
Every room we have gone through thus far has felt like a time capsule, sealed in the moments just after disaster. It was as if they removed the bodies and then abandoned the lab deeming it cursed or more likely, too much work to restaff. Dust lays over every surface as a thick blanket.
This next room, however, is not that way.
Footprints disrupt the fine powder, leaving evidence of a large horde trampling through.
Traces of handprints linger on walls and counters.
A pristine rectangle of clean flooring is along the far side of the wall, with dolly wheels leading away.
I know immediately what left that imprint. The machine.
I can instantly see why so many mechanics before me had failed to repair the machine.
Half of it was still here, screwed into the wall.
We were all doomed from the start. Cords dangle limply toward the ground.
I open the cover panels and study the mechanics I can see, while trying to remember the details of the inner workings of the machine.
But it’s no use, I have no idea what’s going on.
I really am more of an electrician than a mechanic.
I take photos of what I can see to reference later.
While I was examining the remnants, Astrid was doing her own investigations. She returns with a paper map ripped from the wall. She lays it on the counter, and I look over her shoulder.
“We’re here.” Astrid points at a spot on the diagram. “It looks like there’s a security office not far, over here. I think it’s worth checking out.”
“Lead the way.” I follow her down another hallway.
More memories flash through my mind. My mother introducing me to coworkers, the intern trying to entertain me with magic tricks, and an older man condescendingly explaining electrons to me.
I wince and try to clear my head, but the ghosts of the past keep knocking on my door.
Astrid grabs my hand, noticing my distant stare.
I feel warmer somehow. She gives me a gentle squeeze and holds it all the way to the security room. I pick the lock and we are in.
Computer monitors line the walls, their black screens reflecting our image back to us. I avert my eyes, not wanting to look at myself. A computer tower is nestled under a desk. Other than that, this room is barren.
“Dang,” Astrid mumbles. “If only there was electricity going to this building. I would love to see if there was any security footage left.”
“What do you mean?” I look at her quizzically.
“The recordings could show us what happened…” Her voice trails off, unsure of where I got confused.
“I know what security footage does.” I roll my eyes dramatically. “I meant, what do you mean if only there was electricity?”
“This is an abandoned building, no way anyone paid the power bill the past decade.” Astrid makes a strange face.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” There’s been electricity since we stepped into the lab, I’ve felt it with my powers. I reach down and press the power button. The computer tower whirs to life, slowly booting up.
“... that makes no sense.” Astrid stares in disbelief.
I shrug and pull out a chair for her, while sitting in a second. She pulls up the last recording. I gulp as I notice the timestamp. The day of the explosion.
“I… I can’t watch.” I stumble out of the chair. “Let me know what happens.”
I stand just outside the room, leaning against the wall. I hear Astrid gasp. I scrunch my eyes, trying to block out my own visualizations of what she’s seeing. She is silent after that. I only hear mouse clicks as she navigates through different footage angles.
“Sparks,” she calls. “I need you to look at something for me.”
“Something good and happy and filled with rainbows, right?” I stay at my spot on the wall. “Right?” I repeat weakly.
“Umm…” I hear through the wall. “No rainbows, no.”
Dammit.
“Pull yourself together,” I whisper angrily at myself. “You are not allowed to break down. Get your shit in order.”
I brace my forehead against the wall, taking in one last deep breath before pushing off. I stride into the security office and sit down. The monitors are frozen on a still shot. Past me is kneeling, tying my shoe. My mother just got bumped into. From this angle, I can see who bumped into her.
“This is a joke, right?” My face pales, and I turn toward Astrid. She looks just as uneasy as I do. “That’s not…”
“I was hoping it wasn’t.” She wrings her hands. “I’m asking you.”
I stare at the screen, eyes locked on the man who bumped into my mother, the voice that sounded vaguely familiar in my flashback.
I should have recognized it sooner, should have put it together.
It seems my subconscious was determined to forget.
On the screen in grainy black and white, yet clear as day, is Jack.
He’s several years younger, maybe eighteen or nineteen, but he still has his signature smirk. It’s him for sure.
“The directory you found, was he listed?”
“No.” Astrid shakes her head. “But he could have had an alias.”
“What happens next?” I demand. “Where does he go?”
“I don’t have great angles,” she admits. “But he goes into the room with the machine just a few moments before the explosion. If you look through the window, you can see him fiddling with it.”
“I swear,” I curse under my breath. “That motherfucker keeps showing up.”
“We need to figure out why he was here,” Astrid declares. “That might help us find our answers.”
“Rewind the tape.” I lean close to the screens. “Did he do anything before he got here?”