The Clearing: Origins

Chapter 9

Kristy strode up the walkway to the Grant house as she watched a little boy dressed in a furry red costume waddle down the street, his tiny paw held by an adult. It amazed her how serious adult humans took Halloween—they seemed just as captivated as the children. She'd already witnessed groups of costumed grown-ups running with the youngsters, snagging candy from decorated houses with the porch lights on.

To appease Jason, Kristy agreed to dress in a similar costume. She gazed at her outfit, running her fingers over the smooth spandex of the black jacket and hooded cowl. According to the boy, they were Niners. She shook her head. No, ninjas.

Kristy rang the bell, waiting until Lovedae opened the heavy door. The older woman smiled, but the genie noticed the hallowed look in her brown eyes. "Come in, Kristy. You're early. Nick is always late."

She stepped into the foyer. "Figures. Is Vic ready? I need to talk to him." 

Lovedae raised an eyebrow. "I'll call him. You can have the nook." She led the genie past the vintage living room toward the kitchen. "I was about to help Rosetta stop talking and start dressing."

Victor came sliding down the banister as they passed the staircase. After reaching the bottom, he chuckled at the two women before raising his hands. "Busted!"

Lovedae glared at him. "Victor, you know better." She hooked a finger under his chin, studying his face. "You still have shadows under your eyes. If this insomnia keeps up, we're going to see a doctor."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Mum, I'm fine."

Lovedae tried to grimace but failed. "Into the kitchen. Kristy wants to talk to you. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

He'd worried Kristy lately with his unaccustomed weariness. She tried not to pry but wondered why he'd told his mother he couldn't sleep when it was nightmares that plagued his rest.

She smiled at the flawless face that seemed chiseled by the gods. But it wasn't his good looks that made him so appealing. Victor was a radiant soul in an otherwise shadowy world. He caught up to her, the playful look gone as he studied her face.

"What's up?" He waited until Kristy sat at the table before taking a seat next to her. His old-fashioned adherence to manners never ceased to amaze her.

"Gentrak's servers produced some interesting results." Kristy slipped a hand under the table, her fingers linking with his. "This is gonna sound unbelievable."

He squeezed her hand. "Let's hear it, love."

"The possibility that two people are genetically identical is 1/(2^6,400,000), or zero. And after ten or so generations, no original AND is left. Genetically, it can take up to four generations to eliminate shared AND. But Professor Craig discovered his AND was an exact match to his father's, grandfather, and great-grandfather, making the impossible possible." Kristy huffed out a breath. "Odds are that pattern is continuous no matter how far you go back." 

Victor stared at the genie. "Uh... do you mean DNA?"

"Oops, yeah. I keep screwing the letters up."

"But that's not possible." He frowned. "It'd mean they were all... the same person?"

"A couple of years before he died, the professor sent several family keepsakes suitable for DNA testing to a Dr. Kenneth Green at GenTrak, an old friend and part-owner of the company. Dr. Green emailed the professor back, saying he must have sent the same person's objects as all the results were identical. The lab used the items to retrieve DNA for a PCR-based diagnostic method. The professor responded, saying he wished he had mixed them up but hadn't."