Faces, Names, and Memories (completed)

Chapter 18 - The Beginning

"Jade? Are you awake?" Cale asks. I flip over and he's kneeling right next to my bed.

I sit up quickly, startled, and rub my eyes. "Yep, I'm wide awake."

"I heard you crying," Cale says.

"What, I wasn't crying," I lie.

"Your pillow is wet and your eyes are red," Cale noted.

"And you need a shower," I answer. Cale scowls. He wordlessly gets up and goes into the bathroom.

The guards slide open the door.

"Where's your room-mate?" One asks. I hesitate. I'm not sure whether I should tell the guards the truth or go with "I don't know." They didn't wait for me to answer.

"He's in there," the other guard gestures towards the bathroom.

"Is that so? Looks like this one cleaned up too," the guard looks at me with a sly smirk. He looks back at the other guard.

"Get him," the other guard goes to the bathroom door and throws it open. I hear some exclamations from Cale and a few grunts.

The guard comes back grabbing a ruffled, still-wet, scowling Cale by the arm.

"You pulled him out the shower?!" I cry, looking at the guard. "Who even does-" I wasn't expecting the cold slap to my face. The resulting stinging makes me gasp in pain.

"If I were you, I would shut it for future reference," the guard that had slapped me said. I didn't say anything, as. I felt the side of my face. Sure enough, there was a bruise.

"Come on," the other guard, who was still holding Cale's arm ushered. He herded us into the room across the hall. The others were already there. We were pushed inside, and the door behind slid shut and locked.

"What happened?" Spenzo was the first to ask. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or Cale. Either way, Cale was the one who answered.

"The guards happened," Cale stands up and slumps against the bed that I'm assuming is Tammie's; she was sitting on it with Kinnie. The other guys were sitting on the other side of the room. Tressa, surprisingly, was sitting against the front of Zuke's bed, not talking, but she didn't have her head in her hands.

"What do you mean the guards happened?" Deen asked.

"Guys, can we not talk about it," Cale says. The others shift the subject. But, my mind drifts off.

"Jade, honey, I assure you everything is fine," My mom says. "Now go to your room and play with your science kit, okay?" I, being around the age of 9, had other ideas. I run off, start up the steps, then turn back to the doorway. I stand off to the side, so my parents couldn't see me.

"Now, of all times, you decide to start a big project, huh?" My mom scolds, now talking to my dad.

"Em, when you run a technology company, it's all about being innovative, being the first, doing things ahead of the rest. It's how you get to the top," My dad replies.

"I understand all about being innovative, but this seems like this is going to be a family ordeal, not just with VeraTech," My mom counters.

"No, no, I'm not going to drag you and Jade in to this, unless you want to help. I wouldn't mind a bit if you did," My dad assures, putting a hand on my mom's shoulder. She shrugs it off.

"This is exactly what I mean, Rich. She's 9 years old. Of course, she's going to want to help you with anything you do, regardless of how dangerous it is."

"I don't see what the problem is. She's an incredibly intelligent girl with a remarkable mind. What kind of parents would we be if we didn't embrace her abilities?"

"Good ones, if her abilities can end up hurting her."

"I would never do anything to put Jade in harm's way."

"I know you wouldn't put her in harm's way. But, somehow, with you, she always ends up in harm's way, even though it's not intended."

"I promise, with this project she will be 100% safe."

"You say that with every one of your projects. And every time, she ends up hurt."

"This time she won't."

"I'll take you up on your word. If anything happens to her..."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't get in over her head."

"It seems to me that just being your daughter puts her in over her head."

My dad smirks and pulls my mom a bit closer.

"And what about being my wife? Are you in over your head?"

My mom smiles.

"Maybe, I'm still doggy paddling to keep up, so maybe not." My dad kisses her on the nose. Ew, gross, 9-year-old me thinks. But, cool, daddy's starting a new project. I bet it's going to be something cool.

"Come on, let's go to bed." The flashback fades out.

"Jade, Jade, earth to Jade?" Someone was snapping their fingers in front of my face. I focus and see Tammie, and behind her everyone else is staring at me.

"Oh, sorry I kinda zoned out for a bit," I lie with a little laugh. I walk over to the beds and plop down next to Cale.

"Come on, Jade, we know that you had a flashback, no one zones out for five whole minutes," Zuke says.

"Spill, what was it about?" Tammie gets back on her bed, but leans off the side so she was hanging over me.

I glance at the door, I can't make out any guards. But, the gated window on the door was small, for all I know the guards could be standing right next to the door, just out of sight of the window. I thought of a way to tell them what happened, without giving the guards anything they can use against me.

"Um, just my parents fighting over stuff. Talking about some project," It could just be me, but I thought I saw movement in the corner of the window. "It's nothing important, why don't we play a game or something."

Cale eyes me strangely. I quickly cut my eyes towards the window on the door then look back at him. Cale glances at the door himself, he meets my eyes again and nods.

"What game?" Kinnie asks.

"Truth or dare?" Tammie suggests.

"I say we play river wars." Zuke counters.

"Oh, yuck, no. Not that, anything but that," Tammie replies.

"We can try bed time stories again," Deen suggests.

"No, that's definitely not a good idea," Cale says. I look at Spenzo, expecting him to offer an idea, but he's staring at me. When I meet his eyes, he looks away. Something tells me that he's either hiding something, or suspects I'm hiding something. I'm really not hiding that much, just who my dad is, and the nature of the flashbacks that I have when I'm not in this room. I haven't even told Cale about those.

The main reason being that I haven't figured them out myself, yet. I have a feeling I'm missing some substantial detail, linking all of the flashbacks together, but what could it be? Besides the obvious: my father.