Confabulation Read online

  "Hello, Henry. I'm fine. Please stop calling me."

  "I just wanted to see if you were alright."

  "I'm fine, good-bye."

  The click on the line ended the conversation before he could continue. He picked up the remote again, and switched the channel to a talk show—they always seemed to put him to sleep.

  CHAPTER 25

  Simon sat across from Jackson shaking his head. "I still don’t understand what’s happening to me. How are they doing this?"

  "We don’t know, Simon. We know that someone is out there making you see the white haze. We know that they have advanced this technology beyond what we can do. But, we have no idea who they are or how they do it."

  Simon had heard that three times already. Couldn’t accept it. He’d seen the final portion of the film that outlined the failures of the research and the dissolution of the project. The research team concluded that remote methods of control were only possible with direct receivers planted on or in the intended victims. Though the research concluded that the goal was possible, the means for useful military deployment were not available.

  His hopes were as low as they had been before he was contacted. The one person he thought could help, had led him to the conclusion that even those who were involved didn’t understand how or why he was begin manipulated.

  "You said you could help. How?"

  "I helped you first by bringing you here. Somehow they are signaling your brain to behave as they wish. Here, those signals can’t reach you. We have some other safe locations as well. In each of them, you’ll be able to live without the threat of the white blindness or any other manifestation."

  "But how did you contact me in my mind? If you don’t know how they got into my head, how did you get there?" Jackson stood silent. Simon stared at him, trying to pull an answer from his quiet lips. "Please tell me. You must know something."

  "Simon. We can detect the signal, and can utter some very short words and noises. It’s nothing compared to the ability they have to communicate. They could make you feel proud, or happy, or afraid. They could give you a detailed list of instructions and make you want to follow them. We have seen other subjects, and the results can be devastating."

  "Then why didn’t they ever take those steps with me? Why just the blindness?"

  "Apparently, it takes time for them to be able to execute their more advanced methods. Soon, they would have been able to make you have detailed hallucinations. Thankfully, we were able to step in and nip this one in the bud."

  "How did you find me?"

  "Like I said, we can detect the signals. There is a large amount of activity in this area, and though we have never been able to find exactly who was transmitting, we know that there are many transmissions here. We have mobile trackers that we use to find those that are being abused. And make no mistake, Simon, this is assault and abuse. We will see these people brought to justice."

  Simon’s hope remained low. His choices now were to return to his life and slowly lose even more control of his senses, or remain a ward of this man’s organization. Traveling from cell to cell in order to avoid whatever was causing his condition didn’t appeal to Simon, but neither did being manipulated like a puppet. If anything, he had to know that he was working to stop those who did this to him.

  "I hope so. If I can help at all, let me know."

  "Actually, Simon, there is something you can do. Something very important. Dangerous, but important."

  His life had collapsed. Faced with the choices of being a prisoner or a madman, death while trying to save himself and others seems like a fine way out. "Just tell me what you need. I’ll do it."

  CHAPTER 26

  Susan stepped out of the building and scanned the area for signs of Carolyn.

  She held the bandage to her bleeding leg. Took a few steps into the open. She couldn’t see where Carolyn had gone, and the looks she was getting due to the growing circle of blood made her uneasy. She returned to the safe room and picked up the items she needed to take.

  After hoisting the backpack over her shoulder, she limped around the space searching for anything that would tell her what had gone wrong. The windows were all secure, and there was no sign that anyone had entered. She had believed this to be the work of runners with an agenda. She needed to reassess.

  And she needed to keep quiet. Someone was a mole, and she didn’t know who she could trust. She’d have to keep this to herself. She had to leave. They knew where she was, and she needed to get out. After scanning the room a final time, she stretched her back.

  "Shit!"

  Above her, hiding in a corner, was a small object. Susan didn’t need a closer look to know what it was. "They got here before I did. Knew I’d made contact. Crap!”

  She ran out the door, leaving the not so safe location behind.

  "Where could she be going? She won’t go home, she’s not that stupid." Susan emerged from the office building and hailed a cab.

  "Where to ma’am."

  "Yes, where to. Where should we go?" She stared at her hands as she tapped her fingers while moving through her mind. "Maybe."

  "Ma’am?"

  "1206 Humphrey."

  CHAPTER 27

  "Where’s Douglas?" Carolyn sat on the floor, swaying back and forth, held in place by exhaustion, but needing to run.

  "All things will be answered in time, dear. By the way, my name is Jackson Gray." Jackson sat across from her and angled his head to look into her eyes.

  Carolyn caught his stare, and held it. His eyes were like ropes, pulling her toward him. She was drawn to him, but she still needed to run. She could feel the acid in her muscles begin to recede and she looked for exits as she talked. "Where is he?"

  "He wasn’t here when I arrived." His eyes remained trained on hers.

  "How did you know I’d be coming here?"

  "It was a safe bet."

  "Why did you choose me for these tests?" Carolyn hung her head, peeking around, trying to find a way out. Her legs started to feel loose, and her breathing was calm and steady.

  "What? Oh, you must think that I’m one of them. I’m sorry Carolyn. I’m here to help, not to use you as a guinea pig. I had to find you so that I could protect you."

  Carolyn had heard enough about saviors. Wanted to laugh in his face. But she could see that the man had positioned himself between her and the door. She wasn’t likely to be able to overpower him. "Who’s doing this to me?"

  "I don’t know. And I don’t know exactly how they’re doing it. I do know of some places where you’ll be safe."

  Carolyn wondered if the speech was something these people were taught. In the back of the room, she could see a large open window. She started moving inch by inch to have the best chance of reaching it. Jackson kept talking, and Carolyn nodded her head and arched her eyebrows to vary her appearance of understanding.

  She felt that the man was remarkably calm and patient. Of course he wasn’t trying to explain the truth, so why would he care if she understood. As she moved her final preparatory scoot, she heard a knock at the door.

  "Carolyn, its Susan. I need to talk to you."

  Carolyn’s heart jumped.

  She didn’t know how she’d get away from Jacksom, much less both of them.

  Her legs tightened and her heart began to pump faster and harder. She wanted to scream, but she held her urge back and kept looking for a way to escape.

  She found her way before she thought she would.

  Jackson stood and positioned himself near the window beside the door. He pulled the window back and peered at the stoop. Susan’s foot crashed through the window. Carolyn was confused by the altercation, but she took no time to consider the action.

  She jumped up with the crashing glass and ran for the window.

  She heard the voices telling her to stop, but she increased her speed and leapt through the large window. Landed awkwardly on her shoulder, but ignored the pain and headed for the woods behind the house. She h
ad spent many days in those woods throughout the years, and she knew that if she could reach them she would be clear of the immediate danger.

  She heard a gunshot pop into a tree next to her. She sped up. Soon, she was deep in the woods and she forced herself to slow enough to assess the situation. She could hear no sounds of pursuit except for a distant calling of a woman’s voice. She kept waiting for some sign of the man, but none came. "He must have gone to the car. No matter, they won’t find me in here."

  Carolyn moved deeper into the woods until she could no longer hear Susan’s voice. Slowly, the urge to run eased and she could feel her body’s need to rest. She took a few more steps until she found a small clearing where she could sit. A few moments passed and she finally slept.

  CHAPTER 28

  Susan could feel another presence in the house. She tried to subdue him with her mind, but it was no use. Too well disciplined. Too well trained.

  She moved around the house. Caught a glimpse of him in the window. She thought be looked familiar, but couldn’t place the name. She’d look it up back at the office. No, they might find out. He might not be working alone. She needed to get the information from him.

  She gripped a black baton and waited for him to come into full view.

  Dove through the window.

  She drove the end of the baton into the back of the man’s skull and waited for a second to make sure that he was unconscious. Satisfied, she ran after Carolyn and leapt through the window. She saw no trace of where Carolyn had gone. She scanned the area and then heard a sound to her right. She aimed above were Carolyn’s head could be and fired a shot, hoping to make Carolyn stop.

  She called for the woman. No response.

  After several more minutes of searching the dark and listening to the silence, she realized that she wouldn’t have any further luck out there. She tried to find her mind, but something was interfering. The man in the house. She stepped back to begin her interrogation.

  He wasn’t where she left him. "Stupid. Should have tied him up.” She sighed. “Well, he could be anywhere now, and Carolyn’s gone." She stepped back through the window and walked with precise steps around the house. She held her pistol ready, and peaked around the corner. In front of the house next door, she saw a man limp around a car, hop in and start the engine.

  She considered firing, but knew that the she was lucky to not already have the police in the neighborhood. Decided that the mystery man had the right idea, to get away before any more attention was drawn from people skulking about the house.

  She stepped into her car and drove away.

  She tried to find the other car as she left the neighborhood, but she couldn’t see it when she exited to a major road. "Well, no telling where he went. Too bad there weren’t any plates on the car." She continued down the highway, both frustrated and hopeful. "At least they didn’t get her."

  CHAPTER 29

  Across the street from their house, in a rental car parked in a neighbor's driveway, Henry watched Kelly leave for work. He waited until she was on her way. Took a different route to her office. He knew he was risking losing sight of her in case she didn’t go straight to the office, but he needed to remain unseen. He arrived later than she did. Circled through the parking lot to confirm her presence. He parked close enough to see her car and lifted the coffee to his mouth.

  Hours passed. No sight of her. His imagination ran wild with images of her corpse, but he knew he couldn’t go in. He had to hope he was doing enough. Finally, she arrived at her car with a man Henry didn’t recognize. He examined the man to determine if he detected any aggressive stance or possible weapon, but he saw nothing.

  She laughed as they reached the car, and he could tell she acted as if they knew each other. He followed them out of the garage, careful to keep a car between them. Henry parked on the street next to the restaurant they entered and waited.

  Two hours later, Kelly and the man returned to the car. As Henry predicted, they went directly back to work. The afternoon was slow. The hours crept by as he waited for the temporary residents of the large building to vacate. When Kelly and her company emerged again to go home, Henry decided to follow this new coworker.

  He kept a car between him and his target. He exited casually when he saw the man leave the highway and followed to his house. Henry waited for the man to go inside, before getting out of his car and inspecting the area.

  It seemed sufficiently middle class to Henry. He saw no evidence of drug dealing, or gang activity to make him nervous for Kelly's life if she were here. He continued down the block, smiling at the open windows and people sitting outside. At the end of the block the sidewalk diverted into a clearing.

  Henry passed a couple on the sidewalk who appeared curious.

  “Just out for a walk.”

  They didn’t answer.

  He continued on and walked into the small park as the sun began to set.

  His heart raced as the lights overhead came to life in the dusk. He stared at the circles of light below. He felt like the air had been removed from his lungs, and that he wouldn’t be able to continue. This well maintained park reeked of death to Henry, and he felt as if he were in a cemetery rather than a park.

  This is it. She’ll die here. He knew it was true.

  He ran back to his car, ignoring the calls from the neighborhood. He raced away from the new man's house and sped to Kelly.

  After what seemed like days, Henry finally arrived at the house and ran to the front door. He rang the doorbell several times and pounded on the door. "Let me in, Kelly!" He reached for his keys, and inserted them to unlock the door. He turned the key, but the lock didn’t move. He removed it and checked to make sure he had used the right one. He tried again, but again the lock didn’t move.

  "Kelly, you changed the locks. Why?"

  He pounded again on the door.

  "Fine, have it your way."

  He walked back off the porch and around to the window to the guestroom. He picked a rock from the garden and threw it through the window. "Kelly!" He swept broken glass from the windowsill and started to climb through when he heard sirens. "You called the police?"

  Henry ran from the house toward his car. He paused when he saw the lights coming over the hill. He ran again to his car, but the police cruiser blocked his path. He turned to run again, but stopped when commanded by the officer. Henry stood where he was, with his hands above his head as the cuffs were placed on his wrists.

  As he was driven away, he saw Kelly looking out a window. He needed to protect her, but he could do nothing. He closed his eyes, and could see her going to visit this stranger so she could talk to someone. How they would arrive at the park, he couldn’t say, but they assuredly would. There, she’d die.

  She’d be shot, and only Henry knew it. He needed to be there, but instead the most precious thing in the world to him—the one person he would sacrifice himself for—had made sure he couldn’t protect her. Tears flowed from his tightly closed eyes, and Henry could see nothing but the image of her lifeless body.

  He went the process like a zombie. Didn’t pay attention to what was being said. Didn’t answer any questions. He was sent to a cell. He stood. The sat. Did nothing. He was spent. It was for nothing. He’d failed.

  CHAPTER 30

  Simon sat on the porch, looking out on the large field and up at the bright sky. It had been several days since he last lost his senses to the white blindness. Combined with the idyllic setting, that gave him a sense of peace he hadn’t experienced since his days on the swing set as a boy. He remembered flying high up into the air and feeling free and unburdened, the clear sky gave him that feeling again on the warm day.

  Still, something ate at him even through his joy. Someone had taken his freedom away, and that someone needed to be stopped. Jackson Gray had offered him the opportunity to help in the destruction of the group responsible, but hadn’t been present for much time since then. After arriving at the safe house, Jackson left.
r />   Hadn’t returned for days. Simon wondered if something had happened to Jackson and if he would have to spend the remainder of his life in this small house outside town. Though the idea wasn’t completely unappealing, it wasn’t what he wanted. Simon wanted revenge.

  He walked back into the kitchen and poured himself of tall glass of tea. Standing there, he could see a car pull up to the front of the house. He didn’t recognize the car as Jackson’s, so he positioned himself behind a pillar, close to the back door. From his new vantage point, Simon couldn’t see much of the man—at least the person wore men’s shoes—that approached the house. Simon reached for a knife on the counter with his left hand and the doorknob with his right. As the man reached the porch, Simon heard a key enter the lock.

  Simon paused, waiting to see who the person was—after all they had a key to the house. As the door opened, Simon glanced to the back yard and saw that no one had sealed off his exit. He watched the door open, and waited for the man’s face to appear. He peaked around the column to gain a better view, and saw a bushy mustache before any other features.

  Simon threw the knife at the door, grabbed another, and ran out the back door. He ran through the yard, and cursed the broad open field that he delighted in earlier. He changed direction often, searching for someplace to hide. To his left, in the distance, he saw a grouping of trees. It was a small bunch, and very far away, but he had few options.

  He turned left and headed for the trees. He could hear the man calling his name, but he had no desire to find out what the person wanted. He reasoned that Jackson would have let him know, somehow, if anyone else could be trusted. He looked up and saw that he had made up half the distance to the trees.