Chapter 7 – Chap 7

I opened the door, thinking about what would I encounter, had Cloe stayed hidden in the basement or had she made a mess of the place? Had my parents arrived before me, if so, had they found Cloe?. Even if it just lasted a few seconds, the suspense was killing me. I stepped into the house, only to find my mother,who greeted me with open arms. Well, that answered one of my question, and the rest would be answered pretty soon after, for better or for worse.

” Hi sweetie,how was your day? Was the test hard?”

That sounded…fairly normal. I couldn’t relax just yet though, but I did feel a bit of relief, relief that turned into pure panic when I saw what was waiting for me in the living room.

“Hello,honey, look what I’ve found”

“Oh,god…” That was all I could say as I watched in terror how my father had taken Cloe hostage, grabbing her with one hand and brushing her neck with a knife with the other. I was completely paralyzed.

“Alright,now that we’re all here, it’s time for you to give us an explanation, if I were you, I’d try my best to make it as convincing as possible, it’s for your own good.”

“I just…I found her down there, she was dirty and starving and in danger, I just had to help her!”

After a few seconds of tension, during wich everyone stared at each other accompained by a serene yet terrifying silence, I broke the ice with the question that had been floating around my brain ever since I met Cloe at the bunker.

“She’s my sister, isn’t she?”

“Well, I guess you could technically say that, but…. Ugh! That would be lowering yourself to such a miserable level…please don’t say that ever again!”

“Yeah,Jessica, you dissapoint me!” My mother added.

“Okay, I don’t know what happened before I was born, probably some pretty messed up stuff, I don’t know what you’ve got against her, but she’s just an innocent child, please let her go!”

“Alright,missy, it’s time for a much needed family history lesson. You see, the first Jessica died in an accident with a slide, when she was playing in the park with her friends. Her death completely devastated us…you have no idea. To experience a loss like that…it’s as if life was a painting that’s then shattered into a milion pieces, half of these pieces are destroyed and the other half are resasembled togheter as poorly and cheaply as posible. You get a result that’s less than a shadow of its former self, devoid of any value or meaning. But what if somehow, we could recreate the missing parts, and salvage that painting? “

“We first considered having another kid the old fashioned way, you know? But that was to risky, too many variables: gender, apperance, personality… a perfect recreation would’ve been imposible with that method.”

” So we decided to try…other ways. With the help of science,technology and a sample of her DNA, our beloved baby could finally return. The first attempt…was horendous, a mindless beast devoid of any semblance of humanity, but thankfully, we could try again…and again…and again… The ones that followed were better, but still far from perfect, until you happened. After your birth we decided to get rid of all the acumulated garbage, if you know what I mean. However, some of the older ones managed to run away and hide, they even took some younglings with them, but alas, they never found the exit. We decided staying there was dangerous with that first one roaming around, so we just left them there and forgott about them for 15 years, until we found this little freak .”

“I mean, I’ve seen worse but that black hair, it’s the total opposite of yours. And the missing eye…what would the other kids think,you know? In the end, she was not close enough”

I didn’t say a word, there was too much information to take in, I was too scared. Cloe didn’t say anything either, but we could still comunicate with each other, our exchange of tear-stained stares said it all.

“Look, I’m really trying to not be mad at you, I really am, I know it was our fault, not yours. I know how you’re feeling right now, but don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon, we’ll eliminate the last remnant of our dark past and start anew, and continue being the happy family we’ve always been. What do you say? You might want to close your eyes,though, things may get a bloddy!”

It was at that moment when I snapped, I couldn’t take it anymore. Cloe screamed.

“STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU FUCKING MONSTERS!”

“Oh… What a dissapointment! Yep, just what I was afraid of. Perhaps you’re not so perfect after all…Fear not, we still love you, we’re not gonna kill you, but it’s true you need some…fixing.”

“SHUT UP! I SWEAR I’M CALLING THE POLICE RIGHT N-“

Something hit me in the head.

“Jessica!”

Cloe shouting my name was the last thing I heard before touching the ground, a split-second after that, it all went dark.

I woke up with a headache, to this day, I don’t know what object did my mother use to hit me, but it must’ve been a hard one. I was glad to still be alive, even though my father had said they didn’t want to kill me, the thought of that being the end actually sliped through my mind for a split second right before losing consciousness.

I was inside a small room, the design of the walls, or lack thereof made it immediately clear, I was at the bunker, and the room’s door was locked. Luckily, it was one of those door with a cheap doorknob that could be broken easily. So I grabbed a nearby chair and after a couple of strikes, I was out.

“Please Cloe, don’t be dead…Please Cloe, don’t be dead…”

Those words kept playing on a loop inside my brain like a broken cassette tape as I rushed across the halls looking for, Cloe, my parents and the exit. It was then when I heard something, or rather, someone. Great, Primal was nearby, just what I needed! My first thought was to run and/or find a place to hide, but then I noticed something…wierd. Primal’s previous roars had sounded menacing, as if it was saying You’d better be prepared ’cause I’m coming to get you! or something like that, but that one sounded more like a moan, as if it was in trouble, as if it was…calling for help?