Page 126 of Hostile Saint

Blink. Blink. “So, she was older than them?”

He nodded.

“But… then, how did they end up in the scientists’ homes? Did she end up tricking my dad after all that?”

Finally surrendering what I had a right to know, he sighed. “I don’t think so, kid. Your dad’s notes are random. They were to help remind him of things, not be a road map for others in case something happened to him, so… we’re struggling with the facts. But it seems the sacrifices your dad spoke of in the video were the nurse and him going undercover, so-to-speak—tricking the next employees, to live in the scientist’s houses. I think the scientists, for whatever reason, had gone to prison by then.” He exhaled again. “See, those homes were originally owned by someone who your dad refers to as Sail.”

“Sail?”

“Yeah. The organization that owns these facilities that house children and…” His head bobbed as if he was unwilling to repeat all the gore.

With a palm on each side of my head, I tried to keep it from exploding. “Okay. Let’s back up. Who are the employees that came to live in the scientists’ houses?”

“That would be Lacey’s dad and—”

The writing on the wall was getting me so angry. “My fake mom.”

“I’m sorry, kid.”

“How—Why on earth did my dad marry her?”

Lynx was remorseful as he added, “Honestly, I have more questions than answers, but we think your dad and Lacey’s mom tricked the employees into relationships to gain intel.”

My ears rang and my heart thundered. This all sounded insane but somehow made perfect sense. It was dark, twisted, unthinkable… It was my reality.

“And her kids? The fuckers that terrorized me and Lace?”

“And here come more unknown pieces of this growing puzzle. They’re not her kids. Nor were Lacey’s brothers her dad’s. They have no birth certificates because they are the results of experiments.”

“That fucking word makes me irate!” The word ‘experiment’ felt like I was some sort of unsuccessful science project. “So, who are their parents?”

“Have no idea.”

All the years of that bitch favoring them and treating me like shit, when they weren’t even hers, had me needing to move on before I exploded. “What does all this have to do with the satanic rituals?”

In dismay, he admitted, “It seems I owe you a thousand bucks.”

The bet… “My enemy is scarier than yours?”

His lips made a pop sound before he admitted, “I think so. They’ve got some Hitler shit kickin’. Cookin’ up viruses to take down weaker people.” He shivered. “All in the name of the ‘force’ guiding them to alter humans into a new, modified race.”

“M—Modified how?”

“I just don’t know. Lacey’s mom was told it was to strengthen our species, but for reasons unknown, she stopped believing in who she worked for. Maybe she caught wind of the rituals.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Not all the kids… running in the woods… were your ordinary children.”

My memory of the dark woods appeared. Me trying to save Lace in the lake. How I easily managed to swim with her. Her trusting me, so faithfully, floating on her back, no questions asked, made me wonder about our connection… “Did they experiment on Lace?”

“Your dad… I think he passed before any word of Lace could be written.”

Praying that she had not been subjected to the horrors, I suddenly thought of her doc… My eyes slid shut. “Doctor Landon, in the parking lot, he said, ‘She’s special’. He also asked, ‘Are you like her?’ but I was too angry to understand what he meant.”

Lynx’s eyes widened. “Blood work. The hospital. Sewing her up. Fuck.”

Rapidly, an unwelcomed thought entered my mind as her little body floated in the lake... Are our ‘modifications’ why Lace and I are so connected? Is it not… love?

I thought about how the brothers, as they got a little older, worked as a unit—like they were connected. “Do you know anything else about the brothers?”

After running a palm down his stressed face, Lynx told me, “Not clear, but your dad made note of their ‘delivery’ when they arrived. How they were explained to be nephews that needed a home. Knowing that was a lie, your dad wrote about how different they seemed compared to you.”