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Chapter 44

Jesse closed the cabin door with the DO NOT DISTURB sign displayed before sitting on the bed and linking his fingers with the limp hand lying on the sheet. Swallowing hard, he inhaled, blowing it out through pursed lips and rolled his neck. Why was he nervous about doing this? Nodding in determination, feeling for the line that protected his mind, slowly, he expanded his barrier until he could see it as a bubble above his head. Carefully he began searching for Valencia.

Gasping as she made contact drawing him into her mind, allowing him to see everything they had planned, why they had done it and what Birgit knew. But there was a section Valencia refused to move towards.

"What is behind that?" he nodded toward the veil fluttering nearby.

"No," she whispered, "not there."

"Val," Jesse whispered, "I trust you enough to lift my privacy barrier, please ... trust me enough to show me."

"I do trust you," Valencia murmured, "its .... what is behind there is bad. Worse ... pure evil and ..."

"Kyle is missing information," Jesse sighed as Valencia hesitated, "you may have it."

"I could tell everyone," Valencia said, "then you would hear it as well."

Jesse met her anxious gaze, hurt and confusion clearly running over his features, "If that is what you want."

Valencia stared at him, uncertain, unmoving, "Jesse ... I ...."

Nodding, he smiled sadly, "I understand."

Turning, he prepared to leave her mind and whatever secrets she wished to keep. Breanna said he needed to trust more. It was hard when the person who held your heart in their hands didn't reciprocate that emotion. But he would allow whatever was required to keep Valencia in his life.

"Wait," Valencia called, "I don't want you to see it because ..." she grimaced, "you may think differently about me."

"Look into my mind and see my secrets. I dare you not to think differently about me," Jesse said, turning toward her, "we all have them. It's what we do with them that makes all the difference."

Valencia looked toward the closed door between herself and Birgit, shook her head and pulled the curtain aside. Jesse walked toward the compartmentalised scenes Valencia had stored in her memory.

"This is Madden's betrayal and deceit against Darcia," he murmured.

"Some of it ... yes," Valencia said, "Birgit knows about these ... creations. Apparently, she has been trained against them. She said she has seen what they are capable of, and ... I believe her."

"She doesn't like them," Jesse nodded, "I can understand that. Darcia started this, but Madden stole from her. What did he steal?"

"I'm not sure," Valencia murmured. "There is something about some of the experiments not working out as they should have ... I think Darcia wanted them destroyed. It could be those that Madden stole and worked on them. Jesse, I'm not sure what I'm looking at here."

"Thank you for showing me this," he said quietly, taking the veil from Valencia's hand and dropping it. "I've seen enough ... you retrieved all this while in this facility?"

Valencia nodded, "There is more, but I need to be awake to process it," she sighed, "Birgit is taking her time in waking, and I'm a little tired myself. We have had a trying few days. I sense I still need to protect us while she sleeps."

Jesse smiled, "Rest and please ... come back to me."

Valencia smiled and blinked. Jesse found himself back in his head, closing his mental privacy barrier. Bending over, he kissed their forehead.

"Rest now, keep each other safe," he whispered, "I'll see what I can do."

He opened the door and found Rose, Hana, David and Breanna waiting in the small passageway.

"Rose ... Hana," Jesse stepped aside, "Bre, Dave ... we need to talk."

"Yeah, we do as well," Breanna said, staring at him blandly, "and you have a lot to explain."

"Where is Kyle?" Jesse asked.

"What?" Breanna's frown deepened, but David's expression became alert.

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"In the control room," David said, "you spoke with Valencia."

"I did ... sort of," Jesse said, "I think I know where to find the missing information."

"We'll talk later. Let's get to that information," Breanna said, "are Val and Birgit okay?"

"Exhausted, and I told them to rest," Jesse said, "it may be some time before they wake up."

Kyle sat at a table frowning at a laptop screen, glancing up at the new arrivals but staring at the screen without acknowledging them. Jesse stood behind his chair, watching him work. Kyle grunted once, grimaced twice and finally sighed. His quick-moving fingers stilled.

"What do you want, Jesse?" he asked.

"To help you," Jesse said, pointing at the screen over his shoulder, "open this file."

"It's protected," Kyle said, clicking on the file, "see."

"Use this to unlock it," Jesse said, writing something on the nearby pad of paper.

Kyle typed it carefully into the provided block and waited, "Where did you get that?"

The file opened, displaying hundreds of documents and other folders.

"You can thank Val when she wakes up."

"This stuff is disturbing," Kyle said, "did they really do this kind of thing?"

"Yeah, I saw some of the memories Val was able to get from Madden," Jesse shuddered, "apparently, there are a lot more."

Breanna moved toward the pair, slowly pointing at a folder on the screen, "Open this file."

Kyle glanced at Breanna, "Sure," he opened the file, "does it mean something to you."

"Yes," Breanna whispered, "it's a combination of my parents' pet names for each other."

Silence fell as the documents opened. When the form had opened, Breanna turned and moved to the doorway of the control room, "I need some air."

"Was it bad?" David asked from his perch.

"Yeah," Kyle whispered.

"It's not something that anyone should know, least of all if it's to do with your own parents," Jesse sighed, "a lot of this is depraved."

"It is, but we now have an idea of what we're looking for and at," Kyle smiled, "thanks, Jesse."

"Anytime," Jesse grinned, "feels good to be making progress."

The sounds of running feet caught his attention. Rose burst into the control room, "Jesse ... come ... B and V ... agitated."

"Sounds like the name of a guest house. On my way," Jesse said, "Kyle, I think that will keep you busy filling holes for a while."

Jesse left the control room and returned to Valencia and Birgit's room. Hana stood outside the room.

"They are dehydrated," Hana said, "I was putting a line in to keep them hydrated ... and that happened"

Jesse looked into the room but couldn't see anything. Looking back at Hana, he frowned in confusion.

"Try walking into the room," she said.

Turning toward the woman sitting on the bed, Jesse stepped forward and took another and another until he reached the side of the bed. Hana and Rose stood in the doorway, watching with wonder in their eyes.

"How?" Rose asked.

"It's Jesse," Hana sighed, "nothing we can do here until they wake up."

Sitting in the chair next to them, Jesse took the groping hand in his, "I'm here."

The sudden grip around his own surprised him. Looking at their face, he expected to meet a pair of open eyes, but they remained closed and unnaturally peaceful. There was nothing to do but wait. He had learnt that pushing for results with these two only meant disaster for themselves and everyone around them. Leaning his arms on the bed, he lowered his head and rested. He may be here an hour, a day or a minute ... with time on his hands, Jesse decided sleep would be wise after such a long day.

David found Breanna gripping the railing with both hands, her head hung between her shoulders, and she bent at the waist, looking into the waters moving under the boat.

"Bre," he waited before moving closer, "are you okay?"

She shook her head, remaining silent.

"Was it bad?" he asked, stepping closer.

She nodded, remaining silent.

"Is there anything I can do?" he took the final step bringing him up to the railing. Only then did he see the tears streaming unchecked; his heart stuttered in his chest. He had only seen Breanna cry like this when Darcia died. He watched as she shook her head, silently crying.

Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her against his own. Two desperate arms wrapped around him, clinging to him as she buried her face in his shoulder, silently sobbing out pent-up pain and grief.

"You know it's not a sign of weakness to cry," he whispered, "it only makes you human."

Breanna nodded against his shoulder but remained silent, grounding herself in the uncovered storm.

"Darcia succeeded in some diabolical part of her plan, didn't she?" David asked, rubbing his hand over the top of Breanna's arm.

Breanna huffed a shaky breath, "Yes, she was successful sixty-two times."

David closed his eyes, feeling the pain in those words, "From your parents?"

Breanna nodded, "Even though they were manipulated creations, I have brothers and sisters somewhere out there ... Dave ... how could she do that?"

"I ..." he shook his head, "why would anyone do what Darcia and Madden did? Kyle tells me for some reason, Darcia knew she was being manipulated but never broke from Madden."

"If my sister wasn't so evil herself, I would feel sorry for her," Breanna nestled deeper into David's embrace, "can we not talk about her and what she did for a while."

"Sure," David rested his cheek on her head, "let's look at the beauty around us instead."

Pulling her closer, David braced his feet against the boat's movement. He would give them as much time as she needed. He could feel her anguish by allowing them time to soak in the beauty of the ocean, moving coastline and sea life passing them by. It may start the process of healing Breanna badly needed.