“I do.I did.Jane is right.They are happy doing what they love, just as I was happy working out mathematical and engineering equations beyond my years.You can help them by giving them a loving home, a place where they can continue to develop their gifts but also learn what will help them feel normal.”
“Should we allow them to perform publicly?” asked Riley.
“Only if they want to.And only after you’ve caught the people responsible for their treatment.We may think that the world needs to hear their genius but the truth is, their genius might break their own worlds if we’re not careful.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Did you get the notebooks?” he asked.
“No,” said the other man breathlessly, wiping the sweat from his brow and neck with a dirty, once white handkerchief.“No, and I think we need to leave.Move to another state.”
“What?No.Why would we do that and where the hell are the notebooks?”
The breathless man held up his phone, showing a photo of the message left for them.He enlarged it, just to be certain they could see what was written.
“Run while you can.I dare you.So what?Some kid left a spooky message,” he laughed, the others laughing with him.
“That’s not all.”He swiped, showing them the photos of the walls torn apart, every book that hid their secrets, now gone.
“Who was it?Did you see them?” asked an anxious woman.
“Of course I didn’t see them.They were long gone and so were the bodies in the basement.Someone knows.Someone knows and is going to find us,” he said filled with concern.
“How?” laughed the other man.“Those kids don’t talk, they don’t hear, because they’re all dead.”
“Not all,” he said quietly, taking a step back to ensure he had at least an arm’s length distance between he and the other man.
“What do you mean?”
“I-I should have told you a few months back but I just thought I was counting wrong or something.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded, standing from his leather chair.
“The kid.The composer kid.He was the last one we operated on before we left, remember?His head was all fucked up and he was walking funny.”
“I remember.What about him?”
“H-he wasn’t in the basement any longer.I always just opened the door and looked.I mean, I wanted to be sure they were all there.A few months back, not long after we left, I opened the door and his body wasn’t on the top any more.It wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“On top of that, there were scraps of food inside the room, like recently left for some weird reason.I got spooked and I thought I heard a sound, so I left.When I went back the next time, the door was closed again.”
“And you didn’t think to tell us this?” screamed the woman.
“Stop yelling at me.We knew we couldn’t do this forever.Let’s just publish what we have and move on,” he said nervously.
“Are you stupid?We can’t publish this shit and we never had intentions of publishing anything,” said the third man in the corner.“If we publish this, people are going to want to see the kids.All of which are dead, except for the brats that ran away.We’re working a different angle now.”
“Then we’re doing this for nothing.I’m doing this for nothing.I agreed for the science of it all.What were you all doing?This is a game to all of you,” he said pacing back and forth.
“It’s not nothing,” said the woman.“We’re doing it to figure out what makes them savants.How can they play music, write music, when they can’t hear, speak, or sometimes see?We’re going to figure that out and possibly replicate it in children.”
“Replicate it?” he whispered.“Are you mad?We can’t replicate that.That’s not what you said we were doing.You said we were finding out how their brains work to be able to shed light on the phenomenon.That’s what you said.”
“You’re panicking, John.You always panic,” said the man leaning against his desk now.“You’re weak and I can’t afford weakness on my team.”
“Just pay me what you owe me and I’ll leave,” he said taking a step backward.
He stared at their boss, then at the woman who was colder than the basement of dead children.That’s when he realized the other man was nowhere to be seen.He realized it too late.He gasped at the sharp stabbing pain in his back, then again at his side.
