Outbreak by Christine Fonseca Page A

definitely not the baby.
    I turn over the picture. Nothing. No clue as to when it was taken. Or where.
    I open the journal. Mom’s distinctive handwriting covers every page. I flip through the pages, reading small sections. Mom talks about being pregnant, worried. She’s afraid of what people will think. Of what a mysterious “he” will do. I immediately wonder if she is referring to my father.
    Page after page refers to “Ben” and her work in the experiments, confirming my guess.. She talks about psychic abilities and her knowledge that Josh and I may have inherited ours.
    Half way through the journal her tone grows even darker. She speaks about her husband and his emotional abuse. She speaks of her love for Ben.
    My stomach twists into knots. Dr. Benjamin LeMercier. I can’t imagine anyone loving him in any way at all, least of all my mother.
    More pages, more words I don’t want to read. I toss the journal to the floor and walk outside, my thoughts spinning.
    “Are you okay?” Elaine’s voice soothes me, just like always.
    “Not really. There’s so much more to my mom, to her life, than I realized.”
    “I’m sure all parents have their secrets.”
    “Not like these.”
    “Tell me”
    “I . . . shouldn’t . . . can’t.”
    Mark joins us on the porch and grabs Elaine’s hands. “I’m going to go,” he says, his voice more somber than it had been. “You guys need to talk. Nice to meet you, Dakota. Maybe we can chat again sometime.” He gives Elaine a soft kiss before driving away.
    “He’s a great guy, Elaine. You’re lucky”
    “I know. I think I love him.”
    “I know you do.”
    Elaine beams. “Let’s go inside. I want you to tell me everything. I promise you can trust me. I’ll never let anyone know your secrets.”
    It isn’t her trust I worry about.
    We walk inside and I retrieve the journal from the floor. “I don’t know where to begin,” I say.
    “Let’s start with the picture. It’s you and Josh, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah. Mom confirms it in the journal.”
    “What else did she say?”
    I tell Elaine about Mom’s affairs and her involvement with the experiments. I talk about the “gifts” Josh and I demonstrated, her concerns about the baby, her feelings for Ben and her husband. My eyes fill with tears and I toss the journal to Elaine. I can’t read anymore. I don’t know what to think.
    “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
    I’m not convinced. All I know for certain is that Mom lied. Dad lied.
    Everyone has lied.
    And I have a feeling they are all still lying.

Elaine picks up the discarded journal and opens the page. She reads the entry aloud and my heart clenches as I hear the words in Mom’s voice:
    I left him. Finally. Ben wants me to come and stay with him, but I don’t know. Something about him makes me wary. I gave Liam up for adoption. It wasn’t fair to bring another child into this. Josh and Dakota are different. Stronger. But Liam is too gentle.
    I’m staying with Gregory and his family. His wife didn’t seem to mind. His children seem excited to have Josh and Dakota to play with, especially his son David.
    I’ve assured them this is temporary. I know Ben won’t like it. He’ll expect me to be with him now that I’ve left Robert. But I think I need to be on my own first. At least for a little while.
     
    Elaine flips through the pages, settling on another entry.
     
    I miss Liam more than I can say. Josh asks if I’m okay every night. I’m sure his psychic intuition has something to do with it. Dakota just looks at me like I’m a puzzle that needs solving. Part of me wishes I had given them away too—kept them away from this life. But they need me. They won’t understand their gifts. I can help them. The experiments can help them.
    I haven’t told Ben about them yet. I’m not ready. With the new experiments starting soon, the less Ben knows about their abilities, the better.
     
    Elaine closed the journal and put it on the