Eden's Gate

Chapter 23: Grave Findings

Another week had passed, and the plan had developed deep from its original structure, but was still the basic premise - create a distraction, use that opportunity to nullify the cameras, escape. It was the details that were getting complicated.

Specifically, their distraction involved Richard making a projection, but such a powerful one was enough to pinpoint their true location, so he was working on adding a projection of a psionic sense to it that would give them two things to chase.

It was easier said than done.

Kaitlyn, for her part, had concluded her research on local flora and fauna and after an argument about not wanting to kill with Richard, she admitted that it was probably for the best that she also study how to trap and kill small game so they had some protein too, if they needed it.

Mr. Lepus was particularly appalled by her study of killing rabbits. She promised she'd go after foxes first. The other issue in her purview at this point was sowing some tents for them. She was getting that down in the workshop, though.

They had stayed up very late, well past 22:00, and were now the only ones here. They were doing their best to be very quiet. Kaitlyn had been so engrossed in her book that when Taylor cried out in shock, she dropped it in a start.

"What is it, what's wrong?" She asked.

Taylor pointed to the screen, "guys, come look at this." Their voice was hushed.

Kaitlyn approached it and saw that it had opened to a page which had been translated by Google copying the text of an obituary from an obscure, local newspaper. It was an obituary for an Adria and Antonia Manohierro, mentioning they were survived by their child, who happened to share Taylor's dead name. The photograph used had the happy couple standing with their toddler, lifting the child between them such that a birthmark shaped like, Kaitlyn thought, a bird's head, visible from their slightly rising shirt.

The text of the article described how the family had been murdered in cold blood, and that the killing resembled a sacrifice, describing a strange five pointed symbol that had been made in the floor out of their blood, with Taylor in the middle.

Kaitlyn turned to Taylor, to see that they had lifted their shirt, ever so slightly, to reveal the same bird's-head shape mark in the same place of their belly.

"I was there...?" They asked. "I...that's not..."

Taylor suddenly put their hands on their head, "what does this mean!?"

Kaitlyn tilted her head, and realized she may have just opened her world to something new and terrible.

"Taylor," she asked firmly, "what do you remember about your time in Mexico?"

"I told you, I don't remember anything, I d-"

"You just said you were there. What. Do you. Remember?"

Taylor's eyes went wide, and they jolted and squeezed their head tighter. "Eliza said I wasn't there...so where was I? What happened...why can't I pull up a single thing?"

"Kaitlyn, what's going on?" Richard asked.

"I think...I think they had their memory erased."

Taylor's eyes went wide and their whole body suddenly went slack. Horror filled them and they suddenly started to cry. They grabbed a tissue.

"You think she lied?" Richard asked.

Taylor nodded, and managed through their tears to squeeze out the words "I know she did," they said.

Richard's cheeks went red for a moment and he got up, hobbling over to his room. Kaitlyn put her hand on Taylor's shoulder. As she did, the images going through Taylor's mind went through hers too - they were seeing their parents stabbed to death by a man in a mask, while they were telekinetically held against a wall. They carved the symbol with their blood and called the cops, pretending to be a concerned citizen.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

Taylor just heaved out another sob, and wrapped their arms around Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn held them back, doing her best to let the images wash over her despite the panic and terror that was with them. Richard came out, holding his prized newspaper clipping. The clipping about the car accident that had left his parents dead and him with his limp. In the picture was the twisted wreck of the car, and a few people standing around it, presumably trying to help. The upper left side of the picture had been torn off. He went up to the computer.

"Taylor, can I look something up quickly?"

Taylor nodded, getting out of the chair and sitting on a couch continuing to cry. Richard typed something into the search bar, and after a bit of searching came up he came to the site of the Essex Chronicle, the paper the clipping was taken from. The full article was present, thankfully, and so was the untorn picture.

Standing there, looking at the car wreck with a bemused expression, was Eliza, dressed in her usual suit and gloves. A top hat tried to cover her identity, but it failed. The picture had been torn in just such a way that her presence was completely removed from his copy.

"Eliza gave me this picture when I asked her what happened to my parents," he said. "She tried to hide herself."

"Because she did it," Kaitlyn realized. "I don't know how, but she made your parents crash."

Taylor held up their hand, asking for a moment before they forced out more words, "you think she did that to all of us, then?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "Most likely."

She turned to Taylor. Do you know who that was?"

"That glow...the steel glow, it's Professor DeSantos'." Taylor realized. "She sent him to do it, and then he...he brought me back. Eliza erased all the memory of the whole thing."

Kaitlyn frowned.

"What about you?" Richard asked, looking at Kailyn.. "What happened to you?"

"I don't know," Kaitlyn admitted, "Eliza only ever said that I just showed up on the doorstep. That's not a lot to go on. But that's to her advantage in the lie."

Richard got up out of his chair and began to limp back to the room. His face was turning even more red, but it was his knuckles turning bone white that concerned her more. She could hear the pewter of the figure on his cane straining under his grip, before Taylor bolted.

"Visitor coming," they said.

Richard instantly filled as much of the room as he could with a Calming Aura, and Taylor whipped up their face of snot and tears just in time for the door to quietly open, revealing Professor Pajitnov.

"Добрый вечер, children. What are you all doing up?" He asked, slyly.

"Taylor had a bad dream, so we were all comforting them," said Kaitlyn.

He nodded, "is that right?" his eyes fixing on them.

"Yeah, that's all," Richard assured.

"You know it's well past curfew, right? It's ten thirty."

Richard narrowed his eyes a bit glad to have something to guide his anger at. "We only have to be in our dorm by that time," he said.

Nikolai gave a smile, "you are right there, I guess. But once you're done with your hugs, go right back to bed. You have class tomorrow!" He reminded.

"We will, Professor. Good night!" Kaitlyn said.

His grin became a lost less smug for a moment and he said "Good night, children," as he stepped back out into the school. Another wave of relief all around, which they needed after all this. The good news was that they now had two new candidates for who was involved. The bad news was that the were living under the thumb of the murderer of all their parents. Kaitlyn was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.