Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 29

Santa Monica, California

March 2006

Anna took her seat at the table. Sabian sat directly across from her, Garrison to his left, and George to his right. Beyond them were the commanders Nathan, Lydia, and a few others that Anna recognized but couldn't yet name.

Sabian pinned her in place with an imposing and unnerving stare. "Anastasia Guillard is your birth name, is it not?"

"It is." She stared back at him.

"Acacia Guillard is your sister?"

"Yes."

"When and by whom were you infected?"

She hesitated. The words felt odd in her mouth. "I was infected in October of 2004 by my sister. Acacia." She had to take a deep breath after she said it.

"Tell us how this occurred."

Anna looked down at her hands folded neatly on the table. She worked her fingertips over her knuckles and the blank space on her finger where she used to wear one of her mother's rings. She cleared her throat, and then spoke deliberately, each word a chore. "I came home one evening—"

Sabian interrupted. "Where was that?"

"Ithaca, New York."

"Continue."

"I came home from a session with one of my violin students. It was dark out. My dad's car wasn't in the driveway, but the light in his bedroom was on." She took a deep breath. "The door was unlocked. I went in. The rest of the house was dark. I heard a noise, so I went into the kitchen...to get a knife. I thought it was a burglar. My dad wasn't home. Suddenly someone turned the lights on in the kitchen." She looked up and saw that she had everyone's rapt attention. Sabian held his intense focus on her. "It was Casey, er, Acacia. She had a knife, too. She heard me come in and thought I was the burglar even though I lived there and she didn't."

"Do you know why she was there?"

"No." Anna waited a few seconds for further questions, and when there were none, went on, "We argued. I was angry at her."

"Why were you angry?"

"Because the last time I talked to her—"

"When was that?"

"Six months or so before then. She called the house."

"For what purpose?"

"She wanted to talk to our dad, but I got to the phone first. I don't know what they talked about."

"Tell us why you were angry with her."

"I told her that the whole family was throwing a big birthday party for Dad and I asked her to be there." Anna paused, looked down at the knot of her fingers again. "In fact, I made her promise to be there and she said she would."

"You were upset because she broke her promise?"

The way he said it made it sound so trivial now, but even over a year later, Anna remembered the fury she felt in the kitchen that October evening.

"Not only that, but a lot of people in our family were really worried about her. She took off, pretty much cut off contact with us, and wouldn't tell us where she was or what she was doing. It was really stressing our dad out. He had a heart attack!" The words tumbled out. "He thought she was on drugs or involved in something illegal. In all years after she left home, we got two phone calls, two visits from her, and zero explanations."