Experimental Brother? Experimental Lover?

Chapter 22

(Jason's POV)

I sighed in frustration and walked back to Dylan. He looked hopeful. "Well?"

"No home phones, no cellphones. This place has no electronic devices of any kind." As I sat down next to him he slumped. I felt bad about my attitude and tried to comfort him. "I'm sure we'll find some way to get home, okay? Just keep looking on the bright side."

He glanced out the window at the pouring rain. "What bright side...?"

I lightly punched his non-injured shoulder. "Hey, no negativity. It's depressing."

He smiled softly and shrugged. "Who's being negative? You're the one sighing so heavily."

I knew he was right. As hard as I tried to put on a good face, I was getting discouraged. We had no phones or way of communication, we were in a house with two strangers, and we didn't even know where we were. It was a lot of negative things to deal with all at once and, to be honest, it was taking a toll on my tolerance levels.

As I was thinking, the door across the room opened and the lady glanced into the room. "Would you mind helping your friend into the living room?" She asked me. "We want to ask you some questions."

Dylan's hand slipped into mine and I squeezed it. "Sure. We'll be right out." I said.

Dylan shook his head as I tried to help him stand. "We don't know them...! How do we know they're not going to try and kill us?" He asked.

I chuckled and helped him to the door. "I don't think they're killers. Just let me talk."

He still seemed resistant but, stopped protesting as we made our way out of the room and into the living room. The lady was sitting on the couch having a hushed conversation with an older man. As soon as they noticed us though, they stopped talking and the man stood up.

Dylan gripped my sleave and I hid him behind me slightly. "What did you want to ask us."

The lady tapped the man's arm. "Calm down, Wess." She scolded. "You're scaring them."

He sat down again and we stood awkwardly a few feet away. The lady smiled kindly. "Sorry, we're just very suspicious people."

As she insisted we sit down, the man, Wess, picked up a cup of water. As he gave a look of indifference, they lady asked, "So, for starters, who are you? How did you get into the woods?"

I glanced at Dylan before replying. "I'm Jason and this is Dylan..." I said. "Who're you?"

"I'm Jen and this is-"

Suddenly, the man shot her a look and she frowned, sitting back. Wess turned back to us. "That doesn't matter. We're asking the questions."

I frowned at him. "Well, we're not answering any questions until we know we can trust you."

He looked surprised for a second before the lady named Jen spoke up. "Excuse him. My brother is just very cautious." She said.

At the mention of brother I shifted in my seat. Dylan seemed to relax a bit too and we glanced at each other. "Where are we? Like, the state or whatever." I asked.

Wess looked at us disaproovingly as Jen replied, "We don't know. Believe me, we'd tell you if we did. We've been trying for years to get out of here..."

"What do you mean...?" Dylan finally spoke up.

Jen glanced at Wess with a deep frown. He gave her a look like he didn't agree and she looked at her lap. I frowned and learn forward. "Why won't you tell us anything?" I was beginning to feel frustrated.

Wess ran a hand through his hair. "How do we know you're not... with them." He said.

I looked at Dylan and he looked down in shame. I decided not to ask him to do it so I pulled up my sleave, looking away from the scars made by needles and acid. Jen's eyes widened and she winced, grabbing her own arm and squeezing it.

Wess put a hand on her shoulder and looked back at us. "That's enough." He said. I immediately pulled my sleave back down and hid my arm behind my back. Wess looked troubled, however. "How did you get out?"

I hesitated. "A doctor helped us... Dr. Samuels."

Jen's eyes bolted to mine and she grabbed her brother's sleave. "Adam Samuels?"

I shook my head. "I don't know his full name. Just Samuels."

Jen stood up and rushed out of the room, covering her mouth as she did. I glanced at Wess. "What?"

He looked just as distraught as his sister and wouldn't meet my eyes. "Adam... was a friend of ours. He helped us get out too." He put his face in his hands. "We were just kids..."

I felt Dylan shift beside me and I gave his shoulder a nudge with my own, reassuring him before I asked, "What happened?"

"It was a long time ago..."

"Please, tell us. Anything will help us get out of here. We just want to go home..." I said.

He sighed. "My sister and I were born in the labs. We didn't have parents. For the first ten years of our lives, all we knew were white walls, needles, and lab coats. We didn't even know what a sky looked like." He kept his eyes on the ground. "Then there was an accident and a boy named Adam Samuels was temporarily placed in our room. He was different then us. He hated the doctors, claimed they took him from his family. We were baffled. Until then, the word family wasn't even in our vocabulary."

He chuckled bitterly. "We started to notice things that we'd never seen before. Chairs with straps used to be a way of life. Now they looked like death itself. Adam told us that there was a world outside our bedroom walls, a world with 'trees' and a 'sky bigger than the ocean'. After hearing all of that, me and my sister wanted to go there. We wanted to see all of that."

I knew this was hitting Dylan hard and squeezed his shaking hand. He glanced at me and I sent him another squeeze. He seemed to relax and went back to listening to Wess.

"Adam had a plan. He promised us we'd get a home with a real family. So, one day, we set the plan into motion. It work perfectly and we found ourselves out here." Then he frowned darkly. "But, while we were running... we got split up... Adam and Jen were cut off from me and we had to go different ways..."

Suddenly, Jen's voice appeared from behind us. "They ran after Adam and I..." We could see tear streaks on her face. "He drew them away from me and told me he'd meet Wess and I when he could. That was the last time I saw Adam."

Wess stood up and told his sister that it was okay but, she brushed him off. "He saved my life. I thought... We thought we was dead..."

I frowned. "What happened after that?"

"We built this place and have lived here ever since." Wess said. He glared out the window. "It's sick. They've probably been watching us. Testing us even now."

Why didn't you leave?" Dylan asked.

That's when they both averted their eyes. "Believe me... we tried..." Jen murmured.

Something felt wrong. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Jen and Wess looked at each other but, didn't reply. I stood up, warning signals going off in my head. "Where are we? Really?" I demanded to know.

Jen looked nervous and Wess just frowned. I took Dylan's hand tightly and pulled him past them, going for the front door. Wess grabbed my arm. "Where are you going? It's not safe out there."

I went to pull away when there was a sudden banging on the door; and whoever it was wasn't knocking. They were breaking it down.

*******

Hey everyone! Sad stuff coming up. Just a warning. But, don't worry, it won't be too sad. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! AS ALWAYS, VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW, AND STAY AWESOME!

-Nekoco