The Jenetix Program

Chapter 1~ Kidnapped

Jonah was only three years old when they started. He would wake up in a cold sweat half way through the night, crying at the top of his lungs. They only happened once a month or so, well, until the night before everything changed.

I jumped up violently in my bed as soon as I heard Jonah's crying. I scrambled out of the covers and down the corridor towards his bedroom.

"Jonah, you have to wake up." I panicked, lifting him up under the arms. The room was pitch black except for the dimly lit lamp behind his bed and any chance of seeing a clear, beautiful night had been obliterated by the thick, dark clouds that rolled across the sky.

Jonah broke out into even louder sobs, but still he remained asleep. After a few more frantic attempts at waking him up, his eyes slowly started to open, filling me with relief.. I stayed with him for what seemed like hours, calming him and waiting for his sobbing to die down. Finally, he fell asleep, something I wasn't able to do for the rest of the night.

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The next morning, the whole house was dead silent. The only sound coming from the creaking of the steps as I made my way down for breakfast. It was still dark outside, but somehow Noah had made it down before me. He was hunched over the table, picking at a burnt piece of toast. I dropped my bag on the floor and started shoving my arms through the sleeves of my coat. I thought about Jonah's Mares, the long and sickeningly vivid dreams that he got. There were like nightmares, only they didn't just hit when he was asleep, but when he was awake too. They looked like panic attacks when they hit during the day, only much worse and more terrifying. 

"Is Jonah going to school then? Noah asked, leaning back in his chair. His ill-fitting glasses slid down his nose before he promptly pushed them back up again.

"I don't know."

Being Jonah's twin, Noah believed that whatever condition his brother had would soon hit him too. Neither him or I had Mares, but watching Jonah suffer with it seemed almost as painful for Noah as it was for his brother. Jonah's Mares not only caused him pain, but also reminded us that he was at risk of being taken by Wire; the mechanical intelligence army responsible for protecting our towns. While they seemed like the heroes that kept us from being attacked, they were far from it, but we discovered that later when they came out as the kidnappers of the several hundred children that had gone missing. As soon as the news was released, they relocated their bases and no-one knew where they were or what they were doing to those they had taken. Any sort of protest or 'revolution' was useless; there was no-one to fight.

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Noah appeared at the bottom of the stairs with his coat and boots on, fiddling with his gloves.

"I guess he is." Noah said before swallowing his last piece of toast and sliding his glasses up his nose again.

There were large, dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and his mouth was twisted into a frown. I walked over to help him put on his gloves.

"You know you don't have to go to school to day, Mares are not easy to han-" Before I could finish my sentence, he cuts me off.

"Did you know this is the second time it has happened this month? The second! That has never happened before!" His eyes were filled with tears and I took the gloves from his hands.

"Ronnie, what if they start coming every night? What if Wire come and take me away? Why-" This time I'm the one to cut him off. I couldn't stand to hear him panic.

"You don't have to worry about that because it is not going to happen," I said in a monotone voice which I hope is convincing enough, but I know it will take more than that to calm him down. I slid the first glove onto his left hand, spotting the weekly newspaper on the kitchen counter and I bring it over to show Jonah. I pointed at the bottom of the first page where it listed the names and ages of the most recent disappearances in our town. He lifted his head up and stared down at the paper in my hand.