Search For The Truth (On Hold)

Brothers?

Matthew

"Tell me the truth," I demanded. "Tell me everything. Right now. Or I'm leaving."

Mom glared at me, but not in an angry way. "And go where?"

At this point, I was so angry I didn't care much about how I was responding. Rude? Yes, but if Mom and Dad had really been hiding something this huge from me, then I had a right to be furious with them. "Anywhere but here! Oh, hey, and by the way, mind telling me who Scott Stratford is, hmm? Sound familiar?"

Instead of answering directly, Mom and Dad exchanged a knowing look. "They're figuring it out."

"Hello, I'm right here! Spill it. Why does my birth certificate say my real name is Bailey Hansen? I thought I was Matthew Wiles!"

Dad took a moment to rub his forehead ruefully. "Matthew... I mean, Bailey. It's a long story. Very long."

"Does it have to do with the fact that my real parents' names are William and April Hansen and not your names?" By now I was practically in their faces, rage flaring up in my blue eyes, a rage I'd never experienced before. What on earth! Had Mom and Dad... or whoever they were... kidnapped me? Had they named me something and then changed their names and mine? But why?

Mom sighed a pitiful sigh. "Bailey, you might want to sit down. It might take us a little while to explain."

"Believe me, I have the patience to hear this," I snapped.

And quietly, they explained everything.

***

Scott

My thoughts were so mixed up, they gave me a headache so strong that I couldn't stand. Mom called me several times for dinner, but when I never replied, she clambered up the stairs and peeked worriedly into my room. She found me curled into a ball, rocking myself back and forth with a small paper clutched in my hand. My birth certificate. The very piece of paper Matthew had suggested I look at.

"Scott?" Mom rushed over and knelt by me. "Honey, are you okay? You look pale."

Instead of saying anything, I held out the birth certificate. The images I'd seen on it flashed through my mind again. Theodore Hansen, born February 2nd to William and April Hansen. Delivered by Doctor Ecrimal. My baby picture had been there, so I knew that it had to be my birth certificate. So why the seeming inaccurate information?

Mom glanced at me as she gripped the paper. Then she sighed. "So now you know."

"Is it true then?" My voice was shaky, since shock had pretty much gripped my body. Right now, my brain couldn't cope with the strange events of the past few days. It was threatening to shut down. "Am I not Scott Stratford?"

A long silence lapsed between my mother and I, during which time she seemed to brace herself for a long explanation. "How much do you know right now? Just tell me that."

"Know about what?" I managed to sit up, but I was still breathing heavily. I wrapped my arms around my legs, looking anywhere but at Mom. "Matthew Wiles? My real name? My real parents? All I know is that there's this other guy I've been communicating with named Matthew Wiles, and he vaguely remembers something that I do, and he suggested that we look at our birth certificates. That's all that's happened so far."

Mom settled down in front of me, her hand resting gently on my arm. There was a look of pity and awe hovering above her beautiful face. "When we were first told of what had happened, my husband and I refused to help. But when they brought you forward, such a confused and out of place boy, we couldn't say no to taking care of you."

At last I began to settle down somewhat. Mom was at least willing to tell me the truth. Not every person would be. "So what did they tell you had happened?"

"They explained to us that you and your brother, a boy they said went by the name of Matthew Wiles, had been kidnapped from your house and taken to different areas of the country, where you were then brainwashed of all memories of each other. Their question to us was whether we would be willing to take you in and care for you until either they or you found your brother. The day we adopted you, you became Scott Stratford."

She remained silent to allow me to ponder her words, for which I was grateful. After I had at last accepted what she was saying as truth, I met her dark brown gaze. "I have two questions." At her nod, I went on. "Number one, why couldn't they have returned me to my parents, and number two, who are 'they'?"

Strands of black hair tangled in Mom's fingers as she ran a hand across her forehead. "I don't know, honey," she admitted bitterly. "I asked them for more information, but all they told me was that they couldn't get you back to your parents for reasons they couldn't explain. And they are called the SIA- Secret Intelligence Service. What they were doing with you or how they found you after you were kidnapped remains a mystery to me."

"Do you're telling me my real name actually is Teddy Hansen?" I asked quietly. "And my parents actually are William and April Hansen?"

Mom nodded. "It appears so. I've never met your parent in real life, but the SIA should know where they are. After all, they're the ones who had your birth certificate."

"WHAT?" I exploded. This was news to me. Well, all of it was, technically, but so far, this was the hardest to take in. "You're telling me that the people who gave me to you had my birth certificate as well? If they can't get me back to my parents, then where did they get my birth certificate?"

"I don't know, Scott, I really don't." I knew Mom was being honest, from the way her fingers tightened around the arm and the way her jaw tenses up. She was just as frustrated as I was. Whatever was going on, Mom and Dad, or whoever they really were, couldn't tell me everything. Had the SIA done that on purpose, or was something deeper going on?

There was only one way to find out.

But first things first. I had to get back in contact with Matthew.