Hazel
Leo and I were thinking the same thing. What was the deal with Dr. Evansby? I can't stand not knowing who our enemy is. Anger was pulsing through me, and I swore I could feel my mutant DNA swirling around in my body like my blood. When anger strikes, so does my inner mutant. I'm unstoppable.
I hear Leo screech and I see I was holding on to his arm too tight. Yikes, that would leave a bruise. I was just glad we were close to the door to Dr. Baker's office so I wouldn't have an anxiety attack and tear down the building or something.
Leo knocked gently, acting as if he would knock it down. When touching things, he was always cautious. After all, he had super-human strength that couldn't be controlled. We heard Dr. Baker's tired voice say "Come in," and we step inside her office. She must be hiding in here to have some peace from the chaos in the town square. Maybe she was busy thinking of a logical plan of how to solve all this crap.
"What brings you two here? I thought you two might be in the infirmary after that building collapsed. I was really worried when no one could find you," she said quickly, obviously anxious at the moment. A small box on her desk was flashing and beeping like crazy. Whenever she pressed a button on it, a panicked voice would start yelling at her about them or someone else being injured from the building collapse. It was like a small version of a 911 operator service.
"We just wanted to talk to you about what happened in the cafeteria," I explained. Leo nodded along to agree with me. Dr. Baker sighed and tried to turn off the noisy box. I had just about had it, so I crushed it with my powers. The box made a sizzling and crushing sound, causing it to smoke a little. Dr. Baker gave me a relieved look.
"Thank you, darling. Your powers definitely come in handy," She chuckled nervously, then regained her seriousness. "Yes, the incident in the cafeteria. A lot of chaos has been happening around here lately, involving me and Dr. Evansby. It's a long story, so sit, please."
Leo and I pulled up two chairs in front of her desk as she got up and grabbed a large book off a shelf behind her. It was a gigantic photo album. She opened it up, sending dust flying in her face, and flipped a few pages until she stopped at one. Then, she slid the photo album over to us and we stared at it. It was a picture of a married couple, and the date at the bottom said it was from 1992.
"Who's this?" Leo asks, wide-eyed. I had the answer though. I recognized Dr. Baker's beautiful face, even if she was about 25 in the photo, and the man who had the smug smile on his face. They didn't change much in the past 20 years.
"No, Dr. Baker....it can't be," I asked, obviously in shock. "Is that...?"
Dr. Baker nods, not showing any sign of happiness about it on her face. I don't blame her. "Charles Evansby and I were indeed married for about 15 years. And we were happy too. Things just changed, and so did Charles. He was never this evil when I first met him. And now..." She trails off, her eyes staring at the photo. It was hard to believe they were once a happy couple.
"Wow, I can't believe you were married to that psycho," Leo tells her. I slap his arm roughly. Of course he would say something stupid in a moment like this.
"I agree. I can't believe I did either. But I was young and naive, and didn't start seeing Charles's evil ways until it was too late. All throughout our marriage, he was planning all this. This world of chaos was being planned right in my own house, with my own son too...." Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, but she controlled it. Then she flipped another page and showed us a picture of a baby boy on the left side, and on the right side was a picture of the baby boy grown up. That was her son.
"Wow," I say, not really knowing what to say in this tough situation. But I couldn't help but ask, "Is he...alive?"
She shrugs. "I'm not sure. Before everyone started going into hiding, and I had to abandon the hospital when my powers came in, I never got to say goodbye to Nathan. I figured he found a way to escape Charles, but who knows what happened. He could be dead."
I knew the feeling of not knowing whether or not someone you loved was dead or not. I once thought that Leo was dead, and my family could be dead too. The outbreak attacks anything in it's way, either killing it or enhancing it. I got lucky. I just wished I knew if my family turned out like me. I didn't even get to say goodbye.
That morning before I left school, (or, what I didn't know, was my way to near death) I was just eating a typical breakfast that I had every morning. Mom, my step-dad Collin, and little Cody and Maddie were chatting and joking around amongst themselves, while I quietly sat there and enjoyed my bowl of Lucky Charms. Mom was talking about some book she finished to Collin, who was secretly ignoring her and smiling as she babbled. Cody and Maddie kept kicking each other under the table and giggling hysterically about something I didn't understand. (I always thought they had some sort of twin telepathy thing.) My memory about that morning was becoming clear. I wanted to leave that house so bad and be away from my family. It's funny how that can change when you think they're dead.
I snapped back to reality to see Dr. Baker and Leo talking about something. They were talking about Dr. Evansby now.
"So, how long had he been planning all this?" Leo asked her, practically sitting on the edge of the seat, waiting for the answer.
Dr. Baker pursed her lips. "Well, he was always in the garage doing something scientific in there. He never let me see what he was doing, which is why I didn't know his plan. I had no idea he was planning on ruling the world," She sucked in the deep breath. "Anyways, around the time we divorced, which was around the summer of 2010, I finally got to see what he was doing in his lab after all this time. He happened to leave the basement door unlocked. I snuck in and realized what he was doing. He had dozens of journals written with ideas and experiements he did. I had no idea he hated his life so much, and that he was hated at his job. He was a chemistry teacher at a local high school near Buffalo, New York. He made tons of money and seemed to have a happy life. Apparently not."
"So he'd been creating the mutation outbreak for that long? Did he experiment on anything?" I asked, curious if he had given powers to anyone before the outbreak started.
She nods. "Yes, he actually experimented on Nathan a few times while he slept. I was shocked he would do such a thing. Luckily, it didn't affect him badly. At least that I know of."
I nod, beginning to piece it all together. I begin to name off everything I'd learned in those few minutes. "So, he's been planning it for a long time. He was married to you, and you guys have a son named Nathan, whose missing. He's a scientist and was a chemistry teacher. But which school, though? Do you think that's anything important? And-"
"Woah, calm down. One question at a time," Dr. Baker chuckles again. I wish I could be that happy all the time. "I don't see how him being a retired chemistry teacher from East District High School is important."
A light bulb goes off in my head. "Wait, East District High School? That's the school Leo and I went to," I said. It bothered me that I said I went to East District High School instead of I go there. Leo shakes his head in disbelief. "What year did he retire teaching?"
"I believe it was 2012 when he retired. He also did a part-time job at the school board and went to different schools across the country to do special assemblies. He was always away from home, which took part in our divorce. That and that he was, what you said, a physco." She grins, which causes me and Leo to grin too.
"So he spent time in schools and did assemblies at other schools across the country. Maybe he was using all those kids in his experiment," Leo suggested. Another lightbulb went off in my head.
"Oh my God, Leo, you're a genius!" I exclaim. "He must have been using them! That's why you see mostly kids and teenagers as mutants and rarely adults! He must have did something to them!"
Dr. Baker started catching on. She had a glint of excitement in her eyes, which reminded me of Maxine. "That is an excellent theory! It all makes sense! I mean, I was always around him, which made me apart of his "experiment" as well. We'll remember that in the future. I must share that with Maxine so we can figure out what he's up to."
I smile. Maybe we can figure this out, after all. And of all people, Leo came up with the theory. You can tell he's shocked he came up with the idea. I'm not calling him dumb, but that was pretty brilliant of him. I was determined to figure out what was inside the mind of Dr. Charles Evansby.
YOU ARE READING
Mutation
Science FictionIt was just a normal day for Hazel Roberts and Leo Esteban. They thought they would go to school, take a huge history test that neither of them were prepared for, then go home and text each other for the rest of the afternoon. Typical teenager's day...