The Anomaly Project

PROLOGUE

"Jacob, stop!"

At the sound of Wesley's voice, Jacob Stone freezes in place, lifting his hands slowly in surrender. His dingy lab coat brushes his legs and he finds himself wondering why he's still wearing it. Nostalgia, perhaps? He'll never have cause to wear it again; that's for certain.

"I have to do this," Jacob says, keeping his voice low and steady. He's almost certain that Wesley has a gun pointed at the back of his head, but he doesn't dare turn around to check. "I can't leave them here to grow up and be used."

"You knew what you were getting into," Wesley argues, but his voice is shaking. "You signed up for this. You volunteered."

"I didn't volunteer. Desmond forced me."

"He asked you, and you said yes."

"They're children, Wesley!" Jacob spins around, his emotions making him forget the situation. "They're my children! I am not leaving them here!"

"They're not yours anymore." Sure enough, there's a pistol wrapped in Wesley's hands, but it's shaking. Jacob already knows he won't pull the trigger. "You gave them up. They were created to be weapons. To protect this country. We need them."

"You have eight others," Jacob shoots back, hating the words as they come out of his mouth. He doesn't want to throw the others under the bus, but he has to save his own. "The Anomaly Project successfully created eight other superhumans."

"None as powerful as yours."

Wesley's young face is tight and red, and he keeps shifting his weight. He hates what he's saying, but he knows he has to say it. Otherwise, who knows what Desmond will do to him?

Jacob sees this fear behind Wesley's eyes and desperately grabs ahold of it. "You can't be afraid of Desmond anymore, Wesley. You can't let him control you."

"He doesn't control me."

"Then prove it." Jacob carefully picks up the two infants before him – his children – and cradles them close to his chest. "Let me through. Let me save my children. Take a stand against him. I know you hate this work, Wesley. You hate every minute of it, just like I do. You don't have to do this anymore."

A window not too far from where they're standing shatters, and one of the babies Jacob is holding starts to cry. Shouts and gunshots flood in through the opening, the sounds of riots outside. World War Three is devastating, and Jacob has already lost so much. He's lost Catherine. He cannot lose his children, too.

"Please," Jacob begs, stepping forward carefully, his daughter still bawling. "Please let us through. Desmond doesn't control you."

Wesley adjusts his grip on the pistol. Jacob watches as a multitude of emotions crosses his face. Barely eighteen years old and he's already being trusted as the head of security of Forrester & Stone Inc.

About to be just Forrester Industries, now, Jacob thinks, somewhat deliriously. Whether he gets out with his children, or Wesley shoots him right here and now, he is going to escape this place and never return. He never knew what he was getting into.

It seems like an eternity passes as Jacob stands stock-still with his eyes on the young man in front of him, listening to the sounds of the riots outside. Finally, Wesley releases a long, shuddering sigh, and lowers the gun.

"Desmond will kill me," he says, and Jacob knows it's true, but as soon as the words leave Wesley's mouth, something clicks in Jacob's head.

"Not if you're already dead."

A few minutes later, Jacob pulls a needle out of Wesley's arm, and he releases a long, shuddering sigh.

"Go. And hurry, before Desmond realizes you were ever here."

"Thank you," Jacob tells him, resting a fatherly hand on his shoulder, and then all but sprinting out the door. He makes for the outskirts of the city, where the buildings are crumbling and decrepit but not necessarily unsafe.

As he runs, he sheds the lab coat and wraps both his children in it, holding them close to his chest to shield them. The insignia of Forrester Industries is still embroidered on the lapel of the coat, clearly visible in the centre of his son's chest.

I promise, Jacob thinks fervently, heart pounding, this is as close to Desmond Forrester as you will ever get. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hey! Thanks so much for reading! 

PLEEEASE comment/vote if you are digging it so far

And please let me know what you think!!! Feedback makes my life

Stay tuned for the first chapter!

-canadian_writer4