Crossing Destinies (A Pretender Story) #Wattys2019 #Wattys2021

Chapter I: Prelude Part 1

Thursday, May 23rd, 10.05 p.m.

The bus of the Greyhound lines was old, but still comfortable. While travelling by night on the endless asphalt ribbon, the man sitting alone on one of the front seats dozed uneasily, his long legs stretched out in front of him, ignoring his fellow travellers.

He was a handsome man on his early forties, very tall and with a well-built body; a short mop of brown hair framed his face, which features were at the same time sweet and strong; under a broad forehead, two intelligent, almond-shaped eyes shone, shaded by long black lashes and now veiled by the lowered lids. Two young women, who were journeying together, cast him now and then inviting glances but, to their great regret, he never lifted his gaze.

Jarod was tired. Tired to the point he was feeling all the years of the world on his shoulders. Physically tired, but above all morally. Tired of his endless run from the hounds of the Centre, tired of fixing things, hunting down criminals, constantly worrying about other people. Sure, it was in his nature to act as he acted; but he felt the need of a break, of an interlude during which he could think only about himself, restore his strength and renew his energies. For this reason, the day before he had sneaked away from his last lair unusually leaving no hints to Miss Parker and her team, who were hunting him for almost six years. For the same reason, he had chosen to travel on a bus instead of taking a plane, buying the ticket at the last moment so he hadn't to give his name and address. In this way, he would make them lose his trail for some time, so that he could devote himself a little to his own life, without having to worry about his neighbour, without having to look for his family, from which the Centre had taken him at the age of four for his skills as a Pretender.

His family...

His mother Margaret, first of all, a beautiful and sweet woman; and his sister Emily. He had been hardly able to catch a glimpse of both of them almost five years ago, but he had been forced to run immediately without giving them even a hug because of the Centre's sweepers, who had singled them out. He could still clearly remind his mother, sitting in the cab that was taking safely away her and Emily, weeping and silently spelling out "I love you"...

Some months later, he had discovered he had a brother, Kyle, who, too, had been kidnapped by the Centre and transformed into a killing machine by the nefarious Mr Raines; but Jarod had been able to return Kyle his humanity, to such a point that the young man had sacrificed his own life to save his brother's. Or so Jarod had believed for about a year: actually, Kyle had been able to get away and had managed to meet his brother again, but the wicked Mr Lyle had killed him, and this time for good, as once again he had saved Jarod's life. And not only his: from Jarod's will, Kyle's heart was donated to a dying boy, who now was living safe and sound.

Three years before, to his great joy, Jarod had met his father, Major Charles Russell. At the same time, he had found out about the existence of a thirteen-years-old clone of himself, created by the Centre to have a spare tire in case something happend to him, Jarod... He wondered if they had ever thought about the possibility he could escape. No, he believed not, they were too arrogant, too self-sure. With his father, Jarod devised a plan and rescued the clone, whom they had called Jay and adopted as a brother and a son; but Jarod had to part from them to make the flight succeed.

He had met Emily again almost two years earlier, saving her from Lyle; in that occasion, he had seen again also his father. Emily told them she had made a disturbing discovery: she and Jarod had a half-brother, Ethan, son of their father and of Miss Parker's mother. The Centre had impregnated Catherine Parker with Charles Russell semen without their consent or knowledge. As she had realised it, Mrs Parker had fled, staging her suicide with Raines' deceptive help, as she wanted to give to the innocent child a future away from the Centre. Vain hope: after she had given birth to the child, Raines had killed her in cold blood; then he had entrusted Ethan to a couple and turning the child to exploit it, for Ethan had inherited from his mother the Inner Sense, which was the ability to hear inside his mind voices that could give him advice and assistance. After his dramatic meeting with Jarod and Miss Parker, for some time Ethan had stayed with his half-brother, then he had disappeared, and since then, there had been no news of him.