Ataxia

thirty-one

"Whoa, what?" I leaped up. It had only been about a couple hours she had been missing, but I was dying to know where she had gone. "Where is she?"

"Calm down, Des," Andy replied, even though he looked really antsy himself.

I sat back down. Hypocrite.

"She's been taken to another facility." Mr. Watson said. "A facility I know all too well. Facility 01."

Andy cringed. "Facility 01? Wait, why was she taken there?"

"Dr. Jonathan Radcliffe was the one who kidnapped her. So I'm supposing he took her there. Why? I don't exactly know."

"I know why," I said, staring at the ground. I couldn't see them, but I could tell both of them looked at me in surprise. "He was planning to take me. But --"

"Wait, he was planning to take you?" Andy stood up from his seat so quickly I didn't even see him get up.

"Um ... yeah," I said slowly. "Why are you so worried about this? He was just a random kidnapper. I thought it wasn't something to worry about."

"I can't believe it," Andy said quietly. "He finally found you."

"Who?" I asked, leaning on the edge of my seat.

Andy looked up to meet eyes with me. He looked both extremely concerned and enraged. "The man who tried to take you, Des, what did he look like?"

"Um, well, he had very perky light brown hair, it sorta stuck up everywhere. His eyes were colored the same way. He was pale and looked kind of scruffy like he just rolled out of bed."

Andy shook his head. "I knew this would happen eventually, but for it to happen like this," his voice trailed off. I wasn't very sure if he was talking to himself or not. He looked up at me again. "Des, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Listen, the man who tried to kidnap you ... I used to work for him a few years back before I adopted you as my own. He told me to find you and bring you to him or else he would kill me. I found you but, with the help of a few very good friends of mine, I was able to hide you from him. Until now."

"Wait, what're you talking about?" I asked, shaking my head. "I thought you said my parents died for various reasons. Are you saying my parents are alive?"

"Des, that's not important right now," Andy insisted. "Listen, there is a man after who wants to experiment and torture you. We need to make sure that you are safe from him. You're going to stay with Abhik while Mr. Watson and I go find and save August."

"Wait, but why?" I exclaimed. "Why am I so important to this guy?"

Andy was hesitant after I said this. It was a few long moments before he actually spoke. "I don't think you're going to begin to understand what you are." He said quietly, turning on his heel to go upstairs.

"Andy!" I tugged at his arm. "Please. I won't freak out. Just tell me. What am I?"

He took a deep breath, turning around. He narrowed his cold and icy blue eyes and inhaled again. "You're the most powerful being who has ever walked the earth."