Part XX - 7: Hidden Memories Revealed [Told by Joey]

"Come on, sleepy head. Time to get up and go to school," my mom said, gently rubbing my shoulder.

"I don't want too," I mumbled, not opening my eyes.

"Breakfast is on the table, so get your ass up before I get your father to drag you out," she said, sounding like she was already down the hall.

I could smell the bacon in the air, and I suddenly realized I was really hungry, so I opened my eyes, expecting to see my old room...

"Shit," I moaned, finding myself in some sort of holding cell.

I only had taken a quick glance around since I was feeling pretty sore from all the climbing the past few days, and just closed my eyes and tried to ignore the hunger I felt.

But the damn bacon smell didn't go away. It was almost like there really was some bacon...

I opened my eyes and sat up with a start when I felt an impatient empathic touch, then kind of sat there a bit disorientated staring at the pair of albino twins holding a plate of bacon and eggs and a large glass of milk just like I had envisioned in my dream.

"Uhm, thank you," I said when I recovered enough of my senses to take the plate and glass from them.

They watched me as I wolfed down the generous portion of eggs and inhaled the juicy bacon, then as I was gulping down the milk, I heard a door being opened followed by the sounds of a man's struggling.

"No... You don't understand... " Charles said weakly as another pair of twins escorted him and the two Venezuelan men carrying him by the arms entered my view from my cell. "We must stop him before he destroys himself!"

"Charles!" I yelled, leaping to my feet and rushing up to the bars of my cell closest to them. "Are you okay?!"

"We must save my son before he destroys himself... " Charles said desperately to me. "I need my girls!"

His eyes were filled with confusion, emotion, and a look of dazed madness. I was stunned by his obvious loss of his facilities, and helplessly watched him struggle against the two men carrying him into the cell beside mine and force him to remain inside as they left.

"Girls! Don't leave me!" he begged as the set of twins who were in my cell were let out, then both pairs left with the men.

"Charles, what happened? Did they do this to you?"

"Be-gone, spy!!" he said with emotion, half falling, half crawling to the furthest corner of his cell from me to sob.

After unsuccessfully trying to get Charles to talk to me, I took a good look around through the bars of my cell. There were two other identical cells across from mine, each with three solid walls with the fourth naturally being steel bars with a steel bar door. While I couldn't see into Charles' cell, I had no reason to believe it was any different that the other three.

Each had a cot, a toilet, and a sink, but no windows, tables or chairs. I couldn't see far enough down what appeared to be halls on either side of the cells to know if there were any other rooms or cells in that place.

I hadn't heard anyone climbing steps, but I could hear rain falling on the roof above me, so I assumed we were inside a single floor building.

I think I must have dozed off listening to the rain, for the next thing I knew, Kain was standing outside my cell with those old twins on either side of him.

"Where is HE!" I said, leaping up to my feet and rushing forward, intending to grab him through the bars and...

There was a flash, then suddenly I found myself standing inside some sort of glass cylinder like in one of those science fiction movies. In fact, the room I was now in appeared to be a strange mixture alien and human technology, and the giant wasp like creatures who entered the lab were definitely from a B type movie.

I didn't notice the other cylinder chambers beside me until one of them raised up, releasing the little girl trapped inside who surprisingly didn't run, but actually walked over to the giant bugs rather stiffly.

I shivered seeing that mindless empty look on her face when she turned towards me, pulled off her pants and underpants, then remained bent over while one of the wasps approached her naked behind and...

I couldn't watch... It was too horrible. I closed my eyes and threw my weight toward the glass cylinder wall, then found myself falling to the floor.

"That was a warning," Kain said, partially amused.

"You sick son of a bitch," I said, desperately trying to stop the shakes I felt while picking myself off the cell floor. "What have you done to Charles, and where is Tim?!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you on both accounts, but Tim hasn't been here since he left with you last year, and as for his papa... We're not really sure what's wrong with him, but other than giving him a sedative, he's exactly as we found him."

"Liar!" I spat, having successfully gotten back to my feet and was slowly approaching the bars. "I know he's here. I can feel it."

Kain studied my face a moment, then said, "I'll be honest with you, Joey. I was against my father's idea on bringing you and Tim here last year. If you were such a threat, you should have been conditioned and released, not wiped. But make no mistake. I'd have you killed in a moment if I believed you were dangerous to us in some way.

"This building's walls, ceiling, and floor contain a wood which absorbs telepathic energy. No voice has ever been able to penetrate it, and so you can not possibly be feeling Tim or anyone else except for the four of us and yourself, and even that is dampened within these walls. You have made a mistake. Lucky for you, I have convinced my father to allow me to... Girls?"

I hadn't noticed his two escorts having left his sides and walked over to Charles' cell until that instant, but I really didn't care about anything but what he planned to do with me and Charles.

"Exactly what is going to happen to us?" I said, reaching through the bars and snapping my fingers in front of his face to pull his attention away from the twins a moment.

"You will be conditioned and released unharmed. That is if you don't give me reason to do otherwise."

"Why?" I blurted out. "I mean, you're the last person I expected to just let us go."

He glanced back at the twins a moment, then said softly while looking me straight in the eyes, "Because of you, I now have a son to pass my inheritance on to. While you had no direct control over this, you were still the... catalyst, and for that reason alone I will overlook your... your... "

"Trespassing?" I offered.

"Trespassing... gracias, that was the word I was seeking for," he said, looking back over at the twins, then glancing down at his watch with a slight frown. "Girls, you are expected at the nursery."

When they didn't move, Kain walked up behind them and gently placed his hands on their shoulders before repeating his message in Spanish. They seemed hesitant to leave for a moment, but then as another pair of twins walked in, there was a brief exchange of looks between the empaths before the elder pair left the way they had came.

Just as I heard the door close, Charles suddenly woke up and yelled, "GIRLS! GIRLS! Come back! Please come back!"

"Calm down, Charles," Kain said as the remaining twins took position on either side of him.

"No! You don't understand! He's doesn't know! He doesn't understand! GIRLS! Remember! Zamdiri!! Zamdiri!!!!"

"Zamdiri?" I repeated questioningly to Kain after he had let the twins in with Charles.

"No idea," Kain said as the twins used their empathic power to sooth Charles back to sleep. "At least his mind is starting to form more coherent thoughts than when we first found him. I'm afraid there's very little we can do for him until he's in a more... sane state of mind. Perhaps if you could talk about his family or job it might help him recover faster."

"So he will recover?" I said, hearing Charles's gentle mumbles as Kain opened Charles's door to let the twins back out.

"Time will only tell. Speaking of which, I must go. The girls will bring you your lunch in a couple of hours, then if you cooperate, they will begin reconditioning you to where I can trust you enough to let you out."

"I'll have to think about that," I said honestly.

"You have my word your personality will not be altered, only your... perspective. It is either that or remaining in that cell until Charles is well enough for the conditioning and you're both done at the same time. At least I've given you a choice," Kain said as he left.

"Some choice," I muttered.

I jumped away from the bars when the twins sent an empathic message to back away, then watched with surprise as they used the ring of keys which they had retrieved from down the hall to unlock my cell and came in.

"Uhm, I thought Kain said after lunch," I said a bit nervously after they indicated for me to strip.

Their empathic response didn't answer my indirect question, but I still pulled my shorts and shirt off just the same, cursing my inability to prevent my cock's full woody just from feeling their empathic call.

"You want to suck me?" I said with even more surprise after they indicated for me to sit down on the cot, not lay.

They didn't bother to answer me that time since they were already on their knees and crawling up my spreading legs. I shivered with anticipation from their hot soft skin making contact with my legs, yet I was not so lost in my lust as to not wonder what I had done to deserve this kind of treatment.

Within minutes, I was drifting in nothingness as they alternated their mouths on my cock in such a way I forgot there were two instead of just the one I felt.

Despite the fact I was completely unaware of my surroundings at the time, I still retained a thread of conscious thought that was trying to figure out what was going on and what to do next.

So when my left hand accidentally came across the keys on the floor, even though I never realized they had moved us to the floor, that thread of thought recognized an opportunity, and thanks to the time I spent playing poker with Tim, I managed to pull off what I believed was the key to my cell (they had different shapes to them since twins can't read) without letting on to the twins I was doing something covertly like that.

Once I had the key off the key chain, I had the difficult task of locating a hiding place for it that was in reach so I could simply forget about it until after the twins left to get my lunch. The floor had no cracks to stick it in, my clothes were too far away, and I couldn't risk reaching up over my head to hide it in the cot somehow. I considered putting it in my mouth, but even that might draw too much attention, especially if I accidentally choked on the thing when they made me come.

So I just held onto it for a while, that thread of thought attempting to make itself as inconspicuous as it could while waiting for an opportunity to stick it somewhere out of sight, and more importantly, out of mind.

Shit, I did such a good job at forgetting what I had done, I totally forgot all about it, even after they got up and shut the self locking door behind them to go get our lunches.

I was laying on the floor, enjoying the post come relaxation, and just happened to run my hands up my sweaty chest and abs before lifting them up over my head and catching a whiff...

I cautiously smelled my left index finger, trying to recall if at any time I had run it across one of the twin's ass, then suddenly became aware of the poop in my chute was ready to go.

It wasn't until I heard the "clink" right after the "plop" that I remembered anything about the key. I still don't remember doing it, but I think you can piece it together like I had moments before I was about to flush.

I think I broke my own record of how many times I could say "shit" in one breath while I was washing my hands and the key in the sink.

But the strongest "shit" I made that day was when I tried the key in my lock and discovered I had the wrong one.

"Girls," Charles moaned from the cell beside. "Come to me, my girls... "

"Charles? You feeling any better?"

"You... " Charles said with a sound of recognition and desperation. "You would help me?"

"Of course I'll help you. Kain said... "

"Kain!" Charles spat in annoyance. "Betrayer... Betrayer of his own blood. You must help me. Help me save him before he destroys himself!"

"Help who? Tim?"

"My son! I must save my son before... Zamdiri! ZAMDIRI!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Charles, calm down, please. Tell me what, or, or who is zamdiri?"

"You can not understand. Only my girls understand. My son, my only son does not know... "

"He's not your only son," I said, seeing a chance to bring up the rest of his family like Kain suggested. "Richie. Remember Richie?"

"Richie?" Charles said in a squeaky voice. "My baby boy... "

"Yes. And Samantha? Tim's and Richie's mom, your wife?"

"Oh mother... " Charles moaned, followed by a sob. "Mother, my brave mother... She gave her life for his... "

"For whose life?" I asked very cautiously, uncertain if this was really the right direction to go in his current state.

"My son's... No... Not my son... My son... I... I must save them... From his... He doesn't know... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" he screamed as he violently shook his cell's door.

"LISTEN! Charles! Listen to me!" I yelled, holding the key out beyond the bars where he could see it. "I think this key will open your door. It doesn't match the symbols on the two locks across the hall, and it won't open mine. Take it and use it on yours. If it opens yours, then get the ring of keys and... "

He snatched it from my hand so fast the key stung my fingers, and a few moments later I heard it click in his door and the lock turning.

"Great! Now go get the ring of keys down... No! Charles! The other way. Charles! CHARLES!!!"

"I must find my girls!" he said desperately from down the hall, opening the door to leave.

"I can... I can help you find them!"

"You can't help me," he said in a hushed voice. "You don't know how to find them, but I still can't feel anything... "

I heard the door shut, and my heart sank believing he had left me.

I nearly brained myself on the damn bars when he walked into my range of view with a deeply worried expression on his face, and as he stood there studying me, I said gently, "I can help you. I'm here to save Tim too. I'm not your enemy."

His eyes suddenly became a bit more focused a moment before he pointed to me and said, "Joey."

"That's right. Remember? Uhm... The campfire? The bottle of gin, and the beans?"

"How can you help me?" he said very carefully.

"I... uhh... I can form a share link with you so you can feel your girls out better."

"Yes... Yes, you can help that way. You helped him that way... "

"That's right. I helped Tim that way, and you."

"Yes. Do it. Help me now."

"First get the keys and open my cell. Then I'll do that and help you find Tim."

"No, no, no, NO! First you help me find my girls! I can not go anywhere without my girls!"

"Look, we don't time to argue! The twins will be back any minute with our lunches, and if we're not out of here by then, we're toast! Now open my door!"

"First you link, I call my girls, then I let you out while I wait for them."

"All right!" I spat nervously. "Just make it fast!"

I formed the share link, then paced back and forth anxiously while Charles stood just outside the door.

After a few minutes, Charles closed the door and came back, saying, "They are coming for me."

"They are?" I said, wondering if he really knew what the hell he was talking about. "Uhm, well that's great. Now go get those keys down there and open my door like we agreed."

"I don't believe I can do that," he said after taking a couple of steps then stopping.

"We HAD A DEAL!" I exploded before Charles started backing up with slow and careful steps, his eyes appearing frozen in their sockets.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as the pair of twins, each carrying a tray of food, stepped into my view, their eyes looking just like Tim's when he held someone with his empathic stare.

They backed Charles all the way into his cell and had him take his tray from the twin on the left before backing themselves out, closing the door, and removing the key from its lock.

"Well, you can't blame me for trying," I said with a weak grin as they turned their powerful gaze towards me.

After I too backed up, took my tray, then stood there unable to move until my cell door was also closed tight, I sighed and set my tray on the cot, finding my appetite gone for the time being.

Charles, on the other hand, was eating his lunch, or more like he was inhaling from the sounds I heard coming from his cell.

"Want seconds?" I said, holding out my bowl of cut fruit out in the space between our two cells.

"Gracias, amigo," Charles said while taking the bowl. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you in time."

"Well, it's not like we really had much of a chance anyways," I said. "I mean, I doubt we would have made it to the mountain before they realized we were missing."

"Hmm, you probably wouldn't have," Charles said, holding the bowl back out with only a few slices missing. "You can have this back now."

"Full?"

"No. I don't have time to eat them now."

"And why is that?" I said, half expecting his reason to be something ridiculous.

A door at the other end opened, and as the twins guarding us openly showed signs of confusion and distress, Charles said, "Because my girls are here to take me to my son."

"Your girls?" I exclaimed as I caught sight of the elder twins walking up to Charles's cell. "What is going on?"

I had missed the fact the other twins had fetched the key ring until they passed my cell, then with my mouth hanging open, I could only listen to the sound of his cell door opening and Charles walking out.

"Charles, what the hell... "

"I'm sorry, Joey. You see, I'm not who you think I am. Of course before you formed that... link with me, Charles and I were pretty mixed up. But now I'm in full control and I have to save my son if I can."

"WAIT!" I cried, realizing they had already walked out the door when the share link broke.

I turned to the twins who were still guarding me and demanded, "What the hell is going on? Why did you let him leave? Can't you see he's not normal?"

The uncertainty on their faces as they glanced to each other only added to my own confusion, and out of frustration I kicked the cell door hard and nearly broke my toe in the process.

I hopped over to the cot in pain, sending my tray of food to the floor at first by accident, but once it was on its way, I actually helped it along by giving it an additional shove. As the bowls and dishes scattered their contents across the floor with a loud crash, I flung myself on my back onto the cot, flung my shoe off, then babied my poor toe a few minutes, reciting every cuss word and phrase I knew in the process.

I think I was on my second pass at the Christian cusses, (you know, using God's and/or Jesus's names in unpleasant ways) when we heard a faint scream.

The twins were already walking towards the exit to the left of my cell when I looked up, and while they had the door open, I could hear what sounded like a school yard bawl.

"Fuck, this is so fucked up," I said, laying back down on my cot and covering my face with my hands.

"Shit," I said, finding my hand still smelling like shit, and got up to give it another scrubbing in the sink.

I didn't even realize I wasn't alone until I heard the lock click, and when I turned to see who it was, all I saw before my mind was switched off was the back of some kid's blonde head as he looked down the hall holding the door open.

"... hope he's worth all the trouble," a young male voice said when my mind was switched back on.

"Jonas and Peter must think so," a familiar female voice said. "Come on, Joe. Stop pretending. We know you're awake."

I opened my eyes and for a moment didn't recognize the... girl/woman sitting beside me on a plush bed. The girl was in her final stages of pregnancy, and her hair was cut very short compared to what I was familiar with.

"Whitney?" I said in surprise when I finally placed the eyes.

"I... Yes, it's me. But... I'm sorry, but I don't actually remember you."

"That's okay. I half expected that. But who's this?" I said, sitting up and indicating the young, barely in his teens if even that blonde boy sitting beside her.

"This is Jack Ladbrokes. He's our newest voice."

"You can call me Squeak," he said, holding out his hand to me.

"Don't let his nickname fool you. He's no squeak when it comes to his voice. He's stronger than any of us."

"And I'm cute too," Squeak added with a wicked grin.

"Uhm, I don't mean to be rude, but, why am I here? What are you planning to do with me?"

"That's what we want to ask you," Whitney said, shifting uncomfortably. "But first would you mind moving over so I could lay down?"

"Sure," I said, getting off the bed entirely, then crawling back on to help her lay down.

"I guess I don't have to tell you the risk we're all taking by bringing you to the garden house. But Chris, Peter, and Jonas say you were one of us, and you had something to do with bringing us all together."

"So they took the bait after all," I said, grinning to myself.

"Bait?" Squeak squeaked.

"It's nothing," I chucked, but when I saw they didn't see the humor of it I added, "I mentioned they shouldn't go looking into my memories of last summer just before they zombified me, hoping they would and maybe bring some of their memories back to the surface."

"That's not all it brought up, too," Squeak commented.

"Heh. They puked a few times?"

"More like ten or twelve times," Squeak said before jumping off the bed, exclaiming, "I remember now!" then running for the bathroom and making puking sounds.

"What were we talking about?" he said when he came back out.

Squeak and I cracked up laughing while Whitney only smiled before saying, "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not try to remember anything if that's what happens."

Looking at her deformed body a moment, I could only say, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So why are you here?" Whitney said, blushing slightly.

"I came looking for my best friend. I thought Gladius kidnapped him again and was holding him and another friend here."

"Does he have voice?" Squeak asked.

"Yep. And he's an empath."

"A what?"

"He's like all the twins," Whitney explained for me.

"Really? Wow. I wish I could meet him."

"Maybe you will. That is if I can figure out where Gladius is holding him."

Someone knocked on the door just then, and before I could even react, Whitney said, "Come in, Gordon."