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Volume II

Chapter 12

Who Is Jacob?

It was empty and silent within the small town library of Valdez, as Blaire entered the establishment and looked around to see if there were any computers available. There were several, all unattended, as the woman made her way towards the receptionist’s desk. The woman was a classic librarian clerk, geeky glasses and rotund hourglass figure. The lady had a sundress on with roses decorated across it, her short but frazzled blonde hair accentuated her look.

“Excuse me, are public records available on the computers? I wanted to do some research,” Blaire asked, trying her best not to sound strange, not that she was, but given the nature of her visit here she couldn’t help but have an odd tone to her voice.

“Of course, just click the hyperlink once you log in and you should be able to access the archive,” the clerk answered with a smile.

“What about missing person cases?” Blaire asked.

The clerk’s smile waned, but she did answer. “Anything the police department has publicized is accessible, including journals, articles and headlines from the local paper.”

“Wonderful! Thank you so much!” Blaire thanked before heading over to one of the computers.

Booting the system and logging in, Blaire quickly found the hyperlink and opened the browser which loaded the archives. Typing in the name of Elizabeth Sanchez, multiple papers and notes popped up. Blaire studied everything, but as she assumed there was nearly no information to go off of.

Not only was there not a single witness that could offer an explanation, they hadn’t found a single trace as to what had happened to the young woman. The police ultimately closed the case deeming that Elizabeth must have run away from home, though it wasn’t officialized since they’re was no information to really go off of. There was no mention of ever questioning Jacob, Liz’ boss, either. In fact, according to the investigation details, they never even checked the wagon where she worked since it had been sold.

‘How does a young woman so close to her family just drop off the face of the planet?’ Blaire thought. ‘I suppose my parents wondered the same about me, yet that didn’t stop a private investigator from finding me, so where did this person go?’

Linked to the archive of Elizabeth, was more names in the missing persons category. They were dated in order of the missing reports being filed with the police, so dating back to each disappearance, Blaire began to do some research on the other mysterious vanishings of this small town.

‘Alicia Portman,’ Blaire read the details of this other woman, she was the last person to go missing before Elizabeth. As her eyes read the paper, she realized that Alicia had last been seen at home before heading out for a date of which she did not inform her family. Because of this they never knew who she was seeing, or where she was last seen. No witnesses ever came forward, another mysterious vanishing just like Elizabeth.

‘That’s quite the coincidence,’ Blaire thought, as she dated back to the next person.

The name of the missing person before Alicia was someone named Benjamin. He was  young like the rest, late twenties. There was a lot less detail on exactly where Benjamin had gone, nobody even realized he was missing until shortly before Alicia had been reported missing. Yet again there were no witnesses, none at all. In fact, as Blaire began to date further and further back, she began to get a feeling of dread washing over her.

‘So many people just missing…’ Blaire thought, ‘and none of them left a trace. Over twenty missing people in less than six months, I’m convinced, this isn’t a coincidence. Something nefarious is happening in this town, and why am I getting this unnerving feeling that Jacob knew about all of this and never thought to mention it to me…’

Leaning back in her seat, Blaire began to grow suspicious of Jacob. She was beginning to fall in love with him, and after sharing the bed for the first time in their relationship, suddenly something seemed strange. Remembering Charles the investigator and the mysterious circumstances of him deciding to suddenly drop the investigation, Blaire began to do more digging.

Pulling out her phone, she called the Valdez airport. Giving the name the man had given her, she quickly was able to get confirmation of a plane ticket by the clerk she was on the phone with. However, shocking news is all Blaire received. Charles had never made the flight, and he never bought another ticket to do so. That meant he was still in Valdez, and yet Jacob had assured Blaire that Charles had been dealt with and left town.

‘I don’t understand.’ Blaire thought as she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket. ‘Why would Jacob lie to me? If Charles never left Valdez then where the hell did he go?’

Something was strange, deeply strange. Blaire suddenly got an idea, as she pulled up the database and typed in Jacob’s name. While she didn’t have his last name, it ultimately did not matter, as Blaire quickly found that no Jacob’s were listed to be a resident of Valdez at all. Now Blaire grew pale like a ghost, her face flushed as she sat back in her chair in disbelief. Jacob had said he lived in Valdez his entire life, and yet according to this database, there was no record of a Jacob ever living in Valdez in at least the last decade.

“Jacob…” Blaire murmured under her breath. “Who… Who are you?”

The sound of the plane engines were muffled by the interior of the cabin. Passengers were spread out in the rather empty flight, many wearing headphones or entertaining themselves in unique ways that fit their separate interests. Occasionally the sound of an infant could be heard as their mother did her best to soothe their tantrum, all the while Jacob sat alone in his row towards the back of the plane.

Staring emptily into the back of the seat in front of him, all Jacob could do was think to himself and the coming reunion of someone he once knew many years ago. It was all that plagued his mind, the fractured memories of his traumatic past involving the experimentation of his abilities and the torturous acts that had been inflicted upon him as a young child.

‘Annie…’ Jacob thought with a blank expression. ‘After all of these years and you’ve been alive the entire time… I wonder, why have you dubbed the name Gullivette? Why are you tied in with the deep government military? I suppose it doesn’t matter. It won’t change what I’ll have to do, but I wonder, are you thinking about me as well? You must know, if you’ve seen the results of my actions at hand, I suppose I must be on your mind also…’

Interrupting his thoughts, the vibration of his phone pulled him out of his thoughts. Surprised to be getting a call mid flight, Jacob pulled out his phone and saw a restricted caller. Knowing it must be related to his nefarious career, and making sure his bluetooth headset was activated, Jacob answered the call.

“How are you calling me during a flight?” Jacob asked immediately. “And how many times am I going to have to hear your nauseating voice? Can’t it wait until I land?”

“I have my ways, and this is not Deita,” answered the voice of Avaramix.

Realizing Jacob made an error in judgment, he composed himself immediately. “Oh, my apologies. I wasn’t expecting a call directly from you, sir. What is it?”

“There has been an emergency,” Avaramix informed him. “Jinshin has betrayed the organization, and during the fallout she escaped with two of your victims that are direct eyewitnesses. Deita confronted her after she escaped the facility, but was nearly killed after a brief fight. I need you back here immediately to handle this situation, you are the only one capable of doing so.”

Despite his feelings and previous debacle with the woman, Jacob felt a pit in his stomach upon realizing that Deita was injured. Further, it was a hard pill to swallow that Jinshin, the most loyal to the organization out of anyone, had suddenly defaulted and gone renegade. It was very odd indeed, and he grew nervous about his own position now.

“I understand,” Jacob responded. “However, may I speak freely, sir?”

“Cut the formalities,” Avaramix answered. “There is no need for it.”

“In that case I should warn you this may be the one and only opportunity to handle our Gullivette issue,” Jacob reasoned, though it was mostly for his own interests. “She has already proven to be an issue on a massive scale, and the more she digs into our business she’ll be knocking on our doorstep soon enough. I think it would be wise to go through with the plan, especially since O’Dias Karn being used as the bait will be a one time opportunity.”

“You are not wrong, but the issue is more urgent here in Valdez,” Avaramix argued. “I don’t think I have to explain what will happen if either of the tiny passengers taken by Jinshin are to uncover everything, it would mean the end of all of us.”

“And you aren’t wrong either,” Jacob said. “However, she could be anywhere, and I’d have to start from scratch in order to locate her current position. We already know where Gullivette will be within the next twenty four hours, and we may not get a second chance. Besides, didn’t you want me to get a sample of her DNA? Deita made it seem pretty important.”

There was a brief period of silence over the phone, and Jacob knew that Avaramix was processing his viewpoints that he was giving. While Jinshin now posed an enormous threat to their organization, ultimately Jacob knew there was little he could do to track her. Besides, he was more interested in seeing Annie in her prime, especially since the last time he had seen her was when they were captive children.

“It appears I am cornered on two fronts,” Avaramix finally said. “I do not make a habit of trusting those I know very little, but it seems I have no choice. Frankly, Deita is in rough condition. While she was spared death by Jinshin in battle, the wounds inflicted appear to have been too grave. Despite the fact she should be stabilized, for some reason her health is deteriorating. Deita and Jinshin were like sisters, and I fear that her betrayal has caused Deita to potentially lose the will to live.”

“How do you figure that?” Jacob doubted this, after all, Deita was a ravenous woman who craved power and status. He found it hard to believe she’d die of a broken heart, but then again, he didn’t know the dynamic of Jinshin and Deita all that well.

“No matter,” Avaramix dodged the question. “If you think we should stay on course, then so be it. I will call you in forty eight hours to check in, and should you survive this encounter with Gullivette, will give you directions on how to proceed next. The facility is going on lockdown until your return. Jacob, don’t make me regret putting my faith in you.”

“I’d promise I wouldn’t, but I doubt that would make you feel any better,” Jacob responded.

“No it wouldn’t, but I have no choice, so I’ll take it nonetheless.”

Then Avaramix hung up the phone.

Entering the laboratory, Avaramix put his phone back into his pocket. Approaching the medical bed where Deita laid unconscious, he studied the monitor that was tracking her vitals. As mentioned, her health was going downhill very slowly, but surely.

“Well? Is he going to return?” Auron asked, injecting more medicine into her IV as he turned to face Avaramix.

“No, we are proceeding as planned, there’s nothing we can do about Jinshin right now anyways,” Avaramix answered.

“I see, well I’m not sure how much time she has left to be honest. Modern medicine and treatments have done nothing. Her bleeding is stopped and the wound is clotted, but as I said before it appears her mind has lost the will to fight and she will be dead soon enough. Her organs are failing, I’m not sure what else I can do. I am sorry.”

“What about the serum?” Avaramix asked curiously.

Auron shrugged. “It nearly killed you during trials, without a sample to stabilize the reaction the serum cannot take hold. In her current state, it would certainly kill her instantly.”

“Jacob may be bringing back a sample of Gullivette’s DNA, could that be enough to stabilize the serum?”

“The serum is composed of Jacob’s shrunken victims, so unless Gullivette’s DNA is stemmed from Jacob’s, it is unlikely to work. I’d have to start from scratch on a new serum.”

Avaramix grew silent, something dawning on his mind. Looking down, a thought began to run through his mind, especially after his recent call with Jacob. Noticing the change in his demeanor, Auron paused what he was doing and turned to face the man.

“What is it?” Auron asked curiously.

“Do you think it is possible that Gullivette and Jacob are related?” Avaramix asked randomly.

“Her powers are the opposite of Jacob’s in a sense, from what I have gathered. I suppose it is plausible, why?”

“Jacob assured me he didn’t know this woman,” Avaramix recalled. “Yet, when I instructed him to return here, he seemed certain on proceeding as planned to handle the situation she has caused. What if he is lying? What if he does know her?”

“It is entirely possible, I do not know him well enough, I have only studied the results of his abilities. I will say this, however. What are the odds that two individuals possess the power of size alteration, and each possesses the antithesis of the other? That alone is a scientific anomaly, if I’ve ever seen one,” Auron declared.

“If not for Deita, I’d never have trusted someone like him,” Avaramix said. “Yet his abilities are beyond necessary for this experimentation I’ve invested in to succeed. It is a shame we never found who was responsible for the original tests that were run on Jacob as a child. If we did, this project could have been completed over a decade ago.”

“Why not just use Jacob’s DNA?” Auron questioned. “You said it yourself, you don’t trust him.”

“What happens to the subjects you test on?” Avaramix asked.

“They perish,” Auron answered.

“Precisely, therefore we must ensure that Jacob’s DNA is added upon the perfection of your serum. If he dies before then, everything we have fought to achieve is for nothing. Until that day comes, Jacob must not know our intentions with him. While we are in a precarious position due to Jinshin’s betrayal, we must do everything to speed this up. Starting with Gullivette’s DNA upon Jacob’s return. I just hope Deita can survive until then.”

“And what if Gullivette kills him?” Auron asked.

“If there is one thing I am certain in regards to Jacob,” Avaramix answered, “nothing on this earth will stop him from returning to the woman of his interest… Blaire. Trust me, he will return. That much I am certain.”

Dread was all Blaire felt as she rushed her way back home to her cabin on the outskirts of town. After meeting Mr. Sanchez and learning the bizarre details of Liz’ disappearance and the unusual and dismissive way that Jacob had handled it. Upon realizing that Jacob wasn’t even listed in any Valdez records, and the numerous disappearances in the last six months, Blaire’s entire world began to crumble around her as she began to understand that a very nefarious ordeal was going on in this remote place.

Pulling out her phone, she opened the contacts and clicked on Jacob’s. Holding the phone up to her ear, she was disheartened to find that it went straight to voicemail. Even more disturbing, as she began to see her cabin approaching, Jacob’s car wasn’t even in the driveway. He was gone, and didn’t even say anything to her. It was unclear if he was working or not either, but Blaire wanted answers and knew she was going to have to confront Jacob.

Walking up to the front door, she saw it was cracked open and unlocked. This frustrated her, as she began to get annoyed that Jacob couldn’t have been bothered to lock the door behind him. Sighing to herself, she opened the front door and walked inside the house. As she closed the front door, she turned and her eyes grew wide in horror.

“Uhhh…” Benjamin smiled nervously, as he stood on the coffee table beside Liz, who was sitting down and looked up to see Blaire as well. “This… This is awkward…”

Blinking multiple times, Blaire brought up her hand and slapped herself. It was painful, and she groaned in pain, but as she looked back towards the coffee table she was not pleased to find that these believed hallucinations were still present.

“What the actual fuck!?” Blaire blurted, rubbing her eyes as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

“Yeah, that’s an understandable reaction,” Benjamin sighed.

Blaire began to take a step forward, wanting to get a closer look, but suddenly a blade was thrust through the air and the edge pressed against her throat. Feeling sick to her stomach, Blaire became terrified as she turned and saw some Asian woman only a foot away, a long sword in her hands and pressed against her skin.

“Not a step further,” Jinshin warned. “Who are you?”

“What!? I… Uh… My name is Blaire… Please, I don’t have anything of value…”

“I don’t care about that,” Jinshin snapped. “Why did you call me? Who are you working for? Tell me, or I swear to God I’ll cut your head off!”

This caused Blaire to freak out, tears beginning to run from her eyes as she grew flustered and disturbed. This was all so fast, and sudden, she had no idea who this woman was or why two tiny people were on her coffee table. It all felt like a dream, but Blaire knew it wasn’t.

“Jinshin! Can’t you see she doesn’t know anything? You’re scaring her!” Ben tried to reason, but Jinshin was untrusting.

“I received a phone call,” Jinshin explained. “A man told me to come here, said to meet you, his daughter. You expect me to believe that you aren’t aware of this?”

“My father!? I haven’t spoken to him in a long time! Please! I have no idea what the hell is happening here! And why are they so small!? How is that even possible!? Am I going crazy!? Am I hallucinating!?” Hyperventilating now, Blaire struggled to breathe as her swollen eyes continued to rain down the tears.

Realizing this woman was on the verge of a panic attack, Jinshin knew it was a waste of time to try and get any answers. Pulling back the blade, she lifted the hilt of her sword and struck Blaire over the head, and the poor girl hit the ground and went unconscious.

“Oh fuck me!” Benjamin stamped his foot in anger. “Did you really have to hit her like that? You are so damn aggressive!”

“She cannot be trusted,” Jinshin responded, making sure that Blaire was indeed asleep as she began to lift the girl and move her.

Liz tried signing, but realized nobody was paying attention to her, so she ultimately rolled her eyes and relented. Benjamin stared at Blaire, feeling sorry for her. It wasn’t hard to imagine how odd it must have been to enter your home and see two shrunken people and a random, sword wielding nut job.

“Are you going to kill her? Please tell me you aren’t going to kill her!” Benjamin pleaded.

“Relax, I am not going to kill her,” Jinshin answered. “Besides, I know who this is, kind of.”

“You do?” Benjamin was surprised.

“Remember Jacob? The one who did this to you both?” Jinshin asked.

“Yeah?” Ben and Liz exchanged glances.

“There was a woman he fancied, I heard her name brought up a few times. Want to guess what her name was?” Jinshin smiled at them both.

“It was Blaire. That is the name she gave us when I asked her, isn’t it?”