Chapter 53, Part 2
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Angela's Journal:

I had that dream again last night. I was in a strange room-- everything white. Walls, ceiling, floor. A woman appeared in front of me, but she kept her back to me. She wouldn't let me see her face.


She said she had to show me something. The room-- the whole room!-- disappeared, and we were standing in a wasteland. The grass was dry and brown, and the trees were either dead (or at least leafless) or dying. Even the sky looked... I don't know... sick.

The woman told me that it was the future. Funny, because I always thought the future would be full of flying cars and stuff. Anyway, she said that the future was a bad place, and that I could stop it from going all dead and sick. She told me that I had to stop someone. I couldn't understand the name she was telling me.

Dijory? Deggery? Degordy? Something like that.

This is the fifth time I've had that dream. Maybe I should stop eating before I go to bed.

____________________________________________


Ms. Gibson's Journal:

JS, GG, ED. The gene lives on in us.

I know I made a mistake somewhere. I just can't figure out where or how. Somehow, I must have miscalculated something. I know I won't figure it out, but I know that you are smart enough to catch what I might have missed. If I write as much as I can remember, maybe you will be able to determine what I should have done.

Numerous studies and tests in my time found that there were only three people (in what is known in the present day as the Greater Oakdale area) carrying a specific gene that was also expressed to a significant degree. Perhaps “gene” is inaccurate; it's more like a series of genes and traits.


Based on lab results and my own extrapolation, I have identified families bearing these traits, as well as exhibiting them. The Marlow and Foley families, by way of the Jacobi family (family of Charlotte Jacobi Marlow, known offspring: Preston and Viola) are the most noteworthy. Additionally, I have eliminated the following families from the list of possible gene bearers: Dandridge, Verona, Diggory, Desjardin, Rivers, and Royale. So far, known carriers of the gene include the previously mentioned Jacobi line, the Paxton family, the Gilman family, and the Gibson family. My peers, Elizabeth and Jack, and I are descended from these lines. Elizabeth and I share a common ancestor; however, she inherited her genes from multiple ancestors.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning...

____________________________________________


Angela's Journal:

Desjardin. That has to be it. The woman in my dream had to have been trying to say “Desjardin.” As in AJ Desjardin, one of the most popular boys in my class. If I'm right, then that means he's responsible for all that bad stuff happening in the future. That is, if my dreams are right. For all I know, I could just be totally insane.

If I'm not insane and the dreams are right, then I'm supposed to stop him. But how? What am I supposed to do? I'm not smart enough to trick him, and I'm not popular enough to get his attention. It would take a miracle for me to be successful. I just wish I knew what to do.

_______________________________________________


Ms. Gibson's Journal:

It all started with a protest. A big group of us were protesting at a government building. At that point, I think I wanted someone to capture me and put me out of my misery. I hadn't intended to get involved with any political activists until that day he tried to kiss me. Between what he did to my grandmother and what he tried to do to me, I was sick of everything. I wanted to either stop him or disappear for good.

During the protest, I noticed a woman watching, off to the side. Her coloring was similar to mine, but her hair was frizzier, messier. Of course, the cops were called, and the usual rounding up of protestors happened (as well as the usual claims of having to “subdue” the protestors, which resulted in them being “struck a bit too hard”). I was knocked unconscious. When I came to, the cop who was closest to me was more or less having a panic attack. Apparently, he found out who I was and was paranoid that my grandmother's husband would have him arrested-- or worse. Doubtful that such punishment would occur; he would have been glad for me to be out of the way. At any rate, I was processed quickly, and it was determined that I, despite being sterilized and an apparent thought-criminal, could be of use to the government.


I was brought to a nearby research laboratory. It was there that I met my boss, who had witnessed the protest. This woman, who had sold out her parents and partner for a chance to live. This woman, who resented her great-aunt for “selling out” to the government, yet did the very same thing herself. This woman, who cursed me with my abilities and helped me to escape capture later. This woman, who introduced me to the love of my life and who took him away just as easily.


My boss. My enemy. My rival. My friend.

Elizabeth DeSidiro.

Click Next: Chapter 53, Part 3 to continue...

 
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