"Okay. So, it ain't exactly as cinematic as Rowan's version, but it might set your mind at ease about a few things. I dunno how Rowan convinced you otherwise all this time, but Spencer's been in prison for two and a half years now. And that company? I can pretty much guarantee you that it never existed. Both Chance and a few quick internet searches can back me up on that."
Faith's mouth opened, but no words would come out at first. Rowan had always told her that Chance was in denial about their past as a whole, and that the only things she would ever find on the internet related to Spencer or his company would be a few leaked images which he warned her to never look up if she didn't want to be traumatized. The bits and pieces of what Rowan had told her was already scarring enough, so she'd always been careful when it came to attempting any research. And even when she had risked looking up anything about the company itself, she had admittedly never found anything. As for Spencer, however... "I think I remember hearing something about that on the news around that time, but...I always thought he was a clone or body double used by the company to trick people, or maybe just another old man with the same name."
"I guess Rowan really had you wrapped around his little finger, didn't he? Just think about it, Faith. How much sense does his story even make?"
"I don't know," Faith said, shaking her head. "It just seems too easy, for Spencer to be behind bars just like that, between everything Rowan said he was capable of and everything Spencer himself threatened to do in those letters." According to Rowan, on the rare occasion that any of the company's slaves or experiments did escape and live to tell about their experience, the company knew how to keep themselves hidden, and when that wasn't an option for them, they could simply manipulate the media to make the victims look like the crazy ones or give them false hope that justice was being served. That's how it had been--or at least how it had seemed to be--for her and Rowan.
"That's the thing--the kid probably sounded so convincing 'cause he believed it himself. Or he saw you as a naive and desperate little girl that would easily give him sympathy and listen to anything he said in exchange for helpin' you escape that place." Judging by the look on Aaron's face, he seemed to be leaning more toward the second theory. "And I mean, don't get me wrong--Spencer was a deadbeat addict who had no business bein' around kids, let alone havin' 'em in his custody, but he never enslaved anybody and there's no evil secret company that he's running. Like I say, look it up to your heart's content--ya' ain't gonna find anything. If this company existed, I'd know of it."
Aaron had a point there, Faith supposed. Still, if this was true, actually accepting it was going to take time for her, and lots of it. "So," Faith exhaled, "What about their parents then? Chance is the oldest, so he would probably remember the most about them and how they ended up with that madman in the first place."
"From what Chance told me, their parents weren't much better than Spencer--they just got tired of being parents one day and dropped him, Rowan and their sister on Spencer's doorstep when they were really young. Just so happens, Spencer had lost his wife not too long before that, so he wasn't exactly in the best place mentally, if he ever was to start with. Their parents have pretty much disappeared off the grid, and no one's been able to find 'em. Chance says they ain't worth the time of day now anyway."
Faith flinched at the mention of her. "That still doesn't explain why Spencer kidnapped me and then suddenly let me go for no reason, or sent those letters, or...killed Rowan's sister."
"I mean, he probably didn't appreciate you trespassin' on his land and then threatening to call the cops on him, so he panicked. Can't say I'd like it that much either, but anyways...I guess he eventually forgot about you given the state he was in, until rediscovering you and panicking again. Then when you took Rowan outta there and did get the cops involved, he let you believe he was more dangerous than he really was. As for his sister, what makes ya' think she's dead?"
Faith hesitated again. It made her sick just trying to talk about it, let alone have it re-enter her mind. "Rowan said...that when he was six and they were being forced to do some kind of work related to chemicals, she wasn't working fast enough and..." Faith trailed off, wringing her hands. As long as she kept her eyes open, one of the many scenes that Rowan had brought to life inside of her mind years ago wouldn't replay once again. "I think you can guess the rest. I still don't know what her name was, but I know she must have had one. She had a life ahead of her and everything, before it all got taken away."
"Oh, is this the story I'm thinkin' of? The one where they all had to work for 20 hours straight without any food or breaks? I think I've heard it before when he was stayin' with me and Chance, though needless to say I wasn't buyin' it. Even the worst crime lords out there would know a kid couldn't work 20 straight hours with no food or sleep, let alone be trusted to work with something complicated like chemicals." Softening his voice ever so slightly after a pause, he added, "That girl, I think her name's Mariah. I'd say she's doing fine, but she and Chance just don't ever really talk. As for why Rowan never told you her name, it was probably to keep you from lookin' her up and disproving his lies about her. He might be a lunatic, but he knew what he was doing to a point."
Do I even dare to believe any of this? Could it be that Spencer might finally be getting some form of justice, there's no company that wants to kill me or my parents, and maybe Rowan really was lying about a lot more than I thought? The more she thought about it now that Rowan and his stories that used to sound so convincing were gone, the less sense any of this whole company story truly made. Even if the company didn't exist, though, she would still have to live with the fact that her life for six years had been a lie. At least his sister might still be out there somewhere, though it wasn't as if she was likely to be any better of a person than either of her brothers. "...Okay. Well, thank you. For telling me all of this."
Aaron shrugged. "Keith's right about what he said earlier. You need to just forget everything you thought you knew about this guy. And I'm not gonna tell you there aren't syndicates out there that kidnap and enslave people, but as far as Spencer himself goes, he's just a crazy old man that took his frustrations out on his grandkids and was too proud to admit he needed help. And then when you showed up, Rowan saw you as his ticket to freedom and maybe some sort of revenge. Bums like Spencer and Rowan come crawlin' into my office every day, so that's how I know. But hey, try and think of it this way--all you've gotta worry about now is yourself. Nobody else. Alright?"
At this point, Faith didn't know what to say as she stared down at the floor, studying the pattern on the rug. There were just too many mixed emotions swirling around inside of her--relief, fury, grief, confusion... Even when she heard Aaron rising up from the couch and footsteps heading towards the chair where she sat, she didn't look up. It would already be difficult looking her family in the eyes, but for some reason, it was becoming hard to even meet Aaron's eyes, despite how much longer his list of things to be ashamed of likely was than hers.
"Hey. Look at me." She suddenly felt a hand reach over and lift her chin upward until she was staring at him face to face. He'd been surprisingly gentle about it. Making a tsking noise with his mouth, he let out a sigh. "You're too innocent for this world, Faith. It could get ya' hurt one day. And neither of us really need that, do we?"
Her heart sped up once again, though this time it wasn't necessarily from fear or even anger. Regardless of what it was, though, he was wrong about one thing he'd said--she had her parents and the rest of her family to think about now. If they were even willing to talk to her, that was. "Don't do this, Aaron," Faith warned.
"Don't do what?" he asked nonchalantly, taking his hand away.
She stood up as well, taking a long breath. "I'm asking you not to pretend that you care, about me or my situation. As nice as that would be, you don't, and it's not like you could even if you wanted to anyway. I already let Rowan fool me, so I'm not exactly up for that again."
Aaron stared at her for a moment before eventually crinkling his face into a confused gaze...or perhaps he was only pretending to be confused. "What are you talkin' about? Of course I care--about getting my money without any problems. And I think Rowan could be a mutual problem if we're not careful," he replied, adjusting the lapels of his suit jacket. It was obvious to Faith that by 'we', he really only meant her. "At any rate, I just wanted to make sure you knew why he's not worth any heroics, or...ya' know, takin' any other sudden impulsive actions over."
That made sense, Faith thought, as it would be easier for him to get the rest of his money out of someone who still had a few shreds of sanity left under her type of circumstances. From this night forward, Rowan and sanity would likely have a negative correlation with one another where she was concerned, and Aaron knew that, so maybe that was why he was making an attempt to play nice. She couldn't help but wonder, however--did he really have some sort of honorable streak inside him somewhere, or was he purposely trying to confuse her about his intentions?
"Oh, don't worry. I'm done with heroics," she muttered, walking over and staring out the side window while being careful to avoid the broken porcelain around her. Once again, she kept him in the corner of her eye as she hugged her arms to herself. She'd begun to feel cold, despite the weather forecast having said the temperatures would be mild tonight. A sudden, mirthless laugh escaped her lips, causing Aaron to look genuinely startled.
"Wow. I don't think I've seen you laugh...well, ever, come to think of it."
She shook her head. "I was just thinking about...how different things would be, if it had been someone like you in Rowan's place. None of this would've happened, you know? We wouldn't even be having this conversation. You wouldn't have had the patience to lie to me for six years, or used crocodile tears to get what you wanted...and Spencer would probably be in a wheelchair or worse by now. I might've never even entered the picture, because somebody like you would've just taken matters into your own hands and not hidden behind someone else the whole time. Sure, you manipulate people, but...not the way Rowan did."
"Is this some weird form of flattery?" Aaron snorted. "'Cause if you're serious, I had no idea you thought so highly of me."
"It wasn't flattery, it was just... Ugh, I honestly don't know what all of that was just now. Maybe I am going crazy."
Aaron shrugged. "Ah well. Whatever it was, it's a nice change from the way most of my customers would describe me," he said, a smirk briefly appearing across his face. "Seriously, though--what do you plan to do, if anything?"
"Well...I might see if Chance would be willing to meet me somewhere in town this weekend. I just want him to confirm a few things with me, and at least let him know what's happened to his brother. You said he could back you up on the things you told me, so that's what I'll try to get him to do."
"Oh, well that works out, 'cause I need to meet up with him too. My accountant is tired of working with Happy Scoops for whatever reason, so maybe Chance'd be willing to take his spot for old time's sake, since he's apparently so good at it. Wanna just meet at that parking lot next to where the art festival is? Maybe Sunday?"
"Um, sure, since I'm busy Saturday," she said, trying not to overthink about what might happen (or what might have already happened) to his old accountant. She purposely didn't specify that she was hoping to spend Saturday catching up with her family, if that went well.
Fortunately though, Aaron didn't ask anything further as he strode over to the front door and smiled over at her. "Sounds good to me. Well, I'd better get back to Happy Scoops and see how Levi and Tracy are doing with training our newest employee. Take care of yourself, sweetheart--just don't spend too much money." With that, he gave her a cocky wink and stepped out onto the front porch (where Keith had loyally remained) before closing the door behind him.
Peeking through the blinds out the front window, she saw Keith re-join him as they both walked back to what appeared to be a Lincoln MKZ upon closer inspection. She blankly watched as the glass behind the blinds flooded with light from the car's headlights before eventually returning to darkness once more.
She'd expected to feel relieved after Aaron finally left, but it was now that she was truly alone that the gravity of the situation was beginning to hit in full force. She needed something, anything to feel normal right now, or at the very least, normal as she'd recently known it to be.
Sure enough, after digging through the couch's cushions, Faith spotted her phone underneath them. She was dreading making that missing report and attempting to call her parents, so she figured she would just start by seeing what that text from Sheena was about.
But when she turned on her screen, she saw that there was not only a text from Sheena still waiting for her, but one from Sherm as well.
She began with the one from Sheena, which actually turned out to be several that were sent on the same day, within the span of a couple of hours:
"Hey Faith, I've got a question for you. Remember how your friend Sherm used to always talk about how he wanted to be a private detective someday? Well, I think I've got a case for him now if he's interested. Could you give me his number? Here's the thing--Aaron's been really distant this past week, like even more than before. He's got two cellphones for some reason and he won't let me look at one of them, and I just feel like I still don't know anything about him. He's probably cheating on me, but I want to prove it once and for all."
"Hello? You okay?"
"Actually, never mind about Sherm's number. I found him and messaged him on one of his social media pages. Call me when you can."
"No..." Faith mumbled shakily. Maybe Sherm hadn't seen the message from Sheena yet...hopefully. Sherm may have talked about wanting to be a private investigator ever since they were children (as a plan B of sorts if being a superhero never worked out for him, of course), but he had no real police or military experience, let alone a license. Surely he knew better, especially if Sheena was trying to pay him to do this. Sherm was impulsive and sometimes childish, but he wasn't reckless on the level that Rowan had always tended to be...and it needed to stay that way, if she didn't want to lose him too.
However, once she moved on to Sherm's message, she saw it, causing her heart to skip a beat: "Both excited and nervous! I've got me a case! Not a paid one, lol, but maybe I can impress the S.A.S. if they see me in action. Wish me luck--I'm gonna need it."
*Author's Note: Hey guys. Nope, I'm not dead! I really wanted to get this chapter out much sooner than I did, but some personal issues and being a bit more busy than usual has slowed things down. I am still very interested in getting this story finished, but I like to try to make sure that every chapter is as good as I can make it before I hit that Publish button, even if that means taking a little longer. So even if the updates aren't as frequent now, I am still working on them when I can, and I'm so grateful to everyone who's taken the time to read and give feedback!
P.S.: I'm not sure what the deal is with Issue #16. It's completely blank and I never remember accidentally uploading anything, and whenever I try to delete it I'm given an error message. This is Issue 17 as you can see, and the one before that is Issue 15. I checked and all of my chapters are intact and none were deleted. So, that remains a mystery up to this point.
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