Chapter 10
Gabriel could not recount the drive from Harbingers High School to the old Victorian house he lived in. Instead, as he drove, his mind swirled and spun with thoughts of Melissa Martin. Her face continuously appeared in his mind’s eye, her shy smile, her pale green eyes, her full lips that curved to form a perfect bow.
He tried numerous times, unsuccessfully, to focus on guiding his hunter-green Ford Explorer along the winding roads of Harbingers Falls, yet his mind continually returned to Melissa. He envisioned them together at the bonfire as ambient light reflected from the flames illuminated Melissa’s exquisite features. He daydreamed she would focus her attention on him. The more he visualized himself with her, the more his insides stirred.
Stirrings would not be something his creator, Dr. Terzini, would take lightly. Gabriel knew he was designed without human emotions, had embraced the idea; until now. He wrestled with strange and unfamiliar reactions that could only be identified as feelings. If Terzini were made aware of Gabriel’s recent responses, he would be considered a failed experiment. Failed experiments were unacceptable to his maker. He would be destroyed. And he would never see Melissa again.
The thought of not seeing Melissa again made Gabriel’s heart rate race. He needed to convince Terzini to allow him to go to the bonfire.
As he approached the long, gravel-filled driveway, his residence came into view. The house, constructed with cream colored brick and trimmed in forest green, was a Victorian Gothic-style structure. It boasted materials of different colors and textures, carvings in a foliated pattern and pointed arch windows and doors. An expansive deck occupied the front of the house and wrapped around to the rear of the structure. The overall appearance of the house was stately, impressive.
A knot formed Gabriel’s stomach as he pulled up to the three-car garage.
Certain that Terzini was in his laboratory, the task of obtaining permission to attend the bonfire remained. Gabriel would cite that it was imperative for him to attend to further develop his social skills. He would argue that it was a necessary annual rite; that such a convention was socially obligatory for him to meld seamlessly with the student populace.
Gabriel did need to attend the bonfire, but for reasons that did not involve his maker. The primary reason was to be close to Melissa. He could not aptly articulate the impact she’d had on him. He could not describe the intensity of emotions that had manifested themselves, emotions he was unaware he could possess before meeting Melissa.
It was vital that he be present at the bonfire for an additional reason that concerned Melissa. Kevin Anderson, the blond student at Harbingers High who’d spoken of her depreciatingly, made plain his intentions with her, worried Gabriel. He intended to separate Melissa from her friends and have sexual intercourse with her. Kevin viewed it as a conquest, an acquisition that he could mark with his friends.
As he recounted Kevin’s degrading remarks, he felt an unprecedented rise of anger inside.
Gabriel struggled to push the thought of Kevin Anderson from his mind. Such considerations infuriated him. He was unprepared to bear such emotions, let alone cope with them. Prior to meeting Melissa, anger–or any type of sentiment for that matter–had been a remote emotion he’d read about and seen on his educational downloads; he had seen it represented by actors in movies and on television but had never truly been exposed to it, much less experienced it. But after encountering Melissa Martin, a range of sensations presented themselves. Though perplexing, the reactions were surprisingly easy to accept. Some were even pleasant; except the anger.
The necessity was clear. He needed to be at the bonfire. He would do whatever was necessary to get permission from Dr. Terzini to attend.
Composing himself, Gabriel exited his SUV and the garage before walking toward the underground bomb shelter.
He moved resolutely to an unremarkable patch of grass among the rest of the sprawling, well-manicured lawn. Then, using his foot, he lifted a rectangular area of sod to reveal a steel door laying flush against the earth. Using a key from his key ring, Gabriel unlocked the door. With a soft whoosh, the lock released.
Prior to their relocation, Terzini had replaced a rickety wooden door with a vault door that opened silently. The original shelter was gutted and refurbished. Thick concrete walls lined the expansive, updated refuge. The ceilings were seven feet tall and the entire facility measured approximately thirty-six-hundred square feet. It retained inlets that supported electricity, telephone and high-speed Internet connection and cable television. Turbine vents circulated fresh air throughout and each vent was equipped with an insect screen. Fluorescent light fixtures lined the ceiling and illuminated the lab. Computers of varying sizes lay flush against perimeter walls while stainless-steel tables cluttered with electron microscopes, flasks, test tubes, beakers, petri dishes and centrifugal equipment ornamented the interior of the main room. The entire space rivaled any fully operational, state-of-the-art laboratory. Any university in the country would have salivated at the chance to have one like it. But this laboratory was not up for auction. It belonged to his maker, Dr. Franklin Terzini.
Gabriel spotted Dr. Terzini hunched in front of a microscope in the far corner of the room.
Terzini, was a smallish man. His face was rumpled and perpetually frowning, creased and lined from countless hours spent squinting into various magnification instruments. Atop his puckered face sat a mop of meticulously coiffed, ink-black hair. The harshness of the concentrated darkness perched on his crown offered a strong contrast to his pasty, ashen skin. Small, sunken eyes the color of coal resided behind wire-rimmed glasses balanced on his aquiline nose.
“Dr. Terzini?”
Without looking away from his project, Dr. Terzini responded icily. “Hello, Gabriel,” he said. “Did school provide sufficient academic stimulation?”
“Yes sir.”
“That’s hard to imagine, considering the sad state of the American educational system. But if you say so.”
“Sir, there is an event scheduled on campus this evening. I believe it will enhance my understanding of adolescent functioning, that attendance would benefit your mission.”
“What is this event, Gabriel?”
“It is a bonfire.”
Dr. Terzini looked up from his magnification apparatus. “A bonfire?” he asked disdainfully. “What skills could you possibly acquire from congregating around and staring at burning rubbish?”
“Sir, the students attend. They gather and interact socially. It could yield invaluable information.”
“Invaluable information,” Terzini taunted.
“Yes sir.”
“The invaluable information you have acquired has been provided by me,” Terzini began. “You possess superior DNA and have received superior schooling designed to augment your worthier genes. You are to mimic their behavior only when necessary, to mirror them to keep attention off us. Do not forget that, Gabriel.”
“Yes sir,” Gabriel said evenly, but struggled to remain poised. He continued, “It is my thinking that I will be provided with a better vantage point to observe the students when they are in a relaxed, social setting as opposed to an academic environment. I can hone my skills and pick up on subtleties without drawing attention to myself. A less structured situation, such as this bonfire, will provide me with a unique learning opportunity.”
“I will not grant you permission to waste our time. Your observations will be made at school as per my instructions,” his maker stated impassively.
“But sir, this could be a very useful opportunity for me to,” he began but was interrupted.
“Are my words somehow lacking clarity, Gabriel?” Dr. Terzini enunciated each word with emphasis.
“Sir, I just thought it could be beneficial,” he tried again and was cut off a second time.
Dr. Terzini’s frustration had mounted noticeably when he interrupted Gabriel this time. His s
mall clenched fists rapped the desk to punctuate each word as he spoke. No longer bearing the aloof demeanor he possessed earlier, Terzini spat, “You are my creation! You will be where I tell you to be! You will not go to this or any other extracurricular activities of any sort! I forbid you.”
“Sir, I’m,” Gabriel attempted.
Regaining his composure, Dr. Terzini interrupted him a final time and ended further discussion by coolly stating, “We will not speak further about this matter.”
Gabriel stood in silence as Terzini turned his back and resumed his experimentation. Dr. Terzini had forbid him from going to the bonfire.
He had never disobeyed his maker’s orders. Such an idea had never occurred to him. Now, however, he contemplated leaving despite the instructions given to him.
Dr. Franklin Terzini did not live in the old Victorian with Gabriel. Instead, he lived in his underground lab. Gabriel could easily leave the grounds and go to the bonfire without Terzini ever knowing.
Gabriel grappled with the idea of disobedience. He considered what punishment would be issued for such an infraction. Insubordination was unfamiliar, dangerous. He knew of the wrath handed down to those who crossed his maker. He was confronted with a choice: follow his newfound feelings, or comply with his maker’s orders.
After leaving the underground laboratory, Gabriel replaced the rectangular patch of grass to its previous resting place and entered the main house. Uninterested in eating dinner, he retired to his room to think. Everything he was experiencing was strange and perplexing. The order of life as he’d known it no longer existed. His head swam with confusion. Disobeying Terzini was unheard of. He wondered whether he was capable of such a deed.
Yet in his head, Melissa’s face remained as fixed as the constellations adorning the night sky. She would need him, of that he was certain. Kevin Anderson had plans that did not coincide with Melissa’s. And Kevin did not seem as if he was used to hearing the word “no” very often. Rejection from Melissa could catapult him into a tailspin. Whatever the circumstances, Gabriel felt the need to protect her.
Hours passed as Gabriel contended with disobeying Dr. Terzini.
As time passed, the answer became clear. He would go to her.
Compelled by a certainty he had never felt before, Gabriel knew what he must do.